A New Decade In Pop: Week #45

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Sorry for the delay on this - my newly employed status means that daytime-LJ is sporadic. Apologies if there are any mistakes, I don't really have time to check properly! Anyway, Rihanna is the the only girl (in the world) at the top of the UK charts this week.

[Poll #1643194]

X Factor watch: as you can see above, Cher's efforts have meant the original has climbed up to #12 (I wonder where her cover would have reached if the mp3 was chart-eligible?).

Pop club watch: I will be DJing at the last ever Don't Stop Moving this Saturday! Come down for some banging top 40 chart action!

Comments

[koganbot]

Adhering to my policy of not rating a re-entry, which in this instance I'm not sure I'd tick anyway, as I spent my re-listen distracted by how much I prefer Cher Lloyd's version - just as back in the day I was distracted by how much I preferred "I Heard A Rumour" and "Venus" and "Cruel Summer" etc. Think Siobhan is trapped behind her vibrato.

Does anyone have an inkling why little-known American Alexis Jordan just stormed the U.K. singles chart?

Alexis Jordan "Happiness": Bubblegum, despite going light on the sweets. Slight in a good way, smooth elevator disco, unobtrusive catchiness and unobtrusive complexity as Alexis, Stargate, et al. quietly mess around with the measure bars. HAPPY TICK.

will.i.am ft. Nicki Minaj "Check It Out": Nicki holds her own at first, fighting the sample and looking disgusted, while will.i.am's singing is unimaginably empty, and when Nicki re-enters she just sounds tired. What a waste. UNTICK IT OUT.

Ne-Yo "One In A Million": Ne-Yo falls for another independent woman whom he can abase himself in front of. His voice slides and bubbles around the bubbling beats, beauty surrounding beauty. TICK IN A MILLION.

Tinchy Stryder ft. Taio Cruz "Second Chance": I've nothing in principle against Autotune, or tunes, but the deliberately weak prettiness that Rotem pioneered and Cruz picked up just feels like a waste of melody. Stryder's not bad at the start, connecting bridge to both "burned" and "erected," but he's not the rapper to dominate and compensate for the dominant style here. NO SECOND TICK.

Nadine "Insatiable": Tough quasi-country mannerisms give way to high-motoring postdisco horns and big banging beats, girls aloud style. Pretty good dance track. TICKABLE (BORDERLINE)

Roll Deep ft. Alesha Dixon "Take Control": Alesha good when taking high dives, dull when riding the waves; Wiley and friends strong when hooks and Alesha aren't getting in their way. TICK CONTROL (BORDERLINE).

Jamiroquai "White Knuckle Ride": Initially read song title as "White Knuckle Bride." (Quick, get Taylor on the phone. "Do I have a title for you!") Good little funk groove w/ thin, glinting singing. Soulful chorus breaks the mood but glides OK in its own right. WHITE TICKLE BRIDE (BORDERLINE).