Snap, Crackle (Fizzy) Pop: Weekly Round Up July 20th 2009

How is July nearly over already? My goals for July (which were rolled over from the 6 month stage of the year) are nowhere near complete, probably cos I have pissed too much time away on twitter. Grrr. Oh well, it's nice to have goals for August isn't it? I'm a bit bleary eyed today to be honest with you. I couldn't even be bothered to go and get my Sunday morning Starbucks (oh the horror, etc). Blame it on a fun night out with the reunited London Pride gang. Went to our usual haunt (Eden - gets more and more packed each week and deservedly so. James Leon and Elouise *may* [fingers crossed] be playing there in the near future...), listened to some good music, had a large man with a very sweaty back brush past me and leave most of his body moisture on my arm and then got persuaded by a tipsy Mark that we should go to a "bears and their admirers" bar to "see what it was like" :/ It did not taste good :S Though I did entertain by doing poetry style readings of popular raps in a posh accent (Shoop by Salt n Pepa always sounds bonza). Anywhere, lots to catch up on this week so here are the highlights...

THE WEEK THAT WAS:

• I've been entirely in love with Madonna's True Blue album this week. It is a delightful pop album from start to finish. After feeling a bit happy that work had finished on Friday, I skipped all the way home mouthing along to and pretending I was in a new video for the ebullient title track. Heavenly.


• (Thank God that during her many dodgy outfits - and many wonderful ones - Madonna didn't lose it and wear a kermit dress. Ridiculous).


• Talking of Madonna (part one) - it was quite sad that her stage rigging collapsed killing two people. How awful for their families - and I imagine Madonna too. As happens with these things, irreverent comments and jokes pop up over the internet. Call me humourless, but I don't get that, i'm sure the families don't get that and find it a bit repugnant. I remember in my late teens making a joke about Freddie Mercury at school shortly after he'd died and a teacher overhearing and simply said "He was loved by people and his family. Do you think they would find that funny?" And I was devoured by an entirely massive amount of shame. Each to their own though...:(


• Talking of Madonna (part two) - never has 18 seconds been so analysed. Celebrate clip leaked online this week and it's hard to make a comprehensive judgement on it. From what I can tell, it sounds like a quite decent COAD-era type song.


• Other clips floating around - as I mentioned last week, the chorus to Blake Lewis' Sad Song is available to listen to and quite brillopad. Ditto Mika's We Are Golden which instantly sounds like a cross between a Queen song, a Belinda Carlise chorus (i'm thinking We Want The Same Thing) and something else, I'm not sure what yet :P Barmy but brilliant.


• Over at lovely Robbie's pad, there is the first online clip for the new Industry single "Burn". Much like Same Difference, it's an updated Steps sound and similar to their decent midtempo ballads. Hard to judge from one little clip, but it's promising. Perhaps you heard it if you were at the Pussycat Dolls gig in Ireland last night? They were the opening act and marvy no doubt :P


• Sugababes "Get Sexy" continues to grow on me, and sounded rather marvelous played loud in Eden last night. Perhaps that's the optimum setting for it to be played?


• Ditto Bananarama's new one. Love Comes. (And so did I when I heard it as I rather disgracefully twittered in the week. And then repeated the "joke" on Mike's Poptrash singles of the week reviews). It's quite bonza indeed. It's a tightly produced little number with a great chorus and this whispery vocodered middle eight that just floats enticingly for a few seconds before launching back into the chorus. Those lovely rams continue with their diverse but always entertaining career then...
  


• I managed to go all last week without mentioning Elouise, but I can hold back no further! As it seems to be a "clips" week, I absolutely must spend some time talking about two tracks on her myspace. Pretender is what would happen musically if the amazing (and one of my favourite singers ever) Dusty Springfield were still around to record music today. It's epic in the extreme, with a glorious sounding chorus complete with tremendous backing vocals and the plainitive plea from Elouise to go back in time and "remember what you're missing baby". And she sings it so amazingly well, that I'm totally drawn into the world of the song and get this conflicted feeling - sadness from the message in the tune (who hasn't yearned for lost love?) but almost giddy euphoria at the sheer spectacular sound created. Another Day, i've written before, but i'm still obsessing over. The tune sounds like it belongs at the end of a James Bond film - or is a remake of Scissters Land Of A Thousand Words, but amping up the drama to the nth degree. Oh! And let's not even discuss the utterly charming Fireman of My Dreams (below). Not only is it one of the cutest songs I've heard in a long time, but it's quite witty and instantly anthemic. In a years time, many many drag queens will be miming to this. My god, an album better be coming soon or I will absolutely explode. And that won't be pretty.

TOP 21 SINGLES OF THE WEEK:

21 ~ Marina & The Diamonds, Obsessions (NE)
20 ~ Marina & The Diamonds, I Am Not A Robot
19 ~ Freemasons ft SEB, Heartbreak Makes Me A Dancer
18 ~ BWO, Right Here Right Now
17 ~ Ola, Sky's The Limit (NE/VID)
16 ~ Le Kid, Mercy Mercy
15 ~ Jordin Sparks, Battlefield
14 ~ Dan Black, Symphonies (the album UN is quite decent indeed)
13 ~ Sugababes, Get Sexy
12 ~ Lily Allen, 22
11 ~ Erik Hassle, Don't Bring Flowers
10 ~ Dolly Rockers, Je Suis Un Dolly
09 ~ Jason Mraz, Try Try Try
08 ~ Mr Hudson, Supernova (Did you see the size of his feet on Chattyman? Mazel Tov!)
07 ~ Mans Zelmerlow, Home
06 ~ Elouise, One Night Only
05 ~ "Abba", Second Best To None
04 ~ Little Boots, Remedy
03 ~ JLS, Beat Again (the deserved UK #1)
02 ~ Preston, Dressed To Kill
01 ~ Benny Andersson Band, Story Of A Heart (6 weeks)

Back soon with a Harry Potter post. At some point. And some career advice for artists...