Rolling Teenpop 2007 Thread

"So, she like the melody, she just wants me to hook up the chorus?" (It's Ashlee Simpson's camp.) "She wants to play me a song and see if I can help her finish it."

OK, have my people get in touch with Xhuxk. I've got this really great idea about Miranda Lambert, I like the wording, and the next idea is great too, I just want him to, like, connect the two, you know, a paragraph transition; I can't seem to avoid using the word "anyway," but I've used it three times already and need something else.

Funny, I've never thought of Miranda in connection with Gretchen (whose new one is her best, by the way; hilarious song where she tells the hubby, OK, if you want someone to mother you, these are the new rules). As for the way Miranda sounds, she's like a stray-cat version of Natalie Maines (that's an incredible compliment, by the way) [um, get Xhuxk back on the phone; need a new phrase that can do the work of "by the way"]. Maybe she's one of the "Goodbye Earl" girls twisted beyond justification and self-satisfaction. But really, she's a Cops girl. (A friend of mine once described her sister's marriage as being a Cops marriage; i.e., the sort of household that the police visit on Cops to break up a domestic disturbance.) [Er, call Xhuxk again; I'm not sure about the parallelism between "marriage" and "household." What? He says it's OK? Like ice cream and cabbage?]) I can picture Miranda's P.I. dad telling stories of the messes his clients get into while teenage Miranda doubles over in laughter.

Was just listening to the LP by Tada, a CDbaby babe from the Bahamas whom Xhuxk was overrating upthread. She's r&b with a sweet island glide; Xhuxk rather ridiculously prefers her to Ciara and Cassie and Jojo and Rihanna; but I'm thinking that with a stronger sound (maybe the sort that a Ryan Leslie or a Scott Storch could provide), her smoothness would work as a pleasing contrast. Best song by far is the self-titled "Tada": a dancehall rap over twisted rock lines, aggressive and frazzled delivery that nonetheless retains its lilt, while blissful tinkles float above the fray. I wonder what Lex would think, if he'd hear the promise that I do. (Other recommended tracks are "Dangerous," "Man Oh Man," "Superman," and "Get Mine," the first of which is on her MySpace page.

CRAZY EX-GIRLFRIEND MIRANDA LAMBERT: She'll bite your fat neck. George Smith envisages the epitome of the Miranda Lambert interview.

Didn't know anything about Miranda's background, actually, and haven't listened to her all that much (had the IKerosene album, which I liked but not as much as the new one, since late 2006 and just bought her new one at a used CD store)l. I liked the characters she was creating in the songs in the new one, but jeeeeez those Dick Destiny highlights are rough. (Yeehaw? Admittedly re: Gretchen, I guess.) I might have assumed she grew up in a small town before going off to Nashville (plenty of teenpoppers do this too), but other than that she's not exactly wearing her day-to-day "rough and tumble" life on her sleeve. I mean, the first coupla tracks are like (great) novelty tunes! ("COPS girl," weirdly enough, doesn't nec. suggest to me a real person at all -- even though it's a reality show.)

Just posted this on the metal thread:

Heavy Metal video of the year, easy, is Shop Boyz' "Party Like A Rock Star," which I am not being allowed to link to thanks to error messages, but which is extremely easy to search on youtube. Do it.

Their album is really good, too! I need to write a review of it for work over the weekend, but suffice to say that "Totally Dude" and "Rock Star Mentality" are like the single only more, that the severely wah-wah-ed "Sumthin' To Talk About" sounds like Fishbone imitating Westbound-era Funkadelic in 1985, and that "Rollin" is a hilarious and totally sweet (dude) and entirely unexpected imitation of the early Beach Boys, appropriately about the Shop Boyz' '64 Chevy. (According to their press release, they were "part of a large group of guys who used to hang out at a local car shop" in Atlanta's Bankhead section. It is also said that their hit has inspired a "new punk wave among hip hop heads in the South complete w/ crowd surfing and slam dancing, mosh pits." Holy shit. And you HAVE to watch the video.) (Oh yeah, my favorite lyric from their hit is the one about "As soon as I came out the womb my Mama knew a star was born/Now I'm on the golf course chillin with the Osbournes." Partying like a rock star means PLAYING GOLF! And getting a tan with Marilyn Manson, who could certainly use some sun.)

More:

I just think that video is hilarious -- all the way to the car blowing up into hook'em horns hands at the end. The video is even more fun (and also a lot more metal) than the song. (Then again, it's not like I watch tons of heavy metal videos -- it's not like I watch tons of ANY videos, actually -- so what the heck do I know? Maybe there is a more entertaining one somewhere that I haven't seen. But I doubt it.) Some of those comments on youtube creep me out, though. Especially the ones about how black people shouldn't dress up like Kiss (which looks totally goth dude, by the way.) But I do like the comment about how the video doesn't look cheap, because if you've ever met a rockstar they are not glittering and shiny! How true!

-- xhuxk, Saturday, June 9, 2007 5:29 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

So, does anyone know what Shanks and Magness are up to these days? I'm afraid that Shanks has abandoned teenpop altogether; his country stuff isn't as good or inventive as the teenpop stuff, and neither is his adult pop.

John and Kara are being grown-ups together, they've got 2 tracks on the new Enrique Iglesias album.

Kara's in her mid-30s, isn't she? (I was somewhat wrong about the "coming into your own" metaphor, btw, unless you take it literally -- figuring out who you are, with all of the false starts, dead ends, dead air, etc. that this entails.)

37 in December. (I just, um, happen to know that.) Ashlee was 19 when she wrote it, and Kara was 33, which I guess averages out to 24. Because "Better Off" does strike me as more specifically 24 or 25 than 20 or "20-ish"; I never particularly identified with it in college (actually felt it was younger than me) but I do identify with it now, and while there's a freshness to the trials listed, there's also a feeling that they've been going on long enough ("things are finally, finally looking up") that she's feeling stuck.

Thinking about my comment that I initially thought "Better Off" was younger than me (at 20)--why? Probably because I had lumped it in with (what I thought was) the post-Avril teen-punk marketing movement and didn't give it any more thought. Interesting because the first time I heard Avril, it was on my countryish roommate's computer; I thought she was a country crossover artist in her mid-20s; I pictured her looking a lot like Miranda Lambert does all these years later; imagine my surprise.

Yeah, listening to Ashlee again it's really been striking me how profoundly conflicted these songs are -- and knowingly so, I think. Such specific conflicts -- Frank said once that for every Aly and AJ song there's an equal and opposite Aly and AJ song, but more often than not Ashlee has the equal and opposite song in the same song. Even the (relative) novelties. I don't know why Autobiography hits me harder this summer than it did last summer (when I first heard it), but maybe it's that you're right that "20ish" really means 23 and not 20. (In response to Jonathan, I said that when you're 20, you're usually -- well, I was -- trying to be "a little older than 20," which is where some of the conflict comes from.)

Tada, a CDbaby babe from the Bahamas whom Xhuxk was overrating upthread. She's r&b with a sweet island glide; Xhuxk rather ridiculously prefers her to Ciara and Cassie and Jojo and Rihanna;

Did I really say she's better than Rhianna? Not sure if I'm convinced of that; Phil Freeman's comparing of Rhianna's new one to Latin freestyle and Grace Jones's Sly & Robbie LPs makes me think I should hear it. Still don't get the appeal of Cassie or Jojo anymore than I get the appeal of Avril's shemo crap (though I like "Girlfriend," and love the remix with Lil Mama on it. The rest of her new album just struck me as joyless.) Liked Ciara's song with Field Mob last year; beyond that, she's a cipher to me.

New tracklist for the <i>Girl Next</i> Vol. 2 is semi-disappointing, not that I woulda thought much of the first one if they hadn't sent it to me for free. But it did have that great Hayden Pennytear song on it and "Outside Looking In" by Jordan Pruitt and the first CD-released Hannah Montana song. And "4ever" and a terrible "dance remix" of "Rush" that was nonetheless interesting as a bad idea.

1. Aly & AJ - Chemicals React
2. Vanessa Hudgens - Come Back To Me
3. Pink - Get The Party Started
4. Katharine McPhee - Over It
5. Paula Dianda - TBD
6. Keke Palmer - It’s My Turn Now
7. Jordan Pruitt - Teenager
8. Ashley Tisdale - Kiss The Girl
9. The Pussycat Dolls - Stickwitu
10. Hayden Panettiere - TBD
11. Slumber Party Girls - TBD
12. Anna Sophia Robb - Keep Your Mind Wide Open
13. Belinda - Why Wait [Spanish Version]
14. High School Musical Cast - Breaking Free [Spanish Version]
15. Samantha Jade - TBD

Only person I don't know on here is Samantha Jade. (I love how blatantly this site gets fed info from Hollywood/Disney etc., printing tracklists before they even know which tracks to stick on 'em!) Interested to know what the new Pennytear song's gonna be. The one by the Narnia (or whatever) girl, Anna Sophia Robb, is awful, Belinda's pretty good but that's not a great track, WHAT THE HELL is that Pink song doing on there?? And have y'all talked about Paula Dianda? I don't think I've ever heard her.

(Woops, Hayden Planeteer, sorry.)

Samantha Jade, new album coming out on Jive. Didn't listen to much (2 streamed track, one sounds demoish and the other's from an OST), but she's from Australia and has kind of a Scandipoppy, er, Robynish maybe, voice over more R&B-pop style. Was on the Step Up soundtrack, which I'm thinking I should buy since you could probably get it for a buck.

I assume "Paula Dianda" is actually Paula DeAnda, who had a big hit with that song "Walk Away" earlier this year (not the Kelly Clarkson one!) 'Twas an OK song but didn't inspire me to seek out her other music and she hasn't had any big hits since so I haven't heard any of her other songs.

i think i heard a song called 'easy' by paula deanda which was v good - "when i'm out shopping it's like having a gun" was a particularly memorable lyric. it had...lil' wayne on it, i believe.

upthread:

Finally, has anybody listened to the Paula DeAnda album? Sounds as mediocre and forgettable and unexuberant and unbubblegum and fade-into-the-background-leaving-me-clueless-about-why-anybody-gives-a-flying-fuck as Ciara or Cassie or [fill in the blank] to me, but I'm willing to hear any reasonably intelligent arguments otherwise.

-- xhuxk (xheddy), Saturday, 6 January 2007 17:02 (5 months ago) Link

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[ps: I think maybe the blank-fill-in is Jojo, but I'm not positive.] [and I also probably heard a couple Ciara songs once I didn't hate.] [not that i hate paula deanda. she's OKAY. she might even be more interesting if she wasn't okay. even the lil wayne duet and the song called "good girl" seem so-what. and good girl and bad girl and good boy and bad boy songs are supposed to be good be definition!]
-- xhuxk (xheddy), Saturday, 6 January 2007 17:17 (5 months ago) Link

i've only heard 'easy' by paula deanda but i LOVE it. "when i go shopping it's like having a gun" - !!!

-- lex pretend (lex pretend), Saturday, 6 January 2007 17:20 (5 months ago) Link

i used to have a short-term memory

(That'd explain why I didn't find anything searching "Dianda"...)

Am I crazy for hearing Radiohead in the new Kelly Clarkson single? I expect her to start singing "fake plastic watering caaaaaaan"...and when she hits "away" she's almost a dead ringer for Thom Yorke! Song's gorgeous. (Her album leaked, but I'm holding off on writing about it yet.)

Also, Lil' Mama has a new single, On Fire -- no "Lip Gloss" beat, but she has a good time showing off.

er, "green," not fake

OK, one comment on the new Kelly Clarkson: good bass!

Anyway, Hazel at Stylus Jukebox sez re: HSM:

There are a few people I know online who like it a lot (Jessica and several others) and there’re also people from university who attempt to engage me in conversation about it as though I ought to like it. I think the audience in the UK is 18-25 females, mostly. It’s probably hormonal.

Is this true? Definitely an 8-12 type phenomenon in the states...why the (major) difference, if there is one?

now, more than ever, it is time for Paris Hilton to start work on the next album. The label dropped her last week, apparently (which seems like bad timing, to me).

I find the kelly clarkson, on first inspection, to be rather dull and hookless. A heartfelt, sincere collection of dirges. which isn't all bad, but not the greatness that the last album was, and not what I look for in pop music.

Word of warning: at some point in the next week, I will be writing a longish post on here about the Valli Girls.

(I hope you talk about "It's a Hair Thing"...)

On first listen to a raw low-quality rip of the Clarkson and actually think it's the dirges that shine (or whatever goth girls do in the dark) and have the melodies embedded in them, spend time beneath hulls and scraping barnacles, two definite for sure mud-scratching keepers in "Hole" and "Judas"; probably not as many good melodies as Breakaway and when it goes normal it's generally not as good as when it goes hard rock; best Kelly song ever (I mean better even than "Hear Me" and "SUBG"), "Maybe," isn't the soft-to-loud roar that the live version promised - sound is too clean, even on the dirty rip - but it's roaring in my head anyway just as "Because Of You" ended up roaring in my head; my ears will compensate for the soft arrangement. First time I heard it last year I immediately thought that "Maybe" was "Gimme Danger" without the decadence and without the "be my master/feel my disease" bullshit, though doesn't quite match Iggy's desperation (Iggy's desperation amps up to 11). The "Gimme Danger" that I'm thinking of is the live one on Metallic K.O., which has wretchedly poor sound but it's the great version of the song anyway, and that song more than the audience baiting in the second half of Metallic K.O. is where that show really matters. Iggy's voice is crawling through the glass and twisting across the guitar lines, doing all the things he made his body do, and his screams "I need so bad" seem to be the real deal (the flip to his "I just wanna fuck I don't want no romance" on one of the other songs), "I want to trust you to touch me love me love me and feel me and touch me 'cause I need I need oh I need," finally ending "I just wanna be touched no matter what happens"; and I hear Kelly's incessant maybes as doing the same thing, "I need to be loved, I just need to be loved, I just wanna be loved by you and I won't stop 'cause I believe in maybe ya maybe, maybe ya maybe, maybe maybe, we should know better than to touch the fire twice, but the thing is maybe ya maybe you might, maybe, like, maybe."

(Really glad that Nia and Matt are back to posting; worried that we lose are spark when there are too few of us on the thread.)

Debbie Deb has a myspace page!

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=55011617

I discovered this while linking from the myspace page of Planet Patrol III, whose first album in a quarter century or so, The Challenge is actually surprisingly good (planet-rocking most beautifully in tracks # 6, 8, and 11, which I don't know the titles of, and track # 5, which I know is called "Long Live Freestyle" because it's also on their cdbaby page, even though I never thought of their soul sonic sort of electro-rap as freestyle back in the '80s -- did freestylers?) Only other '07 album you could compare it to would be the new Chromeo album, Fancy Footwork, which I also like, Rockwell imitations on down. Prettier r&b vocals on the Planet Patrol III, in the tracks that use r&b vocals, than on any r&b record I've heard this year, but that probably just means I'm an old coot. Could do without the Zulu Nation-style "we are the warriors" chant track from a bunch of kids, but it's charming in its own way too I suppose. Anyway:

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=110006873

And

http://cdbaby.com/cd/pp3

(Well, my copy, which is a CD-R, seems to be called The Challenge -- that's what they wrote on the disc, anyway. A different album title is on that myspace page, and they also have a different myspace page which takes hours to load on my computer, so fuck it. Also, naturally, they were merely called Planet Patrol back in the day, not Planet Patrol III, but I never really knew who their members were in the first place, so I'm not going to quibble.

Yeah, discovered that Debbie Deb MySpace several months ago! Been meaning to write her via MySpace to ask about something I've suspected for years but don't know: that the Debbie Deb who gave the third or fourth greatest show I've ever been to might have been an imposter. (Whereas the real Debbie Deb merely sang on the greatest dance single ever.) What was great about the show was the tension between the performer and what she thought was expected of her. If she was a hired substitute, that would make extra sense. (Also wonder if, assuming that the person I saw was a substitute, if the substitute was the voice on "I'm Searchin'" and "Wild Thing.")

I don't know if I ever heard Planet Patrol back in the day (assume there's some affinity to Soul Sonic Force but that Planet Patrol were an entirely separate act: were Baker-Robie produced, according to Allmusic, whose John Bush calls their album one of the few classics of the electro era. I would not be the first person to ask about common usage of the word "freestyle." My guess would have been that electro-funk would have been the word for Bambaataa/Soul Sonic Force and New York derivatives, whereas the aching tuneful Miami-and-back-up-to-New-York thing would have been called freestyle or Latin hip-hop, and the Miami rap derivatives that spread through the south would have been called Miami bass. But given that I haven't actually heard Planet Patrol (well, come to think of it you probably sent a track or two on a mixtape at some point), and that I knew nothing of such word usage back in the actual '80s, I'm basically talking out my butt.

Jay-Z on the Amy Winehouse "Rehab (Remix)" and I was thinking "Oh he's going to just show up and say something irrelevant or obvious," which is kind of true, he goes for obvious, but he does make me smile: "So I'm addicted, I'm Britney, Whitney, and Bobby/Betty Ford and ready for it, nothin' to stop me." (Amy herself is not exactly humorless, either.)

The new Kylie Minogue leaks are absolutely terrific.

According to Elle magazine, Clive Davis offered Kelly Clarkson 10 million dollars to replace 5 songs on the new album with songs from outside songwriters. Sadly, I wish she'd said yes.

I'm deeply loving the new Kelly album, but I'm not particularly <i>liking</i> it, if that makes any sense at all. It hurts my head and the whole thing is a huge tortured mess and I really love her! There are three or five unstoppable tracks, two or three meh tracks, the rest are...pretty good to very good. But I respect her decision to put out the album she wanted to make. It's funny, I'll be interested to see if we get the opposite attacks for this one you usually get for "turning pop" -- "damn, she's been infected by bullshit SERIOUS ROCK PRETENSIONS." (PS, the guitars on "Hole" seem to be set to "Arctic Monkey.")

Speaking of Kelly Clarkson, her playlist on VH1.com is amusing: http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/clarkson_kelly/artist.jhtml (Click "My Playlist"). Features Britney Spears, No Doubt, Outkast, etc. with Kelly cutely talking about why she likes each video. I was amused.

<a href=http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/arts/AP-Music-Kelly-Clarkson.html>;Kelly canceled her tour</a>. I'll have to find another birthday present now.

Stupid HTML.

From Britney's Web site:

"You'll Never See it My Way,
Because You're Not Me"

Britney is asking her most die-hard fans for some assistance in order to name her upcoming album.

Possible Album Titles:

1. Omg is Like Lindsay Lohan Like Okay Like
2. What if the Joke is on You
3. Down boy
4. Integrity
5. Dignity

Members of the Britney Spears Official Fan Club can vote by clicking here!

I think these are quite funny. AOL reported this as Britney mocking Lindsay, but I think the joke's on them. Or it's on Hilary.

Indeed, I also think the joke is on Hilary.

If Brit doesn't use title #1, someone else should. Lily Allen?

Strange but emotionally effective low-budget video for Kleerup f. Robyn "Every Heartbeat." Good post about it from Kat.

Metal Mike, via email (which he attached scans of the photos of the toys to, but I don't know how to do that so just use Google image search I guess):

i pass Subway walking/running back the 2 blocks from a 1st Rep bank deposit (owner's account) at work.

= Subway $3.99@ KIDS MEALS have

3 THREE
3 THREE
THREE 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

different "Hannah Montana" toys

2 of them are actually pretty cool
the 3rd one is inconclusive

i'll hack Google and try to link it (found the 3 pics on Ebay easy)

if a free Hannah Montana cool looking junk toy (2) wouldn't work at bribe/carrot for 72+ hours of good behavior until the day after Boards, nothing would/will

(ok, pictures on Ebay where a set of three counting postage goes for the same price as the whole meal/3 toys)

of course you have to go to TWO different shops to increase the odds of getting the cool "guitar" backpack clip

or be smart and watch someone open their toy at the first Subway you walk into

orrr you could just have me to it all day on sunday june 24th until the terror monsters have 4 total to fight over which 2 diff each one gets

that would only require TWO diff shops, if one of them had the GUITAR CLIP

if i starve myself until 3pm that day i might be useful also (for food procurement/Subway).

Not from Metal Mike, but via email anyway. (I thought these people's last album was boring, unless I am confusing them with Zoegirl or Superchick):

Nashville, TN (June 13, 2007) – The wait is almost over as the three-sister band, BarlowGirl, is scheduled to release their highly-anticipated third project on Fervent Records, How Can We Be Silent, on July 24.

The new album features 10 original compositions by Barlow members, Rebecca, Alyssa, and Lauren, and showcases deeper, more mature lyrics that signify the strength of this new project. The songs are a bold approach in standing up for God and fighting for what is right, with the cover artwork featuring the group in a boxing ring. The album even sports a song entitled “One More Round,” which is one of Rebecca’s favorites.

“It was inspired by a teaching on a Focus on the Family radio broadcast,” she recalls. “The guest was an ex-football player and he talked about boxing and how our spiritual life is like being in a boxing ring. It doesn’t matter how many times we are knocked down, we need to get right back up and keep following what God has for us.”

BarlowGirl has solidified their rock stature in the Chris tian and mainstream music scene with their 2004 self-titled debut and follow-up 2005 project, Another Journal Entry. The success of these two albums resulted in sales of over 550,000, four #1 hits, nine Dove Award nominations and the mega-hit, “I Need You To Love Me,” became the longest #1 single in Chris tian Radio Weekly’s CHR chart history at a record 13 weeks. BarlowGirl has been featured on NBC News/Today show, Associated Press, Sophisticates Hairstyle magazine, winner of Yahoo! Music’s “Who’s Next” series and recently was named the 2007 Youth Ambassador for the National Day of Prayer

A thread from a couple years ago:

Barlowgirl vs. Zoegirl

Christgau on their previous album:

Another Journal Entry [Fervent/Curb, 2005]
These three Christian sisters from Illinois specialize in arena-emo love songs to that perfect Guy, who unlike so many guys forgives them when they fail Him. One exception, if I'm not mistaken--and I may be, Christian code is a motherfucker--is "5 Minutes of Fame," apparently a message song for the "secondary virginity" movement. Not that they're in need of the secondary kind themselves--they're lucky if "maybe I gave in more than I should" (for "popularity") recalls anything heavier than a copped feel. Here's hoping they meet Sufjan Stevens at prayer meeting. C-

Well, at least Everlife had the sense not to be Barlowgirl, I guess...Radio Disney doesn't seem to touch any of their original material with a ten-foot pole (they get the Veronicas' potential, like, tenth single!).

Wait, is Xgau saying that someone would wanna bang SUFJAN STEVENS???

Not only that, I believe he's saying that Stevens is some sort of Serge Gainsbourg-esque corrupter of young beauties.

I'm still struggling to process the brilliance of that Britney poll. All would be great song titles too.

Apparently, Esmee's opening for Justin in Europe.

I love the "With Every Heartbeat" video. It's so looonely

Observer Music Monthly's teen issue, featuring roughly none of the acts mentioned on this thread. Unless I missed something.

Actually, no, Tokio Hotel get a passing mention.

I think Smoosh may have been mentioned in the 06 thread as well.

Abby McDonald on Tweenpop for AristDirect. Funny, I'm still planning an essay on children's agency and related issues, but I don't think I'll be calling it "The Kids Are All Right" any more.

Excellent article, and reminded me that in doing some snoopin' around I found out there was a proto-Hilary of sorts, Mexican-American teenpopper Myra, who I know little about but would like to do some research on. She was Hollywood's first homegrown star, but never went anywhere after her first album ("Myra" in English, "Milagra" in Spanish). Can't find her on MySpace yet.