Lopez Blogs

It turns out that Volume Six of le chronicles de pop au fizzay could actually be one of the most amazing in a while. I mean they are all quite amazing to be modestly frank with you, but next month's could be spectacular. Rumours that Kylie will be back in June, coupled with Maroon 5 being closer and closer to release make me very excited indeed. However, today I was all nippleated at the news of the Scissor Sisters return also in June. You can check out the news of this on almost any blog (though Chartrigger is always a good bet!) and listen to a new track "Invisible Light" on their website. It's a very bonza indeed track and somewhat reminiscent of a Frankie Goes To Hollywood track - a view the very wise Vinny Vero shares... Expect mucho coverage of this album when it gets released because I adored their last set...

The Essential Playlist for May 2010...

• Elouise ~ Pretender: Listening to an Elouise track is like flopping onto a perfectly formed mattress and/or man after a long day at work - it really is quite heavenly. I've espoused the virtues of this track many many times now, so I won't go on about it. Why not read Aaron's review of the EP instead?! Delightful.
• Christina Aguilera ~ Not Myself Tonight: Since I last wrote about this track, it's grown on me somewhat. Though not enough to debut in my top twenty tracks I post each week. At least I'm recalling the chorus now which is a positive step. I like Christina a lot though and am quite excited for her Bionic album...
• Mika ~ Kick Ass: It's a little bit We Are Golden part two and I am more than fine with that. This track is taken from the movie of the same name, though honestly *sshhh, gather closer* I find it a bit tittersome to imagine Mika kicking anyone's ass. Still I do find myself poncing along to the chorus as I get ready for work in the morning and that'll do me quite nicely.
• Bananarama, Every Shade of Blue 2010:It's one of my favourite 1990s Bananarama tracks and it's back! in 2010 format! Which basically means it's a bit more modern sounding, not as frantic as the original version but unmistakeably and deliciously Bananarama. Plus massive bonus points for choosing a not very obvious track to remake. Out to buy now everybody as part of the Love Don't Live Here single package!
• The Saturdays ~ Wordshaker: I, bluntly, am much better at picking singles from the half good half not very good latest Saturdays album. They should have followed Ego with One Shot (maybe JLS fans would have got confused and purchased that as well) and then released this little stomping pop gem. It's perky and upbeat and has a cracking little chorus and would actually remind people that they have an album out called Wordshaker. Sigh.
• Leona Lewis ~ Outta My Head: Inexplicably, SyCo have decided to go with the not as good Love Letter for the third single from Echo. This again is record company lunacy. They should be on the fourth single now (they missed a trick not releasing Stop Crying Your Heart Out at Christmas) and it should be the most energetic Leona single to date, Outta My Head. It's a right disco inferno in my bedroom when that comes on I tells ya - which is more than can be said for Leona when she performed it on Jimmy Kimmel (who?!)...
• Shakira ~ Gypsy (Freemasons edit): Oh my god, she looks like Marina :P I absolutely insist that you only listen to the Freemasons version of this tune. It takes a nice guitar twangle during the alluring verses and then builds it into a seductive and addictive chorus in a most pleasing and radio friendly manner. Much improved from the album version and therefore totally worthy of single status. Even if the label continue to ignore the superior Men In This Town.
• Sugababes 3.0 ~ Miss Everything: I'm still sticking to version 3.0 otherwise this time next year I'll be writing about Amelle, Jade and Josh Dubovie!! I've actually quite amused myself with that sentence. How tragique I am sometimes. Anyway, this has Sean Kingston on guest vocals/rap and isn't too shabby. It fits in quite well with their Sweet 7 sound and yet is a little bit quirky for them. And I can't abide Sean Kingston!
• Little Boots ~ Symmetry: I'm not one to give up on an album I like until I've milked it as dry as Darren on a Saturday night. Symmetry is a blindingly good duet from Little Boots' Hands album with Phil Oakley of Human League fame. It's a modern day version of any 80s song and sounds absolutely magnificent. Sometimes I wonder how epic and immense this would have been if performed by Kylie, but then I realise I'm quite happy with this version - particularly the talky bit in the middle...
• Marina & The Diamonds ~ Shampain: She's quite rightly re-releasing I Am Not A Robot "for the masses" to enjoy, but I (and bajillions of others) was writing about that back in February 2009 so it's time to move onto a new potential single from the excellent Family Jewels. Shampain is a bit Kate Bush meets xenomania (no, really) and sounds like nothing else in the charts really. If only we were all drinking champagne made by the angels, the world would be a tippsier place :) And oh my god, she looks like Shakira!
• Maria Mena ~ All This Time: No don't run away. It's not a cover version of the Michelle McManus song! It is in fact a) the debut UK single from very good indeed Norwegian singer Maria Mena and b) an incredibly pretty and lovely aural diary entry set to a lovely shuffling uptempo beat and delivered with an engaging and impeccable vocal. It's also known as the Pick Me Up song and a less "rocky" but equally gorgeous original version can also be found on youtube. If you like artists like Judie Tzuke and Marit Larsen, you could do a lot worse than this absolutely soaring and heavenly little ditty. Je t'adore to the power of a million :)

More tomorrow, with added Glee!

Sigh. I adore Shayne Ward. He proved to the world that The X Factor could produce a good looking boy popstar who could not only sing, but be versatile in his live song choices and bop along too. Plus of course he has produced (as you are all bored of me telling you by now) the X Factor's finest moment in Somewhere Over The Rainbow. And he looks a proper good bounce in the sack too. Score, score, score. And it all seemed to be going so right with a second album that was packed with potential singles. I thought that If That's Ok With You was a great first single, Breathless a decent second (I wasn't a big fan of No U Hang Up so tend to gloss over that) and was eager for more. Were they forthcoming? Were they buggery. No Melt The Snow Christmas release. No Damaged. No remix version of Tears Never Dry. Such wasted opportunities. And to make matters worse, it's been 3 long years since Breathless when Shayne could've whipped out a third album and a greatest hits for crying out god's sake!!

Still new music is a-coming and as I alluded in the last post, there have been a couple of leaks this weekend - including a rather lovely ballad called Crash. Frankly, you can rarely go wrong with songs with Crash in the title. There's Crash by the Primitives which is rather bonza. There's the lovely lethargic Crash Into Me by Dave Matthews Band. Let's not forget the aces Crash Boom Bang by Roxette. (And if you change one letter you get the amazing group Crush who did Jellyhead and are probably more the ancestor of Mini Viva than the popular notion that MV are the descendants of Mel & Kim...) Anyway, it's a lovely piano ballad produced by Stargate with the focus firmly on Shayne's voice and a lovely lilting melody. It's not exactly first single material, but it's a gorgeous tune that grows as you listen with a finger clicking beat and dreamy lyrics - would make an excellent fourth single with a new uptempo track as an AA side. And there's a rather funky smart-pop tune in the form of The Way You Are that shows Shayne producing a more modern version of No U Hang Up - except this time I'm totally on board. So why oh why are we still waiting for official announcement for first single proper and third album? Particularly when Mika and Lemar are producing entirely acceptable pop tunes that work very well in the Shayne Ward mould of pop?

Mika ~ Bonkers popette Mika has come back with a song that doesn't feature on his current album but sounds like it should. It's called Kick Ass and it's produced by RedOne. Now, Shayne is not exactly the popstar you think of when you first listen to the tune because it's so inherently Mika (Queen-esque moments, bombastic production value, incessant falsetto). It is, however, a rather decent pop tune and stretch your minds for a minute because if Shayne sang this it would be a rather daring comeback single and would certainly stand out for him. As a Mika tune, I rather like it as it happens - it's a bit too close for We Are Golden for my liking and not quite as brilliant as Rain, but it's rather pleasing over all. That is all I have to say on that, other than I am disappointed there is no high pitched "mika. Redone" at the beginning.

Lemar ~ I must confess I haven't really paid much attention to Fame Academy alum in the past. His rather bonza greatest hits single, The Way Love Goes was an effervescent slice of goodness that would - and does - sound perfect when played after Tears Never Dry by Shayne. It's the most Shayne-esque song I've heard in ages, and sometimes I even think it is him when it comes on. Regardless, it's proper decent, infectious pop and a terrific track that deserved to do better than a week or so in the top ten. He's also rerecorded an early track called What About Love which now features the vocal stylings of a little known boyband JLS on vocals and works wonderfully well as a dreamy ballad. As if that wasn't enough, there is a beyond fantastic potential club stomper on there called You Don't Love Me which features/samples Kim Wilde (You Keep Me Hanging On) of all bloody people. Utterly screams massive hit and is (to be fair) simply wonderful. Three songs that would make fantastic singles and seem to indicate that Breathless (the album) was a prototype for the type of pop Shayne needs to be making now. And yes, still enjoyable as Lemar tracks.

That post was a bit weird really. Fizzypop chronicles for April tomorrow. Ish.

Picking my favourite albums is quite difficult. There are those albums that I like that are critically acclaimed and I recognise the genius of them, yet they are not my favourite favourite albums. Then there are those albums that are largely ignored but I end up loving anyway. And then there are albums that are generally massive and everybody loves them. So rather than have a specific order for the top 25, I've just listed them alphabetically and then done the top 10 in order of preference if (as Shayne Ward once said) that's ok with you... :P

• Alphabeat ~ The Spell: They mixed 90s rave and house energies with the pop sensibilities of the noughties and came up with a winning combination that didn't even come close to outstaying it's welcome or being samey over the 10+ tracks. Minimum of 4 massive singles should be forthcoming...
• Bananarama ~ Viva: Ian Masterson did a bang up job with this album and then it was grossly ignored by the public. The swines. The girls had some future classics on here that were designed to be danced to - Love Don't Live Here, had it been by Kylie, would have been top ten for weeks...
• Michael Buble ~ Crazy Love: He was always quite popular, but this year he has hit the stratosphere and quite rightly so. Excellent stage presence, great voice, thoroughly nice chap but with the personality to back it up and duetted with Stacey. Plus had a bonafide pop hit with crazy catchy Haven't Met You Yet. It's only the beginning - this album will run throughout 2010...
• Alexandra Burke ~ Overcome: Well I had no interest in her at the start of the year and then gosh darn it she comes back with a banging pop tune and one of the more interesting X Factor winner albums in a long time. By keeping the tempo up and varied, Alexandra is assured a longer pop career than the boy who stole her crown...
• Dragonette ~ Fixin To Thrill: It was one of the pop delights of 2009, and they took the bold route of giving away half the songs on it before it was even out. You'd have been a fool not to buy the whole thing - in a year bereft of new Girls Aloud, this filled the smart-pop void perfectly and should have been entirely more massive...
  

• Florence + The Machine ~ Lungs: It's both a demanding and seductive debut album that is a joy to listen to; full of nuances that add dimension and layers to each song, it's powered forward by a voice that is both mesmerising and intoxicating. Critics were gushing all over it and luckily fans snapped it up in their droves to. Phew...
• Gossip ~ Music For Men: Not just an amazing album of catchy disco pop, a smart album that sent a message to a still disappointingly homophobic world. Luckily that message is overburdened with seriousness - it's about getting on your feet and dancing, because let's face it a wise woman once said 'music brings the people together'. No one is doing more for that cause than the Gossip on this ace cd...
• Erik Hassle ~ Hassle: Didn't it seem like every few weeks a new Erik Hassle video appeared for either Hurtful or Don't Bring Flowers, and that he was about to be very big indeed? The world is still waiting for that moment, but that didn't make this any less of an astonishing debut for such a young chap. Brilliant lyricist able to match his passionate outpourings to clever music. 2010 must be his big break...
• Whitney Houston ~ I Look To You: The voice was a little different. A lot had happened over the decade. Yet when Whitney returned it was like she never went away, and while it was not quite the triumphant comeback it should have been, it certainly wasn't subpar. Million Dollar Bill (particularly the freemasons mix) powered her to heights she hadn't seen for a while, but there is plenty more to come from this album yet...
• Natalie Imbruglia ~ Come To Life: Has this actually been released yet? Frustratingly delayed, it soon became a torrent favourite. tragic really because the first half of the album plays like side A of an LP. Cohesive, some brilliant tracks and all single worthy, particularly the amazing scars. Side B (or the last 5 songs) are more experimental and don't work quite as well, but for the first 5 alone this features strongly...
  
  

• JLS ~ JLS: You know, I was a little disappointed with this album at first, but the more I have listened to it, the more it grew on me. And a large part of that is to do with just how charming and enthusiastic the lads are. They make me want to love their songs and they make songs that are easy to love. Enough said ;)
• Blake Lewis ~ Heartbreak on Vinyl: Blake came back with an album that pillaged the 80s but in a loving tribute way, not in a La-Roux aren't I unique and ace (no) sort of way. The title track was by far the best, but the rest of the stuff was pretty fine too. His new 80s hair was not though. Minus one point for that!
• Nerina Pallot ~ The Graduate: It pains me that Nerina seemingly has to build her popularity up from scratch with each album release. She has a winning writing style, amazing melodies and lyrics and an enticing voice. Plus she's lovely and witty to boot? She's given you gro-lite and mineral supplements, whaddyawant from her, blood?! BUY IT ALREADY!! :)
• Westlife ~ Where We Are: I didn't really have high expectations for this album, but if you liked Westlife already it was ideal for you and if you don't, then why continue blathering on about it? They are probably not gonna change now, are they?!
• Mans Zelmerlow ~ MZW: Horribly chosen singles didn't really help the album but overall it was a great pop effort with some outstanding tracks on there that deserve a worldwide audience. Hope and Glory remains a magnificent anthem to this day...

Honourable mentions: Darin-Flashback; Marit Larsen-If A Song Could Get Me You; Neo-Neo; Annie-Don't Stop; Danny-Set Your Body Free; Julian Velard-The Planeteer; Leona Lewis-Echo...

10 ~ Mika, The Boy Who Knew Too Much: It was the year that Mika should have come back in a blaze of glory, but returned amidst general apathy and disinterest. Not from me though ~ I was quite happy to see him back with his bombastic Belinda Carlisle meets Chumbawamba We Are Golden and am still revelling in the other pop gems on the album. Rain is absolutely lovely. I could easily milk 5 singles from this :)
09 ~ Paloma Faith, Do You Want The Truth?: I was surprised by how much this album stuck with me throughout the year. I found myself wanting to return to it over and over again. XO has had some of the most passionate coverage of her, and is right in his assessment of the complexity and beauty in her work. Hopefully her medium range popularity will increase into fervent critical devotion next year - based on this excellent collection of tunes, she deserves it...
08 ~ Pet Shop Boys, Yes: If I combine this with their Christmas EP, then it gave me two number one singles this year (Love etc., and It Doesn't Often Snow At Christmas) and hours of delicious pleasure. Filled with amazing innovative yet totally PSB tracks like All Over The World, Beautiful People and the lush Did You See Me Coming, it was an album that solidified they have lost none of their pop edge. Plus dear god please someone leak a demo of The Loving kind...
07 ~ Alcazar, Disco Defenders: Oh my gosh but this album was overflowing with pop sensibility and dancefloor heavenliness. Overflowing with singles, attempts at nearly every pop genre going and shameless pastiches to Abba it was definitely hard not to love this album. In a perfect world this would have spawned five top ten hits in England and made the world see that lovely a fella as Joe is, he's got a long way to go before he can do pop like this. Thank You. In every sense of the word/song...
06 ~ BWO, Big Science: It was the "difficult" post greatest hits album and kicked off with the gothic You're Not Alone. That was a bit of a misnomer really in terms of the entire album because they still had their big Chariots of Fire moments (right here right now) and epic Open Door ballads (Kings of Tomorrow) to thrill the fans. Basically even when they are operating at less than 100%, BWO are still miles better than alot of other pop groups. And quite simply one of the best pop-births of the 2000s (post on that coming soon!)...

• 05 ~ Take That, The Garden: Released in late 2008 on the back of the inspiring, anthemic Greatest Day, this was the album that kept giving throughout 2009 - largely aided by the visually stunning and highly entertaining tour they put on to accompany it. Sure, Up All Night was Shine part 2, but there were plenty of other gems on the album (including the title track, the Jason Orange led How Did It Come To This and showstopping Hold Up A Light For Me) that merely proved that Gary and the boys are some of the finest tunesmiths to come out of Britain at the moment. Lovely stuff.
• 04 ~ Little Boots, Hands: It was the album that Kylie could have recorded and been a lot more massive than the ridiculously hyped Little Boots ever was. The music was actually great - so many ice cool, radio friendly electro-pop tracks that were seemingly made for extensive radio play. An utterly enjoyable album - it was the persona of Little Boots that seemed to be at odds with being a pop princess. She lacked any of the sparkle Sophie Ellis Bextor or Kylie add to their performances and seemed more intent on being a serious, rarely smiling musician. Still, Remedy, Earthquake and Hearts Collide are top notch tunes!
• 03 ~ Lily Allen, It's Not Me, It's You: Brilliant album title and odd quitting music statements aside, I totally enjoyed this album despite (like Mans Zelmerlow) an odd choice of singles. The Fear and It's Not Fair were ace tracks, F*** You improved on the demo from last year, Chinese was a sweet ode to recession induced nights in (with a gorgeous choral tribute floating around) and Lily continued her knack for providing witty, insightful lyrics set to lovely singalong melodies. It's ace because it's true - I mean, no one likes the wet patch in the middle of the bed...
• 02 ~ Same Difference, Pop: Another remnant from 2008, Pop was the album that encapsulated all that was amazing about the charts at the turn of the millenium and bought it back with an updated beat. Sean and Sarah were two of the nicest people you could wish to have gracing the charts and put out an album of singalong tunes that would have done so much better had it been marketed completely differently. There were at least 5 singles here that could have been flying up the UK charts, and I'm just relieved they get a second nibble of the cherry in 2010. Bring it on I say...

01 ~ Robbie Williams, Reality Killed The Video Star: It wasn't so much a comeback, more of a reaffirmation that Robbie was one of the nation's most reliable pop acts who was maturing nicely with age, rather than chasing fashions and trends he had no business dabbling in. It's an album that gives more with each listen, has some great melody driven songs and has Robbie still sounding absolutely ace. You Know Me is one of his more lovely mid-tempo ballads, Morning Sun is almost a Take That tribute sounding song and Difficult for Weirdos is the anthem of many and proudly so. So get hysterical and historical over this album because I suspect it will feature on next year's list too...

There seems to be a distinct lack of interest in blogland (well the blogs I like anyway) about the return of one of my fave new popstars of the past few years, Mika. No one really paid any attention to his low-key EP release back in May, and I sense an air of distaste surrounding his boombastic (say me fantastic touch me in the back she say I'm Mr Ro-ro-ro-mantic, etc) and wonderful single We Are Golden. Frankly for someone whose debut album was as gigantic as it was, the buzz should be, well, a lot buzzier. Regardless of all this, I loved the EP and We Are Golden gets me smiling and happy everytime I hear it - so it's probably no surprise that I have thrown myself into listening to his new album with enthusiasm and excitement. And phew, it's not half bad - jolly entertaining in fact...

The Boy Who Knew Too Much is a throwback to the latter years of Mika's teens - a time when he reports he wasn't as able to express himself in the ways he does now. Luckily this is manifest in a collection of songs that range from downright exuberant (We Are Golden) to introspective (Touches You) and somewhat disturbing (Toy Boy). It's not a million miles away from his brillo debut album so while he's likely to retain his sizeable fanbase, if you didn't like him before this probably ain't going to change your mind. But if you are at all curious, there are some lovely pop treasures to be had, whether you like Mika or not...

I'm not going to dwell too much on We Are Golden because you've heard it all before. Regardless, it's possibly the most in-your-face/annoying song that Mika could have chosen to lead off the album with (depending on your point of view). For me, it's still a marvelous updating of Heaven Is A Place on Earth and just the start of Mika's musical appreciation of the genre of pop (Queen, McFly, Fine Young Cannibals, Emelia and some Caribbean sounds all manage to make an appearance). Blame It On The Girls is an instant barrage of enticing sounds, including a typically massive chorus, some stomping piano chords crashing around and some off kilter percussion (mirrored with some ace hand clapping, which as everyone and his mom knows makes a good pop song great). This could (and should) easily be a single and paired with We Are Golden starts the album off to an enjoyable and high standard. This continues with the Stuart Price produced Rain. Part Mika, part Madonna and part Pet Shop Boys, it's a song that was performed just with a piano on Mika's recent tour but benefits from the additions of synths and violins to make it a seductive little dance number not a million miles away from the vibe Take It Easy gave off on album number one. Again, easily a contender for a future single.

Single number four should probably showcase Mika's more sensitive side and while there are a clutch of decent ballads on the album (The lovely I See You is quite charming, full of elegant piano, a sorrowful minor key choice and quite sad lyrics; quite nice By The Time which Westlife would probably kill to have on their comeback album - both songs showing Mika's canny understanding of how to craft decent pop tunes) I've decided to stay upbeat and I'm going with the pulsating Touches You. Not only does it bring to mind George Michael's Father Figure (both melodically and in vocal delivery), it does that introspective thing that Happy Endings did so well and binds it all together in a gloriously anthemic chorus that will stick to your brain like pigeon poo on a car bonnett. Yes it's that good. Other future singles manifest themselves in the form of Good Gone Girl - it's as upbeat, showy and theatrical as anything Mika has done in the past and utterly deserving of a shot at singles chart success. The rest of the songs from the album are all in the pretty decent category, and pad out with style an already impressive collection of songs. Of particular note is the Imogen Heap collaboration, By The Time and the deliciously dark (and not particularly revealing) Toy Boy, which is like a more melodically downbeat Alfie (Lily Allen).

Overall still totally Mika, and still totally enjoyable as an ambassador of ridiculously ott pop tunes. Me likey.
Potential singles: We Are Golden, Blame It On The Girls, Rain, Touches You, Gone Gone Girl

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 :)

New songs from your favourite artists appearing on the internet nowadays are a lot like the whole process of giving birth. First of all, you get to hear the song title from somewhere or the other (this is obviously the equivalent to the pink line on that stick thing that ladies piddle on). People always try to be first with this news (they are the secretary at the office who spoils it for everyone) but ultimately the artist named the song so no one can ever top that (though apparently popjustice were bribed for a song of the day in exchange for naming a PR person's cat. Astonishing, no?) Then inevitably a clip of the song appears online (the ultrasound). This can be anything from 18 seconds (Madonna - the blurry peanut like ultrasound) or a whole minute 'and a bit' (Elouise - fully formed, can at least see an arm). Finally, the moment everyone has been waiting for - you get to hear the whole single (If you have not cottoned on that this is the birth, then you are a bit slow to be honest)! This could be on the radio (frankly so common now that it is the equivalent of the NHS birth) or if you are lucky, Peter Robinson could be your midwife (a popjustice debut is nice, just ask the Benny Andersson band)... And then, hurrah it's either mazel tov and joy all around (sometimes with helium balloons) or everyone "rags" on it (I'm not entirely sure what this means, but I'm not gossip girl enough to say trash talk or diss :/) which if you think about it, is the same as calling someone's baby ugly. Which isn't very nice but is the world we live in. This is a very long winded way of saying that the Mika and Blake Lewis songs are online for all to enjoy.

I'm already very fond of the Mika - We Are Golden song. The beginning bit sounds a bit like Britannia High mixed with Kid British for a b(r)it of street "cred" (another one I can't really get away with saying). Then it's a hi nrg mixture of tenor vocal mixed with ball crunching soprano (note to self: ask Simon Curtis what the official term for that is) as Mika sings along over an all over the place piano-drum combo (I mean that in a good way). Then there is that refrain "we are goooal-den" with shouty bits a la Chumbawamba meets Pet Shop Boys' Love Etc. Then in the middle eight it all goes a bit Belinda Carlisle (a mixture of the single remix of We Want The Same Thing and Heaven Is A Place On Earth). Add that all together and it's typically over the top, rather joyous and thoroughly entertaining Mika. I am kind of very smitten with it already. Someone get this man to write a musical, stat.

I have to confess I was ever so slightly perturbed when I heard Blake Lewis (sign up to listen to this single) was going dance. I adored his debut album, mourned the fact that he chose not to release Gots To Get Her to launch his career in England and thought End Of The World was one of the loveliest ballads in a long time. Sad Song has put any fears I had to rest. The song is an (almost) instantly catchy, electro disco number that while distinct from the work on ADD, is still recognisably Blake. It seems to take the drum beat of some of the 80s power pop, mix in the synthy influences from that decade and come up with something quite enticing. I have to confess it took me a few listens to get into, but the lyrics sink in and it's almost like a great diva anthem. Only sung by a guy. Who makes it work. The instrumentation is great, the chorus catchy and there is a nice ending where Blake asks "will you march with me?" Based on this I most definitely will...

Links:
My review of ADD here...
More Blake here...
My first Mika mention...
More Mika here...
Free legal remix mp3s available at Arjanwrites...

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)

Hello dears. It has been an exceptionally busy week and I have spent most of saturday and sunday sleeping! Perhaps I have ME!! Although more likely, it is because i have been hit really hard by hayfever (worse than ever before) and the new tablets I am on just make me like a zombie. I have got to sort something better out than this, I'm like the living undead :S On the plus side, I have been nominated for an award this week - it's all work related and probably very dull, but it is all to do with a programme of support I designed for older people with dementia using outside space more (e.g. gardens, parks, flowers, plants) to stimulate memory and social interraction. Hurrah for it working, apparently :) I'm not normally the type of person to shout about accomplishments (I was horribly embarrassed when i got nominated for a blog award earlier in the year!!) but i'm sort of vainly proud of this, even if i don't win :P Anyway, on with the highlights of the week...

BEST IN SHOW THIS WEEK:

• TV - it was the first full week of Big Brother and by golly, I have decided that I dislike the majority of the contestants (although there are some I dislike less than others just because they haven't really done much yet. Um hello is Rodrigo even in there? And Freddie is a bit out there really, even for me). Saffia mercifully took her dated Bridgette Nielsen haircut and walked, stating it was because she needed her kids. Lovely, although she had no qualms abandoning them to go in there in the first place. Strangest, most creepy contestant has to be Sree - Srapeey as I call him. Best-worst moment involving him was when he basically called Karly a slag, then rubbed her boob and told her she was naive and immature to cheer her up. SCORE! PS - on a vapid shallow note, for the first time ever there is NO ONE in the house i fancy :( This year's star and becoming increasingly attractive is bloody George Lamb (BBLB)
• TV - Greek has turned into one of the smartest, wittiest shows on tv. Season finale this week and thank god it's coming back for a third season :)
• TV - 2/3rds of the brillo team behind the delightfully macabre League of Gentlemen tv series (and disappointing movie, whose script was pillaged for the latest grossly horrible Red Dwarf reunion) have a new show starting on Thurs called Psychoville. With a killer clown! And Dawn French. Ergo is clearly unmissable.
• BOOK - have finished Johnny Mackenzie and The Spirit of London. Sort of came across as a junior Doctor Who adventure and was quite good over all. Best thing was it was in 13 chapters and so each chapter felt like an episode of a tv show. Time travel does make my head scratch a bit though!
• MUSIC - Everyone and his dog are raving about Le Kid's debut single Mercy Mercy (above), and quite rightly so. It's quite a lovely summer pop song, even if it does owe a rather large debt to Girls Aloud's Can't Speak French. Still, trying not to smile while this plays is utterly useless and I am eagerly anticipating the album. Bonus points for spelling out their band name in the middle 8! Check out Bob's interview with them...
• MUSIC - talking of kids (and I was), Popjustice is rather appalled by the new Kid British single Our House is Dadless. I thought their last song Sunny Afternoon was a brilliant slice of Bradley S Club meets The Streets. This isn't quite as brilliant, but the lyrics are quite witty and clever and of course The Madness sample makes it entirely catchy. Overall then I am secretly (not so much anymore!) liking it...
• MUSIC - poor Adem felt that he was the only person in the world that liked both the new Aqua song and the accompanying video Back To The 80s. Not so fine sir. I adore both and the tune is number one in Denmark :) Can't wait to see what the british public make of it later this summer...
• MUSIC - I still find Lady GaGhastly not for me, but I was reminded via the lovely Melismatic of the brillo Wynter Gordon's Surveillance the other day. It's such a brilliant tune, that had it had a bigger push would have predated the GG sound by a good 12 months. I have shared this opinion with several people, and only one agreed with me and he was a drunk DJ. Oh well :) It's still brillo!!
• MUSIC - I am in absolute love with the Little Boots album. It is clearly the best album that Kylie never made. It's not exactly groundbreaking or edgy, but there are some glorious lyrical and melodic highlights strewn through every single track. Remedy is indeed going to make a marvy second single, even if it does channel the thematic lyrical content of Heartbreak Makes Me A Dancer!! (As Ghost channels Madge's Supernatural, but it's still all rather aces)
• MUSIC - Well good on Mika, I say. I continue to adore his low-key release Songs for Sorrow EP which arrived in the post this week. I didn't realise, but it comes with a rather brillo-pad book which really enhances the music contained within. Good on Mika for going for some he is creatively passionate about, and roll on the new album (Excellent article on his new EP and album in this month's Observer Music Monthly!)
• MUSIC - Tom Baxter put out one of the most underrated albums of the past couple of years with the outstanding Skybound, and now his unconventionally attractive hottie brother Charlie Winston is churning out equally excellent music. His debut single In Your Hands is very charming - a carefully constructed folk-pop song with a great chorus and imbued with personal lyrics that give it added appeal. I've downloaded his massive French hit album Hobo and it's bonza.
• CAN'T WAIT - The cover feature on this month's attitude magazine has totally changed my opinion towards The Gossip. Their new album sounds absolutely immense and of course I trust XO's valued opinion. Also impatiently waiting for - the Maxwell album, Mr Hudson's Straight No Chaser and the new Whitney single :)
• TESTING OUT - The Vagabond album is basically the third album that Rooster never got around to releasing because they split up. I can't work out whether I like it or not - it's not bad per se, and elements of it I really like. I'll have another few listens and get back to you. On Phil's recommendation though and two listens, I'm hooked on the Cicada album.
• FINALLY - I'm so over Pixie Lott. I can't believe the song, which admittedly briefly won me over before I came to my senses, has topped the UK charts :S Apparently slapping a boy in the face during the videos "dance-clap fight off" scene is an appropriate way to resolve conflict. Hideous...

ESSENTIAL LINKS:

XO has a brilliant mixtape post up which are always amazing; Chartrigger presents the Pet Shop Boys doing Viva La Vida; Mike has this week's poptrash panel (booo you whores for not loving JLS!); Poppostergirl is back (thank god); Aaron introduces me to The Dimes and my fave new (to me) website of the week comes courtesy of Trixie - Karinski! It covers brillo new tunes like the aforementioned Le Kid, and upcoming popstart Daisy Dares You. Good luck with XOXO!

TOP 21 SONGS OF THE WEEK:

Bit of a chart revamp week this week. I've been subtly playing the Benny Andersson Band new abba song for a few weeks, but really got hooked on it this week. And JLS and Dan Black are just entirely too moreish for words :) BWO rises a couple of slots thanks to Donal Industry's recommendation of the Oscar Holter remix...

21 ~ Annie, Anthonio
20 ~ Same Difference, All Roads Lead To Heaven
19 ~ Alesha Dixon, Let's Get Excited
18 ~ Mr Hudson, Supernova
17 ~ Take That, The Garden
16 ~ Pet Shop Boys, Did You See Me Coming?
15 ~ Dan Black, Symphonies (NE)
14 ~ JLS, Beat Again (NE/VID)
13 ~ Alcazar, From Brazil With Love
12 ~ Industry, My Baby's Waiting
11 ~ Marina and The Diamonds, I Am Not A Robot
10 ~ Mans Zelmerlow, Home
09 ~ Jason Mraz, Try Try Try
08 ~ Freemasons ft SEB, Heartbreak Makes Me A Dancer
07 ~ DollyRockers, Je Suis Un Dolly
06 ~ Jordin Sparks, Battlefield
05 ~ Little Boots, New in Town
04 ~ Elouise, One Night Only
03 ~ BWO, Right Here Right Now
02 ~ "Abba", Second Best To None
01 ~ Benny Andersson Band, Story Of A Heart (NE/1 Week)

UNIMPORTANT EDIT 4TH JUNE: BIG BRO UK 10 LAUNCH NIGHT OVERVIEW IN COMMENTS :)

Well, i'm not particularly good at sticking to this weekly posting malarky - though I am finally getting on with some stuff I should be getting on with "off net", so it is working out somewhat :) Anyway, I won't bore you with a long spiel, just enjoy one of my holiday photos above (one of many) and I'll get on with this months selection of top tracks I'm sending to my friends :)

MUST HAVE TRACKS FOR JUNE:

01 - Dan Black, Symphonies: True story ~ of all the acts I listed in my Jan tips for the year, I'm still probably only avidly following the top five (though I dip in and out of the other 5's gorgeous songs fairly regularly). Dan's Alone was spunky-jerky dance pop of very good proportions, but this? I know it samples Umbrella, but it's practically an active doll - loaded with new personality and Dan sounds just lovely on. Great lyrics too. I think I've found my perfect summer single :)
02 - Dragonette, Fixin' To Thrill: Surely you must have all heard this by now? It was free to download and featured heavily on Popjustice - but then again so did Luigi Masi this week in a true jump the shark moment, so maybe you missed it? No surely not, because within seconds in the usual blogosphere rush to be first to post it was blooming everywhere. It's decent, but not entirely amazing. Still a fun song that mixes Scissters, a more punky No Doubt and some Blondie elements.
03 - Jordin Sparks, Battlefield: The song that caused twitter to go into meltdown over how brilliant it is. And it is. Whether you chose this or the ryan tedder version (because it sounds so much dirtier when ryan sings "both hands tied behind my back for nothing"! Oh ryan, not for nothing...:P), there is no denying that it's a great pop song that soars as soon as it hits the first chorus. Oh, and the "better go and get your armour, bananarama" bit is just deliriously lovely.
04 - JLS, Beat Again: Well, as I always knew, the real deserving winners of last year's X Factor, clean up good. Marvin is even more of a tall drink of water that I remembered and the tune is an insiduous r'n'b meets gentle electro jam that grows on you with each listen. Loving the bow tie/sleeveless sweater look :) And the hilarious bad quality upload of the video! This absolutely must be a hit. The most deserving credible pop stars to hit from the X Factor since Shayne Ward!
05 - BWO, Right Here Right Now: Firstly it's probably the most lovely of videos for quite the longest time (though it took me a little while to reach that opinion). Secondly, the general opinion is that this is one of the finest tracks from the latest album (it's darn tooting, but it's not the best). And finally and most important, it's a very decent song indeed with a glorious swirling chorus ("give me love right here right now" section makes my veins itch with glee). They are global superstars if only in my mind.
06 - Pet Shop Boys, Did You See Me Coming: I toyed whether I wanted to stick to the official second single for this mixtape, or substitute it with All Around The World. I'm sticking with the official as you can see - it's just so delightfully summery and a perfect early evening song as the sun remains high in the sky and the smells of barbecues waft up to my balcony window. Plus it's also the perfect walking home song to gaze appreciatively at the work boys coming out the offices all dishevelled in shirts and loosened ties :)
07 - Alcazar, From Brazil With Love: I did indeed love Burning when Disco Defenders first came out, but it's grown ever so slightly tiresome now so I've gone with this kitsch gem. The verses are all cleverly twee lyrics and the chorus soars into this glorious slice of samba meets disco. It takes on a slightly strange and sad meaning as my friend pointed out in light of the disappearance of the french plane that disappeared :( Lost doesn't look so far fetched now... But on a more cheerful note, if The Saturdays covered this it would be very massive indeed.
08 - Mans Zelmerlow, Home: Again, I could have chosen the official single (Hold On - seems more autumnal to me) or the groovesome Forever (end of summer pick me up for sure) but as summer "launches", I'm feeling this homage to Black and Gold with it's sleek beats and sing a long chorus. Great tune indeed. Bonus - the fan made vid in the link has lots of lovely pics of the adorable perfect man (active doll) that is Mans :) Hurrah.
09 - Star Pilots, The One and Only: Any one who can get away with covering a Chesney Hawkes song so perfectly while giving it a decent dance makeover had me at hello. These boys went down a storm at gay pride in Birmingham last week and while the crowds went wild for the current single, this took the roof off. People were hugging each other with excitement (though that might have been too much to drink and the sun). This could be epic. True fact - while they and the dolly rockers got one of the biggest receptions of the day, no one topped the sheer adulation Hazell Dean received when she sang the glorious Searchin! Who knew?!
10 - The Saturdays, Work: I wrote about this on Sunday, and Aaron has a jolly good write up over at the one year old this week (and happy birthday Aaron!) Fabtastic :) So i won't blather on about it other than to say, it's still quite edible and while I prefer the colourful cheesiness of Up, this puts the Satz on a new level of pop perfection. Hurrah for D;Luv for convincing me they were amazing back in August last year :) (And forever silently editing my typos!)
11 - Kevin Borg, Street Lights: There is something about this song that works when it probably should come off as mundane. It's probably the symphonic strings in the song mixed with Kevin's impassioned vocals and a chorus that soars like an eagle. Yes, the song is a little old now but again the summery weather has made me fall in love with it all over again. Plus Kevin looks a proper popstar at 2m53 in the video.
12 - William Young, I Won't Give Up: And i won't give up on William's near perfect fourth album Let It Go - at least not yet. This is a prime perfection of how Britain can sometimes ignore sheer class in pop songs and instead spend needless amounts of money promoting the childhood obesity of Stavros Flatley. Sheesh. Just lie back and the gloriousity of this track wash all over you and imagine a world where it's top ten. There - isn't that a better place?
13 - Pink, Funhouse: Let's just skip the Bad Influence and be taken straight to the funhouse. It's actually quite a dark song disguised as a quirky little pop single and one that has hidden depths in it's countdown laden choruses. Perfectly catches the spirit of how you feel when something good ends and all you are left with great big empty memories. Oh great, now I'm depressed :(
14 - Lenka, Don't Let Me Fall: It seems very wrong indeed that Lenka isn't a massive star in the UK by now. She's quite the wordsmith and her excellent debut album still continues to captivate me almost a year after I first heard it. This is a lovely laxidaisical gem of a tune that really deserves a much wider audience. Time to start a UK Lileth Fair maybe?!
15 - The Days, Never Give Up: Making tracksuits seem sexy again is quite a hard task, but in the video to this tune The Days boys just about manage to pull it off. It's not quite as instant as the euphoric pop-rock of No Ties, but it's a more mature sounding tune that gives the listener an insight into another side of the boys. Who all seem quite quite charming.
16 - Julian Velard, Feels Like Love Again For The First Time: How I adore Julian. He even tweets when his washing machine is broken. How "pop stars are just like you and me" is that? I've really written about this tune a ridiculous amount of times already, but I will add that it is an absolutely mega piano driven romp with a joyous melody and a chorus as big as all outdoors.
17 - The Yeah You's, 15 Minutes: They are increasingly becoming my boombastic say me fantastic touch me in my back she says I'm mr ro-ro-ro-mantic pop band of choice. Their radio 2 show last week convinced me that yes indeedy, I'm forgiving of the apostrophe and embracing the genius of their cleverly crafted pop magic. I suspect that actually their debut album may be very pleasing indeed. Fingers crossed.
18 - Mika, Toy Boy: Despite the low key nature of the release and the lack of love the tracks have received, I've enjoyed the EP. Toy Boy remains my highlight, and as Mika has said himself, he wanted to release some tunes that would be perfect to perform in an acoustic setting. This is Disney meets Donnie Darko music and is probably more Billy Brown than the more discotastic songs Mika became more famous for after. It seems like those are being held back for the second album proper. Phew, etc.
19 - Indigo Girls, What Are You Like?: Lovely. That's what most of the music produced by the Indigo Girls is. This doesn't deviate too much from their perfected formula of delivering top notch acoustic pop tunes with clever socially insightful lyrics married to their knack of popping out an addictive chorus and melody. Perfect summer singalong music that also makes me yearn for the return of the Magic Numbers. Sigh. Remember them. Both albums of theirs were fine...
20 - Regina Spektor, Laughing With: As I've said before, I ignored poor Reg until she won me over with her track from the Ben-RAR-Barnes starring Prince Caspian that managed to pull off the tricky task of sounding completely amazing within the context of the movie as well as adorable on the radio. This is more coffee house poetry and although not my favourite song of hers, this is proper bonza. And you really won't hear her music described like that anywhere else, will you?!
21 - Dave Matthews Band, Funny The Way It Is: God, I went right off them when all they seemed to do was release live music and release shit from coaches into canals. But back in the mid to late 90s I was quite enamoured with their singles (more than the albums) and spent many a happy moment singing along to Crash Into Me and So Much To Say. This is actually not a bad return to form, and grows on me each time I listen to it. God i'm so diverse this month. (*pats self on shoulder!)
22 - Jason Mraz, Try Try Try: I effing adore Jason Mraz. I'm sort of half sad that people mainly know him in this country for I'm Yours when there are so many different facets to his music. There is coffee house manteuse Jason of his first album, the pop star in the making of Wordplay and Geek In The Pink and then there is the Jason that seems to embrace life and all that is marvelous about it - the Pushing Daisies Jason as I call him. Songs like Life Is Wonderful and Live High have given me a new perspective on life and this really isn't too removed from that philosophy. Which i find very charming indeed. Plus he's still an alternative stone cold fox :)

Bonus Dance CD for people like me who don't really do remixes but need something to work out to in the mornings: Sophie Ellis Bextor - Heartbreak Makes Me A Dancer (Club Mix) / Diana Ross & The Supremes - Love Child (2009 Almighty Mix) / Hazell Dean - Searchin' (2008 Almighty Mix) / Dan Black - Symphonies (Passion Pit Remix) / Marina and The Diamonds - I Am Not A Robot (Starsmith's 24 Carat Remix) / David Guetta & Kelly Rowland - When Love Takes Over

Anniversary: Who knew? It's been 3 years exactly since I started writing about Simon Curtis and his deliciously more-ish Alter Boy album. Still sounds brilliant for me 3 years on, and different tracks are favourites at different times. Today? Religion Reduced. Just an epic frenetic track about the fad religions that seem to take over the world...

If you check out one blog today (other than mine): make sure it's Ademwithane - in particular his quite scintillating guide to all 21 Girls Aloud videos (i'm assuming the St Trinians clip doesn't count). It's a guide i didn't know i needed until i read it :)

Back sunday with the weekly round up and news of something quite industrial... ;) And follow my live tweeting of the Big Bro 10 UK Launch tomorrow (Thurs 4th June)

I'm all cockahoop. After decorating the en-suite yesterday (i seriously despise decorating and it usually ends up in a massive argument between me and the big D; not this time though - surprisingly harmonious), Dazpainter and I had a nice stroll around town (despite the intermittent and vicious rain), and then watched Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus, starring my beloved Deborah Gibson!! D'luv emailed me saying he couldn't believe I hadn't blogged about it yet, so here it is - any chance to see Deb on screen is a-ok with me, and while this is merely a SeaQuest DSV episode (with approximately the same budget!) if you take it for what it is (a campy, 50s throwback done very tongue in cheek and not taking itself too seriously), you are in for 90 minutes of highly amusing brilliance. With clearly amazing lines like "you mean a prehistoric giant shark ate my whale", Deborah Gibson goes about saving the world as renegade shark bait Emma MacNeill (who incidentally drives a mini cooper, so clearly is feeling super dooper and is obviously a trooper) while the octopus wrestles with oil rigs and the definitely much cooler shark takes bites out the golden gate bridge and rather amazingly eats a plane. Through all of this Deborah/Emma not only manages to snog a bespectacled scientist, but also give Lorenzo Lamas some super withering looks :) What's not to like?! Only gripe was no bond-esque theme song at the end sung by Debs. Now lets get a sequel going - how about Super Squid vs Lovelorn Lobster?? On with the weeks essentials...

THE FIZZYPOP MUST LIST:

• I totally miss writing about new music from Simon Curtis. Yes, I've been spoiled with an album I adore (Alter Boy) and of course his poptastic contributions to Spectacular (which I also found in HMV last week. Woo!) which showed off a different side to his vocal style. While I (im)patiently wait for new stuff, I'm more than happy to continue my love affair with Candy Coated Chaos who Simon and his producer Jadion introduced me too. Both are involved with CCC - their amazing new single is written by Simon and produced by Jadion. It absolutely spits out dance floor ready beats and a frenetic groove that builds up in such an intense way that by the time you get to the chorus, it explodes out your speakers. If that's not enough to convince you (and it should be) try the glorious Masquerade which is so radio ready, it stands head and shoulders above anything Britney has done lately. Make these songs hits by purchasing them now. Don't disappoint me :) (See also: Previous posts on CCC; Mel's blog)
• Oh Industry! I see no shame at all in loving sunny pop songs like My Baby's Waiting by new Irish popgroup Industry. While Same Difference are off seeking success in Asia and Australia (their concert last week was mega - all of the album plus their version of When You Believe. And they are utterly adorable people - fizzypop SD page updated with more live vids!), I'm embracing the latest pop combo to hit - their debut single is perfect pop fare harking back to the glory days of Steps/All*Stars/SClub. It's string laden chorus and catchy hooks are custom made for people like me. And of course they are all ridiculously gorgeous and make me feel slightly prettier just watching them :P (See also: Previous post on Industry; D'luv's discovery; PosterGirl feels the love; Nikki approves!)
• Lovely Samuel Taylor has put up his version of The Cardigan's epic song Communication up on his myspace. I absolutely adore this song and hearing it sung by Sam's soothing tones is an utter treat. It's very understated, beautifully elegant with Sam's vocal being the focal point of the chorus despite a crescendo of strings. It's enough to bring a tear to your eye, and nearly did when I was feeling melancholy and slightly drunk last week. Exquisite :) (See also: previous post on Sam)
• Hurrah! Bonkers pop star Mika is back. And his new EP doesn't seem to have set the blogging community alight, but I actually quite like the introspective Mika sound. Blue Eyes is the perkiest (and most Jason Mraz-y meets Rusted Root) of the bunch, it's the sumptuous Toy Boy that I like best. As I stated last week, it's entirely Disney in it's execution but has some deliciously dark lyrics juxtaposed against the perky pop. I'm quite excited now for his second album later this year... (See also: If you are tired of waiting for Mika to return "proper", you might want to check out another bonkers popstar who could quite easily be the French Mika - Sliimy's Wake Up is not quite as immediate as you would hope but soon hooks into your brain with it's part brilliant pop song, part novelty chorus. Check out his version of Womaniser too!)
• IDOL GOSSIP: Jordin Sparks new single (the quite good actually Battlefield) has to be the most overtwittered song of all time. I went from being bemused by it, to OBSESSED to what-is-the-fuss-about to actually quite liking it (though I've had to stop playing it for a while so i don't fall out of love from it's inevitable overexposure!). Overall, it's clearly the best idol single since 8th World Wonder. Meanwhile Blake Lewis not only looked extremely spaffleable on AI Extra but turned in a kickass version of Rihanna's Disturbia. (Check out PPG for album news). And JLS have premiered their debut single Beat Again (clearly not a song title Chris Brown should use!) - it's only ok, but they are so charming and adorable that I am allowing it to grow on me! (See also: Nikki's opinion; Ken's views!)
• TV FINALES: I'm probably going to break my new once a week blogging habit already by doing a tv overview of the latest US season on Weds, but for now some very quick opinions on some of the most recent finales - Lost I thought was utterly epic. A bit barmy, but love the Man in Black and his connection to the island. Prison Break - as inconsistent and frustrating as ever, but overall a decent end to the show that had me sniffling ever so slightly. Thought Bro & Sis was nicely understated and set things up well for next year. Half way through Grey's Anatomy but they have totally turned it round from the near-unwatchable show it was for the first 3/4 of season 5...
• While I am reading Henry: The Virtuous Prince by David Starkey (as I love the Tudor period and it's the 500th anniversary of his ascension to the throne), my latest literary obsession is the amazing Johnny Mackenzie by Keith Mansfield. It's described as Alex Rider meets Dr Who and so far is entirely brilliant. Hurrah!
• FINALLY! Paolo Nutini was brillopants in concert earlier in the week. I nearly wept of course at his epic These Streets, but the new material sounds epic. Candy of course is already garnering hits at youtube but Pencil Full of Lead sounds like it was created in a test tube and engineered perfectly for summer festivals. Chorus is out of this world. Glorious :)

TOP 21 TRACKS OF THE WEEK:

Thanks to the utterly delightful, 60s influenced, delicious slice of perfect pop Since You've Been Gone being back on her myspace, Elouise has the highest new entry of my playlist this week. And fast becoming a pop obsession on par with Simon Curtis and Same Difference. Every track is a drop of heaven. Check out her full show at Stratford Circus on 20th June - backing band, full set, the works. A labour of love for a new artist. Can't. Wait.

21 - Neo, Flower Power Super Girl (Official video)
20 - Simon Curtis, Things We Do For Love (Movie video)
19 - Industry, My Baby's Waiting (NE/Official video)
18 - Kelly Clarkson, I Do Not Hook Up (GMA video)
17 - Pet Shop Boys, Did You See me Coming (Official video)
16 - Alcazar, Stay The Night (Melodifestivalen video)
15 - The Killers, World We Live In (Official video)
14 - Paolo Nutini, Candy (Official video)
13 - Lily Allen, Not Fair (Ant and Dec video)
12 - Infernal, Redefinition (Official video)
11 - BWO, Right Here Right Now (Live video)
10 - Same Difference, All Roads Lead To Heaven (Concert video - ace!)
09 - Mans Zelmerlow, Hope and Glory (Acoustic video)
08 - Alesha Dixon, I Get Excited (Feelgood Factor video)
07 - Annie, Anthonio (Static video)
06 - Take That, The Garden (Official video)
05 - Elouise, One Night Only (NE)
04 - Freemasons ft Sophie Ellis Bextor, Heartbreak Makes Me A Dancer (Official video)
03 - Marina & The Diamonds, I Am Not A Robot (Static video)
02 - Little Boots, New in Town (/Jools Holland video)
01 - "Abba", Second Best To None (1 Week)
Previous number ones: Marina - Robot (2 weeks); Mans Zelmerlow - Hope and Glory (4 weeks); BWO - You're Not Alone (4 weeks); PSB - Love Etc (1 week); Sugababes - Every Heart Broken (4 weeks); Simon Curtis/Victoria Justice - On The Wings of a Dream (4 weeks)
(Check out Mike Poptrash singles of the week with comments from respected and wonderful bloggers)

Midweek TV Season report! Then back next week with Bham Gay Pride update!