Feb 20, 2005

Slop From The Pops: UK Pop Chart 02.20.05
somewhat of a calm week this time around, gearing up for a whole boatload of new singles next time around. we do, however, get the first UK single from The Game and the brand new one from Jennifer Lopez - so let's have a little look, shall we?

40. "are you lonesome tonight" - elvis presley (last week's position: 20)
39. "so here we are" - bloc party (19)

38. "you've given me something i can't give back" - new rhodes (new entry)
i'm not really certain whether i like this one or not, it's kind of an upbeat little pop-rock ditty. the guy's got a pretty cool voice and he really keeps things swinging along, especially in the chorus. i'm somewhat reminded of Morrissey, although this guy isn't nearly as self-absorbed as the Moz is. and of course, these lyrics aren't even fit to breathe the same chart air as Morrissey's. this is growing on me the longer it plays though, definitely something i wouldn't mind hearing again. not a bad start to this week's new entries at all.

37. "penny & me" - hanson (29)

36. "lady lady" - mark johnson (new entry)
before the song starts, we learn that this guy lists Oasis as one of his main influences, i’m not sure whether to hold that against him or not. and actually, i can kinda see that influence shining through, as this has sort of a latter-day Oasis ballad feel to it. but it really lacks the swagger that the Gallagher brothers could infuse into even the most weepy of ballads. this, however, does kick into overdrive at the chorus with the swelling string section and over-delivery of the vocals. as far as overwrought, emotional pop epics go this is pretty good stuff, but i wouldn’t mind hearing Liam giving this one a go.

35. "staring at the sun" - rooster (34)
34. "filthy/gorgeous" - scissor sisters (30)

33. "blood on our hands" - death from above 1979 (new entry)
wow, and i am surprised to see this band on the top 40 – really something we’d never see hit the Billboard top singles chart over here. but we really should, as this is some cool noise action. not noise as in the whole Wolf Eyes/Load Records vein, but noise when compared to your average top 40 band. anyway, on to this song… this is driven by a harsh guitar riff and neat little keyboard section, while the drums pound away in the background. this makes me want to jump up and down and shout along with the lyrics, “there is blood on our hands again… bring it back to the start again”. you should really check out these Canadians if you get a chance, especially live as I hear they pack a hell of a punch.

32. "shine" - lovefreekz (24)
31. "breathe in" - lucie silvas (17)
30. "la la" - ashlee simpson (28)
29. "i just wanna live" - good charlotte (21)
28. "do this do that" - freefaller (22)

27. "only one word comes to mind" - biffy clyro (new entry)
this is sort of a combination of recent emo/punk/pop bands like Taking Back Sunday and your basic mid-nineties alt-rock bands, which means it's really nothing special. there’s also almost a sort of goth band feel to this, not sure exactly why i am feeling that though. the earnest vocals and lyrics don’t really do much for me, but the crunch of the guitars before hitting into the bass breakdown before the noisy conclusion is kinda cool. now if only the whole song had sounded like those last twenty seconds, we could have really had something here.

26. "let's go" - trick daddy f. twista & lil jon (new entry)
i’m very surprised that this song didn’t chart higher, as it’s really awesome. the Ozzy sample is just perfect for Lil Jon’s noisy, hectic, crazed crunk sound in these club bangers. as i said last week, Lil Jon’s best work seems to come when he’s helping out other artists and this is no exception – i think this is my favorite track of his. it helps that both Trick Daddy and Twista drop some excellent flows. i really hope we get to see more of these heavy-metal/crunk mash-ups in the future.

25. "wires" - athlete (16)
24. "wooden heart" - elvis presley (2)

23. "oxygen" - willy mason (new entry)
so this is really cool stuff right here, just a dude and his acoustic guitar singing various clever lines about Ritalin, oxygen, and society in general. it’s fascinating to me when someone can create such an enjoyable tune like this out of something so simple. far too many singers go about it the wrong way, mistaking an acoustic song as free license to go overboard on the melancholy and earnestness. this is more like a blues singer from the early part of the 1900s, in that it’s just a guy singing a simple song about what he knows and nothing more. i’m really excited to hear more of Willy.

22. "hey now (mean muggin')" - xzibit (15)
21. "wrap my words around you" - daniel bedingfield (12)
20. "boulevard of broken dreams" - green day (13)
19. "black and white town" - doves (6)
18. "calendar girl" - noise next door (11)
17. "numb/encore" - jay-z/linkin park (14)
16. "out of touch" - uniting nations (13)
15. "angel eyes" - raghav (7)
14. "only u" - ashanti (8)
13. "galvanize" - chemical brothers f. q-tip (9)
12. "goodies" - ciara (10)

11. "looking as you are" - embrace (new entry)
slow moving, string-laden ballad here by Embrace, not to be confused with the proto-emo band on the Dischord label. nope, this is pure British overwrought balladry at its finest, and that’s not that horrible of a thing. the pacing of the song works really well – it doesn’t drown in its own sappiness, but propels along quite nicely. i rather like this one, good for those moments when Bono’s earnestness just isn’t going to quite cut it. it seems this recent wave of British bands have reversed the old formula – rather than one ballad amidst an album full of rockers, we get maybe one rocker amidst an album of ballads.

10. "cradle" - atomic kitten (new entry)
and here we’ve got another ballad, except this time it’s by a reunited girl pop group instead of boys with a piano and some guitars. the ladies of Atomic Kitten hit up some decent harmonizing on the chorus of this track, something about cradling their love in the wings of an angel. yeah, it is just about as crap as it sounds – this is like prom night 2005 fodder right here. i think i’d like to hear these girls team up with the Neptunes or Timbaland or something, maybe kick the excitement level up a notch or a hundred. instead, this is just making me want to sleep. at least we have a new Girls Aloud single to look foward to next week.

9. "sunrise" - angel city (new entry)
alright, i was starting to worry that we wouldn’t get a dance track on this week’s chart, but never fear as Angel City is here to hit us up with our latest dose. and yeah, this doesn’t do much for me as I pretty much expected. it just sounds like hundreds of other dance tracks I’ve heard over the years – the beat is very typical and this time we get lyrics about a sunrise. nothing to get worked up over here, let’s see what else we’ve got to come tonight.

8. "almost here" - brian mcfadden & delta goodrem (5)
7. "sometimes you can't make it on your own" - u2 (1)
6. "soldier" - destiny's child f. t.i. & lil wayne (4)

5. "how we do" - the game f. 50 cent (new entry)
here we’ve got awesome G-Unit newcomer Game trading lines with 50 Cent over a really hot Dr. Dre beat. this is why Dre is still in the game, because almost fifteen years after his classic solo debut, he’s still dropping hot ones like this right here. this isn’t really Game’s strongest track, but it’s an excellent choice for a single, as it ropes newcomers in with the familiar voice of Fiddy. lyrically, this is your typical car, girls, and cash rap track – so don’t be looking for anything spectacular in that department, but this one is all about that hot beat.

4. "like toy soldiers" - eminem (3)

3. "hush" - ll cool j (new entry)
LL gets to flowing over some old-school beatboxing on this one, with some slightly annoying backing vocals. but considering LL’s been around for over two decades now, it’s amazing to realize how tight his flow still is. this single is one of his trademark slower tempo love raps for the ladies, as he raps about how much he’ll do for his lady with multiple references thrown in about his cars and money. because really, what would a rap jam be without those? compared to most of today’s rappers, LL is a step behind in the innovation department but there’s something comforting about hearing a voice from my childhood still dropping rhymes in the top 40. i’ll give this one credit for the nostalgia factor, but it’s not going to be appearing on my year-end lists.

2. "surrender" - elvis presley (new entry)
well this is certainly a step up from last week’s polka/German clusterfuck of an Elvis single, as this one finds Elvis gettin’ his hardcore mack on. he’s throwing down the seduction game under the moonlight, as some suave backup singers harmonize him into her panties. from listening to this, i can almost see how many ladies fell for the King back in his heyday. i have to give this one props for keeping it short, sweet, and to the point. this just goes to show that not all of the Elvis singles we hear this year will be complete wastes of chart space – just most of them.

1. "get right" - jennifer lopez (new entry)
this one kicks off with great promise between that skronky horn sample and the intro verse from Fabulous, but it goes a little downhill after that. there's just too much going on with the production and it really takes away from the few things right with it - namely that kick ass horn loop and, surprisingly, J-Lo's vocals. throwing in all those random, tweaked backing vocals of Jennifer and the others just serves to confuse things. i think one lesson that pop producers should take from Lil Jon's oversimplified crunk production is that not every pop track needs to be doused in layer upon layer of overproduction. anyway, back to the song at hand - Fab shows up a little later on to drop another verse and it sounds awesome - just him, some drums, and that fantastic freakin' loop. that's all this song should have been based around in the first place - i'm waiting for someone to come up with a killer remix to this track. i'm thinking that horn loop is the best 4 seconds of pop music i've heard all year.

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