Another Year In Pop: 18

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Quiet week.

[Poll #1183357]

This seems a good time to remind people that any tick - i.e. in one of the last two boxes - is better than none as it keeps the stats even at year's end.

Comments

[koganbot]

My first ever DON'T LIKE ANY, and strangely enough it's from three out of four performers I've ticked in the past.

Jay Sean "Maybe": High prettiness, gentle homey bkgd, logs in the fireplace. I don't dislike this, but it's not clicking. "Ride It" was a more luxuriant ride. NONTICK. (However, I recommend Jay Sean's "I Won't Tell," on his MySpace: like Timberlake going for a reggae mournfulness, even if Sean still needs more oomph in his voice ever to come close to Timberlake.)

Duffy "Warwick Avenue": Having heard three tracks, I think I like Duffy. Sure, she's retro, and her way of going '60s undercuts any of the original cultural frisson of the styles she's biting; but the sounds themselves give me a rush. "Warwick Avenue" is unexpected in that she's attempting low-impact Otis Redding, it seems, and given that Otis never went for low-impact himself, this feels novel: like the roughneck Otis pretending he's singing lead for Temptations-style smoothies so he sweetens himself accordingly. But this is too low-impact! None of the excitement of "Rockferry" and "Mercy." Not touching me. Reluctant NONTICK.

Kelly Rowland f. Travis McCoy "Daylight": At ease in its competence, sharp drizzle from the guitar, misty accompaniment, the track immediately at a level above the Jay Sean and the Duffy. But above shmabove: I'm not connecting to a melody. Not feeling it. Travis adds life but also clumsiness. TICKLESS.

One Night Only "It's About Time": Clumsily rocked boogie funk w/ Indie Voice from the Wry Subdivision. Interesting guitar twistarounds, almost a restrained Prog, which is good in the sense that it's ambitious, at least, but I can't muster up a level of interest beyond "interesting." TICKFREE.