A kung fu fighter in a disco

Is "penate" a word meaning "shaped like a kn0b"? IT SHOULD BE.

From:

piratemoggy.livejournal.com

I am not sure I should have ticked Paramore but it is a lot better than Jack Penate so...

From:

piratemoggy.livejournal.com

ps: what time are Pop Open results? I have to go to work at quarter to one. :(

From:

I'll start putting them up at half twelve or so when I get back from the sandwich shop. They will be staggered all afternoon, dunno at what time exactly as I have meetings.

From:

Ou est la Ferg? 'Big Girls Don't Cry' is at No 37 and is also THE BEST of the lot.

'LoveStoned' still great, much more enthusiastic about it than 'What Goes Around'.

Everything else is various shades of TERRIBLE with that Paul McCartney thing the worst of the lot - I don't think I've encountered another song as vile this year.

Botherd about stinky field people getting delayed, the rain is NOT GOOD FOR WIMBLEDON :(

From:

Thought we had Ferg last week? GNACKERS. Oh well, next week it is.

I agree about LoveStoned, it's about the only thing on the album I'm still playing (tho I still love "SexyBack", I've just worn it out for now).

From:

Yeah same here, that album palled shockingly rapidly, I'm still not entirely sure how/why! 'Chop Me Up' is the other one I still play, always loved it.

From:

umlauts.livejournal.com

Palled? I'm so surprised! I didn't say that this would happen, did I? (NB I DID)

From:

koganbot

Everything else is various shades of TERRIBLE with that Paul McCartney thing the worst of the lot - I don't think I've encountered another song as vile this year.

I take it you've somehow not encountered Cute Is What We Aim For.

From:

Is that an actual band name or a song or I am not sure which is actually WORSE here. Oh god they're probably emo. I wish emo kids would just slash their fucking wrists already and stop bothering the charts.

From:

ms-bracken.livejournal.com

They are so bad even I don't like them.

From:

koganbot

Lex, you must watch the video, it will enrich your life: it's SO bad, you can't conceive of how such terrible lyrics and such a deluded obnoxious singer and such a disgusting video could somehow come together so perfectly. I really think it sets the standard.

Here it is on AOL

If the AOL stream doesn't work for you, here's a rip on YouTube

From:

infov0re.livejournal.com

I am totally pumped that "Teenagers" is the next single. That is super-awesome.

From:

It's "current", no "next" about it! As I have probably said many times, it is aces, my fave MCR song.

I also ticked Simon Webbe. For some reason, I have a soft spot for him.

Not heard the Justin, but have not liked any of the other singles from FS/LS, so am not optimistic.

The Take That one is dullsville.

From:

umlauts.livejournal.com

MCR, Muse and Take That were easy ticks for me. I quite liked the last Gareth Gates single (no rly) but I haven't heard it. Ash are surely well past their best - the album before this one had exactly one good song on it and it's not 1996 anymore.

Maybe I would like the Webbe! "No Worries" is totally underrated.

The JT is probably his second-best single but still NO TICK on principle.

From:

Good God Jack Penate is HORRIBLE.

Muse gets a tick for the music but let down by the singer. First Muse music where I've got the point, I think.

No tick for lumpy Air Traffic - very grim. Hoosiers is catchy but I disapprove of This Sort Of Thing really (I think I mean "powerpop"). I felt sorry for the nerdy actor in their video.

Will tackle others later.

From:

cocainepeaches.livejournal.com

I youtubed every single song on the list, for a change, and

Hoosiers - this baffles me a lot. How can such awful rip-off of Happy Togehter have got to #16 on downloads alone?

Take That - I couldn't decide if this was 'not that bad' or 'kind of extremely dull', until 1:30 that is, when I realised the latter. No tick

Muse - Surely Muse have released this song SEVERAL times before? No tick!

Justin Timberlake - I didn't mind this, but to be quite honest I don't think it's amazing enough to warrant a tick. He can do better IMO. ETA: I have changed my mind. After going through the whole list, I see this totally deserves a tick, at least in context

Gareth Gates - Gareth Gates is a no-tick for me on principle (dull) but this is not too bad. It would've got a tick if only I was feeling a bit nicer

Jack Penate - Er, no.

Air Traffic - Argh NO.

Paramore - I was going to tick this, but only because I'd listened to it right after the Ash

Ash - If this is a single I can't even begin to imagine what the rest of the album is like. No.

Paul McCartney - :(

My Chemical Romance - Oh, I quite liked this. Ticky.

Simon Webbe - Good! How come this barely charted? I was very confused at how expensive the video looked until I realised it was stills from the new Fantastic Four movie. Tick.

Well there you go. That was pretty terrible, all in all.

From:

chezghost.livejournal.com

If Justice and (ulp) Cherry Ghost* had jumped up into the top 40 like they were SUPPOSED to i could've ticked them.

*i know, i'm sorry, but it's been in my head most of the weekend and this happened when i saw them playing it on Jools Holland late last year too :/

the 'Lovestoned' video is pretty cool.

From:

I think it's AWFUL! It looks like a windows media screensaver, it's just lazy and dull, it's a "will-this-do-I'm-a-bit-busy-now" video a la 'Get Together' rather than the EPIC EVENT video it could have been. Yes I know that when Justin did an epic event video last time it was terrible but I have PERSONALLY IMAGINED a fantastic 'LoveStoned' video and all they needed to do was ask and pay me.

From:

chezghost.livejournal.com

it not laziness at all. laziness would be doing what they usually do in Justin Timberlake videos. i was constantly wondering how the effects/graphics were made watching this - a lot of effort for one or two people animating! i'm into that kind of stuff tho innit.

by the by it's pretty smart to do a relatively 'low budget' vid for the fourth single off your album that is like a year old now, and even smarter to do one that has an original look (as 'Get Together' did too). i approve of this tactic if the CGI is pleasant and distinctive.

i am often disappointed by videos where i felt like my idea was better tho so can sympathise.

From:

Hrrm you like the Olympics logo for the same reasons though.

From:

chezghost.livejournal.com

And I know best!

From:

redcommieapples.livejournal.com

steve, cherry ghost's proper release is today. It will probably jump up this week.

From:

Paramore are a bit rubbish no? She sounds too pleased with herself to be really cross.

From:

She's entitled to - the song is all about triumphing over the pretty girl. Having the last laugh. Borderline tick for me after a few plays.

From:

also, Point of Order: korrekt title appears to be "Misery Business"

From:

jauntyalan.livejournal.com

i LIKE! but what the hell is it reminding me of. something 70s ish, not quite glam. AGH

From:

jauntyalan.livejournal.com

yahoo answers suggests: offspring (duh), "marc bolan/t-rex songs.cant pinpoint a certain song atm tho", itsy bitst teeny weeny (!), and "something off bugsy malone" which i think is more OTM

From:

jauntyalan.livejournal.com

not quite, but :-)

From:

koganbot

Er, no tickfest this week.

Hoosiers -

cocainepeaches correctly identifies the starting chords as a "Happy Together" rip (fwiw, give it various different tempos and it's "Wild World" and "It's A Sin" and Judy Torres' great "Come Into My Arms"), and given that these chords are almost foolproof, I'm impressed w/ Hoosiers for managing to ruin it with cutesy quasi-ska. No tick.

Take That - Sounds like Lennon on a bad day doing a bad McCartney song. Nice high pitch, needs a nicer song and fewer gobs of rote sentiment. Tick that? No.

Muse - Good tuneful extravagance from a band that never quite reach me. Kinda same-y. Borderline nontick.

Gareth Gates - Restrained freestyle feel given to a tune that reminds me of "Love Child." Which'd be an automatic tick without the constraint. But the sappy video - like, babies are nice! - just craps it all up. Borderline nontick.

Jack Penate - Fairly catchy track with sensitively tentative indie singing, but the voice is ultimately meh - except when it hooks into the ska rhythm it gets downright irritating. Definite nontick.

Air Traffic - Sentimental pop w/ high falsetto, surrounded by way too much clatter. Coulda been good if they'd let the singer do it himself. Air tickless.

Paramore - OK pop tune, played too fast; why is this charting when vastly better anonymous teenpop from the likes of Tiffany Affair and LAX Gurlz is confined to the Disney ghetto? Borderline nontick.

Ash - Not nearly as good as their previous single, and the band's tendency to get in its own way sinks this - sinks it fast and deep. Emphatic nontick.

Simon Webbe - Is this guy a long-time star in Britain? I've barely heard him. Seems to personify solid soul mediocrity, but "Ride The Storm" is such a good song that he only dampens it a little. Tick.

Justin Timberlake - I'm with Tom and Lex (and Xhuxk last year on rolling teenpop) in not quite connecting to this guy's recent work; but that's relative to his own great potential. This is a tremendous tick in the context of this week's entries.

My Chemical Romance -

epicharmus's writeup in the League Of Pop was definitive. I give this a rollicking rocking tick.

Paul McCartney - I don't know. It's like, his talent isn't utterly gone, but he seems to be blah on principle. No tick.

From:

Simon Webbe was a member of Blue, who were a vaguely rubbish (in that they had about...two or three, maybe, BRILLIANT songs, but there was never any question that they were a rubbish band) boy band from earlier this decade. All four members were charisma vortexes (vortices?) as Webbe bears out here (Lee Ryan actually had a really great voice but never gave any indication of caring what he used it on, or indeed that he possessed any capacity to think at all - I think his crowning moment was some dumb comment along the lines of "who cares about Sept 11 when there are ELEPHANTS DYING???" (it might have been whales actually))

Blue S/D: search 'All Rise' (good), 'Bubblin' (GREAT), 'Fly By II' (rubbish but amusingly so). Destroy THE REST especially whatever song had that "one love for the hip-hop beats" line in it.

From:

It was elephants!

"One Love" is alright. "Fly By II" (and indeed "Fly By") are their finest moments I think, tho "All Rise" and "Too Close" are good too. They were good initially then got rubbish. I am a little surprised Simon has become "the star" now though.

From:

He kind of fills a Lemar type role, which is surprising to me b/c surely one Lemar is more than enough.

Did you ever hear 'Bubblin' Tom?

From:

koganbot

Am listening to "Bubblin'" now, and you are right, it is excellent, a really sweet BSB/*NSync knockoff, the basic pretty pretty pretty sweetboy voices with the subterranean push of r&b. This is what the current crop of Disney boys (Corbin Bleu, B5) wishes they sounded like. Fly By II is a good track but doesn't showcase the sweet voices nearly as well as "Bubblin'."

From:

umlauts.livejournal.com

I always preferred Blue's "Too Close" to Next's.

Frank, if you haven't heard it (And you SHOULD have, as it was on my '05 singles list), listen to "No Worries" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87pJF1VLfXc). ignore the video, he thinks he's Seal or something and just go aaaaah, that's nice. He really can't hit the low notes, mind you, but it doesn't matter.

From:

koganbot

Very nice track, though I'd attribute a lot of its beauty to the woman sampled (?) in the background.

From:

I dunno, I can imagine liking it if it was by Gabrielle or Mutya or someone with a bit of warmth to their voice, but even then in an unenthusiastic 6/10 way, and when Webbe does it...he really is a black hole of charisma. Am with Frank, the sample is the best thing about it.

From:

redcommieapples.livejournal.com

Jesus I was in love with Lee for the longest time, despite the infamous elephants comment. I forgave him because dying elephants probably gave him the inspiration to sing like he did. He was the only interesting thing about the band and I'm still convinced that "Army Of Lovers" is a brilliant song (or video - I can't really separate the two).

I'd thought Blue had more than 3 or 4 great singles - but that's about it. And "Too Close" was pretty much a note for note cover of Next's song with Lee Ryan emoting on top of it. "All Rise" is great - the world needs more pop songs with courtroom metaphors.

Simon Webbe is actually the UK's most successful black male artist.

From:

Really? I would have thought Seal would have sold more records (to date).

From:

redcommieapples.livejournal.com

err, I meant currently - of the 00's. I read it in the guardian a while ago.

From:

OK here's 'Bubblin' (http://youtube.com/watch?v=uayVMg5gJRg) which is still a TERRIFIC song, I love the beat bubbling (DYS) away and Lee's Xtina-holler. And All Rise (http://youtube.com/watch?v=cPBX5vvXYBM) omg it's a good song but the video makes me cringe (but also laugh).

From:

Completely agree that "Bubblin" was Blue's best song.

Webbe appeals to the Radio 2 listener in me, I guess.

From: