A Year In Pop: 50

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Good grief.

[Poll #1107478]

(ObReminder: LEAGUE OF POP AT GMAIL DOT COM TEN TRACKS DO IT NAO or before new years anyway)

Comments

[koganbot]

Eve Cassidy & Katie Melua "What A Wonderful World": For a melody I never want to hear again, this is not so bad. For singers I'm never going to go out of my way to hear again, they're not so bad either, except for Katie Melua, who is almost as quirky and cute as this year's other Kate, and not nearly as talented. No tick.

Michael Buble "Lost": Saw a fellow do this guy really well in karaoke; we marveled at how expert the fellow was. As is the Buble he was modeling himself on, actually, and he's not communicating a heavy-handed "tastefulness" either, just kinda Um, I Forget. No tick.

Shaun The Sheep "Life's A Treat": From the moniker I assumed this would be an indie band; whereas, in reality, it's performed by an actual sheep. And not an indie sheep either. But not a mainstream pop sheep or an r&b sheep or a teenpop sheep. Sorry, Mr. Sheep, you're just a novelty. No tick.

Amy Macdonald "This Is The Life": A strong, rich voice, singing the sort of mournful melody that dates back to the 1960s, or the 18960s, or the 1770s. Tick! (Why am I the only one to tick this? I've never heard of this woman. Has she committed crimes in the past?)

Stereophonics "My Friends": This shocks me by not being terrible. Potential metalness at the start, which of course the band fails to follow through on, instead goes through no changes for a while, which is supposed to build up tension but doesn't. Then the tune and harmonies are surprisingly likable. Copying Beatles-era psychedelia, but the singing is fuzzed-up and inert. My guess is that hearing this ten times in a week would be more of a trial than a joy. If my criterion were "any good at all" I'd have to tick this, but fortunately my standards are higher. No tick.

Scouting For Girls "Elvis Ain't Dead": I have nothing to say about this other than that we at poptimists owe a collective apology to Cute Is What We Aim For, Kate Nash, Panda Bear, Pigeon Detectives, and Westlife.

Chris Rea "Driving Home For Christmas": This would be vaguely irritating in the background piped into Macy's on a busy shopping day. I might therefore use this in the background for a contemporary film noir/domestic melodrama, the adulterous couple meeting at a mall, this song being ominous by not being ominous, see? (No tick, however.)

Rihanna "Don't Stop The Music": Has this half-pained, half-flirty tone she often uses, the beat pounds obsessively while everything else builds up. But by halfway through it's got nowhere to go, so kinda hits a plateau, becomes kinda halfway there, though pleasantly so. And how in the world is she better than Britney, whose album has 10 songs better than this? But a definite tick.

Foals "Balloon": Sorta floats along with floppy blah above a strong beat. Falls between "intense" and "diffuse" without being interesting. Ah, here's a dark, heavily drummed interlude. Then, return to the flop. Interesting once, I suppose. No tick.

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

given that shaun the sheep is voiced by Vic Reeves, ertwhile collaborator with both EMF and the Wonderstuff, i think we can label Shaun the Sheep pretty indie...