When I first heard this I was convinced it was a cover, because it sounds so familiar. Maybe I've heard it before somewhere, or maybe it sounds like other things, but whatever the case it doesn't matter because the fact that it seems to be an original makes it all the more excellent! It sounds like Sheryl Crow would if she one day woke up and decided to be fun and brilliant and really really catchy. This is from her second album Fires, which first came out in 2005, but I believe is being re-released with this as the new single. It's got a great video in which Nerina does a Susan off of Desperate Housewives and gets into a food fight in a supermarket. Nerina has an interesting background, both personally and musically. Her mother is Indian, her father is half-French, and she has lived in India, London and Jersey. She has been on tour with loads of great people, including Jason Mraz and Missy Higgins, and she sang on a Delirium dance single called Truly in 2003.

It's getting a bit 'blokes with guitars' around here, isn't it? Sorry about that, I'll post something girly next. I really love the backing music to this song, which featured in The Adam Brody Show (also known to some pedantic people as The OC) last year and was, I think, on one of the soundtrack CDs. I just like the way it plods along - it's not a bad, repetitive/unimaginative plod, it's the good type of plod, the one that goes along in a very pleasant jolly way that warms my heart. In fact it is a lot like my life, and if this is the soundtrack to my life and also Seth's then it's meant to be! Plus, I recently found out I am part Jewish, which also gives me an edge over Summer. Hurrah! Get me on the next plane to California! Another thing that makes this great is that the Perishers are Swedish and have been working with people who've worked with The Ark and The Cardigans on their new album. More hurrah! (Also, would you believe this is the first Swedish song I've posted in more than a month - that must be a record!)

This may not be as poptastic as my usual postings, but it is a lovely song and a duet between 2 excellent musical acts. Martha is of course part of one of the coolest families to ever make music, while Snow Patrol's last album, Final Straw, was the indie album it was OK to like (anyone who thought this was Keane or Franz Ferdinand was actually wrong). Their new album overdoes it a bit on the ballads, but there are some good songs including the new single, which really grew on me, and this duet. It's not the best thing they've ever done but beating Chocolate would be ambitious even for the most ace of bands, and that Snow Patrol are not - they happen to have found a formula for making music that I can't help liking, and the first rule of good taste is admitting when you like something, because most of the time there's a good reason for it and if you ignore it you could be missing out on something amazing.

Angela is one of those artists who have several very good songs, rather than one which stands out above the rest, which is a good thing except for when you want to pick one to post on an mp3 blog, cos then you're spoilt for choice. After much deliberation (Always Getting Over You and When It Doesn't Matter being close 2nd and 3rd choices) I went for this one as it has a really great chorus with a bit of extra oomph which I think will appeal to you oomph-loving pop fans. Angela is one of the young pop/rock ladies who came onto the music scene in the wake of Michelle Branch's US success, with a sound a little lighter, fluffier and poppier than Michelle's although I'm sure Miss Branch (or Mrs something else as she is now, married to some old bloke) would have been proud to release this lovely and extremely catchy song. If you've ever liked a song by goddesses of the dumper Kym Marsh, Natalie Imbruglia, Hepburn or M2M, download this immediately because you will love it! She has a new single and album out in 2006 so keep an eye on her web site.

All I can remember about this song being released in the UK is a behind the scenes feature about the making of its video on Planet Pop, the short-lived predecessor to the acetastic UK music show Popworld. The style is kind of acoustic-pop, super-catchy with the most fantastically fierce lyrics that ever existed. This girl is impossibly cool and her assertion that she will not take any messing about is very much believable, unlike a lot of female singers who want to come across as 'independent women'. I'd probably compare this song most to Shania Twain's That Don't Impress Me Much, a fabulous song and this is even better. There is something country-ish about Rebekah's voice and the music, but the song is totally poptastic. Just you wait, you'll be singing along by your second play of this song, and it'll be far from your last. Perfect for an angsty man-hating moment, but just as good for a girly sing-along.

Although this song was released in the UK, I never hear of it or Lamya these days. Her style is soulful, more like Alicia Keys than Ashanti, with a quirky something that led her to be compared to Kate Bush and Bjork. However, this is a one-off song that's not only great sounding but great fun too. You'll be chanting "Bring me men!" in no time, even if you have no interest in men whatsoever. This would make a great soundtrack single for a movie about an Eqyptian queen or something similar - Lamya pulls off regal demands perfectly. She's a classically trained singer who has lived in Oman, Kenya, Egypt (so my comparison was fitting) and here in England.

Posting a country song the other day reminded me of the very short moment in time when LeAnn Rimes was good. The moment only lasted about an hour and a half, or however long Coyote Ugly was, but this song has remained good even if she is now left to star in eczema adverts and present country versions of Pop Idol. In fact, I may even go as far as to say I like this more than Can't Fight The Moonlight, and I loved that song a lot already. If you haven't seen Coyote Ugly you really should because not only is it a great girly feel good film but it also stars the lovely and fabulous Adam Garcia dancing on a table, bringing back many a memory of when he was in Saturday Night Fever and when he released Night Fever as a single and went on TOTP. I even remember that it got to no.15 in the charts! Unless it didn't, in which case I don't remember. Anyway, back to the song I'm actually posting. It's LeAnn doing her best Britney impression and the results are fantastic - I really don't know why this wasn't released as the follow up to CFTM instead of that dreary slow one she released instead. Although it sounds a bit cheap compared to pop music now (amazing considering it must only be about 6 years old and it seems like yesterday - I'm getting OLD!), I love the dramatic music at the beginning and all the rhymes in the song are very pleasing to the ear, especially "I need your touch just too damn much!" See, you know just from reading it that it's gonna be great!
Edit: I just realised I posted this song before (here) but it's good enough to be posted again and if you didn't get it before make sure you do now!

Sewn is a good song but it's far from brilliant, so I wasn't expecting too much when I downloaded this song. How wrong could I be! This sounds more like the Click 5 or Fountains of Wayne than Athlete or Keane. It's silly and fun and everything Sewn is not. On the basis of this one song, my estimation of the band has gone up enormously. I may even have to start being a fan. It also led me to download a few more songs, which are also pretty good, especially Never Be Lonely, a really sweet song with a fab chorus. Who knew there was such a great pop band hiding under there? The debut album '12 Stops & Home' will be out later this year.

Now it's time for something you don't see a lot of on this web site - country! This is, unsurprisingly, better described as pop in a country style (or vice versa), and it's a really fun and catchy song. Although I love listening to Southern Americans speak (it must be in my genes, my family are from a place named Baldknob - yes, really - in Arkansas), it's rare for me to enjoy country music - I find the singing a bit grating on most of the songs, but when a good country song comes along I love it, and a visit to Sugarland's web site shows they have plenty to offer. They also recently played 2 gigs at The Nutter Center and have members named Kristian and Kristen, both of which I found highly amusing. The singer is called Jennifer, and she may be a bit older than your average pop star but she's got sass coming out of every pore. Looking at the past few posts on this site, I'm so glad about how eclectic it has been - all poptastic but all different too. I hope you like it too, and if you have any comments or recommendations let me know in the usual ways.