2009 has been a productive year for Pet Shop Boys who won the award for Outstanding Contribution To Music at this year’s BRITs and celebrated their highest UK and USA album chart positions for 15 years. A hugely successful world tour is still in progress.

We asked some big names in Australian media to let us know their favourite Pet Shop Boys tracks and why:

• Mark Poston (Chairman, EMI Australasia)
• Bernard Zuel (Sydney Morning Herald)
• Fuzzy (Video Hits)
• Will Larnach-Jones (manager of The Presets / Angie Hart)
• DJ Seymour Butz
• Grant Gillies (Network Ten National Marketing Mgr)
• Marc Andrews (MEDIAWEEK/DNA)
• Antonino Tati (Editor, Cream Magazine)
• Andy Purcell (Publicity Officer, EMI Music Australia)

December 11 see’s the release of a brand new Pet Shop Boys EP titled Christmas. It’s a five track digital EP featuring:

1. It Doesn’t Often Snow At Christmas (new version) – originally an exclusive Christmas single issued to members of the Pet Shop Boys fan club in 1997. Produced by Marius de Vries and Pet Shop Boys, this version is based on the original version and has orchestral and choir arrangements by Matt Robertson and Marius de Vries. 2. My Girl – Pet Shop Boys’ arrangement of the Madness classic, My Girl, was originally performed with Suggs and Carl of Madness at last year’s charity benefit, Can You Bear It?, for the family of Chris and Neil’s former assistant and close friend, Dainton Connell, who was tragically killed in a car accident.

3. All Over The World (new version) – A new version of the track which appears on Pet Shop Boys’ latest album, Yes. 4. Viva La Vida/Domino Dancing – A medley of Coldplay’s Viva La Vida and Pet Shop Boys classic Domino Dancing which the duo has been performing on their current world tour. This studio version is produced by Stuart Price. Check out the official Coldplay website where they’ve posted a live PSB clip. 5. My Girl (our house mix)

Pet Shop Boys Christmas EP by theinsound

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Riding off the back of the biggest ARIA Awards since Ben Hur (please don’t mention that ARIAs didn’t necessarily operate during the time of Christ), it’s difficult to let the party die down. After all, it’s only 3 weeks til Christmas!

So indeed the good times continue with the news that we (that’s EMI worldwide, not my band) have FIFTY SIX Grammy Award nominations in the whopping one hundred and nine categories – far too many to list, but here are our EMI highlights!

Multiple nominees include our favourite shaggy-haired, bikini-babe-surrounded Frenchman David Guetta (who also produced The Black Eyed Peas’ Grammy nominated album and record of the year), Coldplay, Depeche Mode, Keith Urban and American Classic legend Willie Nelson.

Katy Perry announced the Best Rock Album nominees and discussed the Black Eyed Peas nominations – watch the videos.

And yes, the reason why the Grammy artwork is so cool this year is no other than Shepard Fairey – the man behind THAT Obama / Hope and Obey / Giant artwork – is responsible. OBEY (great music)

Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
	Hot N Cold – Katy Perry
Best Dance Recording
	When Love Takes Over – David Guetta & Kelly Rowland
Best Electronic/Dance Album
	One Love – David Guetta
	Yes – Pet Shop Boys Read the rest of this entry »

Keep following these arrows and you’d end up on a stage with the Pet Shop Boys in Stockholm. Not too bad a fate, unless you dislike Moog Voyagers and/or joi de vivre…

Electronic / dance / sharp dressing legends Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe are so on the ball with their phenomenal Pandemonium Tour updates, we even know what their IKEA dressing room chairs look like!

But of course it’s about the music not furniture, so here’s the new single from the PSB, Did You See Me Coming? from their tenth album Yes.

And here is the PSB Possibly More Mix.  8+ minutes of icy cool PSB.

The Pandemonium tour is an absolute spectacle… directed by Es Devlin, choreographed  by Lynne Paige and live music produced by Stuart Price.

As for Australia, did you see a PSB tour coming? I’m staying mum.

The Pet Shop Boys have posted their own clip for the single ‘Did You See Me Coming?’ Twenty-five years after ‘West End Girls’, they are still the masters of cool detachment.

For reference:

The Pet Shop Boys are about to release a new album, simply titled Yes. In fact, looking back at their extensive discography (and their first greatest hits Discography is a magical, must-have collection), the boys love the one word title: Very, Actually, Please, Fundamental, to name a few.
There’s been a bit of nostalgia, or an awakening if you will, to just how influential and downright brilliant the duo’s career has been nearly thirty years in. Especially as the new guard of the electro-dance-art-pop-hyphenated genre continues to capture the imagination of cool kids everywhere. This video medley revisits the hits just as PSB was honoured for Outstanding Contribution at the Brit Awards. Indulge in the medley right below as well as ‘Love, etc’, the new single co-produced with hitmakers Xenomania (Girls Aloud, Sugababes).

Pet Shop Boys – official site
Pet Shop Boys – wikipedia