The pride is not over yet!

Today I picked up from my local Tower Records store some CDs that end the gay pride weekend with a bang.

The Pet Shop Boys (I think the only song that may be known to anyone here state side is "West End Girls") finally release a new CD here, and it's a doozy! Fundamental has them returning to synthy, dance goodness, and you can't stop a good dance song! If you do decide to get it, spend the extra five bucks or so to get the limited edition version that comes with a bonus CD of remixes, called Fundamentalism.


And speaking of dance goodness is Kylie Minogue's underrated younger sister, Dannii Minogue, with an (import only) best of CD, The Hits & Beyond. Like her older and shorter sibling, she comes up with a collection of great dance songs, from the sugary and sublime early 90's era songs like "Baby Love" and "$ucce$$", to her excellent pulsating, "touch of trance" newer songs like "Put the Needle on It" and "So Under Pressure". It also includes five brand new songs, the best of which is "I Can't Sleep at Night" (which is like my theme song right now, because it is too hot to sleep).

My current favorite track by Dannii is "You Won't Forget About Me", with it's jangly guitar line, insistent beat, and a song that doesn't have really stupid lyrics (like most dance songs do). The only caveat is that the song sounds like a "harder" version of her sister Kylie's song, "Please Stay", which also uses a thumping beat over guitar. Even their vocal deliveries sound eerily similar, like Dannii's songs are cast offs from Kylie. Now that I think about it, if I wasn't paying attention, I might have thought that this song was a remix of "Please Stay"! The video is also very cool, with fast forward and reverse effects, and stop motion camera pans (a la the Matrix).

And again, if you have an extra five bucks to spare, try to find the limited edition version of the album. It comes with a bonus DVD featuring all 16 of Dannii's music videos. (Note though, that since this is an import release, that it may be in Pal format, and you'll need a DVD player that can play this format.)

So if any of you bois (and grrls) are sad that the pride week dancefloor celebrations are closed, pick up these two CDs and keep on dancing.

(p.s., Don't forget that Season 2 of Project Runway comes out today. And since you're spending the money, pick up Amy Sedaris' hilarious Comedy Central show Strangers With Candy, out now as a specially packaged six disc DVD set collecting all three seasons.)