Another Year In Pop: 44

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

The X Factor chaps have knocked Girls Aloud off the top spot. Get used to it - they're sure to be hanging around for a while.

[Poll #1290378]

Halloween bonkers re-entry effect: as well as Jacko, Ray Parker Jr's 'Ghostbusters' is straight in at 49, and the Monster Mash is at no.60!

Bonus mistakenly downloaded track watch: Mariah and Enrique's completely separate and different (sort of) 'Hero' songs are at 80 and 93, and the Chris Cornell song from the last Bond film is at 86. Oh dear, there must be a fair few 79ps gone down the drain there!

Comments

[ijgrieve.livejournal.com]

Ticks for Kings of Leon and Miley. Neither of them are amazing but both of them are 'any good at all'. OK, 'Thriller' is as well but since its a re-entry I ignored it.

Akon is horrible, one of the worst songs of the year.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I would say that anyone who bought the Mariah version of 'Hero' has had a lucky escape indeed. I do wonder what all those people who spent money on the X Factor thing do with it afterwards, apart from feel virtuous about giving a whole 79p to charity - I mean, I just can't imagine that sort of thing would be anyone's regular listening. If you want to hear 'Hero', why not just buy the Mariah version - surely no one will argue that the combined elephantine effort of a cobbled-together ensemble, which actually completely eradicates whatever individual talents they have, is the superior interpretation? And, like, give money to charity as well? People are so weird.

Akon - just the wrong side of the "pleasantly nothingy"/"nothingy nothingy" line.

Adele, Kings of Leon - please fuck off

Jacko - uh? why is this here? is this the X Factor again? Is cropping up in that programme the only surefire way to get a guaranteed hit? People are weird.

PCDs - YEAHHHHHHH!! This has grown to be one of my absolute favourite singles of the year, I love the ballad/groove tension, the widescreen scope (how great are the lyrics?), the sweeping bass underpinning the second verse, the effective use of half-rhymes in the chorus, and Nicole's performance is quite the tour de force, too - "the WOOORLD! slows DOOOOWN! but my HEAAAART! is fast right now!" This is amazing to sing along to. Tim Finney wrote some ace stuff (http://www.ilxor.com/ILX/ThreadSelectedControllerServlet?boardid=41&threadid=63876) about this song on ILM. Ooh, I wonder if it'll get a sales boost from Nicole's buff boyfriend winning the races?

Miley - compared to most of the stuff in the charts (OMG the entire top 7 is totally grim) this sounds remarkably alive and fun, but I still don't like it very much - she is just not up to what the song demands in terms of attitude at all.

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

i read that most of 'Hero' sales are physical (300,000+!!!) so people are paying a bit more than 79p but still yeah wtf is wrong with them

Hero confusion

[lockedintheatti.livejournal.com]

Enrique sang his "Hero" on Strictly Come Dancing last weekend, so they are probably not accidental downloads.

Re: Hero confusion

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Fair enough.

I think all this Saturday night telly influencing the charts type-of-thing wouldn't seem like such a cause for evil if the songs were any cop, or indeed if the rest of the chart was good - I think the reason these tie-in songs are doing so well is because there's no competition out there (certainly not this week, PCDs excepted).

Re: Hero confusion

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I think it's a cause for worry anyway - if it really is a guaranteed way to get sales (and this seems to have consistently been the case this year), record labels will inevitably start seeing it as a key promo area, rather like getting a single playlisted or getting good reviews. This is concerning cuz it makes the playing field even less level than it was, in terms of who has the access/cash to these TV producers, and also because the musical criteria to get on this sort of programme aren't to do with quality or innovation, they're entirely to do with extreme musical conservatism and nostalgia from safe, pliant singers. Which means that if a record label is developing a new artist, or indeed an established artist trying to consolidate their position, they'll have even more reason to go for the safe musical option.

Like, say, Alesha Dixon - whose new single isn't actually bad, but it is very safe. You can't imagine Mis-Teeq songs (with all that nasty MCing!) being OKed for Saturday night TV.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

X Factor: I haven't been following it this year at all so I don't know who any of these people are. They all seem to be doing a wavey-hand gesture thing though - is that mandatory? Anyway, this totally feels plodding and unambitious - I can barely tell that there are more than three different people singing (the only distinct voice is from the black lass who kicks off the middle eight who is making a reasonable attempt at rocking the whole Mary J Blige thing). In comparison, think about how easily you can tell apart the different dudes on Do They Know Its Live Christmas Aid (and even on Live Aid 20!). It feels like the backing track medically needs a round of cheering and applause when each new dude sings a line, just to at least try and give it a sense of building up into something meatier - you know like in the video for Mariah's 'Without You' where the audience cheer the key change and it just ups the brilliance? And here the audience are quite rightly bored out of their skulls and waiting for the last bus home? URRRRGH the video just had a shot of some soldier dudes smiling and clapping, I'm amazed it wasn't in soft focus. (I am still a bit upset that OB and Max off Hollyoaks are advertising the Territorial Army btw). This is worse than dreadful, because there are people involved in this who could clearly make some great pop music given the right guidance, instead of sucking the life out of pop then shitting on its carcass.

Akon - this is alright I guess, 2-step beat with some Jan Hammer style synth over the top. His chorus vocal is pretty wooden though.

Adele - hahah lets see if they can manage a video without having it zoomed in on her face the entire time. NO, NO THEY CAN'T. It's a sticking point for me with Adele - I can't bear the odd way she closes her eyes, raises her eyebrows and shakes her head like Stevie Wonder whenever she tries to display emotion. Shame, cos her vocal is good and the song's not bad, in a Nick Drake kind of way. Oh sod it, I'll give her a tick.

Kings of Leon - whatevs.

Jacko - I will always tick this no matter how many times I hear it.

PCD - Awesome! At first I wasn't sure if I liked it as much as 'When I Grow Up' but it's a real grower.

Miley - verse is Natalie Imbrugliwooglia with nasal congestion, chorus is mostly Green Day. It's an interesting combination and the whole switch-round of love/hate half way through is a nice idea, but I can't really get enthusiastic about this.

[koganbot]

What does it say about Kings Of Leon that we already did this song in September and none of you noticed that it was a repeat?

X Factor Finalists "Hero": It's not my style or sensibility, but they actually do a passable job, keep off each other's toes (for better or worse), hit the high points and hit the harmonies. More pleasant than I was fearing. Not that it's remotely interesting. NO TICK.

Akon "Right Now (Na Na Na)": I remember when this guy first came along he really did seem like a new ray from the sun. Didn't ape anyone in r&b, and the singing, though obviously rooted in reggae, didn't follow the expected tics and tools of that trade, either. Light both in touch and sparkle, even if it wasn't particularly expressive. I wouldn't say it's now gone dark and heavy; actually, it's never been that flexible, always needed something to play off of, to get some of its spring from outside, a sample, a second singer. Feels incomplete and exhausted here, though it's not terrible or anything. NO TICK.

Adele "Make You Feel My Love": This is as predictable and soporific as the X Factor track: sensitive piano, generic Billie-minimal singing w/ a touch of soul, the "weird" gargle in her throat the same as Amy's and Tashbed's and Gabriella's and Sonya's. Which'd all be OK if I were even vaguely excited by the style, or the song had any notable features, since she is a good singer. NO TICK.

Pussycat Dolls "I Hate This Part": The piano part isn't the object of my hatred, since its being so irresolute in its chords puts all the weight on the tenuous singing. Surpisingly touching. TICK.

Miley Cyrus "7 Things": That Miley's voice is raw and blaring is generally a virtue. She isn't designed to go down easy. But this is just one song too far, Armato & James reverting to the Gerrard-Nevil norm, and I want this thing to shut up. NO TICK.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

none of you noticed that it was a repeat

Whoops. My bad!

[lisa-go-blind.livejournal.com]

Note: the Adele song is a Dylan cover (http://www.bobdylan.com/#/songs/make-you-feel-my-love). (Have yet to actually hear Adele's version, but tempted to tick just because the song itself is "any good at all.")

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Ahhh that makes sense. I personally prefer Adele's voice to Dylan's, but then again I can't stand Dylan's singing.

[koganbot]

Ah, I had no idea.* I just YouTubed it and I way prefer the Dylan version (sorry Kat)(I found a live one here). He makes the song feel like a funny shaggy dog, even though in form and style it's standard ol' blues-pop whimper.

[lisa-go-blind.livejournal.com]

Garth Brooks also had a #1 country hit with it in 1998! Billy Joel's version hit #50 on the Hot 100 a year earlier.

[koganbot]

There's a Brian Ferry version too.

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

Everything other than the PCD is just WRONG.

Well, I haven't heard Akon. But still.