Last week was quite terrible for singles so we ended up going rather indie for one week only and Mylo was the only one of our singles to reach the top 20. Drop The Pressure reached no.19 but they were in fact the losers on the Dirrrty Pop vote. The winners were the Hidden Cameras followed by Freeform 5 in second place.
First up this week is the slightly indie but still ace Hannah on behalf of the equally ace Snow Patrol:
Snow Patrol – How To Be Dead
Accompanied by a rather ‘on the cheap’ video of what the band have been up to on tour, ‘How To Be Dead’ is Snow Patrol’s fifth release (counting the re-release of ‘Spitting Games’) from their breakthrough album, ‘Final Straw’. If you haven’t yet bought Final Straw, we insist that it is a far better idea than just sticking with the single. It isn’t just studded with gems, it is positively jewel-encrusted. And yes, we did take our blog’s name (Whatever’s Left) from it, so it’s only fair that we should give Snow Patrol a bit more credit for producing such a great record. ‘How to be Dead’ is the opening track from Final Straw and is largely rambling, with no apparent structure, perfectly complimenting story behind the lyrics. It jingles it’s way through three minutes with a combination of guitar and glockenspiel, accompanied by Gary Lightbody’s tender, honest vocals. The instrumental in the centre isn’t exceptional, but it certainly gives the track more of a sense of being, rather than just incoherent words. It hasn’t changed from the album version – it still has that abrupt stop at the end, but it’s that sense of the unexpected that captures your imagination and leaves you a little breathless. To be honest, I can’t wait for the followup.
Next is the lovely but slightly misguided (she once found Brian McFadden attractive!) Elaine with Daniel Bedingfield:
Daniel Bedingfield – Nothing Hurts Like Love
Oh my gaw! [Jessica Simpson – 2004]. Daniel’s new single is by far the best single being released this week, who are most of those other people?! Princess Dannii is ace as well, but Daniel has an album to promote and a career to resurrect! Where is Dannii’s album? 2005, that’s where!
In the last year Daniel has suffered! And his fantastically talented sister has been pissing all over him! He needs a number one this week. Listen to him sing! Oh, the pain! “Nothing hurts like love” – isn’t that the truth. And he should know as he’s been in a lot of pain this year. His poor neck! And other broken bits! He’s felt the love, he’s felt the pain, and you just know he’d be a great mate if you wanted someone to help you get revenge.
Also, the wonderful Diane Warren wrote the song. She’s written some fantastic tunes over the years including ‘Can’t Fight The Moonlight’ – Leann Rimes, ‘Unbreak My Heart’ -Toni Braxton and ‘Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now’ – Starship, which is the theme from Mannequin. This one hasn’t been used in a film, so it lacks the promotion which would get it to the top of the charts. He’s had to resort to kissing many ladies in his video, which in some countries may be classed as soft porn.
Daniel now resembles Brian McFadden, which if you find Brian attractive, is a good thing. I have had to forgive him for his treatment of Alistair on Fame Academy, and have pre-ordered Daniel’s album. And it takes a lot for me to give money to someone who has upset someone I like.
And now it’s my turn and I will be sticking up for the delightful Dannii:
Dannii Minogue vs. Flower Power – You Won’t Forget About Me
I was looking forward to hearing Dannii’s comeback song as I loved all the singles from her last album, but I was expecting something very cool and new-sounding that would take a while to get into. Yet somehow Dannii has managed to be more poptastic than ever with a fun, catchy song which is still typically cool, effortless and different to what she’s done before. The video is a bit cheap and slightly pervy in places but it paints Dannii as such a fun, ace person dancing around with her girly pals that it beats the impeccable style of most of Kylie’s recent videos by far. Imagine if it had been Dannii who’d worked with the Scissor Sisters – I don’t think that would be good for my (or any other fabulous pop fan’s) health! Dannii is definitely still my favourite Minogue and maybe when people compare this to the over-styled, over-calculated Slow and Chocolate they will understand why.
Now it’s time for you to vote for your favourite:
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