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Frank Kogan ([personal profile] koganbot) wrote2014-07-04 10:28 am

Who Goes Out On Mondays? (Mid Year Singles, 2014 [and a couple albums])

Even with S. Korea having canceled spring on account of the ferry disaster (as Subdee says), I'm woefully behind on K-pop, and my listening elsewhere has been too random and intermittent even to be called scattershot. But anyway, int'l dance cheese goes strong at its most opportunist (Chainsmokers, Orange Caramel, Badkiz [the "Party Rock Anthem" influence still potent in Seoul], PungDeng-E, Arcade Fire, Mia Martina), whereas the boring int'l amalgamated danceR&Bglaze&crud that's been weighing down charts worldwide since 2009 somehow manages to sound touching in the hands of a Shakira and a Rihanna who've had all their distinctive characteristics removed. Danity Kane go retro, referencing Teena Marie; equally retro Dal★shabet, who still can't sing for shit, nonetheless find themselves immersed in great freestyle riffs. Ole punk manages not to be dead in the hands of poignantly desperate and angry Kate Nash and Courtney Love. T-ara, Jiyeon, and Puer Kim veer smoove and After School master smoove. Few boys' mouths, as is usual on my lists these days; fewer still who sing. And as the biz still invests almost nothing in us oldsters, funky fresh young Crayon Pop represent on our behalf.

SINGLES:

1. Wa$$up "Jingle Bell"
2. The Chainsmokers "#Selfie"
3. BiS "STUPiG"
4. Kate Nash "Sister"
5. Courtney Love "Wedding Day"



6. Orange Caramel "So Sorry"
7. Tinashe ft. Schoolboy Q "2 On"
8. Nicki Minaj "Lookin' Ass Nigga"
9. Crayon Pop "Uh-ee"
10. After School "Shh"
11. Future ft. Pharrell, Pusha T & Casino "Move That Dope"



12. Shakira ft. Rihanna "Can't Remember To Forget You"
13. Puer Kim "Manyo Maash"
14. Danity Kane "Bye Baby"
15. T-ara "First Love"
16. Badkiz "Ear Attack"
17. PungDeng-E "잘탕 (잘 시간이 어딨어)"



18. Dal★shabet "B.B.B (Big Baby Baby)"
19. Arcade Fire "We Exist"
20. Shakira "Empire"
21. Bass Drum Of Death "Black Don't Glow"
22. Neon Jungle "Braveheart"
23. Lady Gaga "G.U.Y."
24. Mia Martina ft. Dev "Danse"



25. Jiyeon "Never Ever"
26. SNSD "Mr.Mr."
27. Louie ft. Boy Wonder "Twilight"
28. Low Pros ft. Young Thug & PeeWee Longway "Jack Tripper"
29. After School "Rock It"
30. Kach "Tension"
31. T-ara "LA'booN"
32. Brantley Gilbert "Bottoms Up"
33. Rascal Flatts "Rewind"

ALBUMS

1. After School Dress To Kill [Avex Trax]
2. Kali Mutsa Souvenance [Shock Music]



Chuck's Album's-So-Far-List, posted a couple days later

(Anonymous) 2014-07-05 04:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Not sure why the numbers aren't copying, but these lists are both in descending order. (On the albums list, I'd probably now move Daddy Long Legs down a couple spaces, and Kix up a couple spaces.)

My 30 Favorite Albums, First Half of 2014
June 27, 2014 at 6:45am

Miranda Lambert – Platinum (RCA Nashville)
(Various) – Death To Trad Rock (Cherry Red ’13)*
X__X – X Sticky Fingers X (Ektro)*
Black Space Riders – D:REI (BSR/Cargo)
Edguy – Space Police: Defenders Of The Crown (Nuclear Blast digibook edition)
A Pony Named Olga – The Land Of Milk And Pony (Saustex)
Golem – Tanz (Corason)
Willie Nelson – Band Of Brothers (Legacy)
Duck Sauce – Quack (Fool’s Gold)
Archie Shepp – Attica Blues Orchestra Live: I Hear The Sound (ArchieBall/Harmonia Mundi)
Daddy Long Legs – Blood From A Stone (Norton)
The Pretty Reckless – Going To Hell (Razor & Tie)
Grand Magus – Triumph And Power (Nuclear Blast)
(Various) – Warfaring Strangers: Darkscorch Canticles (Numero Group)*
Nazareth – Rock ‘N’ Roll Telephone (Conveyor)
Mekong Delta – In A Mirror Darkly (Steamhammer)
Battleroar – Blood Of Legends (Cruz Del Sur)
The Shrine – Bless Off (Tee Pee)
Bigelf – Into The Maelstrom (Inside Out Music)
Dark Forest – The Awakening (Cruz Del Sur)
Supermassive Black Holes - Calculations Of The Ancients (Minotauro)
Lily Allen- Sheezus (Parlophone)
Nigromante – Black Magic Night (Shadow Kingdom)
Kix – Rock Your Face Off (Loud & Proud)
Dinner Music For The Gods – Beautiful And Treacherous (DMFTG)
Hirax – Immortal Legacy (Steamhammer)
Ogre – The Last Neanderthal (Minotauro)
(Various) – Saustex Variations (Saustex)
Frankie Ballard – Sunshine & Whiskey (Warner Bros.)
Y.G. – My Krazy Life (Def Jam)


* -- Non-new recordings, so maybe these shouldn't count.

Re: Chuck's Album's-So-Far-List, posted a couple days later

(Anonymous) 2014-07-05 04:21 pm (UTC)(link)
("A couple days" actually = "One day," obviously.)

Re: Chuck's Album's-So-Far-List, posted a couple days later

(Anonymous) 2014-07-05 06:20 pm (UTC)(link)
Well,I do like the Kix album, but this is what I posted on fb about it: "I wish Kix were higher on this list. It's clearly their worst studio album, and I'm hesitant to recommend it to anybody who's not as obsessed with them as I am. Donnie Purnell's songwriting is hugely missed -- The lyrics are incredibly, sometimes embarrassingly, dumb: Single entendres instead of double entendres, everywhere. But the band still *sounds* great. So who knows, maybe it will grow on me..." (And it has, a little, partly because the lyrics aren't all dumb. But they've never made a studio album that I would've ranked this low before.)

Re: Chuck's Album's-So-Far-List, posted a couple days later

(Anonymous) 2014-07-05 06:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Also, for whatever it's worth, the lost of Purnell does not seem to have noticeably hurt their sense of rhythm. Which it could have.

Re: Chuck's Album's-So-Far-List, posted a couple days later

(Anonymous) 2014-07-05 08:03 pm (UTC)(link)
"...LOSS of Purnell...."