Another Year In Pop: 43

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

We have a new number one! That makes it 18 singles going straight into the top ten for Girls Aloud (only their third #1, mind), round of applause there.

[Poll #1285924]

Bonkers re-entry watch: Purple Rain by Prince. Any ideas?

Comments

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

woah good week for once - The Game and CB/KH the only (borderline) non-ticks for me

re Purple Rain, i think someone did it on X Factor last week

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

I thought it was Michael Jackson week last week (Man In The Mirror was another re-entry fairly high up, so were a couple of others). Or was that the weekend just gone and everyone pelted over to iTunes double-quick?

[demiabeille.livejournal.com]

The Spanish bird did some aparrently amazing rendition of purple rain last week on x factor when she was in the bottom two. I missed it!

here you go :)

[offensive-mango.livejournal.com]

Re: here you go :)

[demiabeille.livejournal.com]

Hooray thanks Mango!

Re: here you go :)

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

That's amazing! I've only seen two clips from this year's X Factor (the other was someone called Rachel doing 'You Know I'm No Good' a few weeks ago - is she still in? She had better be) and they've both been magnificent.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

No round of applause, god, 'The Promise' is so limp and lame. This 60s retro revival really needs to stop. As do past-it Xenomania. I actually really hate the production on this...it's just absolutely slathered in 60s signifiers, those overpowering strings and that heavy-handed beat and the unnecessary trumpet. It's totally overdone and would be too much for even a strong track, so the weak-ass songcraft on show here stands no chance. I kind of wish people would stop with the brand loyalty here.

Guru Josh Project - is it just me or has there been a surfeit of dance reissues this year? Are new dance tracks considered beyond the pale for the record industry? Annoying then, annoying now.

Kardinal Offishall - has grown on me! Passed me by initially but it's a lovely pop-dancehall bounce. Akon feels v much like yesterday's man...weird to think that just a couple of years ago he was the go-to guy for a guaranteed hit. I don't think this will restore him to that position but it'll always be nice to hear.

The Game - also seems like a man out of time...I think it's his seriousness which makes him seem like a throwback, but I'm not even sure what to - you get the impression he's obsessed with some mythical idea of hip-hop which only exists in his head...does any rapper namecheck other hip-hop works half as much as him? It works, because he does it fairly blatantly for emotional effect - he's best at heart-tugging portent, and the piano&strings production backs him up well here. Probably his best track after 'Hate It Or Love It' - really must remember to check out the album.

John Legend - yeah, I love the skittery feel and the echoing vox - it's like a sequel to Kelis's 'Millionaire'. I reviewed John Legend's album the other week and I think he's got this really wonderful warmth in his voice which carries his material. The album's good, a bit oatmeal in places but the duets with Brandy and Estelle are fantastic.

Bloc Party - he's toned down his awful vocals more than I've ever heard but still can't hit the notes. Boring corporate rock nonsense. What on earth do people see in this band.

Chris Brown - yup, Chris and Keri sound good together, this is nice if not as amazing as 'With You'. Next to him Keri must seem like a bit of a cougar, right? (I'm really feeling Keri's own latest single, 'Return The Favor'...I like it better than 'Energy'. Apparently like half her album's leaked but I haven't had time to get on the case yet.)

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Despite the good new entries, it's still depressing to look at this week's top 10, which I think might be the worst of my ENTIRE LIFE - I literally can't remember the last time there was only one good song in the top 10. (Kanye, obv.)

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

Fall Out Boy did a great cover of the Kanye song for the Radio 1 Live Lounge this past week.

(I doubt that you'd agree with the "great" descriptor obv, but honestly it worked really well).

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

I still think it's a notable achievement for GA - I have no idea if anyone else has managed to rack up that many top ten hits this side of the millennium. I do think you're being a bit harsh on 'The Promise' - I agree the verse is pretty weak and the production is a bit Brand New Heavies but I still love the chorus, definitely any good at all.

I missed out 'Walk This Way' when I was counting it all up btw - everyhit has Sugababes listed first so it missed it off! Probably for the best, all things considered.

[lockedintheatti.livejournal.com]

It's also the best first week sales of any record this year, and their best first week since Sound of the Underground. Which is quite surprising to me as it's OK but not that good compared to what they've done in the past.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

D'you think Cheryl's turn on the X Factor has helped? That's the only thing I can think of.

Well, that and the modishness of the sound they're going for.

[lockedintheatti.livejournal.com]

I think it's more likely the fact that they performed the song on X-Factor, thus exposing it to far more people than would have seen / heard it otherwise. Cheryl's more regular TV presence probably helps a little.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

It's the chorus which annoys me most actually - it feels really hollow and bleh. The melody goes nowhere and it may as well be about nothing for all the emotion they put into it. (As a side note, GA have never been great at conveying emotion - 'Whole Lotta History' is probably their most moving performance to date - they've always got by on attitude and production. Here they're trying to do a love song but sound as though they haven't even read the lyrics, they're just singing words. Cf Amerie, who's tackling much the same subject on '1 Thing' but you can hear the thrill in every note. And J-Hud, whose performance on 'Spotlight' manages to convey every tiny nuance of a complex emotional situation.)

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Also my harshness is partly a response to their totemic status...I mean, the only defence of 'The Promise' that I've seen is "it's not THAT bad" but somehow the idea of Girls Aloud as Beloved National Institution has taken root, and it's that I'm reacting against b/c their material hasn't warranted it for ages now.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I've still only heard "The Promise" once - I am inclined to think it's Any Good At All but not Much Good At All, but I'll see how rotation suits it.

re. The Game - did you read that series of blog posts from a month or so ago on "post-lyrical" hip-hop (I can't remember where exactly) making the argument that the success of Lil Wayne and Kanye is a definitive break from the Nas ideal of storytelling hip-hop? This has almost nothing to do with The Game now I come to type it.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

No, which blog! That makes sense but tbh I think the storytelling ideal of hip-hop hadn't been the genre's dominant mode for a long while before either Kanye or Wayne.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

http://brandonsoderberg.blogspot.com/2008/09/raps-post-lyrical-phase.html

(and there's a part ii and part iii too)

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

ooh awesome, thanks - i shall read when i need to procrastinate. erm.

The 20-20 vision was right on the butt

[koganbot]

Storytelling hip-hop has never been the dominant mode, just one choice among many. A lot of my favorites were the ones who could go in and out of story at the drop of a hat: Spoonie Gee, Eminem, Roxanne Shanté.

Then she looked at me and then she started swishin'/So I tooka the key out of the ignition (except it's 1979, not 1981 as that says). You'll like this one.

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

Prince is ALWAYS ON TOPIC, charts wise. I like to think, anyway.

I have never seen Purple Rain the film, should I?

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

Oh and 'Talons' is really good; claustrophobic clutter-pop.

[lockedintheatti.livejournal.com]

There are some great band performances, so if you like the songs, then it's kind of worth it for that. Awful acting and rather ropey plot, and it's very much an 80s period-piece.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I've handed out ticks where needed but nothing to say about any of them except that even where Bloc Party's music works (as here), their vocals drive me away from ticksville.

I think maybe I like the John Legend best out of this week's! Blimes.

[jel-bugle.livejournal.com]

I managed not to hear any :(

Oh, I might have heard the Promise on Jonathan Ross, it was a bit ropey.

[koganbot]

As everybody knows, my middle name is Neal (but I'm thinking of changing it to Ambivalence).

Girls Aloud "The Promise": The retro verses are strangely dreamy, or experimental, or half-assed, the chorus revs up to Hi-NRG but is strangely even, or evened-out, even. This isn't clicking for me, but it gets a tick for trying. BORDERLINE TICK.

Guru Josh Project "Infinity 2008": Basic dance track, needs a dance floor, I suppose, but also needs more swelling and splashing. NO TICK.

Kardinal Offishall f. Akon "Dangerous": I like Offishall's flow, don't like Akon's, have heard this type before. NO TICK.

The Game f. Lil Wayne: There's genuine ambivalence within all this sadness, and as you know, Ambivalence is my middle name. "Made my grandmother pray for good. It never made her happy, but I bet that Mercedes could." So the Game is unique even though this is so predictable and conventional in its mourning. But it is conventional, and so slow, and Wayne plus AutoGizmo doesn't equal singing. BORDERLINE NONTICK.

John Legend f. André 3000 "Green Light": Goes steady and cool, slowly heats up under the cool. TICK.

Bloc Party "Talons": Tries clumped-up funk within the rock, tries hapless attempt at crooning, tries hapless attempt at feeling (or Cure-style restraint that tries to signify feeling). Actually, the stylization eventually finds its way to emotion, but we sure had to go through a lot of crap to get there. BORDERLINE TICK.

Chris Brown f. Keri Hilson "Superhuman": An OK professional track by two talented pros who've written some fine music but who often don't reach me when one or the other gets a name on the marquee. Still need to hear the Keri Hilson alb, though. BORDERLINE NONTICK.

(Bizarre that "The Promise" is doing so well both at poptimists and on the charts, given how unsteady and uncommitted it is. My tick isn't remotely out of the brand loyalty Lex was complaining about. I think European performers who self-consciously do "pop" often end up sounding unnecessarily constricted, and I want to grab 'em and shake 'em by the shoulders. The 90% ticky for this song is just strange, even though I'm part of the 90%.)

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

"The Promise" is the best GA single since "Love Machine". Really pleased the GBP agrees.

"Green Light" is even better though.

[ijgrieve.livejournal.com]

Crummy week, no ticks (my first DON'T LIKE ANY, I think - but maybe just in a hard-to-please mood tonight).

The Promise sounds like the dregs of a Motown compilation. 'Infinity 2008' gets a great big 'bleh' from me. Bloc Party is instantly forgettable, and I gave the others about 5 seconds each.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

The Game and John Legend deserved much more than 5 seconds.