A Year In Pop: January Round-Up

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Here's the top 10 for last month based on "any good at all" ism. I'm going to try a little poll experiment to see if thinking about ranking and worst provokes any more interesting debate or results. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. Reissues excluded.

1. The Gossip - Standing In The Way Of Control
2. Amy Winehouse - You Know I'm No Good
3. Kelis ft Cee-Lo - Lil Star
4. Just Jack - Starz In Their Eyes
5. Fall Out Boy - This Ain't A Scene It's An Arms Race
6. Jarvis Cocker - Don't Let Him Waste Your Time
7. Mika - Grace Kelly
8. Guillemots - Annie Let's Not Wait
9. Jojo - Too Little Too Late
10. Klaxons - Golden Skans

[Poll #922510]

Was it a good month for pop music?

Comments

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

People seem to really be liking Fall Out Boy, who I am - in a totally unpoptimist way - resisting even listening to, because I find "wearing eyeliner" really just not that interesting as musical style. (I still remember Robert Smith.)

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

I really hated them at first but I love 'This Ain't A Scene...', at least the build up, rather than what it leads to. a one-off probably.

[infov0re.livejournal.com]

Haven't heard much of the more recent stuff, but bought the second album Take This To Your Grave at the weekend and can't stop listening to it. It's awesome, unashamedly pop, and just loud/fast/fun. I feel guilty, but don't care; they're really pretty good.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

A poor month in pop for me. But there's January for you.

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

Yes. It's a cliche that January is a "slow month" in UK. But it's true. Hardly any new product gets really pushed until 2-3 weeks in.

That said, by comparison with January 2006 (http://community.livejournal.com/poptimists/153023.html), 2007 wasn't so bad. (Cor, took me bloody ages to find that entry. I'd forgotten what tag stevem78 was using last year.)

[koganbot]

Was a good month for pop music, though not on the British charts. Don't we usually have a What Was Your Favorite New Thing During The Last Month poll? Mine would be Lloyd f. Lil Wayne "You," which had been kicking around for four months but only just soared up the hip-hop/r&b playlists in January. Astonishingly more scrumptious than the scrumptious Spandau Ballet song it lifts, and amidst all the sifts and folds and sighs of gorgeousness you have scrappy Lil Wayne floating like butterlies and stinging like bees. Could well make my next year's P&J, if I decide it's eligible. As for new stuff that's actually new (e.g., not "Too Little Too Late"), Linda Sundblad's "Lose You" is wonderful.

[justfanoe.livejournal.com]

I ticked Just Jack in it's poll, but voted it worst this time. The difference is I had never listened/paid attention to the lyrics in the original poll.

Jojo the best by pretty far on this, even if it is a few months old in America. January always sucks for pop music.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Jojo is definitely the most divisive - 4 bests, 4 worsts so far.

[koganbot]

katstevens's shift to pro-JoJo may be screwing up my theory, and I don't know everyone's sex here, but in January I noticed a definite gender difference on who likes and who dislikes JoJo: boys like, girls dislike, my tentative explanation being that girls are more likely to hear JoJo's high-pitched prettiness as something icky, a path not chosen, whereas being a JoJo-type isn't even an option for boys, so it's less of a threat. (Don't know how such reasoning would work in the larger culture, where girls are considered by boys to have cooties.) (Also, maura's vote against JoJo is one of her few recent Poptimist opinions that contradicts the idea that she and I have near identical taste in current music. Did you see how we lined up in the Poptimist 2006 History Of Jackin' Jop Poll?)

[koganbot]

Poptimist boys like JoJo, Poptimist girls dislike JoJo, that is. I'm sure on Radio Disney and such it's mainly the girls going for JoJo.

IT'S RAINING JUST LIKE IN MY HEART

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

JoJo's appearance on Popworld endeared me to her greatly (Alex & her were having a slumber party). Once I stopped finding *her* annoying, I was able to appreciate the song properly. It's very very catchy, and I like the way she practically stamps her feet in the video because she is singing so hard.

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

None of these songs are downright offensively bad or hateful imo but none of them are particularly great either. So a humdrum month for pop music it is.

[koganbot]

Also, how come people like Guillemots? Not to put anyone on the defensive - I've only heard three or four tracks - but they seem the essence of rock respectable dullness. Much worse than the reliably catchy (again, three or four songs) Kasabian, whom you lot seem to hate reflexivly.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

If we'd included this week's songs, Furtado would have been my favourite.

Disappointed that my top 3 = the general top 3. JoJo was pretty close to Kelis though.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Changed 3rd favourite to JoJo!

Mason v Princess Superstar would have been my 2nd favourite of all the singles.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

M v PS would have been my favourite, I think.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Shocked that it didn't make it into what is a rather ropey top 10!

1 2 3 4 LEMME HEAR U SCREAM IF U WANT SOME MORE
SAY AAAHHHH PUSH IT PUSH IT WATCH ME WORK IT
I'M PERFECT

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

It was joint 11th, with My Chemical Romance. Same number of votes as Klaxons, but a lower %.

[byebyepride.livejournal.com]

I'm undewhelmed by all of this stuff, except JoJo -- perhaps people are confusing this with the other JoJo single, which is nondescript. Couldn't make it to three favourites, even, while lots competing for worst. But I'm puzzled that these came out on top in the polls, since I don't remember voting for any of these, but maybe my taste is just totally out of whack with poptimists at the moment. I've been working too much to check out much new music anyway, mind.

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

i've not heard the JoJo properly, for shame!

[koganbot]

I only ticked four of these ten in the first run-through (Gossip, Winehouse, Fall Out Boy, and JoJo).

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I was initially happy cos I love all of the top three, but 4-8 are pretty fvcking rancid.

[miss-newham.livejournal.com]

I think it isn't a bad time for pop at the moment - I listened to the radio fairly solidly over January and was glad that Just Jack and The View were popping up on Radio 2 just as regularly as bloody Paolo Nutini, and at least Mika is entertaining rubbish. I don't imagine I'll be looking back on any of these songs with fondness a year or two from now though.