Bright bubbling mess

Over on the poptimists weekly roundup I talked about party pop getting reinvented as a bright bubbling dance mess, Tinie Tempeh being the latest example but this also relating to what Dave and Tal were saying yesterday in regard to Missy and Ke$ha playing footsie with the centering/de-centering thing. Here's how I said it on poptimists (and you should click the link up top 'cause my other write-ups included a PUN; also, there's a discussion of whether the weekly poll is worth saving):

Tinie Tempeh ft. Labrinth "Frisky": "Rap going pop" doesn't capture what's happening with this any more than it captures what's happening w/ Ke$ha, DeRulo, GaGa, BEP, et al. in the States: party pop is being reinvented as a bright bubbling dance mess, and it's pretty damn interesting (though I wish competing messes like hyphy and jerk also got chart representation*). "Frisky" doesn't capture late-night haze and aggression as well as "Pass Out" did, but it does a fine job of making blips and burbles and slow screws and fast pat-downs sound like party favors. A barely distinct soul voice arrives near the end - "it wanna feelin' yeah" is what I get - providing a sudden ache while a comfortable voice in the lower register cheerfully assures us that we're frisky. TICK.

*Cali Swag District's "Teach Me How To Dougie" is rising through the lower reaches in the U.S., stretching all the way up to 81 in the Hot 100 (26 in hip-hop/r&b). Not that its sound is a mess (is even sparer than most jerk**, actually), just that its bass and brattiness deserve their place in the general social cacophony.

**I suppose the dance is the Dougie (originating in Dallas), but I assume that this band, from SoCal, is part of the overall jerk scene; not that I'd know.

( Frisky vid )

( Dougie vid )