A few songs by Mónica Naranjo and some other things...

Yesterday I was revising my music files and found several tracks by Mónica Naranjo that I had downloaded some time ago, and found quite interesting. With the exception of the 2005 mega hit Enamorada De Ti, which was the only new track released with her hugely successful greatest hits collection, Colección Privada, all of them are remixes of previous hits. If You Leave Me Now was Mónica's first proper foray into English language, and even though it wasn't as successful as she had hoped (or as it ought to have been), is a wonderful dance track that will surely awaken your interest. While the original is simply marvellous, this club ready remix is quite interesting. It was included in the English language version of her album Chicas Malas/Bad Girls (2002), along with a catchy -yet certainly more relaxed- remix of the title track, which I'm also posting here.

The last remix I'm posting is simply superb; in fact, it's the best of all these songs. Even though the original version of Shake The House, the song chosen to represent the Spanish delegation in the 2002 FIFA World Cup (ewww!), is only notable because it features Mónica's highest note ever (a spectacular C6 in chest quality voice!), this vastly superior remix, with its urgent beat, repetitive percusions and heavy mechanical instrumentation, is sheer delight. It's also, like all good things in life, a bit short. However, it's so good that you won't be able to resist playing it again and again - which will indubitably compensate for its short length ;-). Well, without further ado, I leave you will the songs. Enjoy!

But, before anything, let me remind you to go to buy Mónica's albums at Amazon before! :-)

Edit: After further review, I've decided that one of Mónica's best songs in the last years deserved a place in this post, and I've included the link. I Ain't Gonna Cry/No Voy A Llorar was timidly promoted in Eastern Europe (particularly Greece and Russia), and managed to climb to the top twenty in both countries thanks to airplay alone. As always, Sony refused to properly support Bad Girls, later blaming Mónica for its mediocre international performance, but this time I am genuinely surprised that this wasn't a massive hit. While a prefer the superb original, which is pure disco awesomeness, this remix is just lovely, and I cannot imagine anyone not loving it. That's all - enjoy ;-).


Enamorada De Ti/In Love With You

If You Leave Me Now (Rawling Mix)

I Ain't Gonna Cry (Steelworks Mix)

Bad Girls (NY remix)

Shake The House (Mr Smash Fever's Pitch remix)



Changing the subject, I've been looking around today and I've found a few posts that I'd like to share with you. A few days ago, the always fantastic PopTrashAddicts presented a review of Scottish diva Sheena Easton's spectacular modernized disco album Fabulous, which is nothing short of amazing.

The wonderful PosterGirl truly works hard to find exceptional singers, and she invariably succeeds. This post about Estonian singer Kadi Toom is excellent, as is the exposition accompanying it :-). I've particularly enjoyed Nightfall, which is one of the sweetest ballads anyone could imagine!

Via PosterGirl's blog, I've just discovered YouDon'tKnowPop, which is very enjoyable. Thanks to it, I've had a brief journey through Ireland's pop landscape, and discovered the excellent singer Evan - who looks as good as he sounds ;-)!

DigitalTechnique hasn't been updated for some time now, but it recently featured an adorable acoustic version of Alphaville's classic Forever Young, performed by semi-legendary 80's teen queen Tiffany!

POPtastic! recently featured, among a myriad of exciting new things, an impossibly catchy cover of Click Five's excellent pop gem Friday Night by the lovely Christy Romano. Needless to say it, I've loved it! Then again, it's difficult not to love everything featured there :-).

That's all for this month - I'll return in April with some very exciting things! First of all, I'll rush head on to the world of Laika with megastar Kaiti Garbi, and Russian pop lovers shall be delighted with the inclusion of Estrada legend Alla Pugacheva among the many worldly divas of this blog - but don't despair, there will be many other new things! See you then :-)!