A Year In Pop: 18

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

A new month, a new poll! Get that tick rate going again!

[Poll #982157]

All previous polls are still open, etc etc. if you've "got into" any of the year's pop platters since their initial blushing entrance to the charts.

Comments

[koganbot]

Anyway, not counting the JoJo, this is what my notes tell me I thought.

Hellogoodbye - Singer puts on a dorky wanky whiteboy pop voice (which is not as bad as a dorky wanky whiteboy indie voice), which undercuts this a lot, the "this" that's undercut being an expressively tuneful U2ish melody not unlike "With Or Without You," but much weaker. Borderline nontick.

Funeral For A Friend - Eight-to-the-bar beat that's dumb but OK, a high not-strong voice soaring above. If the tune were more tuneful I could be suckered into liking this, but the tune's not there, so I'm free to hate the voice.

Dada f. Sandy Rivera and Trix - One doesn't expect a song called "Lollipop" to be subtle, but the blatancy of the come-on here is irritating and unsexy and ultimately makes this feel real cold. Damn Brits. But this track works anyway, a strong functional beat and reasonably tuneful background riffs. Borderline tick.

Michael Buble - Don't think I'd heard him before. Was expecting aggressive normality à la Powter. My expectations were not totally wrong, but this is more of a throwback to pre-r'n'r "stylish" pop, w/ soul touches updating it somewhat. Terribly weak and dry. No tick.

Jamie T. - A style of indie dorkiness that has possibilities, like that Streets guy, the ordinary bloke thing pushed into intensity. 'Cept this doesn't make it. If it had any kind of a hook, the voice maybe could take off from it. But this is hook free and tickless. No tick.

(Now got to go pick the losers out of eleven tracks that are way better than any of these except the JoJo.)