A kung fu fighter in a disco

Good old Keane. I can only imagine that single hasn't done better because everyone's waiting to buy the album instead. Thrift = Mum pop rule #1, innit.

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freakytigger.livejournal.com

It wasn't a 'proper' single (in whatever sense that means anything any more) - I think you could only get it from one place and it wasn't hugely promoted. The first actual actual single, according to Wikipedia, is called something like "Love is for Lovers", which sounds a bit Ashcroft IMO.

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Hang on what is this a different version of 'Swagga Like Us'? How have they relegated TI from being the lead artist to not even being credited?? Is TI not enough of a household name for the UK? God that's annoying esp as Jay-Z's verse is by far the lamest. I don't know whether to tick this or not - I think the use of the sample starts out great but swiftly becomes v grating; Kanye and Wayne are both good on it but nothing I'd listen to over their best work this year; TI is oddly unmemorable, despite him being my favourite rapper around just in terms of how his voice sounds; and Jay-Z is as tedious as all of his new material. Rapping about skinny jeans, dnw, even if he is dissing them.

J-Hud HURRAH, this remains a terrific slow burn of a track. It works in a similar way to 'Bleeding Love' and Ne-Yo's 'Because Of You' - doesn't blow you away at first, but it doesn't need to because the subtleties and nuances inevitably end up getting to you anyway: the way the main vocal line and the backing vox play off against each other, the way the chorus builds, the way the song feels like some kind of pivotal setpiece musical number, the conflict in the lyrics...this is one of my favourite pop songs of the year. OMG, the middle eight is so teary and dramatic! The Quentin Harris remix is also recommended, it's this towering house thing where judicious echo effect transforms J-Hud from meek & mild girl-next-door into EPIC BELTING HOUSE DIVA with tears in her eyes.

Will Young - kind of boring and nothingy? I remember a time when it looked like he'd become a great English eccentric pop star but he seems to have retreated into bland ersatz soul and can now be filed alongside Adele. 'Leave Right Now' is still the only really great song he's done and it's looking more and more like the anomaly in his discography.

The Streets - ughhhhh I hate him so much! His VOICE. His MAWKISHNESS. His ORDINARY BLOKE affectations. Bizarre to remember how much I loved Original Pirate Material - I don't think I could bear to go back to it now.

Sorry, not bothering with Fall Out Boy.

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Re: J-Hud, I posted the video and mp3 a while back. No one seemed to care :(

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oh ffs. for all you NOT HEARD ANYs the original post is HERE (http://community.livejournal.com/poptimists/601600.html)

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I took the info off the OCC website (http://www.theofficialcharts.com/top40_singles.php), no idea why TI isn't on there. He's surely reasonably well know since the Justin Timberlake song he was on did REALLY well?

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Chart Stats has decided to just credit it to Jay-Z only ha

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lockedintheatti.livejournal.com

That's bizarre, as it's listed on iTunes as Jay-Z & TI (featuring Kanye & Lil Wayne)

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Plus, it's going to be on the Jay-Z and TI solo albums, but wasn't on Lil' Wayne's and presumably won't be on Kanye's.

It might be because the actual UK lead single off the TI album, 'Whatever You Like' (which is MUCH better than 'Swagga Like Us'), seems to be slowly making its way up the chart as well, and if that's getting the promo push then presumably the record company doesn't want to confuse people by pushing two lead TI singles simultaneously.

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jeff-worrell.livejournal.com

I must say I thought it was TI featuring [the rest of hip hop].

Slightly more importantly, though, is it Swagger or Swagga (I've seen both cited)?

And if it is 'Swagga' as in Ragga, then surely the title ought to be "Swagga Like We" ;)

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koganbot

Billboard credits it to Jay-Z & T.I. Probably some U.K. typist made the decision to keep T.I. off. However, I think Kanye's rap is the one that drives the song. Who's the producer?

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Arf, the only person credited on my magical database is MIA! It's not a confirmed whatsit yet though so I'm sure that'll change.

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I posted the P Diddy take-off vid on my journal at the weekend.

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I still do not understand the point of NOT HEARD ANY option. Am I thick?

I do not like 'Swagga Like Us' much at all. Something about that voice effect used by Kanye and Wayne bothers me, it just sounds too strained and gimmicky. Similar effect ran into the ground by T-Pain - time for other ideas (like actual proper singing maybe) imo. Whole thing is ploddy and uninteresting to me. Kanye's new solo single is better (but then all of their recent or forthcoming solo singles are).

Hudson pleasant enough but not something I could get excited about at the same time. Just glad to have something tickable.

What The Streets is doing feel/seems worthy at times - it's just a real shame EVERYTHING about his work musically and vocally sounds bloody awful now.

September is nearly always a lousy month I guess.

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jauntyalan.livejournal.com

pretty much this, but i couldn't bring myself to tick any. annoying really, cos i've actually been quite 'up' about new chart stuff recently.

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This is the first week in ages where there's actually something to be excited about.

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?
what about 'In the Ayer' and 'When I Grow Up' from the previous 2 weeks (and fsvo excitement)

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what is fsvo?

I like 'Spotlight' a lot more than those two tracks, though yes people should have got excited about them too.

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fsvo = for some value of (i don't think i've used it before, i don't know who invents these things)

PCDs got a lot of ticks so perhaps that qualifies as excitement.

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I'm not sure I know what "for some value of" means!

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koganbot

The NOT HEARD ANY option keeps the percentages square, so that a song that scores 26 ticks in a busy week isn't penalized in its percentage in comparison to one that gets only 10 ticks in a week where no one is listening. You want to have more or less the same number of voters overall, week by week. Tho obv turnout is getting smaller and smaller anyway. Jay-Z + cronies and FOB the only acts w/ high-name recognition this week, which explains why so many didn't bother to hear, or if they did hear, didn't remember.

(Or is Will Young high name-recognition in Britain?)

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Will Young is v high recognition here - he was the first Pop Idol winner. In fact I'm surprised he didn't score more ticks, even if the song isn't great. This (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFthp-dFg5c) is his best single, which weirdly works in a similar way to 'Spotlight': understated everything, performed as though it's a musical setpiece, leaving room for the lyrics and the conflict and the emotional nuance to shine through. Key line: "If I lose the highs, at least I'm spared the lows". Oh, repressed Englishmen.

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piratemoggy.livejournal.com

This week is pretty bad.

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koganbot

Ticked all but one, but could easily have not ticked a couple that I did tick.

Will Young "Changes": He's quite gorgeous in the verse: beauty and yearning in a smooth mix. The chorus lets him down, though. Gives us a pang or two but no tune. So, half a tick, which registers here as a BORDERLINE TICK.

Jennifer Hudson "Spotlight": Strong voice, basic passion, smart lyrics, "Maybe if you treat me right, then you won't have to worry." But the arrangement feels like approximate disco rather than actual disco, doesn't quite flow or stomp or soar enough. BORDERLINE TICK.

Jay-Z & T.I. f. Kanye West and Lil Wayne "Swagga Like Us": The drums and the M.I.A. sample drive this forward and Kanye at the start is driving right with it. Jay-Z is clumsy and T.I. is rote, Wayne is his twirling lil self but is superfluous. The track is raw power nonetheless. TICKA TICKA TICKA.

The Streets "Everything Is Borrowed": The sound is deliberately diffuse, so there's no surprise it doesn't hit me. It's not trying to. Nonetheless it doesn't hit me. NO TICK.

Fall Out Boy "I Don't Care": Big loud dumbboy boogie with harmonies jammed in. I have had days now to get irritated by it, but the bubbliness keeps this solidly in TICKLAND.

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The arrangement of the Hudson (producers were Stargate, which I'm sure you aren't surprised at) has been fairly commonplace over the past year or so - the 4/4 beat hinting at a basic dance element, but fundamentally the song is a ballad or a midtempo jam. Alicia Keys' 'No One', Ne-Yo's 'Because Of You' and so on. I'm rather taken with the style, but it definitely needs a strong vocal and lyrical presence, both of which this provides in spades. I like that everything about it is so understated that you have to focus, eventually, on Hudson herself.

Though if you want disco here's the Quentin Harris mix (http://www.sendspace.com/file/7benx8)!

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