Yet Another Year In Pop: 38

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Yo Taylor, imma real happy for you, but Taio Cruz has the best selling single of the week...

[Poll #1460443]

Reminder: You've got until tomorrow lunchtime to vote in Heat #2 of 2002, where Nelly & Kelly are tied for 5th with Garbage (closely followed by Stush, Pink and the White Stripes), and the Cheeky Girls are yet to break their duck. THIS IS LIFE.

Comments

[koganbot]

First half:

Taio Cruz "Break Your Heart": Like Jason DeRulo's "Whatcha Say" this douses us in immediate prettiness and from there devolves into dull competence. This one does the competence better, the prettiness is less pretty, and both songs depress the fuck out of me as being emblematic of What Is Wrong, whereas a few months ago they'd just have been minor disappointments. NO TICK.

Madonna "Celebration": A small dance-pop number, Madonna's voice having less pizzazz than it should have, but this feels like a small victory anyway, a bread-and-butter tune that finishes up before the tunefulness wears out. BORDERLINE TICK.

Paramore "Ignorance": Marcello beat me to the punch; I've been mildly liking Paramore for a couple of years and just this second realized I had no idea what the singer's name is. (Hayley Williams; thank you, Wiki.) It's not necessarily right to blame my inattentiveness on the band, since only by concentrating does one notice the unexpected, usually. This track is bright, punchy emo-goth with angst instead of ice, Hayley sounding lither and less demanding than Lacey Mosley or Megan McCauley or Amy Lee would on similar material, which may be why I remember their names but not hers. BORDERLINE TICK.

And here's a touching Paramore cover of a Kings Of Leon song I thought I didn't like:



Jay-Z f. Alicia Keys "Empire State Of Mind": This references several different New Yorks within a couple of seconds, from Jersey Italian to orchestral street funk, but Jay-Z sounds uncommonly subdued. Is a mood piece, and the mood may take a hunk of listens to seep in, but I'll start with a BORDERLINE TICK and hope for higher.

[koganbot]

(But I do have the same reaction as Jeff to the spoken-word bit in "Celebration.")

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Me too - hearing Madge play the greasy lothario kinda spoils what little enjoyment there was to be had in song to begin with :(