Yet Another Year In Pop: 29

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

I know this is going to come as a shock to all of you, but X Factor runners-up JLS are at number 1. Cascada's down to 2 and the Black Indie Peas are up to 3.

[Poll #1432261]

Jacko watch: you might have forgotten that some old popstar died last month but the general public haven't - Jacko still has 18 songs in the top 100.

Poll reminder: you have until tomorrow lunchtime to vote in Heat #1 of 2001.

Comments

[koganbot]

JLS "Beat Again": Construct a typical boyband track, and this would be it, except for some reason it's atypically well-above average, and I don't know how it's both good and up atop the chart (dance boys still popular in Britain, while in the U.S. they long since gave way to girl stars and Jonas boys in guitar bands), just like who'd have expected that the 2gether parody song that none of you bothered to listen to when it came up on in the Best Songs Of 2000 heats ended up being as good as the *NSync tracks it was goofing on. TICK.

Chicane "Poppiholla": Instantly recognized the song it's reworking even though I had had no idea I'd heard the original. Kinda only half works, beats crowding more busily than they should, and when it's grooving along in its nice way the music swells in ways that are more distracting than lifting. But is pretty enough and flowing enough. BORDERLINE TICK.

Beyoncé "Sweet Dreams": Well, setting up a song and then having the arrangement chip at and challenge the very song it's supposed to be supporting is something she was doing back in the Destiny's Child days, but if anything she gets more challenging and edgy and confused as she gets older, constantly assertive but uneasily so, never sure where to direct that assertion. TICK.

3OH!3 "Don't Trust Me": See my response to Moggy above. TICK TICK TICK.

Green Day "21 Guns": Gave this a tick on the borderline when it came through Another Year In America, feeling generous on account of the melody and Billy Joe's at least trying a falsetto swoop. Still, a "legitimate" song like this is just wrong for them, and the nasal callowness undoes it. BORDERLINE NONTICK.

[koganbot]

Billie Joe's