Cotton Candy Disco

I'm in Canada at the moment (hello!) and for the first time in quite a while I've just bought some cds (not cos i steal, cos i get sent). They're two albums that I love and have had to download and not buy because they're only currently issued in North America.

The first is Disco Romance by Sally Shapiro. Sally is a Swedish artist that sings Italo-disco songs, sometimes in French! Confused? Don't be. She's blonde, cute and publicity shy, Sally isn't even her real name. Disco Romance came out earlier in the year and is one of those albums that you can put on and do anything to - it can be background noise, something you ignore, or something you blissfully daydream into. It'd be easy to label her as the new Annie, but despite being so reculsive, she somehow comes across less cold than the Norwegian star. After all how can you not love someone who says "I like indie pop with no guitars". That should be my motto. Sally's apparently the puppet of producer Johan Agebjorn but this new version of the album contains 3 new songs, one of which is the cutsy Jackie Jackie. This is the first song she's done a video for, and it's much more pop and less disco disco than some of her other stuff...

Review: Girls Aloud - Tangled Up

Let it be known, the new Girls Aloud album is slice of pop perfection. They've been #1 on my last.fm profile for nearly all time and I finally thought I was getting somewhere when Robyn overtook for the last 12 months. This was until I listened to them 116 times last week though. Ha.

Adored by critics, fans and even the skinny jean brigade, the experimental "Sexy! No No no..." was our first introduction to the 4th Girls Aloud album. And we're really happy to report Tangled Up is yet another unrelenting pop masterpiece.

If you've got ceefax then go to pg525 (the idea of writing for ceefax never fails to amuse me) otherwise check out the full version at BBC Music.

Harder Faster Better Stronger: The Daft Punk Story

I'm really excited to tell you that this Thursday my very first radio documentary will be broadcast on BBC Radio 1.

Celebrating 10 years since the release of their Daft Punk's debut album "Homework", we've sent Pete Tong on a mission to discover who the men behind the robot helmets really are. As well as featuring a rare interview with both of Daft Punk, you'll also hear the guys from Soma Records explaining how it all began, Kanye West musing on Stronger, Award winning director Michel Gondry doing karaoke, as well as Calvin Harris, Vitalic and Phoenix talking about the boys as icons.

Who knew making 28 minutes of radio would be so much hard work? I've gained 3 wrinkles but hopefully it's all been worth it. People seem to like it so far. Above is the video we've created to advertise the documentary. Big thanks to my friend Chris for agreeing to be taken over by the power of the robotic music.

I hope you'll have a listen this Thursday 22nd November, BBC Radio 1, at some point between 9.00 and 10.00pm. Otherwise it will be on the Radio 1 website forever, so you have no excuses. Feedback very welcome.

The Pierces in London

Every so often I come across a band from overseas that I love. I listen to their album 100 times in a row and then check their live dates, only to discover their last UK date was about a week ago and there are no more planned.

This happened a few months ago when I finally got round to listening to Thirteen Tales of Love And Revenge by The Pierces. The band is made up of Catherine and Allison Pierce, two sisters from Alabama, who sing sinister, creepy pop songs that fizzle with darkness and morbid electronic beats.

Now they're back in the UK for two acoustic gigs. While the word acoustic may send pain through my heart, I'm still going along to hear whether the spine tingles can be pulled off live tonight at the Water Rats, and I recommend you do the same.

They're on stage at 8.30 so see you there?
Here's what to expect:

Review: Spice Girls - Greatest Hits

Everything about the Spice Girls reunion has been a bit odd. Right from the press conference where we were given shonkily made press packs, to the perfectly fine, but just disappointing "Headlines" and it's bizarre video. I was a massive Spice Girls fan and am going to see them in December, so I hope they can pull of as good a tour as they did when I saw them in Manchester in 1999.

This week they released their greatest hits compilation. Nothing could go wrong there, well except Leona forcing them into #2, but the album itself is great - we all know what to expect.

Five girls, unashamed to spout opinions and punch their stamp onto everything, took the whole world by storm when they unleashed "Wannabe" on an unsuspecting audience back in 1996. Ginger, Scary, Sporty, Baby and Posh created their own revolution before Geri fled, they went a bit R&B and everything went silent.

Read the rest of my review of Spice Girls - Greatest Hits at BBC Music.