A Year In Pop: 9

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

The SAP of POP is RISING with a staggering 12 new entries this week. Do I know anything about any of them? DO I BUGGERY. Apart from Ugly Rumours, with Tariq Ali on bass and Keith Flett on marimba and vibes.

[Poll #941771]

Fill me in Poptimists (and fill the rest of us in) - tell me where I'm missing out!

Comments

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

The P Diddy/Keyshia Cole song is AMAZING - properly epic and emotional and genuinely heart-tugging in the way 'What Goes Around' and 'Ice Box' wish they were.

I haven't heard any of the others, gosh. Popjustice has been going on about Calvin Harris which made me not want to listen to the promo, which I think I have now lost.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Oh and I need to know more about K Cole - her voice is really reminiscent of Mary J Blige! Not a compliment to be given lightly.

[martinskidmore.livejournal.com]

I like Keyshia on it, but I think Diddy lets the whole thing down. If he'd keep his mouth off his records they would be much better.

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

I think the exact opposite. The song was doing just fine until Keyshia appears.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Oh THOSE Horrors. I'd hoped they were a band the NME had made up.

Why does the name Ugly Rumours ring a bell? Oh god it's NOT Tony Blair's student band is it? Surely not, surely.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

It is anti-war protesters who have named themselves after T Blair's student band.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

FFS these people must die.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Whyever! It's not an awful joke.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

It's so wacky-studenty!

[koganbot]

It's trying to be seriously anti-war, and possibly succeeds, but unfortunately has mediocre soul singing, so is ultimately just a stolid cover song.

[koganbot]

The aptly named Horrors were a struggle for me, since they are surely any BAD at all, with this horrible overacting, oversinging, heavy-voiced posturing, not even funny, but kinda takes up space in a necessary way, I suppose, and a really good horror-house garage-rock organ that is far better than any good at all. I decided to be generous and tick 'em in what's generally a shitty batch. Keyshia beats Diddy, also a tick. (What's happened to Diddy? I loved "Benjamins.") Good Charlotte does good groundhog burrowing through the lower mung, deserve appreciation that they're probably not going to get here, as you don't seem to be mung aficionados. "Acceptable In The '80s" is quite catchy and funny, even though our man Calvin seems to be confusing people born in the '80s with people who came of age in the '80s. Cascada's no miracle this time, but a reasonably proficient dance number. The others have merit but not enough to elicit the ticking response.

[koganbot]

I was clearly torn as to whether to treat Good Charlotte as a single or a plural.

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

Does anyone know whether these are U1tragrrrl/Sarah Lewit!nn's "Horrors"?

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Not heard most of these (incl Maccabees but seeing as it's not one of their old songs it's probably not much cop - come on Orlando, sort it out mate) but the ones I have heard are pretty dire:

Camille vs Fedde: AWFUL sub par attempt at remix, video can't even pull off 'the Benassi' properly. Removes the simplicity of the original and turns it into boring funky house.
Calvin Harris: much like the mp3 I linked to last night, the music is ok but the lyrics are so self-knowing, joyless and trite that I can't bear to give it a tick. The video is good however, it features a stuffed otter.
Cascada: bosh by numbers but not stupidly fun enough to get a tick as with Truly Madly Deeply (I quite liked said Savage Garden cover as it improved the original by miles)
Horrors: again it's a case of good idea but poor execution. This lot aren't charismatic enough for a Sex Pistols-esque "we're rubbish but you WILL like us anyway" and the music is a bit dull after the first 10 seconds.

:(

A new winner!

[koganbot]

NOT HEARD ANY OF THEM is leading right now, though one of its votes is from someone who ticked a number of songs that he apparently hasn't heard. That's pOptimism for you!

Re: A new winner!

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I will be changing my vote when I do hear some of them. Unfortunately I've left my headphones at home today, which is causing me all sorts of distress and irritation even before hearing the Horrors comes into it.

Re: A new winner!

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

NOT HEARD ANY OF THEM is usually a strong contender every week, I've long wanted to ask how much effort Poptimists make in tracking down new music! Not that I can speak having heard a grand total of one this week, and with little to no desire to hear the rest.

Re: A new winner!

[koganbot]

I'd be curious what you think of the Cushh. It doesn't work for me, but I'm not sure why (doesn't help that the versions on their MySpace sound like mud). Seems like Cushh are trying to be will.i.am and Fergie, which is laudable. Also, you might well like the Camille/Fedde more than I do (actually, I think what I've heard is Camille without Fedde, and it's too spare, though since I often love spareness I haven't completely figured out what my problem is, except that to be successfully spare you have to play the most effective notes, or else you'll be boring; they do add effective squiggles and scrapes around the edges, but not enough to make it exciting).

Re: Cushh

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

The only YouTube upload of Cushh is awful quality too. The song sounded promising, but it won't get a tick from me unless I can hear it properly.

Re: A new winner!

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I prefer MP3s to YouTubing stuff, so I usually try and track down a torrent of the week's top 40 and d/l the new ones. But recently the torrents have dried up a bit, and I've been busy (or lazy) about making the MySpace/YouTube effort.

Re: A new winner!

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I didn't use to like hearing new songs first on YouTube but with a great deal of new entries that's all they're good for. Not that I'd even bother with that for eg the Horrors.

I wonder if there will be a song I hear for the first time after it's got in the chart and think is really amazing.

Re: A new winner!

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

Because I don't listen to the radio (and haven't been watching video channels much lately), most of the time the first time I've even heard of almost every songs is when the poll goes up. And I have no sound at work, otherwise I'd youtube them.

On average, I'd guess I check out at least half of the songs in the following week, however.

Re: A new winner!

[awesomewells.livejournal.com]

You shouldn't have to make this much effort to hear new music, it should just reach you. Then again I'm pretty sure no one plays The Horrors on the radio.

Re: A new winner!

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I don't listen to the radio or even have a TV! I dunno, I guess I just notice when popstars I have an interest in have stuff out - not hard given the promo efforts of most mainstream popstars. And then when I hear that P Diddy or Nelly F or whoever has something out I track it down.

[koganbot]

Poptimist tenet: We love songs that we haven't heard yet.

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

YES!

[fugitivemotel.livejournal.com]

Actually I just realised I must have heard that Maccabbees song because I have seen them live, but I didn't know any of the song names so I don't know which one it was. They are ok, though, and lovely chaps.

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

I like the *idea* of the Stop The War song but the actual thing itself is VERY BAD. :(

Good Charlotte are annoyingly likeable currently. Obviously not for everyone but for me. Damn them.

Calvin Harris- good in an 'if you like Justice vs Simian, you may also like' way. Except more of a bedroom mix, where you can't imagine yourself leaping around, absolutely mashed to it. Could either work out brilliant or very fucking annoying.

Camille/Fedde- annoying but does manage to be 'any good at all,' if not brilliant.

Pigeon Detectives- realised this is not the song of theirs that I really like but nevermind, fairly nice.

Diddy/Keyshia- Sounds like The Faint (on the Blank Wave Arcade remixes) so this makes it ace. Wish Diddy would not do his stupid bedroom voice bits because his voice just makes me think of expensive suits, not sinisterly awesome baby-doll shufflings.

[poptasticuk.livejournal.com]

I have heard all of them so quick round-up as to who the lesser known ones are:

Camille Jones - This has been on YouTube for at least a year, but not originally with any Fedde link. I don't like it particularly.

Pigeon Detectives - Friends of Kaiser Chiefs

Cushh - Featuring Nicola who was in the Popstars Final 10 to make Girls Aloud, but quite the show cos her older boyfriend (who contacted her after she appeared briefly on Pop Idol 1st series) told her to. I think he wanted to manage her and make her into a big solo star. She was in a girlband called Cookie for a while but also left that band.

Ghosts - A bit Feeling-ish, mum-friendly guitar pop

[bengraham.livejournal.com]

I appear to be in a minority, in that I've heard Calvin Harris and quite like it. I've not heard any of the others.

Bit of background for you... Calvin Harris is the latest MySpace success story. After years of failure to break the music industry, his songs were spotted on MySpace and he signed to SonyBMG. He's now working with Kylie Minogue on her new album and is due to tour with Faithless later this year.

24 Hours On

[koganbot]

24 hours on, NOT HEARD ANY OF THEM is still fending off Calvin Harris, albeit just barely.

Re: 24 Hours On

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

With justification, C Harris may have been acceptable in the 80s but is def unacceptable in the 00s. Sounds like an even more naff, amateur Zoot Woman (and that's a chapter of the JLC book we don't want to revisit).

Camille vs Fedde unmemorable, Cushh on YouTube also mudlike, botherd about the rest.