Lopez Blogs

Annual Nordisk Julkonsert has taken place in Ålborg with loads of Scandinavian (and not only) stars again. TV-audience as usual could enjoy incredibly beautiful stage, hall decoration, dresses, live arrangement and performances.
This year among invited stars you could see Erik Hassle, Sylvia Vrethammar, Kristian Anttila, Sissel Kyrkjebø, Alphabeat, Marie Carmen Koppel (Melodi Grand Prix 2009), Samuel Ljungblahd, Mario Frangoulis, Shakin' Stevens and Suzanne Vega. Before I pointed you to his performance with Alphabeat's Stine and here below you can watch him performing another hit in Denmark "Don't Bring Flowers When I'm Dead" and as well performance of Samuel Ljungblahd with Marie Carmen Koppel, Samuel is quite interesting soul-artist that had quite big demand this year and hopefully we'll hear more from him next year.
You can watch full concert here.

Let's not discuss the awfulosity that was today. Let's just get straight into some proper bonza Scandanavian pop genius. Smashing...

Alphabeat ~ Heatwave:

Basically, this is the fourth single from Alphabeat's very good indeed second album "The Beat Is..." The album has taken on a bit of a second life for me this summer as many of the tunes are perfect for the sunshiney stroll to work. Heatwave is definitely a brillo summer single, but I am still yearning for the astounding Chess (it's like A*Teens never split up) or brillo The Right Thing as a single. Anyway, here's what they did with the video...

• It's one of those filmed themselves jobbies, which can either be a bit of a disaster or utterly charming. They are lucky that this is definitely the latter...
• The opening shots are of their tour bus, and they all exit it in a slightly speeded up fashion - much like as if they were in a carry on film. Carry On Popping...
• You then see the tour set getting ready. You can tell Alphabeat are proper pop stars because they sit around looking gorgeous while lots of beefy and bear-like roadies haul their stuff onto the stage.
• The band are fiddling with their hair. I don't say this as a criticism because, as long time readers will know, pop star hair is very important indeed. basically, Stine and Anders look proper good. They then huddle in a prayer circle...
• The concert is now in full swing, there are lots of bow ties worn by the band (as nu-Dr who says "bow ties are cool") and Stine is singing her little socks off.
• The REAL draw here is the banging that Anders is enthusiastically giving that tambourine. Oh. My. God. I've never wanted to be a tambourine more!!
• Pause at 54s and there are some enthusiastic fans going bonkers - and quite rightly so - for the music. One of them is in an ironically cool Empire Strikes Back t-shirt. And has potentially good pop star hair. Amazing.
• Pause at 56s and there is a rather lovely and tender Stine/Anders moment. It is like Titanic but without the horrible fear and death at the end...
• Lots of fans do things like kiss the camera, take pics, raise their sunglasses and get on their fella's shoulders, which is sometimes quite annoying if you are the person behind them (depending on how yummy their bottom is) :P
• There are then some good shots of people's grubby dancing footwear juxtaposed (love that word) with Stine's lovely black heels. Make the effort grubby festival people! Stine has shown you right up ;)
• Oh no, apologies. I take back the grubby footwear "diss" - the band are all in comfortable foot couture too and the drummer has some amazing zebra patterned socks on. I want them. Washed, unwashed, I don't really care :)
• The band are now doing a meet and greet and signing lots of things. how nice. I never go to these things, I always end up in dork mode - when Nerina Pallot signed a cd for me, all I could talk about was the Bette Midler song Otto Titsling. What was I thinking?!
• ICONIC POP SHOT ALERT - 2m6s - Anders is doing an amazing Christlike pose, and the tambourine could be his crown of thorns. His face is all sorts of emotions. Passion Of The Anders.
• Then he's off again, making me want to be a tambourine. The crowd are eating out of the palm of their hands. Putty, if you will.
• Ok, surely it must be near the end of their set as they are all very sweaty. Except Stine, who has clearly got the superhuman ability to not sweat at all. Or uses driclor.
• am loving the close-ups of the stage. The pulsing drum. The glittering disco ball. The keyboardist's fingers working a mile a minute. The game of tambourine catch.
• And then the bow. And copious amounts of applause. back on the bus. The game starts all over again.
• Really engaging and fun video that brings the outdoors inside as you want to sing the song all over again. Heatwave indeed :) Love it.

Eric Saade ~ Masquerade:

I feel another eric-tion coming on! Look, ok I would have basically swapped Break of Dawn til Christmas and had It's Gonna Rain as the summer smash, but that's over and done with now and the perky pop goodness of Masquerade is exactly the single needed from Eric at the moment. The boy has become a genuine pop treat and I hope he reaches a wider audience outside Sweden with his next album. You'll need to read the breakdown for Break of Dawn first because Masquerade is the sequel. Thanks to scandipop for the heads up!

• Ooo the video starts with some sort of exciting carnival and a girl being twirled around. How fun!
• No it doesn't you twazzock, that's just the advert at the beginning of the video, but oh my, I do quite like the look of that little camera. No, the video begins with Eric sweeping the floor all barefoot and humble. Just as Break of Dawn ended. It's cinderfella!
• Saucy Michele Deliche walks in and Eric Cinderfella looks all concerned but soon gives in as she pushes him against the wall and goes in for some lip nibbling, which when i was growing up was number 6 on the sauce-o-meter!
• Oh no! Eric Cinderfella was right to look all worried. Her gentry friends are already looking for her and she has only been gone a few seconds. The aristocracy are SO needy...
• I love how as she leaves, she runs her fingers down Eric Cinderfella's swan like neck, and he puts his hand up where she has touched. I'm sure it's for romantic reasons but it looks more like "damn! Bitch better have not robbed mama's good luck charm necklace!" Michele turns round and gives the best "sssh" fingers to lips this side of Ari in Pretty Little Liars...
• And the song hasn't even started yet! Amazing!
• Oh now it starts. Basically gentry friends give Michele a filthy look, while back in the barn Eric Cinderfella pulls out a suitcase, strips (oo-er) and starts to put on his fine clobber.
• Pleasingly, it takes him a good few seconds to do up his fancy shirt. Buttons can be tricky can't they? He also has a mask and I sense he is going to go in disguise to a masked ball! This IS Cinderfella!
• Eric Cinderfella enters the masked ball and does what anybody trying to blend in would do - draws attention to himself by barging in singing his catchy chorus, throwing his coat at someone who clearly isn't the servant boy and grabbing people looking for Michele. Eric, dear, you are dangerously close to entering Lois Lane Doesn't Recognise Clark Kent Is Superman territory. It's obviously which one Michele Deliche is. Silly billy...
• He finally finds her and drags her off to a private little room. Actually it's just like he's travelled back in time and entered the set of Steps' It's The Way You Make Me Feel (still a brillo song)...
• Eric Cinderfella is clearly a bit angry and getting a bit shouty. Michele is a bit patronising and goes in for the snog. Her feminine wyles won't get her out of this situation will they? Surely coming clean rather than using him as a sex toy is the best option (*ponders that for a minute* :P )
• Noooo! He spends most of the second chorus smooching the face off her and going for some sexy thigh grabbing action. Meanwhile the party carries on and Michele is distracted by what happens next. Ooo I am liking her less and less...
• The church elders are not happy when Eric runs out to the party sans mask. He gets dragged away - it's not clear whether it is because he is not wearing his mask and this is the rule, or whether it is because he has pitched above his station?!
• But who cares because it leads to Eric In Bondage! Oh my. All chained up and nowhere to go. Qu'elle domage :P
• Oh blimey! He's going to be beheaded. That's a bit harsh isn't it?! Perhaps a good spanking might sort him out instead! But the drama is delicious...
• Oh my Christ. He sings a last plea to Michele, who doesn't save him and we are left thinking that Eric has been beheaded. The End pops up on the screen! Oh Eric. We barely knew thee... life can be so cruel :/
• For a happier version of the song, check out this exuberant and lovely live performance instead here :)

I had a right lovely time on La Larry of the Flick's radio show this morning. Not only did we have a good old gab about the bonza news of Prop 8 being overturned in California, but got to play lots of music - some was new, some well known to UK folk but it's always fun to have a natter about popstars and their current output. Most I chatted about in yesterday's post. None of the below were featured but they are all songs that rank in the very good indeed category of life :)

• Kelly Rowland - Shake Them Haters Off: I heard this song briefly several weeks ago, popped on a mix compilation and promptly forgot about it. Then it randomly came up the other day and I've been blooming obsessed with it ever since. It's just so simple in it's execution that everything about it is entirely engaging. It's a million miles from Commander (which was proper bonza too) but that just adds to the charm. Currently in a neck and neck battle with Darin's Lovekiller to dethrone Maroon 5 from the top of my chart this week :)
• Alphabeat ~ Chess: While it's widely known that the fourth single from their still pleasing The Spell album is going to be Heatwave, it would be remiss of me not to mention how many plays I've been giving Chess this week. It's one of those album tracks that always seems good but suddenly feels a lot better because you've played the obvious singles to death. It's just so quirky and lovely that it kind of makes me yearn for when A*Teens were doing slightly perkier boy-girl pop duets with songs like Perfect Match. It's always a big treat to listen to and if they get the chance could be a brillo fifth single!
• Champagne Riot ~ Heart Stab (above): This is from one of the many promo emails I get and never really pay attention to. I'm glad I did with this one. It's all sorts of magnifico. It's a marriage of gentle synths, a perky pop beat and a retro feel with lush vocals and a sweeping production value that makes it instantly wonderful the first time you listen to it. It's Abba melodies mirrored with the sensibilities of the Pet Shop Boys and it's all just so blooming gorgeous I could cry. Plus one of the looks all sorts of geek chic hot in a bow tie :)
• Birgit Bidder ~ Parking Lot Paradise: Birgit is an accomplished session musician who has most recently spent time with the very talented Erik Hassle (see below) and decided, hmmm I could probably give this pop malarky a go myself. So she has and very good at it she is too. With a distinctive and strong vocal styling, she has turned out a tune that is rich in melodic hooks, sumptuous instrumentation and resonantes as a quality piece of work from start to finish. It's the type of swoony smoky jazz pop I would have expected from Oh Laura had they chosen to continue. Hypnotically amazing.
• Erik Hassle ~ Taken (Still In My Blood): Sigh - Eric is one of those artists who I constantly wonder why they aren't entirely more massive than they are. Hurtful is a tremendous pop tune of epic proportions, yet failed to connect with a sniffy British public. Luckily he is having better luck bedding in in his native Sweden as Standing Where You Left Me is hanging around the top 40 for a few weeks now. This new tune is a sparse percussive song with electro tinges and a deeply emotive vocal performance that project the maudlin lyrics perfectly. It's not the most commercial piece of pop music in the world but as with all Eric songs, it's rewarding and more than worthy of a few minutes of your time.

Tomorrow (if i get chance) - some video breakdowns!

This weekend is kind of a big one as it represents a few significant milestones in my life. To commemorate these, Darren and I are going away to "the north" to stay in a nice B&B (not featured on tv's 3 In A Bed) and doing lots of exotic stuff, like seeing Jane McDonald live! Anyway, here are some of the things I am celebrating over the next few days...

• May 1st is 10 years since i got the all clear from the big Cancer...
• May 3rd is not only my birthday, but also 10 years since I met Darren, when i was all bald still and blotchy from treatment :)
• He loved me anyway because May 6th is our 10th anniversary!!

So that's all rather splendid. I'll be computer free (by choice! Gasp!) for a few days, but feel free to leave comments, say hello on twitter, email me. I like to come back to a plethora of e-ness! Right, here's some stuff to tide you over :)

Video magnificence:

• Mans Zelmerlow & Maria Haukass ~ Precious To Me: I happen to think lovely Mans is one of the finest specimen of man to walk the planet. Plus he puts out stonkingly good pop music, which always delights me. He's back duetting with Maria on a song from her album, which is basically not only a rather lovely modern take on Kylie & Jason's Especially For You in aural form, but a visual nod of the head to it too. Mans looks heavenly in his shirt/tie/cardi combo while Maria struts around in killer heels giving some vixen colour to the mix. It's ever so dreamy and romantic and the perfect song to soundtrack the weekend ahead :) More please, more...
• Alphabeat ~ DJ (I Could Be Dancing): The title in parenthesis works much better as the official song title for me. Possibly because it then puts it in line with epics like SS I Don't Feel Like Dancing and SD If You Can't Dance. Both aces. The remix makes it a bit fresher, a bit funkier and the video - well Stine and Anders both look great. Loving the loose limbed tambourine playing :)
• Alexandra Burke ~ All Night Long: Oh dear. The beginning sounds like Don't Stop Gleelieving. The chorus sounds like a bit of a reheat of Paparazzi. No one else agrees with me on this theory. I still quite like the song though. The video is a slightly more frenetic, less polite, debauched version of Steps' Stomp... (And Alexandra has way to much eye makeup on)! PS I do love a piano at a party. I always go down well when there is one :)
• Hurts ~ Better Than Love: I initially fell much more in love with Blood Tears & Gold but I'm willing to cheat on it with this song. What i love about this video is that it puts the formal nature associated with a suit outfit and puts it against a more sleazy, underworld background. The two boys both look beautiful and the song is a slow growing, mid paced ditty that on a few listens becomes an absolute belter :)

Things I am looking forward to...

• The video to Sergey Lazarev's single Alarm - the thought of the vid (still above) has halted it's decline down my charts for several reasons. He has robbed my new hair"do" from last week; he ALWAYS looks good in a tie; those boots are quite amazing; it might invigorate and give new life to the song. Aces.
• Brandon Flowers solo album - oh yum yum indeed. I shall miss the Killers til they return but this will be a lovely interlude hopefully. D'Luv has all the details - I just hope it does better than my beloved Preston Ordinary Boy :(
• New singles by the Scissor Sisters and Kylie have me anxiously awaiting the first radio play - both have the potential to be utterly massive. The internet may very well explode. Check out XO for some scisster love...
• JLS are already moving onto a second album and have a new single out in early July. It's called The Club Is Alive and apparently samples The Sound of Music. I suspect in more of a I'm Too Sexy Sugababes way than a Gwen Stefani Wind it Up sort of way. I'm just said they haven't covered KLS... "JLS are gonna rock ya/ancients of mumu"; now that would be ace...
• Once the black smoke (monster) has settled over the Lost finale, season 3 of Tru Blood starts. Cannot. Wait!

Top 21 tracks of the week:

21 ~ Diana Vickers, Once
20 ~ Bjorn Johan Muri, Yes Man
19 ~ Gravitonas, Kites (NE)
18 ~ Music Go Music, Light of Love
17 ~ Donkeyboy, Sometimes
16 ~ Sergey Lazarev, Alarm
15 ~ Darin, You're Out Of My Life
14 ~ Kimberley Locke, Strobelight
13 ~ Alcazar, Headlines
12 ~ Mika, Kick Ass
11 ~ Ola, Unstoppable
10 ~ Candle Thieves, We're All Gonna Die
09 ~ Neo, Human Frontier
08 ~ Simon Curtis, Super Psycho Love
07 ~ Mariah Carey, 100%
06 ~ Sophie Ellis Bextor, Bittersweet
05 ~ DeeDee, Endure
04 ~ Maria Mena, All This Time
03 ~ Gabriella Cilmi, On A Mission
02 ~ Adam Tyler, Friction
01 ~ Eric Saade, Manboy (1 week)

back early next week catching up with aceness from Miley, Music Go Music, foxy shazam, the ark, etc...

In an effort to at least be ever so slightly more up to date, I'm trying to do the monthly musical compilations mid-month (ooo what lovely alliteration, oh I am clever, etc) rather than right at the end of the month when half of it is old news anyway. Plus these compilation cds have always been for my core circle of friends, none of whom are particularly internet savvy (only Bernice has twitter, and she scarcely uses it!) so don't really know about new acts til they hit the charts. So I seem a lot more innovative and clever among them :P But I quite like posting them here too for "posterity"!! (I did have a lovely text from my friend Cat at the weekend saying she was listening to a cd of mine from October 2005 and it was brillo - i fair was skipping about with a happy after that!)

• The Pipettes ~ Stop The Music: Our Love Was Saved By A Spaceman may be a mariachi meets Baccara slice of genius pop, but this lovely first single proper after far too long away is a heavenly fusion of sumptuous disco, a warm 70s vibe, a delicious hook and harmonised vocals. They may not be polka dot princesses anymore, but their new sound is equally as inviting (and they are almost out viva-ing Mini Viva)!
• Simon Curtis ~ Super Psycho Love (above): I was reluctant to include the amazing Simon at first particularly as this track isn't on general release yet... However, he has previewed it on youtube and it's so immense that I can't sit on it any longer. Hopefully this will be his next "free" release as he is so close to the next twitter follower requirement! It's a dark, insiduous beat with a dangerously insane chorus that shows he really is Lord Gaga rising...
• Mini Viva ~ Do You Want A Candy?: Sigh. They really should be flying high now, shouldn't they rather than sinking into a Reynolds Girls type obscurity. Tokyo was perky, I Wish was lovely - so thank the pop gods there is a third chance in the offing. It's a tremendous new track they performed at the Jazz Cafe and live it already sounds like a fluffy piece of brilliance, so one can only salivate in anticipation at a magnificent studio production...
• Diana Vickers ~ Once: Oh I'm just as surprised as you that this has made the list. I wasn't the most ardent fan of hers during the X Factor... However, I'm always open to a little bit of musical persuasion and Once has done just that. I'm always a sucker for a Cathy Dennis composition and this one is just a nice slice of Ellie Goulding-lite pop for the masses ie, me! Plus The Boy Who Murdered Love may be the best pop song of it's ilk since Sugababes 3.0 Every Heart Broken!!
• Alex Gardner ~ I'm Not Mad: The other xenomania project worth investing in at the moment is lovely Alex. As I mentioned on Sunday, his album sampler is quite simply the bees knees and lead off single I'm Not Mad is a lovely laxidaisical slice of rock driven pop that ingratiates from the first second you hear of it. It has a beautifully layered chorus that just jangles along and Alex delivers a most pleasing vocal performance. Plus he's not too shabby on the eye either...
• Bjorn Johann Muri ~ Yes Man: Love, love, love. Simply one of the most glorious songs I've heard this year. Foolishly Norway decided this wasn't good enough to be their eurovision entry but still sent it to the top of their charts anyway. It's basically an updated version of an 80s up-tempo synth ballad - delivered so sincerely that it absolutely launches skybound and stays there from the first chorus. The word anthemic was made for songs like this. Joe McElderberry would give his left nut for something as amazing as thing - and yes, it would sound bloody brilliant in an episode of Glee.
• Elin Lanto ~ Love Makes Me Stupid: Oh who hasn't been a bit of twat because of the person they are temporarily infatuated with? For example, I'm missing the Brits for a night of rumpy pumpy with darren :) Elin Lanto - swedish songbird extraordinnaire - has put those into one of those brilliant angry sounding disco songs that The Veronicas do so well. In fact it's nearly as marvelous as Revenge Is Sweeter Than You Ever Were and so aggressively in your face that you can't help go back for seconds. That's love.
• Alexandra Burke ~ Bury Me: Yes, I know that ballad is the official next single, but to me it feels like the arse-end of an album campaign and I'm not really ready to give up on the Bezerker just yet. So I'm opting for the ever so 60s girl band vibe of the pretty Bury Me instead to tide me over. The video could be quite good too - Alexandra with big hair, and three others of her all doing a sweetly innocent little shimmy for the cameras. None of these crotch riding outfits from Broken Heels. Best funeral song ever.
• Jordin Sparks ~ 911 Emergency: What the piddle are Jordin's record company doing with her album? Bugger all that's what. Really she should be on the fourth single by now (after the quite nice Snow song at Christmas) and this would just shoulder-shake it's way into the top 20, where it would linger for 3-4 weeks around the number 14 mark. In other words, it's quite good but if they'd aggressively launched the right songs in succession on the public it would seem much better (I'll be having a similar rant about Blake Lewis in part two of this volume). Quite good song though!
• Dragonette ~ Easy: I often lay awake at night pondering what the world would be like if Simon Curtis were actually launching his 8BitHeart as his second smash album proper and then as I drift off, I imagine Dragonette are world wide superstars. That would be quite justified in my eyes as they keep churning out top drawer material like this simply delectable mid-tempo tune that charms and woos you with every note and nuanced syllable. I remain in despair at their fringe status because Easy is divine.
• Alphabeat ~ MonsterMash (below): Dear lord, what has come over me? G'Gah songs on my playlist? Has hell frozen over? :P Alphabeat have done this rather brilliant mix of Telephone and mixed it perfectly with the (yes) epic Bad Romance. And it's as if Black Box were still doing Strike It Up because it's a 90s disco extravaganza that transforms both songs into something that takes me back to the heady days of my sixth form discos. And it's equally as dramatic in it's new format. Alphabeat - reigniting 90s brilliance one song at a time...

Back tomorrow with part two...

(Movie choice for the month ~ Adventures in Babysitting. Who hasn't pranced around like this while getting ready for a date?!)

1 ~ Sugababes, Get Sexy: I know, I know, this really should have been on the August chronicles. But i forgot. So it ends up here instead, and shockingly even though it feels like it has been around forever, it isn't even released yet anyway! Sounding best played loud in a club, it tries hard but doesn't quite emulate the giddy heights of Hole In The Head or Freak Like Me. Good try though...
2 ~ Alexandra Burke, Bad Boys: I am consumed with agogosity by the mere fact that I am entertaining the inclusion of this on the chronicles so bored of the Burke I was during the X Factor. But never let it be said I can't open my mind. Basically even though the inclusion of FloRida was entirely unnecessary, this tune is part Miley (See You Again), part Katy (I Kissed A Girl) and all Womanizer. How could it not fail to be quite intruiging over all?
3 ~ JLS, Everybody In Love: Not quite the amazing follow up to Beat Again that it could have been, but there is something eminently likeable about the JLS boys - and while this is generic by the numbers boyband pop, they deliver it with such conviction and joi de vivre that their enthusiasm is utterly infectious. Here's hoping that the album delivers some absolutely stomping pop corkers though...
4 ~ V Factory, Lights Camera Action: It's not their next official single, but I do like this song quite a lot so I'm focusing on this and will return to their scheduled release schedule at a later date. And while I live in fear that the V will split up before an album materialises, I'll drench myself in this rather funky if-simon-curtis-were-in-a-boyband type sound (and a sound that doesn't exactly sound out of place next to the BSB's Straight Through My Heart).
5 ~ Alphabeat, The Spell: The 'beat are back! How jolly amazing is that? Very amazing is the answer to that quite rhetorical question. Ooo it took me a while to work out how to SPELL rhetorical, but it all came good in the end. Basically, I don't have much to say about this right now other than the popjustice clip sounds rather delish. Check out a full version on Friday on the Scott Mills show, radio one, 4pm.
6 ~ The Saturdays, Forever is Over: As surprised as I was by liking Alexandra, I was just as surprised by how emphatically disappointed I was (am) by this song. I like the Saturdays. Up and Issues are wonderful. Work was undervalued. This however is overrated. It's a mix between Battlefield and I'm Outta Love, and not really too surprising as it's produced by the same people. Still I'm not willing to give up on the Turds yet, and I suspect this mediocrity will grow on me :)
7 ~ Sound of Arrows, Into The Clouds: I'm finding it incredibly hard not to be completely captivated by the Sound of Arrows. Not only was M.A.G.I.C one of the most infernally catchy songs in years, but they have stepped up their game on this equally astonishing tune which retains pop sensibilities with a very slight indie gloss. Probably what Candy Flip would have sounded like if they had the technology back in the 90s...
8 ~ Jordin Sparks, SOS: Vocoder alert! But it's all good as Jordin does an Alexandra and Saturdays by taking a template of what works well in a pop song (in this case elements of Rihanna and Lady Cuckoo) and turns it into a song that is ever so slightly appealing basically because of who is singing it. Quite nice, but not a patch on Battlefield. Sigh. Better go and get my armour... (kudos for the mentally undressing line. Always pleasing)
09 ~ BWO, Love Came Crashing Down: Again, I deviated from the official single release schedule (could've gone for the Velvet duet or next Swedish single Rise To The Occasion) but this has always been a favourite of their glorious fourth album. It's quite pet shop boysy and while built around a simple riff, it utterly soars to the skies in the chorus and sounds quite grand and epic. Marina sounds great at 2m30s and powers a great key change 15 seconds later. What's not to love?
10 ~ Pet Shop Boys, All Over The World: Does anyone even care if there are any more releases from the brilliant PSB Yes album? If not, then it's a cruel harsh unfair world that we live in. There could easily be about 5 songs that are single worthy. This is just one of them. From the classical sample to the epic chorus, it's indelibly Pet Shop Boys. What more can I say? (I suspect XO, Chartrigger or Worrapolava could say it all much better...)

11 ~ Dan Black, Pump My Pumps: One of the hideously underrated albums of the year so far is the very enjoyable Un by Dan of Black. It's like a male sung Kylie song of ice-cool proportions as he works in frenetic beats, edgy vocals and brilliant sound effects that give the song a slightly dangerous feel. I'm hoping this song will give him the enormous success he deserves - very different to the side he showed the world in Symphonies. Buy the album!!
12 ~ Agnes, On and On: Oh how I know Mike Poptrashaddict absolutely adores this very song. And artiste. I'd go as far as to say one of his favourites :P I'm warming to her immensely if only because LaPantaloondeDaz has become quite besotted with her music. It's another quite good A*teens-esque pop dance tune that should do quite well because it is jolly pleasant. Sigh - i miss the A*Teens...
13 ~ Dragonette, Pick Up The Phone: One gets the feeling that the 'Nette should be global megastars by now and being rumoured to be writing tracks for the next Kylie album. Instead they are plodding on with the new big in Japan label ("beloved by bloggers") and churning out very decent electro-pop songs for the world to nip at the heels of. It's the hypnotic beat and repetition of it all that draws me into their world every single time. Totally classy and elegant pop that deserves a much much bigger audience. Sigh...
14 ~ Alcazar, Harlem Nights: I just can't give up on the brilliant Disco Defenders album. It absolutely begs on it's knees to be mined for quality songs to be given a bigger airing than they already have. This is one of the slickest pop songs out there right now - if only for the "boys lit cigarettes with a sneer" line and the honkytonk piano. The accompanying video link is ghetto tragique and quite wonderful with it. Hoodytastic!
15 ~ Jonas Bros, Fly With Me: Let's face it - two things are very clear with the JonasBonusBros. 1) they will never ever be as good as McFly and 2) there music will never be as bad as their tv show. It's vaguely enjoyable in a I-should-really-know-better sort of way. Tweenage girls will go weak at the knees for it, it does have some nice piano bits in it but yes, I really really should know better...
16 ~ The Yeah You's, Getting Up With You: On paper the Yeah You's sound quite enterprising and brilliant. They mix the 70s type power pop of The Feeling with the youthful exuberance of The Click Five and manage to avoid being the next Journey South. And it does work quite well in practice. This is rather catchy, very summery and rather entertaining. In a moment of post modern irony brilliance, they were on british breakfast television today singing this very song. Career pinnacle or what?!
17 ~ Julian Velard, Jimmy Dean (vid above): (Click the link for Julian's myspace) Ok, here's the skinny. Julian Velard should be a worldwide megastar by now and it absolutely baffles me why he isn't. This song is a good 12 months old, but it's really connected with me lately. I'm not sure whether it's that Julian sleeps in his clothes, or the effortlessly rollicking piano, or the best use of dead idols in a pop song since Vogue or the ridiculously catchy chorus. It's probably all those things and more. I behove you to go and purchase this single. I thanks you :)
18 ~ Marit Larsen, Ten Steps: Marit's "The Chase" album has enjoyed a bit of a renaissance thanks to the much deserved number one hit of "If A Song" in Germany. She's rereleased her two albums as a bit of an "Ego Has Landed" type affair in Europe and this is her gorgeous next single. There is something enchanting about her voice and the lovely piano work that I can't get enough of...
19 ~ Pink, Bad Influence: One day Pink is going to have one of the best greatest hits albums to hit the market. In the meantime though she will keep ploughing on releasing amazing singles from her rather good actually Funhouse album. Pink can be a bad influence on me anyday :)
20 ~ Natalie Imbruglia, Want: Natalie is back and is a little bit throbbing. It's ever so slightly goldfrapp and shows once again, that Ms Imbruglia is an artist to be reckoned with - one who quietly reinvents her sound, takes on different genres and is far more creative than people give her credit for. Although it does remind me a little bit of Texas' Can't Resist but frankly comparisons to Sharleen are only a compliment. Can't wait to hear the album...
21 ~ Nerina Pallot, Real Late Starter: I have loved Nerina from the days I spotted her imaginatively titled poppy debut album advertised in Heat (Watch Out Billie and Jump are amazing) through to her complex and inviting second album (Sophia is a masterpiece) and am currently addicted to her tweets. This is a beautiful piece of poetry set to a lovely piano melody and quite witty with it too. Bodes incredibly well for the graduate. Looks absolutely stunning in the video below too :) Everything's coming up Nerina...

The week before any holiday (vacation for my Go-Gos loving American buddies) is always interminably slow. There is always loads to do at work. There is the insanity of helping your OCD other half pack his suitcase (tip: make a list of what he is putting in as he does it otherwise you will be packing and unpacking all night to check whether the double ended dildo has batteries in it). There is the very very important decisions about what tv shows and music to put on your archos. And then there is the thought that you have (some would say wisely - there is a real world out there!) committed to a week cycling around the mountains of Austria with no internet or blackberry. It's like a www detox. In the meantime, as succinctly as I know how (and I know I'm not the most concise person ever to blog - was any of this introductory paragraph necessary? Probably not, although without it I wouldn't be able to tell you that Darren went to an old ladys house for work today, only to be shown coasters which were close ups of her deceased husband's willy. Now imagine going all week without knowing that!!), here are some of the highlights of the week (that will take you til I'm back on Sun 16th to read!)...

MUSIC:

• Hurrah for pop music and all who sail in it, I say. Sure I get mocked for liking music that is allegedly designed to appeal to teenage girls, but there is goodness and cheerfulness in appealing to that demographic that appeals to me. There's already the mighty lovely Industry "burn"ing up the Irish charts, and out of the ashes of Beyond and Discotheque rise the ace of basetastic Waterloo. Featured on today's always reliable popjustice, this four piece has all the right ingredients - voices that harmonise together nicely, two stunning looking ladies, two quite handsome dudes (oh no, here's that mp3 pornography again!) and tunes that are entirely too catchy for their own good. I'm always up for high quality melodic pop that is hopefully destined for chart success. Forget the 80s, it's all about the sound of the 90s and I'm right back there with them. Check their myspace here...
• Talking of popjustice, they are on an absolute roll this week. Case for the prosecution - exhibit A: An absolutely free download of Erik Hassle's Don't Bring Flowers - with MPHO!!! Yes, the MPHO all the reliable music blogs like Dan Uk, XO and Phil are talking about. It's ever so magnif as a duet.
• Exhibit B: The return of Robbie Williams looking quite decent (let the Triga boys keep the "trackie" look Robster) and with the match made in heaven pairing of him and Trevor Horn. And don't forget PJ had the low down on the brillo sounding Alphabeat new single as well - The Spell. Both these acts should be brightening up my autumnal months...

• Oh finally! I've been looking out for new act Jaymi ever since he graced the main stage at Birmingham Pride in May. His debut single keeps getting postponed, but now he has finally thrust his way (ooer) onto the world wide web with a website and some single snippets. I seem to remember he did a rather corking cover of Let's Get Excited by Alesha Dixon, and his own a*teenstastic version of I Promised Myself. I particularly like the way the latter (the first single) builds the anticipation before kicking in with a hi-nrg disco beat. It's like S/A/W never went away and I love it. His version of Human is rather nice too.
• Talking of S/A/W never going away, there is a clip of the original mix they did for Same Difference's Turn It Into Love on the PWE website. It's a lot more "european" sounding than the finished version - and the lovely SD siblings twittered me that they hope to release this version in Japan soon. Hurrah.
• That very same website has a whole tracklisting of the Sinitta greatest hits album. No longer will she just be sitting around doing some undetermined job for Simon Cowell on X-Factor but reminding us all of great songs like the hideously inappropriate video to Toy Boy, the ace So Macho and summery Right Back Where We Started From. Plus unreleased mixes and tracks. D'luv will be in heaven...
• Lumme! You can tell the final quarter is coming up because there are greatest hits coming up all over the place - including the imaginatively titled Hits from William of Young! He wisely leaves off that Gareth duet, and I'm hoping for a couple of super dooper new uptempo tunes to boogaloo down to at Christmas parties...

• The Baseballs always delightful Strike album (current fave = their hillbilly reading of Bleeding Love) has gone gold in Germany. Now bring the show to England boys (bring the show to London boys would have worked better in a postmodern ironic pop culture way, but there's a world outside our capital you know)...
• Natalie Imbruglia is back and I am very happy for 2 reasons - one, i love saying her last name as many times as I can and two, she is one of dazpanteloons favourite singers. While the video song Wild About It isn't the official single, there is something quite enchanting about the song and accompanying video that I have fallen in love with. I can almost imagine William of Young singing this. She sounds and looks great anyway.
• Lenka has done a new video for the brilliant Trouble Is A Friend of Mine, and Marit Larsen has finally got a video for the always lovely If A Song Could Get Me You. Both very 2008 both still very amazing.
• Erasure's still super The Innocents album is 21 years old this very year and is being released as a special edition. I am practically love weeing at the thought of this - I could not get enough of that album when it was released. And it's a double disc!! And there is a Phantom Bride EP coming! This is obviously all very exciting for me :)
• Finally, I discovered Larry Flick's brillo radio show on Sirius radio this week and low and bloody behold if it isn't the most chatty, smutty, hilarious show I've heard for ages. And with great bloody music. And low and bloody behold part 2, he's only gone and fallen in love with the delightful Elouise (and bobbypops a bit!) - if you want to here the amazing Another Day tune into his show. If she doesn't release this song soon, I will combust faster than she does in Fireman of my Dreams...

NOT MUSIC:

• Darren and I have become ridiculously obsessed with Rupaul's Drag Race and subsequently his Champion album. The former is frothy, addictive, catty fun and the latter is an enjoyable set of dance-pop anthems. Loving your work miss Bebe Zahara Benet - those eyes are amazing...
• Everything about the 10 Things I Hate About You sitcom screams "TGIF" block on ABC circa the Clueless/Teen Angel/Sabrina era of the mid 90s. And you wouldn't be entirely wrong. But where that is the downfall of Ruby and The Rockits, 10 Things manages to rise above and sparkle & sizzle with some Greek-type wit and humour in it's writing. Definitely worth 22 minutes of your time...
• I have my holiday reading all set. I was thinking about re-reading Wicked by Gregory Maguire for the nth time, but i'm sticking with my much anticipated first read of the always hilarious Grace Dent's Diary of a Snob and another re-read of the final Harry Potter. (PS be sure to follow Grace on twitter for insightful BB10 observations. STFU Lisa indeed. god that woman gives Birmingham a bad name...)
• Finally, Britannia High graduate alert! The lovely Jez (Matthew James Thomas) is currently starring in the London stage version of one of my fave novels Dorian Gray, and quite phenomenal it is too. Full review coming soon...

TOP 21 SONGS OF THE WEEK:

Be sure to check out pop trash addicts on Sunday, particularly as I give two songs 4/5...
Be sure to know that Elouise would be powering up my charts with Another Night if they put the full studio version online...:P
Be sure to be back here on Sunday 16th for all the salubrious gossip from Austria. Comment away until then...

Important things in the world of pop (and pop culture) that i really couldn't be arsed to write about this week...

• Hurrah! I can (non) exclusively reveal (i.e. I read it in Music Week) that the title of the first Same Difference single is very possibly but not guaranteed to be called "Pop". Assuming it's not a cover version of the lacklustre N*Sync single from some years back, it's either going to be a work of post modern genius or very possibly the tale of another of Jamie Tinkler's failed attempts at stardom...
• I had assumed that Alphabeat would go with the perky as nipples on a cold day pop classic GoGo as their fourth delightful single from the This Is Alphabeat album. I assumed wrong. Instead it's the perky as nipples on a cold day pop classic What Is Happening. I am quite pleased with this turn of events.
• Isabel Guzman is making her UK debut appearance courtesy of the mighty Popjustice. I am rather pleased that she seems to be receiving top billing too. Surely it cannot be long til Britain falls prey to the charms of songs like Mysterious and Kill The Boy? Please?
• An effing plethora of albums hit my mp3 player this week that i meant to blog about but frankly none lived up to the brilliance of William Young's album or Killers/Girls Aloud singles. They can be categorised as follows though ~ Good (Kaiser Chiefs; Lenka; Monrose), Quite Good (Travis, Jennifer Hudson, Ben Folds), and Oh Dear (The Pretenders; Snow Patrol). I've linked to other blogger's album reviews where possible :)
• It's the only album of hers I've liked this millenium, but Mariah Carey seems to have given up on E=MC2. There seemed to be about 8 choices for the third single, but to me a fourth and final single was clear ~ I Stay In Love is a gem of a midtempo ballad and rather lovely with it too. Again, miles ahead of the new Leona songs :(
• BWO are now a bit like Steps aren't they? They won't really change their sound very much, but are rather good at what they do. Case in point - a rather funky remix of Barcelona (by ) is doing the rounds and the Gormenasai promo cd is jampacked with floorfiller bodypopping interpretations of the Fabricator track. Brillo - eyecatching vids to follow no doubt...
• Golly, Popjustice surely do hate(ish, then partially like) Luigi Masi don't they? To be blunt, he was not very good at opening for Girls Aloud but i figured he was just out of his depth. I guess not - but perhaps he is saving the best stuff for the album. If Strobelight is a hit in England over far more talented folk like Darin or Simon Curtis, then everyone involved in his career deserves to be hunted down and given chinese burns. This is parental pandering at it's very worst!
• Why on earth The Feeling would bother releasing a fifth single to an ungrateful Britain from their aces Join With Us album I don't know, but I'm still hankering for a video to Won't Go Away. It has the best sax solo in a song since 1989's Should've Been The One by Debbie Gibson...
• Is it me or is it bloody 1990 again? NKOTB are ruling the album charts (well for a week before a McFly like plummet) ; 90210 is on tv again and Tiffany is still milking the fact that she chose a good cover version 20 years ago and playing at a club literally round the corner to my house! I am going to Ruthiepoos instead
• Finally, how remiss of me would it be to not point out that Simon Curtis and Victoria Justice have done some really cute behind the scenes thingies for popstar magazine. Check out the VMA one here and the Teen Vogue one below...
  
  

Some reasons why I couldn't be bothered to blog on Monday (lundi - i'm feeling all francais this week)

1. My car had to go into "the shop". I now have a "courtesy car" which rattles like Joan Rivers walking onto the stage and doesn't even have a bluetooth connection for mp3 play let alone a cd player. It has a cassette thingy!! Lordy!
2. I still haven't beaten Spider Solitaire on all four suits despite having wasted many hours at work trying.
3. I have doubled my daily step aerobics (how effing 80s) routine and am knackered, but increasingly buff.
4. Amazon dot co dot uk pissed me off. So did dvd dot co dot uk but they were ultimately quite nice to me.

Some reasons why I can be bothered to blog today (mardi - i'm still feeling all francais).

1. I heard Will Young singing "changes" on the radio and it is very jazz laid back and lovely in the extreme.
2. *Had* i been privvy by some miraculous means of listening to a Will Young "Let It Go" album sampler, I would say that it is largely indicative of the album, though there is a "Your Game/Switch It On" waiting to break free which would be a bonza second single.
3. Popjustice have finally picked up on the brilliance of Juvelen. Read my review of the album here, and his placing in my best albums of 2008 so far here...
4. I had a lovely chat with portuguese pop sensation Ryan Ferrada yesterday. He thought Darren looked in his early 20s which made Darren's head swell and had me questioning his eyesight :P

Finally, before I launch into a live lounge extravaganza of very varying quality, does anyone know the name of the song in the youtube video from a drunken night out above? It's probably an oldie but quite catchy in the extreme...

LIVE LOUNGE BLOWOUT!

Doing a cover version of a recent pop song used to be a cool and unique way of promoting your own single (see Arctic Monkeys doing Love Machine; Girls Aloud doing Rehab, etc). Now it's as necessary and ubiquitous as going on CD:UK was for Steps at the turn of the millenium. Basically everyone and his dog are at it. Some are brilliant. Some are ok. Some are ear bleeding representations of awful. All are here for you to enjoy. Take a look at McFly doing Born To Run above - everyone looks like they are having a whale of a time rather than trying to be uber cool. And that is what it's about for me :) So in order of brilliance here we go:

MP3: McFly - Born To Run (the boys can do no wrong. Except perhaps buy pets as a gift! Beloved at the last G-A-Y on Saturday)
MP3: Ida Maria - Nothing Sweet About Me (my new scandanavian obsession. Bloody love her)
MP3: Alphabeat - Black and Gold (turn Sam Sparro's existentialist classic into a rather beguiling love song. Well done indeed)
MP3: David Jordan - Stop and Stare (the charts may have abandoned him a la The Feeling but this One Republic cover is just shy of epic)
MP3: One Reublic - Mercy (talking of which, with Ryan Tedder at their helm they have no need to cover other's songs, but this rendition of Mercy sounds nice wrapped around male tonsils)
MP3: Kate Nash - I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend (much like Lily Allen, Kate does rather well when making others songs her own. Plus she says darnce.)
MP3: Ting Tings - Standing In The Way of Snap's Control (ooo the Shampoo of the new millenium mix Snap with last years critical darlings biggest and hopefully only hit)
MP3: Last Shadow Puppets - SOS (their latest b-sides are quite elegant and fine additions to the album but this is a bit of a mess to be honest.)
MP3: Dizzee Rascal - That's Not My Name (amusing for a few seconds then increasingly irritating until you want to rip your ears off to make it stop)
MP3: Kooks - Violet Hill (Didn't like the original, don't like this)
MP3: Black Kids - No Substitute Love (failing to reflect the high quality of their album, this is a bit of a disaster all round. Don't let that put you off their general aceness though).

More live lounges by clicking here...