Is someone trying to get in on Alicia Keys's action here? Are we about to be besieged by songs about places? And if so, can we hurry up and get to Norwich or Zurich, for variety's sake if nothing else.

It'd be really easy to get carried along on the wave of goodwill that surrounds and carries Kylie in everything she does, and to conclude that any song which features her soft, deep, velvety tones is an instant classic. Especially

See these men with their cartoon friends? That's right, it's like someone took that band the Hoosiers, and put their wigs in a hot wash (and Alfonso's moustache got lost, like a spare sock). But don't hold that against them,

The brutal and sad news first: this probably won't trouble the chart compilers unduly. This would be true at almost any time, but is especially relevant when the Top 40 is in a state of siege from football songs and Glee

I had an interesting moment while digging about on YouTube for the video for this. You know how you always get a list of other videos which are in some way related to the one you want to watch? Well

Whoah! What happened to the fragile waif who was hurt by every heartbeat? Has she been doing emotional pushups? Has she bought some feelings kevlar? Are those clickysticks (technically known as claves, fact fans) actually the sound of two skulls

Apparently, even though we all use words to talk to each other, all of the time; even though texting and MSN and Facebook and Twitter and social media all rely on words; even though reading and writing are still as

It's amazing what a sporting tournament can do. Why, with just a whiff of World Cup fever, the nation's recording studios have become a hive of activity. People who normally wouldn't be allowed near a microphone are warming up their

Bit of a minefield, this one. The principal reason for putting fingertip to keypad today is that GaGa has released the full version of the video to this song. It's an event in a music world which does not really

FINALLY! We've been waiting for this for YEARS. Y'know how people of a certain age have a problem with hip hop unless it is by either Run DMC/Aerosmith or the Beastie Boys? And y'know how a good deal of that

What we've got here is a synthpopdance sort of song about a failing relationship, the kind where you sometomes can't bear to be together but you can't bear the thought of being apart. It's not that the feelings aren't still

There's a curious rite of passage that all youthful female pop stars seem to have to undergo these days, a change they have to endure in order to make sure they get to keep being pop stars for a bit

Before we get started, just WHAT is "I don't even wanna kiss her" supposed to mean? It he a bit OCD about oral hygiene? Is it just a way of saying you're so full of animal lust you're all

Today's lecture is on the topic of mystique: the pop fan's catnip. Some pop stars are gifted with the ability to transform the act of saying very little - while still desperately pointing to their own faces and generally pleading with

I sense a schism in popular culture. People - and by people I mean pop stars - are refusing to live in the present any more. They're either rushing towards a romanticised future, where every throat is made from synthetic

Can I ask an awkward question? I was just having a look at Pixie's chart record, principally to double check exactly how many singles off her debut album 'Turn It Up' have charted. Assuming this does well, it'll be the