Lopez Blogs

The X Factor is back tomorrow. Or today if you are reading this in the future on Saturday 21st August. Which you possibly are. Time travel hurts my brain. Anyway, i looked back and am disappointed to learn that I did cover the X Factor from the first show last year. Well tough titties, cos I don't have the energy to that this year. I may summise it and then kick in during bootcamp weeks. Yes, as Josh Dubovie so skilfully once sang, that sounds good to me. No doubt by Saturday evening, I will be completely sucked in and want to do a full proper posting. Oh I'm so layered and contradictory! Anyway, in the meantime (and in between time) (obscure pop reference alert!) here are some alumni from the show and their current video output...

Alexandra Burke ~ Start Without You:

There's something about this single. Part of me thinks it's rather good indeed. Part of me think that Example was right in thinking he could write something substantially more brilliant for Alexandra. Part of me thinks that is just some sort of bizarre mash up of a Boney M song and Under The Sea. So I am awash in conflicting emotions! But it is a rather enjoyable summer song that, like Girls Aloud's Long Hot Summer, is being released about six weeks later than it should have been. Here is what is going down in the video...

• A glitter ball is not enough for Alexandra Burke. No. She has to have an actual glitter curtain. My retinas hurt just looking at it!
• A much more pleasing sight comes at 17 seconds when a bevvy of trunk clad hotties all turn to look at "the beast" (as she calls herself). Except the guy in the middle. He is so clearly having a quick shufty at the guy next to him's willy region. And frankly, who can blame him?
• Essentially the first verse of the song is like a more oiled up version of Olivia Newton John's Physical. Alexandra is eyeing up the totty while they do various muscle pumping (oo-er) activities in the worlds most boring gym.
• She is clearly distracting the guy who is working his guns. I mean, how offputting having Alexandra come up and finger your chest mid-workout. Whatever next? Shayne Ward popping in to feel up your glutes?! (um, yes please)...
• Chorus + Dance Routine + men in vests = win. A - because it's a vastly superior dance routine to say, The Saturdays Missing You fiasco. B - I am quite liking the braces and vest look, though my belly is far too paunchy at the moment to pull it off.
• At around the minute mark, Alexandra takes part in the least energetic aerobics class ever. She will never get a workout video deal with that routine :P
• During the second verse, Alexandra takes a leaf out of Bruno's book and uses "the staff" as furniture. Still she can't weigh much so I doubt it's that taxing for him...
• Lets have a proper look at the blokes. Pause at 2m02s. The dark haired fella three in from the left has got amazing pecs. The bloke two across to the right from him is also probably worth a jolly good bounce. I think this is chest fingered guns man from earlier. As his friends call him...
• Oh lordy, the rapper is off. Alexandra is swirling around seductively in her body stocking while he raps about something or the other.
• More posturing from the gym bunnies while Alexandra tells them not to make her start without them. Which actually (I believe) is what some men quite like. It saves on the foreplay. Apparently.
• And that's essentially it. Lather, rinse, repeat for the rest of the song.

Olly Murs ~ Please Don't Let Me Go:

Blimey. The X factor alumni have been having lessons at camp faux reggae this week. Alexandra has been listening to her ace of base tapes, while lovely Olly has been checking out his dad's UB40 bootlegs. It is entirely pleasant though and Olly was utterly charming on Alan Carr the other week. Magnifico...(less magnifico is the fact that you can't embed the video. So here is the link and above is a nice pic of Olly instead. Bah!)

• Ooo, it's the 00s version of we're all going on a summer holiday. I half expected the cast of On The Buses to emerge in the first few seconds!
• Olly turns up on a scooter though which works for so many reasons. Firstly, I can't imagine him on public transport. Secondly, he looks quite boffable. And by quite I mean very. And thirdly, a scooter just suits him doesn't it? He seems quite bohemian...
• He's clearly a bit underdressed for the occasion - would a tie or cravat have killed him? I do like the fact that he steals H-lookalike-from-Steps drink and the sozzled booze hound doesn't even seem to notice. Class.
• The little klepto just can't help himself. At 50s he helps himself to a younger Simon Cowell lookalike's straw hat and does the classic cocky forward tilt with it. Oh my.
• There's some sort of free flowing dance routine during the chorus and it's a little bit disheartening that Olly doesn't do any of his shake the shit from your shoe patented dance routines. He does touch his eye when he says eye though, which is a tiny shuffle towards a step in the right direction I suppose...
• He then leads his chosen ladee friend down some steps and is bold enough to walk backwards. There could be some hilarious "fall on my arse" type outtakes from this video or he could just be very good at walking backwards. Even more amazing is the fact that the waiting staff dance down the steps with him - a bit like they do in the film Mame when everyone sings, uh, Mame...!!
• It's getting a bit warm after all that step walking so Olly takes off his jacket. Um, woof! He pops it down and gets well into the singing. In fact if you pause at 1m42s and don't know he's about to say "feel" with passion and conviction, you would think he was about to say a swear...
• It is remiss of me to have not mentioned the lecherous old perv walking around with some young gold digger and the old biddy guzzling at the sauce while feeding her dog pigs in the blankets. Or something. High society is so sordid.
• Frankly this video is full of celebrity look a likes. H, Simon Cowell and at 1m58s a sodden Dan Gillespie Sells wannabe (The Feeling) emerges from a dip in the pool...
• Ladee friend is leading Olly astray while lots of free love goes on in the background. It's essentially a PG version of the True Blood season 2 finale. My god, lets hope Olly doesn't end up tied to a tree by some weird witch lady!
• There are some nice shots in the middle 8 which match how pretty the music is. Tres bon.
• I have no idea whether he managed to cop off with the ladee friend by the end of the night, but he does look a bit sad at the end of the video so I'm thinking probably not. Ah well, always next time...

Honourable mention: The Unconventionals ~ Strawberry Sunshine:

The Unconventionals were tragically the first to go a couple of years ago on the X Factor. Often I think if the first acts had been given more of a chance, the total outcome could be completely different but oh well... They are back and following on from their cover of Push The Button is a brand new song Strawberry Sunshine. It's a lovely laid back tune with layered harmonies, some lovely sixties-ish horns and a melody that washes over you like a fresh wave lapping onto your toes at the beach. Essentially the video is like Dee-lite and The B52s circa 1990 were popped into a blender, forwarded in time via Austin Powers and tipped out in 2010. The girls are all sorts of hippy chic while the guys range from looking like they are auditioning for Oliver to being background extras for the Olly Murs video above. I don't say this as criticism because it all works visually very well with the song. They all shimmy and shake beautifully (particualarly Andy - RAR + YUM!). And there are some glorious dramatic strings throughout but especially as they all pose together at the end doing their best moody-sexy poses :) definitely worth several moments of your time :)

Coming sunday - Probably something on Mcfly...

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

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

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

Video magnificence:

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

Things I am looking forward to...

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

Top 21 tracks of the week:

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

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

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

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

Back tomorrow with part two...

Christmas is coming - the goose is getting fat! Ah the festive season is a mere 3 months away. Yes of course it's far too early to be getting into that seasonal frame of mind, but that doesn't mean that people aren't planning ahead. It's the most important time of year (seemingly) for record labels and artists with the biggest releases planned to compete with the X Factor winner for the Christmas number one (and actually the bigger sales that the holidays bring). That will all be very exciting in due course but really 90 days til the big day this year means just 90 days til I fly to Las Vegas for Christmas and New Year! Hurrah! And prior to that I have Gran Canaria to fit in :P And prior to that I have to finish today's blog about the music flooding the market this week :)

WHAT CAUGHT MY EYE THIS WEEK:

• Bah. Not quite out in time for Christmas true, but one of my fave groups Maroon 5 have been squirrelled away in Switzerland working hard on their 3rd album. To positively titillate and delight the senses, the boys have released a little preview of the album on youtube. Notice a topless Adam at 22seconds :P (Love how the fadeout sounds a little like the dramatic endings in Lost!) They've been fairly quiet this year (other than a simply lovely cover of The Way You Look Tonight) but will be previewing new music on their Back To School tour. Sigh. If only I were there...
• (Scissor Sisters won't be out for Christmas either, but there is a rather good interview with Jake Shears detailing what's going on with it over at Popjustice)
• As D'luv reported earlier this week, one of my other 2004 faves The Killers have a track on the Twilight:New Moon soundtrack. While the trailers for the film look absolutely dire and sinfully boring, I am of course very excited about this track entitled White Demon Love Song. Just from the title alone it has the potential to be epic and brilliant. Of course, all vampire soundtracks have to live up to the impossibly high bar that Annie Lennox set with Love Song For A Vampire. Shall we listen to it again? Yes, lets.
• While the new Dashboard Confessional song on the Jennifer's Body soundtrack (Finishing School) sounded a little bit "Sex and Candy" by Marcy's Playground (I still liked it), I'm loving the new single proper Belle of the Boulevard. Because it sounds like exactly what you would expect from DBC - and sometimes, if you are a fan of the band that is more than enough :) Much like the Indigo Girls & BArenaked Ladies, they are a group I consistently enjoy and who sometimes knock an amazing tune out the ballpark...
• There are a shocking 5 x-factor (or similar) related songs in my top 21 this week. And a plethora of new x-factor product videos hitting youtube, because Simon only likes to release new music near Christmas. Alexandra's Bad Boys video (despite the entirely gratuitous FloRida cameo) is oddly engaging, perhaps cos it's rare for an X Factor winner to be allowed to release an uptempo first single and perhaps because she busts some moves. Overall it's still rather catchy. And of course JLS (I wrote about the single here) have premiered the video for Everybody in Love. Apart from looking like it's been filmed in the Bad Girls prison, it's as generic and cheesy as the song - but therein lies it's charm, because it's delivered with such sincerity and conviction that you can't help but love it. And really it's all about Marvin's arms and Aston's trainers...
• Plenty of re-releases out for Christmas too - Erasure (as I mentioned a while back) are celebrating the 21st birthday of The Innocents with a gussied up edition for the market (they've been wooing every tom dick and bloggy with a Frankmusik remix of Phantom Bride too!); The London Boys 12 Commandments of Dance FINALLY gets a rerelease on cd (see the epic London Nights below) and Sinitta has a jam packed greatest hits coming your way with a new song and a bound-to-be-fab selection of Pete Hammond remixes. Start saving your pennies kiddies!

TOP 21 TRACKS OF THE WEEK:

21 ~ Benny Andersson Band, Story of a Heart
20 ~ Dolly Rockers, Boys will be Boys (NE)
19 ~ BSB, Soldier Down
18 ~ Little Boots, Earthquake (NE)
17 ~ Little Boots, Remedy
16 ~ JLS, Everybody in Love (NE)
15 ~ Same Difference, Better Love Me
14 ~ PSB, All Over The World
13 ~ Nerina Pallot, Real Late Starter
12 ~ Shakira, She-Wolf
11 ~ Mini Viva, I Left My Heart in Tokyo
10 ~ Sugababes 3.0, Get Sexy
09 ~ Alexandra Burke, Bad Boys
08 ~ Whitney Houston, Million Dollar Bill
07 ~ Madonna, Celebration
06 ~ BWO, Love Comes Crashing Down
05 ~ Alphabeat, The Spell
04 ~ Mariah Carey, I Want To Know What Love Is
03 ~ Mika, We Are Golden
02 ~ Leona Lewis, Happy
01 ~ Robbie Williams, Bodies (4 weeks)

Coming soon: What I would release as Christmas singles; the fizzypop book report; a few more album reviews - and the X Factor double bill (!)...

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

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

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