Saint Etienne Announce New Single, Greatest Hits Compilation

The greatest British trio to grace the planet and give pop listeners the gift of deep, meaningful lyrics has a new release on the horizon.

No, not Right Said Fred... I'm talking about Saint Etienne! (Although Saint Etienne did cover "I'm Too Sexy" in the early '90s.)

First up will be a reworking of "Burnt Out Car," fiddly-twiddled up by Xenomania. The various formats promise new B-sides in the form of "River" on the 7" vinyl, "Destroy The Building" and "Night Vision" on part one of the CD single, and a "Balearic Mix" of "Burnt Out Car" by Mark Brown—who produced Etienne front dame Sarah Cracknell's #12 U.K. hit from earlier this year, "The Journey Continues"—on CD2.

Shortly after, London Conversations: The Best Of Saint Etienne will be released. Says the band on their website:

It comes in three delicious 'flavas': a single 18 track cd; a double with every other a-side, some of our best album tracks, and - yes! - "Lover Plays The Bass"; and a 3 disc set in a beautiful book cover with a dvd of all our promo vids.

Sexy. And in case you missed my D'luvvly Sarah Cracknell interview...

Chris Brown Gets Closer To #1 With "Forever," Working On Reality Dance Show

Not much change in the upper region of Billboard's Hot 100 this week, other than Chris Brown reaching a new high of #3 with "Forever." If it doesn't hit the top, whereas "Kiss Kiss" did, the world truly is a cruel sphere of mud.

Meanwhile, this news about him teaming up with Survivor creator Mark Burnett to do a reality dance show... Chris, Chris, Chris. Just stick to the music. Not all of your agent's ideas are bright.

Not really sure about Kardinal Offishall, but the fact that this Canadian has dragged Akon back into the Top 10 after a pleasant absence already makes him annoying.

And poor Miley Cyrus—"7 Things" gets bumped out of sight by the return of Jesse McCartney.

Ah, fuck all these people anyway. I'm not seeing any of their cash.

The U.S. Top 10:

1. "I Kissed A Girl" - Katy Perry *5 weeks*
2. "Take A Bow" - Rihanna
3. "Forever" - Chris Brown *sales gainer*
4. "Lollipop" - Lil Wayne Feat. Static Major
5. "Viva La Vida'" - Coldplay
6. "Bleeding Love" - Leona Lewis
7. "Pocketful Of Sunshine" - Natasha Bedingfield
8. "A Milli" - Lil Wayne
9. "Dangerous" - Kardinal Offishall Feat. Akon
10. "Leavin'" - Jesse McCartney

Pop Conspiracy: Rihanna's "Disturbia" Video Vs. Pet Shop Boys' "Yesterday When I Was Mad"

Rihanna's "Disturbia" video just popped up on YouTube but will probably get yanked soon. It's directed by David LaChapelle, and is slightly reminiscent of Pet Shop Boys' 1994 clip for "Yesterday When I Was Mad," in that they both quite literally deal with mental anguish and madness. Apparently Chris Brown, who co-wrote "Disturbia," had originally planned to record the song himself for Exclusive, but felt it needed a female voice.

It all sort of makes sense now, given Chris' idolization of Michael Jackson, and how much I initially thought "Disturbia" sounded like a modern day "Thriller" before I knew he wrote it.



I have to say, I really admire how much Chris Brown and Rihanna are changing the sound of American pop.

Scott Storch: One More Bush-Era Music Douche Gets Flushed Down The Can

Thursday I brought up the ever-growing, full swing signs of the end of Bush era in popular music.

There's a great article about the professional demise of scumbag producer extraordinaire Scott Storch on CNN.com, called "The Top Producer Who Hit The Skids."

Here's the gist of it all:

Nowadays, Scott Storch, 34, is missing in action. He owes over $500,000 in real estate taxes and had a warrant out for his arrest when he failed to show up in court in a child-support case last month. He has not had a top 10 hit in three years. He still has his waterfront marble mansion, but his lawyer, Guy Spiegelman, says Storch is attempting to refinance it after a "catastrophic occurrence this year" resulting from "mismanagement." Storch no longer works with his old manager or publicist. He hasn't talked to either of his children in months.

Replete with tragic details and bad behavior, the ballad of Scott Storch may be the swan song of the bling era, a riches-to-rags tale of excess, poor decisions and a hobbled music industry.

Gee, his uncomparable arrogance aside, what do you think could possibly have killed his career: Paris Hilton's album or Brooke Hogan's?

We do have Scott to thank for Chris Brown's "Run It!", though. That was a good jam... you know, three years ago and all.

ALSO SEE:
* Paris Is Burning, But We're Throwing Ourselves Onto The Fire!

Hungover

Had a party at chez D'luv last night. A good time was had by all.

The U.K. Top 10:

1. "Dance Wiv Me" - Dizzee Rascal/Calvin Harris/Chrome *3 weeks*
2. "One For The Radio" - McFly *new*
3. "All Summer Long" - Kid Rock
4. "All I Ever Wanted" - Basshunter
5. "No Air" - Jordin Sparks Duet With Chris Brown
6. "Closer" - Ne-Yo
7. "Give It 2 Me" - Madonna
8. "Stay With Me" - Ironik
9. "Shut Up And Let Me Go" - The Ting Tings
10. "Forever" - Chris Brown

Why Do Things Like New Kids On The Block Have To Happen To Me, God?

New Kids On The Block have yet another goddamn greatest hits coming out—or rather, that Sony is throwing out to cash in on the old fuckers whoring themselves out on the road again—on August 12.

I wouldn't masturbate on this trash if it made blind children see.

Among the 18 re-heated "hits" are "Please Don't Go Girl," "Cover Girl," "Valentine Girl" and "My Favorite Girl." Girl, please!

There's also a New Kids megamix, which you'll probably want to push a rusty, 12-inch railroad tie through your eardrum to while listening.

But really, looking forward to this.

Free Download: UNKLE'S 'X-Files' Theme Remix

We know what a big X-Phile D'luv is, so here then is a free, legal download of UNKLE's new remix of the theme for The X-Files, to tie in with next Friday's release of The X-Files: I Want To Believe and Tuesday's digital release of UNKLE's End Titles...Stories For Film.

* "The X-Files Theme (Remix)"

Pop Conspiracy: Hayden Panettiere's "Wake Up Call" Vs. Paris Hilton's "Stars Are Blind"

Great... another broad who thinks she can multi-task her way into the hearts of millions. Heroes ho Hayden Panettiere's new single "Wake Up Call" bears mucho resemblance to Paris Hilton's "Stars Are Blind."

Which one do you think sounds more like an Auto-Tuned blowup doll?



Meanwhile, did you know 18-year-old Hayden's actually a Grammy nominee? Granted, it was in the "spoken word for children" category, for A Bug's Life in 1999 (when she was nine!!).

One thing's for sure—that 31-year-old kiddie-fiddler beau of hers, Milo Ventimiglia, looks like he'd be a decent bounce.

The Times They Are A-Changin'

Do you know odd it is to see a non-Hip hop/R&B/ballad single be at #1 for more than one or two weeks in the U.S. in the '00s? And by odd I mean it's pretty effing refreshing. And I don't care that it's that faux coconut-slammer, Katy Perry. It could be Janice Dickinson moaning the alphabet out of key at this point and I'd shout its praises.

With all the record label staff cuts, the rap payola czars of yesteryear must be gone.

That said, it's a week of redemption on Billboard's Hot 100 as Chris Brown's "Forever"—a song that after three months still hasn't gotten old—is the Sales Gainer, and moves up to a new peak of #4. Again, that's another one I'd become to skeptical to ever imagine the U.S. music-buying public would embrace. The long, depressing George Bush era truly is ending, folks.

Even the fact that the Top 10 contains pop songs by Natasha Bedingfield, Coldplay and teen harlot Miley Cyrus hints that the week that miserable fucker leaves the White House next January, we can probably expect the Sugababes to have their first American hit!

Further evidence: Ne-Yo's "Closer," already a U.K. #1 which has been struggling for over three months now on the chart, jumps ten positions to a new high of #17, while Estelle's "American Boy" slowly makes its way to #31.

Of course, directly linking the so obviously payola-driven music that was on the charts for years—the countless J. Lo atrocities, the Ja Rules, the 50 Cents and Chingys—to the current President that's in office might seem like a bit of a stretch, but doesn't all the garbage start at the top and come down?

The U.S. Top 10:

1. "I Kissed A Girl" - Katy Perry *4 weeks*
2. "Take A Bow" - Rihanna
3. "Lollipop" - Lil Wayne Feat. Static Major
4. "Forever" - Chris Brown *sales gainer*
5. "Bleeding Love" - Leona Lewis
6. "Pocketful Of Sunshine" - Natasha Bedingfield
7. "Viva La Vida'" - Coldplay
8. "A Milli" - Lil Wayne
9. "7 Things" - Miley Cyrus
10. "Push It Baby, Part 2" - Plies Feat. Ne-Yo

Frankmusik Is Rad

All ye Stuart Price fans—my new Frankmusik-themed Towleroad column is up. Think Sam Sparro meets, uh...Sam Sparro.