Star Sparkle Blog

BANKS ' new album The Altar is out today. I was looking forward to it since I really like her first one, Goddess. I even listened to Goddess last night in anticipation of the new one! lol. I listened to The Altar on Spotify and it's a good album. I think some songs are similar to Goddess but it's a bit of a different vibe in some ways. My favourite songs so far are F**k With Myself (I bought it a couple of months ago on iTunes), Lovesick and Judas. I also like Gemini Feed and Mind Games. I expect when I listen to it more, I'll have more I like because some songs take a few listens to get into. :) I thought Better which was released last November was going to be on the album but it isn't. Thought I'd share my faves today. There are no official videos/audios for a couple of them yet but I'll update if they come on. Some of the songs are explicit. This is a video from a live performance of Lovesick two years ago:   This is Mind Games: And he...

This week's video is Something About You by Majid Jordan . They are a music duo from Canada, most well known for producing and featuring on Canadian rapper/singer Drake's song Hold On, We're Going Home in 2013. (I really like that song; I should feature the video sometime!). The duo consists of singer Majid Al Maskati and record producer Jordan Ullman. Jordan is from Toronto and Majid has lived in Bahrain in the Middle East and London but later moved to Canada. The pair met at the University of Toronto in 2011 and released their debut EP Afterhours on Soundcloud , using the name Good People. They went on to sign to OVO Sound , the record label co-owned by Drake and brought out their first official single and EP both called A Place Like This in July 2014. Majid Jordan's other singles are Her, Forever, My Love featuring Drake and Something About You. They released their self titled debut album this February. Their latest song is Free (Us); I don't think it's...

Along with Mariah Carey and Jennifer Lopez ,  Christina Aguilera is one of my favourite singers. I've done Top 10 posts for Mariah and Jennifer so today I thought I'd do one for Christina too. :) 1. Genie in a Bottle This is my favourite Christina song of all. It's her debut single and was released in America in June 1999 but I think it came out around October in the UK. Genie in a Bottle is from Christina's debut self titled album and is one of her best selling singles to date, reaching No 1 in the US, UK, Australia and Canada and No 2 in other countries. There's a Spanish version which appears on her album Mi Reflejo (My Reflection), Genio Atrapado (which translates as something like "Trapped Genie"). I included it in my recent Top 10 Summer Songs post. Watch the Genio Atrapado video here (it's basically the same as the English one): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsYg48vuOTo 2. Come On Over (All I Want Is You) Come On O...

This week's video is Side to Side by Ariana Grande featuring rapper Nicki Minaj . It's the latest single from Ariana's 3rd album Dangerous Woman. She and Nicki performed it at the recent MTV  Video Music Awards. Check out the MTV performance here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A42N4IygFcg And for more videos from Dangerous Woman visit this post: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2016/06/new-ariana-grande-videos.html

British duo AlunaGeorge have a new album out today called I Remember. I just listened to it earlier on  Spotify .  I have their first album Body Music which came out 3 years ago and it's good, so I was looking forward to the new release. I like I Remember although not as much as Body Music. But I've only listened to it once so far and sometimes it can take a few listens for songs to grow on you. I haven't decided yet if I'll buy the whole album or buy individual songs.  Here are my fave songs on it. :) Meditator This is my favourite song of all. I've been listening to it a lot since I first heard it at the beginning of the month. I included it in my most recent music update . It's not a single (maybe in the future though?) so there's no video. Meditator has a nice, relaxed vibe.   

Today's video is Bang by American singer Nicole Scherzinger . She is most famous for being the lead singer of vocal/dance group The Pussycat Dolls but is now a solo artist and X-Factor UK judge. Nicole started her career as part of girl group Eden's Crush in 2001. They were formed on the American version of the reality show Popstars. I remember Nicole appeared with Eden's Crush in an episode of Sabrina, The Teenage Witch ! Eden's Crush split-up in late 2001/early 2002 and she went on to join the Pussycat Dolls (PCD) in 2003. In  September 2006 Nicole featured on rapper and producer Diddy/P.Diddy's single Come To Me and the following July she released her debut single Whatever U Like featuring rapper T.I. She brought out 3 more singles that year including Baby Love featuring rapper, producer and Black Eyed Pea will.iam (which later appeared on a bonus CD as part of PCD's 2nd album Doll Domination) and Supervillan. She planned to release her debut album ...

I've been listening to some Albanian music lately, so thought I'd do a post on it. :) While I like some Eastern European/Southern European artists such as Elena Risteska (Macedonian) and Zulya (Tatar/Russian) and I'd hadn't heard much Albanian music before. Here are 4 Albanian/Kosovan artists I've been listening to. Era Istrefi Era Istrefi (also known as ERA) is a Kosovar (Kosovan Albanian) singer from Pristina in Kosovo . Her mother Suzana Tahirsylaj was a famous singer in the 80s and 90s and her older sister Nora (see below), is also a singer and started her career in the mid 2000s. Era herself debuted on the music scene in 2013 with the single Mani për money (which according to Wikipedia translates as "Money mania"). Her other singles include A po don? (Do you want to?), Njo si ti (Someone like you) and Shumë pis (Very Naughty) featuring rapper Ledri Vula . She is most well known for her single Bonbon which was released at the end of last year....

This is Dua Lipa's new single Blow Your Mind (Mwah). I included it in my latest post of new music I've been listening to: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2016/09/new-musicvideos.html This is the official audio; there isn't a video so far. Blow Your Mind will be on Dua's debut self titled album which is scheduled for release in February next year. I'm looking forward to hearing the full allbum. :) The whole tracklist isn't on iTunes yet but songs already there are previous singles New Love , Be The One, Last Dance and Hotter than Hell. There's also another song called Room For 2 which I haven't heard. Please note that Blow Your Mind is explicit. :) Update 30/3/22: The audio video is now private, but here is the official music video, which I never added to this post at the time it came out! :) Note: I see that Dua's music is classified as " dream pop " on Wikipedia. I hadn't come across that genre until the other week w...

Here's the latest update on the music and videos I've been listening to and watching lately. :) Era Istrefi- Bonbon (Albanian language) Mollie King (from The Saturdays - Back To You  Crush, Han San Won- SKIP (K-pop) Martin Garrix & -Bebe Rexha- In The Name of Love Tove Lo- Cool Girl Fifth Harmony- Like Mariah * Albanian Era Istrefi- Bonbon (English version)  Mozzik- Cocaina Nora Istrefi (Era's sister)- Majem (explicit) Britney Spears - Glory album (Deluxe Version). (Minus Make Me which I've already heard).  Invitation Private Show Man On The Moon Just Luv Me Clumsy So you Wanna Come Over? Slumber Party (Explicit) Just Like Me Love Me Down Hard To Forget Ya What You Need Better Change Your Mind (No Seas Cortes) Liar (Explicit) If I'm Dancing Coupure Electrique Listen to Glory on Spotify: Britney Spotify Dua Lipa - Blow Your Mind (Mwah)   (explicit) AlunaGeorge - Meditator  Jhene Aiko - New Balance METALWINGS- Cryi...