PoP-Hyperbole

2008-04-24T04:15:00.000+09:00

Madonna, Hard Candy

Madonna graciously sent me (and a few thousand other naughty people) her new music and asked me what i think, here it is:

First up i do love it. I have had it on constant repeat its that good, yet when ive been compiling my thoughts the initial euphoria of having the new Madonna has given way to some more negative comments.

First things first, there is less lovely autotuned vocals than you might find on say a britney release, and there are Madonna's often cheesey lyrics in place of some premier songwriters skills, this makes the album seems a bit weaker perhaps than itd could've been if Madonna had been willing to play gimp to some Pop svengali, that said i still love the inuendo laden rhymes and childlike hooks on opening track 'Candy Shop'. I'd been singing this one for the past few weeks anyway. From here the other standouts are the other hook laden potential singles, 'Give it 2 me' and 'Beat goes on' two Pharrel tracks with support from Kanye West. The thing is they will make good singles and with clever videos may become massive hits but beneath their catchy lines these songs are pretty madonna-lyte it has to be said.

'Give it 2 Me' however is saved as second single due to its references to Madonna herself, in a way its like her 'piece of me' answering her critics, as if there were still any doubters that shes fit enough to dance for hours in concert. Similarly 'She's not me' the best sing-along on the album, mirrors output from gwen / fergie but calmly and efficiently reminds you that Madonna is Madonna and wont be beat. This is the the general theme of the album, Madonna is still the best oh and go out and live your life be free and dance.

Pulling this poppy message into deeper realms are the beats and the blips, and most people have noticed that Pharrel gives her some of his best work, while Timbaland rehashes a lot of his recent ideas. It seems that the production is the sore point for a lot of disappointed fans, but it really promotes the best parts of lacklustre album tracks, 'heartbeat' and 'incredible' are elevated beyond the type of europop spewed forth from her peers while tracks like 'she's not me' and 'miles away' really come to life in the closing minutes to provide epic dance tracks and ever evolving beats.

For me its this production that standouts with each listen and sustains the albums lifespan, i want to make suitable album title puns, but i can only suggest that its like admiring the candy beneath the sugar. and thats when i come unstuck myself. it seems like madonna is the instant hit and the beat is the real meat of the track, and i think this is why some fans are disappointed because ultimatly it should be the cool beats leading us to Madonna's lyrical musings and appreciating her deeper edge, but these things only come tacked on in the last two tracks, again forcing me to concede the album is madonna-lite, unsure of where the sugars coming from. hence my overthinking of this the more i play it.

The backing track to each Pharrel song really nails it though, it slips and slides and conjures up some great epic / quirky / sublime moments that make me find something to love in every song, as a casual listen some of the more lenghty tracks like 'incredible' can fall flat, but to follow the beat and have it blasting in your ears makes it a perfect driving, workout or clubbing album. Some fan critiques have bemoaned the lack of standout tracks, i think its true, but is perhaps due to the patchy nature of recent albums (from both madonna and pop in general) where tracks were either single-worthy or solid album favourites, here i feel Madonna is seeking to emulate Nelly and Justin, if not sonically, then at least sales wise by pimping out most tracks on this album in some locale. (though why the spanish track explains spanish terms seems to miss the target demographic im not sure?)

Lastly, while im happy to concede that the album feels lacking in some respects: a lack of madonna vocals and lyrics to really sink your teeth into, i for one am hugely satisfied with this album. Its a change but sits well with her back catalogue, BUT, for all the good will i feel towards this project my subconcious is telling me that 'Miles Away' is above and beyond my favourite track, it would've been buried on her previous album but here sticks out as an immense, simple and uplifting song detailing her long-distance love, the final breakdown is just enough wizadry, and i hope she gives us an album of this next time.

PS ...and 4 minutes, eeek i change my mind every play, i use it as my must run to work song, ive only got three minutes to get to work arrghgh! its madonna-lyte again, its catchy, it wouldve been a better justin song, justin and anoyone song, or a madonna alone song, the depth of what were saving isnt there, the video is odd, it seems incomplete, madonna is just herslef no real image the sets look cheap the dancing is cute but lacklustre need i go on...the beat is annoying maybe if pharrel took on justins part id love it, muchos love for pharrel this means lots of love to pharrel, madonna taught me that.

2008-04-07T05:57:00.002+09:00

Best Songs of Q1!

Cool Beats flying under the radar:
Frankmusik, 3 Little Words
Kash, Alright Fine
Hot Chip, Ready for the Floor
Bit Shifter, March of the Nucleotides
MGMT, Time To Pretend
Santogold, LES Artistes
Long Blondes, Century
Sam Sparro, Black and Gold
Kristina Harvey, Get it Together

Pop Stompers:
Roishin Murphy, Movie Star
Taio Cruz, Come on Girl
Robyn, Sexual Eruption
Annie, (I Know Your) Girlfriend (Hates Me)
Jesse McCartney, Leavin'
Kylie Minogue, Cherry Bomb
Janet Jackson, LUV
Madonna, 4 Minutes to Save the World

And the Rest...
Rihanna, Take a Bow
Vanessa Cartlon, Hands on Me
Panic At The Disco, Nine in the Afternoon

2008-04-07T05:17:00.007+09:00

the Long Blondes: "Couples"

This album is my early contender for album of the year; lead single 'century' kicks off in grandiose style an album full of lyrical quirks and anthemic chants.

"you were driving off in a taxi,
leaning out the window,
and shouting your number back at me"

I even love the classic brit quotes that kickstart the later tracks, theres a real wit in this band thats is so clearly lacking in all the indie bands out there. Kate Jacksons delivery shows how performative her rock persona is, she lives it on stage for that track, not necessarily living the role herself in order to prove the realness of this creation, a la whinehouse and doherty, instead giving different voices amongst the guilt-ridden, lonely and jelaous characters within the stories on "couples".

"your friends a genius,
she even made up the spare room bed for us"

Each song tells of a couple of sorts, but the long blondes clearly view any cosy romance with an ironicly squinted eye:

"we moved to the country,
my husband and i,
he drives,
it works out cheaper"

"I liked the Boys" is an amazingly punchy short track, making next track "Here comes the serious bit" the most raucous shout along, with a hook that screams out almost as a warning, as right around the bend is the centrepiece of the album, track 6 "Round the Hairpin". This track beats out a tatto that fits with Dorians lyrics but becomes spun in a whole new direction.

The next three tracks are perhaps my favourites on the album, while "round the hairpin" is the masterpiece here it isnt what im mostly in the mood for, that being namechecking models, scathing put downs and the sound of high heels walking off over the littered bodies of these fickle couples. I'l leave you to discover these tracks yourself.

2008-03-26T07:28:00.003+09:00

Bit Shiftershould so produce <>'s next album:

2008-03-21T03:12:00.005+09:00

The Long Blondes, finally got some dorian action and some 'century' quotes and also got my hands on the album "couples", its not all as trancey as 'century' and three tracks in feels like an homage to somone to drive you home, ill keep going before i form an opinion.

2008-03-17T04:38:00.002+09:00

Last year i made a band out of the 5 hottest male solo stars i coud find: this year things start getting a little closer to becoming a reality.

Calvin Goldspink's acting career took a hit after life is wild got cancelled, and now he's holding a guitar. His new album is out later this year, it is of course much more mature than his work with s club juniors, how could it not be hes holding a guitar.

Zac Efron continues to pretend he's an actor at heart when we all now he'd be a perfect lead in the band, he has three new movies in production and continues to look pretty. maybe we'll try to recruit the others first, then telephone in his vocals and make sure he's available for the first video shoot.

The same goes for Thomas Dekker, ive given up on his tv show, if only i could send a terminator back a year and encourage a record company to release his two albums. yes hes made two albums worth of material. we'll probably use his tracks as album fillers.

Jesse McCartney is about to drop departure his new album that popjustice tells us is amazing, he could do with going blonde again though

And lastly the most anticipated album release ever monsier Simon Curtis needs to get famous and relagate the need for this band by becoming a one man definition of pop.

2008-03-17T04:08:00.002+09:00

Girl's Aloud: 'Hoxton Heroes', clips of this have been flying around for what seems like months but the whole thing is surprisingly fresh, and uber relavent in this new era where people my age still refer to music as indie or pop when these words have no relavence and probably never did.
Making pop in an indie way, and indie with pop melodies forms the basis of some of our favourites groups of the moment: dragonette, the ting tings, hadouken, the klaxons, alphabeat. indie used to be an alternative to the mainstream of pop, and pop even when it was good served as a money maker criticised by the indies. now things seem much nicer. people who like pop are making pop, and people who like music arent afraid of pop...and people who still wanna be indie get pop punk'd by the reigning queens of pop... i present this thusly:

2008-03-16T07:47:00.004+09:00

The Long Blondes, with a better hype campaign than Madonna:

wheres dorian? oh to be his plus one

2008-03-16T07:39:00.002+09:00

Janet Jackson, Discipline
If Blue Peter were making a Janet album, they'd put lots of good hooks glue it together with some sparkly bits, then cut away the excess, fold it in half and come up with a much better tracklist...

Feedback
LUV
Rollercoaster
Rock With U
2Nite
So Much Betta
The One ft Missy Elliot

2008-03-16T07:19:00.004+09:00

Alphabeat, are finally top ten, and the amount of times i play it at work must have the whole of the northwest humming along to its infectiousness. Alphabeat woke me up most days in japan, as i tend ot oversleep my alarm, and cycle hurriedly to work in the humidity, they kept me going with their bouncyness. The fact ive had the album a year and theyre only jut getting big makes me forget about them so consider this post a well deserved bump, and a preview of the singles of the summer.

2008-03-16T05:42:00.005+09:00

Rihanna, for some reason, is about to 'Take A Bow' for the re-release of her album Good Girl Gone Bad. The song is quite subtle and not immediatly worthy of being a single, especially if this means pre-empting 'breakin' dishes' yet again, yet for all that i really think it works lyrically and vocally to produce yet another Neyo penned / Stargate mashed hit.
The possible re-release of her third album seems to imply that a fourth is not gonna happen this year at least, this is no bad thing, hopefully her next album will be her best. I think that in retrospect this is an awesome album; the latter half stands up well a year on, and although the album ends with some solid album only tracks, unlike the single worthy smorgasboard of the first half, it still plays well as a great album.
In conclusion: if 'Take a Bow' is the only new Rihanna song this year it'll do. If it was a lead single from album 4 it would be a dissapointment. If it slowly builds up on radio and helps sell a re-release of the album then thats great but hopefully the repackage is not just for 'slow to buy consumers', those only just thinking wow that umbrella song is catchy, hopefully the people that do, do put something for the pop officianado on the album with some real bonus material, live/acoustic/covers/remixes/dvds...a duet with chris brown...?etc

2008-03-09T07:13:00.005+09:00

what ya waiting what ya waiting for...

Jesse Mccartney is looking hot and sounding cuter. I'd played this song about 5 times and i was beginngin to like it, but id instantly fallen for the hooks in the clips that popjustice played ten times better. This video guarentees the lead track will be played enough for the song to infect ur brain: jesse is on course to be this years hilary duff, a disney poppet with a surprisingly amazing album.

So while you enjoy that clip, take some time to think about all the good things coming soon, but which for now we shall all patiently wait for...

Dear imaginary giver of things pop, if im a good boy, in the future i would like you to deliver:

a new Long blondes album, single/video? 'Century' is a really cool song it definatly builds upon what has always been a part of the long blondes style but shoves upfront a new avant garde approach to conveying that message. its in sync and in fashion.

a high quality leak of '4minutes', a video and some airplay of Madonna's new material.

a copy of Annies catchy little album bridge track 'girlfriend'

a clip of Sophie Ellis Bextor singing 'yes sir i can boogie'

Frankmusik to make it onto the jukebox at work

Girls Aloud's 'hoxton heroes' b-side on my ipod now

a nice copy of Panic at the Disco attempting to be pretty. odd.

and for L.A Reid to have had the guts to tell Janet to just make a ten track dance album, consider that positive feedback, cos i love the best of it 'so much betta'.

2008-02-24T07:12:00.003+09:00

Lemme tell you a fairytale....
Once there was a girl with a paino and she sung an amazingly catchy yet sad song...
the video started off a little something like this....

...But wait! this video then goes into some sort of 'fairytale of new york' (except it doesn't contain the word fa**ot and won't clog up the charts come xmas time)

...But wait some more, while that might well be the lead single 'Nolita Fairytale' from Vanessa Carlton's album Heroes and Thieves this next video is from the even more amazing song that i urge you to fall in love with.

Vanessa Carlton - Hands On Me
Uploaded by yardieiz4life

2008-02-24T06:58:00.003+09:00

MGMT: 'Time To Pretend'

Although im seemingly a pop boy through and through i think living in japan helped with that a lot, after all its much easier to think wow Mika's quite catchy and fun without having to see his media saturated face bouncing around at the Brits.
Returning to work with our mostly indie boy jukebox has reignited my indie boy leanings and this band stand out as my current favourite... i'd never heard of them before today but they have been tipped for big things by many people, the single is out march 3rd, the video below is utterly mesmerising and perhaps all too familar to any viewers of weekend televisions The Tribe, it all has a klaxons stylee pale naked boys playing dress up feel and the lyrics recount a similar tale as Nickelbacks Rockstar but this is all done in a much more laconic -and seemingly less irritating- manner.

in at number 1!

2008-02-16T06:35:00.002+09:00

Frankmusik: until maxxie from skins releaese a pop single a la adam rickett the person i truly think shouldve been bigged up as the only thing to matter this year in terms of artist breakthru's is mr frankmusik.
can't believ id almost forgot about him. buy his ep now online so like me you can pretend you knew him all along like a long lost friend.
heres his new single 3 little words (fan made video) (real video via popjustice)

innnn 2!

2008-02-16T06:31:00.003+09:00

Dont Panic, my favourite all male rock band as in proper band with pretentions to be the next radiohead is back! yay!

Panic at the Disco, Nine in the Afternoon, Pretty. Odd
i loved their first album so i hope this change in sound suits me, so far the catchyness of this single is infected my entire bus journey home from work each day, it really suits those 5.30 sunsets over lancaster.

innnnnn 3!

2008-02-16T06:19:00.003+09:00

3) Janet Jackson, Discipline

Mariah came back with a whimper this week with a limp invitiation to Touch her Body, but Janet succinctly slides amongst the timbaland sound dominating the charts producing lots of positve Feedback.

It's a great lead single with some lovely synthetic vocals although the lyrics are perhaps best left undeciphered, yet scarily the phrase 'heavy like a first day period' perhaps lacks any metaphor.

This video cemented her return to form:

So far i am loving the slinky sound of Rock with You which seems to steal from Kylie/Uffie, but possibly even takes back what was rightfully Janets to begin with. A playful sexiness and an elctro beat.

yet saving the best to last, here is LUV yay:

2008-02-16T05:02:00.002+09:00

Emerging From Hibernation:
After the bleak january popscene here comes a belated valentines to sort things out...

All the hype is paying off for the Adele's, Duffy's and David Jordan's of this world...but none of them could get a hit at any other time of year.
Basshunter gives us 2008's biggest selling song of the year so far... with a measley 200,000 sales.
Nickelback reach a new peak of number 2 with a song that charted first way back in october '07...

...and so while pop seemingly slumbers on here is my rundown of the small stirrings going on that give me hope that pop wil soon bloom again:

10) NZ band Cut Off Your Arms: Oh Girl, stealing the building blocks from with every heartbeat to provide the type of indie boys pop that might make some people think pop is newly credible and others think that indie boys are newly hot or something... anyway there it is for you:

9) Two sweet singles should encourage anyone to find out this album: here is the cover so you know what to look for when u enter a record shop or when u want to paste into itunes to add to your illegally downloaded copy.

8) Black and Gold: Sam Sparro : hotpants : hit single

7) she dont rush the bus: snoop / robyn / sexual eruption

6) im a lyckle bit in love with her: lykke li, little bit

5) Kylie, do it again, cherry bomb, carried away: three new b-sides that add to that whole nintendo/kawaii/mecha/candy thing she almost had goin on with her album. The album is still good but hopefully some of these tracks get merged into the tour setlist to make things a bit more cohesive and thereby resembling artisitc integrity rather than capitalising upon a mix of potential singles.

4) simon curtis remains lodged on my album and hopefully this year you will have heard of him hear him here see him here:

my favourite

2007-12-27T05:31:00.001+09:00

Maybe

I'm strong, But I break
I'm stubborn, And I make plenty of mistakes
Yeah I'm hard, And life with me is never easy
To figure out, to love I'm jaded but oh so lovely
All you have to do is hold me
And you'll know and you'll see just how sweet it can beIf you'll trust me, love me, let me
Maybe, maybe

Someday, When we're at the same place
When we're on the same road
When it's OK to hold my hand Without feeling lost Without all the excuses
When it's just because you love me, you let me, you need meThen maybe, maybe
All you have to do is hold me
And you'll know and you'll see just how sweet it can beIf you'll trust me, love me, let me
Maybe, maybe

I'm confusing as hell
I'm north and south
And I'll probably never have it all figured out
But what I know is I wasn't meant to walk this world without you
And I promise I'll try
Yeah I'm gonna try to give you every little part of me Every single detail you missed with your eyes
Then maybe, Maybe yeah maybe, yeh maybe and maybe maybe

One day we'll meet again and you'll need me, you'll see me completelyEvery little bit
Oh yeah maybe you'll love me, you'll love me then

I don't want to be tough

And I don't want to be proud
I don't need to be fixed and I certainly don't need to be found
I'm not lost
I just need to be in love
I just need to be loved
I just want to be loved by you and I won't stop 'cause I believe that maybe, yeah maybe
Maybe, yeah maybe

I should know better than to touch the fire twice
But I'm thinking maybe, yeah maybe you're mine
Maybe, love maybe

***

while everyones racing to claim the best song/album/artwork/meltdown of the passing pop year, i only wanna draw your attention to my favourite recording, from my favourite album by a woman slowly becoming my favourite vocalist and lyricist. she thinks this is her 'december' but its really her jagged little pill. its epic in its ambitous scale as it delves ever deeper into the painful numbness caused by kellys evident loss, until that numbness is reworked thru vocals and arrangements that add emotion to lyris which self referentially seem to come from a person thats emoitonless, this is like an emo's wetdream, reminds me of a dennis cooper novel and plays out like a masochistic alanis with each track hurting more than the last.

subliminal

2007-12-23T08:10:00.000+09:00

Ashlee Simpson - Outta my Head (Ay ya ya)

i hated it on first listen now i love it kinda song that may well mark a turn in Asshlee's career the video is all a little too kooky but its a nice little risk taker reminds me of Billie Piper for some reason? but it most certainly reminds everyone else of the beat from Maneater, the throb of blackout, and the yelps of cyndi's oeuvre.

subliminal

2007-12-23T08:05:00.000+09:00

listen to it

2007-11-27T02:40:00.000+09:00

Amy Studt, Furniture

Hopefully this is just the raise-awareness-before-kickass-album-launch-next-year-kinda-single-out-dec-3rd type song, becuase this haunting little ditty isnt getting the love it deserves.

play it. tell ppl about it. send it to your old friend mark who loved her in high school when she sung different songs. x

wowowowow

2007-11-19T21:21:00.000+09:00

Kylie, X

Set the scene: i've never listened to an entire kylie album before. i have Ultimate Kylie which is basically a singles collection. my favorite tracks are, 'breathe' / 'did it again' from the deconstruction era, and the singles from Body Language (perhaps cos they were written with my heroines Emiliana Torrini and Karen Poole).

The journey: I wasn't really expecting much from X. Judging from afar as a non-fan I feel like deconstruction showed promise, light years went retrograde, and since then shes been clawing slowly back up to credibility. fever gave good singles but most importnantly gave us iconic images courtesy of will baker and Body language tightrope walked image was flawless, singles a little quirky for the mainstream. bring in xenomania and scissor sisters for two new greatest hits releases and who know which direction she would head next.

2 hearts: not knowing what to expect or indeed expecting much to like from kylie's latest, made me feel kinda unecessarily deflated that 2 hearts wasnt more amazing. but what did i want it to be? im not sure? i saw a lazy goldfrappian song replacing elector blips with guitars and it left me and the charts cold.

x: so entering X is unsignposted territory who knew where it would take us... and the verdict is: i really really like it. im stil surprised by that myself.

'i wanted to write a song called cosmic' is almost a microcosm of the entire album. she has taken that step back and evaluated what worked, what didnt, what she is admired for, the electro dance, the quirky pop expermients the heartfelt ballads, so that X seems to echo so much of her past that it feels truly like it wraps up all those strange falsestarts and misdirections of this huge pop career and points full focus on kylie.

'Like a drug' and 'In your arms' (and later 'Im the one') are to my ear, full of that specific fever dance style that Kylie perfected herself, but as potential singles they are kinda light and sub 'i believe in you' tracks that as the kylie show deomstrated would make lovely ballads as well as dance tracks but here seem to be a bit likefever rejects, fan pleasers maybe? (im the one , yes michaelangelo saves it, but i find the chorus to be weak and needy love me love me...)

'Speakerphone' is the bloodshy and avant track which channels so much of Uffies 'pop the glock' that its practically an illegal homage. kylie does it better. its less harsh more listenable and a nice quirky track that my subconcious, apparently, had been hoping for. i love this track anyway.

'Sensistised' is another ace track, chocolateesque its has a nice hook and breathy backing, its sexual kylie.

Checking the album credits its nice to see my quirky miss poole providing some nice co-writes with minogue herself. i feel like karen poole truly gets the dark erotic pop that i think kylie wants to create. i hear karen all over 'chocolate' and 'red blooded woman' and i always imagined she demo'd them for kylie and it was like she held a mirror up to kylie herself, and karen was both left huming in the backing track and aped in the lead vocals. here they give us some sublime tracks. 'heart beat rock' is solid filler, its another Uffie style track; probably written to make speakerphone less of a standout, but also a nice lead into Nu-Di-Ty later) 'Nu-di-ty' is probaly the dividing track i like it but its experimental nature can make it feel a bit too try hard. but i like my kylie avant garde i have now decided. also this dynamic duo provide 'no more rain' kylies new over the rainbow unapologetically hopeful cure-all, a little bit like pink elephants and lemonade... mm?

Most importantly they give us 'WoW' the best song on the album, its just huge. i hear B*witched echos for me early on i so have to find the track it reminds me of to prove it. (i think its rev it up?! or maybe 'never giving up') regardless this should be the big single from this album?

'all i see' and 'stars' are perhaps filler for me, but they are solid tracks and echo so much of kylies past that u suddenly find yourself having spent a pleasent 45minutes in the presence of kylie herself in all her incarnations. i think no matter what type of kylie fan you are there must be so much to love on here that shes really pulled it off. this is a perfect album and for those future generations, to whom kylie will once again mean boomerang and not much else, asking with wondering eyes what kylie was, what did she sound like, and why was she so revered, X will, for me, be the only response.

2007-11-16T22:08:00.000+09:00

Girls Aloud: Tangled Up

link removed :)

clcik this and review it yourself....

i love close to love

girl overboard favourite at the moment

black jack has a great intro and is pipettes like/lyte

next single control of the kinfe i dont like until the daft punk robo voice kicks in

its one of the best albums of the year well worth the wait...even if we did have to have it the moment it leaked.

leona lewis album review pending possibly indefinatly while this album is played on constant loop

its her

2007-11-07T22:18:00.000+09:00

Britney Spears, Blackout Britney kicks off a month of big album releases, soon to be followed by Leona Lewis, Girls Aloud and then Kylie Minogue, so my blog will be temporarily be revived to spread my thoughts on them. Living on campus my blog editing buttons dont always display properly / youtube wont load and p2p filesharing is stricly prohibited so apart from kind record labels sending me albums to review im at a bit of a loss.

But here we have britney to guide us through these dark days. Ive never bought a britney album before but combine this with the greatest hits and i think you have the definitve collection.

on first listen the beats seemed relentless the vocals too processed and the hooks reduced to childlike repetition. 3days later and this is undoubtedly where its charm and coherence, its ingenuity and sheer dance brilliance lie.

gimme more sets the scene for much of what follows. critics have decried the artificial vocals and the stipclub imagery conjured by the lyrics, but those critics are not the ones going to be dancing to these tracks for the next year. regardless of britneys condition in the coming months, jive should stick to their guns an release plenty of singles from this collection.

pieces of me has the bold wit of a chorus that i wish brtney had written herself but it still works. track three is my favourite possibly becuase it gets a lot of flack for being so noisy but its definatly the best song to sing along too...

Heaven on earth is another favourite, while the critically lauded freakshow and toy soldier im really not buying...things go slack on the latter half of the album, but this is true of most pop albums and at leats britney gets us to around track 9 before things get to earnest.

This is a great album and will pass a pleasent week until Leona arrives. after that it will need to be retired becuase its in danger of being one of the only good albums from a whole host of big acts that hits the target and that makes me wanna overplay.

2007-11-02T06:07:00.000+09:00

Shelly Poole, 'I Don't Need Anyone', In Gold

As shelly takes the next two months on hold to rework her album (heres a hint luv, just give us a double and then u dont need to keep scrapping any of these beatiful tracks)here is a potential track for u all to enjoy... x

This is halloween

2007-10-31T21:44:00.000+09:00

Panic! At The Disco, 'This is Halloween'

changeback

2007-10-06T02:18:00.000+09:00

Sugababes, Change

As my busy jobhunting/freshersweek draws to a close I've been listening to no new music and very little music at all...except this new album which is currently a bit disappointing.

While many people might concede that this one will be a bit of a grower, what that really means is that the Change the girls have opted for drags them over into easy listening territory rather than focusing on the great production theyve had in the past.

The Xenomania tracks: 'Never Gonna Dance Again' and 'My Love Is Pink' feel very lightweight especially compared to the high-octane stuff their giving to Girl's Aloud. In fact that opninon almost taints the tracks -theyre certainly not ace rejects.

The second half of the album slows way down with some mediocare ballads. Lyrically everything is on form and there are some catchy lines... but ultimatly the flaw of this album is the production, with so many tinny vocals overlayed on scratchy drum beats... if this turned out to be a demo version i wouldnt be surprised but its not... these are the 12 tracks theyre gonna be flogging to death over the next 6months of promotion.

I can't help drawing comparisons to My Decemeber, that album I love, but i agree they're is little that will work as a single... but here we have the single potentials already picked out 'Change' a great song out just before christmas and then its likely the Xenomania track out next spring. This is trouble bcause the singles will be overplayed on radio and get skipped and the bad tracks will get skipped and ill be skipping along to my faveourite track 'Denial' for the foreseeable future.

wooo

2007-09-26T02:30:00.000+09:00

Jennifer Lopez, 'Do It Well', Brave

I haven't given this song a listen, i heard Miss Lopez though on This Morning talking about how bravely she has picked each sound, lyric and vocal for every track on her new album Brave. I guess this is her last chance to make a go of her music career after disappointing ReBirth.

2007-09-26T02:21:00.000+09:00

Mika, 'Happy Ending', Life in Cartoon Motion

Can you believ Mika has released six singles from his ten track album...well he has and he finally releases one that wasn't anoying after 5 listens... luckily the video also makes u wanna hear this one a few more times too and maybe just maybe his next album will build on this potential instead of just coast on his hype.

hate that i love this song

2007-09-26T02:13:00.000+09:00

Rihanna Ft Ne-Yo, 'Hate That I Love You', Good Girl Gone Bad
Those first few tracks on Rihanna's album really made me wanna turn off when this ballad got in the way of the kick ass dark n dirty pop, but now this song has become one of my favourites. The video just adds to its luscious vocals and its nicely understated and shows Rihanna looking hotter than ever.

Time to wake up

2007-09-25T09:26:00.000+09:00

Alisha's Attic, Japanese Dream

I knew id seen this look somewhere before... While Gwen's LoveAngelMusicBaby carries a lot of the responsibility for awaking me to the wonders of Japan (where i spent the last twelve months...) it has to be said that in my formative years Japan was also a magical far away place where my favourite pop group was recognised as the genius they were to me.

So much so that Alisha's Attic even released a special mini-album -Mecha Kawaii!- its called Japanese Dream and is a collectors wet dream coming as it does wrapped in plastic with stars and glitter floating between u and the music inside. This rare song is now lost to me but ill make someone teach me how to steal it and snuggle it amongst my itunes.

The song is Japanese Dream.

Her name is...

2007-09-25T09:10:00.000+09:00

Mar-ga-ret / Berger , Pretty Scary Silver Fairy It's tuesday, its a day when all popstarlets in photos must wear red eye adornment...after losing tons of songs through my trans-continental flitting i settled on this one album to play relentlessly in the past few weeks. One of my favourite tracks Robot Song is available here - thanx to #1 hits from another planet...you can hear a remix on her myspace.

a good heart these days

2007-09-25T08:55:00.001+09:00

Kylie, '2 Hearts' X

I'm not even a Kylie fan really, but i do love 'Body Language' for the Karen Poole written tracks and its nice that even though the whole world and its dog were making tracks for this album that Miss Karen managed to co-write 4 of the tracks on here. Check this out for a nice round-up of all the -many- Kylie leaks over the months...including one or two tipped to make the album.

Aquagirls

2007-09-24T02:11:00.000+09:00

Samanda, 'Barbie Girl'

I did want these two to win on this years bigbrother but can live without them singing this song... however i did love Aqua when i was at school

hence why i post this, the video to my favourite Aqua song...

was it a hot summer?

2007-09-19T04:50:00.000+09:00

Monrose, 'Strictly Physical', Strictly Physical

After giving osaka a soundtrack for my last few months there, Monrose are back...hear their album preview ,watch their video, and dance to their musics.

The future...

2007-09-16T21:20:00.000+09:00

I'm being a bit lazy with my blog reently now im back in England, but there is very little to report really so heres what we can expect as we head into the final quater of '07.

September
24th > Sugababes new single 'About You Now; released.
New britney video coming soon...?

October
2nd > Britney's 'Gimme More' is available as legal download.
7th > Sugababes new album Change released.
Kylie and Girls Aloud's new video will be all over youtube.

November
5th > Kylie's new single '2 Hearts' download available.
12th > Girls Aloud's new 2nd single 'Call the Shots' will be released.
Britney's fifth studio album, Pieces of Me is likely to be released.
Kylie's single '2 Hearts' physical release.
19th > Girls Aloud 4th Album released.
21st > Kylies new album released?

In between these dates Britney will leak every track she halfheartedly warbled on until we possibly hear the finished album...Girls Aloud will promote themselves on any tv show available... Sugababes will sit back and watch the sales roll in after getttin their material out so soon... Kylie will reveal a killer video and generate enough buzz to go to number one on downloads alone...and Madonna will quietly postpone her new album untill the new year.

white diamonds

2007-09-13T19:53:00.000+09:00

Kish Mauve have a new song coming out in November, you will here it soon enough -in fact you can hear an early version over at XO- but they've roped in some pop star to sing the single release and this might make it more popular.

im so lucky lucky

2007-09-09T20:12:00.000+09:00

Lucky Twice, 'Lucky', Young and Clever

Dont Stop the Pop had introduced me to Lucky Twice, but since being home Ive seen the video so much on TV and its Chris' new favourite song so here it is now with a UK release next week yay!

gwenny gwen gwen

2007-09-09T19:48:00.000+09:00

Gwen Stefani, 'Now That You Got It' Sweet Escape

I'm back home in England now, and will try and blog more, so here is gwen who i listened to constantly with akiko's car kareoke in my last month in osaka.

babes

2007-09-09T19:00:00.000+09:00

Sugababes, 'About You Now'

in the spotlight

2007-09-09T18:52:00.000+09:00

Roisin Murphy, 'Let Me Know'

back to the test card until recpetion picks up

2007-09-04T22:38:00.000+09:00

you colour me in

2007-09-02T15:57:00.001+09:00

whats this noise?...

its the sounds...'Painted by numbers'

sell sell sell

2007-09-02T15:40:00.000+09:00

Dan Scotty, Vendetta EP
This boy has a little face and he has a long fringe and he has a deep voice and he has a high emo-electro influence and... well he also has some nice songs... that wouldnt sound out of place tacked onto a Shiny Toy Gun's album.
You can buy his new EP now for only £3.99...
Alternativly you can go here and download, legally, a three track sampler of the EP.
This used to be called a Single with two b-sides but now it is not called that anymore.
Its called new ways to promote yourself in a saturated market.

mecha kawaii

2007-09-02T12:17:00.000+09:00

Show Luo, 'Bet On It' High School Musical

the new Zac Efron?! ...or the new daniel bedingfield?

you show me heaven baby

2007-09-02T12:03:00.000+09:00

Ultra, 'Say It Once'

Hype Round Up

2007-09-01T23:43:00.000+09:00

As things wind down for me in Japan, the pop musics biggest hitters are staging their returns to the pop stage.

The year had been hijacked by Rihanna and Duff, Sophie Ellis and Siobhan, but now the UK's biggest girlbands of the century Sugababes (see below) are already one amazing single into their new album promotion. But right now put down those dancing shoes and go buy Girls Aloud (see woolworths and also below) get it if only to hear 'Dog Without A Bone' in better quality than this here clip:

Our Queen and Crown Princess of pop, Madonna and Kylie meanwhile slowly build anticipation for massive album drops in the next few months but all eyes this week have been upon Britney as she manages to outdo any contender in the hype department.

The Legendary Miss Britney Spears had three years to build anticipation for this release and while every wrong step she makes in the public eye seems to spell doom on her career, the worlds best producers know exactly who to give their tracks too in order to get their beats heard...

sing along o rama

2007-09-01T23:17:00.000+09:00

Sugababes, 'Denial' Change

This is probably just an album track but its perfect pop that you can sing along to before you've finished your first listen. check out 'Change' half way through the second clip, possible next single, and titletrack from their fifth studio album out Oct 8th.

Its Britney Bitch

2007-08-31T11:26:00.000+09:00

Britney Spears, 'Gimme More'

Britney is back... heres the comeback track. Its not my fave Britney track by miles but its not bad, it is thankfully much improved on the demos from last few weeks. It also suggest that this track will be showcased at a certain big music awards nigth and should a download release follow wouldn't we all go crazy and send it to number 1? if u havent downloaded it allready that is...

theres also this other new track available? think i prefer this one actually.

photographs in my heart

2007-08-31T02:08:00.000+09:00

Juanes, 'Fotografia'

I go home next week so sadly i envisage myself blogging much less... in the next few weeks at least?- but ill try and post important things.

besides, since i put up a picture of Nicole Pussycat Doll, my visitor stats have been through the roof, maybes imnow hosting that picture? but therefore my visitor record is not entirely a good reflection of you traffic and im not sure how many of the almost 300 hits i get a day are really genuine.

I was going to give you a run down off my favourite albums of this last year in Osaka... but I'm running out of time here...so here is my favourite song, it got the most plays of any song i own and it contains the most relentless uplifting chorus i know.

who said wot?

2007-08-28T15:52:00.000+09:00

Amazing well done BoyBoy56

Retro Tuesday: Abs

2007-08-28T12:59:00.000+09:00

Abs, Abstract Theory

Its been boys week this week on pop-Hyperbole, and in celebration lets look at this amazing song that so shouldve been number one. In fact if it was by some american wannabe like akon or ne-yo it probably wouldve been. But its by that guy from 5ive who followed it up by appearing needy on love island and then failed to reunite his old band.

clothes off good times

2007-08-28T02:19:00.000+09:00

Lil Chris - No not my future husband- takes of his clothes... thanx for EQ for the heads up... shame Gym Class Heroes are trying to steal his thunder but hopefully there will always be room for a little chris in our musical lives. great concept for the video too. wonder if that came before the song?

This ones for charley...

soo close

2007-08-27T21:47:00.000+09:00

im buying Attitude magazine from singapore airport on tuesday...

im flying home on tuesday

yay

it better have moving darren hayes on the cover...

clearly not watched F.R.I.E.N.D.S

2007-08-26T18:41:00.000+09:00

Shayne Ward, clearly doesn't have E4, seen the scene thats on once a week where rachel hangs up on julie, and therefore doesn't see how annoying 'No You Hang' up couples are. In fact he's positively bragging about this specific love act here so much so that his entire relationship is defined by it. Apparently this may be an edited version of the too raunchy for TV video? sounds like transparent marketing buzz to me... but it worked and i did search for some xxx Shayne action... ultimately this is what we have instead... i like the chorus actually its my favourite Shayne song to date... make of that what you will.

yea of little faith

2007-08-26T18:25:00.000+09:00

For all my doubting Billiam did make a 'video and here it is in all its 'glory'. To be honest the chorus is annoyingly stuck with me long after the video has finished, i just don't understand A) how this is acceptable for release by anyones standards, and B) what the line 'join us ugly peaople' means?

BugLove

2007-08-26T18:12:00.000+09:00

LoveBugs, 'The Key'

I featured these guys singing a song with Lene Marlin a while back, i love this track too, shame euro(rock)pop never makes it this far...

walking the highwire

2007-08-25T16:16:00.000+09:00

Stephanie McIntosh, Tightrope

'So Do I Say Sorry First' a decent pop offering and a hot looking blonde popstar, what more can you ask for? Like me you may well be tempted to buy the album after watching this video's. There are some flat vocals, and a distinct lack of dancing but if this was the era of pop on the telly maybe she'd be bigger than she is... well who cares heres pop on the net, buy it if u like... it sounds like Aly and Aj just merged into one blonde.

And she's clearly well connected, not only Jason Donovan's sister but faux dating Ryan Carnes in the video...for 'Mistake'

selfish narcissistic psycho freak n bootlicking nazi pimp

2007-08-25T16:05:00.000+09:00

Robyn, 'Handle Me'

New Single / Old Video
Old Song / Fresh Sound

some like it hot

2007-08-25T10:27:00.000+09:00

Sugababes, 'About You Now', HQ

Madonna, 'Beat Goes On' Demo?

Britney Spears, 'Baby Boy' Demo?

It seems everyone is trying new tactics to hype their new records; but I'd much prefer some decent tracks that actually hype the album they will feature on, rather than the uncertainty and inevitable disses that follows those records we're praying are only the unfinished demos.

2007-08-23T20:38:00.000+09:00

Madonna, 'The Beat Goes On'

Press play and you will be disappointed. That isn't to say that this is terrible, it might prove to be a passable album track, but it's not hit single worthy and is therefore hopefully just a demo. It sounds unfinished- maybe that's wishful thinking, but it is undoubtedly a link sent to us from on high, I'm sure Madge would fiercely guard such a slip up. So plausibly this has been considered an album reject but worthy of being an album appetiser nonetheless. Make of it what you will.

she got it from her mama

2007-08-22T16:45:00.000+09:00

Lil Mama, 'Lip Gloss' et al...

Lil Mama really made some noise this year, aiding and abeting not only Rihanna but Avril as well remix their hot tracks for a quick ride to fame... this is her first 'solo' single but you might find these ones more familiar to sing along too...

Grrr

2007-08-22T16:40:00.000+09:00

Sean Kingston, 'Beautiful Girls': I'm beginning to hate this song, it plays every time i go swimming, and i dont like how its so catchy it has me singing about suicide, in such a cheery way.

They dont have to take their clothes off...

2007-08-22T16:32:00.000+09:00

Billiam, 'Beautiful Ones'
They dont have to take their clothes off... but this is probably the nearest we'll get to a video.

I think people are being a bit hard on these boys, sure the song isn't great but i think its obviously been pushed to coincide with the photoshoot buzz, and given time these guys might offer something a little more... this centruy. While it is good marketing the photoshoot itself isn't -wholly- a 'get naked / make cash' ploy cooked up by some dodgy management, it was part of AXM's annual naked issue so im gonna give them some slack.

Tender Loving Care

2007-08-22T15:36:00.000+09:00

TLC, Crazy Sexy Hits, is out this week. These girls had a few great songs, but i actually loved this LeftEye track, 'The Block Party' perhaps cos until now id never seen the video.

dont mess with my song

2007-08-22T15:18:00.000+09:00

I like this song but i dont see why it needs a cover. Im not wholly feeling that this pairing are pop saviours either but consider my judgements reserved cos popjustice is harping on about their album.

lets get the job done

2007-08-22T02:00:00.000+09:00

Darren Hayes, 'How To Build A Time Machine',
This Delicate Thing We've Made

I took me a while to count how many songs this reminds me of...but for now ill claim it an instant classic.

It opens a la 'Pi' Mister Hayes iterates the quantum design. The deep voice in the chorus, around 1.55, reminds me of the sound of 'Sat In You Lap' also mirroring it thematically; detailing a thirst for knowledge.

2.57 sounds like Bjork, i wanna say 'big time sensuality' cos its a title that springs to mind. The strings hit you in the fourth minute and sound like a million Kate songs - this is no bad thing.

Each time i listen i hear new things, 'calling my dad' got me last time, then i noticed that although running down the halls, should echo 'running down that hill' it's much more frenzied almost an homage to 'hounds of love'. Its in the trees its coming.

This is my current favourite. Buy the album. I'm focusing on Disc one only and each song gives me too much to write a coherent review. So lets just say i love it.

send her some love

2007-08-22T01:57:00.000+09:00

I think this song makes a much better ballad, but as the plays wear on i see it as being much less of a Sugababes departure as i did, i think its pretty canonical all told.

Lancaster library

2007-08-21T12:06:00.000+09:00

Who knew that my local library actualy offered gigs, not only gigs but gigs featuring my faves, The Long Blondes and Bat For Lashes? It doesnt surprise my lancaster is aways doin odd stuff but i cant believe nobody filmed me shouting at Dorian during Summersonic but somebody filmed this etire gig in my free net sanctuary.

retro tuesday: Emiliana Torrini

2007-08-21T11:43:00.000+09:00

'To Be Free' was the first song that made me listen to Lady Torrini. Since then of course shes invariably mentioned for her talents of singing 'Gollums Song' and writing 'Slow' for our Kyles. Yet the crowning achievement of her career so far is the album Fisherman's Woman.

Fisherman's Woman is almost a concept album which for me describes a whole year being apart from your loved one. The title shows the flights of fancy that our minds take us on during this heightened sense of loneliness, she imagines hes not gone, but is really a brave fisherman 'on the sea, where he has to be for months at a time'. Melancholy sweeps over her, good days turn sour when she thinks she saw him on the train, and endless coffee mornings highlight the cheery monotony of life untroubled by love until at night both must listen to the sound 'of the boat creaking' to get to sleep.

The brightest. and one of the most poignant tracks, 'Sunny Road' talks of the letter he wrote. Foreshadowing the halcyon days at years end, when they can go and meet upon the Sunny Road. Maybe the year apart turned to years, or it just seems that way, and maybe they grew apart, but the image of the Sunny Road keeps them bound.

boys will be boys

2007-08-21T01:52:00.000+09:00

Billiam, 'Beatiful Ones'

Serendipity· n. the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way, thus AXM offer a naked photo-op and a new boyband generates buzz for thier single. But hands up- who actually contributed to the myspace plays? Well done guys for not promoting too soon, giving us all just two weeks to buzz around your single and not enough weeks to get bored of it. Unless like me you clicked it once and wont be clicking again soon. A movie would be good to promote the album though.

dollshouse

2007-08-21T00:52:00.000+09:00

Electric Dolls n. a bad name for a girlband, but they're offering a three track download for us to change our opinion of them, this could be the sound of 2008, you have been notified.

is this real?

2007-08-20T22:37:00.000+09:00

Zac Efron,'Bet On It'

I have a hyperbolic love thing going on with Zac, i also love this song, but this clip? is it really from the most watched TV show ever?...and when can i watch it?

a friend you dont know

2007-08-19T17:42:00.000+09:00

Hilary Duff, 'Stranger': The Duff is a stranger to dancing and also -some might say- singing, but her album is undeniably one of the best pop offerings this year. This single isn't my favourite per se, but its a solid effort, so well done Miss Duff.

superstylish

2007-08-19T08:32:00.000+09:00

UnkleJam v. to unklejam is to make pop music that your uncle might like, unklejamming is often known as the Radio 2 effect, and is what happened to pop in the early half of the 21st century. Unklejam may also be an ironic reference to good music that your uncle may like if he is gay and made in the 80's, hence it being chosen as the name of 2007's mst underrated dance act (see Unklejam : underrated dance act)

'Stereo', new single, hot clockwork orange inspired video, lazy summer chorus, hot guys in hotter fashions, checkmate.

'Love Ya', for some reason this band have been giving super stylish videos. thats probably cos the band is super stylish themselves and can evenmake popworld seem fresh and exciting.

'What Am I Fighting For' another great video another lazy sumer dance hit, proving that these boys are the most worthy act to be popstars ive seen all year.

its not medevac

2007-08-19T00:57:00.001+09:00

her name is dirt

2007-08-19T00:47:00.000+09:00

Nicole Scherzinger, 'Supervillian' Her Name Is Nicole

... her song is kinda ok in a fergie stylee.

I just want batman to love.

Dont we all.

the professor is mad and hes working at feverish pace

2007-08-19T00:03:00.000+09:00

Okay one more post, seeing as its technically Sunday here now...
I like the new Sugababes song and you might too? hinthint clickclick

I also love the Darren Hayes album: 'The Tuning of Violins' sounds like Keanes 'Somehwere Only We Know?' but with much more sunshine, and 'Waking the Monster' shows such good narrative storytelling, so everyone please buy it next week and in lieu of my own heres Simon Curtis with his review for ElectroQueer.

Breaking news... electroqueer ... aka Raj is now engaged to his beloved boyfriend so big congratulations guys! and everyone leave him a comment when u follow the link.

shes the motherf***in princess

2007-08-18T23:29:00.000+09:00

This video highlights several intriguing things:

1) having seen Avril in Manchester before i cant help seeing how much of a caricature of herself she has become. shes now kawaii pink skulls and tartan and dancers with flags and masks in fact its all a bit Gwen Stefani.

2) the Japanese crowd were amazing, Kele from bloc party got annoyed cos they didn't dance to his most 'dancey' song, but when its an artiste they know and love like Avril they go crazy. admittedly they still do the point a finger at the stage routine but the also moshed like she was the punk she wants to be.

3) while some acts coughbrighteyescoughwho? used the language barrier to make the Japanese scream 'yeh' to idiotic things, Avril and Will i am, portrayed a nice understanding of their fans conversing in basic Japanese and making me happy that not all gaijins can only say "arigato" a la Alex Ross from The Arctic Monkey's- although for my sins my Japanese is terrible and i cringe cos i hope my chesterfield accent says it slightly better than his Sheffield one

so tonight i bid u adieu, my blog is back, Ha-Ri-Gatauex

hanging out with my new girlfriend

2007-08-18T23:17:00.000+09:00

Gwen Stefani n. was one of Summersonic 07's highlights. she mock mops sweat from her brow with a fans shirt, even though she was playing in 35C heat. Even 'Wind It Up' sounded cool on the big stage, and when we sung along to 'What You Waiting For' it made me feel all happy that it was Gwen that taught me about Osaka -along with Harajuka and Hysteric Glamour- and it was Gwen that sung me out as I near my final days here.

Q ampersand A

2007-08-18T22:58:00.000+09:00

Q) How does a singer who cant dance make dance-worthy videos?

A) She sits down. A Lot.

Incredulous Q)Boring.?!

Girly A) ...No no no.

Intrigued Q) How so?

Smug A) There are french maids surrounding her.

64,000$ Q) Is it Genius?

Final A) Almost.

Tambourine n, used to be known as the Marine, it was a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a a wooden or plastic frame with pairs of small metal jingles, however in 2007 tambourine became unequivocally known as the fifth top forty hit of American friend of Gwen, Eve aka E.V.E, and the single charted two weeks before physical release respectfully within the UKTop40.

it feels like everything has come undone

2007-08-18T22:47:00.000+09:00

Gossip n, A band that we all know from the skins trailer, and that we are currently getting bored of because the lead singer is A) a visual reminder of Mika's last single, and B) pulling a Lilly left-right-and-centre by badmouthing music we actually like. But once upon a time, in the far away land that was around feburary-time this too was music i rather liked.

whats that sound?

2007-08-18T21:43:00.000+09:00

The Sounds n. "an upbeat New Wave band from Helsingborg, Sweden founded in 1999." and if wikipedia cant imbibe that sentance with feeling then nobody can.

The Sounds, by my definiton, are nobody's favourite pop band, and yet their album still deserves its place, tucked away invariably between Sophie E-B and Space, at least ipod-abetically speaking. When i see photos of this band it makes me want to be a bigger fan than i am. Not only do they have a divine lead singer, but two full-on hunks-o-spunk hiding away in the back.

Now looks aren't everything, of course, and pop is also about the music, but in favour of music analysis take a look at these 2D heartthrobs in full on youtubular-bells fashion... this is their album opener, 'song with a mission' echoing Gwens 'What You Waiting For?' in theme of having a contract and writing songs to kick ass.

Hey

what do you say

I got a 15 million dollar contract coming my way

This song is not for you

only for people living like we do, and not for the true

They have this new single out. This is the video. theres enough of Jesper and Felix to satiate my need and also more than enough of Meja's crotch to last me a lifetime.

The blog is on...

2007-08-18T21:37:00.001+09:00

Sorry guys for my absence, i got my computer back and then i had to catch up with my boyf and cathc up with big brother and then i had to learn how to make blogger not appear in japanese, and now thats sorted i can try and find some news to talk about... while u wait for this look at the testcard ...

about time now

2007-08-15T18:04:00.000+09:00

Sugababes, 'About You Now', Untitled Album of high expectations

I like the song lyrically its nice and catchy, I hate the noise underneath I dont think it enhances the vocals, maybe a HQ version might sound better but i think they couldve gone more electro or poppy like push the button, I think Heidi does a great middle-eight but its not the best shes been given and Amelles vocals arent as distinctive as they have been on 'easy' or even 'walk this way' and the chorus is great, ust noisy underneath for whihc i blame Dr.Luke.

Im rambling again it must mean my computer is fixed yay.

to tide-u-over

2007-08-13T15:24:00.000+09:00

Well done Robyn for being number one! Charts don't really matter to me but its nice to have a good pop star that i love as number 1 in a chart that recognises sales- from a track that most fans have had for months- so its nice that she will find a whole new audience, even my mum is telling me about robyn. this number one could be a great re-kick start to her career in the UK, but for anyone newly loving Robyn, check out her back catalogue its great pop.

The 3.0's get another stab at the charts, its not out for ages but u can her a low quality 30seconds at heatworld, it will be played on jo whiley AND scott mills tomorrow, I'm tempted to say i like it but its a little early yet...leak pending...single out Sept 24th

Girls Aloud, 'Sexy! No No No...'

i love this video, it makes me very excited about the new Girls Aloud album, after enough time to digest it Ive decided this is exactly what i wanted from a girls aloud track and hope its a good intro to the album. single is out Sept 3rd / album November 19 so hopefully have a new track announced for Oct hehe.

And until i get my hands on a copy, heres XO's glowing report on Darren hayes new album... tres anticipatory.

Normal service will resume

2007-08-12T23:53:00.000+09:00

Summersonic was amazing

i will post more on it soon...

but ...

my comp is about to be upgraded

i have no memory

so this week ill be absent till maybe wednesday...

ill come back and give u

girls alouds new video,

sugababes single,

darren hayes album review...

and much more.

thanx XOLondon for adding me to ur links list !

pretty

2007-08-08T00:37:00.000+09:00

This pic and many like it are doing the rounds, and so hopefully if im done reading Harry Potter i should bring you the 'Sexy! No No No...' brand spanking leather / shiny butterfly eye makeup Girls Aloud video, in about tomorrow days time?

Finally

2007-08-08T00:30:00.000+09:00

M.IA, 'Jimmy' Kala

A future number one single finally gets its video premiered in full. I love this song and M.I.A is featured in Japanese magazines on every newstand shame shes not playing Summersonic like last year.

Another weekend without makeup

2007-08-07T23:13:00.000+09:00

The Long Blondes, Someone To Drive You Home

The Long Blondes became a favourite of mine around December last year and finally this week i will see them play live at SummerSonic; even though their practically from my hometown, heralding as they do from Sheffield. This is actually the first time Ive bothered to look up their videos on youtube. I'd seen pictures and loved how their 50's style compliments the lyrics.

The first video below is for 'Weekend Without Makeup' their first single with Roughtrade, after being renowned as the best unsigned band in Britain. I love how the kissing lesbains casually infiltrate the discotheque and just the general fierce persona of vocalist Kate Jackson.

The lyrics are mostly written by guitarist Dorian Cox, and i like the queer elements that creep in from having a woman sing songs written by a man, who is in reality engaging in relations with Emma the second guitarist. Kate sings "19 your only 19 for gods sake, you dont need a boyfriend" she says in an interview it would be threatening to have a guy sing it? I think it would be eqaully amazing but here's her take on it...

When i played it for my friend, she picked up on this lesbian vibe, 'id take u out , id even cut my hair for you', but i just love it in the queer complexities and catchyness of it all. speaking of which another good song is this one which makes brilliant use of an opening caption. I cannot wait to jump around with these femme fatales.

The Sonic Sound of Summer

2007-08-07T22:52:00.000+09:00

Summersonic, Osaka '07

This weekend I will be chilling with some stars at RockRock -last year apparently Delly met Dan Gillespie Sells- and then dancing in the humidity all weekend at the Summersonic festival.

Here's my abridged lineup...

Saturday:

Hadouken

Hot Chip / The Fratellis

Bloc Party

Cyndi Lauper

Kasabian

Arctic Monkeys / Pet Shop Boys

Sunday:

The Pipettes

The Long Blondes

Gym Class Heroes

30 seconds to Mars

Gwen Stefani / FalloutBoy

Avril Lavigne / Klaxons

Black Eyed Peas

I basically bought the Saturday ticket for Cyndi alone but i will be wearing my indie boy hat no doubt later in the day, but Sunday i see my one of my favourite bands... The Long Blondes! So in tribute this week I will post this week on things i hope to see at Summersonic.

just the once

2007-08-07T18:29:00.000+09:00

Ivri Lider, 'Jesse'

I like this song but not sure how often id have it on repeat -unlike PayTV!- Everyone should listen to this song once though, and seeing as Perez already mentioned it consider this a bonus second chance.

I wanna go to the discotheque

2007-08-07T18:00:00.000+09:00

Pay-tv, 'Trendy Discotheque'

This song has just become my favourite...The Sugababes are gonna have to pull up their pop socks to better this for me. DontStopThePop say new material from the girls is out soon!
The attidue, the lyrics, and the delivery are all sublime.

sugar rush

2007-08-07T02:08:00.000+09:00

Sugababes, 'About You Now'

Rant over, we can now all happily jump aboard the fan driven hype train for the sugababes new single. The first listen is -no doubt- imminent...

Until then we can specualte about this picture.
stare to camera check

heidi sandwhich check

white on black check

fingers entwined check

zeitgeist haircut check

Popjustice inform us the chorus goes like this:

"Can we bring yesterday back around

because I know how I feel about you now

I was young, I was dumb, I let you down

but I know how I feel about you now."

Retro Tuesday: Margaret Berger

2007-08-07T02:07:00.000+09:00

Margaret Berger, Pretty Scary Silver Fairy

With Robyn doing so well in the charts recently maybe its time we start allowing more Euro pop gems into our hearts. A lot of people allready love this girl, and if you havent heard this album yet you should so that like me you can pretend you've always loved her instead of jumping on the bandwagon.

This entire album is perfect pop, its deep and heartfelt but also the most immediate and catchy ten songs you can imagine. You can sing along to this after just one listen, and as much as we love My December it kinda almost makes you wish Kelly had taken those euro pop svengalis offer and crafted something equally as lush.

babyrant

2007-08-07T00:04:00.000+09:00

This week Robyn and Darren Hayes seem to be revolutionising pop. Each has broken away from years with Major labels, going it alone in creating a record label to get their music heard.

Darren leaked tracks to his fans and he has created an enormous buzz about his double LP, Robyn meanwhile gave us promo EP's, moreover each crafted videos to enhance their sound and both did a huge number of gigs as promotion.

And then we have the Sugababes and Girls Aloud. Their record companies claim that illegal downloading is bad -and no doubt funds terrorism- but they happily leak tracks months in advance to generate buzz, knowing they can recoup profits in other ways that only big companies can- like overpriced concerts. I think its disregarding fans patience and support, and instead its making us do the buzz work for them.

Girls Aloud and Sugababes will hopefully have amazing and succesful albums, but, they also ride a wave of lazy promotion, especially when compared to some of our recent pop heroes. Maybe Robyn and Darren would like such a quick fix for themselves, but i think their success -which is coming now- will taste sweeter for them and their fans having been witness to a new wave of transparency in the way pop is crafted- promoted and released.

Ryan goes to the kwikEmart

2007-08-06T21:35:00.000+09:00

Music to my ears

2007-08-06T11:34:00.000+09:00

Shelly Poole, In Gold

"The title is still In Gold [...] its the prettiest child in my opinion. Chances are if you liked Alisha's Attic then your ears should be pleased , I went back to all the things I love about music and mashed them all up for one big dinner." Ms Shelly Poole

2007-08-05T22:53:00.000+09:00

Girls Aloud, 'Sexy! No No No...'