This morning, I woke up like normal, took a shower like normal, and then went into the bathroom to brush my teeth, also like normal. When I walked towards the bathroom door, I stepped in what I thought was a fresh patch of pee, and before I could even chastise Mr. Pickles for ruining my morning, things got instantly worse. James declared that the pee didn’t smell like pee at all, and that is when we discovered it wasn’t pee; the bedroom carpet was saturated with water. Instantly, we figured out what had happened: the hot water heater had leaked, and flooded a lot of our bedroom. After some quick scrambling to see how bad things were, we found that not only had it leaked, but it had completely busted, and all of the 40 hot gallons of water were now resting comfortably somewhere outside of the tank.
A couple of phone calls, and a plumber later, we had spent $1100 and our hot water heater issue was no more.
…Or so I wish.
The floor was saturated, and since this has actually happened to me before, I knew that we needed to act fast, because that water would certainly attract every spore of mold from miles around if it wasn’t dried up quickly. After a clean up estimate that I thought was kind of ridiculously high ($1800), I set out to rent the fans and a dehumidifier myself. Since the pad of the carpet is pretty much a big, floor covering sponge, I decided to just pull it up and throw it away, so that I could increase my chances the actual subfloor might dry in time. I also made that decision based on the fact that carpet padding is pretty inexpensive overall, and the padding that was there was pretty gross upon inspection.
As I write this, my bedroom is not a bed room at all. Our bed has been moved to the office, and the carpet has been pulled up, the pad has been cut out, and there are fans blowing wildly in the room that was my bedroom this morning.
Yeah, it could have been worse, but that sentiment hardly makes one feel better when their bedroom floods and they have a day like I did. I’m still trying to convince James that this just gives us a good reason to get hardwoods for the bedroom (which we have been talking about since the day we moved in), but what will happen in the coming days is yet to be seen. I’m hoping that something good can come out of this truly annoying situation; and at this point, the hardwood floors are all I have have to cling to in keeping that hope alive. All and all, a pretty shitty day that I had to use a vacation day on.
I have been known to gush incessantly about some songs, but I try my best to reserve that for those that I am totally and utterly blow away by. Well, ladies and gents, this is one of those songs, and I am going to nothing short of tell everyone I know about this one. This song is immensely beautiful, and the arrangement is perfect. It is so good that I have to admit that I was actually kind of surprised by it. While I really liked their last album, this towers so high over anything they have done so far, that there really is no way that it wouldn’t take a fan even more diehard than myself by surprise. Don’t get me wrong, this is not a dig in any way to their previous work; they have some brilliant and amazing stuff out there already, but this song hits like the ultimate crescendo. Jared Leto’s voice soars alongside the building riffs and sends chills up my spine when he hits those high notes and sustains them so pitch perfectly. This takes everything they have done before and perfects it. I can’t heap enough praise on this track, and I cannot wait until their new album comes out; because if it is anything like this, it is going to be utterly brilliant. Simply put: AMAZING. 
I had a bit of a twitter/facebook snafu yesterday when I proclaimed my love for this song; when I accidentally said I liked Robin Williams’ Bodies. Well, let’s clear that up; THIS is the Bodies that I am heaping my praise on (well, I wouldn’t mind heaping some praise on Robbie Williams’ (not Robin Williams) actual body, but that is topic for another time and another place). Overall, whenever Robbie releases a new single, I always want to like it, and sometimes I do, but when I first heard Bodies, I didn’t. I think it was the hard distortion sound that accompanies the beat that turned me off at first. However, I have heard it a few times, and now I see how wrong I was; this song is beautiful and I actually love the hard distortion completely now! I realize now that I didn’t give it the chance that it so rightly deserves. This song is catchy, the arrangement is excellent, and Robbie’s voice is as beautiful as ever. 
I don’t know which part I am in the most awe over, that the Saturdays released a whole new album just a year after their really great debut album, Chasing Lights, or that it’s probably an even better album than their first. Take this song for instance. Wow. Let me say that again, because it bears repeating, WOW. These girls have clearly taken all of the thunder both Girls Aloud and the (possibly new defunct?) Sugababes once had, and have channeled that tenacity into truly fantastic girl-group driven pop. I will admit that while the ho-hum first single (I’m not saying Forever is Over is bad necessarily, it just isn’t as good as every other thing they have done, IMHO), and the weird title (Wordshaker) of this album had me less than interested in downloading it, BUT after a few listens, I have to say that there isn’t a bad track on their new album. This song in particular blew me away, and I instantly wanted to hear it again once it ended. These ladies have proven to be some work horses, quickly and consistently turning out great pop albums, and based on the quality of work they keep releasing, I certainly hope they can sustain this momentum for a long time to come. Let’s just say that I have a strong feeling that their new album will be included in 2009’s annual countdown of my favorite albums.
Some of you probably wonder why in the hell I would be posting a Spanish song, but trust me, this song took me by much more surprise than you could possibly have for me featuring it. I have had a love hate relationship with Nelly Furtado; mostly, I LOVE all of her older stuff that I felt was more “her style”, and I practically HATE everything she did with Timbaland. I remember when Promiscuous came out, and I really liked it at first. However, that quickly turned to disdain, because with each subsequent single, I felt the Nelly I instantly fell in love with back in 2001 with I’m Like a Bird was completely gone. That troubled me, and as such, I kind of started ignoring her. It wasn’t until I saw the video (
Even though I am a fan of American Idol, I can’t say that there are many of those kids that I avidly kept following after they left the show. Katharine McPhee is one of the notable exceptions. After delivering an amazing, if not totally ignored (
Britney’s lastest single, the total earworm 3 will in fact 
Clea were a band that came together after the girls met each other during the auditioning process for Pop Stars: The Rivals. While they didn’t win, they managed to release some pretty great pop music together. Clea had some issues with getting an album out, but when they finally did, it was filled with cheesy pop that has been a guilty pleasure of mine for years. This is my favorite song from the album Trinity, and even though Clea are long gone from the music scene, I still absolutely love this song. It is dance-tastic, and is just the type of cheesy British pop that I can’t get enough of right now. 
Rachel was in a fantastically cheesy-but-brilliant pop band called S Club 7 (who I completely and utterly adore!), and after the band broke up (*sad face*), she went out on her own, and released some pretty great solo stuff. Anyone who has been following this blog for a while now knows that I am a sucker for a great cover song, and this one is nothing short of fantastic (even though it isn’t on any of her albums!). Surprisingly, they actually played this on So You Think You Can Dance (last year I think) during a disco routine, and at the time, I was reminded of how much I love Rachel, and miss her contributions to pop music. My recent resurgence of interest in early 00s pop music wouldn’t be complete without a little love for Rachel and the rest of the S Club crew. 
As is the case with many British pop bands, the formula of releasing cover songs is pretty much a standard, and V are no exception to the rule (this is a cover of The Jackson 5’s hit of the same name). However, even though it is a cover, it is cheesy boy-band pop at its BEST (which is probably why that formula is followed so predictably). Around the time the US was pining over The Backstreet Boys and N*SYNC, the UK had a slew of boy bands popping up left, right, and center. V was one of the bands that managed to have a few hits, only to disappear into near obscurity overnight. It’s interesting to me, that right now, there is 
Many of you probably know Emma better by her stage name, Baby Spice; a name that she was given to her when she was in the Spice Girls. However, a lot of you might not know that every one of the Spice Girls kept working on music once the band broke up (a lot of it is brilliant!), and Emma’s second solo album is one of the best of the bunch; there isn’t a bad song on it. Emma was on the early end of the currently growing trend to harness a throwback sound; and in her case, as exhibited by the theme of this album, it was the swanky sound of pop music from the 60s. She had moderate attention in the states with her hit Free Me, which was remixed and made some waves on the dance scene, but Maybe was always my favorite from the album. Hearing this again made me realize just how much I love that whole album, and I’m glad to feature it today as one of my all time favorite British pop songs. 
Arguably one of the biggest of the songs featured on today’s 5SF, this massive song by pop super group Steps pretty much embodies the uber cheesy heart of British pop of the early 00s. Steps were insanely huge when they were making music, and caused quite a stink with their fans when they disbanded; mostly because they had reassured everyone they wouldn’t when the rumors of a break up started flying. Because I didn’t find out about Steps until after they disbanded, I was shielded from any bad feelings about them, which is good, because I truly love some Steps. They are like a cheesy ABBA disco tribute band gone completely over the edge with bubble gum pop goodness. This is my favorite song by Steps, and it really is a shame that they didn’t continue on, because they made some really great pop music together. I’ve always thought this song was the perfect song for a Friday, because it’s all about getting ready for the weekend, so I thought it really worked for today. 
I posted about this amazing track on the 5SF a few weeks ago, and I have been loving it more and more with each listen. In order to celebrate the release of their new album, 
in the US today, I really wanted to shine some more light on this song, because I love it so much. The arrangement is interwoven quite delicately with many layers, and the lyrics are comforting, like a warm blanket on a cold day. I find myself listening to this one over and over and, each time I do, I truly appreciate how magnificent it is. I absolutely love stumbling on amazing music like this, and can’t wait to share it with anyone who will listen. Take another listen to Noah and the Whale’s Blue Skies, the song of the day for today; I am sure that you will love it as much as I do (if you don’t already).
— as of posting this, the song is free, so you should hurry over and get this gem while the deal lasts!! 
It is with great excitement that I bring you the BRAND NEW single from Hellogoodbye!! When We First Met marks a triumphant return to producing great pop for Hellogoodbye, and if this is any indication as to what we can expect from their next release, my longing for new material from them might have been worth the wait. I have been a fan of Hellogoodbye ever since I fell in love with their full length debut, Monsters! Aliens! Dinosaurs! Vampires! way back in 2006 (!!!). Then, after seeing them in concert, I fell even more head over heels for them, and have been clamoring for the chance to get some new music from these guys; and (not that it’s a bad thing, I just want a new album!) all I’ve gotten (until this week) was a re-issue of MADV with some extra tracks. While this track is a little less “electro-pop” than most of their debut, it shows them moving in a great direction (channeling their softer, sweeter side they showed on Oh, It’s Love), and I, for one, find myself even more excited for a new album from this bunch. You can get a copy of the When We First Met mini EP by signing up at their 
I have featured songs on the 5SF before that I heard playing in the background of a show before, and this is one of those tracks. Those of you that watched the season premiere of Dollhouse will probably recognize this one; it was played during the first 10 or so minutes of the season premiere, and I loved it so much I had to have it. Luckily, a quick google search of the lyrics, and I was in business. I love the lyrics, and the delicate arrangement. When I first heard it, I knew there was something familiar about the song, and when I found it, I discovered that the male vocal was none other than William Fitzsimmons (who I found randomly not so long ago as well)! The final bridge/chorus where their voices intertwine and harmonize is fucking unbelievably beautiful. I am glad that the music producers of the show chose it, and I am glad that I could hunt it down and share it with you guys as one of today’s selected tracks. 
When I heard that Newton had released a new album, Rebuilt by Humans, the follow up to his Hand Built By Robots, I’ll be honest, I wasn’t terribly interested. While I really fell in love with Dream Catch Me, the major single from HBBR, it took me a while to get into it, but when I did, I was hooked. However, that interest eventually fizzled, when the rest of the album didn’t really gel for me. Well, one of you guys (thanks 
I will be totally honest, and get this out of the way right up front; I have been sitting on this one for a while now. While I loved this song the first time I heard it, I could only get my hands on a boot-leg, low quality version of it; but that all changed this week. Now that I’ve got the goods, I am more than happy to get the word out about the new amazing single from this Danish sensation; who previously filled me with shrieks of delight when I heard their amazing single, Fascination. While their entire debut album, This is Alphabeat, never really struck as strong of a chord with me as Fascination did, I never turned my attention completely away from these guys, as I knew they were capable of repeating that greatness again. With The Spell, they have totally captivated my attention once again with an extremely strong, catchy single, and I can only hope that the second time is the charm for me with Alphabeat. In the meantime, I can’t stop dancing around to this wonderful track.
Yes, you are reading that right: I am featuring a song by Third Eye Blind, and no, it isn’t 1997! Most people probably think of the late nineties when they think of Third Eye Blind, because that was when they had the most success with radio mainstays Semi-Charmed Kind of Life, How’s It Going To Be, and Jumper. I randomly noticed they had released a new album recently, when I stumbled onto the stop-motiontastic video for Don’t Believe A Word. While the song didn’t fully draw me in initially, there was something about it that I really liked, and as such, I downloaded it. After a few listens, I realized it was the amazing riff that they utilize during the chorus that I loved. I always really liked his voice, and the song overall has proven to be quite the earworm. If you don’t count the part where he screams “you whore I’ll fucking kill you” right before the first chorus, I would venture a guess that Third Eye Blind could have another mainstream hit on their hands; more than 10 years after their successful debut. 