Brit Sweep: July 28, 2013...

Well gang, the weekend's almost over, so time to roll out this week's Brit Sweep, sampling the songs reaching the top-100 on the official British charts this week, as Avicii spends a second week on top with "Wake Me Up"...

Well, the power of One Directioners trying to get to #1 wasn't enough, since you can only buy the track once (as opposed to "YouTubing" it a thousand times), and their new single "Best Song Ever" winds up at #2. And actually, 1D has only topped the UK charts with three of their eight top-40 hits (their debut "What Makes You Beautiful", the ballad "Little Things", and the one-off charity single "One Way Or Another (Teenage Kicks)"), so it shouldn't be too much of a shocker. Cute video, up until the music starts and they do the rote "trashing the establishment" crap that you know that "establishment" is trying to push right now...

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I guess the threat of the 1D kept all the pop artists from releasing anything big, since it's the only debut in the top-40. The next highest entry is singer/songwriter Gabrielle Aplin at #48 with "Home", the fourth single from her debut album English Rain. The first, a cover of Frankie Goes To Hollywood's "The Power Of Love", topped the list last year...

 Also grabbing their fourth hit single from their debut (full-length) is neohouse music duo Disclosure with "F For You" at #49. They went to #2 earlier this year with the sterling "White Noise"...

British pop/rock outfit Scouting For Girls are releasing a "greatest hits" set after just three albums (the last lacking a top-10 hit), and that doesn't bode well. I think this band had great potential in the Maroon 5/Matchbox Twenty from England vibe, and their UK #1 hit "This Ain't A Love Song" is on my all-time "robbed hits" list. The compilation has a new song as a single, "Millionaire", which arrives on the singles charts at #52...

Scottish singer Nina Nesbitt scored her first top-40 hit in this country earlier in the year with "Stay Out", which reached #21. She's back at #55 with the follow-up, "Way In The World"...

Indie-pop duo Wild Cub prowl in at #59 with their first hit "Thunder Clatter"....

 Los Angeles DJ/producer Le Youth (real name Wes James) gets a boost from Radio One being Nick Grimshaw's "Record of the Week" as "C.O.O.L." comes in at #62...

Drum-and-bass act Rudimental's UK #1 debut album Home spins off a fourth single as "Right Here" featuring Foxes (who sing on Zedd's "Clarity") pops in at #63. They've already topped the British chart twice with "Feel The Love" and "Waiting All Night"...This is my "Brit Pick of the Week"....

Newcomer Lauren Aquilina debuts at #66 with "Sinners"...

Singer Diana Vickers was a finalist on the UK version of The X Factor a few years back, and she had gone to #1 in 2010 with "Once". She returns after three years at #76 with "Cinderella", from her upcoming sophomore effort Music To Make Boys Cry...

British rapper Professor Green topped the chart here in 2011 with the personal "Read All About It" (introducing singer Emeli Sande in the process). He's back at #93 with the first track from his upcoming third album, "Are You Getting Enough?", featuring Miles Kane from the Last Shadow Puppets...

The final debut of the week is by the artist who has the biggest-selling album this week. Jahmene Douglas came in second to James Arthur on the last series of the UK X Factor, and while his album drops earlier and grabs the top spot, his rendition of David Guetta's "Titanium" from the album lands on its own at #94 on the singles chart.

Well that does it - a whole lot of top-notch stuff that got eclipsed by the 1D single - it's been the hardest ever to pick my favorite among them, with Aplin, Disclosure, Nesbitt, Le Youth, and Professor Green very very worthy contenders.

I'll return tomorrow with another Song of the Day, part two of this week's "album sweep", and my "robbed hit" for the week. Cheers!