Lopez Blogs

The internet is probably going to go a bit bonkers in the next few days with the seemingly forever delayed Lady G'Gah video and more excitingly (for me) the probable youtube rip of the new Sophie Ellis Bextor single. The latter I'm postively kvelling for - heartbreak may have made me a darnsar, but Bittersweet makes me want to run through a shower of glitter and sparkles in a tight tank top. Or something. While the world holds it's collective breath for any of the above to happen, there are two very different, but very familiar sounding albums i've become VERY obsessed with...

The Gentlemen Thieves present MaDonna Summer:

Sometimes the best ideas are the ones that are staring you right in the face. Two blokes (DJ Shy Boy and DJ Freddy King of Pants - not to be confused with DazPanteloons) have become the Gentlemen Thieves and thought, hey, if we put Ma in front of Donna Summer it sounds jolly familiar. And if we take some of their respective greatest tracks, smoosh them together and make them sound all new but like an old friend visiting with a new haircut, it might well just be blooming marvelous. And in the most part they are right. Donna Summer's work with Moroder in the 70s remains seriously exquisite. And Madonna has put together some of the most memorable songs of the past 25 years. Separately they both have had brushes with brilliance (repeatedly so) - together it's a sometimes bonkers sometimes amazing collection of work. Feel Like A Virgin is now an intense, echoing, pulsating disco epic that sounds throbbing and dirty, where Madonna sings over Donna's insinuating bass. She Works Hard For Material sees Donna sing over Madonna's Material Girl - it's a bit abrasive at first, but it soon gels together and works fairly well, particularly with the "ow, ow, living in a material world" juxtaposed over the background of the chorus. Secret Affair becomes a lush, sumptuous, warm, engaging girl group affair with woooo's in the background of the chorus and those lovely strings mixed with funky guitar. It's the clever matching of song themes that make this an above average collection of mash-ups ~ Heaven Knows A Prayer loses some of the religious solemnity from the music but merges from a hand clapping gospel epic into a hand clapping swirl that worships at the altar of disco. Dance Another Day gets a bit confusing but there's almost nothing you could do to Last Dance to make it any less enjoyable and the Madonna song loses it's electro current, but gains a gorgeous whirling string laden, tambourine banging instrumental background. Not everyone will like everything here, but there's certainly enough for curiosity factor, it's free and some of it is pretty bloody entertaining!

The Bird & The Bee ~ Interpreting The Masters:

Covers albums are sometimes a bit hit and miss aren't they? For every Susannah Hoffs with Matthew Sweet, there's an Eoghan Quigg. Sigh. Still, Bird and the Bee have blooming gone and outdone themselves with a love letter to Hall & Oates that includes 8 of their songs and something new that seamlessly blends in. In the past, Bird and the Bee have proved themselves to be whipsmart lyricists of the jazzy synth-pop variety, often funny, always meaningful. Here they show that they have a great knowledge of how to arrange songs - whether they are their own or borrowed from someone else. That original tune (Heard It On The Radio) sounds so in sync with their production values on the covers that it's hard not to assume it's a little known Hall & Oates b-side. The rest of the tunes are a great reminder of what terrific melodies the oft-maligned, mustachioed duo could come out with and presented here in a sometimes peppy pop format and a sometimes a wistful stroll down memory lane. Tracks like Rich Girl are as fresh as a delicious crisp salad while Maneater positively fizzes with sass and exuberance. The more melancholy stuff like She's Gone and One on One are also a sweet treat, lovingly delivered and perfectly crafted. Such a delightful project and one i'm going to enjoy for a long time to come.

Tomorrow: ABCD-D

Madonna Rio de Janeiro Pictures

The pictures of Singer Madonna with Rio de Janeiro's governor Sergio Cabral visits Santa Marta shantytown in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil dated November 14, 2009.

The state of the record industry:
Well gee willickers, it's been a funny old week. Debenhams have started to put the Christmas displays up (!) Work is dull as dishwater as I count down the days until I'm able to leave. I've been working hard/hardly working on my second novel about a gay lad in school. Lots of new music leaked. Oh and Darren Hayes went off on one about the state of the music industry. Like Popjustice says, Darren has some good points and some not so good ones - what is music worth to you, he asks? Not a lot when you give away the whole product of your group We Are Smug legally for free! One thing I do note is that record companies and artists may not like it, but either willingly or unwillingly contribute to it. Singles are given to blogs for free. Albums are sent to bloggers (even those blogs that do nothing but post illegal content) for free. Mika's next single from his latest album was available for free on ArjanWrites and it's not even a single yet! Songs hit the radio months before the public can buy them - as an example, Leona Lewis' Happy hit the radio last week but isn't legally available in the UK until November!! I'm not a marketing expert but that seems a bit loopy to me - people will either listen to it non-stop on youtube or myspace, or illegally download it. That is bound to hurt ultimate sales. Yes, I appreciate new artists have to get a buzz out there, and promote themselves, but fostering a culture of "music is free" won't help them in the long run. Or at least I don't think so. I'm not clever enough to think of all the answers - but let me know your views in the comments ;)

THE BEST OF THE WEEK:

• Ah JLS. Beat Again was quite good, wasn't it? They made us love boy bands again! And they are gearing up for the release of their second single by appearing on (almost) the last of Jo Whiley's Live Lounge slots this week. They did a nice organic version of Beat Again (though would it kill them or Little Boots to have done a Michael Jackson sample and call it Beat (It) Again?!) The cover of The Fear (mixed with Halo - above) was as lovely an offering as you'll find from a boyband and your enjoyment of it will entirely depend on your tolerance for these things :) Their new single Everybody in Love is instantly what is both brilliant and dire about the state of boybands. It's not quite a ballad, not exactly a dancefloor stomper, but it is a sleekly produced, tightly harmonised tune that is quite pleasant and has an enormous singalong chorus. On the downside, it's quite generic and makes me wonder when a boyband will make it big through taking the risks that girl groups seem quite willing to take these days. (And did they absolutely have to have a westlife tribute as their album cover?)
• Madonna (on course for a top three debut with the single Celebration) has two other new tracks on her greatest hits collection, Celebration. The first is Revolver which I am liking quite a lot - love the lyrics "My love's a revolver, my sex is a killer, do you want to die happy?", a most pleasing hook. Yes indeedy it does sound slightly Britney at times or even Lady Cuckoo, but honestly - those artists are so steeped in Madonna's sound, that a comparison seems grossly unfair. It's So Cool is allegedly left over from American Life and has been reswizzled. I seem to be in the minority on twitter for liking it (ghastly title aside) although ademwithane hasn't left me hanging. Phew! Celebrate Madonna!
• I saw the movie version of Dorian Gray this week, starring my favourite History Boy, Ben Barnes. I would have to say that I thought it was rather good indeed. I love it when classic novels are still utterly timely in their message. Of course this means it has been universally slated, but that's never stopped me liking stuff before!
• Vampires are hot! Like Abba they tend to weave in and out of pop culture without ever going out of style, but often being more popular than they were, say 3 years ago. The current crop of vamps fall into skeezy but highly enjoyable low rent porn (True Blood - ace despite it's rather Lois and Clark cliffhanger this year!); Dawson's Creek: The Vampire Years (Vampire Diaries - somewhat cliched, but eminently watchable) and fun (not) in the sun (Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant). Of course the latest Twilight preview for New Moon nearly sent me to sleep. 2 hours of mopey Bella? Oh goodie!
• TV is back! Of course it never went away, but the "fall season" has launched in the US and while I am avoiding dross like 90210 and Melrose Place (this sentence will seem v hypocritical in a minute), I am all over Gossip Girl and the aforementioned Vampire Diaries. But best of all so far is the marvelous Glee - check out the gloriously inappropriate rendition of Salt n Pepa's Push It. Brilliant and subtle nuances from the cast. Love it.

Top 21 Songs of the Week:

21 ~ Benny Andersson Band, Story Of A Heart
20 ~ Preston, Dressed To Kill
19 ~ Backstreet Boys, Soldier Down
18 ~ Industry, Burn
17 ~ Little Boots, Remedy
16 ~ Nerina Pallot, Real Late Starter
15 ~ The Yeah You's, Getting Up With You
14 ~ Pet Shop Boys, All Over The World
13 ~ Mini Viva, I Left My Heart in Tokyo
12 ~ Shakira, She-Wolf (NE)
11 ~ Same Difference, Better Love Me
10 ~ Alexandra Burke, Bad Boys
09 ~ BWO, Love Comes Crashing Down
08 ~ Sugababes, Get Sexy
07 ~ Madonna, Celebration
06 ~ Alphabeat, The Spell
05 ~ Mariah Carey, I Want To Know What Love Is
04 ~ Whitney Houston, Million Dollar Bill (Vid)
03 ~ Mika, We Are Golden
02 ~ Leona Lewis, Happy
01 ~ Robbie Williams, Bodies (3 weeks)

Coming next week: The X Factor double bill (Good god!); Natalie Imbruglia, Sliimy and BSB album reviews; something Dolly Rockery and maybe something else!

Today has been very something kind of poo, making me feel blue blue. So I'm going to gloss right over that and get onto the sounds of summer cd I shall be sending around to my friends soon! First off (brits), can you actually believe it's summer? I'm no fan of the summer sun (it burns my neck and arms and makes me polleny) but this weather is bizarre. It's like being in The Day After Tomorrow - only with no hunky Jake Gyllenhall to rescue you. In fact, the only reason I still know it's summer is that Big Brother 10 is still plodding on despite a huge lack of interest from the world. I still dip in now and then - in fact it has actually produced one of my fave big bro moments EVER. Silly bint Noirin (who flirts with everyone, gets them to fall in love with her then cock blocks them with the old "i just like hugs. lets be friends" line) was in the diary room telling big brother that while she liked Marcus as a friend, she fancied and had kissed Siavash (leading him no doubt to SeeHerGash) but now fancied Tom instead. She was advised that honesty might be best to which she replied "oh no, i'm going to have to sacrifice myself. I feel like Jesus Christ" !!!! Quite literally jaw droppingly astonishing. I feel like Jesus Christ. Yes because Jesus was all "ooo Pointious Pilot, I know we fooled around last week but I actually fancy Judas Iscariot" (Pontious "i'll get you for this Jesus", etc). That's exactly what Jesus was about :P Ok, now I've blasphemed, on with this list! There are a whopping 8 big come back singles on this, compared with 3 this time last year. Aren't people busy when it rains a lot...

FIZZYPOP CHOICE OF SONGS FOR AUGUST 2009:

1 ~ Madonna, Celebration: It is literally extraordinary that this hasn't properly leaked yet and the world is impatiently drumming it's fingers to the beat of a dodgy camera phone clip on youtube. I've said as much as I can about this on Monday, so just go there if you haven't already. No doubt will be the sound of the summer...
2 ~ Whitney Houston, Million Dollar Bill: It is literally extraordinary that this hasn't properly leaked yet. Tragically already the album campaign feels like a proper mess. Different singles here and there. Different mixes all over the shop. But I am confident that I will at least like most of the album and according to D'Luv this sounds like it could be proper bonza. Hurrah. I'm all for 1992!
3 ~ Mariah Carey, Obsessed: It's almost entirely out of habit that I keep putting Mariah on these lists at all. I was so in love with her music in the 90s that despite the shoddy output in recent years I still cling on. This isn't bad per se, it's just not great. Sigh. When will I learn?
4 ~ Shakira, She Wolf: I sort of forgot about Shakira until Mike reminded me. I thought Hips Don't Lie was rubbish, but loved Illegal. This is quite discotastic and sounds like Shakira has been overdosing on Annie in the chorus. I like the fact that she practically spits out the lyrics and that it all goes abit crazy around the middle 8. Better with each listen.
5 ~ Mika, We Are Golden: Oh come off it. I know that you are all secretly in love with this song by now but you just don't want to say :P Again, I've already written about how much I love this (if Madonna doesn't leak it could be number one on Sunday) so I'll just say that his gold pumps remind me of that Sex and The City episode where Carrie snogged Alanis Morrisette. They didn't look good on Ms Bradshaw and they don't look good on Mika :P
6 ~ Backstreet Boys, Soldier Down: Yes, I know that's not the official title, but it's a lot less wanky and more in line with the song - which is actually quite a decent RedOne production that does indeed sound exactly like what a BSB song should sound like in 2009. It's a bit funky, a bit dancey and totally catchy. Score. (Shame the days of soldier up are over for me when I see the boys though :P)
7 ~ Blake Lewis, Sad Song: You know, for the life of me I can't think of which Cher song this reminds me of. Oh wait, yes I can - it's Song For The Lonely. This has that mix of vocoder and dance beats. I do find Blake quite charming and I'm entertained by this tune and found myself singing it quite a lot. I am amused at the battlefield reference (unrelated news - despite not reaching the top ten, Jordin S has sold 124,000 of that track in the UK. Marvy)
8 ~ Little Boots, Remedy: Glorious, glorious, glorious. Should this song (which is a spiritual lyrical sister to Heartbreak Makes Me A Dancer) have been the first single? Possibly, though I still think she should have hit with Stuck On Repeat. Poor Vicky gets a lot of stick for not being more successful (making her Sticky Vicky?!) but this song is just wonderful and I adore the album. Apart from the fact I love Stuck On Repeat a lot more than he does, Aaron has written the album review I've been stalling on for far too long...
9 ~ Marina & The Diamonds, Obsessions: I know I'm a bit late on this song, but i find it's ethereal minimalistic piano juxtaposed with Marina's quite haunting vocal to be quite quite mesmerising. I could honestly listen to her all day. I don't love this quite as much as ...Robot, but it's still a slice above most the myspace pop out there. And her blog is very often in the brilliant range.
10 ~ Bananarama, Love Comes: Oh this song gets better every time that I hear it. I'm just dying for a myriad of remixes to hit that pump up the bass and amp up the melody. Love how "love" is written in all disposal things at the beginning of the video. Love the britpop dresses at the end of the video. Quite like everything in between and the song is more moreish than a packet of Haribo Tangfastics. True.

11 ~ Industry, Burn: Another D'Luv exclusive. This will be out officially in a couple of weeks and is a lovely breezy midtempo ballad that Steps used to do so much better than S Club (though Show Me Your Colours was nice). I'm eager for ridiculously attractive foursome to make some waves in the UK - just bribe people with Donal's yummy cookies and they'll be lining up in the streets to buy this equally edible tune :)
12 ~ Same Difference, Better Love Me: As I've said many times before, I refuse to give up on the brilliant Pop album. This gorgeous track is the spiritual successor to the aforementioned Steps Way You Make Me Feel and should really be the fourth single from the album now. Sigh. Sometimes the world is cruel. PS, apparently August 1st is National Same Difference Day. I'm down with that :) (Note to self: never say "down" in that context again)!
13 ~ Mans Zelmerlow, Forever: Now if I was Mans Zelmerlow i'd a) be a lot more gorgeous than I currently am (and let's face it, i'm pretty yummers :P) and b) i'd be cramming in 3 more singles this year from my "sophomore" album. Forever is the perfect late summer tune that just tinkles and dances out of the speakers with it's dance/rave "leanings". Whatever it's trying to be, it's a massively catchy tune with a great uplifting vibe to it. Brillo pants.
14 ~ Neo, Higher: I can't find a link to this :( Maybe Bobpops can help out? Anyway, I do find Neo to be perhaps the Mika that people will find less annoying?! This tune was my instant favourite of his quite brilliant debut album and his master of pop etiquette screams from every note within this song. No that didn't make any sense, but it sounds quite complimentary doesn't it?!
15 ~ Take That, How Did It Come To This?: Jason Orange, it's your time to shine. The That absolutely need to pick this as their fourth single whether they are having one or not. I love this song that makes self doubt and commentary on the craziness of modern life sound so heavenly and enjoyable. Jason sounds great - (should take lead vocal more often) and there are some great crashing piano chords in the background.
16 ~ Darin, Runaway: See, when popstars that are quite famous in their home country make an album that is meant to break the worldwide market, it can often lead to no international success and a bit of resentment back home. I'm not sure that has quite happened with Darin's latest album, but when there are great tunes like this - an effortlessly likeable "urban" club jam delivered with a lovely understated restrained performance from Darin, well home and away are missing out not making it massive.
17 ~ Kelly Clarkson, Already Gone: I forgot (already!) how much I like this song and I feel mightily ashamed that it is my number one song called Already Gone this year (sorry Deborah Gibson - oh the sacrilege). Kelly does ballads incredibly well and this is a modern day shuffling beat ballad that sounds just lovely on a dusky summer night. Raining or not. If Buffy were still going, this would be soundtracking something devastating.
18 ~ Taylor Swift, You Belong To Me: Great video for a good song. Nothing's gonna top the amazing key change adoring Love Story, but this is quite a perky little number that isn't going to change anyone's opinions of the verbose teen but it genuinely is (in my opinion) a pretty little song. I do wonder if there is anything in Taylor's life that she hasn't written about tho?!
19 ~ Arctic Monkeys, Crying Lightning: Bizarre but brave marketing campaign for this song. Played on radio then shoved onto iTunes straight away to prevent illegal downloading. No one knew about it so doesn't chart quite as high as some of their others. Now is out the chart, but a physical release is imminent and finally a video is here. The digital age is crazy. Which tells you nothing about the song!
Golden Oldie: Debbie Gibson ~ We Could Be Together: 20 years since she performed at Brosin2Summer at Wembley and was quite marvelous. WCBT is still a great summer single. I'm just sad that i ripped my 20 year old Electric Youth tour tshirt tonight :( Bummer in the summer :(

Back Fri (maybe) with a friday five. If not then deffo Sunday :)

I'll make my confession on a dancefloor. When Warner Bros announced that Lady Madonna (children at her feet. Literally) was releasing a(nother) greatest hits, I wasn't holding out much hope for a comprehensive and chronological 5 cd set of all her singles since the early 80s. There was also going to be controversy over the final listing (despite the label difficulties, surely Gambler is deserving of a place!?) - what goes on, what's missed off, etc. I remember being grossly disappointed over the omissions on The Immaculate Collection, though us lucky Brits got the extra tracks in the form of the rereleased cd singles of Holiday and Crazy For You. So when the rumoured Iconography became Celebration I thought, well pooey to this and continued with my own 5 cd box set. Basically it would be a money losing nightmare, because I envisage it coming in a solid oak box with the five cds inside, an accompanying dvd of all her videos (and memorable performances - any suggestions?) as well as free gifts to celebrate each disc's era. These would be as follows:

• Disc one (click here for listing): A lacey white glove circa Like A Virgin
• Disc two (click here for listing): Some patchahoochie oil perfume circa Like A Prayer
• Disc three (click here for listing): A leather blindfold circa Erotica
• Disc four (click here for listing): A personal note of apology from Madonna to all those who sat through Next Best Thing
• Disc five (click here for listing and add new tracks!): An orphaned baby from an underdeveloped country circa Hard Candy era

Now that would be amazing. That would be ground breaking. That would be worth ponying up £50 for. And it would be a poke(r face) in the eye to the increasingly desperate to outdo herself Lady Cuckoo as a lesson in evolving properly over time, not all in 9 months. Note: you are not a foetus madam.

But harky! Then look what happened. Celebration sort of leaked, like old lady Madonna's super strength pantyliner. And it's quite good in a stolen-the-rave-bit-from-girls-aloud's-untouchable-then-impregnated-it-with-the-spirit-of-Holiday-and-ejaculated-it-all-into-the-hitmaking-Confessions-blender type of way. Although the video above really isn't the best method for judging is it, but will do for now. And taken literally, the tracklisting as a "celebration" of Madonna's music over the past 27 years is actually quite phenomenal and wonderful. Yes there are missing tracks, but I have learned to come to terms with the fact that this was probably inevitable. I love the warhol-esque cover. I'm smitten already by Celebration (you can rest assured that if it leaks before Sunday it is likely to keep Mika from being number one on my countdown!) and I'm ready for a video where her lady garden doesn't hang down like 2 chicken fillets on offer at Bejams. Now I'm off to listen to Til Death Do Us Part and remember a simpler time when the most controversial thing in the world was a black Jesus...

Read XO's latest Madonna post here...
Read Adem's latest Madonna post here...

How is July nearly over already? My goals for July (which were rolled over from the 6 month stage of the year) are nowhere near complete, probably cos I have pissed too much time away on twitter. Grrr. Oh well, it's nice to have goals for August isn't it? I'm a bit bleary eyed today to be honest with you. I couldn't even be bothered to go and get my Sunday morning Starbucks (oh the horror, etc). Blame it on a fun night out with the reunited London Pride gang. Went to our usual haunt (Eden - gets more and more packed each week and deservedly so. James Leon and Elouise *may* [fingers crossed] be playing there in the near future...), listened to some good music, had a large man with a very sweaty back brush past me and leave most of his body moisture on my arm and then got persuaded by a tipsy Mark that we should go to a "bears and their admirers" bar to "see what it was like" :/ It did not taste good :S Though I did entertain by doing poetry style readings of popular raps in a posh accent (Shoop by Salt n Pepa always sounds bonza). Anywhere, lots to catch up on this week so here are the highlights...

THE WEEK THAT WAS:

• I've been entirely in love with Madonna's True Blue album this week. It is a delightful pop album from start to finish. After feeling a bit happy that work had finished on Friday, I skipped all the way home mouthing along to and pretending I was in a new video for the ebullient title track. Heavenly.


• (Thank God that during her many dodgy outfits - and many wonderful ones - Madonna didn't lose it and wear a kermit dress. Ridiculous).


• Talking of Madonna (part one) - it was quite sad that her stage rigging collapsed killing two people. How awful for their families - and I imagine Madonna too. As happens with these things, irreverent comments and jokes pop up over the internet. Call me humourless, but I don't get that, i'm sure the families don't get that and find it a bit repugnant. I remember in my late teens making a joke about Freddie Mercury at school shortly after he'd died and a teacher overhearing and simply said "He was loved by people and his family. Do you think they would find that funny?" And I was devoured by an entirely massive amount of shame. Each to their own though...:(


• Talking of Madonna (part two) - never has 18 seconds been so analysed. Celebrate clip leaked online this week and it's hard to make a comprehensive judgement on it. From what I can tell, it sounds like a quite decent COAD-era type song.


• Other clips floating around - as I mentioned last week, the chorus to Blake Lewis' Sad Song is available to listen to and quite brillopad. Ditto Mika's We Are Golden which instantly sounds like a cross between a Queen song, a Belinda Carlise chorus (i'm thinking We Want The Same Thing) and something else, I'm not sure what yet :P Barmy but brilliant.


• Over at lovely Robbie's pad, there is the first online clip for the new Industry single "Burn". Much like Same Difference, it's an updated Steps sound and similar to their decent midtempo ballads. Hard to judge from one little clip, but it's promising. Perhaps you heard it if you were at the Pussycat Dolls gig in Ireland last night? They were the opening act and marvy no doubt :P


• Sugababes "Get Sexy" continues to grow on me, and sounded rather marvelous played loud in Eden last night. Perhaps that's the optimum setting for it to be played?


• Ditto Bananarama's new one. Love Comes. (And so did I when I heard it as I rather disgracefully twittered in the week. And then repeated the "joke" on Mike's Poptrash singles of the week reviews). It's quite bonza indeed. It's a tightly produced little number with a great chorus and this whispery vocodered middle eight that just floats enticingly for a few seconds before launching back into the chorus. Those lovely rams continue with their diverse but always entertaining career then...
  


• I managed to go all last week without mentioning Elouise, but I can hold back no further! As it seems to be a "clips" week, I absolutely must spend some time talking about two tracks on her myspace. Pretender is what would happen musically if the amazing (and one of my favourite singers ever) Dusty Springfield were still around to record music today. It's epic in the extreme, with a glorious sounding chorus complete with tremendous backing vocals and the plainitive plea from Elouise to go back in time and "remember what you're missing baby". And she sings it so amazingly well, that I'm totally drawn into the world of the song and get this conflicted feeling - sadness from the message in the tune (who hasn't yearned for lost love?) but almost giddy euphoria at the sheer spectacular sound created. Another Day, i've written before, but i'm still obsessing over. The tune sounds like it belongs at the end of a James Bond film - or is a remake of Scissters Land Of A Thousand Words, but amping up the drama to the nth degree. Oh! And let's not even discuss the utterly charming Fireman of My Dreams (below). Not only is it one of the cutest songs I've heard in a long time, but it's quite witty and instantly anthemic. In a years time, many many drag queens will be miming to this. My god, an album better be coming soon or I will absolutely explode. And that won't be pretty.

TOP 21 SINGLES OF THE WEEK:

21 ~ Marina & The Diamonds, Obsessions (NE)
20 ~ Marina & The Diamonds, I Am Not A Robot
19 ~ Freemasons ft SEB, Heartbreak Makes Me A Dancer
18 ~ BWO, Right Here Right Now
17 ~ Ola, Sky's The Limit (NE/VID)
16 ~ Le Kid, Mercy Mercy
15 ~ Jordin Sparks, Battlefield
14 ~ Dan Black, Symphonies (the album UN is quite decent indeed)
13 ~ Sugababes, Get Sexy
12 ~ Lily Allen, 22
11 ~ Erik Hassle, Don't Bring Flowers
10 ~ Dolly Rockers, Je Suis Un Dolly
09 ~ Jason Mraz, Try Try Try
08 ~ Mr Hudson, Supernova (Did you see the size of his feet on Chattyman? Mazel Tov!)
07 ~ Mans Zelmerlow, Home
06 ~ Elouise, One Night Only
05 ~ "Abba", Second Best To None
04 ~ Little Boots, Remedy
03 ~ JLS, Beat Again (the deserved UK #1)
02 ~ Preston, Dressed To Kill
01 ~ Benny Andersson Band, Story Of A Heart (6 weeks)

Back soon with a Harry Potter post. At some point. And some career advice for artists...

I can't work out whether my regular candor about the elements of my life on this blog (and to an extent, my friends too - i regularly get conversations preceeded by "you can't put this on your blog!") are what gets people coming back or whether that is the stuff they skip over to see what my opinion is on the latest Same Difference track! Whatever, I think I miss writing more about the elements of my life, so that is probably going to come to the forefront more over the coming weeks. Whether that is part of this website, or whether I zip up my boots and head back to my roots has still to be decided! In the meantime, as a follow up to this week's post about all the new songs hitting right now, here are some more tunes to look forward to...

UPCOMING MUSIC:

Fizzypop fave: I have become increasingly enamoured with Preston over the past couple of weeks. I've made my own little Ordinary Boys greatest hits (the pop elements of his tunes were definitely there in tracks like Boys Will Be Boys, Life Will Be The Death of Me, Lonely At The Top and 9to5) and probably overdosed a little on his ace tune Dressed To Kill. So for no other reason than I cannot wait for a poptastic debut album from him and that he seems more accessible to me that the slightly wacky Frankmusik, I'm posting his quite intruiging video. As all the blogs are now saying "that is all" :P

Lovely XO had a post about the long awaited return of Dangerous Muse (aka the only act to take longer than Frankmusik to deservedly hit the big time) which you can read here. The song sounds quite delicious but what's with all the bondage in pop lately? First off, Lady GG channels her inner madonna circa Sex era to try and shock by wearing a gimp mask (how 1992), and now the DM boys channel, er, DM (Depeche Mode) circa Master and Servant by getting chained up and whipped - and seemingly loving every second of it in their new tune I Want It All. I'm certainly not complaining about the latter, just bring on the album already though :)

By all accounts poor Mika took a bit of a hammering from bloggers with the low-key release of his pre-album EP Songs For Sorrow. I'm hoping people will eat their words when they hear the glorious pop majesty of his ebullient comeback single proper We Are Golden. By all accounts it's as boombastic say me fantastic as his Love Today and Big Girls singles, utilising every lesson that pop has ever taught the world with a chorus as large as all outdoors. Bodes well for what will hopefully be an astonishingly hit laden second album (please). The single is doing the rounds under tightly guarded promos right now, but should hit radio on the 21st July.

Also causing bloggers to be clamouring all over themselves to be first to post about it on 21st July will be the new single from delicious American Idol runner up, Blake Lewis. And hurrah. Already you can preview his new tune Sad Song by clicking here. Like many popular tunes out there right now, it's chorus seems to be rooted in the 80s yet has an almost trancetastic rave quality to it that will sound great blasting out loud on a balmy summer's eve. Blake's voice sounds great and it seems like this track will be one of my faves of the summer. Another album I can't wait for then.

Fast forward a week from the 21st, and the internet will go into meltdown as everyone rushes to give their opinion on the new Madonna single Celebrate. I'm quite excited to be honest. What i am furious about is the decision to call her album Celebration instead of Iconography. The latter just works much better for me. And let's be honest. Anything that Warner Bros puts out is likely to be a bit of a disappointment. So I am busy making my own 5 cd box set (literally) and will post some photos when it is all done :)

Finally, Robbie Williams who I have loved and adored since 1992 is coming back with a rather well titled album Reality Killed The Video Star. Whether he returns as one of the biggest solo stars in the UK is irrelevant to me, I am just glad he is finally releasing music again. But October seems so far away :(

TOP 21 SONGS OF THE WEEK:

A couple of brillo MJ Man In The Mirror tributes floating around this week. The one above is a rather classy nod to the man from the composer of the song Seidah Garrett. If you want a rather lovely note by note cover you could do worse than to check out a free download from Mr Casey Stratton (thanks DanUSA)... The funeral was weird to me. Felt like I was intruding on what should have been a private family time. The whole spectacle around his death seems just distasteful to me :/

21 ~ Mr Hudson, Supernova
20 ~ Whitney Houston, I Didn't Know My Own Strength (NE)
19 ~ Marina & The Diamonds, I Am Not A Robot
18 ~ BWO, Right Here Right Now
17 ~ Sugababes, Get Sexy (NE)
16 ~ Le Kid, Mercy Mercy
15 ~ Freemasons ft SEB, Heartbreak Makes Me A Dancer
14 ~ Lily Allen, 22
13 ~ Erik Hassle, Don't Bring Flowers
12 ~ Jordin Sparks, Battlefield
11 ~ Dan Black, Symphonies
10 ~ Little Boots, Remedy
09 ~ Dolly Rockers, Je Suis Un Dolly
08 ~ Jason Mraz, Try Try Try
07 ~ Mans Zelmerlow, Home
06 ~ Elouise, One Night Only
05 ~ "Abba", Second Best To None
04 ~ JLS, Beat Again
03 ~ Preston, Dressed To Kill
02 ~ Michael Jackson, Man In The Mirror (VID)
01 ~ Benny Andersson Band, Story Of A Heart (5 weeks)

Read the latest pop panel at Poptrashaddicts, including my opinion on this week's number 20 song!!

Coming Weds ~ a Harry Potter post!! (but not a review of the movie, as I'm seeing a special over 18s showing of that on Friday. The Half Blood Prince is no place for kids :P)

Madonna and The Kids Leave Paris Pics

The pics of Madonna with her kids - Lourdes Leon, Rocco John, David Banda Ritchie and newly adopted daughter Mercy James leave Paris, Ritz Hotel and board a plane photos pictures.

Janet Jackson - Miss You Much (from my no. 6 album)

Jason Donovan - Too Many Broken Hearts (from my no.4 album)