A reminder that Madonna has made some rather alright music

Here's the promo for Madonna's new greatest hits. There are some very good songs on it. 36 of them, in fact.


Out Sept 28 on Warner

Songs remind Annie of you

Apparently the Annie album thing is ACTUALLY going to happen. 'Songs Remind Me Of You' which is a single in that it is an individual song available for purchase, but not really a single in that it has no promotion or radio play and nobody realized it existed, showed up on UK iTunes this week and is properly wicked. Hopefully this whole 'Don't Stop' album thing will go better for her than....well the rest of her career, essentially...a quick perusal of her wikipedia indicates that her last charting single made a spectacular number 82. In Spain.




'Songs Remind Me Of You' is out now through iTunes, and the album is out October 19, both on Smalltown Records.

Zarif says it's OVER with a dance beat and a very very good song

We've been hearing about Zarif for a while now, and she apparently released a single 'Over' on August 10th although you'll be hard pressed to find it (it's not on iTunes). Her biography on her website uses fun words like 'coalesce' and 'rubric' so we know she is an intellectual, and says things like 'Zarif was listening not just to the pop hits of Michael and Madonna, but working her way through Stevie Wonder and Prince albums, sneaking in to indie and rock clubs in Camden Town and Soho,' so we know she has diversity. Zarif is an up-and-coming 'soul star,' although this frankly epic remix would have you believe she is the next dancefloor diva, and that's diversity we can certainly get on board with. Here's her new single 'Over.' Apparently there's an official video of it knocking around somewhere but we can't find it on the interwebs and we like this version better anyway.



The single is out either now or soon (good job, promo department) on Sony or RCA or something.

Raveonettes commit Suicide

The Danish group Raveonettes are another one of those 'hotly tipped' bands for the upcoming year that may or may not make good on their promise of chart-domination and general amazingness. If this new track, 'Suicide' is anything to go by, they probably will. We'd love to give you a better recording, but the whole 'muffled feedback' thing just reinforces the excitement of listening to a brand new track that despite the crap recording is clearly absolutely brilliant.

Kylie follows her Instinct

Two months ahead of her first U.S. tour, Kylie has given an interview (a 'gay press exclusive,' whatever that means) to Instinct Magazine, and uses the opportunity to make herself over as a day-glo diva. She looks fantastic and sounds like she's genuinely excited to be playing the States: "I’m so excited, it’s ridiculous. There is still a certain amount of disbelief because it’s really happening." Well that makes both of us then, doesn't it. ScopiSat has been lucky enough to catch the pop princess on her last few tours over in England. Even though the U.S. venues are tiny in comparison to the stadiums she usually plays and the downsizing is Kylie's "one stumbling block" with this go-round, the gigs are sure to be spectacular. A (very) few tickets are still available for most of the shows, so ScopiSat hopes to see you all there! Read more of the article here.

iTunes controls 25% of U.S. music sales

Apple now controls a full quarter of all music sales in the U.S., a report has revealed. The iTunes store is the driving force behind a dramatic increase in digital music sales - this year 35% of music sold in the U.S. was digital, up from 20% just 2 years ago. The full article mentions that in the U.K. only 8% of albums are sold in digital form. This is a bit misleading. While CD's might be the preferred format for full albums, single-song digital sales are quite strong. The article also notes a rumored Apple announcement to accompany the digital release of the Beatles' catalog, an event that many analysts predict will be one of the biggest boons yet for digital music sales. Stay tuned!

Warcraft-pop! The Guild want you to date their avatar

The Guild is a comedy web-show about online gaming whose characters have made a song. The video they have made for it is without a doubt the funniest and most accomplished thing you will see about gaming addiction all week. The song is fantastic in that way that it is nothing special musically but contains lyrical gems like 'grab your mouse and stroke the keys; in cyberspace there's no disease.' Amazing.




The video and mp3 are out on iTunes and Amazon US right now.

Kelly Clarkson duets with Robert Pattinson

Yes, you read that right - Kelly Clarkson sang with Robert Pattinson....'s cutout at the Illinois State Fair the other night. Some fan slapped a Kelly slogan on an Edward Cullen (from Twilight) cardboard standee, and Ms. Clarkson brought it up on stage to serenade it with her jam 'I Want You.' Check out the video - it's all very screamy and has lots of feedback, but if you turn the sound down and fast forward to 1:30 you'll catch the moment when Kelly met Edward. What do you think, readers? Is it true love?