Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Feb 14, 2013 20:15:33 GMT 1
23RD JUNE- ICKY THUMP- White Stripes (1 wk)Always slightly too left field for my personal tastes I confess I've never grasped the hype or the praise for this group ("My Doorbell" aside) and this did nothing to spark my interest. Not enough melody going on here for my liking and the whole peice seems oddly disjointed and interrupted, lyrically it's a tale about US Immigration policy which, while worthy, seems too heavy a theme to tackle in 4 minutes and 13 seconds. Listening now this seems something of a fanbase track, big for 7 days then quickly forgotten (I couldn't have told you how this went before I heard it again, and now I still couldn't tell you how it went) maybe I'm missing something big but this is just noise to me sorry!
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Feb 11, 2013 19:36:45 GMT 1
09 JUNE- REAL GIRL- Mutya Buena (2 wks)Something of a forgotten gem these days, this is a rather endearing little ditty. Fresh from that Sugababes departure Buena quit to spend more time with her new baby in early 06 but had clearly had enough of watching "In the Night garden" by early 07 and returned to entertain us, stir in a very healthy dollop of Lenny Kravitz's "It Ain't Over Til It's Over" from 1991 and bingo a top 10 hit. It's always rather interesting seeing the first move made by an artist who is breaking out from their successful group and in some ways this is no more than you'd expect, a sugababe choosing a critically acclaimed serious artist to sample, but the fact that it is so reliant on that sample would seem to indicate this was a tentative step indeed and Buena chooses not to rely on her own star status to sell something entirely new, having said that the follow up "Song 4 Mutya (Out Of Control)" was brimming with the kind of confidence and if that had of been released first then perhaps that 10 wk reign of "Umbrella" might have been shorter. A light dusting of urban pop seals the deal and Buena looks suitably earnest in delivery, all told this isn't going to go down in the annals of history as the best song ever but it is a rather pleasant distraction from the rather serious male fronted MOR/ Indie path we seem to have tread for the larger part of 2007 thus far in this thread.
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Feb 11, 2013 19:21:56 GMT 1
26TH MAY- MAKES ME WONDER- Maroon 5 (2 wks)Quite why Maroon 5 chose this as a lead single for a second album will forever be lost in time but there is no mistaking that this is the sound of a band running on empty. On the surface it was far from a disaster in the charts of 2007 peaking at No 1 in the US and launched the parent album to the top spot on both sides of the Atlantic, yet by the end of the year they were a shadow of the band they had become in 2004. This is paper thin, the band apparently struggled to write the chorus of the track for years and it became a labour of love and perhaps that tells here, Levine's vocal appears to be rather unsure on it as well as the track meanders to a chorus that we all lost interest in along the way. While ostensibly serving up more of what we got in 04 there is little allowance here for the changing pop landscape that had elapsed in the interim, it has a kind of 80s funk to feel it but is far too clunky to pull that trick off convincingly, all of which makes their resurrection in 2011 all the more surprising suggesting that may have learned the lessons of this period in their career. Levine sings "I wonder if it even makes a difference, It even makes a difference to try" and you have to agree, the supposed sub context about the war in Iraq can't even muster my interest- I told you it was bad....
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Jan 29, 2013 21:54:52 GMT 1
12TH MAY- YOUR LOVE ALONE IS NOT ENOUGH- Manic Street Preachers Featuring Nina Persson (1 wk)The fact that the Manics are still getting these sizeable hits some 16 years into their chart career is a fact overlooked too often when discussing the group. To top that they can even still produce some little corkers such as this one with a little help from the lead singer from the Cardigans, it's a duet which makes sense within the confines of the record (well much more sense than the normal rent a rappers that constitute a featured artist these days). In some ways it feels like a bit of a re-awakening, rediscovering the mojo, but certainly it's much more upbeat and poppy than what we've been used to from them for some time and it's very welcome, follow up "Autumn Song" is another gem which in general marks a small golden period for them in my opinion. Persson purs on the record with suitable playfulness and there seems to be a real sincerity in the track that makes it hard to dislike even if you were so minded, all in all a cracker.
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Jan 29, 2013 21:18:28 GMT 1
28TH APRIL- BRIANSTORM- Arctic Monkeys (1 wk)So that tricky second album complex rears its head for the Arctic Monkeys by the time 2007 comes around. "Brianstorm" isn't altogether a successful answer,certainly there is an attempt, sonically, to do something a little different whilst keeping the strong narratives that AM had become famous for, the problem lies in the fact that the song lacks any real heart or essentially, a great story. The frenetic guitar work attempts in part to make up for this or compensate, but it's only papering over the cracks, and as if to add insult to injury the truly magnificent "Fluorescent Adolescent" would highlight everyhting that this song is not. Of course being the flavour of the month is always a hard tag to live up to with the press moving on quickly to the next thing leaving you to wonder what you did wrong, normally the answer is nothing at all, but "Brianstorm" doesn't help matters. Perhaps the best stories in Alex Turner's repertoire had been saved for other songs but this is more an announcement of their return rather an essential AM track or a song that will be recalled as a classic in years to come.
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Jan 19, 2013 16:51:59 GMT 1
21ST APRIL- STOP ME- Mark Ronson Featuring Daniel Merriweather (1 wk)I should start the review by stating that I am a Smiths fan so by rights I should clearly hate this. I don't, Ronson genuinely treats the song with love (it is his favourite Smiths record apparently) and the orchestration keeps the essence of the melancholy that the original had in spades, but what is lacking in the bile and vitriol that Morrissey brought to the 1987 track but not to worry. The idea to segue the song into "You Keep Me Hanging On" is inspired, and moreover demonstrates quite Ronson had become such a big name with the album, he tries to bring something new to the table when covering old hits, and not in a cheap way either. There is no guarantee that any of these covers would have worked, nor indeed is there anything very 2007 about them, why they work, in my opinion, is the care taken over them. To be honest anything that brings more attention to the Smiths in my opinion is not a wasted effort, not the best 07 has to offer but it's certainly not disgraced it!
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Jan 19, 2013 16:41:37 GMT 1
7TH APRIL- GIRLFRIEND- Avril Lavigne (2 wks)Ok so it was sued successfully by the Rubinoos who claimed that the writers of "Girlfriend" had certainly borrowed the idea from their 1979 hit "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" but failing that there is something curiously very 80s about the track. Similarities were also drawn to Toni Basil's "Mickey" particularly for the catchy punchy chorus which is, at its heart, very simplistic. For me "Girlfriend" is a little too simplistic to really catch the imagination, she had shown in such songs as "I'm With You" that she was really capable of doing much better work and whilst this track did the job of launching the album and getting her airplay it is ultimately a little too vacuous to hold the attention beyond the four minutues it lasts. Pop can be, and often is, disposible, totally of its time and fades quickly and I doubt "Girlfriend" will stand the test of time, and it won't be alone in that club, so I can't be too harsh on it, treat it as a bit of fun and you'll enjoy it....probably.
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Jan 6, 2013 23:50:04 GMT 1
17TH MARCH- SWEET ESCAPE- Gwen Stefani Featuring Akon (2 wks)I know this is almost like sacrilege now to say but I wasn't a fan of the LAMB period with the sole exception of "Cool" which was a little gem. I suppose my former dislike of No Doubt may come into play here as well, yet "Sweet Escape" doesn't displease me, and it takes a lot for me to say it given that fact! Catchy, sweet and endearing DESPITE the appearance of Akon, this has a charm that gives you earworm. It great achievement is therefore in getting me to like it despite a lot of things that mean I should hate it given my normal prreferences in music, in general I find her music too reliant on gimmicks and annoying hooks, let's not forget the evil "Hollaback Girl" or the single that preceded this song "Wind It Up" with its reliance on the yodelling!, in short after "Cool" this is my favourite Stefani track, but even then it isn't rocking my world.
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Jan 6, 2013 23:28:53 GMT 1
10TH FEBRUARY- THIS AIN'T A SCENE, IT'S AN ARMS RACE- Fall Out Boy (1 wk)It's always interesting when a band within a genre analyses itself and here Fall Out Boy take on the growing "Emo" subculture that was starting to emerge by that point. The song mocks elements of the more overly earnest groups within the genre "I'm a leading man; and the lies I weave are oh-so intricate" Stump sings, but it isn't war on anything apporaching it he wishes to inspire, more a reflective tone asking the scene, and the wider music industry to have a word with itself and to stop hyping the genre. As a piece of pop music this passed me by entirely at the time, and listening now it doesn't sound bad as such, just underwhelming and kind of empty, 2007 has a lot better to offer than this fortunately.
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Dec 26, 2012 14:58:43 GMT 1
27TH JANUARY- STARZ IN THEIR EYES- Just Jack (2 wks)I loved this at the time, mainly because its release in the immediate aftermath of the most recent X Factor series seemed so appropriate, not necessarily for the (then) winner Leona Lewis, but for the ones who say "it's not the last you've heard of me" only to slip into either obscurity or an endless parade on "celebrity programmes" in a bit to cling on to any bit of fame that they can. Rather than being savage to those individuals (who are after all trying to follow their dreams etc) JJ turns his attention to those who promise the fame and fortune but who are uninterested once the star starts to dim. It's also rather a downbeat track melodically, for all the uptempo-ness(?) going on here there's an essential sadness underneath the surface, not a surprise given the theme, but there is genuine empathy with the contestants on these shows. Whilst acknowledging that those individuals are willing participants, so it isn't exactly exploitation more unfulfilled promises and the inevitable consequence that the comedown isn't going to be pretty. All in all a far subtler song than it first appears.
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Dec 26, 2012 14:40:34 GMT 1
13TH JANUARY 2007- PROPER EDUCATION- Eric Prydz Vs Floyd (2 wks)This is probably sacrilage but I quite like what Prydz has done here. The video is interesting in so much as what it says about education, the whole thing could be read as a full circle when bearing in mind the Pink Floyd orginal of 1979. Where that was about the failings of the education system (which produced the adults in the video) this seems to suggest that the children of today are more clued up, they can teach the adults instead of vice versa, an interesting proposition even if you don't buy it in its entirity. Prydz's only keeps the chorus of the Floyd original but that's enough to maintain the menacing tone of the track intack, the start of the video obviously plays on fear of youth crime until you know what those little skamps are really up to! I do like the original but I don't think Prydz disgraced it here by any definition!
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Dec 21, 2012 14:43:36 GMT 1
23RD DECEMBER- 21ST CENTURY CHRISTMAS/ MOVE IT- Cliff Richard (1 wk)Cliff's search for a noughties No 1 single came as close as it possibly could here in the dying weeks of 2006. With an updated take on Xmas including texts, faxes, satellites, DVD's etc it's all rather harmless, and I can't be mean to it given it is almost the big day. To be fair, people complain that no-one does Christmas records anymore due to charity/ reality releases at this time of year so perhaps we should give Cliff a break here for coming up with something at least new. It's coupled here with a new version of his first hit "Move It" which hit No 2 back in 1958, so perhaps he jinxed this. Anyway he was within 7k of the top spot but he never could get that 00s chart topper which would have put him in the unique position of getting a No 1 in 6 decades.
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Dec 21, 2012 14:31:08 GMT 1
16TH DECEMBER- BOOGIE 2NITE- Booty Luv (1 wk)I have a little confession to make, I don't actually mind the Hed Kandi stuff of the mid 00s. Bootyluv consisted of two ex members of Big Brovaz who had long since bit the dust (certainly in any kind of commercial sense), and chose as their first venture a cover of this 2002 song by Tweet. The original failed to get a full release thanks to lack of airplay but had established itself as a club hit so was familar to many pre release. With Seamus Haji on production duties the track became a surprise pre Christmas hit, there is nothing amazing or noteworthy here, suffice it to say that it's a highly competant piece of dance music circa 2006 which I've had many a dance to with a V & DC in my hand, and overall nice to hear it again after all these years.
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Dec 18, 2012 15:22:26 GMT 1
25TH NOVEMBER- MY LOVE- Justin Timberlake Featuring T.I (1 wk)Ah nothing says 2006 quite like Timbaland, and his work has never been quite so exhaulted as it was in the those two Timberlake albums. Much better than the overly repetitive "Sexyback" which may have more naked ambition in its construct but "My Love" has a heart where the former is empty, the production is much more precise and the synths have been notched up a fair bit to make the track have something approaching soul. The video is of course a choreographer's dream with Timberlake evidencing quite why he was one of the biggest popstar's on the planet at the time. But it's more than just dancing and production here, he and Timbaland co-wrote and co-produced the track so it feels in actual fact an equal venture between them in a way that some of Timbaland's other projects don't (yes Nelly Furtado I'm looking at you). Kind of makes you sad that he decided he can't be bothered with this pop lark any more but this is a reminder of how great a popstar he was back in the day.
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Dec 18, 2012 15:10:00 GMT 1
18TH NOVEMBER- THE SAINTS ARE COMING- Green Day & U2 (1 wk)Released in support of the Edge's musical charity "Music Rising" which was established to replace musical instruments lost in Hurricane Katrina, this cover of the Skids 1978 track is an honourable enough affair and was released with rather less righteousness on the part of Bono. This was in and out of the charts quicker than you could blink and as a result it never settled into my conciousness. It isn't a terrible cover and the video is at least engaging with an alternative history where Bush recalls troops from Iraq to help the aftermath of the hurricane and segues in from "House Of The Rising Sun", an appropriate track given that is a southern US folk song about life gone wrong in New Orleans. Slightly less pompous than a lot of U2 00's stuff and better for it, though still not great.
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Dec 9, 2012 13:37:25 GMT 1
11TH NOVEMBER- YEAH YEAH- Bodyrox Featuring Luciana (1 wk)Whilst over in clubland this was apparently all the rage. With a "suggestive" video I don't recall it creating much of a furore at the time, and in truth this track leaves me cold, then again I'd long concluded that me and dance music had seperated around 2004 and wouldn't really fall back in love until roughly 2009. Luciana would go onto guest with Taio Cruz on "Come On Girl" in 2008 and write songs for amongst others Kylie Minogue, but this for me, remains just an oddity that isn't unjustly, by and large, forgotten about now.
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Dec 9, 2012 13:25:18 GMT 1
30TH SEPTEMBER- WHEN YOU WERE YOUNG- The Killers (2 wks)BEST.BAND.OF.THE.DECADE! You can keep your Coldplay's and your Keane's etc, it's always been the Killers for me. They've always appeared like an american indie version of the Pet Shop Boys for me, perhaps its the lyrical dysfunctionalism (?!), or the sublime use of those synths on some of their work but you'd have to have legs of stone not to tap along to their finer moments. OK so things like "Mr Brightside" have now become over played and over revered, but there is always a nugget of truth in these things, and whilst it's true that "Sam's Town" sounds a little less personal than its predecessor, lead single "When You Were Young" is all kinds of AMAZE! Full of longing, heartbreak, crushed hope, and nostalgia, it is in short much like a small opera, a tale told in under 4 minutes (whatever happened to strong narratives in a song?). Perhaps they just appeal to my rather melancholic side but this is all rapped up in a guitar thronged tune that is a practical assault on the senses and rushes at a metaphorical 100mph from the off. Yet make no mistake it's all about that bridge for me, the religious overtones, the quiet before the storm, the perfect unity of the orchestration and the story, a lot of thought has gone into this, and it shows. Unquestionably one of my tracks of the decade if not of all time- yeah I went there!
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Nov 29, 2012 19:09:01 GMT 1
26th AUGUST- RIDIN- Chamillionaire Featuring Krayzie Bone (1 wk)Racial profiling and police butality- nice breezy pop tune then- of course not this is 50 cent-lite Chamillionaire! I have to confess that I don't mind this one, there seems something genuinely ominous about the orchestration that backs up the message in quite a sinister way which lifts it above the bog standard piece of US Rap that was ten to a dozen at the time. I'm not an expert on the genre but for some reason this holds my interest, it may have just enough pop in it to get past my censors. Chamillionaire never really bothered us again so you can't complain he overstayed his welcome, in short, not that bad
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Nov 29, 2012 19:01:24 GMT 1
19TH AUGUST- EVERYTIME WE TOUCH- Cascada (1 wk)Well thank god for "Hips Don't Lie" is all I can say! I've never seen the appeal of this kind of music, real top deck of the bus on a mobile phone kinda thing. I know "the kids" love it (or certainly the kids of 06 did) but this seems bereft of any kind of positivity that I can think of. Lyrically simple, it seems like a less developed little brother of "From Paris To Berlin" (yes I didn't think that was possible either) but perhaps this is where we had been heading since Scooter way back in 2002. I'm not a Cascada fan (as you can tell) and you could say it's just disposible dance music but even that would do an injustice to dance music in all fairness, the one small bit of hope that we can pull from this is that it didn't even sell 20k to make No 2 (it's the lowest selling weekly figure for a No 2 peaking song in the year) so it is perhaps punching above its weight in this thread. Dreadful
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Gezza
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Post by Gezza on Nov 24, 2012 21:57:37 GMT 1
05TH AUGUST- AIN'T NO OTHER MAN- Christina Aguilera (1 wk)Confession time. I don't like Jazz, and "big band" 30s/ 40s music holds limited appeal for me, hence I'm not a fan of this. The fact that the mighty "Hurt" followed this shows just what she was still more than capable of in 2006, there is also far too much showboating of Aguilera's vocals on this, the kind of attempt to defeat the listender by strength and power of the voice that sadly would mar much of Carey's work post 1998. There is no doubt that she can sing, and that she has an "A" grade voice, but there is something ultimately "hard faced" about Aguilera, far too clinical in performance that strips the emotion away, she is in this way, a much nearer relation to Madonna than may at first be apparent. She may not the master marketeer that the latter is but the marked need for a new image with every album, and a career filled with controversy would suggest she's picked up a few tricks from the material girl. In conclusion "Ain't No Other Man" is a perfectly competant piece of pop without anything you can positively say is bad, but for all that SOMETHING is just missing....
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