Natalia another thing...

Love Machine competition time: which of the following very surprising pop facts about exciting new pop star Natalia Kills have we made up?

1. Natalia used to be known as Verbalicious, who was behind the brilliant yet unfairly forgotten 'Don't Play Nice':



2. will.i.am signed her to Lady Gaga's label, and she's been reborn as some kind of Gaga/Rihanna hybrid which is quite a handy coincidence given the musical climate and all.

3. She grew up between Florida, Barcelona and Bradford.

4. She is the niece of Lighthouse Family singer Tunde Baiyewu.

5. She once had a recurring role in The Archers.

Answers in the comments please, and £1 off entry to the next Love Machine Club to the correct answer we choose.

If you want a tip, this spectacularly well-connected individual on YouTube might be able to help:



Anyway, be all that as it may, the 'take-home message' is that Natalia Kills is really very good indeed:

Exhibit A: Her track 'Zombie', which has an excellent video and contains the line "Baby all I want is an answer / when I walk past ya / why you gonna act like I'm Casper?"



Exhibit B: A song called 'Activate My Heart':

[audio:nataliakills-activatemyheart.mp3]
Natalia Kills - Activate My Heart

So there you go.

Tanks for the mammaries

This is Rihanna's video for her brilliant new single 'Hard'. It's recommended viewing for fans of nipple tape, military hardware and ludicrous shoulder pads. Which is just about everyone, right? However, we're not sure Rihanna's pink tank would be of any practical camouflage value in a combat situation, unless the theatre of war was in a bowl of blamanche.



We much prefer 'Hard' to current single 'Russian Roulette', although we must admit it's grown on us. This version on Jonathan Ross is the best we've seen:



Again with the shoulder pads, Rihanna. It looks like you've forgotten to take the hanger out.

Love Machine's Absolute Best Songs Of 2009

Here, to ease the pain of going back to work, is Love Machine's official Absolute Best Pop Songs Of 2009 playlist. We started with every single song released last year, and edited out everything that was non-brilliant so you're left with 1.7 hours of solid pop goodness. Here it is, in handy Spotify form:

Click this bloody link

SPOILER ALERT!!

Something you will find on the list:



Something you won't find on the list: