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koganbotSpecial back-from-vacation edition. And while we were gone, "Teach Me How To Dougie" slowly kept climbing, and climbing, and climbing, building a constituency, and finally, after two-and-a-half months on the chart, breaking into the top 40.
Meanwhile, the Band Perry are at 55 (and at number 23 on the Country chart, and at number 1 on the Huh? What? chart).
July 22, 2010
Usher ft. Pitbull "DJ Got Us Falling In Love": Usher now doing the same anemic dance pretties as everyone else. When Pitbull arrives, the bass revs up the power farts, and it's like we're rockin' into a different song, unfortunately for just 23 seconds. BORDERLINE NONTICK.
Maroon 5 "Misery": White funk for squares, the gtr. bringing genuine jitters and shivers surrounded by fields of pleasantness. BORDERLINE TICK.
Paramore "The Only Exception": At the start, the arrangement leaves Hayley naked, and she's fetching until she hits the chorus, when the furnishings arrive and she now sounds as if she's reading grammar exercises. BORDERLINE NONTICK.
Christina Perri "Jar Of Hearts": This was preening and complaining atop the Huh? What? chart for 15 minutes until suddenly the Band Perry arrived. BORDERLINE TICK.
July 29, 2010
Katy Perry "Teenage Dream": Second single in a row where Katy's embedded in the sound rather than sticking her face in our face. Track is interesting: strong dance, the lighting and decor resurrected from disco nights and psychedelic ballrooms. But Katy really needs to be less self-effacing. Not what I expected to be saying a couple of years ago. BORDERLINE NONTICK.
B.o.B ft. Rivers Cuomo "Magic": OK tune that could have stepped out of the early-Weezer '90s, 'cept those tunes were generally better. B.o.B's '90s rap optimism lifts this a little. BORDERLINE NONTICK.
Uncle Kracker "Smile": Catchy melody could have worked excellently in a Bubble Bath jingle, but Kracker's earnestness sinks it. NO TICK.
OneRepublic "Secrets": In the overall history of music, violas and cellos aren't so awful, but in modern pop they're a set-up for piety and preciousness. Tedder has an undeniable knack for pretty tunes, but the beauty here is just as enervating as Tedder's sincerity. NO TICK.
Soulja Boy Tell'em "Pretty Boy Swag": Great minimal bass and disquieting blips, to which Soulja assertively adds nothing, at length. I'm baffled. BORDERLINE NONTICK.
August 5, 2010
Sugarland "Stuck Like Glue": Jennifer Nettles has a knife-hard tone that's riveting in spare settings that put a spotlight on the hardness. But on this bouncing ditty she sounds incoherent. Maybe it's the attempt to put a twang in what's essentially an R&B voice. There's a strange reggae interlude where she actually pulls together more, by donning an ersatz Jamaican accent. NO TICK.
Flo Rida ft. David Guetta "Club Can't Handle Me": I'm generally fine with Guetta, but this is simply empty. Flo Rida is such a rap lightweight that it makes sense for Guetta to spiff him up with Autotune and the pop prettiness of a DeRulo. But the rolling club beats here work worse than the dance mess that Rotem gives DeRulo. Some sound-effect business is all that keeps this from simply evaporating. NO TICK.
Bruno Mars "Just The Way You Are": There needs to be a name for the type of singing that's almost passionless but airily evokes (or invokes) meaning and sentiment. I guess Sting is the style's progenitor, except that's misleading, 'cause he sometimes sounds good at it, and few others ever do. NO TICK.
Cali Swag District "Teach Me How To Dougie": A massive bass beat dominates the landscape like an ancient megalith; teens circle it, displaying their feathers. TICK.
T.I. "Got Your Back": In the background, Keri waves her hands in her brisk and pretty way, is stickin' with and for her guy during the difficult days and T.I., in gratitude, displays his purchase power; but the whole thing sounds distant. NO TICK.
Meanwhile, the Band Perry are at 55 (and at number 23 on the Country chart, and at number 1 on the Huh? What? chart).
July 22, 2010
Usher ft. Pitbull "DJ Got Us Falling In Love": Usher now doing the same anemic dance pretties as everyone else. When Pitbull arrives, the bass revs up the power farts, and it's like we're rockin' into a different song, unfortunately for just 23 seconds. BORDERLINE NONTICK.
Maroon 5 "Misery": White funk for squares, the gtr. bringing genuine jitters and shivers surrounded by fields of pleasantness. BORDERLINE TICK.
Paramore "The Only Exception": At the start, the arrangement leaves Hayley naked, and she's fetching until she hits the chorus, when the furnishings arrive and she now sounds as if she's reading grammar exercises. BORDERLINE NONTICK.
Christina Perri "Jar Of Hearts": This was preening and complaining atop the Huh? What? chart for 15 minutes until suddenly the Band Perry arrived. BORDERLINE TICK.
July 29, 2010
Katy Perry "Teenage Dream": Second single in a row where Katy's embedded in the sound rather than sticking her face in our face. Track is interesting: strong dance, the lighting and decor resurrected from disco nights and psychedelic ballrooms. But Katy really needs to be less self-effacing. Not what I expected to be saying a couple of years ago. BORDERLINE NONTICK.
B.o.B ft. Rivers Cuomo "Magic": OK tune that could have stepped out of the early-Weezer '90s, 'cept those tunes were generally better. B.o.B's '90s rap optimism lifts this a little. BORDERLINE NONTICK.
Uncle Kracker "Smile": Catchy melody could have worked excellently in a Bubble Bath jingle, but Kracker's earnestness sinks it. NO TICK.
OneRepublic "Secrets": In the overall history of music, violas and cellos aren't so awful, but in modern pop they're a set-up for piety and preciousness. Tedder has an undeniable knack for pretty tunes, but the beauty here is just as enervating as Tedder's sincerity. NO TICK.
Soulja Boy Tell'em "Pretty Boy Swag": Great minimal bass and disquieting blips, to which Soulja assertively adds nothing, at length. I'm baffled. BORDERLINE NONTICK.
August 5, 2010
Sugarland "Stuck Like Glue": Jennifer Nettles has a knife-hard tone that's riveting in spare settings that put a spotlight on the hardness. But on this bouncing ditty she sounds incoherent. Maybe it's the attempt to put a twang in what's essentially an R&B voice. There's a strange reggae interlude where she actually pulls together more, by donning an ersatz Jamaican accent. NO TICK.
Flo Rida ft. David Guetta "Club Can't Handle Me": I'm generally fine with Guetta, but this is simply empty. Flo Rida is such a rap lightweight that it makes sense for Guetta to spiff him up with Autotune and the pop prettiness of a DeRulo. But the rolling club beats here work worse than the dance mess that Rotem gives DeRulo. Some sound-effect business is all that keeps this from simply evaporating. NO TICK.
Bruno Mars "Just The Way You Are": There needs to be a name for the type of singing that's almost passionless but airily evokes (or invokes) meaning and sentiment. I guess Sting is the style's progenitor, except that's misleading, 'cause he sometimes sounds good at it, and few others ever do. NO TICK.
Cali Swag District "Teach Me How To Dougie": A massive bass beat dominates the landscape like an ancient megalith; teens circle it, displaying their feathers. TICK.
T.I. "Got Your Back": In the background, Keri waves her hands in her brisk and pretty way, is stickin' with and for her guy during the difficult days and T.I., in gratitude, displays his purchase power; but the whole thing sounds distant. NO TICK.
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Date: 2010-08-06 10:34 pm (UTC)