High Kill Heels (singles & albums first third 2011, plus leftover lists from 2010)

[koganbot]

"Galaxy Dream - Ready 4 Romance (Turbotronic Radio Edit)" (Watch on YouTube)

Galaxy Dream ft. Turbotronic, "Ready 4 Romance"

Pretty much missed three out of the four months, but was still able to get a solid 20, thanks to ringers from late last year, Korean b-sides, Korean instrumentals, a Far East Movement bonus track that's currently number 5 on the Gaon Overseas Chart, and a joke that my mom (b. 1923) says is far older than she is, much less the Bellamy Brothers. So predates World War I, at least. Might even predate the French And Indian War.

In regards to said joke, while even my Britney-loving friends consider "Hold It Against Me" the bottom poop of Britney's year, I'm completely taken by it, as it rumbles and rocks, glides and pummels, soars and attacks; maybe it's a bit too comfortable in its trashiness, compared to the unsettlingly squirmy trashiness of Blackout, but basically I think this and "3" are genius and if only she 'n' Max 'n' crew had put together an album's worth of such gorgeous sexslime, Femme Fatale'd be in my decade's top ten for sure. Will likely make my year's ten, anyway, though as you'll see below, not a lot of albums have been knocking the door of the koganbot pleasure center.

SINGLES:
1. Britney Spears "Hold It Against Me"
2. Jeremih "Down On Me"
3. GD&TOP "High High"
4. Galaxy Dream ft. Turbotronic "Ready 4 Romance"
5. IU "The Story Only I Didn't Know"
6. GD&TOP "Knock Out"
7. Far East Movement ft. Lil Jon & Colette Carr "Go Ape"
8. Big Bang "Tonight"
9. Rihanna "S&M"
10. Reba McEntire "If I Were A Boy"
11. Secret "No. 1 (Inst.)"
12. Camo & Krooked "Nothing Is Older Than Yesterday"
13. Girl2School "Let's Play Dance"
14. Kara "Jumping"
15. Rainbow "To Me"
16. Crookers ft. Róisín Murphy "Royal T."
17. Xoxo "Mocha Java"
18. Avril Lavigne "What The Hell"
19. Jamey Johnson "Heartache"
20. T-ara "Why Are You Being Like This?"

ALBUMS:
Britney Spears Femme Fatale
SOOLj Electro SOOLj EP
T-ara Temptastic EP
LPG Special

Wild rose

LPG are listed as "trot," which is a Korean descendant of foxtrot, so I expect it's what everybody danced to prior to the young people's wave of hip-hop and r&b; in feel it makes me think of Italodisco, actually. LPG seem to be young people themselves, their name originally standing for "Long Pretty Girls" owing to the singers all winning beauty contests. Possibly an unpromising premise for a girl group, but art can come from anywhere, even the heights. Now, foreshortened by a few defections and replacements, LPG are merely "Lovely Pretty Girls" and perhaps need a successful album so as not to end up lonely pretty girls. They did a recent terribly blah cover of "We No Speak Americano," their voices being the total wrong style for a poke-you-in-the-ribs novelty. There's something clear and matter of fact about their singing, reminding me of Boney M.*

I wrote about the Britters here and here, about the Jeremih here and here, about "High High" here, there, and everywhere, "Ready 4 Romance" and "No. 1 (inst.)" and "Knockout" and "Mocha Java" here, Rihanna here, Reba being a boy here, Avril here, and T-ara here. So what's that leave?

Right, I've been talking about IU all over the planet including here, but, though we did the new mental illness vid, we never really got to the song. "Legitimate" ballad doesn't quite capture it, and though "art" ballad might be closer, that doesn't feel right either; but anyway, not the everyday pang-n-mush-ballad sandwich that's the staple of Asian pop, and not just the deep-passion ballad or the show-off Mariah extravaganza, or the classy controlled jazz stylings of the Good Singer, but something grave, and daunting, and ambitious. Yet she's got a small and sketchy voice, lacking the pyrotechnics to go the Mariah route even if she wanted to, or the steady command to match her hero Corinne Bailey Rae, though she's tried. And her mushburger ballads are almost as boring as everyone else's, so far. Nonetheless, she's creating a body of stunning performances, from live knockoffs of other people's pop hits to difficult showpieces, and not by taking the Taylor Swift route of expressive wavers and quavers, but by throwing herself directly at the difficulty. I don't get it, actually, but for me "The Story Only I Didn't Know" has the emotional wallop of a massively wailing old Shangri-Las' track, despite IU's not wailing.**

Far East Movement ft. "Go Ape": Sorta what you'd expect from a ghetto-electro banger featuring a classic crunk bawler and a cut-rate Ke$ha all imitating Gwen Stefani and going apeshit.

Big Bang "Tonight": Take G-Dragon & T.O.P., glisten 'em all up, and embed them in harmonic delirium courtesy of their band o' boys. High flying.

"BIGBANG - TONIGHT M/V" (Watch on YouTube)

Camo & Krooked "Nothing Is Older Than Yesterday": Where "Ready 4 Romance" proves that techno is really disco, this proves it was really rock all along.

Girl2School "Let's Play Dance": Not sure what the difference is between playing dance and actually dancing, though in the video the girls – a not necessarily talented crew – mostly eschew steps and choreography, and as they say, you can do it, baby.

Kara "Jumping": Reaching for the swirl and passion of Exposé and the Cover Girls; don't really achieve the ache and pang, but they give it excitement, a fast, bright shine.

Rainbow "To Me": More of Korea on the Latin tip, unexpectedly rolling into a beautiful Judy Torres wail at the end, despite the Rainbowite's not being much of a wailer. Eng subs on the vid are along the lines of I need you, you need me too, I'm what you want, no one ever loved you more, call me, I won't wait by the phone, high kill heels (!), I'm not the usual type, thank you very much but I can pay for my own car, give everything to me, you'll fall at the speed of mach, I need you, you need me, that's right boy, come to me. So pleader, stalker, and tease, all at once.

Crookers ft. Róisín Murphy "Royal T": The track gets off on its boinks and buzzes, while Róisín digs sharp elbows into the groove.

Jamey Johnson "Heartache": Jamey once again impersonates a nonperson (see "The Guitar Song"); this time he's pain on the prowl.

T-ara "Why Are You Being Like This?": While lyric translations assert that the boy is feeling a Wonderland of fluttering love while acting indifferent, the sound says the T-aras are flicking around, self-contained in their own happy dance. He can join in only if he can catch up.

Actually, since I never bothered posting my P&J ballot or my 2010 albums, mainly 'cause I still haven't come up with what I want to say about E.via in the category Greatest Artist Of 2010 Even Though She's Really Only Got Three Significant Songs To Speak Of, I might as well post my Albums Longlist For 2010 – though I myself am dubious about anything ranked lower than 12 ('cept I probably should've upgraded the T-ara, which as a December release is getting consideration for this year too):

1. Ke$ha Animal (RCA)
2. E.via Must Have EP (Dline Art Media)
3. The-Dream Love King (Radio Killa/Def Jam)
4. Various Artists Ayobaness! (The Sound Of South African House) (Out Here)
5. Marina And The Diamonds The Family Jewels (Atlantic)
6. E.via Via Polar EP (Dline Art Media)
7. Taylor Swift Speak Now (Big Machine)
8. Rihanna Loud (Def Jam)
9. Diddy - Dirty Money Last Train To Paris (Bad Boy)
10. Daddy Yankee Daddy Yankee Mundial (El Cartel/Sony)
11. Jamey Johnson The Guitar Song (Mercury Nashville)
12. Princesa Más Fuego (no label)
13. Ke$ha Cannibal EP (RCA)
14. Jenni Vartiainen Seili (Warner Music Finland)
15. T-ara Temptastic EP (Core Contents Media/Mnet Media)
16. Roach Gigz Roachy Balboa (Goomba)
17. Far East Movement Free Wired (Cherrytree)
18. DJ DOC Elegance
19. 2NE1 To Anyone (YG Entertainment)
20. Wiley Best Of Wiley Zip Files (Davey Boy Smith version) (no label)

And my Country Singles Longlist For 2010, which I intended to relisten to so as to ascertain whether I did right by the year's latecomers, but I never got to it:

1. Little Big Town "Little White Church"
2. Sunny Sweeney "From A Table Away"
3. Taylor Swift "Mean"
4. Martina McBride "Wrong Baby Wrong Baby Wrong"
5. Laura Bell Bundy "Giddy On Up"
6. Kenny Chesney "Somewhere With You"
7. Trace Adkins "Ala-Freakin-Bama"
8. Sarah Darling "Whenever It Rains"
9. Stealing Angels "He Better Be Dead"
10. Sarah Darling "With Or Without You"
11. Brad Paisley "Water"
12. Kenny Chesney "Ain't Back Yet"
13. Miranda Lambert "The House That Built Me"
14. Miranda Lambert "Only Prettier"
15. Jerrod Niemann "Lover, Lover"
16. Martin Ramey "Twisted"
17. Jake Owen "Tell Me"
18. Jaron And The Long Road To Love "Pray For You"
19. Randy Montana "Ain't Much Left Of Lovin' You"
20. The Band Perry "If I Die Young"
21. Eric Church "Smoke A Little Smoke"
22. Gretchen Wilson "I Got Your Country Right Here"
23. Los Lobos "Burn It Down"
24. Luke Bryan "Someone Else Calling You Baby"
25. Toby Keith "Bullets In The Gun"
26. Blaine Larsen "Leavin'"
27. Dierks Bentley "Draw Me A Map"
28. Tim McGraw "Felt Good On My Lips"
29. Blake Wise "I've Got This Feeling"
30. Chuck Wicks "Old School"

"Twisted" (Watch on YouTube)

*Of course, Boney M would probably have done a terrific version of "We No Speak Americano," evening out the song's "humor," but they'd probably do a terrific version of anything.

**But come to think of it, the Shangri-Las song this most reminds me of is "Past Present And Future," which forgoes the wails.

Comments

[chuckeddy.livejournal.com]

Hey Frank -- First off, I really need to catch up with all that K-Pop; I've sort of been (probably superstitiously) avoiding youtube ever since I got a new laptop, in fear that too much youtubing is one reason my previous laptop got over-run by killer viruses. (I've switched to an allegedly safer browser, and I run virus searches obsessive-compulsively now, and have a no-ad-pop-up plug-in installed, but still.) Second, the Britney album hasn't really hit me. I like it okay, pretty much all of it, but after several listens I haven't fallen in love with any of it. I probably need to study more of what you and Metal Mike and others have said makes it so great, but I haven't had time. So it could conceivably rise on my list as the year proceeds. Or not.

That said, here are my 40 favorite albums of the year, as things stand right now. (List could even go a lot longer, actually, but after these, things get more and more marginal). Biggest surprise is that I've been listening to so much jazz -- Somewhere between 7 and 10 of the 40, but zero of the Top 5 (which probably means that there's still a glass ceiling in how much I can get out of jazz these days, though I surprisingly often seem to get something. Too bad I never figured out how to write about the stuff -- well, not counting jazz that has metal in it, anyway.)

1. Randy Montana – Randy Montana (Mercury)
2. Kultur Shock – Ministry Of Kultur (Kultur Shock)
3. Nazareth – Big Dogz (Eagle Rock Entertainment)
4. Cauldron – Burning Fortune (Earache)
5. Stealing Angels – Stealing Angels (Skyville)
6. Yaron Herman Trio – Follow The White Rabbit (ACT)
7. Thompson Square – Thompson Square (Stoney Creek)
8. The Dirtbombs – Party Store (In The Red)
9. Too Slim and the Tail Draggers – Shiver (Underworld)
10. Gutbucket – Flock (Cuneiform)
11. Carl Sims – Hell On My Hands (CDS)
12. Endangered Blood – Endangered Blood (Skirl)
13. Joe Fielder Trio – Sacred Chrome Orb (Yellowsound Label)
14. Orchestre Poly-Rythmo – Cotonou Club (Strut)
15. Dick Destiny – La Puta (Dick Destiny)
16. Chucha Santamaria Y Usted – Chucha Santamaria Y Usted (Young Cubs)
17. Dennis Coffey – Dennis Coffey (Strut)
18. Those Darlins – Screws Get Loose (Oh Wow Dang)
19. Donnie Ray – Who’s Rockin’ You? (Ecko)
20. Adam Rudolph’s Moving Pictures – Both/And (Meta)
21. Sarandon – Sarandon’s Age Of Reason (Slumberland)
22. Honey Ear Trio – Steampunk Serenade (Foxhaven)
23. The Uv Race – Homo (In The Red)
24. The Baseball Project – Vol. 2: High And Inside (Yep Roc)
25. Sunny Sweeney – Sunny Sweeney EP (Republic Nashville EP)
26. Big Freedia – Scion A/V Presents: Big Freedia (Scion A/V EP)
27. The Dunn Boys – Volume 1 (The Dunn Boys)
28. The Ex – Catch My Shoe (Ex)
29. Woods Of Ypres – Woods 4: The Green Album (Earache)
30. Designer Drugs – Hardcore/Softcore (Ultra Music)
31. Kode9 & The Spaceape – Black Sun (Hyperdub)
32. Marika Hughes – Afterlife Music Radio: 11 New Pieces For Solo Cello (DD)
33. Britney Spears – Femme Fatale (Jive)
34. MSG – Tasty! (Plus Loin Music)
35. Left Lane Cruiser – Junkyard Speed Ball (Alive)
36. Vijay Iyer / Prasanna / Nitin Mitta – Tirtha (ACT)
37. Kaboom Karavan – Barra Barra (Miasmah)
38. Tara Nevins – Wood And Stone (Sugar Hill)
39. (Various) – Blues Mix Volume Two: Old School Blues (Ecko)
40. Mary Mary – Something Big (Columbia)

[askbask.livejournal.com]

I don't think anyone's ever got a virus watching youtube. Never heard of it.

[koganbot]

Why would YouTube be any kind of threat to computers? I don't know much of anything about how computers work, viruses work, etc., but I'd think a platform (or whatever it is) that's run by Google wouldn't be the sort that a virus maker would be able to take advantage of. But as I just said, I don't know anything about how computers work, viruses work, etc. Also, don't know anything about the relative merits of browsers except that Google Chrome, which I normally use, runs much faster than Internet Explorer, which I used to use and still use occasionally, the reason for using it at all being that the version of Google Chrome on my computer actually has something really screwed-up in its interface with Shockwave Flash, which is what looks at videos, I guess, so if there are a lot of videos on the multitude of my open tabs (including adverts, etc.), my computer freezes. So I go to IE whenever I'm on a page with a lot of vids at once - or actually, I stick with Chrome and hit Ctrl-Alt-Delete a lot and go and turn off whichever I'm guessing is the Chrome program that's running Shockwave Flash at that moment, which kills all the videos, and then I start over, until the Shockwave Flash starts to build up again. Pain in the ass.

Which browser do you use now? Know anything about Mozilla Firefox? Sounds like a cartoon character.

Probably wouldn't call the Britney alb great, and have only played through it three times so far. It's a pretty good dance album, and "pretty good dance album" is often good enough to make my Pazz & Jop. I'm hoping it'll grow. Anyhow, haven't written a word about the album other than what's right here.

Didn't know ChuCha Santamaria Y Usted had an album. Why in the world didn't they send it to me?

Other than the Britney and the Sunny Sweeney (which for three of its five songs only made me shrug, but again that's based on few listens), I've heard none of the albs on your list. Haven't gotten around to many singles, either. Had no idea that "Go Ape" was ever a single anywhere until it reached the Gaon chart; in fact, Wikip doesn't think it was ever a single. Don't get why it was only an extra track.

[askbask.livejournal.com]

I would recommend Firefox if Chrome is giving you problems. Runs comparably fast and the newest version looks a fair bit like Chrome.

[chuckeddy.livejournal.com]

I'm sure both of you are right about the no-viruses-via-youtube thing; as I said above, I'm fairly sure my own recent avoidance of it is superstitious. I guess my probably screwed-up logic might go something like: (1) the videos are uploaded by third parties, who might conceivably upload something dangerous as well; (2) ads on the site might contain secret pernicious malware or links; (3) anything that puts cookies on your computer can potentially cause harm. All of those theories, I know, might well sound ludicrous to people who understand computers more than I do. But any dumb theory that keeps me from wasting too much time on youtube can't be all bad.

My browser is Mozilla Firefox (which does have a little cartoon fox as its icon), and I like it a lot. Had been stubbornly using Explorer with my previous laptop, and several people told me Firefox was safer, so I switched when I bought my new one. Do use Google Chrome to access certain spreadsheets I have to fill out for Rhapsody, because they don't work on Firefox, but that's it; I didn't even know what Chrome was until last month or so, and I still have no idea how risky it might be.

I've been playing the Britney album in my car the last couple days, and most every song has something in it to hook me, though not to hold my attention for entire songs in many cases. I expect the album will move up my list, though I seriously doubt it has any chance of making my year-end top 10. Mostly, I'd say I'm impressed, from a distance, by the hook craft and sex obsession of it (including of the single Frank likes so much.) But there's nothing on it, still, that I want to play again and again. And a lot of parts annoy me, too.

I don't think I like the Sunny Sweeney EP that much more than you do -- think I found two rather than three tracks shrug-worthy last time I played it -- I like the first two songs, but neither of them comes close to "From A Table Away." On the other hand, the EP still has "From A Table Away" on it, which counts for a lot.

I probably got the idea that "Go Ape" was a single last year from Rhapsody, where it's still carried as one (albeit in a "Live From the Cherrytree house" version), here (says it was released last September; could've sworn that their Wiki discography had listed it as a single at one point, too, but maybe not; the page definitely isn't doing so now):

http://www.rhapsody.com/far*eastmovement/go-ape

I will try to drop ChuCha Santamaria Y Usted's publicist an email and suggest that he send you a copy of the album (which comes out June 28.)

[talrose.livejournal.com]

Maybe it's the computer, but Chuck, based on my experience, whatever anyone tells you about Firefox is baloney, as the Firefox Installer completely destroyed my hard drive, which the good people at the Apple Store replaced for me free of charge. That brings me to my next point: Do you have a PC? Because that's your problem right there, hands down. PCs are on the whole cheaper than Macs, but also much more prone to viruses, spam, pop-ups, and bugs that are guaranteed to infest your computer within a year or two—that's why people keep replacing 'em. For my money, drop the 2 Gs on a Mac with an external HD and a warranty that's more-or-less impervious to viruses, is good for at least 3-4 years, and really easy to use. Otherwise, you will be saddled with a virus-strewn computer for four years or you will just keep buying new computers. I use Google Chrome and I love it, but my girlfriend uses it and it's always crashing and collapsing on her, so who knows. After my experience with Firefox, though, I will never go back to it, though I have to use it for work, as the blog for which I write can, for some bizarre reason, only post through Firefox. I just open it using the .dmg rather than actually dragging the app into my hard drive.

Chuck's list is daunting, and it gives me a lot to listen to. He's absolutely right about the reissues though, particularly the Fania comp. I like the Dirtbombs album, but "Bug In The Bass Bin" in the middle kinda kills the momentum.

My album of the year at the moment is definitely Nicolas Jaar. Other than that, I'd have to regroup, relisten, and revise.

[koganbot]

xpost

[koganbot]

Oh, the link on the words "she tried" up top is the IU version of that Corinne Bailey Rae track you surprised me by ticking over on the poptimists 2006 poll.

[chuckeddy.livejournal.com]

Additional lists.

Top 10 2011 singles so far:

1. Mary Mary – Walking
2. The Dirtbombs - Sharevari
3. GS&TOP – High High
4. Martina McBride – Teenage Daughters
5. Thompson Square – Are You Gonna Kiss Me Or Not
6. Carl Sims - Hell On My Hands
7. Eric Church – Homeboy
8. Woods Of Ypres – I Was Buried In Mount Pleasant Cemetery
9. Rosehill – Midnight America
10.Big Freedia – Almost Famous

Top 5 late-breaking-for-me 2010 singles I might consider voting for on a 2011 ballot:

1. Carl Marshall – I Lived It All (2010)
2. Banda San Jose Mesillas – Mueveme El Pollo (2010)
3. Gappy Ranks – Pumpkin Belly (2010)
4. Mel Waiters – I Ain't Gonna Do It (2010)
5. E.Via – Pick Up! U! (2010)

(I had considered "Go Ape" by Far*East Movement a 2010 single. And there might be other album tracks I've loved this year that are singles, but I just don't know it yet -- Need to check my list, one of these days.)

Top 10 2010 albums I didn't hear until this year (the top two or three of which I might consider listing on a 2011 Pazz & Jop ballot anyway):

1. Carl Marshall – Love Who You Wanna Love (CDS ’10)
2. The Band Perry – The Band Perry (Universal Republic ‘10)
3. Mel Waiters – I Ain’t Gone Do It (Waldoxy ’10)
4. Gerod Rayborn – Call Before You Come!!! (Ecko/New Groove ‘10)
5. Kultur Shock – Integration (Kultur Shock ’09)
6. Bigg Robb – Soul Prescription (Robbmusic/JMG ’10)
7. Yelawolf – Trunk Muzik 0-60 (Jive '10)
8. O.B. Buchana – That Thang Thang (Ecko ‘10)
9. Floyd Taylor – All Of Me (CDS ’10)
10. Holy Grail – Crisis In Utopia (Prosthetic ’10)


Top five 2011 reissue albums so far

1. (Various) – Dirty Water 2: More Birth Of Punk Attitude (Year Zero)
2. (Various) – Keb Darge & Little Edith’s Legendary Wild Rockers (BBE)
3. (Various) – Fania Records 1964-1980: The Original Sound Of Latin New York (Strut)
4. The Mixtures – Stompin' At The Rainbow (Linda/Minky)
5. (Various) – Bustin’ Out 1984: New Wave To New Beat Volume 4 (Year Zero)

[chuckeddy.livejournal.com]

Actually, come to think of it, Dick Destiny's U.S. Of Fail probably belongs on that "Top 10 2010 albums I didn't hear until this year" list, around #9 or so.

still need to hear Britney

[joshlanghoff.livejournal.com]

Still need to hear Britney and that Tuneyards woman. And Stryper.

Anyway, here's my top 20-something albums so far, with some genre tags that I included in the document more for my benefit, but which may give you some idea of what we're dealing with. Lots of CCM this year! It's not as bad as I'd expected! The year is currently sitting at a .324 "worthwhile" average, and CCM's at .308. Of course that includes David Banner, but still.

Neil Diamond--The Bang Years: 1966-1968 (Legacy) (major, reissue)
Monotonix--Not Yet (Drag City) (indie)
Steel Magnolia--Steel Magnolia (Big Machine) (major?, country)
Thompson Square--Thompson Square (Stoney Creek '10) (indie, country)
Various Artists--Fania Records 1964-1980: The Original Sound of Latin New York (Strut) (indie, reissue, Latin)
Charlotte Martin--Dancing on Needles (Test-Drive) (indie)
Various Artists--Nigeria 70 -- Sweet Times: Afro-Funk, Highlife & Juju from 1970s Lagos (Strut) (indie, reissue)
The Gun Show--Discontentment (Static Age) (indie, CCM, metal)
David Banner & 9th Wonder--Death of a Pop Star (b.i.G.f.a.c.e./eOne ‘10) (indie, rap, CCM)
Iron and Wine--Kiss Each Other Clean (4AD/Warner Bros.) (major)
Those Darlins--Screws Get Loose (Oh Wow Dang) (indie, country)
PJ Harvey--Let England Shake (Vagrant/Island) (major)
R. Kelly--Love Letter (Jive ‘10) (major, R&B)
Bright Eyes -- The People’s Key (Saddle Creek) (indie)
Simone Dinnerstein--Bach: A Strange Beauty (Sony Classical) (major, classical)
Alexi Murdoch--Towards the Sun (Zero Summer) (indie, folk)
Overcome--The Great Campaign of Sabotage (Facedown) (indie, metal, CCM)
Heavy Winged -- Sunspotted (Type ‘10) (indie, metal)
Radiohead -- The King of Limbs (no label?) (indie)
Weasel Walter, Mary Halvorson, Peter Evans -- Electric Fruit (Thirsty Ear) (indie, jazz)
Asphalt Orchestra -- Asphalt Orchestra (Cantaloupe) (indie, jazz, classical)
Mary Mary -- Something Big (Columbia) (major, CCM, R&B)

Re: still need to hear Britney

[joshlanghoff.livejournal.com]

oh yeah, and it's good to see "Heartache" is a single!

Re: still need to hear Britney

[joshlanghoff.livejournal.com]

oh yeah, and I'm looking forward to digging around for your pix, particularly Frank's K-Pop -- I just need to carve out an hour and DIVE IN -- and Chuck's jazzes and metals, since I've been skimping on those this year. These lists always make my day.

[koganbot]

For my own reference, here are Lex's first quarter reports:

http://alexmacpherson.tumblr.com/post/5157484245/q1-report-2011-part-two-tracks

http://alexmacpherson.tumblr.com/post/5068549266/q1-report-2011-part-one-albums

[koganbot]

Rodney's trimester:

http://rjgreene.tumblr.com/post/5216003455/trimester-1-2011-loose-joints

[askbask.livejournal.com]

Speaking of Girl2School - at the under-explored outskirts of k-girl group pop unexpected sounds pop up

[askbask.livejournal.com]

~first half of 2011 off the top of my head


1. f(x) - Danger
2. Katy B - Easy Please Me
3. Paramore - Monster
4. Taylor Swift - Story of Us
5. Lloyd - Private Dancer
6. After School - Shampoo
7. Capsule - Prime Time
8. Inna - Amazing
9. Big Bang - Tonight
10. Perfume - Laser Beam
11. Medina - For Altid
12. Sistar 19 - Ma Boy
13. Beyonce 1+1
14. Diddy Dirty Money ft Swizz Beats - Ass on the floor
15. Omarion - Forgot About Love
16. Jay Park - Tonight
17. TVXQ - Keep Your Head Down
18. Ny feat. Giggs - Be With You
19. Rainbow - To Me
20. Miguel - Sure Thing
21. IU - Story Only I Didn't Knwo
22. Beast - Fiction
23. 2NE1 - Lonely
24. Alexandra Stan - Mr Saxo Beat
25. Rihanna - Man Down

I've included two 2010 releases - Alexandra Stan and Inna's hits, like most Romanian dance pop, travels slowly across the continent, via tourists and partygoers, and ends up on our charts a year later.

Makes Me Move Like A Freak

[koganbot]

I ticked Mr. Saxobeat over on Poptimists. There's also an Inna sitting there tick-free, but not the one you listed. I tried to generate interest in Dev, Big Freedia, and Rainbow, but all I got in response were some tumbleweeds blowing by in the distance:

http://poptimists.livejournal.com/805233.html

Rivaling Alexandra Stan in redeeming social importance is Nicola Roberts:

http://www.jonalisblog.com/2011/06/nicola-roberts-beat-of-my-drum-video.html

Btw, I'd count "Knock Out" as 2011; wasn't a single until January.

Re: Makes Me Move Like A Freak

[askbask.livejournal.com]

Diplo gets around, doesn't he. He's been back in Korea working with YG this week. I considered Knock Out but had already put it high up on my 2010 lists.

[koganbot]

Feels a lot like when Eurobeat went superfast in the '90s. Think the raw-voiced pushiness of the lead singer(s) makes it effective. Know anything about her/them?

A couple more that aren't bad:

Jewelry "Pass": Breathlessly carefree in a way that reminds me of Miss A's "Breathe" (though not nearly as good as that).

Blady "찌릿찌릿": Like the Jewelry but better and with the same revved-up hints of freestyle you get in "Jumping" and "To Me."

Someday you should post a rundown of the producers/writers responsible for the greatest of the K-pop. (Or maybe you have already over on Rolling K-pop. I'll check out that thread again soon, though it's hard for me to download; either I need to run it on Internet Explorer, which takes as long as grandpa's beard to load, or I do it on Google Chrome and then kill Shockwave Flash, which takes out the embeds.)

The more I listen to Miss A's "Breathe" the more brilliant it gets. With the riff that introduces the choruses and the second verse I feel like I'm listening to Verdi or Gilbert & Sullivan run through modern K-pop. The Miss A singers seem a bit overmatched, which surprisingly works for the song, strenuous vocals on something that you'd think would run light like water; makes it very human. I like the struggle of the live versions. The part where they deliberately lose their breath is very witty. Of course, their being able to do it like a running brook would be good in a different way.

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Unfortunately I don't know anything! They showed up on a youtube channel I subscribed to. I don't think we'll ever see them performing on music shows.

'Pass' is close to being a song I'd put on repeat but not quite there. Had the same relationship with their last single 'Back it Up' - it sounds good but lacks something to get me engaged.

Jewelry actually held the record for most consecutive Music Bank wins (7 weeks) before Gee (9 weeks), with their cover of In-Grid's "One More Time" back in 2008 and with a different member constellation.

Breathe - best live routine of 2010! It's great, and speaking of producers I was surprised at how much JYP could surprise me. I haven't managed to pin him down as a songwriter. Writing down an overview of producers could be a rewarding process for me as well, so I'll get to that.

Incidentally, and you may have heard it, Miss A released their first single not produced by JYP. It's for Kim Yuna's ice skating show and wasn't promoted otherwise (and their real comeback is set for next month). With the English lyrics and all it sounds completely American

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Rainbow are back, still wearing high kill heels if not making a point out of it.

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