Another Year In Pop: 7

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Dudes we've totally got a new number one! Welsh lass Duffy has booted off Basshunter into the murky depths of number three. But is she any good at all?

[Poll #1140294]
NB Tickers should bear in mind that the Utah Saints track is a new remix, 'Something Good '08'.

Comments

[koganbot]

Um, I'll talk about half of these now and then relisten and talk about some later. Is that OK with you guys? Good, and thanks for giving me slack.

Utah Saints "Something Good": I don't see how ticking this is any different from ticking Elvis, so no tick, though this is a good song. Remix is missing something, though I don't recall the original enough to say what it is. (I have the Utah Saints alb on cassette, I think; it was actually stolen from me in the early 1990s along with Mariah's Emotions and Nirvana's Nevermind, but the person who stole it also stole our phone bill, then stole a car, then ditched the car, the car owner subsequently retrieving the car and finding our stuff in it with the phone bill allowing her to get in touch with us (this was a very eccentric, messed-up thief who got nabbed later in the afternoon), so I got Utah Saints back but Mariah and Nirvana were gone. I rebought Mariah used for about $2, never did repurchase Nevermind, which even used was up around $8.) No tick.

OneRepublic "Stop and Stare": This is really disappointing. I'm not as enamored of the Hilary gypsy-bashing or the Leona bloodletting as a lot of people are, but those are good strong pop songs, and so was "Apologize," whereas this starts with acoustic sensitivity, swells cannily in the setup for the chorus, but the chorus itself is just loud and irritating. Real disappointing, as I said. Stopped, stared, didn't tick.

Simple Plan "When I'm Gone": These guys are generally lame mushed-up sub-Green Day mush, yet I like this track: interesting little harpsichord squiggles, then typically wanky Ameriboy vocals (even if they're Canadian), which resolve into a chorus that has the prettiness and the oceanic sound that I was expecting from OneRepublic. They come close to ruining it in the break, which is as loud and irritating as the OneRepublic chorus, but the tune and the sea swell of the rest is enough to bring this to a tick.