A Year In Pop: 7

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

A somewhat slack week for new entries this. Perhaps we could talk about something else?

[Poll #931262]

Any ideas? Actually, here's something - was anyone reading this into Snow Patrol before they were enormous - and how do they feel about the band now they are The Biggest Band In Britain?

Also, don't forget to vote in the Jop Tournament quarter-finals.

Comments

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Also, just how bad a name for a song is "Desecration Smile"?

[boyofbadgers.livejournal.com]

Remember, this is the band that thought Californication was a suitable title for a song.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Icebox is the best of these by miles.

This is The Feeling's WORST song by a mile but it's still leagues ahead of RHCP and Snow Patrol so I'm ticking it anyway.

I caught 2 nanoseconds of the Alfie video in a shop window whilst walking up TCR this morning. Curse my work blocking youtube! It looked ace!

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I can't even remember who Omarion is!

Haven't heard any of these yet by the way.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

He was in B2K!

'Ice Box' is 'My Love' gone all heartbroken.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

It's another Timbaland choon, with "up n coming rnb star" Omarion doing vocal duty. It is a HEART RENDING BALLADE about how Omarion has just been dumped and he feels a bit mis but NEVER FEAR Tim pulls up in his limo and they drive off into the big ghey sunset together.

[lockedintheatti.livejournal.com]

The Alfie video is brilliant, easily her best yet. And the song is ace too, even if it is a bit of a blatant rip-off of 'Puppet on a string'.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

It's a credited sample of 'Puppet'.

Ewwwwwwww

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

The Omarion is great but as with a lot of the JT/Timbaland stuff there's something missing, or impenetrable, or...something. Can't quite put my finger on it but it reminds me of when I got this Macbook last week, and I was totally in love with its shininess and sleekness and prettiness, but ultimately I didn't know how to make it do anything beyond the basics, I couldn't get INTO it. So maybe I just need to take Omarion and JT round to Gareth's house.

Everything else - OH JUST GO AWAY

Re: Ewwwwwwww

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean - shimmery is all v well and good but we want some BASS OOMPH SQUELCH amiright?

Re: Ewwwwwwww

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I suspect I actually mean I would like some HEART but I don't think this is quite what is missing! On 'My Love' and 'Ice Box' JT and Omarion do both sound emotional and invested in the song but there's SOMETHING MISSING. And I don't know what it is.

Re: Ewwwwwwww

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

EPICness?

Re: Ewwwwwwww

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

A way inside it, maybe. As per below I like it, but it's more like admiring from a distance rather than really loving it.

Ice Box

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

I must say I was very impressed with 'Ice Box' on first listen. But I'd need to hear it a few more times to explain why it's good. Perhaps we need martinskidmore to come in at this point, as I noticed yesterday the song is on his "best of '06" mixtape.

Re: Ice Box

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I was too - don't get me wrong, it is a very impressive song. Maybe too impressive actually, maybe that's it, I feel I can only admire at a distance rather love from the inside.

Re: Ice Box

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

It's so cold! :-)

Re: Ice Box

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

HE HAS AN ICE BOX WHERE HIS HEART USED TO BE :D

Haha suddenly it's become a bit perfect.

Re: Ice Box

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

i don't think it's impressive enough really. it's just pleasant Timbaland by numbers, production wise. competent and confident, but maybe a bit too workmanlike/sloggish?

Re: Ice Box

[martinskidmore.livejournal.com]

Hello! Yes, I love it, and have played it lots - I love the refrain particularly, and find it very chilling in exactly the way it's meant to be.

Re: Ewwwwwwww

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

The main thing I like about Ice Box/Omarion here is that he is not doing a weedy falsetto ala Usher, Ray J, Justin and thingybob which I am v bored of and find ineffective generally. Maybe I am being too much of a grizzly bear of a MAN about this...altho looking in the mirror frankly this is doubtful. I think I just want to hear more soul dudes singing with their balls in their throat, like, um, Tom Waits? uh

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

Otis Redding, I think you mean

Re: Ewwwwwwww

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

BRANDY
MACY GRAY
FANTASIA BARRINO

[bengraham.livejournal.com]

I've got to disagree with Kat... this is the best Feeling song. It has clever lyrics, a catchy tune and a fab chorus.

I was heavily into Snow Patrol in my first year at Uni (2000-2001), and listened to 'Songs For Polar Bears' a great deal. When 'Final Straw' came out, I quite liked 'Spitting Games' which was the first single, but then they released 'Run' and everything subsequent to that has just been a poor attempt to copy Coldplay's success. The new single is rubbish, although I did quite like the Martha Wainwright one, although I suspect that's purely because it had Martha Wainwright singing on it.

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

I would be happy to talk about Snow Patrol, but I suspect this is just a trick to find people to evict from the poptimists house. That said, being thousands of miles away, I still find it a telling comment on Britain Today that they are the band of the moment.

All I know about Omarion is that PJ started to make fun of him before I even knew he existed.

[awesomewells.livejournal.com]

I can't even be bothered to YouTube any of these.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Matt you have heard the Omarion. I played it at Lovelife when we DJed together and you liked it.

[awesomewells.livejournal.com]

Oh okay I will give it a whirl then.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

And the video is good!

[koganbot]

The Omarion song has been around forever, no? Is currently the most-played song on AOL. Agree that it is good and quite tickable but missing whatever it is that it's missing. "Alfie," fine, funny, codependent. The ones I didn't tick are:

The Feeling "Rose" - A pretty piano intro, a minor chord, then totally terrible sub-sub-McCartney light singing with overprecise pronunciation. A nice enough sentimental tune, and the background vocals almost save this, but not quite.

Red Hot Chili Peppers "Desecration Smile" - Love the chord pattern; the singing is irritatingly negligible. I might grow to like this somewhat if I heard it a lot. So I'm going to avoid hearing it a lot. (Fwiw, I enjoy "Give It Away.")

Snow Patrol "Open Your Eyes" - I hate the little swell he puts in his voice when he says "anger swells." I don't like this style of tight-crotched, low-voiced passion, but the arrangement and the melody could have had enough beauty to put this over, except it builds and builds too the point where the tension, rather than being transfixing, is nonexistent. And then the payoff, four minutes in, is a total bore. Will get worse the more I hear it, so [see resolution in regard to "Desecration Smile"].

[awesomewells.livejournal.com]

I am now wondering how a Red Hot Chili Canon would be received and whether or not anything that isn't Under The Bridge would get any ticks at all.

I hate them.

[koganbot]

If "Give It Away" is in the canon I'd tick it. Not that it's great or anything, but it's funny and catchy. I called it "White dopes on punk" when I reviewed it in Radio On back in '91.

[boyofbadgers.livejournal.com]

I actually quite liked Mothers Milk when I was a 14 year old sk8er boi. Blood Sugar Sex Magic was a massive disappointment when it came out and everything they've done since has been ruddy awful.

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

As a sentimentalist, I'd probably vote for Californication.

[awesomewells.livejournal.com]

Emphasis on mentalist there.

[koganbot]

Also, don't forget to vote in the Jop Tournament quarter-finals.

You accidentally left out a couple of words. Should be "Don't forget to vote for 'Push It' in the Jop Tournament quarter-finals."

A <lj user = "poptimists> discussion I can actually contribute to!

[vivalabridgetta.livejournal.com]

I liked 'Final Straw' way before they re-released it when 'Run' came out, and am still bitter.

Re: A <lj user = "poptimists> discussion I can actually contribute to!

[whalefish.livejournal.com]

I still quite like Final Straw. I remember defending it a lot a while ago, assuring everyone that Snow Patrol had suddenly become big by accident just through having a good album, and that they weren't cynically trying to be the new U2 or the new Coldplay at all.

And then they repaid me by going and doing exactly that! The bastards.

Re: A <lj user = "poptimists> discussion I can actually contribute to!

[vivalabridgetta.livejournal.com]

Well, I can't reiterate your comments seeing that my big brother borrowed my cd ages ago and never gave it back - and I kinda don't want to pay for Gary Lightbody's alleged extra-curricular activities.

Re: A <lj user = "poptimists> discussion I can actually contribute to!

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

TELL ALL what is he supposed to be into? Can't be worse than David Byrne.

Re: A <lj user = "poptimists> discussion I can actually contribute to!

[vivalabridgetta.livejournal.com]

Nothing more than what the Holy Moly *spits* newsletter *makes rude gestures* has speculated anyway.

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

Wasn't Omarion involved in some clod-hopping 'response' to the July 7th bombings?

I shall ask inuitmonster, aka DV what he thinks of his favourite band of amiable fuckwits becoming monster smashes, and The Reindeer Experiment Effect.

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

yeh Omarion released a statement to 'his fans' after 7/7 to say despite having been in London at the time he was alive and well.

i forgive him tho.

[awesomewells.livejournal.com]

yeh Omarion released a statement to 'his fans' after 7/7 to say despite having been in London at the time he was alive and well.

Yeah I phoned my mum and dad as well.

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

i didn't know your parents liked him that much!

[inuitmonster.livejournal.com]

I think it was actually Salako I once dubbed "amiable fuckwits", but the sobriquet seems to have drifted to the Patrol, their then label mates. I read an interview with the Snow Patrol once, in which they said that they would know they had hit the big time when people stopped mentioning their other label mates in every article about them. That day arrived some time ago.

Snow Patrol are rubbish, incidentally.

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

One of the PJ's barbs (or maybe it was XRRF's), as I recall, related to the fact that one of the first press statements after the bombing was from Omarion, assuring all his fans that he was okay.

[inuitmonster.livejournal.com]

My love of pop is theoretical rather than actual. I may have heard that RHCP song (I definitely heard a song by them once), but the rest mean nothing to me, though I will grant you that Lily Allen does seem to be an attractive young lady.

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

I used to like Snow Patrol- I had an indie compilation (called, uh, 'Kill The Popstars' ...I bought it for 'Drag Queen Eyes' by whoever it is that's by) I got for a quid in Borders once that had 'One Night Is Not Enough' by them on it, which is really gorgeous. I loved 'Run' but absolutely nothing else ever since, except 'Set Fire To Gary Lightbody's Face' or whatever which is possibly the only reason I retained my sanity during a 48 hour Machiavelli essay stint.

RHCP: Crap, obv.
Lily Allen: Less irritating these days but I can't be bothered to tick it because she used to annoy me so much.
The Feeling: No stutter, no tick.

Omarion is quite good because you can wander around a library humming it and it tunes in exactly with the air conditioning, thus avoiding the exposure of your insanity to anyone else.