Another Year In Pop: 39

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Kings of Leon and Katy Perry might still be holding tightly on to the top of the chart, but what's this? TEN new entries in the top 40? Is it 2001 or something? We've got the Bond theme, the Boots theme, double Jonas action and Kanye is...singing?

[Poll #1268962]

Top 100 ancient pop re-entries watch: this week it's The Source & Candi Staton, Bette Midler, and Leon Jackson's X Factor single from last year (er who the hell is buying that???). Blimey.

Comments

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Actually a kind of interesting week! Even if none of the songs are really amazing.

Kanye - so weird how inferior this is to the VMAs one. as I said on ILM: the version of 'love lockdown' on itunes is marginally better than the demo kanye put on his blog but idk i was mesmerised by the tightrope tension of the live performance and i'm just not getting it off either autotune-slathered, dynamic-free recorded version. I don't have anything against autotune at all, and Kanye's use of it on 'Put On' is light years more creative than anyone else's, but for me the power of 'Love Lockdown' stemmed from his voice audibly straining and reaching, and over-autotuning it flattens it, especially on the chorus. Can't say I'm not on tenterhooks for the album though, and tick for the live version.

Sugababes - I've always been reluctant to write off initially-underwhelming Sugababes lead singles, because I know how they worm their way into your head and stay there forever, but...I have not gone back to 'Girls' in like over a week. It's not bad and hugely better than 'The Promise' though, tick.

Alicia & Jack - I actually like this! I don't know how much but it's interesting in a good way, I want to hear it more and work out what it's doing. There's no tune but this doesn't matter, there's a good groove. I was actually going to write it off per Kat's earlier criticism of "sounds like it was recorded in a bin" but it turned out I was listening to a radio rip. Radio rips ned to die. Anyway, as with Kanye, tick for doing something interesting, even if flawed.

James Morrison, Kings Of Leon - soz not bothering

Faith Hill - apparently this is here because someone sang it on X Factor. This country is full of weirdos. Terrible song.

Pink - ugh awful, blaring and lacking in any sort of subtlety. I hate Pink so much

Ironik - ENOUGH, how is it that chancers like this somehow stumble upon successful careers while actually decent UK rappers toil endlessly in the shadows

Jonas Bros, various - they're not even cute ffs.

[koganbot]

You should give "This Is Me" a listen, if you haven't. The Jonas boy doesn't play much of a role, and the song is quite catchy doing clichéd sub-Hannah sing-along self-empowerment. Not as blaring as Hannah but not as interesting either. Of course, you might find this sort of vapid catchiness quite irritating, but I'm curious what you'll think. (I resent this stuff for having displaced the zillion-times-more-interesting stuff from Ashlee-Lindsay-Hilary and for far outselling Aly & A.J., but I have to acknowledge it when it's succesfully hooky.)

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I did try 'This Is Me' last night but can't remember anything about it at all! I didn't like it. Where Disney pop and its stars will end up is more interesting than what it does (or, rehab is more interesting than Jesus).

[edgeofwhatever.livejournal.com]

Have you heard the Demi Lovato album? It is more interesting than Hillary, approaching the interestingness of Lindsay, but not at all as interesting as Ashlee (with the possible exception of "Trainwreck").

[koganbot]

No, I haven't heard it. You've got me interested. Did like a few of the nonsingles I heard on her MySpace. Hilary herself never struck me as particularly interesting in herself, but she was the vehicle for "Come Clean" and "Fly" and "Boom Boom Bang Bang," which were/are interesting directions for pop music. Does one of the co-authors of "Come Clean" have a hand on any of Demi's album tracks?

[koganbot]

James Morrison "You Make It Real": The voice starts pretty enough, OK song, has no pace, though. The words are a facsimile of song lyrics, and the singing gets more and more ungainly as he puts more into it. NO TICK.

Sugababes "Girls": This is arranged as pump-it-up soul from the pop '60s, but the melody is a simple vamp, refusing hooks and climaxes, just ramming forward. No payoff, just steadily bumping its head into the concrete. BEMUSED TICK.

Faith Hill "There You'll Be": Huh? What's this doing here? Oh, X Factor. I generally don't vote for reentries, and I wouldn't have voted for this one when it was new. For all its leaps and whirls it ends up nondescript. NO TICK.

Kanye West "Love Lockdown": Another reductive vamp, but Kanye and his auto-tune hang onto the strange beauty of this, not sure how. TICK. (However, I agree with Lex on the superiority of the live VMA version.)

Alicia Keys f. Jack White "Another Way To Die": Weird Week continues. This is less a theme song than an antisong. Bits of Zeppelin here, bits of bombast there, but no attempt to connect the dots. It gets points for gall, but NO TICK.

Kings Of Leon "Use Somebody": Wisps of postrock float in the background, while front stage is typical crotch-squeeze agony and instrumental blunderbussing. Painful. Just painful. NO TICK.

Jonas Brothers "Burnin' Up"/"When You Look Me In The Eyes": On the heels of Kings Of Leon, this is a blessed relief, like twinkle toes and angels. But then the comparison wears off, and what's left is Jonas bleats and a bad rap. The flip is marginally superior, the bleats in a more innocuous blend, but hardly worth hearing. NO TICK.

Demi Lovato f. Joe Jonas "This Is Me": Half decent singer, catchy song, the wall of strum subdues this too much and Goat Boy is a small bother, but this is a good little bit of tuneful uplift. TICK.

Ironik "I Wanna Be Your Man": I like how the words are always trying to catch up with the rhythm, but the track is irritating in its brightness and lightness, and the bass counterbeats just make this harder to tune out. NO TICK.

Pink "So What": Takes a fun melody and whacks it with a whole ironing board's worth of pain and anger. It undermines its fun, just as intended. NO TICK.

THANK YOU PINK

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

Were it not for 'So What,' my only tick this week would be 'Burning Up.' D:

Re: THANK YOU PINK

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

Although srsly poptimists I didn't think I'd be totally alone in thinking the chorus to the Jonas Bros. effort is catchy?

'Cause I gotta have Faith

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

Does anyone else, when they see the name Faith Hill (or indeed Faith Evans), think immediately of that woman who was wheeled out whenever TV shows and films needed a Mrs Thatcher impersonator?

!!!

[ijgrieve.livejournal.com]

Ticked KoL reluctantly, and ticked P!nk with the kind of emphasis that should give it 3 votes. Pop songs like 'So What' don't come along every week!

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Just seen the Jack White & Alicia Keys vid - it's actually ok! Alicia = well hott, and it's a good Bond-styled look. The song is still DREADFUL however and it's all because of the vocal. I'm amazed they let this be released in that state. URK.