Pop-o-Rama: Issue #7

Another Week, Another Rockin’ Newsletter…

Lucky number 7! That must mean we have a great newsletter prepared for you today (or whenever you read it, there’s no pressure). Although, we’ll keep trotting out our recommendations if you have any for us or your fellow PoP writers drop them in the comments.

Okay, that’s enough, let’s dig in…

Curation Corner —

• Put On Your Boogie Shows — Disco Is Back, Baby! by Jeffrey Harvey
• My Ten Favourite Songs in a Language I Don’t Speak by Francis B.
• I’m Fascinated By Netflix’s Indian Matchmaking by Alex Rosado

Give them some reads, claps, and comments to continue supporting the community!

Recommendation Station —

Music: Look What The Cat Dragged In by Poison (album), Rebel Yell by Billy Idol (album), The Producers by The Producers (album), Fader by Temper Trap (song), The Funeral by Band of Horses (song)

TV: She-Hulk, Corporate, Glow Up

Movies: The Holiday, The Man With Two Brains, Shirkers, Happy As Lazzaro

Pierce’s Album of the Week: Life in Cartoon Motion by Mika —

I specifically remember the first time I heard MIKA’s song “Grace Kelly.” It was shortly after it was released as a single and I was sitting at my desk at my workplace when I heard it come on the radio. I was instantly blown away by how unique and entertaining it was. On the strength of how great I thought the song was, I told myself to check out more music by MIKA as soon as possible.

Flash forward 15 years from then to now in 2022…and I’ve finally listened to the album that “Grace Kelly” appeared on: Life in Cartoon Motion, which was MIKA’s debut album. I was inspired to finally do so after reading multiple articles by my friends and fellow writers Charlie Cole and Amber Walters, in which each of them raved about how much they love MIKA’s music.

After listening to Life in Cartoon Motion, I can see why they’ve been raving so much about MIKA. I’m also now kicking myself for waiting over 15 years to listen to this album because I think it’s fantastic.

The album kicks off with “Grace Kelly,” which I love now as much as I did when I first heard it in 2007. Then comes the very fun and uplifting song “Lollipop,” which I loved right from the first time I heard it. Next is “My Interpretation,” which I also loved immediately.

And it pretty much kept going like that. Song after song, I was incredibly impressed! In fact, of the 13 songs on the album, there’s not a single one that I dislike, or feel a desire to skip over while listening to the album.

My current favorites on it are “Relax, Take It Easy,” “Ring Ring,” and “Billy Brown,” but those are subject to change. I’m sure they will as I listen to the album more and more.

The only minor “complaint” I have about the album is that there’s a song called “Happy Ending” on the album, but it’s not actually the final song on the album. Come on, if you’re going to a song featuring the word “ending” in its title, it should be the ending song on the album. But, as I said, that’s a very minor complaint.

All in all, I love the Life in Cartoon Motion album. Out of 5 possible stars, I give it…drumroll, please…4 stars!

Tidbits —

Oh, what are they going to remind us of today? As you’ve predicted we’ve got just a few things to keep in mind!

Starting September 1st we are no longer going to be accepting new writers. This DOES NOT count for people who are submitting one-off pieces as part of a challenge or contest, however. Aside from that though, the door will be closed for a little bit. There will be an article coming soon detailing this further.

Also, just a general suggestion to please read over your work before you submit them. Yes, Grammarly is not the best in the world, but throwing it in there (or an equivalent) for a cursory look doesn’t hurt and helps your lovely contributions be a bit more polished and can get them published quicker. Thank you!

Oh, #7 proved to be chock-full, indeed! Let’s hope #8 can keep up next week. Pop-o-Rama will see you then and in the meantime…

Be kind and rock on 🤘