This week's Official UK Singles Chart

This week's Official UK Albums Chart

Amazing how these things can be habit forming. Another week another brand new Number One single as the seemingly endless parade of one week wonders extends into a third month. Recipient of the honours this week is Taio Cruz who charges straight to Number One with new single Dynamite. Technically the track is another taken from his current album Rokstarr although you will search for it in vain on both the original issue of the platter from last summer and its "special edition" which was re-released a few months ago. Dynamite is one of a handful of completely new tracks which were added to what has become known as the "international version" of Rokstarr, substituting some of the more idiosyncratically British tracks for some with a more transatlantic feel. Effectively then Dynamite is a brand new track as far as Taio Cruz fans in this country are concerned making its instant propulsion to the top of the charts - his second Number One single - less of a surprise than it might at first seem.

As for the week by week turnover at Number One, well this is where it gets entertaining. If one counts back to Katy Perry's final week at Number One with California Gurls all those weeks ago, this marks the ninth straight chart in which there has been a different track at the top. This is the longest continuous run of Number One hits since, well, last summer in fact - a run which back then was spookily only broken by none other than Taio Cruz who sneaked a second week at the top with Break Your Heart. I'd be tempted to suggest there is a chance of history repeating itself, but for the fact that both Olly Murs and Katy Perry represent the strongest competition imaginable.

Second place sympathies can theoretically go to last weeks chart-toppers Roll Deep who actually led the race at the very start of the week but declined dramatically by the weekend to finish up at Number 4 with Green Light. In truth however there is even more agony for Eminem and Rihanna who are once again stuck at Number 2 with Love The Way You Lie. This is now the single's third week in a row in the runners up slot and its fourth week in total as the Number 2 single - every one of these having been spent playing second fiddle to a different single each time.

Eminem does at least once again have the consolation of being Number One on the album chart as Recovery moves back up to the top for its fourth run at the summit. It is almost as if it is keeping the slot warm for everyone else in between big releases.

Back on the singles chart and the next highest new entry at the week lands at Number 5 for Katy B with Katy On A Mission. The 21 year old singer is the latest UK-born R&B prodigy on the block, having stepped straight out of college into a deal to make music. Her debut single is an intriguing fusion of different styles, all knitted together by her distinctive and crystal clear voice. Katy On A Mission is also the first ever mainstream hit single production by dubstep master Benga after a decade long career on the fringes of the mainstream.

Also new inside the Top 10 is Crossfire which arrives at Number 8 to officially launch the solo career of Killers lead singer Brandon Flowers. The revelation that the singer was about to embark on a side project away from the band was one of the more hilariously hyped musical events of the last year or so, with a day by day countdown on the band's official website eventually culminating in the news that this new project was in the can and ready to go. Solo works by stars so closely associated with established groups always have to be approached with caution as they either consist of material which the rest of the group did not consider of sufficient quality to put their name to themselves, or else is so dramatically different to their usual style that it can only work as a solo project. Crossfire is manifestly not a Killers single then although Flowers' vocals are so distinctive you could be forgiven for assuming otherwise. The rather more prominent use of a piano sends the track veering into Keane territory more than anything else, although in the best possible way naturally. Maybe this then is the best kind of solo record - one which is worthwhile as a musical exercise in itself but one which still indicates the star and band work best when united together. Enjoy this single alone for the moment, the album Flamingo arrives on September 6th.

New at Number 16 is the exotic sounding Slow from brand new chart name Rumer. The female star seems set to make chart history as the first ever Pakistan-born star to become a mainstream success in the west. What helps is that her single is almost immaculate. Her heartbreakingly beautiful voice has been compared to a young Karen Carpenter and this single shows it off to perfect effect, a laid back jazzy soul record which in tone and atmosphere reminds me very much of the classic Stay With Me Til Dawn by Judy Tzuke. Easily the most arresting and quite moving chart record you will hear this week, the only tragedy is that it appears it will be little more than a one week wonder as far as even the Top 20 is concerned.

After several weeks of very little going on, the parade of new entries this week leaves you feeling a little breathless. The fifth Top 20 entry of the week goes to Aggro Santos with Saint Or Sinner which squeaks in at Number 19. The track is the immediate follow-up to Candy which had a healthy chart run and a Number 5 peak back in May. Also new at Number 21 is Wonderful Life which finally marks the Top 40 debut of synthpop duo Hurts. The pair appear to be the last of the "big names to watch in 2010" to finally make their chart breakthrough, their much anticipated debut single Better Than Love having only managed to limp to Number 50 when released back in June. Frustratingly just like the Rumer single above it, this is a chart record which is far better than both its initial chart placing and its prospects for further commercial life would suggest. Keep the faith, for Hurts have a major hit single in them at some point down the line, even if this one isn't it for the moment.

There are still more new hits to come right at the bottom end of the Top 40. Ke$ha arrives at Number 28 with her latest single Take It Off, the fourth single to be lifted from her debut album Animal although impressively her fifth chart single of 2010 so far thanks to her collaborations with 3OH!3 and Taio Cruz which have also added to her chart runs.

At Number 36 are Biffy Clyro with their third single of the year, God & Satan following Bubbles into the lower reaches of the Top 40 with both following in the wake of the extended chart run of Number 20 hit single Many Of Horror from the start of the year. Three places below them are the group who we are still insultingly going to have to refer to as "Taylor Momsen's outfit" Pretty Reckless with Miss Nothing, this their second chart single of 2010 as a follow-up to the Number 16 hit single Make Me Wanna Die from back in May.

With the new series of X Factor having begun airing last week we can inevitably expect the usual string of older hits arriving back on the chart having been performed by wannabe stars on the show. That said, I don't think anyone ever expected one such hit to Creep by Radiohead which makes a Top 75 appearance at Number 65 after auditionee Hollie Burns performed the song on the show - curiously not on the main TV broadcast but in the follow-up Xtra Factor show shown on ITV2 later that evening.