AYIP Supplement April 2008

[anatol-merklich.livejournal.com]

There was a record number of 41-to-75ers in April; hopefully 20 alternatives isn't enough to induce poptimist fatigue. Also, quite a few of these tracks and acts have been listened to and discussed here recently, so go ahead, click the links optional, watch the vids optional and vote and talk away!

[Poll #1183488]

Comments

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

YAAAH!

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

OK there are some TERRIFIC tracks in there which should never have stalled so low! This is far better reading than the actual top 40 polls of late.

Good to see a whole bunch from the Step Up 2 The Streets soundtrack (which I presume is the reason they're there at all): Cassie, all sweetness and hope; Cherish, dipping perfectly-manicured toes into thug land; Brit & Alex coming on like a crunk'n'b Aly & AJ. The Plies song sucks so hard though.

Double Jordin: 'Tattoo' is very good but 'No Air' is the single of the year, as previously discussed (http://community.livejournal.com/poptimists/540153.html). 'No Air' will assuredly be back, anyway - it only charted because of a mistake and will be properly released in July. GOT ME OUT HERE IN THE WATER SO DEEP, etc.

Pretty sure Flo Rida and Soulja Boy will be hitting the top 40 properly soon, I like the former (it's almost exactly the same as '4 Minutes', yeah? I have known few major pop stars with as little shame for rehashing their own material note-for-note as Timbaland) but the latter is...well...YAHHH TRICK YAHHH. Awesome.

Weezy F Baby - this might hit the top 40 too, hopefully? 'Lollipop' is a classic case of a mad genius toning himself down and hemming himself in to gain commercial success but it's not awful, I still have high hopes for Tha Carter III and bonus points for sending me an actual lollipop in the shape of a dice in the promo package.

'Beeper' - hurrah fidget house + kiddie hipster rap. Kid Sister is, like, the coolest girl ever. She should work with Lil' Mama.

Which leaves Róisín and Portishead as my other two ticks. Still don't know what I really think of the latter's album b/c it's STILL too bleak to listen to, and now it's too sunny to feel bleak. 'Machine Gun' is so forbidding and monumental.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Step Up 2 The Streets is so good! I might have to go and listen to it RITE NOW.

[koganbot]

it only charted because of a mistake

You mean lots of people were downloading it so it showed up? (I think is what happened with Miley Cyrus's "See You Again" before people realized they had to take it seriously as a single.) This happens more often in the U.S., where airplay is counted towards the charts, so sometimes various radio stations will be getting demand for an album track in addition to the official single so they'll be playing it.

[lockedintheatti.livejournal.com]

Yeah, they downloaded it after seeing her perform on American Idol (which gets quite respectable viewing figures here on a cable channel). It's not due a proper release in the UK until the summer, so it could well (and should) still return.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

The trouble is, they downloaded it just as Jordin's label was starting to promote 'Tattoo'. I think whatever version of 'No Air' is legally available here might have been deleted so as not to fuck up the release schedule, which is pure idiocy of the sort that I'm inured to by now.

[koganbot]

In any event, when I looked at this list I was saying "How in the world does 'No Air' manage not to be a hit?"

(But how much presence does Chris Brown have in Britain? What about Jordin? Is there much of a British audience for American Idol?)

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Chris Brown is HUGE with the Kidz, esp the girls, as close to a pin-up as anyone is right now I guess, but I think adults (who prob account more for chart placings, as evidenced by all the Step Up 2 The Streets tracks failing to hit the top 40) are only just beginning to be aware of him.

I don't think Jordin has much of a presence at all yet (American Idol has an audience, but I don't think it's shown on terrestrial channels) - the only past AI winner to have any sort of UK career at all is Kelly Clarkson, and the fact that she'd won AI was kind of secondary to the fact that 'Since U Been Gone' was a stone cold classic. Even Fantasia Barrino didn't bother releasing anything in this godforsaken country :(

(Jordin is going to get a huge promotional push here this summer though)

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

NB: Chris Brown's new single 'Forever'. OMG THIS IS AMAZING.

[mcarratala.livejournal.com]

American Idol apparently gets around 600,000 viewers here on a good week (although of course TV audience figures are and always have been near pure fantasy).

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

No, I don't think this Soulja Boy will go Top 40 now. It's been out on CD for several weeks. Poor promotion here may be the cause - I've not even heard it yet.

[koganbot]

Btw, of the songs I hadn't listened until today, the one that's really wooing me is "Killa." The style is pretty common now - r&beats underpinning low-volume melisma and semiwails that are interspersed with bombs of harmonic beauty - but the style seems to only be getting better and better from whoever's doing it.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

My faves on here: Cassie, Scooter, Soulja.

Least fave (of the ones I've heard): Kylie.

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

ooh i totally missed scooter in there!

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

you also missed Cassie, Jordin x2, Flo Rida and Lil' Wayne >:-(

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

well yes, but i haven't heard them have i dear?

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

you MUST have heard 'Is It You?' and 'No Air'!!!

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I mean 'Is It You?' has been linked to, in mp3 and on youtube, at least twice, and it's been talked about and mentioned virtually every week for the past six months - it was even in the Poptimists top 40 tracks on last year!

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

yeah, but doesn't mean i've clicked on it...

To live inside the major not the minor chord

[koganbot]

Well, I can't tell you how many times I've linked "Square Biz" and "Lips To Find You" and I still can't tell if anyone's listened to them.

[grrl-cake.livejournal.com]

YAHHHH

Soulja Boy soldiers on

[koganbot]

Aww, "Yahhh"'s lead disappeared overnight. (Well, to be honest I prefer "Is It You," but I still liked the idea of "Yahhh" being the poptimists' choice.) Glad that "Killa" ended up with significant support.

[bengraham.livejournal.com]

'What Do You Want From Me' is probably my favourite track on Cascada's album. Gutted it didn't make more of an impression on the charts.

[weasel-seeker.livejournal.com]

*sigh*

Wrote a lengthy comment about a bunch of these songs, but then submitted the poll without thinking to post comment. Stupid brain.

Not going to write it out all over, so just a quick note. What's with the piano intros to the videos for Cassie and Jordin? Don't they know that we love them with or without the ability to play instruments? Down with videoclip rockism and credibility grabs!

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

It works in the Jordin video because it fits in with the total OTT hamminess of the...entire rest of it. Cassie video is ridiculously boring though, it is literally her JUST STANDING THERE FOR FOUR MINUTES.

[anatol-merklich.livejournal.com]

Have a look at where on the keyboard Jordin's hands are btw -- surely her piano must be tuned RIDICULOUSLY low? :p

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Are we going to get one of these for May? I'm willing to do it if you don't have time (though I don't know how to do polls...)

[anatol-merklich.livejournal.com]

Absolutely! Filtered the list yesterday, have the text + poll template ready, will find youtube links + post this evening.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

COOL I eagerly anticipate Lil' Mama flattening all in her path :D