This week, the music industry looks something like Christmas. It's not that the new music releases are gifts, per se (quite the contrary), but there are so damn many high-profile albums after a relatively dormant summer. This kind of flurry is usually reserved for the holidays. And what's more, together they give as full of a picture of the state of label-based pop music in 2012 as any recent concurrent set of albums. Really, all this week is missing is a neo-boy band. Let's explore:

Here's Nelly Furtado's second attempt to launch her The Spirit Indestructible album (due in September) following the flop of its first single, "Big Hoops (The Bigger the Better)." You don't win friends with freestyle and her voice sounds accordingly unwieldy and shrill. That said, nothing says freestyle quite like balmy summer days, and for that reason alone, this one is doing it for me.

If you accepted money from Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi (or any member of his family), now would be a good time to give it back. It's what Nelly Furtado is doing, anyway—the pop star Tweeted earlier that she received a million dollars from "the Qaddafi clan" to perform a show in Italy four years ago ("for guests at a hotel," she elaborated); in the same Tweet she wrote she planned to "donate" the money (to charity, one hopes). And while we obviously applaud her decision, it seems as though the best bet going forward, for Furtado as for all musicians, is to, you know, not perform shows for dictators or their families. In the meantime, we eagerly await responses from the following pop stars regarding the money that they received, at one time or another, from "the Qaddafi clan":

Logan Lerman rumormongers about his own role. There is a glut of 3D movies. Nelly Furtado's in a hockey musical. The 'Paranormal Activity' people have five more films coming. Ease yourself into the Trade Roundup's all-leather interior.

Britney Spears turns 28 today. Erin Callan, the former CFO of Lehman Brothers, is turning 44. Lucy Liu is 41. Stone Phillips is turning 55. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is 70. Real estate marketing queen Louise Sunshine is turning 69. Nelly Furtado turns 31. Foo Fighters bassist Nate Mendel is turning 41. Author George Saunders is 51. And tennis legend Monica Seles celebrates her 36th birthday today.

Erin Callan has had a tumultuous year, hasn't she? The former star at Lehman Bros can sit back and relax today. Not only has she landed on her feet (unlike so many of her former colleagues), it's also her 43rd birthday. Others celebrating: Stone Phillips is 54. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is turning 69. Real estate marketing queen Louise Sunshine is 68. Nelly Furtado is 30. Nate Mendel of the Foo Fighters is 40. Monica Seles is turning 35. Lucy Liu is 40. And Ms. Britney Spears—you've heard of her, haven't you?—is celebrating her 27th birthday today.