via//chicago

Slop From The Pops: UK Pop Charts 02.06.05
here we are with the first chart rundown of february and the first post-Wes hosted show. seems this month may be the last of the pop chart as we know it... more on that as things develop, but i really hope they don't stop playing all of the songs. i would be crushed, to say the least. anyway, let's enjoy what we've got for now. on to the charts...

40. "tumble and fall" - feeder (last week's position: 25)
39. "somebody told me" - the killers (18)

38. "what u gon' do" - lil jon & the east side boys (new entry)
the first of this week's new entries features some hot crunk action, sweet. except really not, since this is definitely not one of Lil Jon's best songs ever. he seems to give all of his best material to other people (“Yeah”, “Let's Go”) while the singles off his own albums pale in comparison. and yes, i'm fully aware of “Get Low” when i say that. but this is still twenty times better than any other dance type of crap we'd be hearing in the countdown. half-assed Lil Jon crunk awesomeness is still something worth listening to.

37. "plan of my own" - deeyah (new entry)
here we've got some decent r&b action going on, reminding me a little bit of Mary J. Blige – and that's not a bad thing at all. her voice is pretty strong, but it's the awesome guitar effect in the chorus that makes me fall for this song. obviously she's not going to replace Beyonce any time soon, but it's really not half bad.

36. "you can do it" - ice cube f. mack 10 & ms. toi (34)
35. "object of my desire" - dana rayne (26)

34. "i'm from further north than you" - the wedding present (new entry)
so here i'm excited before the song even begins, because it's just awesome to have a band like the Wedding Present anywhere in the top 40. for the uninitiated, these guys are sort of like the British equivalent of Pavement – been around for years, sizeable cult following, critical darlings (John Peel was a big supporter), but very little mainstream recognition. any time a band like this hits the charts, the little indie boy in me gets all giddy with excitement. as for the song itself, it's not too bad at all – nice and jangly guitar with a cool solo. lyrically there's really nothing special here, but with a jaunty little tune like this, who needs great lyrics?

33. "against all odds" - steve brookstein (27)
32. "destroy rock n roll" - mylo (15)
31. "if there's any justice" - lemar (30)
30. "strings of life (stronger on my own)" - soul central f. kathy brown (28)

29. "such a fool" - 22-20s (new entry)
i guess this is supposed to be some sort of attempt at garage rock, but i'm not entirely sure. for some reason this guy strikes me as someone who's spent too much time worshipping Bono and has now gone into the wrong genre. it really never seems to go anywhere, there's no real hook or chorus to pull you in, and the guitar just kinda propels this thing along aimlessly. this gets a major “meh” from me.

28. "take me away" - stonebridge f. therese (22)
27. "jailhouse rock" - elvis presley (re-entry)
26. "one night" - elvis presley (40)

25. "girls" - cam'ron f. mona lisa (new entry)
the pillaging of the 1980s continues on this hot Dip-set single here, with Cyndi Lauper's “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” being the latest victim. it's all good though, as this features a pretty hot beat and great rhymes from Cam'ron. it comes across a little lazier than you would expect with this sample, but it works with Cam'ron's laid back flow. and major points for the “stuck like stucco” line, represent.

24. "filthy/gorgeous" - scissor sisters (24)
23. "staring at the sun" - rooster (16)
22. "a fool such as i" - elvis presley (20)
21. "boulevard of broken dreams" - green day (14)
20. "la la" - ashlee simpson (11)
19. "penny & me" - hanson (10)
18. "numb/encore" - jay-z/linkin park (17)
17. "do this do that" - freefaller (8)
16. "shine" - lovefreekz (6)
15. "breathe in" - lucie silvas (12)
14. "it's now or never" - elvis presley (1)
13. "hey now (mean muggin')" - xzibit (9)
12. "wires" - athlete (7)

11. "what happens tomorrow" - duran duran (new entry)
can it ever be bad to have a new Duran Duran single? the answer, of course, is a resounding no... even if they only are a mere shadow of their former selves. this is nowhere near as awesome as the first single from the latest album, but this isn't bad. this is more a mid-tempo track here, but manages to stay out of the Coldplay/Travis/Keane rut that stinks up so much of British rock lately. the electronic flourishes are actually well-handled and keep this pretty interesting. positive lyrics about things being alright in the end, and who better to tell us that than Duran squared?

10. "out of touch" - uniting nations (13)

9. "i just wanna live" - good charlotte (new entry)
i'll admit that i just am not a big fan of GC at all, but i can at least say that they've had a couple of halfway decent singles over the years. this is certainly not one of them, in fact this is just pure crap even for them. i'm not sure what they are really going for hear, but the falsetto vocals, fake raps, and strings are not a good formula in the least. besides, bitching about fame is so unbecoming for teen punkers. Blink 182 and Green Day both managed to come up with a slightly more “mature” sound, but the twins' attempt just falls flat.

8. "grief never grows old" - one world project (4)
7. "galvanize" - chemical brothers (5)
6. "goodies" - ciara (3)

5. "so here we are" - bloc party (new entry)
so this isn't as upbeat as “Helicopter” or “Banquet”, but it's still nice to see the Bloc Party charting so highly. this is the Party in semi-ballad mode, complete with chiming guitars and an almost drum-and-bass type beat driving the song. i think what makes this band just so damned enjoyable is lead singer Kele Okereke's voice – he's got a wonderful range and all types of inflection without resorting to weird vocal gymnastics. i suppose it helps that this band can really lay down a groove too.

4. "only u" - ashanti (2)

3. "almost here" - brian mcfadden & delta goodrem (new entry)
so the former boy bander is back with another bland ballad, but this time he's got help from some girl with a pretty decent voice. she's really not enough to save this song though, because Brian's suckitude keeps it down. i'm not sure what effect is trying to be created with the crackling drums and piano combination going on in the background, but it certainly isn't a good one. i suppose bland ballads have always been the bread and butter of pop charts, but this is exactly why I'm a steak man.

2. "are you lonesome tonight" - elvis presely (new entry)
speaking of steak, here's Elvis. i'm not sure what steak has to do with Mr. Presley, but i'm betting he ate lots of them before the “fat and bloated” stage of his career. which he wasn't quite at when he recorded this pretty little ballad. this is nice enough, but i think this set the template for much of his later ballads as most of them seem to remind me of weaker versions of this. kinda like how Collective Soul and Goo Goo Dolls ballads all sound the same, but seemed to get progressively more bland as time went on. but i guess i can't write off all of Elvis' ballads so easily, as “In the Ghetto” is pretty much a ballad and the best song he ever recorded. i don't suppose it went to number one though, i'd love to hear it on the charts. anyway, this song does feature a laughably awful spoken word portion where Elvis mumbles something about being lied to and stuck on the stage or something. does this mean we have Elvis to blame for all those early '90s mid-ballad spoken word breakdowns such as those used by Boyz II Men?

1. "toy soldiers" - eminem (new entry)
and Elvis is knocked off the top yet again, but i think few artists could be more apporpriate for the feat than Marshall Mathers. i know i'm not the first one to mention this, but the two have quite a bit in common – more than one might first imagine. both had similar humble upbringings but managed to find fame by co-opting forms of entertainment that had been previously dominated by black artists. both used their fame to expand into other areas of media, most obviously into Hollywood. both have been considered quite controversial at times and have been frowned upon by parents. and, of course, both of them had what we can kindly call “issues” with the women in their lives. so I think it's quite interesting that here in 2005 the two of them would be battling for chart supremacy. anyway, let's talk a little bit about the song. first off, this is really an inspired choice of sample material and upon hearing it i'm surprised that another rapper didn't come up with the idea first. lyrically it's another meta-single from Em, as he talks about squashing his beefs with Benzino and others, proving that he's the bigger man by wanting to keep family out of it. it's an interesting path for someone who usually loves conflict and pissing people off, but i think it's a part of this new toned down Marshall aiming for mass acceptance. personally, i think this is the best single from Encore thus far – but it still wouldn't have placed in the top 5 on either of his two previous albums.