A kung fu fighter in a disco

No, this one sounds a LOT more like "Mr Blue Sky" than the last one. Jeff Lynne should sue.

(NB: I ticked it because anyone who bases their entire sound on "Mr Blue Sky" is obv OK by me.)

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martinskidmore.livejournal.com

It's about an old Steve Ditko superhero! I like that, but otherwise it's no good at all.

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Hrrm, 2x good singles from GREAT artists with much better songs around.

Nicole Scherzinger - this has grown loads on me after Kat and I saw her sing it mere METRES from us last night and Kat realised that vocally, in the verses, she is v Hansonesque! It's a nice enough midtempo thing but where are 'Whatever U Like' and 'Super Villain'? That said given how she's apparently flopped in the US it's perhaps wise to hedge one's bets - give her time to build up her brand, don't waste the real stormers on a first single which won't necessarily be a big hit, save the best for later...

Roisin Murphy - still v much 'any good at all' but probably the worst song on her AMAZING album!

Freemasons - gothbosh! This is a cover of an old, tuneless, rubbish Alanis Morissette song if I am correct. It's still tuneless but quite an appealing mood thing.

Who/what are One Republic and why is Timbaland working with them? That's terrible.

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katstevens.livejournal.com

Yes! Can confirm that said Lead Pussycat is actually Taylor Hanson in disguise. With really good hair.

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martinskidmore.livejournal.com

They're a kind of neopostpunk US act, and rubbish, one of a string of recent horrifically misjudged Tim collaborations (see also The Hives, was it? and Duran Duran).

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Yeah The Hives are on the album, as are Fall Out Boy and...some other terrible people, I forget who.

I was actually sort of interested in hearing the song he did for Duran Duran but have heard it's pretty bad from a variety of sources and life is too short, really.

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koganbot

The OneRepublic guy cowrote the bonkers "Gypsy Woman" song by Hilarity. I like that but like this too.

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the wombats as their poster boy

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freakytigger.livejournal.com

Hoosiers - this is better than their last single. How come they're doing so well with their wacky powerpop? Any theories? Whoever said it's a bit like "Mr Blue Sky" (keeper of the ELO flame

jeff_worrell I guess) is right. ALSO ALSO is it about Steve Ditko's objectivist superhero Mr A??? There are superheroes in the video so it ACTUALLY MIGHT BE. Tick!

FFS Elvis.

Freemasons - is Bailey Tzuke related to Judy Tzuke?? (Ans YES!) I had a geography teacher who was a big fan of Judy Tzuke and went to see all her tours. Bosh-up version of an old Alanis song which I don't think I've ever heard, I like this, it's sung with delicacy. Tick!

Samanda - would have been better if they'd gone "Hi Big Brother" instead of "Hi Ken" - vocoder kenbot TO FAIL. Of all the videos I have youtubed at work for these polls, this is the one I absolutely least want my boss to catch me watching. No tick!

Roisin - Not as good as overpowered, the verses are good but the discofied chorus is a bit eh. To be honest #28 seems pretty fair. Marginal tick. Has lessened my desire to hear the album but I'll trust Lex on this.

Biffy Clyro - Katie Melua style lyrics over a mopey acoustic ballad. Not bad for what it is. They know what it means to work hard on "Machines". No tick.

Timbaland ft OneRepublic - Hurrah it is the incredible intersection of black and white music, the days of post-punk are with us once again!!!! (Actually this is an OK ballad and I'm feeling generous, marginal tick.)

Wombats - Thrashy urgent indie-rock with really clumsy JD references and some very big WTF moments before the end. Nowhere near a tick but I don't really know what to make of it (other than thinking its a bit horrible).

Nicole Scherzinger - Starts like a Pink Floyd track!! OK the first ten seconds anyway. Tippy-tappy R&B which is only getting a tick because I gave the Hoosiers and OneRepublic one.

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Tom is right about the vocoder. TThe twins should have just released the version they performed in the garden of the BB House with Brian doing the Ken parts. Or better still, got Brian to do it on the record!

I enjoyed the video though, hence my tick, erm...

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martinskidmore.livejournal.com

I'm sure it is about that Mr A, yes. I have autographed copies of the original comics! Ditko autographs are quite rare, I think. I got sent a set of those old self-published (?) things when he did a cover for my mag years back - one of the others was Avenging World, and I can't recall the other, but there were four in total.

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You really should hear the Roisin album - it works really well as an album but also has some really amazing highs. It's very streamlined and confident - I think you'd like it.

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did i really hear katie melua in an ad sing "if you were a plank of wood, i would nail you to the floor" WTF?!

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You should hear the lyrics to her next single - Kate Gnash is in serious danger of losing out in the contest for this year's wooden spoon!

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MAN ALIVE i just googled it and she does (more or less). the lyric is:

If you were a cowboy i would trail you,
If you were a piece of wood id nail you to the floor,
If you were a sailboat i would sail you to the shore

ignoring the possibility that it was contrived as a snug rhyme to the next line, what sort of imagery is this? VIOLENT and UNCOMPLIMENTARY. which makes it sound better than it is

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freakytigger.livejournal.com

Also what is the point of just nailing a piece of wood to the floor anyway?

She is the new Midge Ure.

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Katie as in KATHY BATES Melua!

My estimation of her has jus gone up slightly.

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The lyrics to that next single in full (well, not in full but you get the idea):

Mary Pickford used to eat roses
Thought that they'd
Make her beautiful and they did
One supposes

Douglas Fairbanks, he was so handsome
He wore a moustache
Must-a had much cash, too
Worth a king's ransom

Charlie Chaplin, he was invited,
When these artists became united.

David Griffith worked as an extra,
Then as a stagehand,
Until they let him be
A director

Dave was brave, a mover and shaker,
A true pioneer,
He seemed to show no fear,
A real film maker.

buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh

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freakytigger.livejournal.com

Blimey those are almost in Dolores' range.

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the-roofdog.livejournal.com

I actually heard this one on (where else?) radio 2, it is what beige sounds like. It might be made a bit more exciting if the video is Melua's tribute to Birth Of A Nation.

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"He wore a moustache
Must-a had much cash, too"

ok, that is great

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katstevens.livejournal.com

Hoosiers - I genuinely liked their last song but this is kind of poor in comparison. It has the same bounce but it seems forced instead of bonkers.

Elvis - HA on the Hits!TV video countdown (YES they show ALL the top 40 videos on a Monday night) they didn't play this one as there was no video! They played all of Phil Collins and everything :)

Freemasons - This is pretty good! Barely any trace of Alanis left, a proper bosh transformation. TICK.

Samanda - I am pleasantly surprised! Ken's bits are all super-vocodered and the beat is proper meaty vweep-vweep. The twins are totally enjoying themselves and are clearly amazed they have managed to get a single out of this. TICK.

Roisin - definitely a tick, Rosheeeen is doing v well at the moment! This is good old fashioned Spiller/Moloko disco-bosh. Not as good as Overpowered, but barely anything is :)

Biffy - boring acoustical misery. Uninspiring melody, hits precisely 0 buttons for me.

Timbaland - good video but boring song. I still have no compulsion to listen to his album at all, 5 single releases after buying said album.

Wombats - More skiffle. Oh god the words are making me want to claw my eyes out. ARRRRGH.

Nicole - seconded what Lex said above! This is a really good track when she's not shouting 'THANK YOU TO MY SPONSOR SAMSUNG!' in the middle of it. Soppy ballad delivered very well.

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fathands.livejournal.com

Katie Melua's bizarre lyrics redeemed by her doing a version of recent single on Radio 2 using ridiculous made-up lyrics submitted by listeners.

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