First of all, a belated Merry Xmas, Chanukah and Bajram to everyone celebrating particular festive fun. Hope everyone's been partying safe and will continue to do so over the New Year period.
There hasn't really been much time to blog on either here or Trang Pak's Burn Book, and after spending what felt like forever and a night on my Top 06 albums of '06 and Top 106 Songs of 2006 last week, I'm fucking pooped. Thus, I'll be taking a break from all blogging until Friday, January the 5th, 2007. I'm on holidays (well, sort of) at the moment, but the hilarious thing is I have had more work and harsher deadlines in these last few days of 2006 than I have through out the whole year. Slight exaggeration, but you get the point I'm sure.
Anywho, my battle to get everything done by 5pm Sunday afternoon actually looks set to become a reality (at time of print, anyway), which will give me the required amount of time to be merry and bid riddance to this year of yo-yo'ing madness. Here's to a corker 2007, and I hope everyone's upcoming year is filled with great pop songs, lovely music of "other" genre's, good television, great film and - last but definitely not least - brilliance with family, friends and health. A special thanks to everyone who's been reading the site, commenting on the site and posting on the forums in '06. Your emails and witty comments are muchly appreciated by this easily pleased pop culture whore.
Special thanks to the brilliant blogs who I've thoroughly enjoyed reading (for the first time) in '06, such as the brilliant Hotstuff Files, XO's Middle Eight, The Zapping & Bop Pop, just to name a few. Of course, another thanks to the blogs who have kept me entertained from 2004/2005 right through to this year. You too can be entertained as superbly as I have by visiting every single one of those websites by having a gander through this.
My album of the year is, naturally, going to get a larger section of this article than the others. And in a slight cop-out, I'm using the extended version of my review published in the latest edition of Buzz Magazine here in Australia. I felt there was no point in simply re-writing my feelings on the record all over again because it would have come out sounding exactly the same anyway. On a side note, not only is this the first time EVER that I have a male artist at my number 1 spot for album of the year (in 11 years of writing up lists), but it is also the first time that the top 5 is mainly male artists. Strange, but for the first time ever the boys really did deliver. So here goes...
01. ROBBIE WILLIAMS - RUDEBOX Robbie Williams. He's been in a boy band, he's swung with Nicole Kidman, he's bathed with Kylie Minogue, and toyed with Reggae-pop ("Tripping") a good year before Paris Hilton had a good stab at it. From singing the lead vocals in a cover of "Could It Be Magic", right through to more recently - being fined for smoking on stage in Australia - Rob's career has been anything but boring. So, as you would imagine, it was a pity when his last album - the mediocre Intensive Care - was about as exciting to listen to as a night of washing the dishes might be. So Rob went off and made this: the greatest album of his career. No one's seemed quite fussed about actually buying it though. Pity, because there are some absolute pop culture defining moments readily available on this CD that people should know about.
Virtually everyone will disagree with me when I say Robbie's rapping on "Rudebox" is ridiculously sexy - but whatever - it's seriously my opinion, and latest single "Lovelight" (produced by the excellent Mark Ronson) is stroke of electronic-fuelled pop genius. Lily Allen lends a helping hand in the form of background vocals on the ace Manu Chao cover "Bongo Bong" (which then has Lily break into a stunning chorus of "Je Ne T'aime Plus"), but it's the two Pet Shop Boys collaborations that truly manage to give you a sense of listening satisfaction within this collection of songs. First off, the incredibly cheeky "She's Madonna", a soft synth-driven love song about dumping your current girlfriend in favour of the Queen of Pop because; "face it, she's Madonna", and the audio-stun-show of "We're The Pet Shop Boys" - a cover version that is the best Williams album song in history - which even features Neil Tennant gracefully delivering his hypnotic voice as a background layer. And then there's the robo-tronic rap, in which Robbie puts together some of the PSB's most recognised song titles into one brilliant breakdown. Exhilarating and beautiful, it has always been a dream of mine to one day hear these two pop acts collaborate together... what a delight that the wait has truly been worth it.
Other stellar moments include "The Actor", in which Robbie namedrops some famous stars of the screen and even throws in a brilliant stuttering of "Dame Judi Dench", the William Orbit produced "Louise" is a lovely moment, a cover of Stephen Duffy's "Kiss Me" which betters the original, grower "Never Touch That Switch", and "Viva Life On Mars" which - to be honest - is the only real safe Robbie-by-numbers track on here. Two part story-telling also rears through in the magnificent "The 80's" and "The 90's", whose subject matters are fairly self explanatory.
In my opinion, there is not a single dud moment on this record. Truly amazing, I haven't heard an album so excitingly schizophrenic since Janet's janet. back in 1993. Album of the year without a doubt.
02. TAKE THAT - BEAUTIFUL WORLD Take That were a band of men who truly captured my heart with their music and their general being (how much so you can read about by heading over to the sadly somewhat now defunct 1001 Greatest Pop Songs website). The announcement of a reunion sparked up such excitement in me that I didn't even bother to think a new album from them could actually turn out to be crap. Thank heavens, then, it actually turned out to be really bloody good. Mark Owen's lead vocals on "Shine" - a moment which sounds more like the Scissor Sisters than the Scissor Sisters do on their new album - do for the song exactly what it says on the tin, Jason Orange does a splendid job on "Wooden Boat", and Howard's Beautifull World" really IS beautiful in every sense of the word. But being a die-hard fan of Gary Barlow's melodic, heart melting voice, nothing pleased me more than hearing just how superb he could still croon on the splendid first single "Patience", "Butterfly", and the most gorgeous moment on here "I'd Wait For Life". A truly special record from a truly special pop act. Welcome back boys. Now please don't go anywhere for a while.
03. PET SHOP BOYS -FUNDAMENTALL There is not a dud moment on this record. A truly inspiring piece of art that flows from number to number. It was such a rewarding experience listening to this for the first time after being disgruntled with Release a couple of years back. I didn't hate the Release project, but I didn't totally love it either. When I'm asked what my favourite Pet Shop Boys album is, I honestly can't decide. Which is odd, seeingg as my passion and love for Madonna's work is a lot stronger and yet it is fairly easy for me to share what my top 5 of hers are. Er, actually, it's not that odd come to think of it. Behaviour, Very, Bilingual, Please and Actually are the ones that get the most spins, but Fundamental could very well turn out to be the one that strikes the top spot for me. "The Sodom & Gomorrah Show" is so exciting, "Minimal" is gorgeous gorgeous GORGEOUS (xolondon wrote a piece on just HOW gorgeous this track is back in April), the Dianne Warren-penned ballad "Numb" still brings a tear to my eye, and "Integral" is the best song to come from the guys in years. Then there's the bonus Fundamentalism disc, which contains not only the Richard X produced "Fugitive", but also the Elton John duet "In Private", which is an all out trance-tastic affair that would most probably be balls of fun to dance to at a club absolutely high on something. Pure Pop Art.
04. AMY WINEHOUSE - BACK TO BLACK Mark Ronson is a musical genius. So it's no surprise that the heavily Ronson produced new disc from Amy Winehouse is an absolute masterpiece. First single "Rehab" is a whole heap of fun, "Me & Mr Jones (Fuckery)" is a song I could very easily get absolutely blind drunk to, and title number "Back To Black" is such a captivating moment, one that pull at the heart and demands you listen. It' a track that is just full of proper soul. X-Tina may have done her roaring-old-times album (which Madonna did a lot better, and with much more conviction over 15 years ago with the fun "I'm Breathless") of 89 songs over two discs (89 songs which actually fit on the ONE 80 MINUTE CDR!! SCANDAL!), but Amy's 32 minute romp with the blues manages to outdo not only the dirrrrrrrrrty chapper's flashback disc, but also a lot of the material it's sending an homage to. And that my friends, is a very special thing indeed.
05. McFLY - MOTION IN THE OCEAN Granted, it's the worst album title in years, but by god it's a ripper. The thing that I love about this album the most is that it truly paints a picture of how much these boys have grown as artists. If you look past the naked romps at G.A.Y, the countless amount of shirtless photo shoots they've done in the last 6 months (not that I'm complaining, mind), you'll find four boys who have managed to grow with every album release. Their first album, Five Colours In Her Hair, was a fun, Beatles-ish Surf and sand styled long player that was great for its time. Don't get me wrong, I still think it's a good record, but in comparison to their last two, it truly is the weakest link. And surely that's promising. Wonderland, their second album, was a much more mature sounding and somewhat serious collection of geniusly written songs, taking their obsession with The Who to an incredibly public level. It was also the first proper indication of Tom Fletcher being one of the most gifted songwriters of our time. Motion In The Ocean is the combination of core elements from both previous albums. It still harbours the mature feel of Wonderland, but doesn't take itself too seriously, much like Five Colours. "Sorry's Not Good Enough" is massive in so many ways, "Friday Night" is a rather great energy-infused pop-rock moment, and "Transylvania" is probably the second greatest song they've recorded, with the heartbreaking "Too Close For Comfort" from Wonderland obviously being their best. Their take on Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" is a fuckin' corker too.
06. FERGIE - THE DUTCHESS I made a half-arsed turn-around with Fergie about 2 months after "My Humps" was released. Initially, I hated it - as I should have too. But eventually I began to really love it. So much so that it ended up charting quite high in last years top singles of the year. It wasn't until Fergi-Ferg's first solo effort was released, "London Bridge", that the half-arsed turn-around became a complete love story. I bought the album and totally enjoyed every moment on it. "Fergalicious" is "My Humps" times a thousand (it also contains the song lyric of the year: "I be up in the Gym just workin' on my fitness"), "Pedestal" is cheeky, and "Clumsy" is really quite adorable, but it's the ditties themed on Fergie's openly-discussed former battle with drug addiction that ring true on this for me. "Voodoo Doll" is a frantic piece of music that truly captures the insane feeling one gets when they're addicted to Crystal Meth, an absolute demon that I was fortunate enough to successfullyy battle myself a couple of years back. "Losing My Ground" deals with the uphill motion of constantly taking ecstasy, and is a strikingly well produced and superbly written number. I honestly think these two tracks are the strongest moments in pop discussing the issues. The most enjoyable moments though include "Glamorous", which is not only rather smooth and sexy, but contains the spelling of the songs title. I *love* spelling in pop songs, always wins me over. Then it's the real gem on this disc, "Mary Jane Shoes", a Bob Marley sampling reggae-pop assault in which Fergie sings about how superb she feels when putting on a pair of Mary Jane Shoes. Then, in its last 40 seconds, she turns it into a viciously exciting punk-ska epileptic fit of brilliance. Black Eyed who?
and the rest, Numbers 7 to 16... 07. JAMELIA - WALK WITH ME HIGHLIGHT: The sampling of Mrs. Slocombe from Are You Being Served in "Window Shopping" IN A WORD: Electrifying.
08. LILY ALLEN - ALRIGHT, STILL HIGHLIGHT: "Everything's JustWonderfull" and its clever usage of elevator music as a sample. IN A WORD: Genius.
09. EMMA BUNTON - LIFE IN MONO HIGHLIGHT: Emma's take on the Mono classic "Life In Mono" is, in my opinion, breathtaking. IN A WORD: Classic.
10. PARIS HILTON - PARIS HIGHLIGHT: The absolute pop electricity fused within "Nothing In This World". So very awesome. IN TWO WORDS: That's Hot.
11. NELLY FURTADO - LOOSE HIGHLIGHT: The rawness found within "Say It Right", an absolute diamond of a number. IN A WORD: Glow.
12. JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE - FUTURESEX/LOVESOUNDS HIGHLIGHT: The "I Think She Knows" interlude right after "LoveStoned". Very special indeed. IN THREE WORDS: Sexy. Back. Yeah.
13. YOUNG DIVAS - YOUNG DIVAS HIGHLIGHT: The new spins on Barbra Streisand's "Woman In Love" and Princess' "Say I'm Your Number One". IN A WORD: Camp.
14. BERTINE ZETLITZ - MY ITALIAN GREYHOUND HIGHLIGHT: The brilliant cover art almost tops the brilliance of the music. That's a pretty good effort if you ask me. IN A WORD: Clever.
15. LIL' CHRIS - LIL' CHRIS HIGHLIGHT: "Gettin' Enough??" without any shade of doubt. Total brilliance. IN A WORD: Pocketsizedfun.
16. LADY SOVEREIGN - PUBLIC WARNING HIGHLIGHT: The hyperactivity of title track "Public Warning". A mighty as fuck tune. IN A WORD: Cheeky.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006 The Top 206 Songs of 2006
This has been a TASK AND A HALF. Trying to compile the greatest songs of the year in one simple list of, er, 206 titles. This year, I've broken many of my old rules. First of all, you'll find there are PLENTY of album tracks in the chart. For the past few years, I've never done that, keeping it strictly to singles and remixes. That's all out the window. Also included are demo's, unreleased material and assorted B-Sides. At one point I thought "Fuck It. I may as well include live performances as well". So I did.
These are my top 26 tracks of 2006, with commentary to go with it. Below that, you'll find numbers 27 - 206 in boring list form. Songs found in the Top 30 are all tracks I wanted to squeeze into the Top 10. Everything Outside of the Top 30 = tracks I wanted to squeeze into the top 20. YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND HOW HARD COMPILING THE LIST WAS THIS YEAR. The original list of songs I had was a total number of 1072. I had to cut all those great songs down and - as you could imagine - was something that brought on several migranes over past two weeks. But now the end of the year is nigh, it is time to publish the final results... My Albums of 2006 list should be up by next week.
01. MADONNA - YOU THRILL ME/EROTICA (CONFESSIONS TOUR STUDIO VERSION) Turning the raunch and dirty sex-factor found within the original "Erotica" into a delicious, gorgeous and absolutely stunning Trance-infused love song. Truly the most amazing piece of music my ears have heard in all of 2006. A leaked demo, Madge performed this very version of "You Thrill Me/Erotica" during her Confessions Tour earlier this year. Exquisite in every sense of the word.
02. GIRLS ALOUD - SOMETHING KINDA OOOOH Girls Aloud's second greatest single ever slams itself in front of your feet and demands that you tap them. Shoving everything that was brilliant about the early 90's rave movement in with everything that was brilliant about the highly underrated sound of Eurodance... Alexia and Whigfield have NOTHING on these girls.
03. ASHLEE SIMPSON - L.O.V.E ...and this was BEFORE the nice new nose. Ashlee's cute and Girl-Power-esque "L.O.V.E" was the soundtrack to my summer at the start of the year. Every time I drove down to the beach, I annoyed the living shit out of my friends by playing it full bore in the car (along with the equally amazing "Boyfriend"). Then, when I couldn't listen to the song, I would just sing scream it, usually dancing around wherever I was. Good times...
04. KLEERUP FT. ROBYN - WITH EVERY HEARTBEAT FACT: There is no climax found in a pop song this year as big, grand, or as stunning as the one found within this: the greatest things Robyn has ever put her name to. Heartbreaking.
05. LIL' CHRIS - GETTIN' ENOUGH?? This pint-sized pop star is the "bees knees", as Kath Day-Night would say, sipping on a glass of Cask-poured Reisling. A genius combination of guitars, loud shouting, and electro-synth-pop. And yes, it IS slightly disturbing to hear a boy who looks like he's about 3 years old asking a girl if she's "gettin' enough", but that doesn't take anything away from Chris being THE best new pop star of 2006.
06. JAMELIA - BEWARE OF THE DOG (EXTENDED VERSION) Whilst the original/album version of this track is mighty, you truly have not lived till you've indulged in the Extended Version, found on the second disc of the CD single of this very song. You probably have not heard it because a total of 6 people bought said single, but I believe this very remix is readily available from iTunes. Strangely, that is where I got it from: The AUSTRALIAN iTunes store. Go figure.
07. AMY WINEHOUSE - BACK TO BLACK FACT: Amy Winehouse can (almost - see here) do no wrong. Winehouse's raw vocal rips through your heart and sends shivers up the spine in this, the most outstanding moment found on her superb album of the same name.
08. TAKE THAT - PATIENCE I was pretty much the biggest Take That fan in all of Geelong during their prime. So when the news of a brand new album from the recently-reformed 5-gone-4-piece was announced this year, no one could have been more pleased than I. To top off all that excitement, they released this, a ballad which is pretty much only JUST a tiny bit more brilliant than "Back For Good". Fucking sensational.
09. ROGUE TRADERS - IN LOVE AGAIN The most beautiful song to ever come out of Australia. Listen very carefully to this track: there is one particular part (just after the final na-na-na-na-na's) that absolutely makes me melt and reach unusual climax every time I hear it. In a deep tone, Nat simply says the word "coz", right before launching into the chorus for the last time. Breathtaking.
10. PARIS HILTON - NOTHING IN THIS WORLD This should have been Number #1 for years. Instead it limped around the bottom 30's here. The most enjoyable, fun and pure-pop moment of the year, if this had been recorded by anyone else it would be at the top of many people's best-of-the-year lists.
11. MADONNA - LET IT WILL BE (LIVE @ THE CONFESSIONS TOUR) I cannot explain in words why this is in here. Nor can I explain why this is truly the most brilliant live performance of her entire career. I could write for days about this remix, and for even longer about the live performance. No words... Instead, I'll just point you in the YouTube direction of seeing it for yourself. Wow.
12. EMMA BUNTON - LIFE IN MONO To the public of the United Kingdom: Why are none of you buying the new Emma Bunton album? It is very good. And whilst this may be a cover of the rather brilliant Mono track, I really think that Emma's recreation of it does the original justice. She's kept the main important elements of the Mono-version, whilst twisting it around with her 60's sweetness just enough to call it her own. Absolutely charming.
13. ROBBIE WILLIAMS - WE'RE THE PET SHOP BOYS Best. Robbie. Song. Maybe. Ever. And it's a bloody cover!
14. FERGIE - MARY JANE SHOES May god strike me down for ever hating this woman. What was I thinking? When Fergie went solo, it dawned upon me that she truly was an absolute legend. Her album is superb, and this is a fine example as to why. Only Fergie could turn a boring Bob Marley sample into an exciting song about High Heel Shoes.
15. GIRLS ALOUD - THE CRAZY LIFE Kimberly goes solo for this "Something Kinda Ooooh" B-Side. Turns out to be just as good as any album track from their Chemistry album.
16. BERTINE ZETLITZ - MIDNIGHT A classic sounding song, you are going to notice this in the higher-areas of many fellow bloggers end of year charts. With gorgeous nods to Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean", and even Madonna's "Papa Don't Preach", just listening to this song makes you feel like it is being played right off a 7" vinyl. Tremendous.
17. THE PIPETTES - PULL SHAPES For some reason, every time I hear this song I think of the delightful Jennifer Coolidge doing the "bend... AND SNAP!" to it in her living room. I don't know a single person that has disliked this song. If you find anyone who does, I grant you permission to hit them over the head with a frying pan.
18. MADONNA - GET TOGETHER I have no idea what people's problem with this song was. It baffles the living daylights out of me to read people on the Popjustice forums label it as "trash", or "the worst thing Madonna has done"... have you people not heard "Open Your Heart"?!?! This is a spellbinding affair which takes Madonna into territory she SHOULD have stepped into a long time ago: Sexy, slick mid-90's French House. Why has this not happened before?
19. GIRLS ALOUD - CRAZY FOOL A Cheryl Tweedy (she wasn't a "Cole" back then thank you) solo affair, this B-Side to "Whole Lotta History" turned out to make more of an impression than the actual single it was chucked at the end of. An absolute orgasmic electropop romp, pure gold.
20. ROGUE TRADERS - WATCHING YOU My best friend Ben made me laugh a heap the other day when The Knack's "My Sharona" came on the radio. He quipped: "How DARE those bastards rip off the Rogue Traders?! I mean, HOW DARE they go BACK INTO TIME, record a song ripping off the main riff found in the Rogue's track and claim it as their own? WHAT BASTARDS." Genius.
21. GIRLS ALOUD - I THINK WE'RE ALONE NOW (ALBUM VERSION) If you've heard the "new" single version of this track, you'll probably understand why I consider the album version to be the definitive one. The new version of it has managed to take any of the fun and enjoyment out of the original Album Version, replacing it with dull Christmas-esque bells and a duller-than-dishwater baseline. Ugh.
22. THE DUKES OF WINDSOR - THE OTHERS My awesome friend Verity introduced me to this song from Aussie rockers The Dukes Of Windsor. Whatever their other stuff sounds like (I haven't quite been able to get past listening to this song to actually find out), this is how you make proper Electro-rock. There's a climax of fun-shouting, there's a line about licking guitars, and they even scream the words "boys" and "girls", much like that Blur song of equal brilliance. These boys are unsigned, sadly, but you can find this song (along with their other stuff I'm yet to pay attention to) over in your trusty iTunes store.
23. SUGABABES - EASY A lot of people didn't like this. They obviously didn't hear the insanely great Roxette-esque brilliance that I heard within the chorus. Then there's the fabulous strings, which - had they featured in more of the song - would have seen this song up much higher than 23.
24. GIRLS ALOUD - SINGAPORE This really should have been on the "Chemistry" album instead of "No Regrets", wouldn't you agree?
25. McFLY - TRANSYLVANIA This year McFly recorded their best album yet. Sadly, no one really seemed to care about that, and it plummeted down the charts faster than you could say "take your clothes off". "Transylvania" should have been a single from that album. Instead, they threw it on as a B-Side to the miserable "Star Girl". Dougie sings quite a bit on this one too. He's very good at singing, you know.
26. THE ALL-AMERICAN REJECTS - MOVE ALONG That riff... Jesus Christ, this is a VERY good song, innit?
...and the rest....
27. Pet Shop Boys ft. Elton John - In Private (Stuart Crichton Mix) 28. Scissor Sisters - Kiss You Off 29. Nelly Furtado - Maneater 30. The Cops - Call Me Anytime
31. Madonna - Music Inferno (Confessions Tour Studio Version) 32. Dannii Minogue - Feel Like I Do 33. Robbie Williams - Bongo Bong/Je Ne T'aime Plus 34. Fergie - Glamorous 35. Christina Aguilera - Hurt (JP & BSOD Electro Mix) 36. Take That - Shine 37. Robbie Williams - Love Light 38. Madonna - Like A Virgin/Jump (CT Studio Version) 39. Young Divas - Woman In Love 40. Robbie Williams - Rudebox
41. McFly - Sorry's Not Good Enough 42. Linda Sunblad - Oh Father 43. Pussycat Dolls - I Want You Back (Remix) 44. Girls Aloud - Hanging On The Telephone 45. Datarock - Fa Fa Fa 46. Alesha - Lipstick 47. Young Divas - Say I'm Your Number 1 48. Dannii Minogue - So Under Pressure 49. McFly - Friday Night 50. P!NK - U & Ur Hand
51. Amy Winehouse - Rehab 52. Van She - Kelly 53. Amiel - Be Your Girl (Bass Kleph Remix) 54. JC Chasez - Until Yesterday 55. Jamelia - Something About You 56. Eskimo Joe - Black Fingernails, Red Wine 57. Girls Aloud - Jewels & Stone Megamix 58. Gwen Stefani - Wonderful Life 59. Dannii Minogue - He's The Greatest Dancer (Fugitive Remix) 60. The Gingers - Evening Rose
61. Paris Hilton - Stars Are Blind 62. Rogue Traders - We're Coming Home 63. Pussycat Dolls - I Don't Need A Man 64. Fergie - Fergalicious 65. Shakira - Hips Don't Lie 66. Lillix - Sweet Temptation 67. Patrick Wolf - Accident & Emergency 68. Paris Hilton - Screwed 69. Lil’ Chris - Sexy/Back 70. Zac Efron - Getcha Head In The Game
71. Madonna - Jump (Remix on CDS) 72. Lady Sovereign - Public Warning 73. Robbie Williams - The Actor 74. Fergie - London Bridge 75. P!NK - Who Knew 76. TV Rock - Bimbo Nation 77. Panic! At The Disco - I Write Sins Not Tragedies 78. Girls Aloud - Money 79. My Chemical Romance - Welcome To The Black Parade 80. Robbie Williams - She's Madonna
81. Young Divas - Gloria 82. Bertine Zetlitz - 500 83. Fergie - Losing My Ground 84. Morningwood - Nth Degree 85. Girls Aloud - Stars On 54 86. Fergie - Voodoo Doll 87. Dixie Chicks - Not Ready To Make Nice 88. Take That - Wait For Life 89. My Chemical Romance ft. Liza Minelli - Mama 90. Princess Superstar - Perfect (Michi Lange Club Mix)
91. Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSound 92. Dannii Minogue - Gone 93. Jamelia - Window Shopping 94. Ellen Allien & Apparat - Way Out 95. The Knife - We Share Our Mothers Health 96. Panic! At The Disco - But It's Better If You Do 97. Infernal - Ten Miles 98. Madonna - Live To Tell (Live @ Confessions Tour) 99. McFly - Silence Is A Scary Sound 100. Coldplay - Talk (Jacques Lu Cont Remix)
101. Jamelia - No More 102. Young Divas - She Works Hard For The Money 103. Fergie - Big Girls Don't Cry 104. Muse - Starlight 105. Jamelia - Hustle 106. McFly - Bubble Wrap 107. Kylie Minogue - Trippin' Me Up 108. Scissor Sisters - Don't Feel Like Dancing 109. Lily Allen - Everything's Just Wonderful 110. Madonna - Sorry
111. Young Diva's - This Time I Know It’s For Real (Extended Version) 112. Midnight Juggernauts - Tombstone 113. Fergie - Clumsy 114. P!NK - 'Cuz I Can 115. Gustavo Santaolalla - The Wings (Gabriel & Dresden Remix) 116. Paris Hilton - Jealousy 117. Tiga - Far From Home 118. Jamelia - Get Up, Get Out 119. Girls Aloud - Whole Lotta History 120. Goldfrapp - Ride A White Horse (Serge Santiago Re-Edit)
121. Dannii Minogue - Love Fight 122. WigWam - WigWam 123. CSS - Let's Make Love & Listen To Death From Above 124. Clea - Keep It Cool 125. Annie - The Crush 126. Alesha - Knock Down 127. Deni Hines - Cut It Up 128. Fergie - All That I Got 129. Dannii Minogue - I Can't Sleep At Night 130. Silvia Night - Congratulations
131. Sophie Ellis Bextor - Dear Jimmy 132. Hot Chip - Over & Over 133. Akustikrausch - Ca Plane Pour Moi 134. Infernal - Dressed In Blue 135. Justin Timberlake - Sexy/Back 136. Mylo - Muscle Car 137. Fergie - Pedestool 138. Gwen Stefani - The Sweet Escape 139. Lil' Chris - Checkin' It Out 140. Madonna - Mother & Father (Live @ Re-Invention Tour)
141. Marie Serneholt - That's The Way My Heart Goes 142. Marit Larsen - Don't Save Me 143. Severina - Moja Stikla 144. Midnight Juggernauts - Tombstone 145. The All American Rejects - It Ends Tonight 146. The Defence - Frank Sinatra 147. Fergie - Velvet 148. Nelly Furtado - Promiscuous 149. P!NK - Fingers 150. Paris Hilton - Heartbeat
151. Paul Oakenfold ft. Britany Murphy - Faster Kill Pussycat 152. TV Rock - Flaunt It 153. Rihanna - S.O.S. 154. McFly - Don't Stop Me Now 155. Lindsay Lohan - Who Loves You 156. Hari Mata Hari - Lejla 157. Sugababes - I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor 158. Texas Lightning - No No Never 159. Sugababes - Red Dress 160. Lady Sovereign - Love Me Or Hate Me
161. Justin Timberlake - My Love 162. West End Girls - I'm Not Scared 163. Cake DeRooge - Faded 164. Marit Larsen - Only A Fool 165. The Rakes - Retreat (Phones Remix) 166. West End Girls - Love Comes Quickly 167. Lily Allen - Smile 168. Long Blondes - Weekend Without Make Up 169. Hot Chip - Arrest Yourself 170. Jamelia - Ain’t A Love
171. Kim Wilde - You Came 2006 172. Lily Allen - LDN 173. Luke Haines - Off My Rocker At The Art School 174. Madonna - Hung Up (Live @ Confessions Tour) 175. Girls Aloud - Why Do It? 176. Nelly Furtado - Say It Right 177. Pet Shop Boys - Integral 178. September - Satellites 179. Stefy - Chelsea 180. Stephanie McIntosh - So Do I Say Sorry First
181. The Pipettes - We Are The Pipettes 182. Tiffani Wood - Spin The Bottle 183. Anna Vissi - Everything 184. Paris Hilton - Turn It Up 185. Pet Shop Boys - The Sodom & Gomorrah Show 186. Matt Willis - Up All Night 187. Carola - Evighet 188. T Funk feat. Katie Underwood - Be Together 189. Basement Jaxx ft. Robyn - Hey You 190. Dannii Minogue - Sunrise
191. Gwen Stefani - Wind It Up 192. Madonna - Paradise (Not For Me) (CT Studio Version) 193. Ercola ft. Annie - Follow Me (Lifelike Mix) 194. Deni Hines - Water For Chocolate 195. Christina Aguilera - Candyman 196. Madonna - I Love New York (Demo Version) 197. Marie Serneholt - Enjoy The Ride 198. Robbie Williams - The 80's/The 90's 199. Da Buzz - Last Goodbye 200. Robbie Williams - Kiss Me
201. Paris Hilton - I Want You 202. Lily Allen - Friday Night 203. Natalie Portman - Saturday Night Live Rap 204. Da Buzz - Without Breaking 205. Paris Hilton - Not Leaving Without You 206. Sandy Mouche - In The Sand
The amazing Nicola Roberts has - along with her band mates - posed Sex Pistol style in a photo shoot celebrating the 30th Anniversary since The Sex Pistols "Anarchy In The U.K." album was released, all for Indie Mag NME. The answers to the questions thrown at the girls are - as to be expected - fucking hilarious, but this quote from Nic surely takes that cake:
"Lily (Allen) was saying she liked me cause I was moody and not that pretty. I really appreciated her when she came out - she was a breath of fresh air. But now I think, well fuck her."
Quote of the year? More than likely, yes. If you would like to see a much bigger version of the AMAZING Punk Aloud photo, visit the equally amazing HotStuffFiles.
Also, today is this very websites 4th Birthday. Happy Birthday to me, etc etc.
McFly are about to release a double A side single next week. Both of the songs in question are pretty brilliant and have found themselves up the higher end on my songs of 2006 chart. A few weeks ago I posted the video clip for the first, er, half of the double A Side, "Sorry's Not Good Enough". Let's take a look at that one again.
The second single is "Friday Night" which now finally has its own clip. "Friday Night" is from an American Movie. Thankfully, it is not a Lindsay Lohan movie. But it IS from a Ben Stiller one which, ultimately, is probably worse. Well, worse for anyone who's not seen Linday's horrific performance in "Just My Luck". Which is most of the global population from what I can recall.
Anyway, I've not really taken the time to investigate this movie, but hopefully Ben's much funnier wife will make a cameo appearance. Sadly, there are no signs of her in the new McFly video clip. But there is plenty of Stiller. This troubles me. Observe.
But the point I'm trying to get at, is that Bop Pop has written an absolutely hilarious post on this particular video. You should consider reading it.
Whilst McFly may have a nice lit up dance floor to demonstrate that it is indeed "Friday Night" in their video clip (!!), there is no denying that the dance floor looks MUCH better with this woman on it.
Her hair was exceptionally good for this clip too, was it not? You will also notice that Danny from McFly's hair is ALSO exceptionally good for the above mentioned video clips. Normally, right now would be a very good time to take a look at the reasons why Madonna has been the biggest inspiration in the shaping of McFly. And it should be a presentation in point form. However, it is very late, so instead I'll be going to bed.
It's my new blog, which will be where all of my more local/Aussie related things will end up. IAR will most certainly stay a Number #1 priority however. I just felt I needed to do this.
You can read all about the new website by visiting its "About" section found in the menu.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006 My Favourite Album: Not really, no.
On Sunday evening, at about 7:28pm, I was somewhat excited to be minutes away from watching ABC TV's "My Favourite Album" special (hosted by the lovely Myf Warhurst, left). A show which, after a few months of voting on the ABC website, was going to tell any Australian watching the show what our nations favourite albums of all time were.
A top 10 that consisted of men. A top 10 that only had 3 actual good albums in it. A top 100 that did not feature a single Madonna or Kylie Minogue album, but had Anthony Callea's first album in the early 30's. The whole list (a top 100, which you can read in absolute disgust by clicking here) is a sad display of how boring the nation is when it comes to buying music.
Which brings me to this: What is YOUR favourite POP album of all time? Do you have 10 of them? If you answered yes to that final question, then you're going to come in very handy for what IAR, and the writers/editors of QUITE A FEW OTHER BRILLIANT/ACE/FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC POP BLOGS have got heating up in the oven in time for the New Year.
What's going to happen is this: I want to know what your top 10 favourite albums are of all time. List your albums from 1 to 10, or, if you cannot decide your order of preference but DO have a list of ten, email them through to myfavouritepoprecord@gmail.com... The plan is to have voting close by Friday, January the 26th 2007. Then, within the first two weeks of February, once the top 20 has been compiled, I'll be contacting several pop lovers and pop bloggers (who've all agreed to be apart of this venture) to join me in a written-panel discussion about each of the top 20 pop albums of all time as voted by you.
Remember, email your top 10 through to: myfavouritepoprecord@gmail.com
Again, that's:myfavouritepoprecord@gmail.com
I'll be setting up a micro-site for this next week some time (it'll contain a few more details too), so just bare with me. Planning on setting that up once I know how many other pop bloggers will be joining in for the fun.
Monday, December 04, 2006 Creating A "Sexy Pop Star": Easy?
Let's take a look at a video on You Tube shall we? It is a trailer for the movie "Before The Music Dies", a film which is no doubt about how evil pop music is and how it must be stopped "Before the music dies". In the movie, they want to demonstrate how easy it is to make a "sexy pop star". So much so that - on camera - they do exactly that. Grab some ex-model, throw her in a recording studio and create a "sexy pop star". According to them, this is just SO EASY. Let's take a look at this trailer then - and make sure you watch it to the end to hear the song they've gotten this girl to sing.
How very Interesting, yes?
What's even more interesting, perhaps, is that the song used in this clip is about as exciting as dishwater. It's not even generic pop, it's just a boring song. Autotune and all the computer programs in the world may be able to craft someone's mediocre voice into that of a singer, but creating a "sexy pop star" usually involves having some actual music that works in your favour. It also helps if your pop star is likeable: She can be sexy, but if no one likes you/thinks you're dull/have no personality - like the girl featured in this clip - you'll be a sexy pop star, maybe, but only one with absolutely no chart or radio play success.
Take a look at Rachel Stevens - former S Club 7'er. Her second solo album is easily one of the greatest pop records of the 21st Century: Sharp, crisp and brilliantly produced electro-pop. It's heaven on a disc. Rachel is a sexy pop star, however people in the UK felt she had no real personality and was a bit dull (which I thought was complete bullshit - to a point). Her album barely scrapped into the charts, before tumbling down the nether regions a week later (her calendars sell like hot cakes though). And this was with an album of material Kylie Minogue could have made go Number #1. Why would it work for Kylie and not Rachel? Because people LIKE Kylie. Kylie's not your stereotypical beauty, but she IS gorgeous, she DOES pull off being a pop star INCREDIBLY well AND she's loved by many. THAT is what I think you need to be a "sexy" pop star. I always associate the word "sexy" with class. Not massive tits and the face of a model. That may be nice to look at for some, but there's nothing sexy about it. That is, unless of course, you think someone looking cheap is sexy.
The package they've provided us with in this You Tube clip is hilarious. She's not an ugly girl, but I would not call that "sexy". Last time I checked, the whole "Whore of Babylon" look did not immediately make someone look sexy. It just made them look like - surprise surprise - a whore. The song is tuneless, terrible drivel that would not even survive 10 seconds at a Commercial Radio Network new music meeting. It's one thing to claim you can create a sexy pop star, but it's another to actually come up with brilliantly written and produced songs for someone who can actually pull off BEING a sexy pop star.
