her aesthetic is very like... if instagram was music but even tho i can recognize the trick i still fell for it
― J0rdan S., Wednesday, 8 February 2017 06:30 (seven years ago) link
love the new track from tei shi:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwEieJWAbls
― joshywinty (josh), Saturday, 11 February 2017 08:28 (seven years ago) link
also this one from anna of the north:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsGw39dq7t4
― joshywinty (josh), Saturday, 11 February 2017 20:46 (seven years ago) link
also uh new katy perry is... a thing
― a self-reinforcing downward spiral of male-centric indie (katherine), Saturday, 11 February 2017 21:10 (seven years ago) link
from Worst Songs:
alternate titles: "Sia Continues To Not Do Subtext"; "I Didn't Expect Melanie Martinez To Be Where Katy Perry Is Being Positioned, Huh"; "If You Told Me Katy Perry Was Doing 'Pleasantville' I Would Have Expected Pinup Shit"
I like the katy perry. And I've never liked katy perry. Lyrically it's cringe-worthy but the song.
― abcfsk, Saturday, 11 February 2017 22:38 (seven years ago) link
riddle me this: how can she be chained to the rhythm when she doesn't have any?
― joshywinty (josh), Sunday, 12 February 2017 07:24 (seven years ago) link
lol josh
As with all new Katy Perry songs I'll be playing the "how long can I go until I hear it involuntarily hear it", this often works out pretty well
― lex pretend, Sunday, 12 February 2017 09:54 (seven years ago) link
god never try to type sentences when you're this hungover
it's pretty bad. surprised (but am i really?) she decided to come back with something roughly on the level of her (terrible) fifth single from the last album cycle.
(amusingly, early indicators of its commercial prospects are not looking good at all so perhaps you will never have to hear it lex!)
― dyl, Sunday, 12 February 2017 16:53 (seven years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCBmhs4dYzc
maroon 5 has released yet another song that will almost undoubtedly be played at their core format (adult pop) with the "featured" rapper's contribution replaced by a separately recorded, sung middle eight.
being completely serious here: at this point all black artists should refuse to be featured on tracks like this unless they are allowed to actually take up space on the recording instead of having their entire contribution squeezed into a narrow 35-second window that will inevitably be scrubbed from the version serviced to white adult stations. if an act, their team or boosters at radio feel its core audience will be scared off by 30 seconds of a black rapper's vocals, they shouldn't bother "featuring" him in the first place. and if they can't remain commercially relevant without the otherwise-unearned crossover rhythmic radio play and streaming activity, tough; they don't deserve to have it both ways.
― dyl, Tuesday, 14 February 2017 19:01 (seven years ago) link
kudos to future apologising for it thohttp://i.imgur.com/uzi7QZs.jpg
― ||||||||, Tuesday, 14 February 2017 20:35 (seven years ago) link
ILM's 2017 Rolling Pop Thread Spotify Playlist
― Bobson Dugnutt (ulysses), Thursday, 13 April 2017 05:23 (seven years ago) link
I'm finding this cover of Lisa Loeb's "Stay" by Bright Light Bright Light inexplicably lovely:
https://soundcloud.com/brightlightx2/stay-i-missed-you-1
― some sad trombone Twilight Zone shit (cryptosicko), Sunday, 7 May 2017 20:02 (six years ago) link
jessie reyez!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f34JoX3uko4
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 17 May 2017 08:27 (six years ago) link
"shutter island" also amazing
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 17 May 2017 08:31 (six years ago) link
i fuck w this camila cabello singlehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlrYn_dZdqk
― flapp.y, Monday, 22 May 2017 17:33 (six years ago) link
i do not
i really don't get why this newer crop of "new" (solo) artists is being introduced to its assumed audience with such faceless, on- or slightly-behind-trend material. liam payne's (terrible) new single is guilty of the same. i thought the typical strategy for introducing a new artist was to release something just ahead of the trends -- familiar enough to give us a comfortable in, but also distinctive enough to hint at where pop might be headed next (presumably to be led by these new artists). this crop of safe, unimaginative songs that sound like they would have been 'forward-thinking' hits 1-3 years ago is just not it.
― dyl, Monday, 22 May 2017 17:42 (six years ago) link
the "genie in a bottle" interpolation on camila's single only serves to remind me that THAT is how you properly introduce yourself as a new pop artist
― dyl, Monday, 22 May 2017 17:45 (six years ago) link
except it wasn't, Aguilera "introduced" herself with "Reflection"
― sick, fucking funny, and well tasty (katherine), Monday, 22 May 2017 17:51 (six years ago) link
ron fair on the typical strategy for introducing a new artist, at least regarding "Genie in a Bottle":
"In our business, it's more important to start off with a number one record on a debut act than it is to start off with a great song. But it's still great sugar candy."
― sick, fucking funny, and well tasty (katherine), Monday, 22 May 2017 17:54 (six years ago) link
oh yeah i forgot about that. i don't think i ever noticed her version of "reflection" at the time, even tho i went out and saw mulan and everything. not the best example then!
― dyl, Monday, 22 May 2017 17:55 (six years ago) link
like, I don't love this single (I'm guessing the waste-of-a-cello intro is not part of the single proper, because yikes, wish the cello showed up in the actual mix though) and I do love david frank but let's take off the nostalgia glasses here
― sick, fucking funny, and well tasty (katherine), Monday, 22 May 2017 17:55 (six years ago) link
that ron fair quote is interesting in that it's not clear whether he thinks "genie" is a great song. (i do!) or whether he thinks being great helps a debut single's prospects commercially. but point taken about how the priorities weren't particularly different back then!
― dyl, Monday, 22 May 2017 18:04 (six years ago) link
i would add tho that being ahead of trend or at least distinctive enough to set oneself apart from the back is not necessarily about being "great". the last debut single (for a non-crossover top 40 artist) that i think actually successfully accomplished what i described above was meghan trainor's, and i would be the last person on earth to describe that song as "great".
― dyl, Monday, 22 May 2017 18:06 (six years ago) link
* from the pack
― dyl, Monday, 22 May 2017 18:07 (six years ago) link
i went back and looked at a bunch of ex-boy banders' debut solos singles for a piece recently and found that it was mostly the opposite of what you're saying. usually the first single was really safe, often a ballad. consider like bobby brown's "girlfriend" vs the songs that would really propel him to solo stardom, or the first sisqo single vs "thong song" or "work it out" vs "crazy in love." justin timberlake is one of the only really notable group-to-solo artists whose first single was as good and memorable as the stuff that came after it, but he sorta had a head start insofar as he basically started making solo singles on the last nsync album, including w/ the neptunes. i don't like "pillowtalk" personally but you could probably lump zayn in with JT too since that song ended up having a long commercial tail.
so i think liam and camila etc are not special in that regard. i don't have a great deal of optimism for either as solo artists but i bet their next songs will be better.
― J0rdan S., Monday, 22 May 2017 18:26 (six years ago) link
"sign of the times" probably counts as an exception, at least as far as radio trends
― sick, fucking funny, and well tasty (katherine), Monday, 22 May 2017 18:36 (six years ago) link
Jordan Knight also broke formula in '99. Joey McIntyre did not.
― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 22 May 2017 18:40 (six years ago) link
the first sisqo single vs "thong song" or "work it out" vs "crazy in love."
literally don't know either of these, were they soft-launched teasers or songs that were actually expected to do commercial damage?
― dyl, Monday, 22 May 2017 19:12 (six years ago) link
i assumed "thong song" and "crazy in love" were debut singles so i guess all my hand-waving is rly just based on selective memory, oops
― dyl, Monday, 22 May 2017 19:14 (six years ago) link
okay so "work it out" was a soundtrack single so basically similar to "reflection"
― dyl, Monday, 22 May 2017 19:15 (six years ago) link
i liked your theory before it was debunked, dyl. at the very least that's how things should be, imo
― flopson, Monday, 22 May 2017 20:18 (six years ago) link
I mean it's true in that "forward-thinking" material is generally given to rising artists, just not rising artists with as much at stake as former boy/girl group members.
― sick, fucking funny, and well tasty (katherine), Monday, 22 May 2017 20:24 (six years ago) link
Cabello track is mediocre pop but elevated by her wonderful Scherzingeresque performance
― boxedjoy, Tuesday, 23 May 2017 12:32 (six years ago) link
agreed the liam payne record is p awful
― flapp.y, Tuesday, 23 May 2017 21:32 (six years ago) link
surprisingly (she's usually the worst thing about any fifth harmony track) I like the Camila track even though it's pretty much a watered-down "Work"
― sick, fucking funny, and well tasty (katherine), Wednesday, 24 May 2017 18:00 (six years ago) link
New Shakira album's good.
case in point:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0ivG4Ew-Lk
― sean gramophone, Thursday, 25 May 2017 14:37 (six years ago) link
surprisingly (she's usually the worst thing about any fifth harmony track)
curious as to how you came to this conclusion
― boxedjoy, Friday, 26 May 2017 00:13 (six years ago) link
bad and/or cutesy oversinging
― sick, fucking funny, and well tasty (katherine), Friday, 26 May 2017 01:09 (six years ago) link
"work it out" was more ~forward-thinking than "crazy in love"! (futuristic version of '70s funk vs actual sample of '70s funk.) but the most ~forward-thinking pop comes a couple of albums in, at least, and if it doesn't it often ends up in the act being somewhat niche.
it feels like camila cabello has been releasing solo stuff for months, mostly guest spots i guess, and she's the worst thing about all of those too.
the problem with liam payne and camila cabello is that i never had great expectations for them in the first place. sensible liam choosing this direction is hilariously ill-suited, presumably because harry gazumped him with the boring serious guitar singer-songwriter shit. i think the pop album i'm most disappointed by in 2017 is zara larsson. high hopes emphatically not met.
shakira album is good, yes, jumping on reggaeton (at last? has she done much of it before? i don't follow her career closely) is a good look.
― lex pretend, Friday, 26 May 2017 05:45 (six years ago) link
love zara larsson and agree zl in 2017 feels a bit rushed, her 2016 success necessitating a bunch of tracks to put on an album with too little thought given to which and what
― abcfsk, Friday, 26 May 2017 07:45 (six years ago) link
<i>at last? has she done much of it before? i don't follow her career closely</i>
just la tortura & hips don't lie, which r reggaeton classics
― flapp.y, Saturday, 27 May 2017 02:44 (six years ago) link
I'm impressed by this new(ish) Norwegian singer Sigrid, who may well be able to atone for the staidness of most of the Zara Larsson album.
Her EP has 3 straight up bangers and an acoustic version of another: https://open.spotify.com/album/1fUJMrFtZMbtDS8c2dklb2
― monotony, Wednesday, 31 May 2017 07:40 (six years ago) link
That Sigrid stuff is pretty good. But god I loathe Spotify.
― sean gramophone, Wednesday, 31 May 2017 13:49 (six years ago) link
Perhaps I should've included an Apple Music link as apparently she is one of their new poster acts.
― monotony, Wednesday, 31 May 2017 23:40 (six years ago) link
Re: Norwegian singers: I've been following and enjoying Gabrielle (Leithaug)'s releases ever since The Singles Jukebox featured her back in 2011. Her latest, "Nye Joggesko", is another good one (and yes, it's in Norwegian, like all her stuff):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GW_Db4_AGjs
― breastcrawl, Thursday, 1 June 2017 18:24 (six years ago) link
Julia Michaels trying out some new things
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP-xRiPX3Bg
― abcfsk, Saturday, 3 June 2017 14:15 (six years ago) link
wouldn't say i love her music but she seems to have a lot of potential
― dyl, Saturday, 3 June 2017 16:02 (six years ago) link
love "uh huh" so much
GOINGINFORTHEKILL
also enjoying new dagny
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rReRtMbQq18
― uberweiss, Saturday, 3 June 2017 17:07 (six years ago) link
I don't mind it as much as everyone in the world seems to
― sick, fucking funny, and well tasty (katherine), Wednesday, 7 June 2017 16:39 (six years ago) link
but people on twitter think I'm a "junior writer" for not hating the album so fucking cool
― sick, fucking funny, and well tasty (katherine), Wednesday, 7 June 2017 17:22 (six years ago) link
I like the new single:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3hjpNuvapQ
― daavid, Wednesday, 7 June 2017 17:26 (six years ago) link
i don't even hate the record (and i like "strangers") but there just isn't a lot there imo. your review is great katherine
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Wednesday, 7 June 2017 19:51 (six years ago) link
who cares about people on twitter. most of them are pretty stupid and/or blowing off steam about shit unrelated to what they're talking about.
― maura, Thursday, 8 June 2017 14:10 (six years ago) link
how hard is WITNESS going to flop? is the cover's resemblance to BIONIC a portent?
she'll have her artpop without "do what you wnt"
― flapp.y, Thursday, 8 June 2017 23:20 (six years ago) link
Big novelty dance hits historically the territory of male djs, but Norwegian DJ Kamferdrops has produced - and she sings on - a cover, reworking of an old dansband tune. It is currently #1 in Sweden, should be a song of summer 17 there and in Norway.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9L1w3hwLOU
― abcfsk, Tuesday, 27 June 2017 10:39 (six years ago) link
https://www.girlcultfestival.com/
― Chocolate-covered gummy bears? Not ruling those lil' guys out. (ulysses), Tuesday, 8 August 2017 13:11 (six years ago) link
terrible name, decent lineup
― maura, Tuesday, 8 August 2017 13:56 (six years ago) link
Girl Cult? I assume its a festival started by R Kelly.
― MarkoP, Tuesday, 8 August 2017 14:35 (six years ago) link
Short for "Girl Culture" apparently but yeah, I agree with Maura.
― Chocolate-covered gummy bears? Not ruling those lil' guys out. (ulysses), Tuesday, 8 August 2017 15:42 (six years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWdzL955qnI
― sean gramophone, Saturday, 9 September 2017 17:28 (six years ago) link
a musician friend found this v depressing
https://pitchfork.com/features/article/uncovering-how-streaming-is-changing-the-sound-of-pop/
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 27 September 2017 19:38 (six years ago) link
I just find it very unconvincing -- the thing about any "_____ is changing the sound of pop" argument is that almost anything can be made to fit the argument. slow tempos are a product of streaming because people want playlists with ~vibes~! fast tempos are a product of streaming because you've gotta get everything in under 30 seconds! or "it's important to write a lot of hooks," which has been brought out as a consequence of iTunes, festivals, the fast-paced album cycle (I read this exact piece about Rihanna's _Talk This Talk_ many times, in particular), probably pop radio, probably CD singles, etc. songwriters are going to play along because of course they are; you get more work (and more quotes in articles) by claiming you're an expert at your job than going ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
or the piece cites a Spotify press release about how it made "Waves" a hit in Europe; except the press release says the original "Waves" (sans Robin Schulz) was already a hit in the Netherlands until Ultra Music and Sony Music Entertainment (SME) signed them, and *that* made it a hit in Europe. which is, more or less, the usual way that songs become international hits. (the part about Spotify breaking it in the US is naturally going to be biased toward Spotify, given the source, and requires more research than I'm doing for a comment.)
(the things that aren't mentioned are ways streaming *actually* may be affecting pop -- larger albums, and more features.)
― sick, fucking funny, and well tasty (katherine), Wednesday, 27 September 2017 20:09 (six years ago) link
clicked out when i saw it citing the switched on pop podcast in opening paragraph
― dyl, Wednesday, 27 September 2017 22:18 (six years ago) link
https://pitchfork.com/features/article/uncovering-how-mailchimp-is-changing-the-writing-on-pitchfork/
― Chocolate-covered gummy bears? Not ruling those lil' guys out. (ulysses), Wednesday, 27 September 2017 23:18 (six years ago) link
lmfaoooo
― dyl, Thursday, 28 September 2017 00:02 (six years ago) link
it's not exactly pop but obongjayar is pretty fuckin great
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Monday, 2 October 2017 12:39 (six years ago) link
it's very 90s Bristol
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Monday, 2 October 2017 12:42 (six years ago) link
Billie Eilish - Watch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWAbdiiAOZA
probably the best Lorde song not written or performed by Lorde
― jesus and figs and science and the foo fighters (unregistered), Monday, 6 November 2017 22:21 (six years ago) link
she's pretty good! i like her EP
― maura, Tuesday, 7 November 2017 23:11 (six years ago) link
sigrid's new single is fabulous
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fm7mll2qvg
― monotony, Friday, 10 November 2017 22:49 (six years ago) link
New Madison Beer song "Tell It To My Face" contains a pretty shameless rip of "Vitamin C" by The Can:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCyl9GBlM-M
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Thursday, 16 November 2017 22:20 (six years ago) link
whoops "SAY It To My Face"
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Thursday, 16 November 2017 22:21 (six years ago) link
and they say poptimism is dead
― maura, Friday, 17 November 2017 00:22 (six years ago) link
(i like this, just being salty)
― maura, Friday, 17 November 2017 00:34 (six years ago) link
this project is deeply weird but it has quite a few good songs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzLSmY7c9dY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4vUxVwb_G8
― maura, Friday, 17 November 2017 13:47 (six years ago) link
this album rules
― nxd, Friday, 17 November 2017 14:21 (six years ago) link
i remember being very unimpressed by her music when she first got attention for having a weird channel but the new stuff is better. the shtick with the lyrics gets old fairly quickly though
― ufo, Friday, 17 November 2017 15:29 (six years ago) link
nice catch on that madison beer btw
― Chocolate-covered gummy bears? Not ruling those lil' guys out. (ulysses), Friday, 17 November 2017 18:05 (six years ago) link
For those compiling your year-end lists, this playlist includes all the available tracks on this thread, organized roughly chronologically in order of mention:
― Chocolate-covered gummy bears? Not ruling those lil' guys out. (ulysses), Sunday, 26 November 2017 18:35 (six years ago) link
BTW, this is a gem that was on singles jukebox that needs more love
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKxFS8L6AlQ
― Chocolate-covered gummy bears? Not ruling those lil' guys out. (ulysses), Monday, 27 November 2017 22:56 (six years ago) link
oh man that is gorgeous
― dyl, Tuesday, 28 November 2017 00:08 (six years ago) link
right? it's the #2 single of the year, pointwise, from SJ. Would love to get a voting bloc to push it for the ilx 77.
― Chocolate-covered gummy bears? Not ruling those lil' guys out. (ulysses), Tuesday, 28 November 2017 00:29 (six years ago) link
it's really such an achingly beautiful song. it was getting me on the verge of tears even before i looked up what the lyrics mean.
― dyl, Tuesday, 28 November 2017 04:40 (six years ago) link
read the blergs when it came up, completely forgot so thanks for the reminder :)amazing track
― nxd, Tuesday, 28 November 2017 09:37 (six years ago) link
.... man do i love the new rita ora song
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksdAs4LBRq8
― ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Wednesday, 29 November 2017 16:11 (six years ago) link
^ incredible songbeen doing the rounds over here
― nxd, Wednesday, 29 November 2017 16:13 (six years ago) link
first time hearing that Rita Ora song: "this is nice but those backing vocals are a bit Mumfordcore WAIT WHAT JUST HAPPENED" I wish not everything had to be a banger in 2017
she was utterly abysmal hosting America's Next Top Model too. I know it's so cliche to make "who is she" jokes about her rapid and unexplainable ascent to top-tier star but I can't understand why she hasn't had the career arc of eg Pixie Lott
― boxedjoy, Wednesday, 29 November 2017 21:05 (six years ago) link
i'm a little embarrassed to admit it but i actually prefer the rita ora song from earlier this year that ed sheeran wrote
― dyl, Thursday, 30 November 2017 00:30 (six years ago) link
I like the Rita Ora/Avicii song, it feels like a lost Robyn track.
― Daniel_Rf, Thursday, 30 November 2017 10:39 (six years ago) link
the 212 of 2017?https://open.spotify.com/track/1P3l3WXZ3JbeBJ61DA0bjK?si=Y-Rle87aRCKXt0-zb4e6fw
― maura, Sunday, 3 December 2017 15:55 (six years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_XBTI3semU
Looking forward to her Melodifestivalen entry
― abcfsk, Sunday, 3 December 2017 18:24 (six years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7I9uietTqkU
― abcfsk, Tuesday, 5 December 2017 20:26 (six years ago) link