Dear Blog: An Open Letter

Dear Blog,

It's been awhile hasn't it? A week almost. I know it's been a bit patchy between us but I do care. I do. I've just been doing other things that have meant we've been missing out on our quality time.

Don't believe me? Well there is the small matter of Venntertainment, the other blog I write for. Yeah I know. I'm not betraying you, just keeping my options open. Because they've been kind enough to ask me to host a radio show I've been following up some of the show pieces on the blog.  So if you want to know how to brave Chat Roulette, make money as a musician, what should happen at awards shows (but doesn't), ways the internet could ruin your life or what celebs would be amazing to have tweet

Maybe you haven't heard the show but that's OK, if you click here you can catch up on all the podcasts so far. I mention you alot, isn't that one way of showing I care?

But don't worry I've done other stuff too, not least upload videos of me interviewing popstar types at the Meteors:

While also Live tweeting for IMTV at the Choice Music Prize, and also rehearsing for two (TWO plays) among other things. Not only that but I was on Spin 103.8 at the weekend talking about Marina and the Diamonds and Sugababes and filmed the lovely Sinead Ni Bhurda interviewing Ocean Colour Scene and Two Door Cinema Club for IMTV. Did I mention I finally finished the first season of 90210? It's been a crazy week.

So you see dear blog, I'm super busy but I'm going to give you a bit more time, I promise. So while I try and hunt down some dirt for you this week I'll also be doing the DJ thing (for both C U Next Tuesday and Come As Soon As You Hear) and attempting to soak up as much pop culture as possible.

Love ya blog,

Conor

Seventh Time Just As Sweet? : Sugababes "Sweet 7" Album Review

It hasn't been an easy time in the limelight for the Sugababes over the last few months. The sudden removal of founding member Keisha Buchanan from the group suggested all was still not well with a band rapidly becoming better known for their line up changes than their music.


Sweet 7, the latest release was delayed when new girl Jade Ewen had to be drafted in to slap her vocals on top and now we finally have the finished product. And what a product it is. All over the place and weighed down with big budget production, you don't doubt the money that's been thrown at this project. Even before Keisha left the group the band made no secret of how they were working with more big name producers and reinvigorating their sound after the failure of their previous effort Catfights and Spotlights.

While that was a somewhat half baked attempt at soul-pop in the style of Duffy etc it did seem like an attempt to give the Sugababes some semblance of the class and sophistication that marked their earlier output. Sweet 7 does no such thing. The singles preceding the album (all 3 of which have been top ten hits in the UK) are enjoyable and punchy pieces of up-tempo R&B synth pop. But they are hardly earth shattering and feel a tad generic. Get Sexy and Wear My Kiss do the job nicely and will lodge in your head on first listen but don't scale the lofty heights of Round Round or Hole in the Head. About A Girl is a tad better, sure it's your standard Red One produced club jam but it's one of the few moments where the big name production and the girls vocal really come together and the idea of the new Sugababes as a big glossy pop product really works.


Further attempts at upbeat pop crop up throughout and it's the only time the album is in anyway enjoyable. Wait For You and Thank You for the Heartbreak allow Jade to flex a bit of vocal muscle, Miss Everything with Sean Kingston is an obvious contender for a sure-fire hit single while She's A Mess is an all over the place but enjoyable cocktail of tumbling synths and cockney accents.


It's on the mid-tempo numbers and ballads that the whole thing falls apart. There isn't a single one that stands out and in fact feels like some of the worst stuff the band have ever placed on an album. No More You is dull, Sweet and Amazing is painfully cheesy and Little Miss Perfect is a limp and lifeless drone of a song. It's here that you realise that the band have been completely mismanaged in this new sound. The Sugababes of old were as at home with the powerful ballad as the club stomper. Stronger and Too Lost in You were epic and fitting and reminding you how much vocal power the trio possessed. None of the slower songs on Sweet 7 come close.


Overall, Sweet 7 is a patchy but listenable piece of slick pop with the occasional highlight. It's far too weighed down with filler to be truly great and as a Sugababes album it is sorely lacking. Hardcore fans will try and love it but everyone else will left a little bit disappointed.

Songs, Songs, Songs: Some of the Music I'm digging at the moment

Natalie Imbruglia - Want : Slinky, moody and infectious this is a slice of downbeat electro pop that should hopefully be huge, I also love the Cassette Club remix which is well worth a listen

Janet Jackson - Make Me : Funky, edgy dance cut produced by Rodney Jerkins that sounds like Feedback Part 2. This is a good thing!

Madonna- Revolver feat. Lil Wayne : Her vocals are phoned in, the lyrics are guff but I find this strangely appealing! Same can be said of other new track It's So Cool, clearly when it comes to Madonna, I don't set the bar very high!

Dragonette - Pick Up The Phone: Gorgeous! Melancholic blockbuster pop that should be huge (but probably won't be sadly). There is also a rather amazing Richard X mix which always helps matters.

Cheryl Cole - Fight For This Love : Sweet, mid tempo R&B pop that is a nice start to the solo misadventures of the former Miss Tweedy

Sugababes - About A Girl : They may or may not be about to undergo a reshuffle, but this unapolgetically catchy number is one of their best singles in ages.

Mini Viva - Left My Heart In Tokyo : One of the best fusions of dance track and a big hook in ages, this is thrilling, exuberant stuff.

30H!3 feat. Katy Perry - Starstrukk : Stupidly catchy trashy electro pop and the best Katy Perry has sounded in quite awhile.

Alexandra Burke feat. Flo Rida - Bad Boys : HUGE SMASH HIT ALERT. Like Womanizer with a better melody. Brilliant.

BoA - Crazy About : Slick new track from the re-issue of her superb English language debut.

2 New Videos of Note: Sugas Get Sexy, Shakira Gets Her Wolf On

You just know the Sugababes were a bit miffed when they "dropped" their new video for Get Sexy this week and then the new Shakira one in all its leotard wearing, raunchy cage dancing glory made its way to the internet. Still its always nice to have two new pop videos in the space of a day!

The Sugababes manage to pack alot into their video but all looks awful cheap. Although I love Heidi's verse and that all the girls have their own unique set up and get to party on down in a white room covered in their own lyrics at the end. Its like the girls are on a journey (perhaps a sexy journey) and at the end of the journey they find each other. Like a girlband light at the end of a sexy tunnel.







The Shakira video is brilliantly executed, all hip thrusts and effortless sexuality. Shame it all comes apart in the last scene with Shakria suddenly trapped in a bad 80s dance movie hoping to She Wolf her way into a Flashdance remake. Still it is directed by Jake Nava (my favourite video director of all time) and the good scenes are brilliant, mixing that Shakira knack for being sexy and eccentric all at once. And if there was a battle of the pop leotard going on between Madonna, Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Shakira I think Shaki would win hands down!

Clip | Shakira : She Wolf
Uploaded by Henrietta-Aime-Fumer_Tv. - Watch more music videos, in HD!

Tunes of the Moment.

I am weighed down with new music thanks to lots of great new songs being leaked online and great albums being leaked. and as I've been asked to write the music column for GCN magazine (so thrilled) I've had a number of new albums thrown my way as well (as well as picking up some recent releases. PERK.)

But anyway, I digress, in no particular order here is a list of songs rocking my world at the moment (or over the last few weeks). With thanks to MuuMuse, Mossip Blog and Spherical Notions for the tips.

Shakira - "She Wolf" : superstar disco/electro of the highest order. will be huge.

Sugababes - "Get Sexy" : unapologetically brash stomper set to re-establish the 'Babes

Jordin Sparks - "SOS (Let The Music Play)" : generic but totally fun dance pop

Madonna - "Celebrate (Oakenfold 12" Dub)" : i smell a monster hit.

Pitbull - "I Know You Want Me" : bit late on this but what a great bootyshaker.

Britney - "Radar (Bloodshy and Avant Mix)" : breathes jittery life into this Brit classic.

(see also "Radar (Circus Tour European Studio Version)

Booty Luv - "Say It" : can this just hurry up and become a huge hit please?

Dizzee Rascal - "Holiday feat. Chrome/Calvin Harris" : perfect summer follow up to "Bonkers"

Brooke Hogan - "Ruff Me Up feat. Flo Rida" : crap & amazing, "Womanizer" on a budget

Stonebridge - "Put 'Em High" : its always nice to rediscover a classic. TUNE.

Lady Gaga - "Lovegame (Chew Fu Remix) feat. Marilyn Manson": noisy and nutty. Brilliant.

Martin Solveig/Dragonette - "Boys and Girls" : charming pop number. Dragonette do it again.

Rudenko - "Everybody" : not new but still sounds fabulous.

Kesha - "P.Diddy": Lady Gaga meets Uffie meets Katy Perry meets the dancefloor.

Leighton Meester - "Body Control" : more fun but throwaway dance pop.

Britney - "Gimme More (LAZRTag Remix)" : for the tour memories.

Ashley Tisdale - "Crank It Up" : Britney-esque Blackout style number. Brill.

Dan Black - "Symphonies" : Epic and moody pop.

VV Brown - "Shark In The Water : fast becoming the song of summer that never was.