Top 10 Songs Of 2011

[koganbot]

So far. And three of them are holdovers from last year, which I justify down in the wonky notes. I've already posted about Jeremih, the gorgeous tenuousness of the sounds seeming to have nothing to do with the booty-gazing lyrics. You likely already know about the Britney, and if you haven't heard "High High" yet, that's hardly my fault. "Knock Out" is a bouncing bit of spare and twisting bubble bubble gum-smacking Korean hip-hop that doesn't match up with anything else anywhere that I can think of and will get a post of its own someday soon.



Meanwhile, "Ready 4 Romance" is roll-along-the-floor techno-dance that could play in any disco anywhere, atmospherics echoing through the atmosphere and a breathy girl occasionally showing up to say she needs me. "S&M" sounds bright and silly where you'd expect it to be dark and domineering, and is better for it. "No 1," the instrumental version of a B-side of an aggressively chirpy Korean girl-group single, is a bit of throwaway dance funk with a snaking synth line. "Good Day" is a diva showcase that morphs into a disco showbiz hussy and is a brilliant song, even if warm and appealing IU is neither diva nor hussy and doesn't blaze across the track the way it needs her to. And finally "Mocha Java" is a cooing little come-on, the basic background sound from backwater Russian dance clubs to international airport bars, though this happens to be Taiwanese.

1. Jeremih "Down On Me"
2. Britney Spears "Hold It Against Me"
3. GD&TOP "High High"
4. GD&TOP "Knock Out"
5. Galaxy Dream ft. Turbotronic "Ready 4 Romance"
6. Rihanna "S&M"
7. Secret "No. 1 (Inst.)"
8. IU "Good Day"
9. Xoxo "Mocha Java"

I have no number ten, so you need to tell me what it should be.

Wonky Notes:
"Down On Me" was released back in September, but it only just hit the Top 40 last week, and it's now risen to 30, so if it holds on, I'll count it eligible for 2011. Made 36 on my 2010 list, which is a strong showing and I underrated it; but I'll drop it off this list if it goes lower than 20, which it may not.

"High High" and "Good Day" were both December releases so automatically eligible for 2011, but once again, I had listed them last year (at 33 and 45), so if/when they fall out of my 20 I'll take them down. But I may have underrated "High High" too, so it's not a given it'll fall away.

"Knock Out" was produced by some Philadelphia bloke.

K-pop bloggers are in a minor uproar (well one or two of them, as are some YouTube commenters) over "Mocha Java" for plagiarizing Brown Eyed Girls' "Abracadabra," though honestly I can't hear the similarity. Certainly not the melody, and even if the beat is close it's not such a unique dancebeat that only two songs in the world have it. But thanks to the uproar, I found this song.

Scruples force me to note that I have never actually been in a backwater Russian dance club. I admit it.

Comments

[talrose.livejournal.com]

Kind of makes sense actually, since the Jagger comparison you make to Terius doesn't really apply to R. Kelly, who doesn't have trap doors within a song as he does across an album or across his whole career. There's also a lot more to work with—the sheer volume of his work is pretty daunting, and it's very difficult to place where to begin with him. A couple other things of note: Kelly wrote many songs for Michael Jackson, including "You Are Not Alone," and according to a recent interview he has a couple albums' worth of songs he wrote for MJ, but my guess is they're all ballads, which I think says something about Kelly, that he's more of a ballad singer than a rock singer, and maybe there's more rock in Terius'. The-Dream's production is also a little more expansive, keyboards stretching out all over the track, the drums hitting a littler harder; whereas Kelly is a little more narrow, everything coming in streams and brooks and light splashes, a little more adult contemporary than The-Dream. Elegance is a big part of Kelly's music, and maybe Jonathan B. can help me out here, but isn't "I'm A Flirt" a waltz?

[talrose.livejournal.com]

Great interview with, of all people, Will Oldham in the new issue of Interview:

http://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/r-kelly/

[koganbot]

"I'm A Flirt" isn't a waltz; it's in 4/4 but he plays with the accents at the start, making the second beat feel like the one, so three beats later there you are at a new measure, giving dancers something to play with or trip over.

[koganbot]

Another gap: Oldham's music is something I don't know very well either.