Year In America June 26, 2008
Jun. 27th, 2008 10:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
koganbotBillboard was late posting the Hot 100 yesterday, so this was pushed back a day.
This week, an onslaught of singles from Camp Rock, most of which will fall off the charts after the initial download flurry, since they'll get little airplay beyond Disney. Results are middling: lyrics are rote self discovery with no discernible character, a contradiction I don't find charming, especially given all the Taylors and Alys and AJs (not to mention the Ashlees and Britneys and Lindsays who used to dominate the genre) who do have character and are much more deserving of attention. Demi Lovato has potential as an actual Avril Lite, if she were given better settings, and I prefer "Our Time Is Here" to the charting singles. The Jonas Brothers had a fine moment several years ago where they turned "Anarchy In The U.K." into Hanson-style bubbleboy pop, and they're generally not terrible but haven't matched that moment since. So, a lot of tracks are on the borderline this week. Oh yeah, and buried amidst all this is a song I've currently got penciled in as my number three of the year and that could rise, by someone who's not much older than the mediocrities hanging out at Camp Rock.
Miley Cyrus "7 Reasons": Miley sings well - blares roughly in the blarey part without being grating - but so far I find neither melody nor lyrics even passably interesting. NO TICK. [EDIT: Song title is actually "7 Things" but I've got a massive mental block against remembering it; two posts back I called it "7 Seconds."]
Demi Lovato & Joe Jonas "This Is Me": Plenty of musical accompaniment to give this heft, the result actually weakening what might be flashing and alive in Demi's singing. There's enough flash and melody to justify a BORDERLINE TICK.
Rihanna "Disturbia": Delicious, joyful, agonized, made me laugh, made me cry - well, to be more accurate, made me smile, made me bop, made me furrow my brow in thought. Bright glaze and deep passion. How does she do it? My only reservation is that the words are abstractly and poetically strange rather than genuinely disquieting. While this track may not be as striking as "Umbrella," it's just as good. GIGANTICA TICKIA.
The Jonas Brothers "Play The Music": This would be nicer if it weren't so relentlessly nice, but even then wouldn't be a tick, since the song isn't worth much in its own right. WON'T TICK YOUR MUSIC.
Joe Jonas "Gotta Find You": A pensive song: "I need to try to get to where you are/Could it be you're not that far?" Indeed, it develops that "You're the voice I hear inside my head/The reason that I'm singing/I need to find you/I gotta find you." Uh, look inside your head? But Joe, I'm not the voice inside your head, or if I am, you don't seem to be listening. Well, enough of this chit chat. What does this sound like? Sing-alongable, not bad, would be better with someone who could do more than force the words out in thin blue lines. NONTICK.
Cast Of Camp Rock "We Rock": Weak performance of gang-shout pop-rock that's a distant descendant of Gary Glitter and the Runaways. Likable. BORDERLINE NONTICK.
Flo Rida f. will.i.am "In The Ayer": Been consistently so-what on this guy. Southern hip-hop; somewhat catchy pronunciation set in a somewhat doomy setting; strong, slow groove. Does a good job, the groove, the mood, would be nice to move to in the deep A.M. of a dance club, but leaves nothing. NONTICK.
This week, an onslaught of singles from Camp Rock, most of which will fall off the charts after the initial download flurry, since they'll get little airplay beyond Disney. Results are middling: lyrics are rote self discovery with no discernible character, a contradiction I don't find charming, especially given all the Taylors and Alys and AJs (not to mention the Ashlees and Britneys and Lindsays who used to dominate the genre) who do have character and are much more deserving of attention. Demi Lovato has potential as an actual Avril Lite, if she were given better settings, and I prefer "Our Time Is Here" to the charting singles. The Jonas Brothers had a fine moment several years ago where they turned "Anarchy In The U.K." into Hanson-style bubbleboy pop, and they're generally not terrible but haven't matched that moment since. So, a lot of tracks are on the borderline this week. Oh yeah, and buried amidst all this is a song I've currently got penciled in as my number three of the year and that could rise, by someone who's not much older than the mediocrities hanging out at Camp Rock.
Miley Cyrus "7 Reasons": Miley sings well - blares roughly in the blarey part without being grating - but so far I find neither melody nor lyrics even passably interesting. NO TICK. [EDIT: Song title is actually "7 Things" but I've got a massive mental block against remembering it; two posts back I called it "7 Seconds."]
Demi Lovato & Joe Jonas "This Is Me": Plenty of musical accompaniment to give this heft, the result actually weakening what might be flashing and alive in Demi's singing. There's enough flash and melody to justify a BORDERLINE TICK.
Rihanna "Disturbia": Delicious, joyful, agonized, made me laugh, made me cry - well, to be more accurate, made me smile, made me bop, made me furrow my brow in thought. Bright glaze and deep passion. How does she do it? My only reservation is that the words are abstractly and poetically strange rather than genuinely disquieting. While this track may not be as striking as "Umbrella," it's just as good. GIGANTICA TICKIA.
The Jonas Brothers "Play The Music": This would be nicer if it weren't so relentlessly nice, but even then wouldn't be a tick, since the song isn't worth much in its own right. WON'T TICK YOUR MUSIC.
Joe Jonas "Gotta Find You": A pensive song: "I need to try to get to where you are/Could it be you're not that far?" Indeed, it develops that "You're the voice I hear inside my head/The reason that I'm singing/I need to find you/I gotta find you." Uh, look inside your head? But Joe, I'm not the voice inside your head, or if I am, you don't seem to be listening. Well, enough of this chit chat. What does this sound like? Sing-alongable, not bad, would be better with someone who could do more than force the words out in thin blue lines. NONTICK.
Cast Of Camp Rock "We Rock": Weak performance of gang-shout pop-rock that's a distant descendant of Gary Glitter and the Runaways. Likable. BORDERLINE NONTICK.
Flo Rida f. will.i.am "In The Ayer": Been consistently so-what on this guy. Southern hip-hop; somewhat catchy pronunciation set in a somewhat doomy setting; strong, slow groove. Does a good job, the groove, the mood, would be nice to move to in the deep A.M. of a dance club, but leaves nothing. NONTICK.
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Date: 2008-06-27 09:59 pm (UTC)Not really, no. She and Shane are quite aware that they're falling in love/like/friendship (not really clear because they are SO CHASTE) throughout the movie -- until, of course, it is revealed the Mitchie lied about who she is ( she said she was the daughter of a music television exec, but her mom is actually the camp cook). Shane is like "I THOUGHT I KNEW YOU, BUT ALL I KNEW WERE LIES!" and stomps off. So they do get on each other's nerves for about five minutes (literally). But then he sees her crying in the corner of the dance class he inexplicably teaches (he's a guitarist! he doesn't dance!) and makes some speech about how your music needs to be WHO YOU ARE (dude, why are you giving songwriting tips to a DANCE CLASS?) while staring soulfully into Mitchie's eyes in a way which indicates that he has forgiven/believes that there is something true and good about her.
Thus the movie undercuts the revelation, fixes the undercutting, and then undercuts it again, and really it would have been a better movie if it had your plot.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-03 05:02 pm (UTC)