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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"
Future through Shakira )
Bass Drum through Rascal )

ALBUMS

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



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Might as well get these going, though I guess as a prediction this is pretty safe and obvious:

Taylor Swift joins Pistol Annies, who incorporate dance steps, harmonies, and raps using Bell Biv DeVoe/Backstreet Boys as template, w/ Big Bang and Danity Kane as modern analogues but Big-&-Rich tight country harmonies mixing with the R&B. Most parts are sung but brief raps are interjected and there's always a rap break prior to or as the middle eight. Rap styles are developed from each individual Annie's speaking style, as Taylor did on "Lose Yourself" — Teena Marie the model for keeping raps in the singer-songwriter ethos. Chapman-Shanks-Liddell-pop-rock-style production abandoned; Teddy Park and Shinsadong Tiger called in to produce and co-write.

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My attempts at affirmative action in support of vocal cords of the nonyoung, the non-Korean, and the nonfemale haven't netted me much beyond Neil Young, though I'll admit that those attempts were half-hearted. My exploration of the nonmainstream was even less-hearted and, not surprisingly, less successful — except that the never-predictable indie-rapper E.via reverted to a gem of a failed attempt to crack the mainstream (on this list at 26, though never higher than 100 on Gaon).

In the meantime, my respect for the power of human stupidity was reaffirmed by the viciousness and hysteria with which the Internet mob scapegoated T-ara, none of which has changed my limited understanding of the group. Over the last three years, T-ara have made the most consistently good music in earshot. I wonder if now, going forward, cuteness will feel like less of an option for them, and what the result might be. I was listening to Pere Ubu's "Heart Of Darkness" the other day and tried to imagine what it would sound like with Jiyeon singing; had the fantasy that people thirty-seven years ago who were like what I was like thirty-seven years ago might be able to speak across time and say something more helpful to Jiyeon than what the world around her is currently offering.

Parsing problem )

TOP SINGLES Through Third Quarter 2012:
1. T-ara "Lovey-Dovey"
2. Trouble Maker "Trouble Maker"
3. ChoColat "I Like It"
4. Dev "Take Her From You"
5. Dev "In My Trunk"
6. Cassie "King Of Hearts"
7. Wonder Girls "Like This"
8. T-ara "Day By Day"
9. Sistar "Alone"
10. Davichi & T-ara "We Were In Love"



11 through 75 )

Albums )
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You know that uncut version of Stroheim's Greed that you somehow possess and that you finally managed to set time aside to watch this week, vowing that you would let nothing stand in the way? Well this is what stands in the way: Chuck Eddy talks to eight of his friends, it's on podcast, three podcasts, three hours, it's over on rockcritics.com, I'm one of the talking friends, the others are Phil Dellio, Ned Raggett, Alfred Soto, Edd Hurt, Amy Phillips, Kevin John Bozelka, and Christopher Weingarten. Scott Woods oversees it all. As for a preview of what was said, I don't know yet, I haven't listened, it was by phone and we didn't all talk to him at once*: but Randy Montana is good, this year's U.S. Top 40 isn't, and what's so new about mixing electro with r&b and hip-hop anyway?



The occasion for this gathering was the impending publication of Chuck's Rock And Roll Always Forgets by Duke University Press.

*Chuck and I tried to talk at once, however.
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Was going to do this October 1st, then November 1st, now here it is.

1. Danity Kane Welcome To The Dollhouse
2. Ashlee Simpson Bittersweet World
3. María Daniela Y Su Sonido Lasser Juventud En Éxtasis
4. Vanessa Hudgens Identified
5. Buraka Som Sistema Black Diamond
6. Willie Nelson Moment Of Forever
7. Ne-Yo Year Of The Gentleman
8. Santogold Santogold
9. Cansei De Ser Sexy Donkey
10. Marit Larsen The Chase
11 through 18 )

Housefire of the Danitys )
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Unrelated stuff:

(1) I like this song "This Is" by Lizette &: Copies Alanis's sensitive, piercingly pitched vengeance, tosses it into Nine Inch Nails metal machine thwak.

(2) Good Taylor Swift interview by Ken Tucker posted at Billboard. "And the thing is, we just didn't know any better. I was 16 years old and wrote all these songs about being in high school and sophomore relationships, not thinking that people would relate to it, hoping they would, but there really was no business model to make it work for the younger demographic."

(3) Danity Kane album Welcome To The Dollhouse enters at Number One! ("Damaged" is maybe the sixth-best track on the album. My favorites are the ones with floating gobs of vocal beauty: "Bad Girl" and "Pretty Boy" and "Is Anybody Listening..." I like that they're committed to using all the voices at once.)

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Frank Kogan

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