Britney Spears - "Gimme More" (surprisingly good)

It's Britney, bitch.

I never thought that any new song by Britney Spears would even be worth more than a passing listen. But I can't stop playing this song. It's hot. It's catchy. It gets stuck in your head. She managed to get good producers for it, too. And with all the plays it's getting and all the buzz, it may very well be her first hit since "Toxic."

I honestly have not felt this way about a new Britney Spears song since "Oops...I Did It Again" came out back in 2000. I remember when it first came out I kept listening to it over and over again...and that is exactly what I have been doing with "Gimme More." I'm surprising myself here, considering I was 12 when "Oops" came out, now I'm 20, and I usually listen to TV on the Radio and M.I.A., not Britney.

Wow. Way to go, Brit.

MP3: Britney Spears - Gimme More (Click for HypeMachine track search)

M.I.A.: All I wanna do is BANGBANGBANGBANG and *ka-ching* and take yo' money!

I can't stop listening to M.I.A.'s "Kala." It's like an obsession. The two best songs I have heard all year are on this album ("Paper Planes" and "20 Dollar") and I bet in two weeks I won't even be able to look at it, I'll be so sick of all the songs.

But I sincerely hope that doesn't happen.

I also (intentionally) did not renew PopStardom.net. So if you have me listed as an affiliate anywhere as PopStardom.net, please switch the link to http://popstardomnet.blogspot.com or remove me. Thanks.

Avril's number one song

I can't believe the s--t that is Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend" is the number one song in the country right now.

Why?! Seriously, why?!

That song is dreadful.

The Billboard Hot 100

Alanis Morissette - My Humps video

This...is the just about the funniest parody I've seen in a while. Nothing shows bad lyrics like slowing them down and having someone like Alanis sing them.

Hilarious!

Modest Mouse is Number One

Wow...never thought I would ever see this happen, yet here we are. Modest Mouse's new album We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank is the number one album in the US. Granted, there wasn't that strong of a competition -- Joss Stone's new album hasn't been getting that much promotion despite "generally favorable reviews" and fairly heavy rotation on VH1. Elliot Yamin was never a strong contender for number one, but still. Even though Modest Mouse's "Dashboard" isn't as good as "Float On" it's still a good song and a strong enough first single. So can Modest Mouse still be considered "indie" with a surprise hit like this?

In other chart news, Amy Winehouse is still in the top ten this week. She's just about the best thing to come to the states since, well, Lily Allen. "Rehab" is such a strong song with a more mature sound to it; it's great to see more good music in the top 10 instead of the similar-sounding rap albums that dominated a couple years ago, back when Lil Jon was the shit. Is there a new music generation emerging? I hope so -- but a look at the Billboard Hot 100 shows Mims' "This is Why I'm Hot" is still in the top 10 -- so maybe not just yet.

Avril Lavigne...WTF?!

WTF?

Is this a joke? This is so bad it can't possibly be real!

Pop video mash-ups

Not sure if these can be called mash-ups...more like re-edits. This YouTuber created re-edits by using songs like Christina Aguilera's "Ain't No Other Man" and then making it look like Beyonce sung it. It's kind of interesting to see how the same dance moves and lyrics are used repeatedly over and over in pop videos. Below is the re-edit for Justin Timberlake's "What Goes Around" using Justin's and Britney Spears' past videos (rumor is that this song is directed at Britney for cheating on Justin). The individual videos aren't that great but this girl has great editing skills and makes it work.

The Indie Bible and TGD (again)

I just found out yesterday that PopStardom.net was listed in the 7th edition of The Indie Bible. Nice.

In lieu of that, I'm going to plug the band (again) the college record label I work with (Wax on Felt Records) is working with this year: The Garrison Delight. Listen to their music on their Myspace

Have a nice day.

The Hype Machine and Gwen's little Kingston

Just thought I would pass along one the greatest websites out there, The Hype Machine, for discovering new music. Thanks to this site I think The Knife are one of my favorite bands at the moment. "Neverland" has been stuck in my head for a good week now.

In other news, just thought I would pass along this adorable picture of Gwen Stefani and her son, Kingston, out and about. How cute!!

I should have shamelessly plugged these guys a while ago: The Garrison Delight

I work at a student-run record label and the band that we're currently working with is The Garrison Delight. They're an awesome band with a funk rock vibe. Check out their official website at www.waxonfelt.org/tgd or their Myspace @ myspace.com/thegarrisondelight to listen to/download some of their music. They're chill guys who put on a great show. Here's a little more about the band, which I totally just stole from Wax on Felt's site:

The Garrison Delight's distinctive sound comes as a breath of fresh air to many funk rock fans in the Beantown music scene. Their songs provide a unique blend of progressive songwriting and quality musicianship while their energized stage performances are both melodically soulful and groove oriented. Guitarist Oliver Boyer-Masutti of Quebec often uses jazz overtones to compliment the group's rock roots, while working with the hook-oriented melodies written by singer and front man Chris Franzen. Additionally, the groove section, made up of Italian drummer Francesco Basile, Trans-Siberian keys player Martin Barnes and Vermont bassist Peter Dotson-Westphalen, consistently lays down the group's funk vibe. These international players were brought together within and around the walls of The Berklee College of Music in Boston. Even within the Berklee community, which is inundated with talent, the sound of The Garrison Delight has been well received by a loyal local fan base. The group is currently in the process of recording their debut EP with Wax on Felt Records that will be released this fall, which will be followed by gigs throughout the Northeast.

Well there ya go. MAKE SURE YOU CHECK OUT THEIR AWESOME MUSIC!