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January is always a notoriously quiet month for new music releases, although now we’re well into February we can start to look forward to some decent music!

And there are some fab releases to look forward to in the not too distant future.

A great place to find out about loads of new and upcoming releases is Radio 1, who’s playlist is always bang up to date.

So whatever your musical tastes, you’ll be able to update your iPod, phone or mp3 player with some great new tunes this spring.

p.s. anyone who has, or is thinking of downloading the new Jedward single should hang their head in absolute shame!

There’s nothing like getting ready for a night out with the girls on a Saturday night. Glass of wine in one hand and the iPod turned to full volume is the best way of getting ready to party in style.

When I’m getting ready I love listening to dance tracks- there’s nothing like listening to slow and depressing songs to put you on a proper downer for the night.

Ministry of Sound’s Running Trax is a wicked 3 CD album full of classic dance anthems that you’re likely to hear on a night on the tiles.

Funky House Classics is another album that will bring back memories of drunken nights on the town.

So turn up those tunes and get ready to dance round your handbag!!

If there’s one song that you need to download this year, it’s the Haiti earthquake appeal song, ‘Everybody Hurts’.

Masterminded by Simon Cowell, the song is available to download now, and all proceeds of course go to the victims of the terrible disaster.

Sat at our computers in our warm homes, it’s all too easy to forget what’s happening on the other side of the world.

The single features a host of chart toppers, including Leona Lewis, Akon, Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger, Susan Boyle, Cheryl Cole, Rod Stewart and Kylie Minogue.

Do your bit for charity and download this fantastic song now. But be warned- the video is a true tear jerker.

I have loved Alicia Keys ever since her debut single ‘Fallin’, and her 2001 album ‘Songs in A Minor’ was on repeat in my room for months on end. Having to wait 8 years for another album was a test, but well worth the wait.

The Element of Freedom has been on repeat on my mp3 player for weeks now, and I’m still not getting bored of it. There’s no doubt that this album rivals her debut offering, and the tracks are simply amazing.

I’ve heard many people banging on about stand out track ‘This Bed’, and it’s not hard to see why.

This is Alicia back to her best, and she definitely gives Beyonce and Rihanna more than a run for their money when it comes to the title of rnb queen!

When it comes to music, I like to think that I have quite an open mind, and don’t tend to limit myself to one genre. Whether it’s dance, rnb or even a touch of indie, anything with a catchy beat that I can sing along to in the car on the way to work is fine by me.

However, I have now realised that I do have musical boundaries, and that there is some utter shite out there that would make even the most broad minded person want to slit their wrists- step forward the insufferable Jedward.

Their debut song (and I use that term very lightly), Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby), is quite simply the biggest load of dross that I’ve heard since Bob the Builder, and the fact that it’s already at no2 on iTunes downloads makes me think that there are a lot of people out there with some serious issues!!

I have noticed that you will gravitate to a certain type of music depending on your lifestyle and the people you surround yourself with, and this is something you don’t really notice. I have noticed that recently since I have decided to go out more and have fun with my friends, I find myself humming dance tunes and breaking into Beyonce and Shakira dance moves spontaneously! I used to be into rock and indie tunes and only listen to XFM if I had to listen to the radio and not my ipod which was packed full of cool music, however over the past few months I have become a fan of Galaxy and Radio 1. Honestly, if my 18 months ago self could see me now..

Back in September 2009 I received my usual weekly e-mails from all the concert/gig websites informing me that Muse were doing a tour in 2010 and were going to be playing Lancashire County Cricket Club in Manchester. I couldn’t wait to see them again, then that I noticed the date – September 2010!! I was booking tickets for a concert nearly 12 months in advance – I’m the type of person who doesn’t know what they’re doing at the weekend on Friday, let alone where I’ll be and what I’ll be doing in 12 months time!

This seems to be a growing trend as Peter Kay (ok, I know he’s not music) released tickets for his 2011 tour in 2009. Gone are the days of queuing up in the rain on the day of concert for tickets – now you have to be poised over a computer 2 years in advance!

So I have been quite behind the times and only just got an iPod. I know I’m traditional and should’ve got with it years ago however my mp3 player that could only hold about 150 songs had served me well and being sentimental I have held onto it. My new iPod has 80g of memory and I don’t know what to do with it! So I’ve been putting my CD’s onto my iTunes and have spent hours and hours adding the names of the songs and albums and artists and genres, you name it, I’ve done it! I haven’t got a wireless computer and so settled myself into my bed with my laptop and stormed through the CD’s. It was only after an entire weekend of going almost blind from doing so that I plugged my laptop into the internet and realised that if you are on the internet and you put a CD into your iTunes it automatically pulls the info and fills in the boxes for you. I could not have been more furious!

No matter how many songs there are out there in the world, you always end up hearing the same 6 or 7 songs on the radio over and over again. We did a test a few weeks ago and were listening to a certain radio station for about a week. Myself and a friend made our bets about what songs we should hear in the space of an hour on the decided radio station. I guessed at the prodigy, muse, bloc party, kasabian, temper trap, greenday, paramore and stone roses. Every single one of the current singles by these artists were played. Radio time is a very effective proven method of selling your records. I find that currently I always have Iyaz replay in my head even though this is so far from my usual music taste. It’s as if I’ve been programmed to like it. I even know all the words. The power of music eh?!

I have recently had a clear out of my house and come across a box of MINI DISKS! I had totally forgotten about them and seriously for the past 8 years or so I have never even considered their existence. It was amazing to think that they were popular for about five minutes when I was a teenager. I found a compilation and put it into my old mini-disk player (which still worked even though it’s Sellotaped together!!) and had a listen to the tunes an old boyfriend had put onto it for me. Talk about a blast from the past. I would recommend it to anyone to dig out any old compilation CD’s or even tapes and get them played. Music can evoke such memories and I have since ordered several albums including Nirvana’s ‘smells like teen spirit’, Counting Crows’ ‘August and Everything After’ and Greenday’s ‘Dookie’!