Ms. BS is back and bringing the heat. From top to bottom this record bangs out the best material of her career. In a world where pop music is, for the most part, contrived and auto-tuned to perfection – Britney proves she’s at her best when using her minimal talents in this formula. Give the chick a break. After her pathetic VMA performance she needed to come out of the gate swinging – and swinging is just what she did. Now don’t hear what I’m not saying – this is not a life changer – it is simply a well produced “feel good, windows down , ready for the clubs” record. If truth be told – this album is Britney’s answer to Timberlake’s “FutureSex/LoveSound”. Another soul influenced romp through the club. Forget that, producer of the moment Timbaland is not behind the knobs – his protégé Nate “Danja” Hills has cloned many of the same techniques with mixed results. Shiners include the vocoder enhanced “Piece of Me”, Mya sound-a-like “Radar” & white girl tries soul “Break the Ice”.

Now on to true artistry:

Neverending White Lights burst onto the scene in 2005 with their international debut “Act 1: Goodbye Friends of the Heavenly Bodies”. This one-man (Daniel Victor) band took the Canadian music scene by storm with the hit single, “The Grace”. This week he returns with his highly anticipated second offering, “Act II: The Blood And The Life Eternal”. Once again the record is chalked full of guest vocalist and does NOT disappoint. Now I’m not just saying this because I had the pleasure of being a part of this brilliant record – this is GREAT music. Must downloads include: “The World is Darker”, “My Life without Me”, “Where We Are”, “Miss World”, “Bleeds To An End”… ah, who am I kidding – the whole damn thing is worth your hard earned currency. Daniel has outdone himself. This collection of near perfection rides the lines of everything rock, electronic and 80’s influenced pop – bringing you easily one of the year’s best albums. Check it out on iTunes October 30th.