..to the beat.

Alphabeat

yes they look a little too old to dress so...nicely; but they sing pop songs and most importantly perhaps they seem to realy enjoy doing so.

in a world where...

postarlets all wanna be actresses

pop boys wanna go street

stylists control a bands look

and fashion dictates what u can credibly sing about

danish band Alphabeat make the perfect pop music weve so long been mourning

its tempting to say its 90's bubblegum pop

but its really just timelessly catchy and amazing

54321

Feist, The Reminder

what isnt amazin about these two videos?

Feist gives us a stunning album.

some tracks are amazing, a few are not.

the ones that are are sublime.

i think they tell about a lady reminding her younger self to perservere

its heartbreaking and extremely singalongable

perfection

Saturday Review: Good Girl Gone Bad

Rihanna, Good Girl Gone Bad

This weekend looks set to end Rihanna's run as the UK number one with 'Umbrella' the first single to be taken from this album. If i was marketing her id have 'Don't Stop the Music' all ready to hit the shops tomorrow. Cos with a little help from a Michael Jackson sample she could make it another 8 weeks at the top and prove herself the star of the summer- as if shes not already.

On first, listen the sixth track 'Hate that I love you' looks like it heralds the dying fall of the album- although this duet with Ne-yo just screams 'huge in America'. Recently though even this track is growing on me. Rumours abound that she will pull a Miss Furtado style releasing of different tracks in different locales. so hopefully we wont ever have to see this on the singles chart.

There's a run of single worthy tracks to open the album, 'Breakin' Dishes' and 'Don't stop the music' are both better than rumoured next single 'shut up and drive.' But I like this track too its just not quite Rihanna enough for me, although she flaunts that killer hair in her video. I don't like the last section of the video where she rocks out. Its far too contrived a la Beyonce's whole last album to be a crossover with rockier fans.

Once you get over the Ne-yo shaped hump in the middle of the album there is still plenty to admire. I can't help wishing her people had been blessed with the foresight of how successful 'Umbrella' would be and to have given us a whole album in the same vein as Madonna gave us Confessions... one unending beat after the other. As it stands the opening hits u with full force and tapers of towards the end with some quite quirky tracks, about looking in the mirror 'Questions existing' and buying furniture 'Lemme get that'. She pulls off this pop quirkiness quite well though, with two of her best tracks being abut throwing dishes at a man and loving her umbrella, needless to say shes done good.

If she plays it like Nelly she'll still be flogging this album this time next summer and deservedly so. One final note of concern...

Its nice to have a popstar not miming and both singing live and dancing, however judging by her Live earth Tokyo performance she's got to the top of her game a little to fast and she could really do with improving her live performances, her backing singers carry her far to much. Her good material can only go so far.

A & E 'Ward' on standby

Shane Ward, 'If thats ok with you'


bleeding eardums, eyes popping out over the unbelievably bad lyrics, disbelief bypasses after many are left in shatters... yes Shanes back and this deserves to be his last single.

My thoughts on the Mika thing

Mika exposes the flaws in my moral high ground...

I like to like QueerTheory- it supports the idea that we can do away with labels and categories for our sexual identities... its almost anti-identity itself.

I like to think therefore that sexual identities aren't important, and are more often than not somewhat detrimental, offering cloudy definitions, and blurry generalisations rather than illuminating their subjects.

Mika reads like a Queer theorist but one who hasn't grasped the adequate vocabulary to express his opinion.

“I suppose it’s because I never really wanted to box myself in. Anyone can label me, but I’m not willing to label myself. Does it limit the way that I live my life? No. I still do whatever I want."

and that means i find his claims to dislike labels appear disingenuous... but that's just the feeling i cant shake

there's evidently very little difference between rejecting labels, and never giving yourself a label to begin with.

in fact maybe hes seeing things more queerly than i?

and so i feel hypocritical that hes doing better than me but making such a mess of it in the process.

he could use his newly queer position of being in identity limbo to inform us how we can do the same.

and yet problems persist. academically i don't want to know about Mika's sexual orientation / identity.

but humanely i want him to acknowledge he is a sexual human being.

and not -pretentiously- above the baseness of the rest of us sexual creatures

and i certainly don't want to see him exalted -by Americans, by housewives, by daily mail readers- for his lack of sexuality, in a world where the undisguised visibility of difference can often be cause for discrimination.

does he bat for billy browns team or does he pull fat lasses at the butterfly lounge?

it doesn't matter, it shouldn't matter but it does

and this says more about me than him

maybe in time ill learn to accept this new radical queer thing that I'm supposed to be in favour of

perhaps being hit with a practical example I'm just shocked after all my hypothesising

but his he really the queer artist i dreamed of?

curse u KT

Last time KT was out i didnt like her... I saw her on tv singing the amazing 'BlackHorse and a CherryTree' and i thort she was another single female artist I very much admire... when i learned it wasnt she, my love of KT left me with a bitterness that every subsequent- impressive- release failed to appease.

but i decided to get over this prejudice. and i shall give her next album a chance.

and then today i see this... and decide she needs more than a chance- becuase never has a picture made me want to like an artist more than this one...and so her music better be better than ok, cos i like her now and dont wanna have to go back to my bitter taste.

Lets hear it for the big lasses

Fergie, 'Big Girls Don't Cry' & Mika, 'Big Girls (You Are Beautiful)

While its nice seeing Milo half naked in Fergie's video, and nice seeing Mika appear so convincingly straight acting in his... these two videos are posted here before you today... no so as to draw a tenuous ink between the big girls theme, but to argue that releasing material that's already old really makes me think this month we have so little new stuff to listen to.

There are only so many times we can wear out Darren Hayes new video - but thankfully we have his humongous album just around the bend. Mika and Fergie however seem to be wringing out everything from their debut albums. This is not really true its only their 3rd/4Th singles but in a world of album leaks at least three weeks in advance it means these songs are already feeling old without the added tedium of their tired videos selling it to those members of the public who finally relent to the promotion months after we've all gotten sick of their tracks.

The trouble in being a pop fan now means seeking out new music as soon as it gasps for air having been released from its creative womb. Were living on Kylie leaks and dying for a Girls Aloud tidbit for albums not due for a good three months... while summer smashes like Rihanna who haven't even stepped into second gear promo wise are already losing their thrill.

Today...

Sophie Ellis-Bextor, 'Today the Sun's on Us', Trip the Light Fantastic



Questionable Single choice, but the video is quite nice methinks.

Scandanavian pop heroes

LoveBugs ft Lene Marlin, 'Avalon'

This songs really good...more on Lene next week.

4th boybander

Today we can unveil the next guy in our fanciful notion of a boyband...

Its Zach Efron- soon to be seen in Hairspray and High School Musical 2 very soon.

This song is really good and even without a video makes u wanna dance along.

Retro Tuesday: Alisha's Attic

Alisha's Attic, 'I am I feel', Alisha Rules the World.

One of my all time favourites bands /albums; Sisters Karen and Shelly Poole gave us some great pop songs. They still do of course writing for Jamelia/Will Young/Kylie / Rachel Stevens and Shelly's second solo album is in the pipeline, but today its all about their debut.
I got their album of the back of this one song. i never saw the video back then but today it fits beautifully with the trashy bedsit artwork that accompanied the covers of the single releases.

They wake up, find a naked bloke on their floor and sing a bit while some magical mice tidy up their room. Each single came with a cartoon detailing some dream like trip to a never world cross between the wizard of oz and alice on wonderland. Check out this fansite that details everything u need to know. And download this b-side 'Sweet Escape' for a taste of how amazing all their track are- not just those lucky enough to squeeze onto their album.

The song itself is like tank girl meets little red riding hood- surely the inspiration for that movie hoodwinked! Its catchy and got fairy magic coutesy of the eurythmics Dave Stewart, kick ass vocals by Shelly and harmmonic Backing by miss Karen.

Alisha's Attic : I Am, I Feel
Uploaded by spiegel

Madison

Madison, 'MADscientist'



In what looks like a slow weekend for music gossip... well i did miss LiveEarth- here comes Madison who has some good electro type pop songs so hurrah... if only she had a big record deal to become a mega popstarlet.