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Thursday, March 31, 2005

Jentina - Mysterious  

This was supposed to be Jentina's next single and it's a huge shame that it never emerged because it's definitely her masterpiece. It has the fiesty girl-rap of Bad Ass Strippa but is much more in the vein of the cute, sexy and very cool follow-up French Kisses, yet this is a million times better than either of her single releases. It's improperly catchy with several different ace sections. I've had this mp3 for a few months and I still think it's utterly brilliant. I'm never bored of it. I love the unintelligible "something something seem pretty hot" bit, the "say what"s and the almost crunk-like middle 8. It sounds like a recipe for 'urban' disaster but somehow it's super duper ace! After hearing Bad Ass Stripper I never thought I'd be desperately wishing for an album by this girl but I am. Also, does anyone think she looks a lot like Mischa Barton on the French Kisses CD cover?

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Ruby Amanfu - Sugah  

This song is as sugary sweet as it's title suggests, and it's also hugely catchy and generally adorable. Ruby released this song and an album, Smoke And Honey, two years ago with little success (that's starting to become an ITG catchphrase!) and eventually left Polydor to return home to Nashville where she began rerecording the album and writing some new material. After more record company drama she resorted to writing for other singers and is now working with several top pop writers. Sugah has been featured on the soundtrack to From Justin To Kelly and she wrote Lene Nystrom's brilliant album track Surprise. If you haven't seen the video for Sugah you should do so right now by clicking here because it is simply the cutest pop video of all time!

Monday, March 28, 2005

Boomkat - The Wreckoning  

In 2003 a cute/quirky American actress named Taryn Manning (seen in Crossroads and 8 Mile) teamed up with her brother Kellin to create the pop (meets danceable hip-hop and 'trip-hop') duo Boomkat. They released this fantastic single, The Wreckoning, and an album, Boomkatalog.One, in the UK, as well as an ace follow-up single, What U Do 2 Me, in the US. Whether Taryn will ever be more than "the one who fell down the stairs and lost her baby in Crossroads" is still to be seen as Boomkat haven't really taken off. They were last heard covering Blondie on the Mean Girls soundtrack. If you like the cute, sassy styles of early Neneh Cherry and Fannypack, you will enjoy Boomkatolog.One. The Wreckoning is a much rockier song than their others but it's also the standout track by miles. Taryn's voice is unusual but it's bursting with attitude, as is she. The best bit is the middle 8 about 2/3 of the way through where she repeats "And then I'll think of you and probably laugh...hahaha!" This song has so many ace sections, it has to be heard to be believed! But doesn't she look a bit like Edith Bowman?

Sunday, March 27, 2005

Puretone - Stuck In A Groove  

Puretone had a big hit a few years ago with Addicted To Bass, but it was the follow-up single, Stuck In A Groove, that I fell in love with. It featured the same singer, Amiel Daemion, who released some ace singles and an album in her home country of Australia and parts of Europe in 2003, and has also appeared on the Moulin Rouge soundtrack and Mousse T's current album. I love her delicate and charming yet equally strong and stubborn vocals, and the lyrics on this track are brilliant as Amiel explains her love of music. It could be my theme tune.

Friday, March 25, 2005

The Ark - Clamour For Glamour  

The Ark are Interpol's gay pop side-project. Well that's obviously a lie but it's not entirely unbelievable either, especially if you've heard some of the darker tracks on their second album, In Lust We Trust. This is the latest release from their third album, State Of The Ark. It's got so many ace bits to it, including the brilliant "pap-a-dayo"s and increasingly high-pitched final repeats of the chorus. If The Ark released some of their ace songs in the UK they could easily be mistaken for one of these trendy indie-pop bands (a really good version, of course).

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

New Order ft. Ana Matronic - Jetstream  

New Order are one of very few artists that my dad and I agree on. They're one of his favourite bands and I remember him playing them in the car once and me asking if he really liked them because he'd never played me anything good before. As anyone even slightly interested in music will know by now, New Order are back on the pop scene with a new single Krafty, which has a lovely video, and a new album Waiting For The Siren's Call, on which is found this masterpiece. Starring Scissor Sisters starlet Ana Matronic, this is one of the poppiest New Order songs I've heard and it's also just as ace as you would imagine a collaboration of these two leaders in poptasticness to be. There's a really catchy chorus and plenty of ace sound effects and talky bits. I hear this is going to be a single soon and I think it's going to be big!

Monday, March 21, 2005

Bonnie Somerville - Winding Road  

The best film I have seen so far this year (and I've seen quite a lot) is, by a long way, Garden State and this very lovely song appears right at the end of the credits. The music throughout is excellently chosen - I particularly like Frou Frou's song Let Go which also plays over the credits. Bonnie Somerville sounds quite like Nelly Furtado, but a little softer and Winding Road is very pretty. The other interesting thing about Bonnie is that she has done a bit of acting herself. She was in fact in my favourite show, The OC, playing Sandy's flirty co-worker, Rachel. You may also recognise her as Mona from Friends and from Spiderman 2 among other films.

Sunday, March 20, 2005

Gavin Degraw - Belief  

The 3rd song I ever posted on Into The Groove when it started in May last year was a beautiful tear-jerker of a ballad by a new American male singer named Gavin Degraw. Gavin is most famous for his US hit single I Don't Wanna Be, which is the theme tune to the teen show One Tree Hill (which returns for a 2nd series later this year). Gavin's utterly excellent album Chariot finally gets it's UK release tomorrow, March 21st, so to celebrate I am giving you my favourite song from the CD (which big OTH fans will recognise from it's appearance in one of the episodes) and demanding that you go out and buy it because you can't fall in love with it, as you most certainly will, until you do!

Saturday, March 19, 2005

Bertine Zetlitz - Ah-Ah  

If you agree that a combination of Annie and Gwen Stefani would be the perfect pop star, then the chances are you'll love Bertine Zetlitz because she is exactly that. She, like Annie, has worked with Richard X and has named her fourth and current album Rollerskating, which is surely the cutest kitch name since Anniemal. Then listen to Ah-Ah, which is her new single in her home country of Norway (another Annie similarity), and watch some of her super-cool videos and you'll see and hear why I compare her to the acest woman on the other side of the Atlantic, Gwen Stefani. Ah-Ah would have been one of the best tracks on her already brilliant LAMB album and Gwen could take a few tips from Bertine for her clothing range of the same name. Fans of Sophie Ellis Bextor should seek out Bertine's first hit, Girl Like You, which sounds like Sophie would if she worked with Richard X (she really should!).

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