Wa$$up Ring My Bell (Top Singles, First Quarter 2014)

[koganbot]

Just in time for my first quarter wrap, Crayon Pop show up in shtetl garb traditionalist clothing, playing old people's music as the young-un's in back discreetly tap their toes. Above them in the ten, Wa$$up ring my bell, BiS prove that Anti-Idol is Idol, Tinashe brushes my Cassie spot, Future gets together with a bunch of other dopes to move some dope, Kate Nash punks better than she'd ever quirked, Orange Caramel assay a disco-Cuban b-side to which they barely even attempt to dance, Dal★shabet crochet in freestyle, Puer Kim does an elegant monster maash, and Nicki Minaj scores by any means necessary.

1. Wa$$up "Jingle Bell"
2. BiS "STUPiG"
3. Tinashe ft. Schoolboy Q "2 On"
4. Future ft. Pharrell, Pusha T & Casino "Move That Dope"
5. Kate Nash "Sister"

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6. Orange Caramel "So Sorry"
7. Dal★shabet "B.B.B (Big Baby Baby)"
8. Puer Kim "Manyo Maash"
9. Nicki Minaj "Lookin' Ass Nigga"
10. Crayon Pop "Uh-ee"

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11. T-ara "First Love"
12. Bass Drum Of Death "Black Don't Glow"
13. Neon Jungle "Braveheart"
14. After School "Shh"
15. SNSD "Mr.Mr."
16. Louie ft. Boy Wonder "Twilight"

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17. Low Pros ft. Young Thug & PeeWee Longway "Jack Tripper"
18. Rascal Flatts "Rewind"
19. After School "Rock It"
20. Kach "Tension"

Much less listening the usual, but I got a 20, relying lots on the Singles Jukebox, to which I didn't have time to contribute. Wa$$up is in from December, which I always allow, and while Kach was November, his international push seemed to start in Jan. Louie's "Twilight" is more overbearingly orchestral than I'd like, but it's got Boy Wonder scampering around like the early Eminem.

Jingle the bell.

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Comments

[askbask.livejournal.com]

Written anything about BiS? Highest rank ever for j-pop on the Kogan Charts?

[koganbot]

I wrote a couple not very insightful sentences on BiS at the Pop World Cup, and that's it:

Someday some Japanese idol band is going to click with me in the high pitch and everything else will seem pale in comparison, but for now I find BiS catchier and more accessible than the form they're mauling. Big whompin' vote there.

I did vote SNSD's 1st Japan album as my album of the year in 2011 and Orange Caramel's debut Japanese album Orange Caramel number 2 last year, if we want to count those as J-pop, but I'm guessing we don't. Or SNSD's Love & Peace, which was my number 5. And albums and singles aren't a direct comparison anyway. I probably wouldn't call SNSD's "Bad Girl" J-pop but I certainly would call Orange Caramel's "My Sweet Devil" J-pop, the former finishing 11th on my singles list in 2011 and the latter 18th in 2012, both of which might be higher than "STUPiG" ends up. I don't know yet.

I haven't yet taken to any other BiS track, but I haven't been at all complete or penetrating in my listening.

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

Having a tough time with singles this year, but listening to lots of albums I like. (The problem is that I'm more likely to put on an album in the background while doing other work than actively seek out singles.)

Of the songs I have listened to, #1 is Shakira's "Empire" for reasons that continue to completely elude me. Nicki Minaj's "Boss Ass Bitch" and "Lookin Ass" are up there. A bunch of stuff off the YG album hits. Haven't listened to the new Crayon Pop or Orange Caramel or really any K-pop at all -- put together a quick 'n' dirty 2013 in K-pop after doing some catch up a few weeks ago.

Albums so far:

1. Angel Olsen - Burn Your Fire for No Witness
Seems to refract a bunch of other singers -- glimmers of Janis Joplin, Grace Slick, Johnny Cash, Jim Morrison, and in her worst moments Leonard Cohen -- then everything gets dragged through the mud and re-shaped to passable appearance.

2. YG - My Krazy Life
Gang stories told with the minimum of charm and maximum unstoppable DJ Mustard (and Mustard-esque) beats and (secret weapon) best melody hooks on a rap album I've heard in a while.

3. Cibo Matto - Hotel Valentine
Wispy, winding concept album, lots of hooks hiding in unexpected pockets of songs -- if "I Got a Boy" is a Frankenstein monster, Cibo Matto just has a few grafted monster parts.

4. Audio Push - Come As You Are
Late 2013 mixtape from "Teach Me How to Jerk" folks that I missed, no "Teach Me How to Jerks" on it, obviously, but one of the more consistent mixtapes I've heard.

5. Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings - Give the People What They Want
Dry retro fetishism, but not desiccated. The affect is pretty good at hiding the fact that several of these songs just flat-out suck (and also good at dulling the power of the ones that don't).

[koganbot]

"Empire" is the most Shakira has ever sounded like Regina Spektor, if that influences you one way or another.

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[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

Ha, it should influence me away from thinking it's so great, but I've already settled on it as an "ambushed by unexpected emotion" situation. Plenty of Shakira hits me with expected emotion, and plenty ambushes me with other things that aren't emotion, but this is the first one where I really have a brain/gut split and gut gets the TKO. (Usually gut just wins on points.)

Chuck's Singles So Far

[(Anonymous)]

List is extremely fluid (and there are obviously more I need to check out), but my top 30 has been shking something like this so far. (Note: there are even fewer country singles than your top 20, though I don't think I've heard that Rascal Flatts song yet):

1 - 10. Xavie Shorts – Get Enough
Dev feat. Sage The Gemini – Kiss It
Calibre 50 – El Inmigrante
Mia Martina feat. Dev – Danse
Tensnake feat. Nile Rodgers and Fiona – Love Sublime
Brantley Gilbert – Bottoms Up
Wendell B. – Celebrate Cho Day
LGB – Country Woman
Toni Braxton and Babyface – Roller Coaster
The Pretty Reckless – Heaven Knows

11- 20. Spice – Walk Like A Dog
Black Zack feat. the Force MDs – Row Row
Vybz Kartel – Addi Truth
El Kommander – Soy De Rancho
Stevie J – I Know That I Love Her
Captain Jack Watson – That Right Kind Of Loving
El Dasa – Por Ser Bonita
Scorpion Child – Kings Highway
Hebe Tien – Learning From Drunk
Julión Álvarez Y Su Norteno Banda – Te Hubieras Ido Antes

21 - 30. Klass Band Brotherhood – My Angel
Pitbull feat. Ke$ha – Timber
Busy Signal – Done Wid Di War
The Shrine – Nothing Forever
Schoolboy Q – Man Of The Year
Pat Brown – I’m Taking Out The Trash
We Are Toonz – Drop That #NaeNae
Grand Magus – Triumph and Power
Big Jay Cummings – Can We Ever Go Home Again
Klingande – Jubel

Re: Chuck's Singles So Far

[(Anonymous)]

Oops, actually, re country singles, 1 = 1, duh. (Forgot Brantley Gilbert.)

Re: Chuck's Singles So Far

[koganbot]

First Gilbert I've heard* where his voice doesn't defeat him. My country top four, which comprises most of the country songs from 2104 I've heard, would be the Rascal Flatts (which you can listen to by clicking the link I gave you), the Brantley Gilbert, Eric Church's "Give Me Back My Hometown,"** and Chris Young "Aw Now," not necessarily in that order.

*"I've heard" being a caveat.

**Haven't heard the alb everyone was grousing about on Rolling Country, but the single is hummable enough.

Re: Chuck's Singles So Far

[koganbot]

Actually, "Aw Naw" dates back to the middle of last year; so I'm only three singles deep into a country list for 2014.

Chuck's Albums So Far

[(Anonymous)]

Meant "shaking out" not "shking" (probably). Albums so far (just 10):

1- 10, The Pretty Reckless – Going To Hell (Razor & Tie)
Black Space Riders – D:REI (BSR/Cargo)
The Shrine – Bless Off (Tee Pee)
Archie Shepp – Attica Blues Orchestra Live: I Hear The Sound (ArchieBall/Harmonia Mundi)
Slough Feg – Digital Resistance (Metal Blade)
Duck Sauce – Quack (Fool’s Gold)
Grand Magus – Triumph And Power (Nuclear Blast)
Dark Forest – The Awakening (Cruz Del Sur)
Dinner Music For The Gods – Beautiful And Treacherous (DMFTG)
Y.G. – My Krazy Life (Def Jam)

Re: Chuck's Albums So Far

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

Glad you liked Duck Sauce (haven't heard yet), and will need to relisten to Pretty Reckless who I liked last time out but didn't really pay attention to this time.

i still need to listen to YG

[joshlanghoff.livejournal.com]

Hey, that "Twilight" song sounds pretty good! (I'm sure lots of your other faves do too.) My singles problem is similar to skyecaptain's, I think -- albums are better suited to my passive listening habits, and I've been too preoccupied to do much Jukeboxing so far.

ALBUMS

Against Me! - Transgender Dysphoria Blues (Total Treble) (indie)
Behemoth - The Satanist (Metal Blade) (indie, metal)
Gerardo Ortiz - Archivos de Mi Vida (Del/Sony Latin 2013) (major, Latin) *
Schoolboy Q - Oxymoron (Top Dawg/Interscope) (major, rap)
The Shrine - Bless Off (Tee Pee) (indie)
Raoul Björkenheim - eCsTaSy (Cuneiform) (indie, jazz)
Matt Wilson Quartet with John Medeski - Gathering Call (Palmetto) (indie, jazz)
Martin Castillo - Mundo de Ilusiones (Sony Latin) (major, Latin)
Present - Le Poison Qui Rend Fou (Cuneiform) (indie, reissue, prog)
Algebra Blessett - Recovery (Slim Frances/eOne) (indie, R&B)
Frankie Ballard - Sunshine & Whiskey (Warner Bros.) (major, country)
Toni Braxton and Babyface - Love, Marriage & Divorce (Motown) (major, R&B)

* I’m just sort of hoping this breaks big in 2014.

SINGLES

“Los Awesome” - Schoolboy Q ft. Jay Rock *
“Coming of Age” - Foster the People
“Noche de Lokera” - Los Buitres de Culiacan, Sinaloa *
“Turn Down For What” - DJ Snake & Lil Jon
“Drop That #NaeNae” - We Are Toonz
“Hermosa Experiencia” - Banda MS
“Give Me Back My Hometown” - Eric Church
“Twilight” - Louie ft. Boy Wonder
“Tension” - Kach
“Move That Dope” - Future ft. Pharrell, Pusha T, & Casino

* I’m just sort of hoping these become singles.

Unsurprising tierless night creature news

[davidfrazer.livejournal.com]

TREN-D have at last confirmed that Elly has left.

Re: Unsurprising tierless night creature news

[koganbot]

TREN-D become TRN-D. :(