Music

I’ve heard a couple of people say that boy bands are a thing of the past. And truthfully, until Strictly Pop interviewed lead singer Spee of the Canadian pop rock group Neverest, I agreed. Under management by CJ Huyer of 3Deep and Howie Dorough from the Backstreet Boys, Neverest is learning from the best, and already has a huge audience in both the United States and Canada. Released March 28, their new EP, About Us, (Vic Park/Fontana North/Universal Music) truly establishes them as a bastion of talent in North America. Comprised of Spyros ‘Spee’ Chalkiotis, Mike Klose, Paul Loduca and Brendan Colameco, Neverest’s new album proves that each of them bring to the table unique backgrounds, styles and abilities, and the result is magnificent.

The lead track is their single from late last year, as well as the record’s title track, “About Us.” As well, the band offers an acoustic version and a club remix. Easily my favorite song on the album, it showcases not only their polished voices and incredible harmonies, but also their personalities, a valuable asset to newer bands. With a very pure tone, Neverest’s new songs ooze of boy band charm, while not sound mechanized or electronic as some of their predecessors in the genre have.

“Everything” really showcases Spee’s vocal abilities, with softer background music, and a slow, pop/rock feel that really lets the lead singer shine. Conversely, “Hate It” carries a force and energy that truly shows off the group’s diversity in their music. This diversity is quite apparent given the different influences present in many of their songs. It is quite obvious that they’ve been taken under the wing of one of the Backstreet Boys, they also incorporate elements of newer rock groups to help form a unique sound that still holds onto Neverest’s intentional 90s boy band feel.

What sets Neverest apart from other pop groups — and, I would argue, most modern music groups — is their spot-on harmonies, displayed in the majority of the EP’s songs. What also distinguishes the men of Neverest is each of their backgrounds. Whether it is years of classical music training, time spent studying music in post-secondary school, or even the background in jazz that drummer and background singer Brendan had, all of the band members consider it a craft, not a hobby. Furthermore, they’re all motivated by their desire to inspire their fans, and be able to make their music their full-time career.

About Us‘s eight songs quite effectively display Neverest’s talent, energy and song-writing ability. However, what they truly show is that the era of the boy band has been revived.

Track Listing

1. About Us
2. Everything
3. Hate It
4. The Chase
5. Blame Me
6. Hello/Goodbye
7. About Us (Acoustic)
8. About Us (Club Mix)

In November, Strictly Pop reviewed a Toronto concert by Montreal-born singer-songwriter Julie C. Performing a combination of original songs old and new, Julie sang with a passion and fire that not only cut the umbilical cord from her days with the teen pop group Sugar Jones, but established herself as a force to be reckoned with in the music scene.

Now, with her sophomore album, Steady Ground (Fontana Records) being released tomorrow, the red-headed goddess’ musical leap of faith has led her to a place where her music focuses on telling a story and showing the artist’s strength both personally and musically, not fitting into the mold of the sort of music we’ve come to expect. It explores aspects of life and themes previously untouched by Julie.

Through her new songs, Julie isn’t just taking her fans and listeners on a musical journey that defies genre but also a beautifully narrated tour through her soul, the main source of inspiration for her music. Taking her lead from inspirations such as Aretha Franklin and Jamie Liddell, Julie C creates a sound and style unique to only her, and it’s one that works.

The album’s title track, “Steady Ground,” is well complimented by other songs on the album such as “Hard to Love You,” “You Gotta Hold Of My Soul,” and “Love is Gone,” in truly letting the contents of the artists heart pour out. On the other hand, “Dance” sounds more like a B-side track from a Spice Girls C.D. rather than something that possesses the deep, emotion-driven, soulful qualities that stand out in the rest of the album, even among songs such as the lighter Hayley Sales-esque “Apple Tree.”

Each of the album’s tracks are unique in their own way, but they are bound together by a common thread — the themes of pain, playfulness and perseverance.

Unlike her performances in concert, the songs on this album possess a wide variety of background sounds and accompaniments. However, rarely do the effects take the attention away from the powerful, sultry tone of Julie’s voice (with the exception of the two techno remixes of “Tomorrow.”) My favorite of Julie’s songs, “Tomorrow,” is remixed by Tantrum’s Temper as well as a dubstep version by Alister Johnson’s. While I do enjoy that genre, it wasn’t suitable to the song.

To describe my impression of Julie C after hearing this album, I have to take a line out of her song “Ooh La La” — she’s “delicious and divine.” She lets her sex appeal ooze through every note she sings, but still projects a strong sense of elegance and class that strikes an incredible balance in her music.

Stylistically speaking, there’s no question that elements of her girl group background are still present in her songs. However, it’s undeniable that Julie C is a strong, passionate, independent woman who, through her music, has opened up her heart and soul to the world. Despite the minor flaws in the album’s continuity, Steady Ground is nothing short of a piece of art, one that you need to buy!

You can order the album via iTunes.

For this week’s American Idol, we shift into group rounds. The rules for this round are as follows: Contestants must form a group with a minimum of five people and use contestants from Day One and Day Two. You must choose a song and choreograph for it, as well as make it sound good. Contestants will be judged on this and previous performances, and individuals will be evaluated in the end.

For one contestant in particular, group rounds did not start off well. Tiffany Rios made a very condescending comment at the beginning of the very irrelevant round one. She basically said that everyone who isn’t her sucks at singing. She was looking through several groups during this time and could not find a single person who wanted to work with her. It seemed that she may find a group member in Scotty McCreery who, with his unique sound and all, was having a problem trying to find a group himself.

After about two hours Scott had finally found a group with Clint Jun Gamboa, Jaycee Badeaux and two other girls. They immediately got to work. What did this group call themselves? “The Guaps”, and I have no idea why because it sounds really dumb. But hey, whatever floats your boat.

By 11 pm everyone is in a group except for Tiffany. Eventually, she begs her fellow contestants in attempt to recruit a singer from the group “Sugar Mama’s”. They still lacked one group member, and since it seemed that no one wanted to be with them at all, producers let the two go ahead and perform as a duet.

For a while, there was a lack of space for practicing until several groups decided that the acoustics in the bathrooms were awesome! By this time, everyone was either working hard or hardly working. Hardly working seemed to be what was going on with “Three’s Company” (Jacqueline minus Nick, Rob and Chelsee–the ex-couple). Rob was having a horrible time — he was tired, grumpy and frustrated. It had been a very long night that just kept getting longer.

There was a bit of confrontation between “The Deep V’s” and “The Minors” when the Deep V’s decided that it was unfair for the moms of The Minors to be coaching them. I have to say that I’m inclined to agree — parents shouldn’t be helping. It also didn’t help that these two groups were doing the same Queen song.

Coming closer and closer to midnight, emotions were running high and people were falling apart; mainly Ashley Sullivan. This girl cried and cried and cried and then said that she wanted out. American Idol staff talked her out of this and gave her some time to go and think about her decision. In the end, she stayed. Her group welcomed her back with open arms and got right to work…again.

Its working on 2 am at this point and Clint of “The Guaps” kicked Jaycee out of his group. The reason is unknown, but only one person stuck up for Jaycee and that’s Francis. A very sad Jaycee runs off in search of another group. Eventually he found “The Sugar Mama’s” and was welcomed into the fold.

At about 3 am, almost everyone rolls out. Three’s Company is still working on their performance and has seemingly gotten nowhere. Rob was being incredibly impatient and counterproductive. A few groups are still there at 4:30 am, but are getting more tired by the minute. At 7 am things pick up again (including the constant bickering). For some, the end of the road will be very soon. Before performances began, contestants got some words of wisdom from the judges; however, the wisest of them was Randy Jackson who reminded the contestants…”Don’t EVER forget the words!”

I had only heard of the Candy Coated Killahz — an electo-pop group from Toronto — in passing before, not being too familiar with their music. Someone emailed me a link to their latest single, “Neon Black” and I was instantly hooked in. From the steady electronic beats to the catchy rhythm to the near-perfect vocals, this group creates a spectacular symmetry and tone that has a quality making it musically superior to even Ke$ha, an artist whose style is comparable to that of the Candy Coated Killahz.

This EP precedes their full album (to be released in May of this year) and features the single “Neon Black” with several remixes from some of the best modern DJs. You can download the single or the full EP on their website, and we’ll be sure to keep you posted when the album is released.

From Los Angeles we move along California and end up in San Francisco. This is where we found Adam Lambert who didn’t win Idol but now has a thriving

music career. Hopefully some of his talent might have rubbed off on some of the contestants we have yet to see.

1. Inessa Lee, 22 ~ All the way from the Ukraine, we get this crazy-fabulous young soul. She had more energetic than a triple espresso shot from Starbucks. Inessa was extremely hyper, and couldn’t help being adorable as well! In fact, Steven Tyler said that she gets a 110% for cuteness. I completely agree, but sadly, she gets a 4/10 in ability to sing. Lee left in high/cocky spirits bragging that they were missing out, and that she would be the next American Idol someday. Once away from the judging room and into the elevator, the tears started to drip and the arrogant attitude was on high. RESULT: Home

2. Stefano Langone, 21 ~ His story is one of sweat, blood and tears; brace yourself. On May 28th, 2009, Stefano was in a car accident. Once he was in the hospital, he was thought to be dead and, fortunately, he wasn’t. When he woke up, the doctors told him that he wouldn’t be able to do anything — he’d be a cripple for life. Contrary to medical belief, Langone overcame the circumstances and joins us here today. This medical miracle gave us a very sweet cover of ‘Heard It Through the Grapevine’ by Marvin Gaye. he did an awesome job. RESULT: Hollywood

3. Clint Jun Gamboa, 27 ~ No, he does not have a mental disorder. Just wanted to get that out of the way. This young’n works at as a karaoke DJ, and was always told that he could sing very well, which he can. Clint “June Bug” Gamboa decided to sing the Bruno Mars part of ‘Billionaire’, and it was wonderful, at least, enough to make Randy say that he was the “Best in California so far!” Three yes votes to Hollywood.

4. Kenneth Berba, 22 ~ He came in dressed as a screaming red monkey from The Wizard of Oz. Got a quick and painful NO, and then had the nerve to argue it. RESULT: Is there one needed? HOME!

5. Drew Beaumier, 24 ~ No one was sure whether to be completely amazed or disgraced that this grown man came dressed in a self-made — but very convincing — transforming car (he kinda looked like a Power Ranger too.) The suit allowed him to go down into a crawling position and actually drive. Unfortunately, that was the best part of his audition. Drew gave a us a murderous rendition of ‘Born to be Wild.’ RESULT: Home

6. Julie Zorilla, 20 ~ A very inspiring story of a girl and her family who moved from Colombia because of the increasing violence. This stunning young woman appeared in the judging room with some very high-heeled sparkly shoes that J-Lo automatically fell in love with. Aside from her shoes, she had a wonderful singing voice. The song she chose to dazzle us with was ‘Summertime.’ Julie breezed tremendously through with two yes votes and  a “Big, sparkly shoe yes!” from J-Lo. RESULT: Hollywood

7.  Dave Combs, 25 ~  Dave disgraced The Beatles and Steven Tyler (who was wearing a Beatles shirt.) The song was off key to the point where it was unrecognizable. RESULT: Home (If you were still watching at this point: You would be exposed to a montage of Steven getting very angry and insulting a bunch of sucky contestants.)

8. Emily Ann Reeves ~ Her house burned down a few days before auditions. Needless to say she is very upset. She won the award for most interesting voice by singing a Harry Warren tune. Jennifer gave her another chance and she moved onto Hollywood.

9. James Durbin, 21 ~ James has already become a fan favorite! This young man has a sob story for days. To sum it up: His dad was hardly ever home and died of a drug overdose when James was only nine. Later in life James was diagnosed with Tourettes syndrome and high functioning autism. He was always teased in school and basically had an all-around hard life. As he got older, he fell in love with a girl named Heidi and they got pregnant out of wed-lock. He is currently jobless and struggling to raise a son and keep a family together.  Derbin was concerned that during his audition, his Tourettes would get the best of him, but thankfully it didn’t. He was so good that the judges let him do another song, it just happened to be Steven Tyler’s own ‘Dream On.’ After he finished his audition he was ticking like crazy. But he got through! RESULT: Hollywood

With this, we wrap-up the audition weeks of American Idol. We’ve seen the best of the best and the acts from hell. San Francisco was very good to us and now we move on with hundreds of contestants in possession of their golden tickets to Hollywood.

Next Week: Hollywood Week BEGINS!

From the depths of Texas, we move onto Los Angeles, California for week four American Idol auditions. As usual, we open with the judges making an

appearance; but this time Randy Jackson was wearing a pair of very bright gold shoes. Sadly, that was about the highlight of the trip to the west coast.

1.  Victoria Garrett, 27 ~ This big bag of crazy-woman started us off with some random gospel song. The painful rendition was something to be scoffed at. It was extremely crappy; a degree of crappiness which cannot be described in mere words. As you may guess,  “It’s a no.” RESULT: Home (Duh.)

2. Tim Halperin, 23 ~ This young man is a huge J-Lo fan and decided to serenade Judge Lopez with the Maroon 5 song ‘She Will Be Loved.’ It was a pretty good performance, but not enough to gain the approval of Randy Jackson. Fortunately, it was good enough for Steven and Jennifer who said he had a “Special Tone.” RESULT: Hollywood

3. Daniel Gomez, 18 and Isaac Rodriguez, 18 ~ This pair of guy-friends were flaming, metrosexual, or simply gay-lookin’. This seemed to be the only thing that they could get through to the audience. Daniel looked and sounded like a miniature Adam Lambert, but uglier and more tone-deaf. Isaac tried a little too hard and completely botched the song “Build Me Up Buttercup.” His feedback? Lopez said he has “a nice smile.” Can you say “Consolation prize?”. RESULT: Home (I hope they bought a round-trip ticket.)

4. Karen Rodriguez, 21 ~ Registered first through the MySpace auditions and was accepted. She came from New York all the way to Los Angeles and was quickly let through with a unanimous “Yes!” RESULT: Hollywood

5. Tynisha Roches, 25 ~ This psychopath from Hoboken brought her own microphone. Tynisha started her audition off very badly by completely destroying a tribute to Frank Sinatra — BIG TIME! Before they could even reject her (and EVERYONE saw it coming) she began to chase Randy around the audition room, again completely destroying the song ‘And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going’ from Dream Girls. Finally Randy had enough of it and wrestled the mic from her. She was the first contestant in a while to have to be escorted out by security. She never even got a chance to hear the magic word –”No.” RESULT: Home (Potentially in handcuffs)

6. Heidi Khzam, 23 ~ To make a long story short, she was a very talented belly dancer and a wonderful singer. To make a short story long, since she is a belly dancer she left Steven and Randy with their tongues hanging out of their mouths and jaws on the floor. Jennifer was impressed with her rendition of “Superwoman” by Alicia Keys, as was anyone viewing the program. To make a long story short again: RESULT: Hollywood

7. Matt “Big Stats” Frankel, 27 ~ A self-proclaimed “Freelance music producer,” his audition was completely and totally laughable. Matt started us off by performing a rap to introduce himself. After that torture was over he decided to butcher the song ‘Jenny From the Block.’ Embarrassing. When he was told that he basically could sing, he disclosed to us that he needed to “Lubricate-up” (I’was hoping he meant that he needed to drink some water.) After being told that he should pack his bags and head home, Big Stats came to the conclusion that he was now “beefin’” with Mr. Jackson. RESULT: Home

8. William Roberts¸ 24 ~ Honestly, the only reason he’s being included is because of Steven Tyler–”You’re not ready for 2011…or 12…or 13 American Idol.” RESULT: Home

9. Anthony Granger, 24 ~ This young contestant forced our judging panel to do the “You’re Cut” dance after did a new and improved version of “Pants on the Ground.”  Not only did he sing the song, but he also dropped his pants…and underwear. Go home Anthony… just go Home.

10. Mark, 28 and Aaron Gutierrez, 27 ~ These cute-to-boot brothers did a duet of ‘Lean on Me’ that was truly touching, harmonic, and beautiful in every way. J-Lo loved it and assured them that “It was really, really beautiful.” While Tyler declared it to be “god-like” and unreal.” It was three sweet yes votes. RESULT: Hollywood

11. Cooper Robinson, 59 (or so he thinks, he made it clear to us that he’s not sure) ~ Upon our last audition’s entrance, Steven screamed “Oh my God! Good lord in heaven!” He was exactly right. This street performer murdered our ears with a cover of ‘I Feel Good’ by James Brown. The old man almost killed himself and finished his audition short of air. He knew it was a ‘No’ by the look on the judges’ faces. RESULT: Home (He escorted himself out. Mr. Robinson was our last contestant of the day, but was still lurking the hallways afterward. Lopez had to sneak past him accompanied by a security guard. In the words of Randy Jackson, “WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!”.)

We’ve finished up in the City of Angels for now. For a super-adorable end of the day, Ryan Seacrest decided it would be a good idea to jump on Randy’s back. Don’t get me wrong, it was funny, but it was also awkward. Thank goodness, for the last week of auditions is right around the corner.

Next Idol: San Francisco

This week, American Idol dragged us into the deep south of Austin, Texas. Yes, we arrived here in the home of the Texas Longhorn for week three of Idol.

We saw an array of acts; the very good, the scary bad, and the unmistakably ugly.

1. Corey Levoy, 21 ~ This high-pitched wonder started off our day on a relatively good note. Long-lost sister and best friend, Brooke was there to support him. With his sister and three “Heck Yeah!” votes from the judges, our first contestant was moving forward. Unfortunately, he couldn’t leave without shaking his J-Lo booty for us. RESULT: Hollywood
2. Hollie Cavalah, 17~ Hollie was a stick-skinny, over-emotional, blonde girl at first glance, second glance, and third glance. However, she had an exceptional voice. She gave an interesting audition, choosing the song “At Last” by Etta James. It was an automatic “No” from Randy, but Jennifer gave her another chance. Which song did she choose? Miley Cyrus’ “The Climb.” With this, she redeemed herself, causing Randy to do a 180, and her to leave with three yes votes. RESULT: Hollywood.
3. Rodolfo Ochoa ~ All-in-all, he did a sucky rendition of The Lion King‘s “Circle of Life.” It was quick and unanimous “NO!”. But Mr. Ochoa politely left with a “Thank You” and slightly broken spirit. RESULT: Home**If you were still watching at this point: You would be visually and audibly assaulted by a run-through of a whole bunch of no-talent cowboys.
4. John Wayne Schulz, 23 ~ A  Super-cute, rough and tough cowboy, he came here with is family, including his inspiration — his cancer stricken mother. (John Wayne sir, you just pulled the sympathy card.) This cowboy covered “Believe” by Brooks and Dunn. Steven Tyler said it was “Beautiful,” J-Lo said it “almost brought a tear to my eye.” RESULT: “Welcome to Hollywood!”**If you were still watching at this point: You would have seen Ryan Seacrest get “belt buckle damage” after being lifted by John Shulz and then lifting John’s father.
5. Courtney Penry, 17 ~ Ryan Seacrest lover/stalker extraordinaire, she cried upon meeting the Idol host. “Ryan Seacrest will be mine someday,” she declared. If I were Ryan, I’d watch out. Not only does she love a very short man, but she can do a flawless chicken impression. Gladly, that wasn’t her audition song; she actually sang “Stay” by Sugarland. It was a “Yes” from Steven and Jenny, and a “No” from Randy. She chicken-danced herself all the way to HOLLYWOOD.
6. Jacqueline Dunford, 21 and Nick Fink, 19 ~ A couple of lovers who sang very well for us, Steven Tyler declared Jacqueline’s audition to be “Gorgeous” and in combination with this, Nick’s cover of “Sunday Morning” made J-Lo declare them her “favorite couple on Idol in ten years.” RESULT: Hollywood
7. Janelle Arthur, 20 ~ “Great; So good” were the words that accompanied her three quick yes votes and she was off! RESULT: Easy Hollywood
8. Random 7ft Armadillo ~ Take a guess, she shows up as a super-huge armadillo for her audition and she couldn’t sing: She went HOME.
9. Casey Abrams, 19 ~ For the last act of the day, we got a Seth Rogan/Fraggle Rock character who can sing with the best of ‘em! What did he sing? Ray Charles’ “I Don’t Need No Doctor.” He killed it. RESULT: “All together now…YES!” Hollywood. He ended our show on an awesome note, and grabbed the last golden ticket being the 50th contestant of the day to do so.

Next episode: We go to Los Angeles and it appears to be promising.

Preview: Another ‘Pants-on-the-Ground’ guy?

Recently I had the privilege of corresponding with Spyros ‘Spee’ Chalkiotis, frontman of the Toronto-based band Neverest. Neverest’s first single, “About Us” is currently at #10 on the Much Music Top 30 Countdown, and recently cracked the top 40 on iTunes. Read on to find out more from Toronto’s biggest up-and-coming act!

Tell us about your new album. We have an EP coming out in March that we’re all really excited about, it should have about 5-7 songs on it! It’ll be nice to finally have a hard copy of the things we’ve been working so hard towards for so long.

Where do you find your inspiration? I find inspiration in everyday life. For me it’s a matter of keeping my eyes open to be inspired!

What do you hope to accomplish with the album? I hope to connect with fans through our music in any way we can. I also hope that people are happy enough with the EP that they don’t have to skip any songs!

You say that the band name Neverest comes from the belief that you’ll never rest until you reach your Everest. What is your Everest? At what point will you stop and think “We’ve accomplished what we needed to do; we can retire in peace now?” Our Everest is to have number one songs on the radio and number one videos on T.V, while connecting with fans across the globe for many many years! Priority’s change from time to time, right now this IS our life. Perhaps at one point we’ll decide to have a family of our own, which will most definitely be supportive of our music career.

You’ve worked with a lot of big names on the production of your album. Who was your favourite person that you’ve worked with? There are too many moments that have been shared with this excellent group of guys, to pick one in particular would be impossible. Besides, we don’t ever work alone, we work as a team.

What’s your favourite song on the new album? It’s so difficult to choose a favorite when there is such a special connection with all of them. My favorite song changes from week to week, but if I had to choose one I’d say “The Chase”.

What’s the best part about being a musician to you? What’s the worst part? My favorite part of being a musician is knowing that when I wake up every morning, my job happens to be one of the things I love the most! I don’t know if there is a worst part, I’m fortunate enough to be doing what I’m doing. Everything has its ups and downs, but the pro’s completely outweigh the con’s.

What’s the writing process with the band? Do you all sit down together or do you write individually and then come together when you have something? Are you afraid to say “Hey, that sucks?” The writing process changes for every song. Most of the time someone brings an initial idea to the table ie. a chord progression, and then we all gather to write the remainder of it. It all happens in stages, very organically, and there are no egos present in the room. We all, from the writers, to the producers, to management, to our engineers, pitch in our ideas with the ability to tell each other the brutal truth. Things run more efficiently that way!

How have you modernized the boy band? You’re not all tight white pants and MJ moves like groups like the Backstreet Boys. How are you trying to create a separate identity from the Backstreet Boys? Instead of dancing, we play our instruments. We are essentially the combination of the frontmen, and the band’s instrumentalists. Our songs are similar in the sense that we’d be classified as “pop”, but playing the songs as well as singing them in harmony makes us unique.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received from someone “in the biz?” The best advice I got was actually a question that our producer Mike Kiofos asked me, “do you want this as a hobby, or as a career?”. This stuck out to me because it summed up what my mentality had to be to succeed. It was during a conversation we had while I was learning about the business side of the music industry.

Do you have any regrets? Absolutely none. Everything I have done has lead me to be where I am today, and I have a lot of people to thank for it!

Which musician (dead or alive) would you like to collaborate with? Being in the field of pop, I would have loved to collaborate with the King of Pop, and an inspiration of mine, Michael Jackson.

The following questions were submitted by Neverest fans from Strictly Pop and Twitter:

@ZoyaLovesBSB – What are you most afraid of? I’m most afraid of the times that things may not go that well on stage. We’re all very hard on each other, and we push each other to be the best we can. I know that accepting it, learning from it and moving on is the best thing to do after a bad performance, but it’ll be a hard pill to swallow at first.

@bsbchik21 – So far, what has been the best part of your experience? I’d have to say the best part of the experience has been the Canadian radio promo tour we did! I learned so much on that trip and had so much fun seeing Canada and meeting/performing for some amazing people!

@BSBLOVER82 – What is the first song you ever sang, and what’s your favourite song to date? I think the first song I ever sang was twinkle twinkle little eyes, haha! My favourite song to date is a song called “Watch Over You”, by Alter Bridge.

Welcome to the top 10 songs of 2010 as chosen by me. Yeah, that’s right, I picked them, almost seemingly at random. We kick off our year-end review by looking at the #10 song, Nelly’s “Just A Dream.” What, you were expecting something by Vampire Weekend or the Arcade Fire? You are clearly in the wrong place if that is the case. “Just a Dream” makes me care about Nelly and if that alone isn’t enough to warrant a place on this list then I’m not sure what is.

This track marks a huge comeback for the St. Louis native and was his highest charting single since the instant classic “Grillz.” What makes this song so enjoyable is just how universal the subject matter is. Everybody hurts, sometimes. It also helps that the chord progression and lyrics are catchy; he isn’t reinventing the wheel, but I’ll be damned if I’m not bobbing along by the end.

The track kicks off with a very nice guitar intro which sets up the synth pattern evident throughout. The guitar works throughout nicely and offsets the heavier rap aspects of the song, which creates a solid contrasting instrumentation. Nelly and co-writers Rico Love and Frank Romano aren’t stepping too far out of their boundaries as the lyrics are simple focusing on an incredibly catchy hook. It’s just a solid example of quality pop music from an unexpected source. It’s got almost 32 million Youtube hits for a reason, the song is universal and Nelly himself wasn’t too far off when he labelled it timeless. I can see this track being played on softer pop stations for the next ten or more years. It’s not “Stairway to Heaven,” but it doesn’t need to be, nor does it aspire towards greatness. It is what it is. It is enjoyable and it is StrictlyPop’s #10 song of 2010.

And now for something completely different! Taking the #9 spot is The Black Keys’ “Tighten Up.” Now here is a song that should cater to the indie crowd. (Just wait until you see what I have in store in the next edition!) I digress, this is a song I can truly enjoy while feeling incredibly superior to everyone around me.

This song is very funky and easy to groove to which really owes alot to the influence of Danger Mouse. This track has its roots in old school rock, with heavy distortion and a psychedelic feeling. The chord progression is so catchy that as I sat and listened to the song, an idle passerby began to whistle. There is plenty of emotion in this track and they draw from bluesier influences to create a kind of desperate feeling.

The song maintains these deeper, musically superior influences while still coming off as a pop track. It marks a first real breakthrough for the boys from Akron. The song is inherently nostalgic while still seeming fresh and modern. What more can one ask for from a throwback duo like the Black Keys? They have always been indie darlings now it appears that we will hear soccer mom’s jamming to their bluesy riffs as well. Between all the key changes, time shifts, background instrumentation and lyrical aerobics, the track thrusts along while all the time becoming embedded in the listener’s brain! I defy you to listen to this track and not have it stuck in your head for hours.

The music video is awesome as well. As much as it may seem contrived and pandering to slide the Black Keys into a top ten list to maintain artistic credibility it is completely on merit…this time. By finding a way to meld their bluesy influences into a credible pop song the Black Keys are more than deserving of the #9 spot on StrictlyPop’s list of the top songs of 2010. It’s almost as good as winning a Grammy amirite?

Written by Andrew Lawton with Lauren Smith

What’s the difference between Julie Crochetière, member of the girl pop group Sugar Jones, and Julie C, the red-hot indie goddess? Answer: 10 years, 50 million sequins, and a whole lotta soul.

Julie C, who cites her influences as both ’60s heavyweights Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin and contemporary artists like Jamie Liddell, has a sound similar to what you’d hear from Feist and Regina Spektor, but with a soulful edge.

When Julie hit the stage at Toronto’s Supermarket, a trendy restaurant and lounge in the Kensington Market, she owned every inch of it. There was no question that she instantly had the attention of the intimate crowd of 50. The first sound heard was an audio montage of tracks from her early days in the pre-Idol TV reality show girls’ group, Sugar Jones. As the opening songs faded, the stage was flooded with light, and the sound of the new Julie C erupted.

Clothed in a short black dress, long black stockings and a glimmering, sequined bolero, the Montreal-born singer-songwriter’s artfully tousled red hair stood out amidst the black. She opened the show with Steady Ground, the title track of her sophomore album, to be released on March 1^st, 2011 (Fontana). Before a word had left her mouth, the crowd was clapping in rhythm with the bold, steady drumbeat.

There was an absence of fanfare on the stage. No band, no disco ball, no strobe lights. Just Julie. The songstress played the keyboards herself, and for one number donned a white keytar for accompaniment. One thing was clear; the focus wasn’t on gimmicks, but on the music, where it belongs.

The only aspect of Julie’s performance as intense as her voice was the emotion and determination in her eyes as she belted out her songs—old and new—from a place that couldn’t have been anywhere but her heart. Her voice was filled with power and passion, two factors that make up what she accurately called “the revenge of the redhead” in a post-concert interview with Strictly Pop.

Julie C’s one-woman show left her with the daunting task of orchestrating subtle transitions between beats and keys as she moved from song to song. As she fluidly moved through songs from her previous album, as well as her upcoming one, she also breezed through various genres, in many cases defying the confines of genre altogether. When asked what area of music she sees herself creating, Julie’s answer was quite simple: “Soul.”

Despite Julie’s simplistic combination of keyboards and a solid drumbeat, an array of instruments made their way into the performance as the evening progressed. As part of her one-woman show, embracing technology has been one of the ways that Julie has not only reinvented herself, but also one of the many ways she has forced herself to take chances. According to Julie, these leaps of faith are the subject of her single, Tomorrow.

Rich Girl, from Julie’s first album, involved the use of a glockenspiel as she sang only in synchronization so the soft pinging of the rather underrated instrument. A small rice shaker and an electronic voice-tuner were also among the tools used to constantly produce new layers of texture to the singer’s already incredible voice.

After Julie C’s 35 minute set (as well as her singing Take Your Time as an encore,) it was apparent that she had set out to make her mark on music and break out of the bubblegum pop shell that she rose to fame in. Mission accomplished.

While the technical production left something to be desired, Julie’s performance was absolutely flawless. When Steady Ground is released in March, it will be a must-have for all music-lovers. In a performance that took chances and exposed her soul, Julie Crochetière not only released an inferno of talent and passion, but she unleashed Julie C into the world. The only question now is whether the world can handle it.