Another Year In Pop: 38

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Sorry it's late dudes! This week sees barely anything new going on in the top 10 at all, and me feeling very stupid for not realising that P Diddy was just giffing on over a Jay-Z track instead of being a musical genius etc etc. I blame it all on the fact that I am HORRENDOUSLY busy (which has also meant a rather hasty poll, sorry if I've missed anything out).

[Poll #1265404]

Comments

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

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.

[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.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

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

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

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

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

what is fsvo?

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

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

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.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

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

[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?)

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

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.