Still, I'm dying with every step I take but I don't look back..

First the good news. I've been given a laptop. Not new mind. Second-hand and from a friend. Still, it has a coolish webcam & internet access. Now the bad news: my old iBook will be with me soon but all the information previously on it has gone. That includes all the music files. I am currently preparing my previously dusted up cd's so they can be copied back onto the hard-drive as soon as my ibook returns. In the meantime I will continue to update the blog as a destination of thoughts, dreams, gossip and hopes. Possibly.

So where does one start today? I think I might refer to other better people/bloggers. A review if you wish. First of all, kudos and kisses to the blog DontStopthePop who've given us a Robyn unreleased track With Every Heartbeat. Those on popjustice have described it with the following praise: "baroque", "beautiful", "Oh. My. God.", "exquisite" and "Unfailing genius". Some have proffered the song the mantle "song of the year" which I think I am inclined to agree with. But this was a review of the song and not of the blog. Forgive me...so lets bump to it!

...D..D.dd.d..Don't Stop The Pop!

DontStopthePop has long had the ability to cover music from around the world, drop witty remarks and remain ever dedicated to good strong catchy music. There hasnt been one post by the diva divine Ella, pop professor Robpop and Steve that smells whiffy. I've always been seduced by their vast pop knowledge and amazed by their huge back catalogue. In one week DontStopthePop will make the listener an expert on Greek/Danish divas and the next they'll take you to the catwalks of the New York fashion industry. The music on the site doesnt always consist of new acts/material which makes the blog one of few within the pop blog world(a world that tends to prefer ranting about a pre-release Christina Aguilera/P.Diddy remix-yawn!). In the past, DontStopthePop has had their fair share of exclusives but they don't hesitate in getting their disco hands dirty by stepping back in the time. From a song from the 1950s to a Supersister rare b-side I have to say that this place is one of the most educational popblogs out there...

Gonna Zap It Right To ya...

Hot on the disco heels of DontStopthePop and probably recieves far much more webtraffic than is healthy for just one blog is the one-man-extravaganza The Zapping/ZappingIt2Ya. Run by Paul aka The Man With A Rather Big Heart, this blog reads more like interdisciplinary opus that explores not simply pop music but also fashion, culture, the zeitgeist, gay life in Birmingham and so on. However all the threads have one essential foundation which is music. Not all up for your aural delights on this blog will be new but rather forgotten bands/acts of the 80, 90's and 00's. Which makes this blog brilliant! Paul's manner on his blog is more personal than any of the others. He allows you into his closet, maybe wear his fab coat from FCUK, gossip about his friends/family and watch a bit of TV with him while he creates a brilliant playlist for your IPOD. In other words, his blog has a real family feel to it. A family that doesnt mind rude words like 'bumming', 'willy' and 'gay pride'. Another unique point to this blog is the music is new but not in the same vein as "Madonna's new single" but acts (which tend to be quite pretty) that arn't signed or huge or lauded by museo mags(yet!). The Zapping is a great promotional site, a place where Paul brings new music to you and the acts themselves love him for it. And to sum up Paul as a person I turn to the brilliant Patsy Stone who once said "Oh he just a windscreen washer I picked up at the traffic lights, bum so tight he was bouncing off the walls". Ahem...

Your PopPosterGirl Dream Are made of these...

ZappingIt2Ya is quite heavy on the boy eye-candy but PopPosterGirl puts Paul to shame. Once you enter this zone of boyband heaven, you suddenly want to a) coat my hair in gel and b) feel very ugly. This is because this blog is brimming with what cyber linguistics denote as "hawt"/"sex-on-legs". It is here where the core of that Smash Hits spirit remains as strong as ever. Its run by an American lass who journeys amongst the canals of good ole, mainly European, pop music sung by a boatload of young men who have faces built to melt a thousand dictactors, voices that either serenade angels or depend on autotune and generally rely on tv shows to launch their careers. What I love about this place is that is devoid from all the political mess that has splattered itself all over the genre of pop music. What I mean is that the music produced by, say Gareth Gates, is dogged by its singer which means pop traditionalists will be turned off due to its surrounding negativity and will forget the music. This blog puts a stop to this, lifts the negativity surrounding such acts and says "hey, this music needs returning to cos its actually pretty good!". For e.g: on its release time I hated everything by the Abs. Couldnt stand any of it. But since featuring on PopPosterGirl I can't get enough of it. Megahugs...

Looking dappa in my TipTopPop!

Closely related to PopPosterGirl is TipTopPop. All of the above blogs will simply raise your interest in a band or act but like every man I've ever had will always leave you wanting more. With one song on DSTP/ZAP/PPG you tend to end up buying the entire back catalogue of the given act. This is sometimes a pretty hard thing to achieve. Why? Because pop is quite rare these days and many a time acts will pass you by without you even noticing due to poor funds on the side of the record company. Well, TipTopPop is somewhat different for it gives you a full blown overview of the acts output. Often or not these acts have never been released but its owner Splitchick uses her blog to bring ya stuff that aint ever gonna be in ya local VirginMegastores. You won't see no Gwen, Beyonce and Kylie here. Thankfully...For this reason alone makes TipTopPop makes proper bo! If you want some supreme chunks of pop where you get a real feel for the act this is the place to be. You won't get a full blown album, demo or Dutch only single. Oh no, this girl goes deeper than that. In this pop corner, you'll get an some of an unreleased album, a brilliant Japanese bonus track, something from a soundtrack: basically the best from the rest and reviews/selections from pop acts that history did best forget. This place is a must...Two good examples of how deep and dirty TipTopPop gives it you are the postings on Moonbaby and Mania. No one can compete against that kind of research/giving.

If you wanna be my lovah you gotta chartrigga-zah!

Making sense of of this strange world called pop is the popblog bible ChartRigger run by the Eddie/Patsy of blogspot: Jason and Moogaboo. You'll get all your news, gossip, giggles and chart information here. Occasionally you'll get a nice little track but this is more about the framework of the music industry rather than the content. Essential readings are the lovely dialectics involving Jason and Moogaboo which cover everything from Dannii Minogue and a thing called a Clay Aitken. Not quite sure what a Clay Aitken is but I think it involves art n crafts. But back to subject. These dualogs are called banterviews and they are now legend. In 2300 years time people will be forming religions over what the great Lord Jason and the Savior Moogaboo said. Many lives will be lost in the religious wars that ensues but for now grab some beluga and champers and cackle away at the damn funny comments and remarks.

So thats about it. Naturally I also love XO, SoundsOfSweden, Hotstuff, Fetch, OxygenChunks and PurePop but I couldnt cover them in all in here.

Pinksie