poptimists | Yet Another Year In Pop: 4

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2009

Yet Another Year In Pop: 4

Slim pickings this week as the chart continues to lose momentum - four non-movers in the top ten (including Lady Gaga at no.1). Let's hope it doesn't actually grind to a complete halt.

[Poll #1337713]

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I had totally forgotten about Franz Ferdinand's existence. Had not missed them at all tbh. God, this is a piece of shit. Hammy faux-menacing vocals + lairy cock-rock chorus + laboured Ulysses ref (seriously what is it even there for, apart from letting us know that FF have read, or possibly just heard of, Joyce and/or the Iliad - hey, have a cookie, so have I) = DO NOT FUCKING WANT.

Jay Sean - oh look, the British version of Ne-Yo's 'Closer', a year on. I find it very difficult to care about this. There's a Crazy Cousinz remix though, so I might come back and tick, pending whether they provide enough of a groove to counteract Jay Sean's personality void.

Bon Iver - wow this is really awful, a dirge which goes nowhere and does nothing, topped with an insufferable whine of a voice. Like Coldplay but somehow even worse, because you feel that they/he/whatever don't have a 'Clocks' piano riff in them/him/whatever. This is what critics went nuts over last year? Critics' taste sucks.

Hey it's my second DON'T LIKE ANY of the year, and it's still just January! Good going, British public.

UHHHH why the fuck is everyone ticking Franz Ferdinand? You are all so fucking indie it is unbelievable. What is good about that track?!

i think it's *just about* any good at all (let's say a 5.5 out of ten), certainly wouldn't say i disliked it enough to tick "don't like any" (i am against bon iver and haven't heard the jay sean), but it was a relatively close call.

5.5/10 does not garner a tick from me! (It's about what I'd give Jay Sean.) I am being STRINGENT with "any good at all" now, after going over last year's ticks and discovering that I had 0 recollection of some of the tracks I ticked. Litmus test = whether I like it enough to acquire an mp3, and then whether I willingly play the thing ever again.

I've only heard the Franz via J Ross show so far and the lyrics seemed pretty bad (but i like synth). 5/10 tho.

Jay Sean - predictable bland auto-tune 4/4 RnB. 4.

Bon Iver - am also mystified by his popularity. 3.

The Bon Iver track is off a new EP (which I'm yet to hear, so couldn't possibly comment). But last year's album is beautiful.

Bon Iver - me too, he's awful

OMG I just noticed that Tinchy Stryder is at NUMBER THREE wtf! Um, well done Tinch I guess.

Did anyone check out the Tinchy youtubes I posted last week (http://community.livejournal.com/poptimists/660550.html)? I'm baffled as to why something like 'Take Me Back' has been such a breakthrough, I can't hear it as any more commercial than some of those, though it is definitely weaker and more bandwagony. Frank, Kat, Tom, anyone?

Will try and get a peek at them later on - youtubing at work has been a bit more hasslesome of late (ie boss sitting behind me has not had as many meetings)

I'm guessing after the huge success of Dizzee & Calvin it was a lot more warmly received by normally-conservative TV & Radio playlisters, so could be a matter of exposure than anyting intrinsic. Haven't looked at the TV / radio airplay charts so I could be entirely wrong

Yeah I listened to some, thought they were really good, and went to Amazon to see if they had the album - NINETY QUID in marketplace wtf??

Reason for TMB's success though - big hook, striking while Calvin/Dizzee iron is hottish, less grimey than the ones I clicked on so more likely to get the requisite promotion and airplay.

Tracks like 'Perfect Timing' are surely just as poppy though, and 'Hands Of Time' (reggae) and 'Dance 4 Now' (electro) aren't particularly grimy either. The timing makes sense but it sucks that Tthis of all things is his commercial breakthrough.

Anyway check yr email!!

Was busy last Monday - just did my ticks for last week yesterday evening. Tick in the singular, that is (DON'T LIKE ANY; and this week makes two in a row). And yesterday my ISP was being cranky and wouldn't let me play your embeds, but thanks for bringing it to my attention again. I'll check 'em.

In the meantime, here's Taylor Swift covering Rihanna (not always in tune, but I think she crushes the Rihanna version anyway, her faux fragility totally delivering the hurt that the song requires, letting the song itself convey its basic venom):

Taylor definitely performs it better - I also think it helps that she's just accompanied by acoustic guitar, it emphasises the lyrics even more. And the lyrics are really the song's only selling point - I think Rihanna's performance was fine, and Taylor's is better, but neither solve the song's fundamental problem of being really boring melodically. Without the basic lyrical venom, 'Take A Bow' is nothing.

Listening to 'Take A Bow' and 'Haunted' back to back is just perplexing. Presumably both were recorded around the same time, for the GGGB re-release, but I don't understand how anyone could hear 'Take A Bow' and think it's the more compelling or even commercial song. Although clearly they were right!

I'm similarly baffled. Don't think "Haunted" is even on the U.S. version of the re-release. Whereas I can see how "Disturbia" got to be a single for fitting in with the autotune zeitgeist. (Also, I love "Disturbia.") Taylor seems to often pick live covers for their sing-along potential, though that's obv not why she would open her shows with "Lose Yourself."

That Franz Ferdinand thing is appalling, almost bad enough to be a Kaiser Chieves single.

The last 15 seconds saves it. Yes, I am easily pleased.

Not heard any yet so...I SHALL:

Franz F: Hmm, I thought the build up on this was pretty good actually, but then they piss it all away on the chorus. He sounds a bit like Lloyd Cole's third album on the verses. Marginal nontick mostly because, really, WTF is the Ulysses reference about? Not as good as "Ulysses" by Dead Can Dance [/gothickal]

Jay Sean: Marginal nontick here too just cos it's a bit boring. I'd actually think there's more remix potential in the FF than this one!

Bon Iver: This is from the EP which features him doing a song in Autotune Kanye style, I know from my indie double life. All chances of a tick evaporate as soon as he opens his mouth and only drizzle emerges.

So currently this is don't like any, but the FF and J Sean might upgrade in time.

Franz - it's not amazing by any means but the vid gets a tick as I like Alex K's daft face.

Jay - absolutely a 'Closer' clone, but reasonably well done and I'm feeling generous.

Bon Iver - not heard this yet but this name keeps flashing up on Discogs every two seconds whilst I am trying to do some bluddy research for werk GO AWAY.

Can we have a new option of "Didn't like the one I heard, but not heard the others" please? I always feel bad saying that I hate them all - I've only heard Franz Ferndinand and it was boring.

But that is the incentive to go and listen to all of them!

I know, and I did, but I still didn't like any! Bon Iver is way too beardy.

Franz Ferdinand "Ulysses": The video does a great job, a mood that's flings itself all over, from exhilarated to wretched, and the music fits it: they always sound like circus music gone awry, anyway. But this track doesn't work on its own, not on early listens, anyway. Too many changes for any melody to stick, or maybe there just isn't a melody worth getting stuck on. Maybe it'll be a grower; I hope so. BORDERLINE NONTICK.

Jay Sean "Tonight": Pretty song, guy is a smoothie with this year's glint; this sounds entirely generic, actually, doesn't leave a mark, at least not yet. BORDERLINE NONTICK.

Bon Iver "Blood Bank": Chords w/ offnotes in it for extra glue - to no avail, though, since the singing does the lack-of-commitment-that-suggests-it's-really-commitment thing, suggesting it to someone other than me, however. NONTICK.

Ticked Franz Ferdinand, and that was borderline. Jay Sean was borderline nontick - good for the genre I guess but still not something I'd play again intentionally. Bon Iver was total dross.

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But this could be someone one of us urged to join livejournal so that they could post on

poptimists. I frequently advise people to join livejournal so that they can do this. Not that anyone follows my advice, but still...

If that's the case I urge the person to leave a comment! You don't need to actually join the community to post comments on public entries, and the f-locked posts are relatively infrequent anyway so they wouldn't be missing out on much to start off with.

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i haven't heard any of these and i don't want to. last two boxes ftw.

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Yet Another Year In Pop: 4

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stop the tick

Re: stop the tick

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You thought the leaden winter would bring you down forever

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