Another Year In Pop: 45

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Blimey! A bumper crop of new entries this week, with four lovely ladies barging their way into the top ten. None of them have knocked off the X Factor mess at the top yet, but give it time...

[Poll #1294584]

Bizarre re-entry watch: last week a competitive singing television programme had a disco theme which explains Blondie at no.91, but why is 'Mr Brightside' by the Killers in at 60? In the battle of the 'Hero's, Enrique is now ahead of Mariah (94 and 100 respectively), but expect that to change after Mariah's triumphant pulverising of everyone else on Saturday's X Factor...

Comments

[strange-powers.livejournal.com]

Solid work from Britney, Christina and Beyonce (even if If I Were a Boy is a bit AH DO YOU SEE?!), and Alesha's sub-Girls Aloud bounce at least has a mega-chorus. Shouldn't it have been around for the summer, though? It hardly feels like November fare.

Leona Lewis is the biggest criminal of the week for singing different words over Gwen Stefani's The Sweet Escape. It's still fresh in our minds, Lewis, and your song is identical... except no Akon and crucially NO GOOD.

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

I still can't quite get over the fact T.I. has sampled O-Zone. Or is that not this one? Either way, I can't get over that.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Diva special! Rather odd that all these lead singles were released in the same week...you'd think the record companies wouldn't want them all going up against each other.

BEYONCE - by far the standout, how the hell is this not No 1? Am slightly obsessed with it at the moment. Beautiful vocal performance, beautiful video. It's weird to think that ballads were once B's weak point - the charges (levelled by idiots without ears or hearts) against R&B ballads were actually true in her case - but

BRITNEY - ehhh, lazy rewrite of 'Ooh Ooh Baby' right down to whatever that song ripped off in the first place, OK I suppose. I got to hear half the album on Friday but I am forbidden from discussing it anywhere online until tomorrow!

LEONA - this...is such a disappointment, it's so absolutely characterless and unmemorable - it's bad by Akon's standards, let alone what I expect of Leona. I'm still very pro-Leona but she really really needs another good song - a modern standard it may be, but 'Bleeding Love' can only carry one so far - and this doesn't really give the impression that anything great is imminent. And her new album being a reissue of Spirit is not the best sign either.

ALESHA - this is fine, though I'm voting more for the terrific Crazy Cousinz remix, which excises that dreadful "when he dances not to the beat" line. AARGH it's so clunkily phrased! It's such lazy songwriting - oh, is that Xenomania I see in the writing credits? Quelle surprise - and it could have been so easily avoided. "When he dances all offbeat" would scan just as well without sounding like it was written in an EFL class. Everything else I've heard from The Alesha Show is safe, dull fare, and very dispiriting when you cast your mind back to Mis-Teeq's glory days.

XTINA - I ticked this because the video is AWESOME, and the song sounded loads better following the Leona dullness, but really it's just outdated schaffel recorded in a spare five minutes, probably while Xtina was changing her son's nappy, because she hasn't done any other new material in an age and her Greatest Hits collection needed a single. Think will probably untick.

WILL YOUNG - this is pretty good, did anyone pick up his album? Much much better than the bland lead single, spirited without seeming forced.

T.I. - this has grown on me slightly, more for T.I.'s verses than the horrid maiahiii sample and the over-Autotuned Rihanna chorus. Sucks that this will be his crossover UK hit though...though hopefully 'Dead And Gone' will be the next single, it's absolutely immense. 'Let My Beat Pound' is still the best T.I. item of recent times though, and it was inexplicably left off the album.

BELLAMY BROS/SCRIPT - don't know don't care

SCOUTING FOR GIRLS - go fucking stab yourselves. This band are actually the worst current active band in the world, right?

[infov0re.livejournal.com]

This band are actually the worst current active band in the world, right?

Just about - but the View have got a new single out which can only mean a new album is around the corner!

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

Shame that after such a big week for solo pop girls the only thing i wanna borderline tick is TI. Beyonce good but not the kind of thing I'm ever gonna listen to/care about - hope 'Single Ladies' goes top 10 as well.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Bouncy: Not sure about this new acoustic AOR direction TBH. Might grow on me but as of now, strong chorus notwithstanding, this isn't a tick.

Britney: Still like this. The bit that bugs me isn't the "izer izer izer" but the stagey "I GOT your crazy". Still a tick.

Leona: Yeah, this is "Sweet Escape" with some kind of nasty raggle-taggle sound on it. Not awful but not a tick.

Alesha: Marginal tick - this actually reminds me a bit of Geri Halliwell's solo career, except the voice is grainier and has bags more character. Even so, not a wholehearted recommendation.

Xtina: Rachel Stevens offcut from 2005. As such it's OK, but sounds very out of date. Not summoning up much enthusiasm for this lot. Good lungs. Marginal tick.

Bellamy Brothers: THANKYOU ADVERTISING. Unwelcome. No tick.

Script: What a musical wasteland Ireland is. Credit to the Script for putting their shite chorus first so you don't have to listen any further. No tick.

Will Young: His voice is getting more nuanced as his material gets blander, but this isn't bad - reunion Take That with Will Young giving it some Green Gartside stylings. Tick!

TI: The Dragosta Din Tei riff is TOO RECENT for me to cope with this, and a bit of a waste of Rihanna. Would need another listen to work out if this is a tick - for now it's.... not.

Scouting: uh-uh.

[mcarratala.livejournal.com]

Absolutely baffled by the love for the Alesha single – Tom's right, it's totally Geri (with a big chunk of Mambo No 5). As such, it's really grating.

Beyonce in acoustic slowie mode is great! Irreplaceable is probably might favourite single of the last however many years, and though If Were A Boy isn't in the same class, it's definitely very good.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I think it's the sensitive guitar that's putting me off - I loved "Irreplacable" from the off but that had more vim (and was a bit less heavy-handed). Might well grow on me.

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

b-b-but 'Look At Me' and 'Mambo No.5' were both totally tickworthy. And nearly 10 years have elapsed since they were in the charts.

[ijgrieve.livejournal.com]

I ticked Britney, Alesha, Christina and SfG. None of them are among the songs of the year by any means, or the best song by any of the artists (I think I'm the only member who likes 'She's So Lovely' - oh well).

Apart from Alesha, that is. I haven't heard anything else by her.

I wonder if there's a version of 'Live Your Life' that is purely Rihanna? The rapping ruins a promising dancer. Beyonce was tedious. The others I either didn't bother listening to or can't be bothered to comment on.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Beyonce - aww this is lovely! Though it sounds terrifyingly like Joan Osborne's 'One Of Us'. Also well done PC Beyonce for kicking arse and wearing lovely earrings.

Britters - shameless re-tread of 'Oooh Oooh Baby' but that's fine by me, plus the video is totes great.

Leona - I RLY liked the Sweet Escape and I think this is definitely worth a tick. Also, more popstars should wear magicians' hats. However the Lex is right, if Leona is going to be a super-duper worldwide pop sensation she'll need to do a bit better than this next time.

Alesha - love the chorus and I've always liked Mambo No.5 rip-offs, but there's something that bothers me about it... (aha! Here's a good chance to plug my video blog where I go into )more detail about this song (http://katstevens.tumblr.com/post/53800100/alesha-is-wearing-a-rather-short-dress-her)! You can also add vidsarealright to yr lj flist :))

Xtina - definitely worth a tick for the 'super-BITCH' line but this sounds even thinner than Alesha's effort. Or perhaps this is meant to be 'minimal'? Hahahahahah. Great video obv, esp as she looks completely unbothered by the CSI-levels of technology she's effortlessly wielding. She should lose the mini dancing robot though.

Bellamy Brothers - my Youtube thing says I've previously viewed this but eff knows how or why. It's alright I guess? But no tick.

Script - I'm not going to bother, I think.

TI - Yikes OK I see what everyone means about the O-Zone thing. I don't want to listen to this anymore.

SFG - ack! I gave this a chance the other day because I *thought* they *might* have taken inspiration from ancient Bond themes of yore to make a slightly different sounding piece of music but NO. Agreed that they are the worst band of the year.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Ooops, missed out Will - I accidentally posted it on my blog instead! DID I MENTION MY BLOG etc

[jel-bugle.livejournal.com]

Strictly Come Dancing is becoming the number one place to actually hear new songs!

[koganbot]

Don't have time to post in full, but I ticked more this week than any other week this year, and I even could stand my nonticks more than whatever they did last time. (Didn't count the Bellamys, though I might have ticked if they weren't a reentry.)

TICKS: Xina and Leona are workmanlike without much character and that's fine, it's music. Alesha and Beyonce I heard and liked a few days ago I forget why except I liked Beyonce being dark in a major key, or something. "Womanizer" is still disappointing and still good,* Rihanna yodels the song into darkness in "Live Your Life," and I barely know anything about Will Young but on the basis of this track's natural-born sweetness I'm ready to be fan.

*I like "Kill The Lights" much more: Starts stunningly with a rhythm 'n' soul groove, then goes too normally moody in the middle but finishes strong by getting goofy with a fake accent. Not the touchdown it almost was, but good slinky nu-Brit.