(now the right song - sorry anyone who downloaded the mislabelled A Thousand Words by mistake!)
When I first bought Savage Garden's Affirmation album, which would go on to be my favourite album of all time, I noticed this song straight away. There is something very calming about the piano and the singing in it, that even though it's a sad song it's not upsetting, just soothing. Whenever I was having any teenage angst (admittedly this was rare - I am as much an angster as I am a gangster!) I would run up to my room and put Affirmation on Track 9 and soon all would be well yet again. I don't listen to the album quite so much anymore, not because I like it any less but because I have discovered so many other great albums so the system of rotating gives them less stereo time, but whenever I do listen to it, it takes me right back to my younger teenage years, and although that was the most boring and rubbish time of my life (simply cos nothing happens when you are 13) it's still nice to think about what has passed and how my life is loads more groovy these days. Hurrah for that!

Before the Veronicas, Marion Raven, Kelly Clarkson and even Ana Johnsson, Max Martin (who was still part of Cheiron at this time) tested his new rock sound on Nick Carter. No-one took any notice, but this was because he only released the boring tracks. There was one particular song on the album which could be seen as the prototype for all the recent rock-pop songs Max has written/produced, especially Ashley Parker Angel. Ashley's music certainly isn't the best example of the genre, but this song is very much like his style, yet much better - you could even call it a male Tap That (especially with his strong American accent when singing) or Since U Been Gone, the main similarity being the idea of making a very rocky backing track (almost Lordi-esque) into a song that is undeniably pop. The Max Martin girl-rock music has plenty of girl power, but this song actually has what you could call 'boy power'. It's cooler than almost anything else BSBs have done (the style is kind of electro-rock!), great fun and very catchy. Maybe the BSBs could take a tip from this track for their next album. If you're a fan of Nick, you may like to know that he is currently doing a TV reality series for E!, a US channel which has a UK version on Sky (no. 155), so hopefully the show will be on here soon too - it begins in the US on 2nd October.

I was both sad and confused to hear today that the brilliant electro-pop/rock group the Delays have parted ways with their record company (apparently dislike was mutual), as not only am I seeing them live this week as part of their current tour, which is most definitely still on as they mention it almost daily on their MySpace, but they had this utterly amazing song planned for their next single. You and Me is one of my absolute favourite songs of the year, and if it was a single it would most certainly be befriending BWO and September at the top of my 2006 favourite singles chart. The song begins beautifully quiet and simple, then builds up into an upbeat track that is still as moving and gorgeous as any ballad, certainly helped by singer Greg's fantastically distinctive voice. Amusingly, my mum would not believe me that he isn't a girl, thinking I was playing a trick on her, and his voice certainly is high-pitched but unlike your Justins and Lemars, it has an edge which makes it far more interesting and the emotion in the songs is unmissable. The album, You See Colours, has hardly been off my stereo since I bought it at the beginning of the year and I thoroughly recommend it to anyone reading, whether you come here for the cheesy pop or the more sophisticated music I like to post - the Delays are super-cool but they most definitely tick the box for 'poptasticness' on my musical shopping list. Give them a try, you won't regret it!

Jody Lei appeared on the music scene as some kind of r'n'b ninja with a mediocre track called Showdown. It's success was suitably little, but her second attempt fared even worse despite being in fact rather brilliant. Just The Music could have been Crazy In Love's British cousin or Superstar's non-identical twin, but it was never given the chance and I'm not sure if it is now too dated-sounding to reappear on a female r'n'b singer or girlgroup's album. I wouldn't be surprised if it did, though - remember where you heard it first! Despite the lack of success, Jody did release an album, which is available on Amazon and interestingly does not feature Showdown, which worryingly was in fact her biggest hit.

I know it says extended mix but don't run away quite yet, it's not actually 73 minutes long. It's time for some pop education. Recently there has been lots of discussion of the Teddybears' US launch, and rightfully so as they are little furry geniuses (not genii, I checked), but the discussion should be negative because the new versions of the songs are utterly rubbish. How they managed to turn brilliant songs into boring ones, even with the addition of Neneh Cherry and Annie, I haven't a clue, but they have and I am here to educate any of you who like those songs as to why you should order their Swedish albums instead. This is the video version of the original Swedish Yours To Keep (the song which now features Neneh and Annie) and my personal favourite of the very many versions - there seems to be a new one produced every week at the moment but it'll take a lot to beat this fabulous electro-pop version that would surely fill any dancefloor. Paola is a solo singer who I believe was married to one of the Teddybears, and sadly she never had much success apart from this - how different it could have been if this song was the one beloved by internet music over-analysers worldwide.

Mika is one of the most exciting new artists I have heard about in a long time. Download this song or listen to the clips of his brilliant songs on his lovely website, and you will understand. Born in Beirut, he has lived in Paris, Kuwait and now London, where, aged 23, he has signed a major label record deal and is soon to release the single Relax Take It Easy, which has already received Radio 1 airplay and since it sounds like a mix of Erasure and current no.1 act Scissor Sisters, it's very likely to be a hit. But this is just the tip of the iceberg, as Mika has a wide range of songs just as good and even better, including this fun-filled number which again sounds Scissor Sisters-esque but most of all very reminiscent of Queen. It's very dramatic, opera-esque, jolly and catchy - you'll soon be singing along in your highest pitched voice, and of course doing lots of silly dancing (the only kind of dancing worth doing anyway). Look out for his album Life In Cartoon Motion coming soon!

When looking for information on Natasha's acely titled forthcoming single I Want To Have Your Babies (it now seems it will not be released until 2007 as she's too busy being big in America) I came across this remix of a bonus track from the US version of her album. I couldn't help falling instantly in love with its sunny, catchy chorus, which stayed in my head for hours after each time I listened to it. I could totally imagine Natasha releasing this as a comeback single with a video something like Madonna's video for Ray of Light, and I really hope she follows this sort of direction for her second album, although considering the general indifference to dance music in America (with the exception of the occasional Euro-dance single) it seems sadly unlikely. I look forward to hearing what she comes up with nonetheless, and I hope the album's fate is better than her brother's second album which, although I enjoyed it personally as much his first, didn't come close to matching his debut's success, mainly due to a lack of stand-out singles. I know the Bedingfields are an opinion-splitting subject among pop fans, but I personally love them and I think anyone who saw Daniel's appearance as God on the final episode of Popworld would agree that the world of pop would not be complete without them.