Sam Sparrow: Soul Meets Funk

Sam Sparro‘s amazing debut album will officially be released in the U.S. later this month. Of course, all you savvy pop aficionados around the world have already found a way to get a hold of this good piece of music, but the time has come to pop the champagne and share our little secret with others.

Sparro’s self-titled debut album will hit U.S. shores on June 24 and will be released on Universal Repuplic, the label that previously brought us acts like Amy Winehouse and Mika.

The openly gay pop singer brings an utterly delicious, solid and consistent blend of pop, soul and funk that has superstar written all over it. It’s Prince, Goldfrapp and D’Angelo are rolled into one irresistable package. His single “Black & Gold” that typifies Sam’s signature sound – as Sam would it put it, “classic soul meets classic funk mixed with the kind of music I listen to now.”

Listen to his “Black & Gold”

Something nice and sparkling but not champagne?

Okay, so you want to organize a cocktail party and you need to prepare food and wine. If it’s a celebratory occasion, you would probably want some champagne. The truth is, we want to have a few extra bottles just in case some of your friends decided to bring a date or a plus one. Of course we don’t want to treat our guests with cheap champagne, but we certainly don’t want to cry over our bills when we make our purchase. So what do we do? Here’s a suggestion, sparkling wine- Prosecco

Prosecco is a sparkling wine made of a variety of white grapes grown in the Veneto region of Italy. Traditionally Prosecco was made as a soft, somewhat sweet wine with just a little fizz, but today’s Proseccos are dry and very bubbly. It can replace champagne in some cocktails such as Mimosa if you like. (Which I suggest if you’re making Mimosa, better than using cheap champagne) Like other sparkling wine, it is served chilled.

It generally goes best with seafood, especially calamari and carbmeat. But as most champagne and sparkling wine do, it pairs nicely with everything even the heaviest pastas. If you wish, you may also use it as an ingredient of an Italian mixed drink Sgroppino (with vodka and lemon sorbet).

So next time you want champagne for an occasion but wish for less pricey alternatives, try Prosecco. Note- Italian wines are so chatty!