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

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?

Do you not read this site?

ok. just asking cause the predominance of nasal vocals was probably the central reason for my inability to get with old-timey country music once upon an age, fwtw. so, yeah, i can see where that might be a problem for you. but don't really see how it applies to Estelle's singing on "American Boy." is she irritating? sure. shrill? i say thee nay. i like it.

or listen to the radio? xp

wot planet u on?

xps

Yeah yeah, I know. My loss.

Now I'm scared to say anything for fearing of showing myself up even more, but here's something subcontinental about it, is there not?

Dude, don't worry about it. We're a forgiving bunch unless you drown someone.

Don't feel bad - I've heard maybe five or six of the big chart hits of 2008. My clock radio only gets good reception on oldies stations and I just never think to go out of my way to check out stuff, even though obv. I like pop pretty well!

16 - Hot Chip - Ready For The Floor
144.5 points, 11 votes, 1 #1 vote
12 in P&J, 3 in p4k

I still can't figure out precisely (linguistically) what it is that underlying 8-bit synth glide in 'Ready For The Floor' does to me, but it feels quite awesome.
-William Bloody Swygart

Heh, practically the only ones I've heard so far are ones that I actually voted for xp - which makes this poll a far more interesting and enriching experience, obviously.

About 'Love Lockdown' though, what is it that I'm picking up to make me think of Indian music? Is it just the drum pattern, or is it the bass sounding like a tabla, or is it something else entirely?

I didn't think much of 'Ready for the Floor' when I first heard it - much as I'd like to like Hot Chip, there's often a kind of archness about them that I find quite offputting, this seeming like a prime example. But now I find it quite sweet and sincere. Maybe it's just the lack of effects on the vocals. I really like the video too

The problem with Hot Chip is that for archness to work you have to actually be clever.

Well, one of their problems.

it sounds too brittle for me (and not in a good way).

That, too. For a group that seems intent on making beat music, they seem to have a remarkable lack of... beats.

Sorry if it seems like I'm just negging on everything in this thread, btw. Most of the songs I haven't commented on are crazy awesome.

I'm amazed people like this enough for it to place so high (on this and other year-end polls). I can't get through the first minute.

Back to Erykah Badu (no.24 or thereabouts) - this was the last thing I had on last night, just once, and it sounded amazing. Today I can't see what the fuss was about. Actually, that's not fair, it's very haunting and I do like it, but it could virtually be a Kate Bush tune (I'm thinking something off The Dreaming, maybe 'Leave it Open'). No bad thing, but I find it strange that it should be so exalted

not to be a dick but it takes a special kind of white person to make a beat as inept as the one in 'ready for the floor.'

^It's a great song but probably needs to be heard in context of whole album

xp

looooooooool

xpost

loool CAD