This week iTunes sold its 10 billionth track, and to celebrate the occasion the lucky downloader has been credited with a $10,000 iTunes gift card. The winner’s details have not been disclosed, whoever they are though they are sure to have a much larger music collection before long.

Apple will no doubt be impressed to have reached the 10 billion milestone, and Steve Jobs will perhaps now be planning what to do when the 100 billionth track is ultimately downloaded at some stage in the future.

Due to sexually explicit scenes taking place in a graveyard and others displaying acts of sadism, Mudvayne’s video for the ‘Beautiful and Strange’ single has been deemed too extreme to be shown in most places, and can in fact only be found at VampireFreaks.com.

The networks aren’t willing to touch it, with VampireFreaks it had found its home though and can currently be viewed on the website. The video is intended for mature audiences only.

New Found Glory drummer Cyrus Bolooki hits his 30th birthday today. Lead vocalist Jordan Pundik hit the big three-zero back in October, and it’s hard to believe that it’s now been over a decade since the release of the band’s debut album ‘Nothing Gold Can Stay’.

Here’s to hoping that Cyrus Bolooki has a very happy 30th birthday, and Alt-UK wishes him all the best for 2010 and beyond.

As a writer and producer Ryan Tedder has had great success, and even if you don’t know him by name there’s a very strong possibility that you’ve heard his work at some point or another (Leona Lewis’s hugely popular ‘Bleeding Love’ and Beyonce Knowles’ ‘Halo’ are two shining examples of tracks co-written by Tedder). In 2007 the band that Ryan Tedder has fronted since 2002 rose to fame when hip hop rapper/producer Timbaland remixed the single ‘Apologize’ and included it on his 2007 ‘Shock Value’ album; OneRepublic instantly became a household name and ‘Apologize’ was a massive hit all around the world. Following up with ‘Stop and Stare’ OneRepublic was once again able to show great strength as a band, with each additional release the band seemed to lose further popularity however, with singles ‘Say (All I Need)’ and ‘Mercy’ both failing to enter either the US Billboard Hot 100 or the Official UK Top 40. With fifth single ‘Come Home’ on which the band collaborated Sara Bareilles a return to the Billboard Hot 100 was finally in store, and a second album has now followed with the release of ‘Waking Up’ in November 2009.

‘All the Right Moves’ is the first single taken from the ‘Waking Up’ album and was released in the UK in January 2010. Featuring a fantastically catchy chorus, ‘All the Right Moves’ is an absolutely exceptional first single for OneRepublic to have released from the ‘Waking Up’ album, and with this track OneRepublic has once again shown fantastic strength and ability as a band. Ryan Tedder’s vocal lines are as sweetly sung out as ever, and combined with this there is also an absolutely phenomenal guitar sound that can here be heard. ‘All the Right Moves’ is no ‘Apologize’, and the chances are that OneRepublic never will release anything as good as that again, ‘All the Right Moves’ is certainly still a song that begs to be listened to however and once you’ve listened to the track once you’ll no doubt have the song stuck in your head for a long time to come.

‘All the Right Moves’ is undoubtedly repetitive, its simplistic composition and lyrical structure really does work well though, and despite being somewhat limited the track never seems to become tiresome. Ryan Tedder is a supremely talented singer and songwriter, and ‘All the Right Moves’ is a single that showcases this fantastically well; ‘All the Right Moves’ may not be OneRepublic’s best work, it’s still a very solid piece of music though and a track that truly is well worth listening to.

Label: Interscope
Release Date: January 11th 2010

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In celebration of 30 years of the BRIT Awards a 3CD compilation has this year been released, with the first two discs focusing on popular music from the last year whilst the third disc concentrates on some of the biggest BRIT hits from the past 30.

The first disc is quite pure pop focused, with artists such a Cheryl Cole, Robbie Williams, and Mika featuring here, the second disc meanwhile has more of a dance and rock edge about it with Dizzee Rascal, Calvin Harris, Biffy Clyro, U2, and Kasabian all included. Dependent upon your specific tastes in music you’ll probably have a favourite of these two discs; both CDs have their moments though, with both coming complete with some definite stand outs.

There’s a great deal of variety displayed on the BRIT Awards 2010 compilation, what has to be noted however is that some of these artists are not in line to win a BRIT Award this year and yet have been included on the CD, several others meanwhile are up for awards and have failed to make the cut. Whitney Houston and Jason Mraz are two prime examples of artists included on the album that have not been nominated for any Brit Awards; artists such as Eminem, Leona Lewis, and Bat for Lashes meanwhile are not included on the compilation even though they did receive BRIT Award nominations. The song selections don’t always make sense, despite this though it is still a decent compilation which does feature some of the most popular music to have been released in the last year (BRIT Award nominees or not).

Having been treated to some of the most popular tracks of 2009/early 2010 on the first two discs, this BRIT Awards compilation definitely provides a treat with the third disc as such tracks as Take That’s ‘Patience’, Oasis’ ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’, and Prince’s ‘Purple Rain’ are showcased. The CD actually kicks off with three lives tracks; Queen and 5ive’s ‘We Will Rock You’ from 2000, Seal and Adamski’s ‘Killer’ from 1991, and the Bee Gees ‘Medley’ from 1997. It’s straight after these three live classics that we’re boomed into Take That’s ‘Patience’, and from there we move on to Duffy’s ‘Warwick Avenue’ and Amy Winehouse’s ‘Rehab’; definitely a cracking way to kick off the CD, and we certainly finish on a high with the third and final disc of the compilation.

All in all there are 60 tracks on the BRIT Awards 2010 compilation (20 on each of the three discs), and regardless of your taste in music you’re sure to find something here that impresses. It’s unlikely that you’ll enjoy all 60, with so much to choose from there’s definitely much to keep you entertained though, and even if you don’t like a few tracks here then that still leaves you with plenty of others to listen to. The inclusion of a third disc this year makes the BRIT Awards annual compilation better value than ever in 2010, and if you’re looking to get your hands on a quality compilation then the BRIT Awards 2010 compilation is most definitely one that’s worth looking into.

Label: Rhino UK
Release Date: February 8th 2010

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