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Who needs guitars anyway?


Best Bits
Sunday, August 17, 2008

DP:UK



Solange Knowles - Sandcastle Disco
I like I Decided and I like this new single too, but I don't really see what all the fuss is about. They're nice, catchy songs and I love the Motown style, but they're not addictive like Umbrella or No Air or Bleeding Love or Irreplaceable or Just Dance or Gotta Work, and when the other ladies of r'n'b are making music that good, Solange is going to have to step it up a notch if she wants to compete. She's in a genre which is already overflowing, so it's nice to see she's at least making a niche for herself other than Rihanna-wannabe (Kat de Luna, I mean you!), but what with Mark Ronson's recent hits it's also quite a crowded area of music to be in. I think she'll do well, but I don't think we'll be remembering any of her songs in years to come.

Autumn Reeser - New You
If you remember the character of Taylor in The OC, then you'll know how fabulously bitchtastic Autumn Reeser, who played her, can be. In the new MTV film The American Mall, she sings this song and shows what a brilliant pop diva she would make. The film is their answer to High School Musical and Camp Rock, but in fact I was reminded more of Josie and the Pussycats (which is amazing, in case you haven't seen it) and 2Gether, another MTV made-for-TV movie. Then again, it's not as witty as either of those, so I suppose that brings it back to HSM. It's interesting because the band and singer who are central to the film seem almost like parodies of Disney acts, but because it is their fans who MTV want to appeal to, then the music is quite serious too. There's some OK pop stuff, but it's incredibly dated and therefore a bit insulting to pop fans... but it's a teen musical so who cares!

The Tigerpicks - Disco Punk Electro Funk
This Mancunian trio seemed to have so much potential when I discovered them about 18 months ago. They were working with Richard X, and had made this super-amazing video. They were doing the nu-rave style but actually had good songs as well, a novelty few of the others acts thought of. Unfortunately their MySpace hasn't been updated in over a year, but it does have some ace songs on it definitely worth a listen and a boogie if you like CSS, Le Tigre or Bis. I'd love to know which tracks were with Richard X, or if it's none of these I want to hear what they did come up with together. It seems like it would be a fantastic collaboration.

Miss Li - Let Her Go
I feel so stupid for never listening to any of Miss Li's music before a few weeks ago (when I finally discovered her brilliance), because she is an incredibly talented singer and songwriter, and one of Sweden's many musical gems. She's more Maia Hirasawa than Marie Serneholt, but either comparison would be a huge compliment from me. My copy of Miss Li's Best Of album arrived a week or so ago and nothing else has been on my CD player since. I like every single song, but Oh Boy, the first song by her that I discovered, remains my favourite. It's been around a year or two, but only recently found its way into the Swedish singles charts - I would love to know why, but perhaps it's just one of the many mysteries of the Swedish singles chart! I've posted Oh Boy before, so here's another great song, also on the album.

BWO - The Bells of Freedom (Live at Skansen)
Miss Li was one of the performers at Sweden's most famous outdoor concert, Allsång På Skansen, a few weeks ago, and so were BWO. They performed Lay Your Love On Me, and their new single, The Bells of Freedom. I realised I, rather bizarrely, haven't written about this song before, and I must say although I unsurprisingly love it, I would have preferred them to do a song which didn't sound quite so much like a past hit of theirs. The chorus in Bells is uncannily similar to that of Chariots of Fire. BWO are a totally unique band, there is no-one else like them, but they still need to keep on being fresh and innovative even within their special niche. Nonetheless, I thoroughly support the message of the song, which was the anthem of Europride 2008. It's the best Swedish pride song since Alcazar's Someday. Also, I've just thought: Mixing Swedes and Poles created Martin Rolinski, so if the East to West migration in Europe increases, Sweden will be even more of a hotbed of buff hotties than it is already!

On that jolly note, let's have the top 5 for this week:

5. Sam Sparro - 21st Century Life
4. David Archuleta - Crush
3. Rihanna - Disturbia
2. Alphabeat - Boyfriend

And at no.1 this week is...

Will Young - Changes
Well, what a surprise, Will is at no.1. Luckily his new video was shown on TV for the first time this week, so I can provide it for your viewing pleasure now. I must admit it's not my favourite of his videos (what could beat Who Am I?), but it has a comedy cow moment, and Will is looking very Swedish in his checked shirt, so I really can't complain. The lightning thing is all a bit weird if you ask me, but I like the hay dancing. It's very hard to talk about Will nowadays, because I feel like I was in a serious relationship with him (practically married, and I was only 14!) that slowly dissolved without anyone really noticing. One day, after not thinking of him for weeks or months, I saw him on TV again and realised I was over him. But it was an amicable separation, and although things can never go back to how they were, we'll definitely remain friends forever.
Saturday, August 16, 2008

The Next Big Thing?

Rox
She may be the latest "new Amy Winehouse", but she's got a bit more claim to the name than most, since she has stood in for Amy in live performances of Valerie, and worked with Mark Ronson on her forthcoming album. She's also worked with Nitin Sawhney, whose new single she appears on. I think Rox has a pretty good chance of success, at least with album sales, because she has a great voice and her songs are very consistent in quality. My Baby Left Me was pointed out by Fluxblog as a stand-out track, and it probably will make a good single, but I think Left Over Love is brilliant too, a typical Ronson track. The rest are all enjoyable as well, especially if, like me, you were brought up on Motown greatest hits tapes, because she's totally got the girly pizazz of acts like the Supremes and Vandellas. On the other hand, those who like Estelle should also give Rox a listen.
Hit potential: 81% Poptasticness: 79%

Rod Thomas
If you like Duke Special and Guillemots, then you'd better go and listen to Rod Thomas' music as soon as you can. He's got a really nice voice, and some lovely songs to show it off with. His style will appeal to fans of laid-back jangly acoustic music, but there's an unexpected hint of disco-pop in songs like Your Love Is A Tease as well, which makes his music stand out from the endless Scott Thomases (despite the name similarity) and Stephen Fretwells of the music world. It's a very over-populated genre, but Rod is definitely among the very best in it. His new single, Same Old Lines, has a really cute video , and I reckon with the recent popularity of Noah and the Whale, he could get a lot of Radio 2 airplay and perhaps Radio 1 as well.
Hit potential: 85% Poptasticness: 70%
Wednesday, August 13, 2008

New Pop on the Block

Chromeo - Momma's Boy (Watch)
This group have done pretty well with songs like Fancy Footwork and Bonafide Lovin', but neither song became a huge hit in the UK, as I thought they had potential to, what with the success of Hot Chip especially. This is the first single from their new album, and it's a cheeky electro-pop reminiscent of the style of 80s acts such as Buggles and even their recent advocates The Feeling, although the vocals are very different. I can't imagine it crossing over to mainstream music fans, but they're popular enough to (hopefully) not mind about that. It's a very short song, only 2.50 minutes, which is often a good thing cos I like albums with lots of short songs so you never get bored, but in this case I think a bit more time would allow it to get going and become properly ace.
77% Poptastic!

Sugababes - Girls (Listen)
I hate the Here Come All The Girls advert song that this is based around, so it's quite a testament to the Sugababes' poptasticness that they have managed to turn it into a great pop song. I like the female empowerment 'who needs men anyway?' vibe, and there are some great egotistical lines in the lyrics, especially the fabulous middle 8. Destiny's Child would be proud. The style of the song is obviously tagging onto the style of Mark Ronson's recent work, and is one of the better examples of this particular bandwagon jump. I was thinking the other day that Moma Do or Boys and Girls by Pixie would make a great new single for Sugababes (it already sounds like them actually), so it's interesting to see them releasing something quite similar to it.
84% Poptastic!

Infernal - Whenever You Need Me (Watch)
The second single from Infernal's new album, just released in Denmark, takes them back to their usual dance-pop style, after they slowed things down (only a bit, mind) on Downtown Boys. It does sound suspiciously like Cry For You meets Clocks by Coldplay, but I personally couldn't care less about unoriginality, as long as the song is good. And it is good, but I can't say it's up to the level of my favourites from their first album. It just seems to lack the energy of songs like From Paris To Berlin, Fairytales, Keen On Disco and Cheap Trick Kinda Girl, and I've thought the same of all of their songs made since the original version of the Paris to Berlin album. There were some amazing songs (as mentioned just now) on that CD, and apart from FPTB none of them are well-known. It's a travesty! If you, too, are disappointed in Infernal, I suggest a purchase of Da Buzz's incredible Greatest Hits album.
80% Poptastic!

Which of these singles are best?
Sugababes - Girls
Avenue - Last Goodbye
BWO - The Bells of Freedom
Rihanna - Disturbia
Jordin Sparks Ft Chris Brown - No Air
David Archuleta - Crush
Will Young - Changes
The Ting Tings - Shut Up And Let Me Go
Sam Sparro - 21st Century Life
Marit Larsen - If A Song Could Get Me You
Montt Mardié - Names Not Forgotten
Emilia de Poret - Pick Me Up
Alphabeat - Boyfriend
Madonna - Give It 2 Me
Gabriella Cilmi - Save The Lies
Solange - I Decided (Freemasons Remix)
James Morrisson - You Make It Real
Kat DeLuna - Calling You
Agnes - On and On
I'm From Barcelona - Paper Planes
  
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Sunday, August 10, 2008

New Pop on the Block

Emilia de Poret - Pick Me Up
I first discovered this Swedish singer when I visited Denmark in 2000, around the time that she released her first and only single under the name of Lia Andreen. It was a Britney-ish r'n'b-pop song, very catchy, and one of my first ever Europop discoveries. Sadly it failed to make a big impression, but undeterred, Emilia returned five years later using her real name, and has since become a very popular artist in Sweden. I didn't care much for the singles from her first album, but I'm really liking Pick Me Up, the first release from the follow-up. It seems I'm not alone in that, as it's gone to no.1 in Sweden. The sound is still r'n'b, and there's clearly an influence from Umbrella here. France had its own Umbrella in the form of Cléopatré by Sofia Essaïdi, and now Emilia provides Sweden with theirs. Still, neither is anywhere near as good as Rihanna's original.
72% Poptastic!

James Morrisson - You Make It Real
James has released some pretty good songs in the past, although he's never quite matched in quality his American counterpart, Gavin Degraw. Unfortunately he still hasn't done that with his new single, the first from his second album. It's not too bad, and improves as it goes along, but he's sounding more than ever like Gavin, which makes his inferiority clearer. The song is nice, but there is nothing at all special or distinct about it, which is what you need for a first single from a second album. This is the kind of single that tells us that James has nothing more to give than what we've already seen, much like whatever the equivalent single for The Kooks was called, and quite the opposite of I Don't Feel Like Dancing or Is It Any Wonder, for example. I'm sure the album will sell, but it'll need to have some better songs if he wants anyone to care.
64% Poptastic!

Kat DeLuna - Calling You
I haven't been particularly interested by anything I've heard by Kat so far, but this new single is a huge improvement. It's very poppy and catchy, and obviously an attempt to engage some of Rihanna's fans. It's not quite up to her level however, because it feels a bit too rushed. If the singing was slowed down just a bit, I think the song would be much better. Calling You is the first single from Kat's second album, imaginatively titled Sophomore, which will be out in 2009 - possibly something worth listening to, if she continues in the style of this track. It reminds me a lot of Just Dance, and both were produced by Red One, so if she is still working with them (likely since they're very popular currently), things seem quite promising for Kat to become a leader in poptasticness in the near future.
78% Poptastic!

Leona Lewis - Forgive Me
Despite hating his music, I was quite excited to hear that Akon worked on this song for Leona's US album, because he was involved in Just Dance. However, it turns out to be quite mediocre. In places it is almost good, but never comes close to Bleeding Love or Better In Time, in fact being most comparable to Mariah Carey's recent work. If she's going to be a young Mariah Carey, she should release songs like Mariah did when she was younger, such as Always Be My Baby and Vision of Love. I haven't ever dared to listen to Leona's UK album, except for her cover of Homeless by the wonderful Darin, but I would guess quite safely that this is the best thing left on it that hasn't already been released, so it makes sense as a single. Still, it is very sad that an album with only 2 good songs (originally just 1 when first released over here) could be so hugely successful while amazing albums flop all the time.

International Video Challenge

Representing Finland: Kim Herold - Social Butterfly
I started off thinking this was a misguided mix of the styles of Vincent and Kid Rock, but I soon found myself bopping along to its jolly tune. I like the whistling, the quirky video, and the amusingly odd lyrics. My favourite bit is when he sings "woke up with my best friend's hat" and does a dance move to match, which happens to be the same as Steps famously used in Tragedy! Finland is really not a good country for pop music, with Astrid Swan being the only Finnish act I'd call myself a fan of. This is good for them, but for their Swedish, Danish or Norwegian neighbours, it would be considered quite poor. I suppose the Finns are no less pop-productive than the Swiss or Austrians, for example, but when they're situated right next door to Europe's premier pop nation, they need to try a bit harder.


Representing Moldova: Crazy Loop - Johanna (Shut Up)
Former O-Zone member Dan Bălan's alter-ego Crazy Loop is back with a new single, and its just as crazy and loopy as the last one, but far less addictive and much more annoying. The video is quite disturbing too, with trashy Barbie dolls coming to life. In fact, the best bit of it is when the kids who own the dolls listen to Crazy Loop (Mm-Ma-Ma) at the beginning. Dan has released a whole album as Crazy Loop, a few tracks from which you can hear on his MySpace, and quelle surprise they are universally terrible. Rather amusingly, he also has a rock band, but the first song on their MySpace is a rock version of Mai Ai Hi! It's not bad, actually...


Representing Denmark: Hej Matematik - Walkmand
Recognise anyone in this video? You should! This electro-pop duo is composed of Søren Rasted from Aqua and his nephew, Nicolaj. Søren (who wrote and produced Aqua's songs along with Claus) is now married to Lene from Aqua, with 2 children, and she appeared on one of the HM album tracks. I haven't been able to hear it yet, so would be pleased if anyone has a suggestion of where to find a clip online. Hej Matematik are an interesting band, at times seeming serious but then remembering that Søren is from Aqua, and becoming poptastic again. I think their previous single Du og Jeg (meaning You and I) was much better, but this one has been quite successful, currently sitting at no.4 in the Danish charts. I'm also still amused by when Zane Lowe unwittingly played Søren's LazyB song on his radio show!

DP:UK



Kidtonik - Aller plus loin
How exciting - I have just discovered the French version of S Club Juniors/8! They are a group called Kidtonik, and their debut single 'Aller plus loin' (which I think means Going Further) is currently no.4 in the charts. They were created on a show called Iap Iap (no idea) on Canal J, the French answer to CBBC, and there are 6 members: 4 girls, 2 boys, all aged 12 to 14. The song really sounds like SCJ/8 and they are just as cute and jolly. They have the best French song in the top 10 by far, proving that age is just a number when it comes to achieving poptasticness.

Cat5 - Sexy
Sweden has made some brilliant electropop singles over the past few years, and here is one fine example. Cat5 are a girl duo who had a few small hits in 2005-6 with songs like Sexy and Stretch and Bend, and are basically like Pay TV's cooler cousins, or a pair of Annies. Sexy is definitely their best single, with its cheeky chorus lyrics about being too sexy for their jeans. Before Cat5, Christina and Hanna were in the ace 3-piece The Lightbulb Project, who had loads of good songs with especially good titles, my favourite being If I Liked Sports I'd Be One. It should be my theme tune.

Lady GaGa - The Fame Mini-Movie
To encourage excitement about her upcoming album release, Lady GaGa has made a video showcasing her fabulous self and some of the songs from the CD. I've heard quite a few of the songs on the tracklisting now, and I must say it's shaping up to be one of the albums of the year. I was surprised though, that the style was not just r'n'b-dance-pop but also has some rockier elements. One song in particular, the possibly not Teletubbies-inspired Again Again, could be mistaken for Lillix very easily. Beautiful Dirty Rich is expected to be the next single, and it is definitely worthy, although I think my personal fave apart from Just Dance is Boys Boys Boys.

Katerine - Catfight
'Je t'adore' secured Kate Ryan's place as Belgium's pop princess forever, but with songs like this and Here Come All The Boys, Star Academy winner Katerine did her best to snatch the title. Anyone who likes Girls Aloud (presumably all of you!) should give a listen to some Katerine singles, because they're quite GA-ish in style - if the girls didn't have enough ace songs of their own already, I'd suggest a cover or two. Recently Katerine moved to a new record label and released some singles with a new dancier style, which is unfortunately far less poptastic than her previous output. Shut Your Mouth was a hit, but I can't really think why, when Catfight only got to no.32 in the charts. I can only presume the Belgian charts are as meaningless as the Swedish ones.

I'm From Barcelona - Paper Planes
Hooray! The Swedes from Barcelona are back, and soon visiting my local music venue on their tour, so I'm not too bothered that there is a noticeable dip in jolliness level between their last album and this new single. It's not bad, but where have the "lalala"s, the smiley videos and lyrics about building treehouses got to? I expected from their first new album single something that would somehow manage to out-jolly all of their past hits put together. I can only hope they're saving that one for the second single. Anyway, Paper Planes isn't bad at all, it's just a bit more like what I'd expect from an album track than a first single.

Now for this week's top 5...

5. David Archuleta - Crush
4. The Ting Tings - Shut Up And Let Me Go
3. Rihanna - Disturbia
2. Alphabeat - Boyfriend

And this week's number one, is yet again...

Kylie Minogue - The One
I'm quite relieved that this one has had its third week at no.1 and will now be retired, because I have entirely run out of things to post, what with it not having a video and only having been performed once on TV as far as I can tell. Therefore, I have just had to post the Kylie Show performance again. Boring!

I feel cheated!

I was just watching the recent Teen Choice Awards, and Miley Cyrus brought onstage her best friend, a girl called Mandy. Mandy??? What happened to Leslie?????
Saturday, August 09, 2008

The Xtremely Crap Factor

In my excitement about the new series of X Factor ft. Cheryl, which starts next Saturday, I decided to look up some of the foreign X Factor contestants. I already knew about Martin from Denmark of course, but I didn't even know there was a Czech version of the show... and it seems Cowell and co have kept quiet about it for a reason. If this guy was the winner, what on earth were the runners up like?



It's like when you go to karaoke and some drunken bloke takes to the stage to 'rock out', stealing the entire audience's will to live in the process. If this is what passes for music in the Czech Republic, I suggest that all crap British acts head over there asap - their music will sound amazing in comparison!

Edit: Worryingly, on my second listen, I'm starting to get into it, mostly due to noticing that he sings like a pirate! "It could just be ARRRRSSSS!!!"
Thursday, August 07, 2008

If she was called Purple I'd like her more!

As is well documented, I'm very much not a fan of Pink, but I must say her new single, So What, is an excellent comeback. It's not just a copy of a recent hit with an extra something, but a whole new song as far as current pop styles go. Of course So What would be much better if Pink had a more likeable personality, although her idiocy doesn't shine through quite as excruciatingly as in Stupid Girls, which was definitely her lowest point. Hopefully there'll be more versions of this on the way with more appealing singers, and meanwhile I'm just going to have to be optimistic and hope that the emergence of Katy Perry might lead Pink to take on a new pop persona. If we have to put up with Katy and Pink both being an embarrassment to feminist-kind at the same time, I can't be held responsible for my actions!
Wednesday, August 06, 2008

I'm a musical detective genius!

The other day I reviewed David Archuleta's new song, Crush, and said that what it most reminds me of was the What's Left of Me album by Nick Lachey. Well, it turns out that the writer of Crush is none other than Emanuel Kiriakou, best known for... writing What's Left of Me! That album was so underrated, and unexpected in its good quality, so I hope David will have more songs from Emanuel on his album.

I'm really getting to love Crush at the moment, because listening to the lyrics I can see how it's perfect for David. It's the latest song to be clearly inspired by Irreplaceable and With You, but instead of Beyoncé's fun and feisty lyrical content, in Crush we have an innocent, unassuming protagonist, hopeful that the object of his affection is also too shy to admit her crush, exactly fitting the persona shown by David on American Idol. I was concerned that his sweetness would be turned sickly by bad management, losing his younger fans, but so far they're doing a great job. I'm excited to hear more, although I know from the experience of Leona Lewis that a good lead single doesn't mean it won't be an album of crap ballads.
Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Which of these singles are best?
Alphabeat - Boyfriend
Avenue - Last Goodbye
Gabriella Cilmi - Save The Lies
Rihanna - Disturbia
Jordin Sparks Ft Chris Brown - No Air
Cyndi Lauper - Into The Nightlife
Madonna - Give It 2 Me
The Ting Tings - Shut Up And Let Me Go
Sam Sparro - 21st Century Life
Kylie Minogue - The One
Tilly & The Wall - Beat Control
Rihanna – Rehab
David Archuleta - Crush
Born Crain - Tonight
Sarah Connor - Under My Skin
Natalia - Drop A Little
Will Young - Changes
Eline De Munck - Footprints in the Sand
Hayden Panettiere - Wake Up Call
BWO - The Bells of Freedom
  
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Monday, August 04, 2008

New Pop On The Block

Jessie Malakouti - Trash Me (Watch)
Ex-Shut Up Stella member Jessie has already got further than her old band ever did, as she has actually managed to make a video! I have to say I'll be quite surprised if Jessie does well, as she's really going for a pop sound and image without any serious pretentions to rock or r'n'b, and that just doesn't work in the USA unless you have Disney affiliations these days. The song is not stellar (ha) either. She reminds me of a lot of European Britney wannabes, and although these kinds of acts have produced some brilliant pop songs in the past (think Marie Serneholt, Jeanette Biedermann etc.), I don't think this is one of the better ones. I'd be happy to be proven wrong, though.
73% Poptastic!

David Archuleta - Crush (Listen)
I loved adorable David on American Idol this year, so I'm pleased to find his debut single is much better than I expected. The verses are a bit dull, but the chorus is very catchy, reminding me most of all of the songs from another surprisingly good album, Nick Lachey's What's Left Of Me. David sang With You by Chris Brown on AI, and although that performance wasn't his most complimented, he seems to have taken the style of that song and reimagined it as the kind of song a David Archuleta should sing. I'm certain this will be a hit in America, and it could easily do well in continental Europe (Rix FM will lap it up), but I don't think it's distinctive enough for the Brits to go for it, and that lack of individuality is the main problem that David must overcome in order to become an enduring success.
85% Poptastic!
Sunday, August 03, 2008

DP:UK



Eline de Munck - Footprints in the Sand
Here's a new rock-pop female singer who is having great success with her debut single in Belgium at the moment. She appeared on the Belgian version of Soapstar Superstar, Steracteur Sterartiest, and although she only came third it obviously led to a record deal. I've found out why she only came third, though: the winner was a star of musicals anyway, and the runner-up sang Rood by Marco Borsato in the last show. How can you beat that? She's a bit like Anouk (and even sang Michel on the show) but much more girly-sounding, yet her performances on Steracteur Sterartiest are of things like Toxic and Umbrella, definitely not the usual rock chick choices, although her Umbrella is quite guitarry and definitely worth a listen.

Gotye - Learnalilgivinanlovin (live)
I noticed that this brilliant Australian soul-pop song is soon to be released as a single in the UK, so I'm posting this video of Gotye (aka ) performing it live on a TV show. It's impressive since he is playing the drums while he sings, and his voice is definitely not what you'd expect from an Australian. I actually thought it was a session singer! I don't know if there is any purpose in the title being condensed and misspelt other than to make it difficult to remember how to write it, but he's certainly achieved that one. I could see this doing really well, what with the success of acts like Gnarls Barkley and Mark Ronson's 60s style, but I haven't heard any other Gotye song either anything like this, or anything like as good, so he'll probably end up a one hit wonder if he is successful.

Revelation - Rule The World
It's a bit old news now since it was a week ago when they performed it, but I have to show you this video to prove the point that Last Choir Standing is a brilliant TV show! I wouldn't normally have watched it, but I was looking for something to fill a Saturday evening, and I soon found myself hooked. They don't just sing typical choir songs, but lots of modern pop as well, which the Scala Choir and others have shown previously can work fantastically. I always thought Rule The World was a good song, but being sung by a choir it seems really powerful, and the lead singer gets into it so much, which is great to see. I love this show because it's so positive, and it's not about furthering individuals careers like other talent shows, but instead celebrating the talents of ordinary people, who are working together to make something which can be just magical.

Doe Deere - Love Me, Loathe Me, Download Me!
I already knew Doe Deere was one of the coolest new acts in pop at the moment, but this definitely seals the deal. I won't spoil it by saying the content, but I would like to compliment Doe on her fabulous antlers! I highly recommend that you go to her MySpace, and listen to tracks like One Touch and Mona Lisa. Anyone who likes Annie and Sophie Ellis-Bextor will love Doe Deere, and anyone else has bad taste anyway and doesn't deserve her! Her music is comparable to the more poppy side of Italo-pop, which is supposed to be having a revival soon, so hopefully that will come about and Doe Deere will be all the rage.

September - We Can Do It
Even now September is famous in the UK (anyone heard what she's releasing next, by the way?), the three supremely excellent singles from her debut album will still never get the recognition they deserve. They don't appear on Petra's international album, because they were released when she was signed to a different label in Sweden. We Can Do It and September All Over are more dancey, while Never Give It Up is a bit more pop, but I've chosen to post We Can Do It because I think it's up there with Automatic by Elize as one of my favourite ever dance tracks. You may recognise that it's a cover of Take Your Time (Do It Right) by the SOS Band, and if you like this version you should also hear the ace (but a bit more typical dancey and a lot more porny) Do It 2Nite by Rockefeller.

And now for this week's top 5...

5. The Ting Tings - Shut Up And Let Me Go
4. Jordin Sparks Ft Chris Brown - No Air
3. Rihanna - Disturbia
2. Alphabeat - Boyfriend

and at number one this week:

Kylie Minogue - The One
Saturdays fans may be a bit confused at this, because they did in fact get the most votes in the poll this week, but I was looking at the pages that link to me the other day, and discovered them confessing to cheating with the poll on the Saturdays forum! Therefore, they are disqualified. Goodbye, Saturdays, but thank you Saturdays fans for all the blog traffic! As we have established, The One doesn't have a video, so here instead is the Kylie classic, Your Disco Needs You. I chose it because it's gay pride in Brighton this week, and one float made great use of this song, and also it wasn't a single in the UK so you may not have seen the video before. Plus, it is the only song I know that uses "you're useless at scrabble" as an insult!
Friday, August 01, 2008

Top of the Poptastic!

Here are the top songs of July - some really good stuff this month:

1. Alphabeat - Boyfriend
2. Tilly & The Wall - Beat Control
3. Avenue - Last Goodbye
4. Rihanna - Disturbia
5. Kylie - The One
6. California Liar - I'm Not Over
7. Martin - Show The World
8. dEUS - The Architect
9. Rihanna – Rehab
10. Gotye – Learnalilgivinanlovin’
11. Born Crain - Tonight
12. Sam Sparro - 21st Century Life
13. Sarah Connor - Under My Skin
14. Natalia - Drop A Little
15. Taio Cruz - She's Like A Star
16. Enrique Iglesias - Can You Hear Me?
17. The Script - The Man Who Can't Be Moved
18. Karina Pasian - Can't Find The Words
19. Eline De Munck - Footprints in the Sand
20. M. Pokora - Catch Me If You Can
21. Das Pop - Going Underground
22. Cheetah Girls - One World
23. Hayden Panettiere - Wake Up Call
24. Santogold - Lights Out
25. Gabriella Cilmi - Save The Lies
26. The Veronicas - Take Me On The Floor
27. Secret Wish - Flick Of A Switch
28. Esser - Headlock
29. Melee - Imitation
30. Francesca Battistelli - I'm Letting Go



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