Yet Another Year In Pop: 12

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Lady Gaga nabs her second number one with the slow-burning 'Poker Face' and Beyonce elbows her way into the top ten with 'Halo'.

[Poll #1370346]

Lower reaches watch: Heads Shoulders Kneez & Toez just misses out on the top 40, plus there are some new entries from Royksopp, Skepta and that 'I Love College' song argh. Also, Ronan Keating covering Cyndi Lauper = NO THX.

Comments

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

If 'Takin Back My Love' doesn't get to number 1 I will WEEP on E&C's behalf.

PSB and PCD are just on the right side of Tick.

[barrysarll.livejournal.com]

PSB and Franz so barely get ticks from me, coming as they do from two of the year's most disappointing albums thus far.

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

Argh, when will people learn that 'Time After Time' does not need a acoustic version to make it all ~emoshunal? Cvnts!

I really liked 'Quicksand' but 'In For The Kill' is absolutely rubbish. :(

On the other hand, 'Love etc.' and 'Taking Back My Love' are both PURE GREAT and so this is the best week in awhile. 'Jai Ho' is good but the PCD/Scherzinger edit is totally unnecessary, ergo NO TICKY.

No idea what the Franz Ferdinand sounds like, no desire to find out.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

AAARGH the fucking public! Still no top 40 funky hit. Really surprised, 'Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes' is being handled by a proper PR house w/a good track record, was in the itunes top 30 a few days ago and surely has "No 1" written all over it. What is wrong with people!

And god, if that 'I Love College' abomination becomes any size of hit...

Not much enthusiasm for the ticks. Pretty sure the PCDs' take on 'Jai Ho' is a total bastardisation, but I haven't heard the original so it's fun enough. I wonder if they were offered it purely because it had the word "ho" in the title.

Enrique and Ciara is OK, but tbh I find that style of pumped-up OTT pop a bit much. Ciara's own single proper, 'Love Sex Magic' was quietly put on itunes a few days ago and will hopefully do much better - the video (http://videos.onsmash.com/v/VK66n3edSfLju8eV) is PURE HOTNESS.

PSB: V saddening that a band whose main selling point has been their way with words is now reduced to peddling trite lyrics about how Fame And Money Are Bad For You, Children with all the subtlety of a sixth form Pink. Or lol, Madonna circa 'Hollywood'. Anyway, this is really bad.

La Roux: I HATE HER SO MUCH. I hate her stupid, tiresome opinions. I hate her shrill, po-faced, grating voice - it is so utterly charmless. I hate her baffling, ungrammatical name - wtf you JUST CAN'T SAY 'LA ROUX' YOU IDIOT. I enjoyed some excellent rants about her on fbook and twitter last night but seriously: she is not edgy. She is not innovative. She is completely indefensible in every way.

(The Skream remix of 'In For The Kill' is nearly good, but sadly still has her voice on it. The original is total, total shit.)

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

La Roux: 5/10 (the Skream mix almost makes it tickable, and I do actually like her "wooo-ooooh" but the rest of her singing is just too off. i reckon i can come up with a re-edit of my own that i'd like tho...)

PSBs: 6/10 (bit generous maybe as it's not much a song to write home about and meh schaffel beat but i like the synths, and them, still...)

Rahman/PCDs: 5/10 (not feelin it sorry)

Franz: 6/10 (generous again - always like the FF stomp tho)

Enrique/Ciara: 5/10 (so close to a tick but alas neither of them are smoking a cigar. also i may have docked a point for the video because it uses that filter/tone i really hate. i'm fickle and harsh yes).

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

"V saddening that a band whose main selling point has been their way with words is now reduced to peddling trite lyrics about how Fame And Money Are Bad For You"

No worse than their old track 'Shameless' really tho - but that wasn't a single

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I've never heard 'Shameless'. They haven't been good for about 15 years though, apart from 'Miracles'...

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

i made a spofy playlist of their various b-sides and album tracks over the years that i rate best:
http://open.spotify.com/user/stevem78/playlist/225NqFz14N8017EeCQmUWW

[koganbot]

RedOne now has three tracks in the top 30.

La Roux "In For The Kill": Grabs you by the shoulders and tries to make you dance from the top down, but my feet ain't buyin' it. The sound is harsh for no good reason. Not fun. NO TICK.

Pet Shop Boys "Love Etc.": Falling blips of synthesized marimba, melodies that climb, and gangs that shout the news that you don't need money to need love. Doesn't open up into the beautiful expansiveness I was hoping for, but is a pleasant little walk in the meadow. TICK.

Ahman/Scherzinger "Jai Ho (You Are My Destiny)": Faulty switching mechanism puts two viable but incompatible melodies onto the same track. Train wreck. NO TICK.

Franz Ferdinand "No You Girls": Disjunct between foreground and background, Kapranos cocking his eye while scratchy funk-rock tries to get the party started. Maybe I'm just in an irritable mood, but this feels like just more static. NO TICK.

Enrique Iglesias f. Ciara "Takin' Back My Love": RedOne envelops the smooth man and his paramour in big sloppy synths, making their despair more poignant, surrounded as it is by all this splashing energy. BIG SPLASHY TICK.

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

PSB and PCD are just on the right side of Tick
Agreed.

Not heard Enri & Sierra yet.

[jeff-worrell.livejournal.com]

What is wrong with people!
Patience. I think it will be a big hit ...eventually. It's officially released today, yeah?

[infov0re.livejournal.com]

(The Skream remix of 'In For The Kill' is nearly good, but sadly still has her voice on it. The original is total, total shit.)

Whilst I wouldn't go as far as total (x2) shit, the Skream remix is so much better it's unfunny. If only he didn't get to the uptempo breaks at the end for a minute before fading out; I presume he's got a 12" of this stashed somewhere, right? Right?

[nunya-b.livejournal.com]

well I adore la roux. I thought I loathed her, but the passion swung the other way after in for the kill was stuck in my head for a week straight. I can't help thinking I like her so much because of some residual disappointment with Little Boots, though.

can't believe she has fewer ticks than PCD/Rahman/Sczefrgeghrdwr: she mispronounces the fucking title of the song, revolting meth-faced trollop. not fond of the original either or of slumsog millionaire (except dev patel, who can call me) so that colors my opinions, but really, what an absolute abortion.

[datura800.livejournal.com]

"V saddening that a band whose main selling point has been their way with words is now reduced to peddling trite lyrics about how Fame And Money Are Bad For You"

Except they're not.

[poptasticuk.livejournal.com]

I was about to comment that I can't believe I chose Taylor Swift over Lady Gaga, and wonder whether this means I am getting old (cos it's country) or de-ageing (cos of her teen fans)... but then I saw that the song was the far ahead winner! How great - I must still have good taste after all!

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

"Don't have to be a big bucks Hollywood star/Don't have to drive a super car to get far"

THANKS FOR THAT, PINK.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

I don't think country codes as "old" at all...I mean, that's not the impression I get from its home fanbase, anyway. It's still odd to get into as a British person, I feel more removed from its context (the community and lifestyle of its artists and fans) than anything else so that's a barrier, but then I listen to Taylor Swift and Miranda Lambert and it's really not a million miles from any other given singer-songwriter that I like, except with tighter songwriting and more hooks.

[poptasticuk.livejournal.com]

Well, it is mostly older people who listen to country in the UK, isn't it? You'd be much more likely to hear it on Radio 2 than Radio 1. Of course in America its fanbase is related more to where people live than what age they are, and within those areas different age groups like different kinds of country. On American Idol last week it was country week, and one girl from the south said that "everyone loves country" where she came from. You're right that these young girls are not so different to other singer-songwriters. If I had to compare Taylor's album to one I already have, I'd definitely go for Michelle Branch.