Another Year In Pop: 17

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Biggish week this week - lots of Poptimists favourites and non-favourites on show here!

[Poll #1178937]

Comments

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Wiley has a shot at number 1 I'm guessing! Good work that man.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Wiley and Estelle (and indeed Flo Rida) all share a PR - am guessing she's loving 2008... (a positive sign is that she does Cassie as well)

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

YAY WILEY! Who'd have thought Wiley would make it to the top 5 before Dizzee...could go even higher, too. Absolutely brilliant that this is so successful. Everyone should check out the Mz Bratt response track too - "usually skank, usually pose, usually flirting". Sounds better the louder it is.

YAY ASHLEE! We have covered this already I think, I love her goofiness ("..or I'll BITE YR HEAD OFF!") and the video is one of the best of the year so far. Can't wait to hear the album.

BOO TO THE OTHERS.

My ticks

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

Wiley - hurrah Top 5 etc. though I marginally prefer the Mz Bratt version. And "Rolex Sweep" may be better than either of 'em. But what do we call this sound, grimehouse? Whatever, UK pop urgently needs more of this sort of genre cross-pollination, I reckon.

Ashlee - of the three songs I've heard from the new LP, this is easily the best. I like that Timbaland now realises how frickin' annoying his "featured" vocals can be.

Hoosiers - ooh er that's two ticks for singles by this lot in a row from me. The acceptable face of the Scouting-For-Wombats phenomenon. Or the exception that proves the rule. Or something.

Re: My ticks

[koganbot]

I like that Timbaland now realises how frickin' annoying his "featured" vocals can be.

If only that were true. Later on the alb he makes an effort to "Murder" murder, replacing what had been an actually funny rap by the Travis guy from Gym Class Heroes going "O.J. is my favorite Simpson." I wonder if there was record company pressure to delete that one.

One never knows, but my guess here is that though he's the first-listed producer on a number of tracks he farmed out most of the actual work out to King Logan, Jerome Harmon, and Jim Beanz. He has no writers credits on the album at all.

Re: My ticks

[koganbot]

Turns out it's not Timbaland murdering "Murder" but a sound-alike. In any event, the rap isn't a significant part of the song, fortunately.

[spazhammer.livejournal.com]

i love pendulum, but the new one is a jumbled mess. they need to quit it with the singer/lyrics thing and just concentrate on banging tunes...

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Yes. I don't know much Pendulum but having just returned from a 3-day oldskool/rave/jungle/hardcore marathon I can safely say it lacks a certain something. I assume they've done much better then? Any recommendations for a starting point?

The Script

[lockedintheatti.livejournal.com]

oh dear:

"Irish people have soul," according to Danny. "It comes from generations of pain, and generations of understanding emotion to be able to physically get that in a solid sound."

they appear to be trying to be the Irish Maroon 5

Re: The Script

[redcommieapples.livejournal.com]

The Script are disgusting. It sounds like they've ripped off a Rihanna song, trying to be like Mattafix, but end up just horrible.

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

v happy for Wiley's success but have got quite tired of the track already - I just wish he'd put more into his stuff. He's fantastic at instant thrills/impact but by not involving anyone else on this one I think it's power burns out too quickly. 'Rolex Sweep' didn't help here as it's own mentasm-tastic fabness stole some of the original thunder.

It paves the way for a release of 'Im Going Out' in July too which would be PERFECT but again I think he should rework it, add to the music/sequence so it's not just the one loop (wonderful tho it is, maybe the best loop he's done) all through the track.

meanwhile I have realised I have no problem at all with Adele's voice. This track is too Ronsonhouse-by-numbers to get excited by but I must post the Basement Jaxx and Rosko remixes which are excellent (well the latter is, the former is just decent-by-default)

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I really disagree with the "Rolex needs more variation" line that you and Kat are pushing - it would destroy the effectiveness of the song, the way it recreates the paranoid thought-loop you get when you're really wasted.

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

A middle 8 would be too much, yes, but an extra verse wouldn't have hurt.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

the radio edit is just too short - I don't think an extra verse would go amiss but the 7-minute extended version is immensely satisfying (no extra verse).

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I love the economy of the 2-and-a-half minute version: makes its point, gets out, endlessly repeatable. It's still my favourite track this year I think.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Actually what I'd really love is a version where the Wiley og and the Mz Bratt response were spliced together.

old hat for us lot, but

[jauntyalan.livejournal.com]

it's nice to hear Knife stylings (in the Robyn) being played on mainstream telly and radio

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

Wiley excellent, Pendulum basically a rip off of everything they've done before but the good bits of that, so I suppose it gets a tick, Ashlee bonkers and ace, Hoosiers an out-and-out ripoff of The Lovecats but I quite like the lyrics, Robyn good, Wombats jolly.

[bengraham.livejournal.com]

Wiley might face some surprise competition at the top of the charts this Sunday from Peter Norton. "Who?" I hear you chorus.

Well, Peter is the groundsman of Ebbsfleet United Football Club, the team that was taken over by 29,000 internet users from around the globe. Ebbsfleet are playing in the FA Trophy Final on May 10th, and to mark the occasion (and raise funds for a new lawnmower), the groundsman has recorded a single. Bearing in mind that 10,000 sales is usually enough for Top 10, I can see Norton troubling the upper reaches of the chart this week before disappearing without a trace a week later. After all, there are thousands of MyFootballClub members like myself who will probably think that it is worth spending the 79p just to see how high in the charts we can get the song.

Campaigns to raise songs up the charts don't often work without a specific purpose, and often clash with busy weeks for new singles (such as in the run-up to WOBS. This week seems relatively quiet on the singles release front, and I really reckon Norton could make it into the Top 5.

[bengraham.livejournal.com]

Incidentally, you can hear the song and watch the video here (http://www.myfootballclub.co.uk/peternorton/qandas.php).

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

i'm sure the wombats is awful, it's the line about a "whorish dress" that rly rubs the wrong way, but yes, clearly catchy, ie i have been singing it for the last ten minutes just because of looking at this.

however, after last year's holloways debacle...

...it's worse than that though, right?

like that it *almost* quotes sultans of ping though, obv.

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

Ummmmmm The Script have several candidates for freakytigger's worst lyric of the year list! Yikes. (Who are these people??)

[koganbot]

Five ticks! Is that a record? (I don't know and I'm too lazy to look.)

Wiley "Wearing My Rolex": I like how by his desperately serious demeanor - you can almost hear his eyes darting from side to side - he never lets on that he's being riotously funny. GLEEFUL TICK.

Pendulum "Propane Nightmares": Starts with nicely blown Mexican cowboy Morricone horns, followed on by really disappointing lameness from the singer, and the bass 'n' bosh that comes to the rescue isn't enough. NO TICK.

Adele "Cold Shoulder": Violins go sweet on one channel and pissily pizzy on the other, to a good hot-and-sour effect. Voice has too much Tash and Amy Imitato-Quirky Respectability, but I rather like this. Rhythm tickles her toes, she almost rocks out; sadly, the impact weakens as this goes along, and she should have varied from her nasal highs. So, not as good as its promise, but gets my TICK.

The Script "We Cry": Drums and bass give this as much commitment to dance as to message. More listenable than I'd feared. But fear aside, I'm not excited. Everything depends on the chorus, which has some emotional pull but not enough. NONTICK.

Ashlee Simpson "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)": This would be some kind of musical breakthrough if anyone would bother paying attention, which in the U.S. is not happening at all (got played in Arizona and south Texas and nowhere else, didn't even reach the Top 120), but Top 40 in Britain is a nice start. Will it hold on? She's delightfully out of her brain, catchy, hilarious, goofy, with her emotions and anguish strong enough in the margins to make this feel. Is its own dance pop, doesn't hew to anyone else. MASSIVE LUNA-TICK!

The Hoosiers "Cops and Robbers": Too self-conscious in its "funniness," and the fast and fun rhythm undercuts its actual swing and sway by far too much, but I won't claim there's no viscera here. And it is kinda fun. Worse than it should be, but it's a TICK.

Robyn "Who's That Girl": Pissy white girl goes cute and frantic, would own this week's Frightened-Eye Award if Wiley hadn't jumped in ahead of her. But she is wonderful. WIDE-EYED TICK.

Wombats "Backfire At The Disco": Wait, didn't I review this a year ago? Yes, here it is: "Compliment misfires, results in dance-floor tragedy. [5]" Guess that's not a tick, though this isn't the worst thing I've ever heard.

Warning, containts Adele rant

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Good week I think!

Wombats - Oh dear. The dudes who like the Rapture are taking the piss out of Wired For Sound. Dude that's like sacrelige. This has an extremely annoying chorus. They all have bad hair. If someone is slapping him then I think he is either going to the wrong sort of disco or probably deserves it. No ticky.

Robyn - Oh yes this one. I knew I knew it, but couldn't remember exactly and kept singing Eurythmics instead. She still has good hair. Perhaps the Wombats should try having hair like Robyn's. The chorus is still good but the verse is underwhelming, luckily the electro wibble carries it along. TickX0r.

Hoosiers - It is indeed totally the Lovecats but whatevs, I like the Lovecats. And I still like the Hoosiers. Perhaps enough to buy their album but lets not be hasty. Good urchin leg-kick at the end. Tick.

Ashlee - Hooray! Best of the week, no question. Ay-Ay-Ay-Ay Yaa! I'm sad that the radio edit cuts out Timbaland's "AAAASHLEER! Am I getting on yr NERRRVES?" I like her much better when she does Baffled as opposed to Kooky. I mean, it must be quite baffling being Ashlee Simpson. Like waking up and finding half your nose has gone. Or that you're sitting on a giant Rubiks Cube with no idea how you got there.

Script - Er I only caught 15 seconds of this as we were watching Joe Swail do a 133 break to save the match. I'm guessing from that brief glimpse that this is some American chap trying to do a James Blunt with some high budget production. I am certain that it will do very well and be the next Onerepublic or something but I can safely say it is Not For The Likes Of Me. No tick.

Adele - God I can't BEAR the way she looks up at the camera, then flutters her eyelashes down and does this 'bleeergh' thing with her lower lip. GET ONE TIMES NEW FACIAL EXPRESSION. She just comes across as sneery and dislikeable whenever I look at her. I've just moved the Text Editor window over the Youtube box and the song has VASTLY IMPROVED. I like her vocal intonation on the chorus, the strained foghorn really works well with the melody and the backing is interesting (good use of cello and clinkle-bells). I'm giving the song a tick as I want to hear it again but I can't bear to watch her sing it. SMILE WOMAN. Or at least DO SOMETHING. Please! Just don't stand there like a fvcking melon so our attention is drawn to your annoying facial ticks. DO SOMETHING. Mow the lawn, ride a unicorn, whatever, anything but trying to show us that it doesn't matter what you look like if you're a good singer, and it doesn't except this isn't just a song, it's a video, and if you're not going to do something interesting with that you might as well just shove a photo still up and have done with it. Crikey that turned into a bit of a rant.

Pendulum - I've not heard much Pendulum apart from their other single that cropped up a while back. The start sounds like a goth version of that Arctic Monkey dude's new thing from the other week? Oooh, the 8-bit Atari riff is good when it kicks in, the rest of the song falls a bit flat though. Hahaha this would make a good mashup with different vocals on the top of the drum-n-bass-y bits, perhaps the theme from Emmerdale? Hello there, guess what I've been dancing to all weekend. Marginal tick as there is def some potential here.

Wiley - Still awesome, but too short and not really meaty enough. It needs a proper middle 8. Tick of course, tho.

Re: Warning, containts Adele rant

[edgeofwhatever.livejournal.com]

Adele - God I can't BEAR the way she looks up at the camera, then flutters her eyelashes down and does this 'bleeergh' thing with her lower lip.

I believe this is the sole reason why I haven't listened to anything other than the first five seconds of her first single.

[ijgrieve.livejournal.com]

5 ticks this week. Wow.

Wombats - Alright indie-pop. Not much doubt about the tick, but not something I'll remember at the end of the year either.

Robyn - Not usually my type of thing, but this is an interesting track. Like the lyrics.

Hoosiers - I ticked this, but I don't think it'll bear repeat listening well at all. Really jolly and happy, but shit lyrics.

Ashlee - Wow! I wasn't expecting this. Really like it. Second best pop song of the year so far (behind Alphabeat). Best song of the week of course.

Script - Crap

Adele - Do I have to?

Pendulum - I ticked this, but only just. As a couple of other poptimists have said, it's a bit of a mess - but I reckon there's probably something else in their oeuvre that I'd love.

Wiley - Er, no