Frank Kogan

Presumably if somehow Ke$ha and I are talking at a party, she realizes that I don't come without chitchat, so the admonition "Don't be a little bitch with your chitchat" isn't in play. Or if it's in play, it's in play as an energy force, without regard to the particular meanings of the particular words. She's got a gale force to match my own gale, and her wind seems ultimately benign, even if I'm not her type. And yeah, some people'll die brushing their teeth with jack – Ke$ha maybe being the gateway that lets them latch onto the dissolution-as-heroism thing in order to rationalize their own turning of the lights out. And other people will be saved, her body and tattered demeanor and raggy voice validating their own bodies and ragged looks and blistered throats. It's not necessary or possible to count up the bodies and see if it "evens out" – they're all part of a gestalt, air currents and countercurrents. And if you want a different party, you better make your party a better party.

I don't think you get her full-force without Benny Blanco. I imagine him in conversation with Luke and the others, or just leading by example, showing that you don't get force from volume, you get it from propulsion. Benny, the man who saved Luke. Superball beats, a coiled spring let loose that carries all the other sounds with it, in Ke$ha's case unexpected prettiness; bright tunes in a tumultuous night.

1. Ke$ha ft. 3OH!3 "Blah Blah Blah"
2. Selena Gomez & the Scene "Naturally"
3. Roach Gigz "Pop Off"
4. Jenni Vartiainen "En Haluu Kuolla Tänä Yönä"
5. Lil Wayne ft. Eminem "Drop The World"
6. DJ Sbu "Vuvuzela Bafana"
7. Little Big Town "Little White Church"
8. Girl Unit "Wut"
9. After School "Bang!"
10. I Blåme Coco ft. Robyn "Caesar"
( 11 through 45 )
46. Marina And The Diamonds "Hollywood"
47. 2NE1 "Can't Nobody"
48. Rocket From The Tombs "I Sell Soul"
49. Marina And The Diamonds "I Am Not A Robot"
50. Martina McBride "Wrong Baby Wrong Baby Wrong"
51. Sidney Samson "Riverside"
52. DJ DOC "Together (Remix)"
53. Jessie J. "Do It Like A Dude"
54. Sade "Soldier Of Love"
55. Ga-In "Irreversible"
( 56 through 95 )

( Comin' out my mouth wi my blah blah blah )

( Glistening black and bits of white )

( I got the bang bang, if you know what I mean )

( I'm in love with this song )

Week of weirdly detached new tracks - weird detachment from your reviewer, at least. Taio Cruz gets to be hot top pop mess of the week, I guess.

( Drake )

( Taio Cruz )

( T.I. )

( Nickelback )

Singles chart in a deep freeze, one new entry: does Wayne warm us up? Look under the cut...

( Lil Wayne )

When he slouches his way onstage, it really does become his world.

The Taylor Swift album finally falls from number one to number two. The Bird And The Bee enter at 78. Meanwhile, on the singles chart, something happens, somewhere, probably. Possibly.

( Lil Wayne )

( Soulja Boy Tell 'Em )

( Katy Perry )

( Jamie Foxx )

Good girl gone better with every listen.

( The Fray )

( Jim Jones )

( Rihanna )

( Ludacris )

( Kanye West )

Britney jumps to number one, Carrie and Abel make the long trek to the Top 40, and Akon and Weezy finally have a week where no one invites them in as guests, so they invite each other.

( Britney Spears )

( Saving Abel )

( Carrie Underwood )

( Akon )

T.I. still number one, and girlboymusic will be vindicated to read that the song still hasn't registered in my memory despite my writing it up last week*; M.I.A. still at number five, still hasn't lost her bullet or her bang bang bang bang; only two new tracks in the Top 40; and Jennifer Hudson and Jazmine Sullivan still under the border, not able to break in, which will drive Lex nuts in frustration.

( Artists Stand Up To Cancer )

( Lil Wayne f. Bobby Valentino )

*Two weeks ago, actually. How time flies when nothing's happening.