I'm too hot and bothered to bother with the tags. Sorry. It's no great loss, I'm sure.

Christina Aguilera - Ain't No Other Man
I actually quite like this. Not a lot, but I’ve got to admit Christina’s had just as many good pop songs as she’s had dodgy hairstyles. Almost. She’s had quite a few dodgy hairstyles. (A certain member of our household unimaginatively calls her ‘Christina Uglyhaira’. Make of that what you will.)

Feeder – Save Us
It might just be me, but if you ignore the lyrics (obviously) the verse of this sounds suspiciously like a Snow…

I have an awful feeling this post is just going to be one long moan. It’s a week of slightly disappointing follow-up singles (after ace previous ones), noticeably from Gnarls Barkley, The Flaming Lips and Franz Ferdinand. They’re not necessarily awful singles, but…I don’t know. I can’t get excited about them, at all. :(

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love Franz Ferdinand. They’re still (to my knowledge) in my last.fm top 10, I love both their albums (the second more than the first, actually) but this time round I can’t help thinking they’ve released the wrong singles.…

The only single I’ve acutally bought this week is the debut effort from James Dean Bradfield lead singer of my favourite band of all time (and my most-played on last.fm) Manic Street Preachers. Whilst not being totally blown away by the single itself, I bought it out of a sort of Manics fan loyalty. I was rewarded because I just ADORE the b-sides. These b-sides are 'Kodachrome Ghosts' and 'I Never Wanted Sunshine' and feature the kind of classic JDB melody and guitar part I love (as opposed to the single where it seems he's trying to deliberately be…

1. Manic Street Preachers
First track heard: Probably 'A Design For Life' because it was everywhere at the time, but I was a bit too young to know who the Manics were in the mid-90s, but I recognised heaps of their songs when I did come to get into them.
Track that made me get into the band: 'You Stole The Sun From My Heart'
Favourite track (all-time): I'll be cliched and go for 'Faster'
Favourite track (atm): 'Solitude Sometimes Is'

2. Radiohead
First track heard: Airbag, from the first time I pinched my Dad's copy of OK Computer.
Track…

I went to see The Pipettes (now official top 30 hitmakers) at The Underground in Stoke-on-Trent on Friday night. Were you there? I know one person who I've since friended was - hello Sarah!

(It's so bizarre how everything seems to link up thanks to the world of myspace and last.fm and you spot people you vaguely know from their internet usernames. Of course, then you get paranoid about who might be recognising you… ;P)

The gig itself was fantastic and I concur with what Miss Sarah said - the support bands were both good, although they probably went on…

Today I actually went and met the girls, as they did an HMV instore appearance in Leicester, where I sometimes go for a bit of a shop.

They were astonishingly late on (if you're the girl from Ashby and reading this - did you get your bus?) but looked (aside from poor Gwenno getting a ladder in her tights) and sounded astounding. They really are incredibly pretty in the flesh and sing far better live than some people have made them out to do.

The whole thing was oddly formal and awkward, actually, mainly because the lights were on everyone…

Now, just to complete my trio of three great singles from my three great emerging acts of 2006, this week sees the release of the beyond fantastic single from The Pipettes.

'Pull Shapes' is their third (I think) on Memphis Industries and could possibly be their best (although I'm still a sucker for 'Dirty Mind') and if their sales stay on track, it seems these girlies could be in line for their first top 20 hit! Eat that, JK and Joel, who missed The Pips from their 'potential new hits next week' list on their chart show.

I'm seeing…

This week, for me, it’s all about Guillemots. In fact, this entire year is all about Guillemots, mainly because (alongside my other sort-of-new-for-2006 favourites The Pipettes and The Young Knives) they’re one of the hottest bands around, producing music very little like anybody else. In fact, I struggle to compare them to anyone in particular. Radiohead's sonic-experimentation and Rufus Wainwright's poppish grandiosity, maybe? Still, they don't even come close.

'Made Up Lovesong #43' is their third single I’ve been aware of (and I don’t think there are any more, are there?) following the incredible ‘We’re…

Somehow I've managed to scrobble 10000 tracks on this thing. I'm not sure how (considering I'm sure I was only at 9920 ish the other day and I haven't been online much) and it might be the track counts malfunctioning (because they have been doing that lately) but if it is true - yay! I'm such an addict.

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Anyway, onto my weekly singles thing. I find it cathartic, somehow.

The Young Knives - She's Attracted To
My single of the week, for several reasons:
1) Nobody around at the moment does music quite like this.
2) The boys have…

There's nothing out this week that particularly excites me, singles-wise. To be honest I've not heard much of it, but I do quite like 'Scratch Your Name' by The Noisettes. Like, not love. All the singles I love appear to be showing themselves next week. Pre-ordering time, I think!

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Meanwhile, on the albums front, the new ones from The Feeling and Keane arrived through my letterbox this morning. I've listened through the former, and it's all good stuff, although I'm sure a large percentage of it could grow on me more, just as both of the band's…