Rolling Teenpop 2007 Thread

do all the Nickelback songs still sound exactly the same?

Nope -- Some sound constipated in a catchier or more touching way than others. (And though "Rockstar" would be slow for, say, Kid Rock song, it is not slow as Nickelback songs go. It is also funnier than any other Nickelback song, or at least it tries to be. But it is not as funny as if Kid Rock or the Shop Boyz or Joe Walsh or Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show wrote a song about a similar topic, as they might do someday, not even close.)

Anyway, I have more Nickelback comments upthread somewhere, I think...

lots of critics loathe "Party Like a Rock Star"

Morons.

(That was mean...sorry. Actually, I get the same idea, but I hope I'm wrong.)

("Party Like A Rock Star" is only the Shop Boyz' second best song, though, after "Rollin'." But the former is the one that will make my singles balllot anyway, since it's a single.)

Sharam, "P.A.T.T. (Party All the Time)"

I loved this when it was up for review in the old-skool weekly Stylus jukebox -- I think I gave it its highest score (7 or 8), and remember redundantly saying that it put me in touch with a "subconscious need I wasn't aware I had."

I doubt Fall Out Boy will pull an MCR this year and gain some critical support (they won't on my ballot anyway, since I still don't like them) -- I get the feeling there's still more general resentment toward them that will work against "Arms Race" placing. But who knows.

I'm hoping for a groundswell of support for "See You Again." I'm also hoping I win the lottery and/or get some of the revenue from Hannah Montana ticket sales.

Also this: Over the weekend, Alicia Keys single No One received a 59% kick on the Radio Disney Music Mailbag.

Also this: three AmIdols currently on the Radio Diney Top 30: Jordin with "Tattoo," Daughtry with "Over You," and Carrie with "Ever Ever After."

Also: who the hell is Colbie Caillat? Oh wait, I've heard this song. (A lot, actually...no idea where! I think my girlfriend's sister was playing it during Thanksgiving.) I wonder when Kate Gnash will find her way to Radio Disney? She's like halfway there.

Beyoncé, "Irreplaceable" (3) (unpredictable; not sure how last year's showing will effect this year's)

Not much (if any) support this year...It received quite a bit of support last year, I think.

I think Gui Boratto will rank higher than you predicted, and Rich Boy will not make the top 40.

I'm guessing these are top 10.

Kanye West, "Stronger"
Amy Winehouse, "Rehab"
Peter Bjorn + John, "Young Folks" (with 2006 carryover votes)
Rihanna, "Umbrella"
Avril Lavigne, "Girlfriend"
Lil Mama, "Lip Gloss"
LCD Soundsystem, "All My Friends" (if this isn't Pitchfork's #1, I'll be very surprised)
Feist, "1234"

Can't think of what the other two will be...

-- jaymc, Tuesday, 11 December 2007 19:29 (2 hours ago)

Mostly OTM, though these stand a chance, too:
UGK feat. Outkast - Intl. Player's Anthem
M.I.A. - Paper Planes
Panda Bear - Bros
The National - Fake Empire
Battles - Atlas
Snoop Dogg - Sensual Seduction (???)
Justin Timberlake???? (I consider those songs 2006, but most were released this year)

"Ever, Ever After" is from a Disney movie so that's almost cheating. That Colbie Caillat song has been in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 for months now even though nobody seems to know who she is. Apparently, she got a record deal through Myspace or something I dunno. I like the song.

I like "Over You" less than all 4 teenpop "Over It"s this year.

So has everybody forgotten "Candyman" by Xtina already? Nobody thinks that one has any chance of placing? (As my favorite hit by her since "Genie in a Bottle," I hope it does, but I don't expect to vote for it myself.)

hahahaha

(No)

Snoop Dogg - Sensual Seduction

I voted for this, but I voted for it as "Sexual Eruption" in P&J and "Sensual Seduction" in Idolator. I think I prefer the edited title (and that way it includes the video)...there might be name problems but I doubt it will place very well anyway, unless the video gets more people to vote for it.

The Justin Timberlake song to look for would be "What Goes Around...Comes Back Around." More title problems.

Panda Bear - Bros
The National - Fake Empire
Battles - Atlas

I'd be surprised if any of these finish in the top 10, but then who knows; I'm totally (and gladly) out of touch indie-wise, but do people really hear these as singles, as opposed to just album tracks? (Assuming they are all actual album tracks; I'm not going to go back and check. Obviously the National and Battles albums, neither of which I have any use for, will do really well. Panda Bear is news to me in all formats.) If they do place that high, it's one more reason to be nostalgic for the days that the only indie singles that ever placed high in Pazz & Jop were actual, you know, singles, where people owned the actual 45s, and usually the band didn't even have an album out yet.

I'm not sure why asking about the Christina song is so hilarious, either, but what the hell. She's placed a couple other singles in Pazz & Jop in the last few years, and this one is better than those. But if critics hate it, I guess they hate it.

It would actually be more interesting if somebody like say Vampire Weekend (whose singer or lack thereof annoys me, but whose music I still prefer to the National or Battles or Panda Bear stuff I've heard) placed a single on the critics' lists -- They actually had one, right? (Or at least an EP and a top-of-their-myspace-page song?) And their album isn't out until next year -- That's what indie singles are good for (not that they're all that good.)

And who was that other band -- Black Kids? Never heard them; assume I wouldn't like them. But they have no album out yet either, right? So a single vote for them would still seem ahead of the curve, somehow.

(By "ahead of the curve," I'm of course speaking in the old Bush Tetras/Pylon/Robin Lane and the Chartbusters Pazz & Jop singles sense. Though of course I'd be shocked if Black Kids were 1/20th as good as any of those groups were.)

I'm not sure why asking about the Christina song is so hilarious, either, but what the hell. She's placed a couple other singles in Pazz & Jop in the last few years, and this one is better than those. But if critics hate it, I guess they hate it.

It wasn't a hit (peaked at #25 in February...haven't heard it since then), and I don't see how it warrants any votes when songs like "Rehab" and "Seven Day Fool" exist.

If it appears in the top 40, though, I'll buy you ice cram

It would actually be more interesting if somebody like say Vampire Weekend (whose singer or lack thereof annoys me, but whose music I still prefer to the National or Battles or Panda Bear stuff I've heard) placed a single on the critics' lists -- They actually had one, right? (Or at least an EP and a top-of-their-myspace-page song?) And their album isn't out until next year -- That's what indie singles are good for (not that they're all that good.)

Cape Cod Kwassa something something, yeah, has a good chance of making top 30...Los Campesinos! are in a similiar situation (though I MUCH prefer them to Vampire Weekend)

Actually, come to think of it, I could see "Icky Thump" finishing pretty high - - that was the White Stripes' single, right? And maybe that Modest Mouse song, "Dashboard" or whatever it was called. (And did the Shins or Arcade Fire have actual radio hits anywhere? If so, no matter what the hits were, they'll get some votes.)

Arcade Fire's "Intervention" will make top 20, i bet

Spoon?

It feels pretty arbitrary to me with a lot of these indie bands. People want to acknowledge the band, and so they vote for whatever the single is, even though the single is nothing special on its own. (Ie: It becomes representative of the album.) There are some exceptions, of course, Feist's 1,2,3,4 and The National's Fake Empire. But if a Panda Bear single hits the top 40, or an Arcade Fire single, I suspect it'll be because of that.

Rich Boy will not make the top 40.

Really? I thought this was a big deal for 7 days last February or something. Ah well, it will make my top 40, though not my top 10.

I remember "Candyman," xhuxk -- oddly enough, it's also the second song I've ever liked by Aguilera after "Genie" (I think we had this conversation once before). Still think the dirty lyrics are really funny (as opposed to some of her other dirty lyrics which are both un-funny and horribly un-sexy, as she herself is for the most part).

Couple of other teen-identified things I liked this year:

- Roxette, "Reveal" - You wouldn't be wrong calling it a lame ballad, but it's still really pretty and it's about getting naked (they have a plan).
- Booty Luv, "Some Kinda Rush" - Bit headache-inducing, but fills a 2 Unlimited void, sort of.
- Manhattan Love Suicides, "Crush Whatever"
- Sophie Ellis Bextor, "Me and My Imagination" - For stuffy Brit-disco I prefer her to Roisin Murphy, who I've yet to hear anything by that isn't entirely forgettable (I say this as a DJ who's played the shit out of Moloko's big hit)

Rich Boy will not make the top 40.

Really? I thought this was a big deal for 7 days last February or something.

Actually, it might make top 40, but too many people associate it with 2006 for it to do that well...It will probably make my top ten.

I'm persuaded also that "No One" will make top 10. Alicia is a critics favourite, and again, like Amy Winehouse, I think she'll reach a wide demographic (I couldn't believe how much radio was playing the shit out of it when my wife and I went to the states a few weeks ago). I like the music a lot, just not nuts about her vocals.

If it appears in the top 40, though, I'll buy you ice cram

this reminds me that there were two singles i liked (though didn't love) in 2007 called "Ice Cream," one by Muscles (weird pop-house track--from Australia, I think?), the other by New Young Pony Club (sort of like Delta 5 asking if they can have a taste of your ice cream).

Forgot about that one...Alicia sounds like she's mimicking Keyshia Cole on "No One." Sadly, it will probably rank higher than any Cole track.

so you prefer Keyshia?

This year, yes...But I prefer Keys circa 2003 to Cole circa anytime (I've never been a big Mary J. Blige fan)

I dunno, I bet "Keep the Car Running" will place higher than "Intervention" off the Arcade Fire CD. I seem to remember them performing that one on SNL (they might have played "Intervention," too) and it was the later single -- "Intervention" came out before the album was released, hence really early in the year.

For stuffy Brit-disco I prefer her to Roisin Murphy, who I've yet to hear anything by that isn't entirely forgettable

Not even "Overpowered"? I much prefer Roisin's stuffiness to Sophie's (at least Roisin I can put on in the background -- she's the Paramore to Sophie's Avril).

According to Wikipedia, "No Cars Go" was the Arcade Fire's last single (released in August). Maybe that will do well?

I'm slightly worried about M.I.A. Kala has, like, four songs that should place high ("Paper Planes," "Bird Flu," "Jimmy" and "Boyz) but won't because of vote-splitting.

single is nothing special on its own. (Ie: It becomes representative of the album.) There are some exceptions, of course, Feist's 1,2,3,4 and The National's Fake Empire.

Why the National song? I mean, "1,2,3,4" is an actual hit; how is the National one more than just another track on Paste magazine's album of the year?

Incidentally, my favorite Vampire Weekend song (believe it or not, I've spent enough time with the advance of their album to have one) is "Walcott," which seems to be more about Cape Cod (actually about leaving Cape Cod) than "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa," which I gather from things I've read is their "single." (Their track that sounds the most like the Police, for whatever it's worth, is "The Kids Don't Stand a Chance" -- specifically, it starts out like "Walking On The Moon" then turns into a bassline that could have been on Zenyatta Mondatta, but when the guy starts singing more it turns into solo Sting and I don't like it anymore. In general, the South African rhythm type stuff they try is sort of engaging, for an indie rock band, but the singer's a blank bore. He might even be more bearable if he was more twee, or something.)

(In eternal indie tradition, though, their melodies -- especially the one in "Walcott" -- can be pretty.)

Jaymc: fwiw I didn't even know of "With Every Heartbeat"'s existence until I saw it on last year's Stylus list. I'll be voting for it this year. I definitely think it has a chance.

Thinking Dude N Nem will place in the top ten is wishful thinking of the highest order. If, judging by the fact that "Watch My Feet" is my favorite single of this year and "Tell Me When to Go" was my favorite single of last year, those two songs appeal to the same people, then "Watch My Feet" will place just outside the top forty as E-40 did last year, and "Tell Me When to Go" had the advantage of having been an actual hit.

Not even "Overpowered"? I much prefer Roisin's stuffiness to Sophie's (at least Roisin I can put on in the background -- she's the Paramore to Sophie's Avril).

I do need to listen to "Overpowered" again. And "Stuffy" Ellis Bextor is about right--I don't love her, but a few of her tunes are nice (Murphy's are maybe less obvious, but perhaps they'll sink in more when I listen again).

I'm slightly worried about M.I.A. Kala has, like, four songs that should place high ("Paper Planes," "Bird Flu," "Jimmy" and "Boyz) but won't because of vote-splitting.

I can't figure out which of these would place highest--"Bird Flu," I assume? Didn't know "Paper Planes" was a single (it feels more like a great album track to me). Too bad she didn't release "$20."

Thinking Dude N Nem will place in the top ten is wishful thinking of the highest order.

You've all convinced me, seriously! This was a case of me confusing a few over-the-top blog raves for something resembling reality, a mistake I've made a bunch of times in the past also.

Yeah, I don't consider the Paramore comparison a ringing endorsement (of Roisin or Paramore), just that I'd rather spend about an hour in a room with it. Or have it walk with me while I'm getting groceries. But I'm also underselling the Paramore album a little, which is pretty good for people who like that sorta thing. (Jimmy Draper thought I might have been kidding when I said that Flyleaf is much much better.)

Flyleaf is one of the more awful things I've heard.

I think "Jimmy" will place highest, followed by "Boyz." "Jimmy" had a good, sorta internet-fad-friendly video and they were really pushing "Boyz" as a single, whereas "Bird Flu" was just sort of more like the first MIA track in a while. ("Paper Planes" has probably gotten the most blogtalk, but I don't think it's actually a single.)

xpost I really like it! Insane Christian guilt translated into pretty good grungy emo. Paramore, meanwhile, take "Sk8er Boi" seriously.

I like "Misery Business" quite a bit, but haven't heard their other stuff. I actually gave a Flyleaf a 0 when they came up on the Stylus Jukebox. Something about how excited I was to have Lilith Fair crossed with nu-metal.

"Paper Planes" is a single...There's even a remix with Bun B and Rich Boy (and another one with Afrikan Boy, I think)

Why the National song? I mean, "1,2,3,4" is an actual hit; how is the National one more than just another track on Paste magazine's album of the year?

Well, I don't know if it's a hit or not, but I love 'Fake Empire' and I'm really not into anything else on the album.

My bad, "Paper Planes" is the third single after "Boyz" and "Jimmy" -- apparently "Bird Flu" was never released as a single, tho.

pretty sure my favorite thing on Kala (which i'm still iffy on as a whole despite adoring Arular) is "XR2," which was sort of a fake single at the beginning of the year, wasn't it?

some teen/pop singles/songs i might conceivably vote for (or, in the case of the songs, at least include on my list, which is sort of more what i care about anyway. damn those deadlines are early this year.):

Skye Sweetnam, "Music Is My Boyfriend" - pretty much slays. the rest of the album unfortunately not nearly as much, though "Ghosts" may well make it onto a round-up mix.

Veronicas, "Untouched" - the second single, way better than the first, though "This Is How it Feels" and "This Love" are better still.

Sugababes, "About You Now" - definitely weird that it's the Sugababes doing a "Since You Been Gone" retread - though with opposite lyrics - several years too late to be fashionable (when they're usually quite on the pulse.) But you gotta love a good SUBG retread, regardless. If "Change" is a single (maybe?) it's a pretty smashing ballad.

Roisin Murphy, "Let Me Know" - I prefer vastly to "Overpowered," which doesn't seem that exciting to me beyond the admittedly awesome arpeggiator line. really like the album track "Movie Star" too, though i guess it's fairly plain. Along similar lines, Tracey Thorn (whose album I love) released several cracking singles, of which "It's All True" is probably the most perfect (though not the most interesting.)

Amy Diamond, "Stay My Baby" (better than "Is It Love")
Linda Sundblad, "Lose You" (technically '06? probably in my top 5.)
Lauryn Hill, "Lose Myself" (was this a single?)
Bertine Zetlitz, "Ashamed" - from her forthcoming greatest hits; it's on her myspace now. really really nice (no surprise there.)
Avril Lavigne, "Hot" (the third single. formulaic of course but it was my favorite album track. Lil Mama's "Girlfriend" is probably in my top 10.)
Kat McPhee, "Love Story" (possibly "Over It" too)
Rihanna, "Don't Stop The Music" (apparently "Breakin' Dishes" will be released in January - sweet.)

Britney and Hilary and Aly + AJ probably made the best teenpop albums this year, along with the Veronicas maybe, but for the most part none of their best tracks have been singles (yet) (except for Hilary's "Play With Fire" which was a single last year.)

I'm pretty annoyed about all of these contenders from albums that were released last year - at least, albums that I heard last year - and so I don't want to even entertain the thought of listing them. On the other hand there's some great stuff that's technically late '06 that I just heard and would theoretically want to list...

Jordin Sparks songs I like quite a bit include "One Step at a Time" and "See My Side" (the Robyn co-write); don't care much for the single(s) but "Shy Boy" is a Blackout reject that I recommend for fans of that album to investigate.

interested parties can see my blawg for further musings on the sparks album which eventually turned into a
fairly exhaustive investigation of the songwriting/production credits on recent dance-pop/teen-pop albums and some reflections/questions along those lines

re: Nickelback's "Rock Star" being potentially bettered by a Kid Rock version of same ... well, I haven't heard that, but R. Kelly's album has a track with Ludacris and Kid Rock entitled "Rock Star," which is pretty great. (as is the whole album.)

apparently "Bird Flu" was never released as a single, tho.

But doesn't its appearing all over the web--including the video itself being highlighted right on M.I.A.'s website--sort of count these days as a "single release"? Also, wasn't "Hit That" a single of sorts? I much much prefer it to "Boys" anyway.

According to another thread, Amy Winehouse topped Time magazine's single AND album best-of. I'll be really surprised if "Rehab" isn't Top 3 in either (or both) Idolator or P&J.

"Released as a single" is becoming a meaningless phrase now, though maybe not as much in the UK. <i>Billboard</i>, over on the side of their singles charts, has a "Hot Singles Sales" you can click on if you notice it and want to. Chubby Checker went top ten on it this year, I kid you not, with a song that never made the Hot 100.

Wow, I've been looking at singles charts at Billboard.com for 2-3 yrs now and have never noticed that--what a bizarre selection. Not surprisingly, there's a lot of Christmas stuff in there now, but also several things (in fact, I'd say it's dominated) by artists I've never even heard of. and there's this new entry at #10: Puscifer, "Cuntry Boner." I know singles sales are now kind of meaningless, but wouldn't something like that still have to sell a fair deal to make top 10?