Poptimists Tracks Of 2008 PART ONE

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

THE MAIN EVENT! These are #s 50-42 of the Top 50 as voted for by you (there's a tie at #40 so we'll see those tomorrow). Thanks to the miracle of embedding disabled by request you'll have to investigate some of these away from the comforting womb of LJ - sorry, it's The Man's fault.

50. BRITNEY SPEARS - "Womanizer"

Something of a fall from grace for poptimists favourite Britney: the nudie video to her song about a machine that makes women can be found here.

49. BLACKOUT CREW - "Put A Donk On It"

A lesson we can all learn.

47=. THE VERONICAS - "Untouched"

Imperious, desperate teenpop.

47=. DAVEIGH CHASE - "The Happiest Girl In The Whole USA"

Something of a surprise entry, this isn't a single or even released track, it's a performance from TV drama Big Love, which I had never heard of. I will leave it to its nominators to explain the context (tho you can get the gist on Wikipedia)

45=. PUSSYCAT DOLLS - "When I Grow Up"

Embedding disabled on all PCDs' videos, here is this one.

45=. BLACK KIDS - "I'm Not Going To Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You"

It strikes me that Universal are shooting themselves in the foot a bit by refusing to make the video from nindie pan-flashers Black Kids embeddable! Hear its jaunty retro-jangle here.

44. PUSSYCAT DOLLS - "I Hate This Part"

Them again! Beating its fellow Pussycat track by a whisker - here the girls get a bit more sensitive.

43. IDA MARIA - "I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked"

A scratchy vid that takes me back to the halcyon days of Mambo Taxi etc. Not much talked about on Poptimists, it seems to me.

42. PALEFACE ft KYLA - "Do You Mind (Crazy Couzinz Remix)"

For whatever reason, funky house hasn't caught the poptimist imagination the way bassline did last year (though actually I think only T2 showed up in last year's poll). I like Kyla, she has an honest face.

Check back tomorrow for #40-31!

Comments

[lockedintheatti.livejournal.com]

Womanizer - I think I'd have liked this a lot more if it hadn't been for the awesomeness of what came before. Compared to the last album, this one just couldn't help but suffer in comparison. Still thought this'd be higher though.

Funky House - as far as I'm concerned, the reason Funky House hasn't generated as much excitement as Bassline is that's a whole lot less bonkers and therefore a hell of a lot more boring. It just doesn't sound very fresh or new to me at all.

Put a Donk on it - gutted this isn't higher. First time I heard it, I liked it but thought it was just a novelty song. Instead I found myself loving it more with every listen - it's just a great fun pop record, and certainly deserves a higher placing.

DONK!

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

i agree, although i did only end up giving it a handful of votes.

Re: DONK!

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Donk has grown on me signficantly in the last couple of weeks (esp as I BOUGHT it to test out Amazon mp3!) but not enough to make my top ten alas.

[bengraham.livejournal.com]

Really? I thought 'When I Grow Up' was going to get a lot more love than that. And 'Womanizer', even though I didn't vote for it myself. I am genuinely surprised.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

The Veronicas track pushed its way into my Top 10 on one hearing - magnificent use of strings (if lacking a bangin donk) and the tumbling half-rap is one of the most thrilling moments all year.

Britney - I liked it well enough, but it's no way a top 10 track IMO so 50 seems right, if not generous.

Blackout Crew - highly likeable, as lockedintheatti says.

Daveigh Chase - I think it's good that this kind of moment can get into the chart but without specific context I'm left a little baffled.

Pussycat Dolls - solid but they never seem to grip me the way they do some of you.

Ida Maria - not my thing but I can see why people would enjoy it. Unlike Black Kids, which IS more my thing just done REALLY SHITELY.

Paleface and Kyla - this is lovely, I think: spacious and haunting.

[ijgrieve.livejournal.com]

Ida Maria got 1pt from me; I didn't vote for any of the others in this section.

I'm glad Blackout Crew isn't higher - it has those horrible shouty garage vocals that I hate. I thought 'When I Grow Up' would be higher. Others I'm not

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

"horrible shouty garage vocals"???

NINDIE!

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

black kids ended up being my 11th choice and thus missing out from teh carsmile jury, but Ida Maria got a couple from me, although judging from what i heard the other day the rest of the album is SHOCKING and moany and boring, whereas ILYSMBWYN is clearly Joan Jett meets the Waitresses Uptown for the Noughties.

Boo Tube

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

PLEASE can we not have ANY video embeds for the #40-#1 posts please. It slows down page loading on my computer terribly. Links to vids are surely fine if ppl want to explore the songs further.

Re: Boo Tube

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Does anyone else have strong feelings about this? I like the video embeds but I'm happy to give them up.

Re: Boo Tube

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I agree - it used to KILL my computer. have added more RAM since then so it's not an issue personally but it has always bugged me that people don't consider this. if you're too lazy click a link, and then back, or click "open in new tab" or whatever, too fucking bad, you're the one missing out innit.

[justfanoe.livejournal.com]

My current best guess is that four or five of my picks will wind up top 50, and one other one ("Fly on the Wall") already showed up as an hon. mention. I'm really unsure what to think about Cassie though, I suspect serious vote splitting.

womanizer

[jauntyalan.livejournal.com]

i know how far out of the poptimist assesment on this i am -- i prefer womanizer significantly more than anything on the last album. srsly.

:-/

Reasons this poptimist has not warmed to Funky House:

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

1) It's funky
2) It's also house.
3) It's funky house: hasn't there been a subgenre called this for the last decade? I mean Bassline is a daft name, but at least it's a new one.

Re: Reasons this poptimist has not warmed to Funky House:

[lockedintheatti.livejournal.com]

Yes, there has been funky house for a looooong time, not sure why they couldn't think up a better name.

Re: Reasons this poptimist has not warmed to Funky House:

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

I thought this time out it was just called 'funky'?

FAO Big Love fans -

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

I have only seen the first season. If I look at that vid, will I spoiler myself?

Re: FAO Big Love fans -

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I believe it's from the second season, I don't know if it has spoilers in though.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

the comments in this thread on funky house are the most depressing i've read on poptimists lately. you're all just wrong, but i don't give a shit any more. if you need your pop to shout about how WACKY and BONKERS and ANNOYING it is fair enough, enjoy your ting tings and lady fucking gaga videos! funky house has soundtracked some of the most incredible musical moments for me, some of the best dancefloor experiences, and if you insist on getting hung up over the name or the fact that they don't dress up in stupid wigs then it's your problem, frankly. and if you actually can't hear how exciting and new it is, while retaining links to the past (i mean how "innovative" was bassline?? 90s speed garage anyone? it didn't make it any worse), you actually just have tin ears.

[lockedintheatti.livejournal.com]

I'm sure it has soundtracked some marvellous dancefloor moments for you, but there's no need to insult us. I genuinely don't hear that much new and exciting about funky house. The example here is certainly neither.

[edgeofwhatever.livejournal.com]

You know, Lex, sometimes people just don't like things.

[edgeofwhatever.livejournal.com]

And also: really? I thought you had balls calling a comment "dismissive and reductive" above when a fucking week ago you proclaimed that people who like Girls Aloud must not be listening to any other music, but now you're really being an asshole.

[jel-bugle.livejournal.com]

I like that Veronicas song! Why'd no one tell me about them?? I just downloaded their album!

A controversial thought about the Veronicas

[koganbot]

They have two albums. I like the second one (Hook Me Up) more than the first (The Secret Life Of...), but the first has "4ever," which is my favorite song of theirs (and is probably my favorite Max Martin/Dr. Luke song since "Since U Been Gone"). In any event, here's the review I wrote of The Secret Life Of... back in the distant past when I was at the Village Voice.

One thing about that review: though it's a wild rave, it's also wildly ambivalent, since the V sisters get under my skin in a way that I don't always find pleasant. They combine goopy sentimentality with a fierce, humorous coldness, and the coldness is disturbing, and the sentimentality, when it's not mitigated by the fierce coldness and humor, is goopy.

A controversial thought about the Veronicas: Not that I dislike "Untouched," but it leans too much towards full-throated goopiness and doesn't have enough of their icicle-jabbing tendencies. It's my tenth-favorite on Hook Me Up. My favorites are "Take Me On The Floor" and "Hook Me Up," each of which is about as subtle as its title implies.