poptimists | Another Year In Pop: 35

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2008

Another Year In Pop: 35

Katy Perry still at the top, five Metallica tracks in the top 100 and Miley finally gets her hit...

[Poll #1251664]

Longevity watch: Gabriella Cilmi's 'Sweet About Me' has now been in the top 40 for 25 weeks, Sam Sparro's 'Black & Gold' has notched up 23 weeks, and Nickelback's 'Rockstar' is still hanging around after 11 months (but not continuously - it took a summer holiday in the nether regions of the chart in June/July). Blimey!

p.s. Thanks again to Moggy for doing last week's poll! My holiday was lovely, thanks :)

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is pjanoo only out now?? seems like its been on the radio all "summer"

*slumps*

We should start rating my "last.fm" chart instead :(

Sorry.

yrs
a.n tired hata

Miley is only tick, although that is grudging because the "2008 Remix" is basically shit.

Yr right that the remix is meh, but is that what people are actually playing/buying?

It's what's on radio and according to Popjustice, the single cover definitely said '2008 Remix.' :( I just feel it unnecessarily fvcks with the original to a detrimental degree; why on earth they think British people want that not the original I have no idea.

I know, I remember being appalled when I heard it on the radio. It doesn't make the song actively bad, but it does make it significantly less good...

O Wate, yes I do, it's so they can just release 'Breakout.'

Hmmm. "'See You Again' was remixed by Rock Mafia and was released on Cyrus's second studio album, Breakout. The remix was officially released only in the United Kingdom, digitally on August 11, 2008 and physically on August 25, 2008. The Rock Mafia Remix of 'See You Again' is also referred to as the '2008 Mix'." Well, still a tick, and anyway maybe the original is what's getting the airplay and the sales. Maybe. I hope.

as i said elsewhere i feel that 'Pjanoo' is worthy of celebration if only for being the first entirely instrumental top 10 hit for a LONG time (unless i've forgotten something glaring from the last few years).

the video even avoids WOMEN'S BOTTOMS :o

Miley & Glasvegas <- TICK

Miley's not quite as good as Ashlee Simpson (Ay Ya Ya), but still a solid slice of pop. Glasvegas is pretty borderline - it's OK indie, but I like it more than I dislike it so I ticked it.

Eric Prydz, dull as ditchwater (and I like Call On Me). The other 2 I didn't bother listening to.

Has there been a better pop lyric this year than "My best friend Lesley said 'Oh, she's just being Miley"?

The best thing about that lyric is that you really can't tell whether Lesley is being supportive or bitchy.

That and it makes it really difficult for anyone else to cover the song later without an obvious rewrite.

It is a great lyric, but also rather saddening. Where is Leslie now? She isn't a celebrity so Miley has acquired a new best friend called Mandy! I always knew Miley was a 2-faced bitch.

Has there been a better pop lyric this year than "My best friend Lesley said 'Oh, she's just being Miley"?

Eric Prydz "Pjanoo": Workmanlike house track, worth a tick; some of you will have to tell me what its social or emotional resonance is, if any. TICK.

Glasvegas "Daddy's Gone": Huh? White guy w/ a drone beat and an - I'm not sure - kind of Afro(?)-pained singing of old-style rock'n'roll. Clumsy and obvious but still perplexing. Guess it sounds good enough for a borderline tick. No, wait, it goes on a minute too long. And on second listening it's the heavy weighty mass of oatmeal. Why was I ever considering ticking this? NO TICK.

Miley Cyrus "See You Again": Combines the chords and doom-laden reverb of rockabilly with the beat of disco, the words combine uncertainty and joy, her voice is scratchy rather than cutesy, all this giving emotional weight to what's basically a happy song. Genuinely great. TICK YOU AGAIN. (But how come I'm rewarding this for "weight" when I slammed "Daddy's Gone" for the very same thing? Well, there's a difference between, you know, a helpful amount of gravity, on the one hand, and crushing plod on the other.)

Paul Weller "All I Wanna Do (Is Be With You)": Nice weighty arrangement, but the weighty singing weighs this down. NO TICK.

Ne-Yo "Miss Independent": Beautiful intro, love his repeated "do yous." But the song proper doesn't rise to the occasion. Improvised singing at the end delivers heat, but I don't know. Feels like a grower, maybe, so BORDERLINE TICK.

Eric Prydz has no social or emotional resonance basically! It gets its tick for competence.

Will be interested to see how high Miley goes.

"James McMahon of NME named the song Track of the Week and praised the song's subject matter, stating 'the love between a young man and his absent dad is rarely visited [...] which makes this second single from Glasvegas [...] all the more touching.'"

"Cyrus is good friends with fellow Hannah Montana co-stars Emily Osment and Mitchel Musso, often texting and conference calling each other during busy days."

"In an interview with USA Today, Cyrus was quoted as saying her faith is 'the main thing' and is the reason why she works in Hollywood."

"Weller has a good relationship with his father and appreciates his practical approach and honest opinions. When Weller's father's health began to fail in 2003–4 he retired from being Weller's manager; nevertheless, Weller still welcomes his opinions."

"The second single from Ne-Yo's Year of the Gentleman album features appearances from independent women Keri Hilson, Lauren London, and Gabrielle Union."

i do ph34r that glavegas are the new travis, at best...

I'm not going to make some massive case for them, but I thought they were pretty good live at Glasto, like. And I CANNOT STAND Travis, so this feels a bit harsh.

oh i know, i think it probably is a bit harsh. i've only heard the singles and liked the other one better, but i think it's just "uh oh, going downtempo for the *second* single???"

also, whatever else one says about travis they did have the knack of writing tunes that would stick in yr head (like the "he's goan, he's goan, he's goan, he's gooooooooooo-aaaaan, wo-OH-OOOOHHHHH" of this).

I think they may make more sense over a set also; not sure they're served particularly well by singles. Which may mean Poptimists is the wrong place for them. I certainly can't/wouldn't want to imagine how an attempt to dance to them would go.

Prydz - wasn't massively impressed when I heard this a few months back (http://community.livejournal.com/poptimists/579180.html) but it has grown on me and I have upgraded it from 'rub goth piano' to pleasant string-bosh. It's totally 1998 but I can deal with that.

Glasvegas - OH DEAR. At the very first gig I went to, in the hall at lunchbreak where we paid 50p to Children In Need for the privilege of listening to two Year 11 lads with a badly amplified guitar and tambourine between them murder Street Spirit and something else which sounded like this.

Miley - I have no idea whether I'm hearing the remix or the original (which I remember being underwhelmed by, I must admit), but it seems possibly a bit more hi-nrg Steps megamix? This would be super-awesome if the transition between verse bits and chorus bits weren't so CLUNKING. Isn't this what a remix is meant to sort out? Hmm. The Youtube video I'm watching though has just had a little pop-up ad saying 'watch Jonas Brothers shopping in HMV'! Whey-hey! Dudes I can watch people shopping in HMV every single lunchtime and in fact DID SO TODAY. This is NOT what the interweb is for. Christ onna bike. Er, reluctant tick.

Weller - botherd. I would be enormously surprised if Weller could ever offer me anything of merit ever again. I don't normally do this but I am going to have to pull age rank here and say GO HOME OLD MAN.

Ne-Yo - hurray for feminism! Oh wait. "There's something so sexy about a woman that doesn't need my help." WELL DONE THERE Ne-Yo. The backing is a bit like Kanye's Flashing Lights which is SO MUCH BETTER that I am going to go and listen to that now instead. Sorry Ne-Yo.

Edited 2008-09-01 14:44 (UTC)

New music aplenty to investigate here (http://www.ilxor.com/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?boardid=41&threadid=63926) (scroll down for youtube links: thanks,

skillextric).

I've only checked out about a quarter of the list so far, but have already found a couple of gems.

I've just got to the Ne-Yo song polled here, and that's really great too. I may have to buy his new album.

I recommend it! Review this Friday.

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Another Year In Pop: 35

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Wiki speaks

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A good ILM thread in case you haven't already seen

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