postulation: chart-pop this decade has not come even remotely close to re-attaining the heights of "pure shores" and "beautiful stranger"

have at it

do you want a list or what? do you include rap & r&b in 'chart-pop'

i don't include them. my terminology is unstable but my heart is fixed: william orbit production jobs circa 2000 were responsible for better whatever-you-call-it bubblegum pop than anything since. i want a refutation, and examples, yes.

two examples, one MOR as fuck the other just plain BAD?

not the strongest argument I've ever seen put forth on here.

i mean musically those things twist, thump and soar with genuine conviction and thrill, they *sound* so full of invention and excitement, nothing since has aimed for wide-eyed pop heaven and found it so effortlessly

haha and it starts

this is what happens when art-rock indieprog fuxx attempts to talk pop

I mean even for Willam Orbit produced Madonna tracks alone(!) it's still top nothing of anything.

It's only effortless in that you can tell no effort was put in whatsoever for a crappy movie tie-in

i like pure shores but i dont really have any love for beautiful stranger

To these ears, it sounds wondrous (Beautiful Stranger). The bit with the recorders! The beat-drop! The echoey bridge! The "restart" descending keyboard swash! All fits together magically.

"Ray of Light" is great too, obv.

What I'm really looking for is stuff in this mould, sonically-adventurous rollercoaster pop.

what's wrong with Girls Aloud then?

nothing i've heard of 'em has rly caught the ear

I'd best stop trolling and get on with my xmas wrapping now ;-)

The argument is just wrong, although "Pure Shores" is a very good song ("Black Coffee" is better though, and "Dreams" perhaps best of all). Orbit's productions were ostentatiously swirly, but this is not the only sign of a well-produced pop song. And the pop songs he propped up tended to be a bit on the timid side. Ray Of Light "Beautiful Stranger" would be pretty pointless without his nice keyboard sounds.

Here's a mere handful of chart-pop songs since then that have been better (not even including R&B/hip hop/house-pop/trance-pop/UK Garage). Some of them are immaculately constructed. Some of them are monolithically euphoric. Some of them are satisfyingly stringent. Some of them are disarmingly sweet. Some of them are gorgeously poised. None of them are ostentatiously swirly, and none of them are the worse for not being so.

Backstreet Boys - Shape Of My Heart
Sophie Ellis Bextor - Murder On The Dancefloor
Blue - If You Come Back
Kylie Minogue - Love At First Sight
Sugababes - Freak Like Me
Justin Timberlake - Rock Your Body
Holly Valance - Down Boy
Daniel Bedingfield - If You're Not The One
Girls Aloud - No Good Advice
Rachel Stevens - Some Girls
Britney Spears - Toxic
Kelly Clarkson - Since You've Been Gone
Ashlee Simpson - Boyfriend
Madonna - Get Together
Gwen Stefani - Cool
Robyn - With Every Heartbeat
The Veronicas - Untouched

"Pure shores" is fine.

"Beautiful Stranger" though.... The first line "Haven't we met?" Ahem, read the song title?

thank you! :)

actually when discussing this recently someone mentioned "toxic" and i was all "ya that is a superb song BUT it is more raunchy-grind and I want swirly-euphoric-heavengaze"

not necessarily swirly maybe but sonically grandstanding

If I wanted to win over someone looking for "swirly-euphoric-heavengaze" in chartpop (a dubious notion, but let's run with it) I'd suggest:

Sugababes - Maya (very Orbit-y)
Britney Spears - Breathe On Me
the entire second Siobhan Donaghy album
Robyn - With Every Heartbeat
Gwen Stefani - Cool

I think that "swirly-euphoric-heavengaze" vibe is often much more present in R&B, especially at the moment. Chris Brown's "Forever" is a good representative example.

Thank you, I will check 'em out. Cheers for engaging! I know these are choppy waters for me, but between this and the TVOTR creativity debate you seem to have an answer to my every wild conjecture.

TS: Swirly Euphoric Heavengaze vs. Intergalactic Avant Gay Dance etc

...or are they one and the same

"Beautiful Stranger" = her best nineties single after "Deeper and Deeper" and "Vogue."

RONG!!! Though it's better than a lot of them.

Sugababes - Maya:

Hey - this is really good! It's a lot subtler than my suggestions, slower-burning, and it doesn't go in for the constant Orbit musical-and-emotional pyrotechnics, but the payoff is mighty. It doesn't really ricochet between sections, but it builds gradually, almost imperceptibly. Maybe not as spectacularly gratifying, but it's definitely got something good.

The one quibble is perhaps a lack of melodic variance, which is something that features heavily in the Orbit songs (and is something I personally like). But I guess the point of this one is that it stays in the same place while not staying in the same place, if that makes sense.

Here's the song the Sugababes actually did with William Orbit, "Spiral":

Chris Brown - Forever:

predictably i liked "spiral" a lot

although again, it could have done with more melodic variation, some sort of counterpoint chorus maybe

how much would the chris brown tie in with itt: kinda out there, maybe kinda experimental, maybe kinda pretentious modern r&b (and would i like the stuff on that thread)?

I think only to the extent that sometimes ideas flit between the two areas and both mainstream R&B and alterna-R&B can come up with pretty spacey grooves. But yeah you'd probably like stuff in that thread.

Aaliyah - It's Whatever:

Destiny's Child - Perfect Man:

Tim beats me to it, "Black Coffee" was definitely better than "Pure Shores". Is there an extended mix that draws out that nice little idea in the outro? There should be.

"Black Coffee" doesn't throw itself into the sky with such reckless kinetic abandon, which tbh is what I most often want from my pop. I think I'm just a sucker for pop songs which use guitars as the framework around which to drape synth flurries, vocal harmony and pretty melodies (with the occasional shift in beat-ferocity very welcome). The odd bit of well-used disharmony or abrasive texture wouldn't go amiss either.

how does 'pure shores' have 'reckless kinetic abandon'? 'pure shores' is better imo. do think the madonna track is underrated but, being a madonna track, it has really terrible lyrics and mediocre delivery.

not even guitars, but synth "riffs", rather than repetitive beat-patterns

basically, seeing as NRQ is here, i'll say it straight: chart-pop if orbital made chart-pop (i.e. in a parallel universe where "otono" made #1 for 10 weeks)

pure shores has 1) its chorus and 2) its dancy bridge, both of which pick the song up and run

Louis trying to talk about pop music is really distressing actually.

you really didn't have to bump this thread, i only linked it for the lolz

I needed to say that though.

Also, despite CBs car trouble I still wanna listen to forever most days.

Do you like Gwen's "Cool", louis?

havent really read whole thread but "swirly-euphoric heavengaze" brings "rockin' that shit" to mind

o lol this is old thread

That tune by Jem. Them? Or Us? Louis might like that. I can kind of see where he's going for. 2nd Siobhan Donaghy album is in this territory, aye; final track would probably make Louis have a little pop orgasm.

Haha is this Rolling Pop LJ Likes '09 now?

Daniel Bedingfield - If You're Not The One

Tim F, wtf?

have a listen to this louis! http://www.last.fm/music/Ciara/_/Echo

def fits in w/the twisting thrilling summer pop heaven you're getting from 'beautiful stranger' and 'pure shores'

are you on last.fm btw?

I'm not on last.fm but I am perfectly willing to hear any suggestions placed on this thread. I'll find it somehow. :)

Oh, that link does work! Hurrah.

I can hang with this. It's quite nervous, quite jumpy, which plays interestingly against the euphoric synths. Some neat vocal syncopation too. If it came on in a club, I'd probably be all "this is pretty good!" and then try some stupid dance as is my wont

excellent

"If it came on in a club, I'd probably not hear it, because I never go to clubs."

I would say the electro/synthpop elements in chartpop have become even better throughout the decade although those two were also great.

Louis, do you know Ne-Yo Because of you, that is the kind of thing I think you are describing (also, awesome!) also a couple more are:

Aaliyah - More than a woman (gauzy, shimmery rnb with jumpy rhythms)

Also check out guitar/synth/string figure on Ashanti - Only U

Electrik Red - Devotion is woozey and spacey

Cassie - Me & U is glacial and beepy

Keri Hilson - Where did you go has an acoustic guitar buzzy synth line and off-centre vocal melody

Electrik Red - Devotion

ohh good call, i think a lot of terius/tricky shit could fit here

http://www.last.fm/music/Electrik+Red/_/Devotion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hS3Nzi3lSJ8

louis please review all of these songs it would make me so happy

what was the thread where louis wrote a review of "we takin over"

<3 u lou obv but lol yes xp

or what is "bling bling"? (or both?) didn't he say something about like bg splashing in a fountain or something

search for the phrase 'new answers' in I Love Music

May have a go at these. If I feel up for a bit of harmless ridicule. Actually, I'm fully expecting something of a lack of lolz and a presence of sensitive music crit ;-)

i didn't suggest any terius cuz IIRC louis hated love/hate on the poll thread

whut but i pretty much figured dream to be the main occupant of a possible venn intersection between quality jams and LJ music

<3 u lou btw

also genuinely interested in what ur opinions are of the ones I suggested

louis won't like "rockin that thang" at all but i bet he really likes "devotion"

also Britney Spears - Why should I be sad?

he might like some stuff off blackout?

i have no idea how to even predict louis' taste b/c would anyone have picked BEAUTIFUL STRANGER and PURE SHORES in the first place!

i don't think he'll like any r&b or pop slow jams or ballads

i liked 80% of last erykah record fwiw

yeah, i think I would have

I thought he would like a lot of them if they were spacey but not with cheap distortion (I don't think Danja style compressopop is a good prescription for that reason)

If I wanted to win over someone looking for "swirly-euphoric-heavengaze" in chartpop (a dubious notion, but let's run with it) I'd suggest:

^^^^MORE OF THIS, PLZ

didn't like the-dream but then i probably didn't give it a fair hearing

http://www.last.fm/music/Britney+Spears/_/Anticipating

I'm certain we had a thread about woozey spacey rnb really recently (someone used We Fuck You as an example in the opening post iirc)

holy shit lex that is appalling

what? it's a great song. it may well be an appalling guess for louis but i just don't know!

rev's thread about experimental r&b was good :)

i'm going for upbeat summery swoopy stuff w/good bass, basically, not look-at-me production. it worked for 'echo'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSi5DBg3O6w

Did not know that Cassie song thanking u

Are we strictly talking pop music here? Because based on description it seems like LJ is actually clamoring to hear the Moderat album.

actually Tape Store, if you ever have the time to mail me a comprehensive list because there are more holes than that in my iTunes I would appreciate it.

http://www.last.fm/music/Sugababes/_/Whatever+Makes+You+Happy

If you're allowed suggest Moderat then what about Abstract Pictures off Berlinette. I didn't mean Rev's maybe kinda experimental thread, there was a more recent one.

jeez if we're suggesting moderat why don't we just go for the jugular with ellen allien & apparat's 'way out' which is basically the pinnacle of that sort of thing, and indeed of life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyUSYmfzigw

okay thanking u for convincing me to buy lots of Apparat tomorrow

i'll get on that tonight :)

get orchestra of bubbles if you don't have it! (his collab w/ellen allien.)

(that goes for everyone btw, it's one of the best albums, like, ever)

actually, esp towards the end it goes especially Louistime but um not really chart pop

this is prob all wrong to but just wanna mention my theory that this anticipates the balearic revival

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9Kxey_Q34k

OMG Way Out is awesome

I have a little challenge for you guys btw. Tell me what you think of the following. It is probably my favourite song, yes, favourite song, of the entire decade, AND IT IS A DANCEPOP ANTHEM:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrMhrHgcPho

Oh wow, I had forgotten that existed. Loved it at the time and it's held up better than I'd have thought.

what is it? its kindof awesome

Judging by this thread the Terius track you should be giving Louis to listen to is Keep Dancing On Me off the new Ciara album, which has that similar billowing dreamy quality to it.

That's Ulrich Schnauss - On Your Own, right?

Can I just?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJlSAEkKYKo

yes it is On My Own and it rules

Will now scour upthread for goodies. Apparat gets a big gold star.

relevee <3

which for some reason 90% of the world misspells as 'revelee'

i should also point out that while ellen allien and apparat are both great, together or apart, it's ellen who's the genius there

she gets a gold star too

What about Usher Luv In this Club?

Also, if ever a track earned its runtime it's that carl craig remix

not even r&b/pop fans particularly like 'love in this club', it's so hackish

I fucking love it tho

also swirly liftoff in the chorus

http://www.last.fm/music/Mariah+Carey/_/O.O.C.

curveball but I think Louis could go fucking apeshit for this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOY6dBtWeD8

gah, why did it dehyperlink the last full stop! that one's wrong. this is right mariah - o.o.c.

it's 4eva it's 4eva it's 4eva

Am liking Utada. Could we possibly collect these in one place so I know where to start?

Ciara - Echo is good but I think I said that earlier

A load of posts have been eaten :(

Ne-Yo - Because of you
Aaliyah - More than a woman
Ashanti - Only U
Electrik Red - Devotion
Cassie - Me & U
Keri Hilson - Where did you go
The-Dream - Rockin That Shit
Britney Spears - Why should I be sad?
Britney Spears - Anticipating
Cassie - I don't love you
Sugababes - whatever makes you happy
Rihanna - If it's lovin' that you want
Ciara - Dancin' On Me
Mariah Carey - OCC
Utada - You Make Me Want to be a man (if you like that check out easy peasy, ignore lyrics)
also off topic Apparat, Ellen Allien (esp their collab; orchestra of bubbles, I would esp rec Metric off that) and Delia and Gavin (Relevee Carl Craig remix)

You better review all of them now!

that's a pretty eclectic mix btw

very well, it shall be done. not immediately. but it shall be done.

Swirly euphoric heavengaze, R&B edition (a lot of these were on the Wanderlust: Exploring the Sumptuous Outer-Reaches of Intergalactic R&B comp):

Janet Jackson - Empty
Tweet - Drunk
Toya - No Matter What (Party All Night)
Ciara - Promise
Chris Brown - Forever
Teedra Moses - For A Lifetime
Aaliyah - Never No More
Amerie - Float
Ashanti - Voodoo
Bobby Valentino - Tell Me
Christina Milian - Dip It Low (Original Mix)

My ambivalence over this thread is basically that it puts all the emphasis on swirl and none of it on (for want of a better term) snap. This comes into really clear focus with R&B and in particular dancehall/R&B fusionism. Like, I could list Wayne Wonder's "Bounce Along" and "You Make Me Life Complete" in this thread and they would fit, but the criteria being applied ignore much of the value of these songs (see also Nicky B's "It's On" or Sean Paul's "Head Fi Toe") which is much in the way their percussiveness jolts you out of the swirliness and then back into it.

I enjoy focusing on this particular strand of sonic expansiveness (hence the comp I made) but I like to think of it as something that exists in dialogue with other impulses.

Whereas arguably the distinctiveness of something like "Pure Shoes" is located in its capacity to almost entirely divorce R&B-pop from sex, swing, snap etc. It does this very well, but its almost exclusionary vision is why I took issue with Louis' original "postulation".

omg Pure Shoes

All Saints ft Kelly

Tim, your contributions to this thread have been not only welcome but have helped save the thread's bacon. My postulation, although born out of a petulant and perhaps rockist love of Orbit's production techniques, has produced probably the most desirable response, and I will continue to give these things a good listen. I hear you on the 'snap' element; it's probably something that just hasn't fully clicked with me yet. Give it time.

I'm just really glad that a stupid LJ-tard thread has been turned into a force for good! If I have one defence of the songs I initially named, it's that Orbit had a great way of combining propulsive, driving beats and swirliness into one package (see: middle-eight of Pure Shores, pre-chorus rush of BS). But, as is being revealed, he's not the only one.

Louis thanks but it's not a stupid LJ-tard thread - "ambivalence" does not mean disapproval. For the most part I really enjoy this kind of sound in pop music.

My ambivalence over this thread is basically that it puts all the emphasis on swirl and none of it on (for want of a better term) snap

i think that's cuz people are just trying to cater to louis', uh, unique taste rather than create a particular strand of anything?

like, i don't think anyone would deny the "snap" but presumably no one thinks louis will be into it

Yeah absolutely, I was referring to, like, the title of the thread, not people's contributions.

i.e. see my Christmas Eve post above.

oh i thought it was a given that that was 100% wrong!!

:) do you like On My Own (a bit further upthread) btw? (I get what you mean now; it looked like I'd initially attempted to ignore a huge swathe of good pop technique, which you've correctly identified as the more overtly percussive, sexual element present in much chartpop)

ooh xposts

lex it's a subjective game, now don't make me revive that thread where you praise Muse to the skies ;)

i've had a few beers so 'Pure Shoes' is cracking me up

never saw that Utada vid before. that album has fuckin great production ('The Workout' is v Ellen Allien) but i couldn't hack her voice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr5cn-O9AHc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oheKoRmjSHk

Ne-Yo - Because of you

It starts like a typical R&B ballad, with that muted Casio burble. It's actually pretty restrained, pretty tasteful. The instrumentation steps back and allows his voice to really star here. Minimal percussion, uncluttered, driving, suits the song well. I *really* like the use of vocal overdubs and layering here. It's not overdone, it's soulful. The harmonies in the middle-eight are dreamy. Oh wow! I just got to that bit now and it's really great! About 3 minutes in. Song rewards itself with a bit of pizzicato. The key to the instrumentation is that it sounds organic. The strings are subtle and affecting. The vocals, as I say, are the star. It's quite imaginatively arranged in its own way, even though 90% of the arrangement involves nothing but Ne-Yo's voice. I approve strongly. Especially of the middle-eight. Not an autotune in sight! Hurrah.

Clubometer: Slow bump-and-grind

srsly clubometer?! lol, more!

Also glad you liked that one, I had a feeling you would

Aaliyah - More than a woman

Opening chords are VERY promising. Song subsequently holds me in suspense, the chord-cycle never quite resolved, always threatening to blossom into something fruitier but always finding its own tail again. It's really quite a neat trick. Vocal effects towards the end are groovy and earcatching. Actually the vocals all the way through provide the variation. Again, there's some subtle and intelligent layering/harmonising (more than meets the ear at first listen), especially towards the end, as the string synths drop out and then return for a final chorus. OMG that is a fat bass lead!

Simple and deadly effective little song. I'm putting it straight back on.

Clubometer: Stare contemplatively into beer glass, nodding slightly

I listened to More Than A Woman 3 times in a row. I think this is the sort of song that could ensure I never badmouth chartpop as a collective form ever again. Real craft at work there. I gather it was also a posthumous hit, which of course heightens the poignancy of what was already quite a moody song.

Ashanti - Only U

This isn't catching me so much. I think it's the R&B bells and whistles. That little triangle noise. The shuffled shaker. Jars with me a bit. The main sample (and riff) is slightly distorted, slightly edgy of timbre, but it doesn't do much for me melodically. The call-and-response vocals aren't very imaginative or catchy, nor are the deployments of the harmonies. Simply lumping a two-note violin sample atop the main riff doesn't improve it one bit. It's a needlessly breathless, overstuffed song, and the previous two songs are demonstrably of higher class in every single department.

Clubometer: Wander to the bogs

You're gonna love Me&U btw

lj - it's worth checking out that whole aaliyah album and parts of the previous album (one in a million) kind of fit this criteria as well.

That I will do. MTAW really was that good.

I know you've got enough to review, but feedback is making me wanna suggest lots of Missy (Partic Beep Me 911 and Izzy Izzy Ahh)

Oh and Louis don't just check out Aaliyah's albums, you will literally lose your shit for Tell Me are you that Somebody off the Dr Dolittle soundtrack.

the burning question: do we have a new member of cassie fan club?

Electrik Red - Devotion

I can only find this song in the form of a Youtube video with it being played out on a portable hi-fi and recorded on what seems like a digital camera. Not all of it is present. It seems quite uh stoned-out? With that 'uh...uh' vocal in the background? Like it's trying to be really down and dirty but is actually just like a regular R&B track on ket. However, it's an interesting experiment in dancefloor minimalism, and is possibly liable to induce a positive trance. Quite like the percussion, especially the treble snare at the start of every 2nd phrase.

Clubometer: Sway slightly, suddenly transfixed by hot person on other side of room

screw louis, i haven't heard it in a while. thank you youtube for meaning i don't have to buy a dr. doolittle soundtrack.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_ubkNQ_jo0

I might ysi Devotion to you at some point, just because I think you'd appreciate how rich the proper version actually sounds.

LJ, hear all of electrik red: http://www.imeem.com/crownroyale/playlist/6BYvUaJc/electrik-red-how-to-be-a-lady-vol-83-music-playlist

also, if you're just listening to one, ignore devotion for the moment and try "freaky freaky"

I'm not sure he'd be into that one.

wtf @ cassie fan club experiments on LJ thread really

wait wait wait wait waaaaaaaait a minute

electrik red?

louis asked for CHART pop

haha!

Cool :)

Right. Business.

Cassie - Me & U

5-note bloopy keyboard riff is an intriguing frame around which to drape this song. Plenty of space in the production. PLENTY of space in the production. I like that. Big string samples which cut out in an instant. Tantalising. Playing with, engaging with the listener. Sorta clarinet effect at one point, providing some genuinely effective countermelodies (largely during, as it turns out, the chorus, with a couple of moments elsewhere). Percussion is at once sparser and wilder than that in the Ashanti. Good if somewhat breathy vocal layering. We get the picture, you wanna fuck the listener senseless. Actually, the vocals and percussion speed up for the choruses, and the effect is quite attention-grabbing. Song isn't particularly swirly or lush, but the space allows us to fill in the blanks with our own doubtless teeming lusts.

Clubometer: Make eye contact with aforementioned person, slowly dance your way over

yeah, let that grow on you btw

Keri Hilson - Where did he go

I think I'm getting tired, either that or my brain's getting lazy. This just seems like a cycle of suave R&B keening. There IS a very nice flute-like sample EXTREMELY low in the mix. I think its near-subliminal nature serves the song well. There's something pleasurable bolstering the main cycle, but it's almost imperceptible. Towards the end, there's some really pretty synth sound. I suspect this song would stand up to repeat listens. Quite a lot of subtle little production techniques at play (again with the vocal layering), which help to mask the fact they haven't really got a tune worth speaking of. Oh, near the beginning there's a cool little square-lead-cello-bass buzz which is given a verse almost unaccompanied to strut its stuff in, which is nice. The flute thing subsequently takes over. Hey, I didn't notice that first time round! The tune isn't THAT bad either. Kinda gets under your skin. They introduce the flute, but before you've really noticed it, it's gone, then it's back. Really lush, downbeat piece of R&B melancholia. REALLY lush. On reflection, I strongly approve. They've thought about this one and it merits all of its 5 minutes. And repeat plays.

Clubometer: Hold someone dear close in your arms

Again, it works because it is subtle, organic and crafty where the Ashanti was like a brick to the skull.

maybe save some fresh ears for the rest LJ, its late.

The-Dream - Rockin That Shit

Wasn't J0rdan just posting this to quote the title?

Clubometer: Engage hot female in rump-shaking context. Win.

*contest, although context does still work iirc

more tomorrow

now let me take you to a place far beyond in a whole 'nother galaxy
travellin' your mind, explore your sexuality

yeah i am an honorary ringtone bisexual did u not get the memo

(this is, I will concede, much MUCH better than the other the-dream songs i've heard)

how is ringtone bisexual a crew? isn't there just two of them?

ringtone bisexual is a feeling

and a spectrum

I love you blueski. Those two Barbara Morgenstern songs are really good.

Gui Boratto - Beautiful Life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuoxwpKnHQk

It had to be a chart-pop hit somewhere right?

lol @ Tape Store

thaking u lj

lol lj. btw, i provided a "devotion" last.fm link upthread which iirc has the whole song. and i want a full review for rockin that shit, it was i who suggested it and i think it fits well here!

ok technically not chart-pop (but then technically neither are schnauss, allien, boratto) but whatever, this gorgeous breathtaking song makes me dream of a world where pearson throws down epic chart busting tunes til the end of time

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NzExoxxBFU

"clubometer" is killing me softly tbh

might be of interest to LJ, highly recommended to any and all fans of lush-mode Danja:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDVuKMxFMbU

The Cassie song that marries swirl and snap best is Turn The Lights Off, I think.

yeah i realise this, but I thought a more wtf arrangement would be needed to prick the ears,

Louis please revive that thread from a couple months ago and listen to the ones you haven't heard

― ash ra - i love temple (k3vin k.), Friday, 21 August 2009 20:47 (32 seconds ago) Bookmark

let's do this thang

Alright!

yes!!

can you list the ones you haven't heard so i know what i can look forward to

Britney Spears - Why should I be sad?
Britney Spears - Anticipating
Cassie - I don't love you
Sugababes - whatever makes you happy
Rihanna - If it's lovin' that you want
Ciara - Dancin' On Me
Mariah Carey - OCC
Utada - You Make Me Want to be a man (if you like that check out easy peasy, ignore lyrics)
also off topic Apparat, Ellen Allien (esp their collab; orchestra of bubbles, I would esp rec Metric off that) and Delia and Gavin (Relevee Carl Craig remix)
Janet Jackson - Empty
Tweet - Drunk
Toya - No Matter What (Party All Night)
Ciara - Promise
Chris Brown - Forever
Teedra Moses - For A Lifetime
Aaliyah - Never No More
Amerie - Float
Ashanti - Voodoo
Bobby Valentino - Tell Me
Christina Milian - Dip It Low (Original Mix)
that Elektrik Red song
and all the latter youtubes

can't wait, how many of us have asked u to revive this already btw?

several. but now is the right time. let a dude grab a bite to eat first and then i'll be on it

that this thread was proposed by anyone is proof of that recent study indicating that biochemistry has as much to do with what pop music you like as anything else does

i worry that this idea is gaining popularity

but could add Bent's 'Swollen' to the list - it's on Michael Caine's ipod u kno

Britney Spears - Why should I be sad?

I like the third chord of this song's verse cycle. The fourth one becomes pretty tasty as well. Then the first one follows suit and becomes extremely listenable. Only the second one remains a bit boring. Muted percussion provides an oddly stark backbeat to the downhearted synth stylings of this subtly desperate number. Those autotuned 3-part "Britney let's go" harmonies act in violent and affecting contrast to the gritty ebb-and-flow of Britney's delivery. It's put together intriguingly. Maybe lacking a little in terms of punch, it nonetheless contains plenty of string-effect craft and dare I say pathos. She actually sounds pretty miserable in this one, but her voice is definitely in thrall to the musical framework rather than the other way round. Around the 1.50 mark, the counterpoint strains urgently against the minor-key lope, and we enter a fleetingly hopeful middle-eight. It is a quickly silenced vision, and we are plunged back into the main cycle. My predominant problem with the song is that it finishes fairly weakly, but for a Spears song, it demonstrates ample feeling and craft.

Clubometer: Come to aid of incapacitated friend in bathroom, offer an arm to lean on and a walk home

Britney Spears - Anticipating

This has already rubbed me up the wrong way. Forced jaunt, pizzicato synth innuendo. Verse is deeply irritating and as I can actually make out the lyrics in this one, it's worsened further still. Chorus is better, mostly because the song's better served by legato strings than processed burbling. But this just ain't sexy. The lyrics, suggestive of preparations to get jiggy, hie outwith my given standards for erotic wordsmithery. It comes across as cheap and cheerless, and the only dreams here are those of a facially disadvantaged gentleman seeking his next ten-second thrill. Perhaps this is a noble aim. What do I know? There's just no tact in this production, no restraint in kitschy throwaway trash-noise. Yeah, glissando jingle-bell sounds, I'm looking at you.

Clubometer: Spend 3 minutes trying to avoid being engulfed within the clammy embrace of someone wearing a Father Christmas outfit

Cassie - I don't love you

Can only find a short extract of this on Youtube. It doesn't excite me a great deal. It's competently written. Production is Timbaland by way of Prozac. Has a sheen of authentic early-00's earnestness which endears it to me. The vocals possess an innocent yearning quality which I can at least appreciate. Other than that, there isn't much to untilt the old hormone balance. Perhaps the song blossoms later on. Auspices are not overwhelmingly prosperous but I can believe.

Clubometer: Oh look, there's that person I had a crush on way back! And they're dancing alone. How cute!

cassie is always slow burn until you "get" her aesthetic, but I don't know who rec'd that one because she has way better songs

all my recommendations were based on either having a clean McEntire pallet or a humid gear shifting interior.

yeah has he even reviewed like, "official girl"?

i'm glad that the minus wayne version is the canon version too btw

i kinda get the feeling that wayne's verse on that made me start to loathe seeing his name featured on tracks. i mean, he had plenty of mediocre verses back when he was actually, yknow, a good rapper, but after he ruined "official girl" i havent really liked much he's done.

a lot of the blame should go to danja and how he lets him autotune all over the outro

how does one ruin a song that was never good to begin with?

was waiting for you or "some" other "dude" to come here and post that great joke

jagger goin ham

http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/blog/Statler_Waldorf.jpg

R-L: me, al

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXw1qxOFeOg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2tmtpHMA6c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao61G9hkEwc

let's make love, k3vin, right now

and moan breathily as robin thicke literally charms our panties to the ground

well then

clubometer: sex in the club

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqqY07OZWps

not a recommendation btw. usher peaked on My Way imo.

wait lj i am confused...are you proposing sex or do you like the song

why not both?