OK, as you may have guessed from my previous blogs, I am completely obsessed by music [not to mention my little i-pod], therefore, I wanted to write some random thoughts regarding a few female singers I have been listening to lately.

DANNII MINOGUE .. Although viewed by many as only "Kylie's little sister," or even worse, "if we can't get Kylie, ....," I really like Dannii. I found that her music is far more unusual that what you usually hear. Kylie is fine, but for myself, after 2 or 3 songs they just sound alike. And Kylie's voice is always in that high pitch. But about Dannii .. she did the musical, Notre Dame, in the mid 90's when here her career was at a low point. However, in the past few years she has really worked with some great producers and come out with songs such as I BEGIN TO WONDER, PUT THE NEEDLE ON IT, WHO DO YOU LOVE, and my favorite, SO UNDER PRESSURE! I hope that Danni continues to follow her own vision and work with unknown producers .. not try to follow the pop trail of big sis.

CHRISTINA AGUILERA .. Even though I do get tired of her showing off the pipes [I bet all of her Mickey Mouse chums came up and said, "yes, we know you can sing bitch!"], I like the artistic growth that Miss Aguilera is showing these days. AIN'T NO OTHER MAN, HURT, and now CANDYMAN, are different but still exhibit a style and vision. More importantly, I feel that this style and vision is hers, not pre-packaged. I was impressed by that fact that she "interviewed" potential producers by sending them 2 tapes of the type of music she wanted to incorporate into her album. These songs ranged from blues, to dance, to rap, and to ballads. Each potential producer was asked to create a vision based on her selection of songs. I used to think that Britney would be the one to create the vision for new music, but now it seems like Christina might be a heir for .....

MADONNA, MADONNA, MADONNA .. Earlier this week, I commented on www.Arjanwrites.com about Madonna working with Timbaland and Justin Timberlake. Many of the other comments were negative about the collaboration. To be honest, if Timbaland can give Madonna a track like SEXYBACK, all the more power to him.

In many ways, Madonna has led me to a lot of the music I listen to today. Although MISS ROSS is responsible for exposing me to show tunes, standards, 60's soul and pop, and disco; Madonna's music and interviews led me to dj's [Junior Vasquez, Chris Cox, Tracy Young], European dance / disco [Goldfrapp, Bjork, Erasure] and producers [Steve Bray, William Orbit, Mirwais Ahmadzai].

I believe that the greatest aspect about Madonna's work is that is always has a vision. If she's into cowboy ghetto [MUSIC video], she goes all the way. The same for Disco circa 1978 [HUNG UP]. Vision. So many "pop stars" do not seem to have this. Maybe since Madonna was never packaged is why she is so successful.

Now speaking about packaged puke .. in Best Buy today [yes, I was looking at music], I came across a truly sad sight. A cd entitled, "A TRIBUTE TO ASHLEE SIMPSON." !!!!!!!!! Ashlee Simpson ?? She has had two cd's and we are still not sure if that was really her singing. I mean, who was so desperate for buck that they made a tribute album for this Avril Lavigne knock off? As a musician, wouldn't you be incredibly embarassed to say, "yeah, I played the drums on the Ashless Simpson tribute album!"

"ON MONDAY I AM WAITING, AND ON TUESDAY I AM FADING ........"

All That And A Glass Of Chocolate Milk.