and when the sun rises, he watches over me

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

It is ridiculous that I am STILL finding candidates for my ever-growing end-of-year list. The latest comes courtesy of the soulbounce.com year-end round-ups - it is a quite, quite gorgeous piece of aqueously lovely soul by The Foreign Exchange and Muhsinah called 'Daykeeper'. They had an album out this year - and this is so good that I immediately scurried to Amazon MP3 to buy it - yet this is the first I've heard of them.

"The future is electro, female and DIY"

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/dec/17/electro-pop-female-artists

AKA the Guardian has another pop at predicting the pop revival.

That said I like all the acts mentioned who I've actually heard. Perhaps this is the Real Thing!!!

New Christmas Pop round-up

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

No time to do an 'advent calendar' this year, although I've already made one Christmas mix CD of new (to me) wobs music - and expect to have a second done by December 24th. Instead, here's a review of this year's contenders hoping to join the Christmas Canon.

The offerings from ver Quo, Gimli The Dwarf and Bandaged are already troubling the charts (define 'troubling' as you will; personally I quite like the first two). So let's move right along to...

...favourites of katstevens and her Mum, The Feeling, who've gone all soppy with Feels Like Christmas (streaming on their MySpace page, available to buy as a download this week; no video though). Dan's all warm inside, despite the cold, cos he's in wuv. He wonders if it's Christmas. Ah, bless. This has grown on me a lot thanks to Radio 2 caning it. The closer to the big day we get, the more sympathetic I am to the sentiment. Great production too, which helps.

Also questioning the time of year are The Wombats, with Is This Christmas? (YouTube), who seem to aiming for a Slade "Merry Xmas Everybody" type of song, a bit cynical, a bit nostalgiac. And lots of shouty vocals. Hmmm. [HI DERE, I am old person watch: when did 'Back To The Future' replace 'The Great Escape' as the Xmas TV perennial?] It's all for charidee, if that makes any difference to you.

Also on a charity tip, The Killers have joined forces with Elton John in support of Elton's AIDS Foundation. In keeping with the mopey mood of much of this year's pop, Joseph, Rather You Than Me (YouTube) is as grim as the title suggests - despite Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys being on the record. Run away very fast.

bengraham asked to hear Cyndi Lauper vs him out of The Hives, so here is A Christmas Duel (YouTube, no video). It's kind of like the Kathleen Turner-Michael Douglas movie The Wars Of The Roses, if you remember that, only set to music. Sample lyric (from Cyndi!): "I bought no tree this year/ And I slept with your brother/ I wrecked your Daddy’s car/ And went down on your Mother". There's sweary bits too. Tries too hard IMHO.

The Walt Disney Corporation can usually be relied upon to get their roster to bring some Christmas cheer. This year, they can hardly be bothered however. Their wobs CD, All Wrapped Up is only 7 songs long, and a few of these have been out before. Miley's version of "Santa Claus is Coming To Town" is a cookie cutter cover. "Joyful Kings" by The Jonas Brothers mashes up 'Joy to the World' and 'We Three Kings' - a good idea on paper, but ruined by possibly the worst lead vocal performance of 2008. Bah humbug, as they say. Jordan Pruitt and Marie Digby bring a little class (and romance) to proceedings. Jordan's other wobs song from last year, "Santa Don't Stop", is way better though. I may post this separately as an mp3.

It's left to one of my favourite indiepop acts The Bird and The Bee to produce the one genuine Christmas cracker of the season. And even that's a cover. "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is however probably the hardest traditional wobs song to pull off. (Cos of all the repetition, see. Most versions come a cropper about 2 and a half minutes in.) The Bird and The Bee version is streaming on the duo's MySpace page. If you're in the States or can fake a US postal address you can download a free mp3 as well, via http://www.thebirdandthebee.com

The All-time GREATEST Christmas Song

[jel-bugle.livejournal.com]

Jon Bon Jovi - R2D2 We Wish You A Merry Christmas

Please someone out there must share my love of this song!!!!!!

AYIP Supplement November 2008

[anatol-merklich.livejournal.com]

The November AYIPS is slightly notable for containing the sub-40 belt's first TWO double A-sides of the year. And a karaoke track. And a single with a title consisting of two words neither of which has been used in the title of any charting single ever before. And much Craig David, and a minute of Rolf Harris, and no less than TWELVE others, a modest proportion of which are no kind of indie honest.

So...

[Poll #1316929]

Michelle Williams is leading the October poll with more than half of votes so far (55.6%), some distance in front of Wiley (38.9%). Everyone but The Kooks have got votes, including Kate Voegele, who was way ahead of the pack in the 2008 charting of "Hallelujah".

BONUS AYIPS FACT: The first AYIPS-eligible track of the 2000s was "Millennium Chime" by Big Ben, with a chart run of two weeks, peaking at #53. The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles, in the artist description field usually containing e.g. "Canada, male vocalist" or "UK/US/Korea male/female rap/vocal group", here drily notes "UK, clock". Also, googling reveals that at the time The Independent ran a puntastic interview!:

-- You don't move about much on stage?
-- After 12 bongs, neither would you.
Is your new stuff influenced by House?
--No, but I'm very big on Parliament
etc.