Annie (From Norway)

So wait is this album Xenomania all the way through then?

Half Timo, half Xeno, split in the middle by "I Know Ur Girlfriend Hates Me".

...and "Songs Remind Me Of You", also a Richard X track.

should we have a Xenomania backlash thread and leave this for Annie?

...or we could revive this thread or this one.

considering the fact that "Chewing Gum" was a flop!

#25 really not that bad all things considered (esp. when looking at how the later Anniemal singles did)

Does Pitchfork ever give anyone crazy love for two albums in a row?

Sure. Lots of acts have consecutive discs rated 8.0 or higher by Pitchfork, e.g., The New Pornographers (3 straight discs); The Hold Steady (3 straight discs); Arcade Fire (2 straight discs); Deerhoof (8k straight discs); Destroyer (2 straight discs); Dizzee Rascal (2 straight discs); M.I.A. (2 straight discs); Radiohead (maybe 3 -- 4 straight discs); Spoon (2 straight discs); Sun Kil Moon (2 straight discs); others. I'm being pretty conservative here, too: Lots of the albums I refer to above got much more than an 8.0 rating (8.0 is just an easy baseline).

From http://xenomanianews.blogspot.com/:

There have been a few rumours floating around these past weeks regarding Annie's upcoming album and single. Supposedly, a source from her label claims that Don't Stop will suffer some changes, with Annie being sent back to a studio to record new songs. Because of this, her new album and single may be delayed until early 2009.

Last week Annie wrote a post on her blog which confirmed that she is indeed going to work on new songs: "This week I'm going to a studio in London, will be working some new songs....I'm really excited. Been writing some lyrics, and have lots of ideas bout the production..... yehaaaa...... will tell more later". Nothing else has yet been confirmed.

Annie's first single from Don't Stop, "I Know Ur Girlfriend Hates Me", spent one week in the UK singles chart, reaching #54. The expected second single, "My Love Is Better", was originally a collaboration with Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos and Girls Aloud. However, Girls Aloud's label demanded their vocals to be removed, as they were "due to do promotion at the same time". Annie has since recorded all the backing vocals herself.

It doesn't sound good.

i think THE GUARDIAN curse was put on her via that big piece they ran in june; that whole '...and now ANNIE is becoming a proper pop star...' thing.
then the single went to number 54.

Maybe she was set up for failure by that very early review that called the album a modern pop classic, or something like that. Sometimes that kind of high-praise is the worst thing that can happen to a disc.

^OTM

Oh, I guess they should try to re-release it now. There seems to be some kind of Norway-fad in the UK right now, with two different Norwegian acts in the UK Top 13 at the same time. :)

Well, no, the worst thing that happened to that first album was the lack of promotion her record company gave to it. XL can't seem to be able to deal with any act who isn't called the Prodigy.

Doesn't sound promising, though, the second one; I mean, Xenomania, Girls Aloud and FF have all basically gone down the pan now, haven't they?

XL can't seem to be able to deal with any act who isn't called the Prodigy.

Adele? Dizzee? Basement Jaxx? Presumably Annie just isn't a priority for them.

tbh the album as it was isn't a huge loss

I'm half hoping for a Robyn-style out-of-nowhere hit, but otherwise does anyone really think she could be a Top Pop Star? It never seemed likely tbh.

at least the new Xenomania-produced Alesha album will be a runaway success oh yeah...

Did you listen to the whole album, Lex ? or just the sampler ? Btw I absolutely hate the principle of promo samplers where you get about half of the album, it basically kills the envy for the full length for me.

Basement Jaxx - when were they last big?
Dizzee - does "Dance Wiv Me" indicate good handling of an artist ("they wanted a more commercial me")?
Adele - oh yeah, white BRIT totty's always going to get preferential treatment, I forgot.

i've heard the whole album, alarmingly the sampler really did consist of its best songs

step away from xenomania, alesha :( i was just listening to mis-teeq this morning, they were so amazing.

step away from xenomania, alesha

'knock down' is excellent

'Loco' is climbing up my most played tracks list pretty fast

The whole thing has leaked now. "Bad Times" is the standout track of the new bunch IMO. It would be almost perfect if it wasn't for a lazy transition from the wonderful interlude to the second verse.

Yep - "Bad Times" is the best song on the whole disc - glorious. A rejigging isn't the worst thing that could happen - "Marie Cherie" is just not up to standard, "What Do You Want" is just gimmick in full-length (an interlude stretched too far), "Sweet" is a bit rote and "Take You Home" seems to go on forever and that middle bit is very jarring. "I Can't Let Go" is a lot better than I expected too.

So, nothing outstanding, certainly nothing even remotely close to "Heartbeat"/"Chewing Gum"/"Me Plus One"/"Come Together" standard.

Very Good: Bad Times, Loco, Heaven And Hell, Songs Remind Me Of You
Good: My Love Is Better, I Can't Let Go, When The Night
OK: Girlfriend, Sweet
Poor: What Do You Want, Marie Cherie, Take You Home

my notes from the playback i went to say, next to 'loco', "AAAARGGHHHH".

I love Marie Cherie, it sounds like a Virna Lindt song.

I lowered expectations because of this Xenomania backlash (which I'm only one foot in on) but 'Don't Stop' is roughly as good as 'Tangled Up' which I liked. I like 'What Do You Want' too. It's a bit ridiculous how much at least half of these songs sound like they came straight from a GA stockpile tho (and if they had been on the next GA album that wouldn't be bad going really) .

that breakfast song is the worst thing i've heard all year. skimmed the rest of the album and was left very unimpressed,nothing comes close to greatest hit or chewing gum.

annie's career is a masterclass on how not to be a popstar. a constant stream of missed opportunities, bad decisions and all-round cluelessness.

the first 20 seconds of WDYW i was sort of alarmed but halfway thru there's this really cool 'whistley' noise in the background that i love. as simple as that sounds it's the main reason i still like Xenomania as can still rely on them to drop these neat sounds/ideas/hooks into things that are unexpected even if they are increasingly formulaic much of the rest of the time (not necessarily more than some other production teams across the pop pool).

the idea of 'make this sound like a Girls Aloud album but by just one girl' isn't a recipe for disaster by any means, but her voice probably doesn't suit that in the end. so the concept is more flawed than the execution. i'd have preferred a Royksoppier sound for this overall with XM just doing 3-4 tracks tops.

what's the breakdown of producers for each track? rich x did a few didn't he?

i do like 'when the night', sounds like a throwback to all the over-emotive cheapy synthy latin freestyle ballads from the mid 80s. is that a cover?

ha that one's probably my least favourite

over the breakfast one?! stevem, you've gone menkle.

what's the breakdown of producers for each track? rich x did a few didn't he?

(From http://xenomanianews.blogspot.com/)

01. My Love Is Better
(produced by Xenomania)
02. I Know UR Girlfriend Hates Me
(produced by Richard X)
03. Sweet
(produced by Xenomania)
04. Loco
(produced by Xenomania)
05. Bad Times
(produced by Xenomania)
06. I Can't Let Go
(produced by Timo Kaukolampi)
07. Marie Cherie
(produced by Timo Kaukolampi)
08. When The Night
(produced by Xenomania)
09. Heaven and Hell
(produced by Xenomania)
10. What Do You Want (The Breakfast Song)
(produced by Timo Kaukolampi)
11. Take You Home
(produced by Timo Kaukolampi)
12. Songs Remind Me Of You
(produced by Richard X)

Note that "The Breakfast Song" is NOT Xenomania.

It's time to say it. Brian Higgins, if you're reading this, the time has come to just do it.

Fire Miranda Cooper. She's gone from being one of pop's best lyricists to being a complete embarrassment, and fucking lazy to boot.

It's sad really, three years ago in the midst of "Biology", Xenomania seemed like they could go anywhere and do anything, now it really seems like they're ploughing one template to breaking point, and instead of Uber Songs of Death, they're still doing what they did to shit effect on "Tangled Up" - i.e. write half a song and repeat every bit until you're bored sick.

Even "Bad Times", which is outstanding, could have done with another verse.

^LOL at the thought Brian Higgins actually reading this. Maybe he doesn't have to fire her, just get more lyricists. Even though you are absolutely right, it doesn't really bother me because I always pay more attention to the music, and music-wise they're IMO as good as ever (though I admit, not doing anything groundbreaking).

get more lyricists.

Neil Tennant recently claimed he could happily move into an upstairs room at Xenomania and write songs with them for the rest of his life...

Note that "The Breakfast Song" is NOT Xenomania

figured this would happen. that's disappointing really but makes more sense.

POP MAGAZINE : You never know what Xenomania are going to do next. Which is unique for a production house. They don't have a formula.

NEIL TENNANT : No they don't.

!

how many decades has it been since neil tennant was relevant?

One and a half.

He rates "Golden Skans" as well.

how many decades has it been since neil tennant was relevant?

about as many as Janet Jackson, Madonna, Mariah etc.

mariah and madonna are still pretty much relevant now. janet, less so, but she has more great songs on discipline alone than tennant has managed in the past decade and a half.

Last Saturday, Four Minutes cleared a dancefloor of actual teenagers who had been enthusiastically dancing to Miley Cyrus, Jonas Brothers, Wearing My Rolex etc etc. Madge loses.

Not that the last PSB single, whatever it was, would have done much better.

wait wtf Jonas Brothers?

yesterday madonna sold out wembley arena

Last Saturday, Four Minutes cleared a dancefloor of actual teenagers who had been enthusiastically dancing to Miley Cyrus, Jonas Brothers, Wearing My Rolex etc etc. Madge loses.

I'm assuming this wasn't Club Poptimism.

yesterday madonna sold out wembley arena

so would Oasis

i would have typed "a month ago 'i know your girlfriend hates me' cleared the dancefloor when i played it" but nobody was dancing anyway :/

also actual teenager chipmunk has done a (pretty cool) freestyle over '4 minutes' on his new mixtape which you can download free off his myspazz and which is loads better than any and all new annie product