via//chicago

Slop From The Pops: UK Pop Chart 01.23.05
so last week we got the 1000th UK number one of all time, what do we get this week? oh.. i'm guessing some crappy dance tunes and some whiney Englishmen in there somewhere....

40. "call on me" - eric prydz (last week's position: 35)
39. "no more" - roni size f. beverley knight (26)

38. "alive and amplified" - mooney suzuki (new entry)
here we get some garage rock that has “trying way too hard” written all over it. the backing vocals are a nice touch, but really not enough to salvage this mediocre song. i really liked the first two Mooney Suzuki albums, but this just reeks of trying to become a huge mainstream success. problem is, they seem to have lost that little bit of an edge that made them so enjoyable before. it does have a nice little drum breakdown at the false ending sort of thing.

37. "unwritten" - natasha bedingfield (34)

36. "lover" - rachel mcfarlane (new entry)
here we go with another dance hit featuring a growly-voiced diva singing about love and shit. yawn. i say “growly-voiced” because Rachel is all about that dropping down to hit the low notes that almost sounds like a growl. Christina Aguilera does that a lot, but difference being that she can actually sing well and more importantly, gets an actual hot beat to sing over now and then.

35. "cutt off" - kasabian (27)
34. "father and son" - ronan keating f. yusuf islam (30)

33. "colossal insight" - roots manuva (new entry)
this is a really trippy reggae/dancehall song right here, all kinds of cool synth squelches and squeals in the background. the bassline sounds like it's being muffled as it's walked upon by the descending synth line that kicks in during the second verse. lyrically it's really nothing exciting, but this really awesome beat more than makes up for it.

32. "serious" - pop (16)
31. "tilt ya head back" - nelly & christina aguilera (29)
30. "i believe in you" - kylie minogue (23)
29. "drop it like its hot" - snoop dogg f. pharrell williams (25)

28. "in a funny way" - mercury rev (new entry)
nice intro that almost sounds like it belongs in a Phil Spector-produced girl group song, then it kicks into a Flaming Lips/Beach Boys hybrid with some nice swirling strings and echo effects. the drums really propel this song along, as the vocals kind of float along down the river of sound. the mini-climax at the start of the chorus is fantastic, as are the minor sonic touches sprinkled throughout. this is a really great pop tune and in an ideal world we'd have a lot more of this stuff.

27. "e talking" - soulwax (new entry)
this sounds pretty exciting and interesting – for about the first ten seconds. the low-end fuzziness kicks things off like this could really go places, but you quickly realize that that's pretty much all we're going to get with this one. the lyrics aren't anything special and any kind of melody or hook is pretty much non-existant. it sounds like there could really have been a cool song made out of the sonic bed, but it all got squandered. oh well.

26. "empty souls" - manic street preachers (2)
25. "breathe" - erasure (14)
24. "if there's any justice" - lemar (21)
23. "you can do it" - ice cube f. mack 10 & ms. toi (19)
22. "the number of the beast" - iron maiden (8)

21. "lackey" - the others (new entry)
another song about not selling your soul out to the man, this time complete with horrifyingly bad forced “punk” vocals. not even the little “chika-chika-chika-OW” thrown in before the chorus can make up for that. the chunky guitar riff is half-decent, but those forced vocals are just destroying any interest i could find elsewhere in the song.

20. "one night" - elvis presley (1)
19. "live twice" - darius (7)
18. "filthy/gorgeous" - scissor sisters (12)
17. "what you waiting for" - gwen stefani (15)
16. "object of my desire" - dana rayne (11)

15. "time is my everything" - ian brown (new entry)
this one kicks off with a Latin-influenced horn intro before shifting into a electonic-tinged mid-tempo rock song. the shuffling beat and horns really don't seem to work too well together, but it does make for an interesting combination. Ian's voice has lost a lot since the Stone Roses days, but i still have a soft spot for him. these are more of his usual mystical lyrics, but it's really nothing more than a mediocre song by a once great vocalist. quite a shame, really.

14. "numb/encore" - jay-z/linkin park (17)
13. "strings of life" - soul central f. kathy brown (6)
12. "against all odds" - steve brookstein (4)
11. "boulevard of broken dreams" - green day (13)
10. "staring at the sun" - rooster (5)

9. "take me away" - stonebridge f. therese (new entry)
well this is a somewhat enjoyable dance tune, if only because the string sample seems actually well-placed and the vocalist isn't trying so hard to be something she's not. not that this makes it exactly my favorite single of the week, but enough to keep me from getting insanely annoyed. and at this point that's all i can ask of these dance tunes.

8. "out of touch" - uniting nations (9)
7. "somebody told me" - the killers (3)

6. "breathe in" - lucie silvas (new entry)
rather bland mid-tempo one here, sounds like it wouldn't be out of place as a musical montage for some Lifetime network movie. not that i know anything about that channel mind you, just that this is the sort of “woman overcoming obstacles and keepin' on” thing that i would expect to fit well with it's programming. nothing wrong with a song about keepin' on and overcoming, but let's try to breathe a little more life into it next time, eh?

5. "tumble and fall" - feeder (new entry)
so we move into full-on bland ballad mode here, despite how hard the crunching guitars prior to the chorus try to convince you otherwise. lots of nonsense about “drops of summer rain” and getting some girl to come back again, the kind of theme you've heard in a million songs before this one. thing is, this song is much the same – the kind of thing you've heard a million times before. it's your basisc 21st century Britpop mope-rock, nothing more and nothing less.

4. "wires" - athlete (new entry)
wow, this song really sounds like Coldplay here – but in the good kind of Coldplay sort of way. as much as i knock on generic mope-rock all the time, sometimes i actually do like some of it. A Rush of Blood to the Head was really solid, as are a couple of the Keane singles. yes, I'm serious. back on topic, this song actually keeps things sonically interesting with the faded in and out drum breaks and swelling string samples. lyrically, it's not as strong as Chris Martin at his best, but it's not too shabby. i'll take this over Rooster any day, that's for sure.

3. "galvanize" - chemical brothers f. q-tip (new entry)
right off the bat i have to say that this is how you should handle a guest spot from someone like Q-Tip, it's far better than his cameo on the latest R.E.M. album. as far as the newest from the brothers chemical, this is pretty hot. great “push the button” vocal sample shows up halfway through, as the stuttering beat builds up to what you think is going to be a huge climax – but then just ends up repeating the beginning of the song with more string hits. sounds like a disappointment, but it actually works well as its totally not what you are expecting. one thing i've always liked about the Chems is the way they know just when to throw a slight curveball into a song.

2. "a fool such as i" - elvis presley (new entry)
in a big surprise Elvis fails to make number one this week, meaning that his potential streak of 18 number one singles is crushed at a pathetic two. i like this, however, because it means the triumph of new music over the oldies being trotted out again. don't get me wrong, i've got nothing against the forefathers of modern rock and pop, but the current Top 40 chart is not where they belong. this is a decent little rock tune here, it shuffles right along as Elvis is accompanied by some subtle background vocals and decent guitar work. i have a feeling i'm going to like these Elvis singles less and less as the weeks go on, but for now I'm not finding these early ones to be bad at all. i think i might even start to enjoy hearing some Elvis songs.

1. "goodies" - ciara (new entry)
and this is the single that took down the King, not a shabby one to do such a deed. her vocals compliment the beat really well, and it's a really hot beat between the piercing whistle and the spy theme guitar funk. as with a lot of recent productions, this one is all about the space – the lack of samples or accents at expected points in the beat is exactly what makes this one tick. i also really like the fact that there is so much going on with all the different sound effects, yet it doesn't feel crowded in the least – leaving room for Ciara to work he magic over the top. i do have to tell you, though, that you should seek out the remix featuring Petey Pablo to hear this song in all its glory.