US Chart Roundup: Phillip Phillips Has A Classy Week

Just when you thought the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 couldn't get any more stagnant, positions 1 through 9 remain the same this week as they were last. This means Gotye and Kimbra's "Somebody That I Used To Know" is #1 for a seventh week, thus making it the longest-running chart-topper of the year to date. (Kimbra's debut LP Vows debuts at #14 this week on the Top 200.)

The song that dropped out of the Top 10 is Train's "Drive By", which gets bumped from #10 to #12 by the debut of American Idol winner Phillip Phillips and his coronation song "Home." This marks the first time an Idol champ has landed a winner's song in the Top 10 since David Cook hit #3 with "The Time Of My Life" in 2008. Absolutely thrilling stuff.

Elsewhere, Ellie Goulding cracks the Top 20 and moves up to #17 with "Lights," while David Guetta and Sia's "Titanium" climbs to #25.

And that, folks, is that.

The U.S. Top 10:

1. "Somebody That I Used To Know" - Gotye feat. Kimbra *7 weeks*
2. "Call Me Maybe" - Carly Rae Jepsen
3. "Payphone" - Maroon 5 feat. Wiz Khalifa
4. "We Are Young" - fun. feat. Janelle Monae
5. "Starships" - Nicki Minaj
6. "Wild Ones" - Flo Rida feat. Sia
7. "What Makes You Beautiful" - One Direction
8. "Glad you Came" - The Wanted
9. "Boyfriend" - Justin Bieber
10. "Home" - Phillip Phillips *new*

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I Wrote About Carly Rae Jepsen For CNN

Being the person who broke "Call Me Maybe" in America (Justin Bieber who?), naturally I was asked to write about Carly Rae Jepsen for CNN.

You can read all about it here.

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Florence + The Machine's "Spectrum" Video & Calvin Harris Remix

We all know Florence Welch is a bit of a drama queen, and this is no more evident than on Ceremonials track "Spectrum", which finds her wailing out "say my name" atop an insistent thumping of drums.

Adding to the over-the-topness of the song is the music video, which was co-directed by David LaChapelle and John Byrne. Here Flo shrieks and twirls in a multi-layered wig (?) with sexy ballet dancers, wears a gold disco suit and has glowing rocks shining betwixt her thighs.



Equally as delightful is the lyric video for the song, which features a remix of "Spectrum" by Calvin Harris.



Sexxxy.

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It's Scissor Sisters' "Baby Come Home" Video

I'm not the biggest Scissor Sisters fan in the world, but for the most part I've enjoyed a large part of their output over the past eight years, and have even caught them live three or four times. That said, I really liked "Only The Horses," the Calvin Harris-produced lead single off new album Magic Hour, which is out now.

I came to realize I was in the minority with my affection for the tune, however, and so now comes the band's second single off the LP, "Baby Come Home." Nothing groundbreaking here, but it'll no doubt please the fans of the Scissters' signature sound.

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Saint Etienne's New Album Out In US Today

Saint Etienne's eighth, and arguably best, album of their 21-year career, Words And Music By Saint Etienne, was released today in the US. My two-disc import copy arrived from Amazon UK in the mail.

Dare I say it, this is probably the best album of the year so far.

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Happy Birthday, Kylie Minogue!

Kylie turned 44 today. Here she is on the UK version of The Voice the other night performing new single "Timebomb". This broad was given genes from the gods.

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UK Chart Roundup: Saint Etienne Land Highest Album Debut In 14 Years

First, the UK singles: The Wanted debut at #2 with "Chasing The Sun", recorded for their self-titled  US EP, thus marking their sixth Top 10 single in the boy band's home country. Another debut that fares pretty decently (considering it was released just two days prior to the chart being published) is Kylie Minogue's "Timebomb", which enters at #31. It's her highest position on the UK chart since "Get Outta My Way" made it to #12 in 2010. Elsewhere, Kylie's pals Scissor Sisters drop from #12 to #22 with "Only The Horses."

That brings us to Saint Etienne and their new LP Words And Music By Saint Etienne, which debuts on the UK album chart at #26. That's not a spectacular position by any means, but considering the declining chart peaks of their last three offerings — Sound Of Water (2000, #33), Finisterre (2002, #55) and Tales From Turnpike House (2005, #72) — I'm sure the band will take it.

The Et's most recent album to place higher on the UK album chart was 1998's Good Humour, which reached #18.

The UK Top 10:

1. "We Are Young" - fun. feat. Janelle Monae *1 week*
2. "Chasing The Sun" - The Wanted *new*
3. "Call Me Maybe" - Carly Rae Jepsen
4. "R.I.P." - Rita Ora feat. Tinie Tempah
5. "Too Close" - Alex Clare
6. "Where Have You Been" - Rihanna
7. "Picking Up The Pieces" - Paloma Faith *new*
8. "Drive By" - Train
9. "Somebody That I Used To Know" - Gotye feat. Kimbra
10. "Young" - Tulisa

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