Rolling Teenpop 2006 Thread

There's a new trend that I don't really understand these days, albums being given limited releases initially and then broader releases later - though I doubt that that's what's happening with Platinum Weird. The Teddybears got a release through indie retailers in late September, but are due to get the release through major retailers in early '07.

The rhythm is pretty much in clave throughout. And the way the vocals are low pitch at the start and given talk-like emphasis (rather than wails and melismas and such) seems very r&b.

The lyric sites have this as "on a city street," but now I think I'm hearing "on a certain street," which makes a little more sense, since you can interpret the line as "Like [being in] a neighborhood, [like being] on a certain street..."

But Jesus isn't just their Savior, he's their Bestest Friend!

The rhythm is pretty much in clave throughout. That is:

http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/8482/clavesongc4.png

(Bo Diddley does a lot of variants on this, too, even though he's not Cuban.)

I like it, but not as much as "Outside Looking In"

Babelfish translation:

Composition: (Edson Carvalho [which according to Babelfish means "Oak"])

Crying the ice that you gave to me
Finding that you already it forgot me
I do not know if she was you or if I, girl, girl
Were I you being with a sensation
That I was the track and you, the airplane
You it train and I it station, girl, girl
I remember kisses, blues and poetry.
The salt in the skin, you licked me and I said: "Oh baby, I love you" I remember the face that you made
Will be that I remember what I did not exist?
You he said: "Oh baby, I love you"
Tô in the Bahia and tô feeling cold
Beach tá full; in me all emptiness
I tô for a wire, girl, girl
Broke the rope, I look for to you until not being able more
In the InterNet, bars, in periodicals.
Trombar you is what I want more, girl, girl
I remember kisses, blues and poetry the salt in the skin you licked me and I said: "Oh baby, I love you"
I remember the face that you made, I
I remember day and night, night and day
You said: "Oh baby, I love you... Baby, I love you... Baby, I love you... I love you "

So...this is like conceptually halfway between M2M and tATu? With some Wreckers thrown in?

"Tem Dias (Que A Noite É Foda)" (more rockabilly, less fetching)

"Experimento". The new wave. Good tune.

The lipsynch.

OK. Question. If I'm writing a review for readers who don't know anything about ninths and subdominant chords and relative minors, is there any way to give them this information without boring them and getting in the way of everything else I want to say? Or even if the reader does know what those technical terms mean, does using them really communicated anything that's essential to what the song does? I made this the Song Of The Day over in the left column of my MySpace profile, and I left out the technicalities and just wrote this: "gentle and pensive, uses complex jazz chords, which don't turn this into 'smooth jazz' but rather keep the flow just unsettled enough so that it is flow, a quiet push in the music. This is the one soft song in a hundred that maintains its emotion throughout." Still might not mean a whole lot to people. I don't know.

I meant to write: "G (do), which is the ninth note in the F-minor chord."

Also, I really really really really really need to tell someone how awesome '1980' by Pascal Obispo & Melissa Mars is. It's in the French charts too - again, not exactly teenagers, but she looks about half his age, so, y'know.

Soddit, while I'm at it - Najoua Belyzel's 'Je Ferme Les Yeux' is still bloody amazing. And she's possibly teenaged too. I bet she bloody isn't, but she's got better odds than Pascal Obispo.

So yeah, in summary - French chart-pop: not half bad, sometimes.

"This Christmas card is so contrived
A mannequin looks more alive
Haven't meant a word I've written here
The page is full not one thing sincere"

It's the third line I'd not taken in, which changes the whole meaning for me. It's not a pre-printed card she's calling phony, but her own words.

(*I have no idea which voice is Aly's and which A.J.'s. In fact, looking at them in their videos I don't know who is who either, never having seen their respective TV shows. I suppose I should google their album cover; presumably, Aly'll be on the left and A.J. on the right.)

The Teen Cultural Revolution

2) Do any older-time listeners of Radio Disney know if Hoobastank or Maroon 5 got any plays on RD at the time?

3) I've been watching the WB Summerland lately which has implications on the teen singer/actor discussion thread above as it stars Jesse McCartney and Zac Efron, and also features Sara Paxton as a regular guest star. Zac and Sara were good as alyways, but I have to say I thought Jesse McCartney was surprisingly very good as an actor. Don't care for his singing though. I will probably post my full thoughts on my blog soon.

I saw them do "Chemicals React" on the Megan Mullally show, seemed like their voices were distinct (Aly's voice was stronger and less pinched), but on record it's not clear.

"Silent Night"

"Joy to the World"

"Let It Snow"

"Deck the Halls"

Links for "Greatest Time of Year," "I'll Be Home for Chistmas," and "Not This Year" >here.

("Greatest Time of Year" and "Not This Year" are very good, "I'll Be Home for Christmas" is pretty good, "Silent Night," is not so bad, the other three are adequate, I guess.)

UK chart notes:

1. Meat Loaf & Marion Raven made the UK Top 10 this week. Quite possibly the last time Marion will ever reach such giddy heights over here, but you never know.

2. My Chemical Romance have the #1 single for second straight week (and the LP, released today, is sure to follow it to #1). MCR are pomp-emo but have a large teen girl following here judging by the crowd that attended their gigs in London (one of them a matinee!) a year or so ago.

Aly of Phil of the Future adopted all sorts of crazy hairstyles, practically a new one every episode. But yeah, I agree that she looks best with just the normal straight hair.

Just checked out Matthew Gerrard's pre-Disney history, bass player before featuring on a Mandy Moore album and producing Eden's Crush (unknown early DioGuardi track on that one, not very good) and Nick Carter. But his breakthrough was Lizzie McGuire --> Hilary Duff. Otherwise he seems to be the producer equivalent of a Disney-bred star, doesn't stray too far.

83% of you say Paris Hilton does not deserve to be a popstar.

Those who think Paris does deserve to be a popstar are less likely to have a problem with popstars miming, less likely to demand that popstars are interesting, and less likely to believe that popstars should be able to sing.

Almost half of you think Kylie should keep her hair short and that Girls Aloud are better than The Beatles.

17% of you want your popstars to be hairy, and 15% think that being able to sing is unimportant.

Only 3% of under-18s want a Spice Girls reunion.

44% of Lily Allen's MySpace friends think her next album will be shit.

Full report available there.

Just finished listening to the HM soundtrack. Of the songs I never heard the full versions of, thumbs up to "This Is the Life" and "Just Like You", and thumbs down to "The Other Side of Me". The more dance-y HM tries to get, the worse the song ends up being. Still don't really know why "This Is the Life" never really picked up any RD play as it sounds at least as good as, say, "If We Were a Movie" to me. Extra tracks + duet add nothing to the album. I really wish they had included at least one new HM track on this.

PS) The Chow Nasty "Ungawa" guy reminds me as much of James Chance as Jon Spencer; did I ever say that before? Which is not say not as good as James but not as irritating as Jon. If the whole song was as good as chorus chant, it would maybe have shot at my top ten, but as of this moment the James/Jon parts just make me wince way too much.