sometimes life is just a little messy

one week in four i have the dubious pleasure of working from home. when this was origianlly proposed i thought that this would be a perfect time for me to catch up on the review pile that grows bigger each week. sometimes my plans work out .. and i can indeed scratch off a lot of the discs to the archive, but not always. then why is it that twice now during these weeks i have woken up from my sleep deprived state and had a serious SERIOUS urge to spend the day listening to Pop Music. this is becoming far too regular and freaky. there must be something going on. yesterday was one of those days. kylie (Light Years/Body Language of course), Girls Aloud (1st lp), Holly Valance (State of mind), and the excellent Free Me album by Emma (Bunton) all perched on top of the usual hip hop mixtapes, leftfield indie, lo-fi, etc etc. could it be that my usual stuff just hasn't provided the usual visceral thrills that they once did, or is it cos pop music in 2004 has been bloody ace. well, the kylie thing is obvious, if ever there was a title of queen on pop, then she would be the rightful heir to the throne. i recall listening to Light Years ages ago, getting to the seriously over the top camp 'your disco needs you' and grimacing severely. yesterdy however i decided that this is by far the bst record i have heard in ages. (i have to say though this thought lasted for a few hours and normal service resumed today, but i digress.)and thats before we even touch the body language album, where electroclash styled beats and production and a pop goddess are combined in perfection. as for girls aloud. prior to the discovery the music related blogmasses i always thought that this lot were just a bunch of attitude and manufacturing. but following the constant praise from well known net writers and ILM i gave in to the pressure. and by golly batman. they are right. the first album rocks it. full on. a couple of humdingers, but sod that, in comparison to the stuff that NME are pushing at the moment, the girls provide a wonderful real alternative. keane vs girls aloud. i know which i'd rather end up on a desert island with. and i mean the albums of course. holly on the other hand dropped her second album in the middle of the electroclash era to complete rejection. pah. its glorious. the natural companion piece to goldfrapps technomakeover. basically electronic noises, and studio mahines all make a fantastic racket, holly purs the usual kinda stuff that pop stars do and makes it all sound far more exciting than it really should do. the best £2.99 (inc DVD!) i ever spent. fact. i could go on and tell you how i love emmas album full of rich 60's pop songs and sonic stylings, its just so .. nice and warm. but like i said. i'll stop there. as does the temporary urge. today i woke up and had a different rush of sonic needs. i took one look at the product placement live dvd (dj shadow and cut chemist drool over their 7" collection) on the shelf , dropped this into the machine and spent the day cutting up my rug to spliced and diced 60's funk, and respinning mixtapes by dj format, andy 'portishead' smith, and dj shadow (again). different days. different ways. but hey, tomorrow i have my Foetus collection on standby .. you just never know which way the wind blows. but surely thats the great thing about music aint it ? bring it on. mark e ireallylovemusic