A New Decade In Pop: Week #7

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Charity gubbins knocks Owl City off the top; the Glee juggernaut continues to mow down anything in its path.

[Poll #1525702]

Comments

[koganbot]

As someone who's never watched Glee, I emphatically say the numbers don't work outside the context of the show, whatever energy they add within - though see first blip of enjoyment below.

Helping Haiti "Everybody Hurts": I've hated the original for years; this version makes me realize that the song really does have a nice melody. Not that the original swallows the melody, but it falls so fully into the song's ache that it becomes a parody of feeling. This strange showcase (voices in such small snippets) is less gloopy and chewy, at the expense of being wooden. BORDERLINE NONTICK.

Glee Cast "Halo"/"Walking On Sunshine": The girls sprint through "Sunshine" and give it zero feeling, at least that I can feel, but "Halo" comes through as its intro, not 'cause of anything special from the Glee-ers, but because of the backbone and melody that Tedder and Bogart gave it in the first place. A tick to Ryan and Evan but not this track. NO TICK.

Glee Cast "It's My Life"/"Confessions Pt II": When I subjected myself to all this Glee shit back on Another Year In America this was the first time I felt any actual pleasure. I credit songwriters Jon, Richie, and Max, but also the Glee arranger and the Glee character's sub-karaoke bellow, which is appropriate considering Jon's own sub-Brucean bellow. Then "Confessions" comes along and all is ruined. BORDERLINE NONTICK.

Cheryl Cole "Parachute": The melody's natural tendency is to flow but it's given barriers and hard turns instead. Cheryl's voice isn't programmed for "hard," but she's adequate, sticking out elbows and cutting short where required. BORDERLINE TICK.

DJ Zinc ft. Ms. Dynamite "Wile Out": Zinc and Dynamite take hard harmony and compress and compact it until it's like those old Super Balls, tight synthesized rubber, extra-violent bounce, released fiercely into a narrow space. TICK.