//////////////shawty got poll poll poll poll poll poll poll (part I: 2008 TRAX)\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Estelle's vocals are just right at the point where they set me completely on edge and make my fillings rattle in my teeth. Shit is like a dog whistle to me.

jordan and rev remind me, how do you find adele's and duffy's voices?

― O Supermanchiros (blueski), Thursday, February 5, 2009 10:19 AM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I find them to be like murder me now and get it over with.

cosign

i like "chasing pavements" a lot (havent heard duffy), but i really don't mind estelle in general - in fact i think "no substitute love" and the new one w/ sean paul are both really great - it's just something about the melody of the song that brings out something unpleasant in her voice - also the melody itself is annoying

Rev your hate for "American Girl" is baffling. Like.. are we listening to a different song?

18 - M83 - Kim & Jessie
142.5 points, 13 votes, 1 #1 vote
30 in P&J, 5 in p4k

xxp: Right. I do like most of Estelle's other stuff, but not to a great degree. It's just this song in particular that hurls me over the edge.

Rev your hate for "American Girl" is baffling. Like.. are we listening to a different song?

― De Pussyclot Dolls (The Brainwasher), Thursday, February 5, 2009 10:22 AM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

sorry duke, It's been battling it out with "I Kissed a Girl" all year for least favorite song

Estelle's vocals are just right at the point where they set me completely on edge and make my fillings rattle in my teeth. Shit is like a dog whistle to me.

haha so is there a female singer you can listen to or are they all like shoving icepicks in your ears

Adele's voice is really good, she just needs better material. About half of her album is great... Duffy is one of the worst 'singers'... now THAT is a "shrill" voice Rev. Estelle is such a non-entity in terms of singing, she has a pleasant voice, it works for her...

xp Intentional misconstruance zzzzzz.

think Skin Of The Night is now my favourite vocal track on Saturdays=Youth.

whoops, yesterday i said I would post a list of the placers so far:

50 - Flo Rida - Low (69.5 points, 7 votes)
49 - Air France - No Excuses (70 points, 5 votes, 1 #1 vote)
48 - Kleerup Feat. Lykke Li - Until We Bleed (73.5 points, 7 votes; 3 votes, 29.5 points for Mikael's Cello Version)
47 - Kelley Polar - Entropy Reigns (In The Celestial City) (74 points, 7 votes)
46 - The Bug - Poison Dart feat. Warrior Queen (75.5 points, 7 votes)
45 - Katy Perry - Hot N Cold (76 points, 7 votes)
44 - Crazy Cousinz - Bongo Jam (77 points, 6 votes)
43 - MGMT - Kids (82 points, 9 votes)
42 - TV On The Radio - Family Tree (83 points, 6 votes)
41 - T.I. - No Matter What (83.5 points, 5 votes, 1 #1 vote, )
40 - Cassie - Official Girl (83.5 points, 6 votes, 2 #1 votes)
39 - Matias Aguayo - Minimal (84 points, 7 votes, 4 votes; 51.5 points for DJ Koze Maxi Version)
38 - Half Man Half Biscuit - National Shite Day (86 points, 6 votes, 1 #1 vote)
37 - Lil Wayne - Got Money (Ft. T-Pain) (90.5 points, 7 votes)
36 - Ting Tings, The - That's Not My Name (91.5 points, 8 votes)
35 - Rihanna - Disturbia (92 points, 9 votes)
34 - Lil Wayne feat. Static Major - Lollipop (94 points, 8 votes)
33 - Lindstrøm - The Long Way Home (97 points, 10 votes; 3 votes, 23 points for Prins Thomas Edit)
32 - Goldfrapp - A & E (98 points, 9 votes, 1 #1 vote)
31 - Ne-Yo - Closer (98.5 points, 10 votes)
30 - Deerhunter - Nothing Ever Happened (101.5 points, 10 votes)
29 - Gang Gang Dance - House Jam (102.5 points, 8 votes)
28 - Fleet Foxes - White Winter Hymnal (106 points, 8 votes)
27 - Alphabeat - Fascination (111 points, 7 votes, 2 #1 votes)
26 - Ida Maria - Oh My God (116 points, 9 votes, 1 #1 vote)
25 - Erykah Badu - The Healer (117 points, 9 votes, 1 #1 vote)
24 - Beyonce - Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) (120.5 points, 12 votes)
23 - Vampire Weekend - A-Punk (121 points, 11 votes)
22 - T.I. Feat. Rihanna - Live Your Life (123.5 points, 10 votes)
21 - Air France - Collapsing At Your Doorstep (135 points, 13 votes, 1 #1 vote)
20 - Jordin Sparks And Chris Brown - No Air (139 points, 11 votes, 1 #1 vote)
19 - Grace Jones - Williams' Blood (142 points, 12 votes, 1 #1 vote; 7 votes, 81.5 points for Aeroplane Remix)
18 - M83 - Kim & Jessie (142.5 points, 13 votes, 1 #1 vote)

Kim & Jessie <3 <3 <3

How the hell is that intentional misconstruence! I'm not the one going "OH MY GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWD HER VOICE IS SO SHRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILL IT HURTS MY EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEARS! ;_;"

sorry duke, It's been battling it out with "I Kissed a Girl" all year for least favorite song

― The Reverend (rev), Thursday, February 5, 2009 6:24 PM (3 minutes ago)

Its kind of sick that you would even compare these

xp Because Estelle is only one person?

Estelle's vocals are just right at the point where they set me completely on edge and make my fillings rattle in my teeth. Shit is like a dog whistle to me.

Considering that she has possibly the LEAST SHRILL VOICE of any female singer who had a popular hit in 2008, this basically tells me you either a) can't handle hearing notes over a certain pitch; b) really suck at detecting/describing timbre; or c) are having such a visceral reaction to other elements in the song that you dislike that you've completely forgotten what Estelle actually sounds like.

Yay M83! I neglected to nominate any tracks, myself, and when I went to vote found myself without very much on the list that I could get behind, thus my tracks ballot had only: four M83 songs, "Hot N Cold" and one forlorn Jesu "alternate version". But two of those in the top 50 so far, and if Kim & Jessie got 142.5 points, I'm betting at least Graveyard Girl is still to come. And Couleurs?!

yeah i think dan's right btw - her voice isn't shrill

c) are having such a visceral reaction to other elements in the song that you dislike that you've completely forgotten what Estelle actually sounds like.

^^^^^^

is it just 'weak'? it kinda breaks on high notes. personally i find it a bit endearing and at least she's got character.

I can't believe "Got Money" made this list. I would never have guessed that song had pop crit appeal

yeah i know rite

Yeah, it's the way it breaks on the high notes, in addition to the nasal "jazz"-isms that really just fucks with my head.

Didn't you say you liked the Estelle album though? Is it just her voice on that particular song that bothers you?

Estelle's voice definitely sounds "weak" compared to most other pop singers because she isn't pressing or belting; it's basically the exact opposite of what Duffy does. (Also, as pointed out, there seem to be some range things going on there, too.)

xxp: Right. I do like most of Estelle's other stuff, but not to a great degree. It's just this song in particular that hurls me over the edge.

― The Reverend (rev), Thursday, February 5, 2009 10:23 AM Bookmark

again any destroyer fan who hasnt heard "no cease fires" should do so

Dan, do you mean range things going on with Estelle or range things going on with Duffy?

(xpost to myself) RONG THREAD

I can't believe "Got Money" made this list. I would never have guessed that song had pop crit appeal

― The eMo City Don (surfboard dudes get wiped out, totally)

wat, t-pain and weezy are beloved by ILM, i would have been shocked if it hadn't placed

yeah but there are tons of T-Wayne songs I would've thought much more likely to place than "Got Money"

Dan, do you mean range things going on with Estelle or range things going on with Duffy?

I mean with Estelle and was implying some problems; the best thing Duffy does on "Mercy" is switch out of her pressed voice into head voice on that high note, something Estelle wouldn't have to do because her entire song sounds like it was sung in head voice.

yeah that is annoying generally (see also Sway's love of the Union Flag)

American vocalists often drop in parochial references that have minimal relevance to most people outside the US. Most Americans are unaware that the world does not actually revolve around the cultural minutiae of their country, so don't notice this.

;)

lol

I don't actually like American Boy that much and wouldn't be particularly bothered if it didn't make the list at all.

Williams Blood, on the other hand, is brilliant.

I think "AB" is pleasant enough but I don't really see why it was a massive, inescapable hit unless there's a previously-untapped "lol Kanye said 'RUBBISH!'" market out there.

17 - Kanye West - Love Lockdown
144 points, 12 votes
9 in P&J, 39 in p4k

"Love Lockdown" is the best piece of pop I've heard since "Umbrella" or maybe "Piece of Me". I have no idea if it'll break big, but I've been singing it pretty much nonstop for five days now (albeit asking filling in all kinds of strange and generally lewd things for "love").
― Euler

"Love Lockdown" is kind of great, both on its own merits with its naval-gazing minimalist construction merged with the drumming breaks, and when placed next to everything else on the pop charts at the moment. It is certainly the most unique-sounding hit on the countdown at the moment.
- HI DERE

speak of the devil...

American vocalists often drop in parochial references that have minimal relevance to most people outside the US. Most Americans are unaware that the world does not actually revolve around the cultural minutiae of their country, so don't notice this.

― Holy Suffering Gobi Desert Clit Nun (Matt DC), Thursday, February 5, 2009 10:50 AM Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Naw, I'm always down for some local color, but the way they take so much pain to play up her Britishness in a song that was aimed at breaking her to an American audience annoys. The UK-specific references play as exotification in a way they wouldn't in something like "1980". Once again, I realize this is as much Kanye's fault as Estelle's.

Yeah, "lol Kanye said 'RUBBISH!'" is basically it.

the "love lockdown" outro is the best part of the song

"you looooooose" is totally what tips the song from OK to bad for me

uh, I'm a moron & forgot to vote in this, but: awesome job & great thread!

Machine Gun top ten or not?

― Frank Sumatra (NickB), Thursday, February 5, 2009 12:22 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

top 5, I'd guess. Maybe even top 3, somewhere in very close proximity to "A Milli."

Rev, do you hate nasality in vocalization in general or is this just a specific instance of that? (lol, Beach Boys h8eration to thread.)

I wouldn't say in all instances, but more often than not and more often in singers who are not naturally nasal than those who are. I also wouldn't think of the Beach Boys as nasal really. My objection to them is more "cherubic glee club vocals".

Woah - 'Love Lockdown' is some kind of wonderful. Why wasn't I aware of this already?