Mondays are great in England because you can pop to your local HMV (though tesco is often cheaper) and pick up the latest "releases" by your favourite popstrels. Here is what made it into my shopping "cart" this very day...

Like I wasn't going to buy The Puppini Sisters cd... if you don't know about these 40s styled swinging vixens yet, then (if you are in England) you must have been living under a rock, because the media onslaught is second only to when Il Divo launched... Having said that it was quite hard to find in HMV so maybe it won't be the huge hit I want it to be. Well anyway you will either love their unique "tributes" to pop classics or despise them. The verdict is yours...

MP3: Heart of Glass (blondie cover)
MP3: Panic (Smiths cover)

Inside the puppini sisters cd comes a lovely little advert for Matt Dusk who is yet another harry connick jr/jamie cullum/etc wannabe, but he looks pleasant enough so check out his website...

Next is James Morrison who I blogged a little about here and here... his album Undiscovered brings no major surprises and I give Paolo Nutini the edge still, but its nice enough and i can see me trilling along to it for the rest of the summer...

MP3: Wonderful World

Finally is an album called The Bright Lights And What I Should Have Learned by Leeds based 5 piece Duels. I picked it up on a bit of a whim and I'm glad I did because I actually quite like it... They sound quite tight vocally and musically and are certainly tapping intoa trend of distinctly british sounding pop acts (kooks/hard-fi etc) They mix harmonious guitar riffs and clever piano sequences with clear crisp impressive vocals and it makes for an exciting first listen.

MP3: Brothers and Sisters