The Drums! The Drums! The Drums!

Mid last year, a slightly shouty girl and boy called The Ting Tings bounced out of their recording studio in Manchester, and into my playlists. Debut single 'That's Not My Name' somehow managed to be both stompy, handclapping "Hey Mickey" for the naughties; and a laid back, swaggering groove.

Part of the new generation of bands who know that's it's cool to call themselves pop, their next single 'Great DJ' has just landed on my desk and is another perfect indie dancefloor filler. The constant mute picking of the guitar immediately sets the tone, and when the chorus kicks in, Katie's elongated 'girls' and 'boys' and the 'drrrrrummms' fire up the girl power within this song.

But don't get me wrong, as much as I like them, as much as they're tipped by all the right people for success this year & have just been added to the R1 Upfront playlist, I don't see how they can be marketed to great crossover success. Not that that's an issue, it's just a bit irritating how everyone is talking about them as if they are going to be the biggest popstars in the world.

Saying that beg, steal or do whatever you can to get a ticket to see them at Hoxton Bar & Grill next week. It might be London's worst gig venue and it'll certainly be full of posing hipsters, but the show and the music should be fantastic. It's pop, fun and it rulezzzzz!

I Thought It Was Over…

When 'Fill My Little World' and 'Sewn' came out, I hated the Feeling with a passion thinking it was twee, kiddie music. Then the released 'I Love It When You Call', probably the most childish of them all, and fell in love! Seeing them live cemented my belief that I had been totally wrong and now they are back.




"I Thought It Was Over" is the 1st single from their 2nd album and it's amazing. It has shades of 'Valentine' by The Delays but annoying a really pants video. It's irritatingly pants, because the song has so many moments where the video could totally burst out into disco and colours yet it always teeters on the edge.

Listen to the whole song because one of the most joyeous moments I've ever heard in music occurs about 30s from the end. The song drops out for 1/2 a second and there is the most blissful harpsicordy twist. Awesome.

Let it SNOW

Who knew the Snow presenting dynasty had a eligable hot link? Hello Dan Snow!

Facts I also learnt tonight:

* Managing a Pret earns you 35k. What?
* Jon Snow turned down an OBE, but Peter Snow has a CBE
* Peter & Jon are cousins
* Jon was once engaged to Anna Ford !!!
* Dan Snow earns 75k, Peter verges on 100k
* Peter Snow once auditioned for James Bond.
* Jon Snow does not believe in poppy facism.

Imagine being part of the Snow dynasty. It's even better than the Fox dynasty. Amazing.

Albums of the year 2007

Singles of the Year 2007

A little bit late, but if you care, these were my favourite songs of 2007 - in no particular order. I always end up with an utterly mainstream list - I do like non chart stuff too! This year I am determined (as I always am) to make the list from the start of the year.

Axwell "I Found You" : A mad mesh of 90s piano, soulful vocals and 00's rave, this year's ultimate dance anthem.

Robyn "Konichiwa Bitches" : I thought Robyn was mad releasing this as her first single. Unaccessible and not a fair representation, but now I understand it's quite simply brilliant. A real grower, cute lyrics and a throbbing bassline help make it a dancefloor stomper.

Kate Nash "Foundations" : Maybe my favourite. This teenage ode was a perfect singalong hit, not least for it's amusing pronunciations and it's 'let's act out the song' factor. Kate co-hosted hit40uk one afternoon and was lovely. Still not boring.

Bloc Party "Flux" : An unexpected late entry, this sounds like Bloc Party listened to "Valentine" by The Delays and ramped it up a gear. Soaring and brilliant to dance to as well as shout "WE NEED TO TAAALK" at the top of your voice.

Rihanna "Umbrella": A strange, brilliant song that stayed at #1 for the most number of week's since Wet Wet Wet. Not an obvious #1 but one that cemented my belief that sometimes the buying public does know what they're doing.

M.I.A "Jimmy": Completely and utterly amazing, but slightly tarnished by the fact that it's actually just a cover of an old Bollywood.

Fedde Le Grand vs Ida Corr - "Let Me Think About It" : Described as someone else perfectly as "wonky parping".

Groove Armada "Song 4 Mutya": A far greater song that Mutya deserved, this should have been #1. It did nowhere near as well as it should, thanks, in no small part to the unimaginably bad video.

Amy Winehouse "Back To Black": The standout track on the album of the same name.

Aly & AJ "Potential Break Up Song": Swirly, sugary pop from two American Christian sisters. One of many random songs I convinced people into playing on national radio (not the weirdest though). Somehow it charted and I can just about get away with djing with it!

According to last.fm, my top 10 singles (only taking 1 from each artist) were actually: Sexy No No No, With Every Heartbeat, Potential Break-up Song, Tony The Beat, Let Me Know, Foundations, Gimme More, Like A Boy and Catch You.

Fascination

I'd love it if Alphabeat were big in 2008, but despite being signed to a major and having great songs, I really doubt they're going to make here. Since I saw them in May, they've been building a UK fanbase and now release first single proper in a few weeks. Here's the adorable video:


I've written more about them here.