Rolling Teenpop 2007 Thread

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Well they both exist very much in the context of emo I think. Both they and their audience think of themselves that way, no? And so in that case people's definition of emo changed at least. (The members of FOB used to be in a much more traditionally emo-sounding band, also.)

― Eppy, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 19:19 (nineteen years ago)

just girls. everygirls

^uh, italicized.

My girlfriend pointed out the other day that Lindsay's charm until recently was as a girl-next-door type. Then I remembered that I wouldn't have been able to pick her out of a crowd till I started listening to her music (I saw her in Mean Girls and I still couldn't really distinguish her from other actresses in a general sorta way afterwards). I think Lindsay has this everygirl charm, which is why it's also a little strange what a tabloid black hole she's become (well, duh, it's her behavior, fine), but I don't think this applies to Hilary so much. Everything about her is a little too canned, planned, safe. None of which has much bearing on her music, but tell a story about Hilary that isn't like that of, say, Kelly (everygirl w/ diva chops) or Ashlee (everygirl but you don't REALLY know her, she's actually totally unique) or Lindsay (everygirl with prrrrrrrrooooooobblleemmmmms)

― dabug, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 19:20 (nineteen years ago)

I don't know about Fall Out Boy, but "Helena" sounds way more emo than "Welcome to the Black Parade," and I liked them better in that incarnation: they were a little more nervous and jagged.

― jaymc, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 19:20 (nineteen years ago)

Dave, you should read the Lohan thread on ILE if you want to see how other people think about her. Also, to be a little yigged out. Speaking of creepy...

― Eppy, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 19:22 (nineteen years ago)

xpost Yeah, Helena was totally an emo song in that at least 50% of it consisted of unlistenable thrashing. But omg that chorus. Maybe you heard it differently.

― Eppy, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 19:23 (nineteen years ago)

Kelly (everygirl w/ diva chops) or Ashlee (everygirl but you don't REALLY know her, she's actually totally unique) or Lindsay (everygirl with prrrrrrrrooooooobblleemmmmms)

ie they're not really everygirls, ultimately! whereas hilary and rachel really are.

everygirl with DIGNITY?

― lex pretend, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 19:23 (nineteen years ago)

And so in that case people's definition of emo changed at least. <in italics>

Well this is sort of my point re: your idea here...what does mainstream success have to do with how they sound? And if they sound no different (again, I don't know this, maybe they do), how can they be "embracing" the values of pop, if their values (in how they sound, anyway) haven't changed that much? Is it about their values or ours? And who's included in "ours," their burgeoning-to-huge fanbase or the critic-types who've hopped on the bandwagon a little late?

― dabug, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 19:23 (nineteen years ago)

I have italicized the thread, it appears. I'm really sorry.

I think the Kylie comparisons are excellent vis a vis the new Hilary. Kylie indeed does sound robotic at times (most of Fever, for example), and it is, in my opinion, a conscious decision to create a sort of futuristic, cold-beauty aesthetic. But on Dignity, Hilary sounds less robotic than simply fragile. And I think it doesn't quite work like it did on previous faves from the first two albums. Perhaps her vocals are best on Danger, the Paris-imitation track!

― Matt Armstrong, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 19:24 (nineteen years ago)

the ile lohan thread is funny! i dunno i love tabloid-friendly hot messes. i want to party with lindsay, frankly.

― lex pretend, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 19:24 (nineteen years ago)

Well yeah.

― Eppy, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 19:25 (nineteen years ago)

Anyway, I should just go and write my post about the whole thing and stop burdening the teenpop thread with rock-talk.

― Eppy, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 19:26 (nineteen years ago)

Ah but Lex, she WANTS dignity but ain't gettin' it! She doesn't know what she wants. She's an android -- she wants things she can never have. Such longing! It breaks my heart (I should note that I almost cry whenever I watch AI, though maybe it's the FUCK YOU SPIELBERG manipulation that is "mommy has to go away now, David." What a brilliant hack!)

― dabug, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 19:26 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, Helena was totally an emo song in that at least 50% of it consisted of unlistenable thrashing. But omg that chorus. Maybe you heard it differently.

The thrashing isn't unlistenable because a) there's an actual melody buried in there, albeit a twisted one, and b) it's a necessary contrast to the chorus. I don't think I would like the song nearly as much if it didn't exist.

― jaymc, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 19:27 (nineteen years ago)

[/url] [/i] testing testing [/code] testing

― dabug, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 19:30 (nineteen years ago)

Now you can all see how I troubleshoot. "Hm, what does this button do?"

testing again

― dabug, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 19:31 (nineteen years ago)

ie they're not really everygirls, ultimately! whereas hilary and rachel really are.

Naw, the other way around! Kelly and Ashlee and Lindsay are everygirls because every girl is a little bit fucked up. Hilary's a robot--she never malfunctions--so how can you relate?

I forget who asked upthread and why, but will.i.am is credited as a writer on "Play with Fire."

― Nia, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 19:37 (nineteen years ago)

I don't think there's anything you can do about it, dabug. It's happened before, and I think an admin has to fix it. Or something.

OK, another observation about My Chemical Romance, past and present, based on approximately two songs from the most recent album and two songs from the one before it: I was attracted to "Ghost of You" and "Helena" partially because they are were in minor keys, which better conveyed Mr. Way's tortured feelings. "Welcome to the Black Parade" has a typical "rock" chord progression and solos that sound like Brian May: apart from the usual shouting, it sounds bombastic in a bells-and-whistles classic-rock way, rather than in an an organic-emotional-catharsis way.

― jaymc, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 19:38 (nineteen years ago)

dabug cannot debug. dabug sad <sad emotion card processing> ...:(

― dabug, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 19:43 (nineteen years ago)

Well, if I remember correctly, there are generally doses of minor with (again generally) major-key fist-pumpin' choruses. The connection to Mr. Bungle is (partially, aside from obvious vocal tics) in the more complex structure of some of the songs, where minor slips in and out, but a little, er LOT, less ADD-led than Mr. B et al.

― dabug, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 19:44 (nineteen years ago)

And one guitar solo has a part almost directly ripped from "November Rain"!

― dabug, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 19:45 (nineteen years ago)

I forget who asked upthread and why, but will.i.am is credited as a writer on "Play with Fire."

what with fergie, 'beep', ciara's 'get in fit in' and now this, will.i.am has emerged as such an unlikely genius.

also: i have now heard aly & aj! finally! i love love 'potential breakup song'!

― lex pretend, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 19:51 (nineteen years ago)

Reba McEntire: Because Of You feat. Kelly Clarkson
Label: MCA Nashville
Version: Album Version
Total Time: 03:43
Available Date: 16-May-2007

― Frank Kogan, Wednesday, 16 May 2007 21:35 (nineteen years ago)

They sang that together on the Country music awards on tv (discussed over on the rolling country thread).

― curmudgeon, Thursday, 17 May 2007 03:13 (nineteen years ago)

Having been utterly predictable about my single of the year so far, I had a think about what might be snapping at its heels. And was then shocked to discover that there has been no discussion at all on this thread about Natasha's "Hey Hey Hey". I know Kat Stevens has bigged it up on poptimists so I assumed it must have featured here too, but no.

I was a bit meh about "So Sick" to begin with (am slowly warming to it now), but "Hey Hey Hey" grabbed me instantly. Obvious points of comparison are Amerie and maybe Ciara, but this has a bubbliness that I haven't so far detected in those R&B divas.

See the video (with bonus excerpt of "So Sick" at the end) here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cU9YuWl8yOc

― Jeff W, Thursday, 17 May 2007 15:55 (nineteen years ago)

Jeff, the comparison that jumps to mind is the last three tracks on the Cassie album, which, as I mentioned upthread and I think it was you pointed out in poptimists, are total bubblegum. And this Natasha number pulls the same trick the Cassie does: the track blows bubbles and spins ferris wheels while the singer maintains her cool.

Here's a higher-quality transfer of the vid.

― Frank Kogan, Thursday, 17 May 2007 19:06 (nineteen years ago)

Great echoing snare about two-thirds of the way in; even though the rest of the music continues, the snare takes center stage, and the echo makes everything feel in a lonely place. So the effect is dub, for several seconds. Double bubble dub gum.

― Frank Kogan, Thursday, 17 May 2007 19:46 (nineteen years ago)

Here's the Kelly/Reba video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QqcCOM1ELM

I'm at work so I can't really listen to it loudly enough to hear the country touches, but I assume they're there. I hate Reba McEntire so much. Damn her sitcom. (Which Kelly appeared on, apparently.) Damn her sitom to hell.

― Eppy, Thursday, 17 May 2007 19:55 (nineteen years ago)

Fortunately this isn't the version of the Reba/Kelly that's on the single - at least, I'm pretty sure it isn't. It'd better not be. I've loved a previous Reba song or two, but she's a bleating goat here. Kelly sings very nicely in support, however.

― Frank Kogan, Thursday, 17 May 2007 21:43 (nineteen years ago)

Teenpop and Stooges collide (again):

[im][Removed Illegal Link]

^Iggy!

― dabug, Friday, 18 May 2007 01:08 (nineteen years ago)

Psh, let's try this again...

http://www.variety.com/graphics/photos/_mugw/Wood_elijah.jpg

^IGGY!

― dabug, Friday, 18 May 2007 01:08 (nineteen years ago)

Skye's officially been dropped from Capitol. Tim Armstrong confirmed it on a radio show talking about the "Into Action" single. Apparently she "gave it to him" because it had nowhere else to go. So, one more time...

http://a856.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/6/l_0d40b3d7bceccb91624916624164b3d7.jpg

She's still looking for a new band (via email submission/MySpace promotion!), so maybe she'll tour the songs independently or find a new label. Still, it sucks.

― dabug, Saturday, 19 May 2007 03:35 (nineteen years ago)

This from a reliable source: Skye has not been dropped!
I think when Skye hears what Tim has said on KROQ, she's going to make him drop and give her fifty. lol

― dabug, Saturday, 19 May 2007 19:30 (nineteen years ago)

http://tommy2.net/2007/kcmydecember.jpg

1. Chivas
2. Never Again
3. One Minute
4. Hole
5. Sober
6. Dont Waste Your Time
7. Judas
8. Haunted
9. Be Still
10. Maybe
11. How I Feel
12. Yeah
13. Can I Have A Kiss
14. Irvine

― dabug, Sunday, 20 May 2007 14:53 (nineteen years ago)

Please note similarities to Ashlee Simpson's most recent tour set design and photos in the I Am Me liners.

― dabug, Sunday, 20 May 2007 14:55 (nineteen years ago)

handy dress style for kelly there! (this is old news but i've only just seen recent pictures of her and she's obv awesome always & forever but we're heading towards beth ditto territory at the same time.) (sorry, mean. kelly i love your single.)

not as much as i love THE POTENTIAL BREAKUP SONG though! kind of obsessed with it right now. the lyrics! the situation laid out just like that, no bullshit, three minutes, and then the slight note of hope at the end...

― lex pretend, Sunday, 20 May 2007 15:02 (nineteen years ago)

Indeed, it is a potential make-up song as well.

― dabug, Sunday, 20 May 2007 15:24 (nineteen years ago)

Vocoders = Brilliant!

― I know, right?, Sunday, 20 May 2007 15:33 (nineteen years ago)

Underwhelmed by the Jordan Pruitt album, which I finally listened to. I feel like with a little more humor she'd be like a Hoku with better chops, with a little more chops she'd be like Jojo, as is it's this sort of halfway point between spiked acoustic guitar R&B pop and c. 2000 bubblegum teenpop. Not bad, just not really sticking with me (probably needs more bubblegum). Need to give it a few more listens, though.

Listened to the Sophie Ellis Bextor album and feel like someone just jackhammered my head with hooks. Dunno if that's a good thing or not.

― dabug, Sunday, 20 May 2007 15:34 (nineteen years ago)

Ha, Lex, knew you'd like it!

Also, Rhianna's 'Shut Up and Drive' now around - a) I love it, b) it seems to have a very 'British' pop sound to it, like I wouldn't be surprised if Xenomania were involved. I could well imagine Girls Aloud releasing something along similar lines. Also, friends and I were discussing how aparently Beyonce turned down SOS, and I said how she would have brought too much 'heat' too it, whereas Rhianna's voice is more metallic, maybe the American version of Rachel Stevens?

― Poptext, Sunday, 20 May 2007 18:12 (nineteen years ago)

"Shut Up and Drive" to appear in new Ford commercial starting in 3, 2...

― Tape Store, Sunday, 20 May 2007 21:04 (nineteen years ago)

Oh, and new Cassie track on her MySpace...I'm a pretty big fan of this one...really nice and subtle.

(sorry if someone already posted this...ctrl f didn't help)

― Tape Store, Sunday, 20 May 2007 21:18 (nineteen years ago)

Hey, this new Corbin Bleu song is really good! Deal with It, now at something like #5 on Radio Disney. (scott seward called him new new jack swing on the other thread, seconded.)

― dabug, Sunday, 20 May 2007 21:48 (nineteen years ago)

He and Natasha should have a crazy slippery dance-off.

― dabug, Sunday, 20 May 2007 21:50 (nineteen years ago)

(Nah, Natasha'd kick his ass)

― dabug, Sunday, 20 May 2007 21:51 (nineteen years ago)

"Potential Break Up Song" reminds me a lot of Xenomania in their (relatively) more earnest pose e.g. "No Good Advice" or "The Show". I think it's great.

Also loving Ashley Tisdale's "Be Good To Me" heaps and heaps. I get the impression the album is pretty good too? I think I just love the single because it reminds me of stuff like Mis-Teeq's "Scandalous"... heavy-slashing string riffs are almost never a bad idea.

― Tim F, Sunday, 20 May 2007 22:45 (nineteen years ago)

'the potential breakup song' really reminds me of something...not xenomania exactly. can't quite put my finger on it yet. dream's 'he loves me not'...i dunno.

abby have you been subjected to my rants on the subject of "british" pop? i feel lately it's been something of a pox on the world...i like 'sos' in a 7/10, would dance to it way, but actually morally disapprove of it in some ways. it's rihanna's worst single by some way! faintly depressing that 'shut up and drive' heads down the same path after the triumph of ELLA ELLA ELLA AY AY AY.

i do agree beyonce might not have been so good on it - there's a simplicity, a naivete to it which i don't think beyonce's ever pulled off. all she has is a brolly!

― lex pretend, Monday, 21 May 2007 00:49 (nineteen years ago)

Tisdale's album is still my favorite of the year. I absolutely love it. Be Good is my favorite track on it, but it was a tough decision.

― Matt Armstrong, Monday, 21 May 2007 01:08 (nineteen years ago)

Hilarious review of "Be Good To Me" by M.H. Lo over in Jukebox.

And I just posted my review of Tisdale's "Not Like That" on my MySpace blog (basically repeats what I said upthread).

― Frank Kogan, Monday, 21 May 2007 01:48 (nineteen years ago)

New Cassie track a b/w silkscreen of early '90s Eurohouse with langorous Cassie r&b on top. May take me a while to find out whether I'll feel it.

― Frank Kogan, Monday, 21 May 2007 01:58 (nineteen years ago)

I've not yet succeeded in hating Corbin Bleu, though I'm not necessarily ready to abandon my efforts.

(Yeah, reasonably good track, even if I'd have preferred a much better singer. But I could say the same about the Tisdales, which I'm generally loving.)

― Frank Kogan, Monday, 21 May 2007 02:04 (nineteen years ago)

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