Mar 22, 2005

Slop From The Pops: UK Pop Chart 03.20.05
alright, enough with the bitching about the current format. let's just get straight down to the nitty gritty this week...

40. "early morning rain" - paul weller (new entry)
just a snippet here of Mr. Weller's latest, doesn't sound like we are missing much by not hearing it in full.

39. "sometimes you can't make it on your own" - u2 (last week's position: 35)

38. "e-pro" - beck (new entry)
and this is Beck's new single, i'm really liking it. i wasn't sure what direction he was going to go with this new album, but i'd heard it was to be a more upbeat record in the vein of Odelay or Midnite Vultures. this first single, however, leads me to believe that we will be hearing almost a conglomeration of everything he's done in the past. this is definitely more rock-oriented than the vast majority of his singles since “Loser”, featuring some fantastic fuzzed-out guitar. the “na-na-na-na-na” chorus will be bouncing around my head for hours, and that's not a bad thing at all. i'm liking this a lot, but also wondering why it charted so low – do the Brits hate fun?

37. "numb/encore" - jay-z/linkin park (30)
36. "you got nothing on me" - glitterati (new entry)
35. "don't play nice" - verbalicious (21)
34. "3345" - black velvets (new entry)
33. "you're my first, my last, my everything" - howard brown (13)

32. "spoiled" - joss stone (new entry)
i'll just be honest right off, i really love this girl's voice – she is an absolutely amazing vocalist. and this song is perfect for her, a nice slow-burning love song which allows her to simmer a bit before boiling over. it's very refreshing to hear a female vocalist with talent like this actually use it instead of relying on hot producers and studio vocal tricks. i'm glad to see her getting some love from the single-buying public, she really deserves to be huge.

31. "like toy soldiers" - eminem (24)
30. "oh my god" - kaiser chiefs (18)

29. "used to love u" - john legend (new entry)
i'm not usually a huge fan of male R&B for some reason, but this is something i could totally dig. he's a good vocalist, it has lovely backing harmonies, and it features some pretty solid instrumental work - all very good things. the pop culture references start to take a little something away from the song after a bit, but that's not enough to spoil my enjoyment. i really think this guy could have a very, very long and prosperous career ahead of him (which probably means he'll be forgotten by 2007, given my prediction rates). after the song is played, we (i) learn that John was mentored by Kanye West, let's hope for a collaboration in the future.

28. "an honest mistake" - the bravery (15)
27. "foolish" - tyler james (16)
26. "caught up" - usher (20)
25. "good luck charm" - elvis presley (2)
24. "how we do" - the game f. 50 cent (17)
23. "wake me up" - girls aloud (14)
22. "krafty" - new order (8)
21. "hush" - ll cool j (12)

20. "the widow" - the mars volta (new entry)
oh yeah, nu-prog hits the UK Top 20, how fantastic is that? i’d say pretty fantastic if you ask me - especially when you take into consideration how damn good this song is. i think it compresses everything good about their latest album while excising the fat. sure the lyrics are still overdone and needlessly obtuse, but that's just something you need to deal with when listening to the new era of prog rock (see also: Coheed and Cambria). the trumpet work is fantastic and the guitars are positively scorching, this is overblown rock music at its best – more please. i'm kidding, but it is kinda cool to see this reach the top 20.

19. "do somethin" - britney spears (11)

18. "little sister" - queens of the stone age (new entry)
plug in folks, its time for some hot riff action from Josh Homme and company here, featuring what the world needs now – double the cowbell love! let's take a moment and just appreciate the cowbell. ahhh, now that we have that out of the way, time to talk about the song. well, it's a big pile of average – at least as far as QOTSA is concerned. i feel like Josh used up most of his creativity on the Desert Sessions projects and left a couple of decent riffs out for this album, with little else to support it. don't get me wrong - this is still pretty solid hard rock that is far better than anything nu-metal ever produced, but it feels like Josh is treading water with this one.

17. "locked up" - akon (10)

16. "keep this fire burning" - beverley knight (new entry)
this isn't very good, just your average R&B/pop-by-numbers type of thing. a very generic beat that not even a Beyonce or a Christina could do much with, made even worse when topped off by a mediocre vocalist like Beverley. in terms of chart position, this totally should have swapped places with that John Legend track since that one was much hotter. there's really nothing much else to say, don't go out of your way to hear this one.

15. "california" - phantom planet (9)
14. "star to fall" - cabin crew (6)
13. "get right" - jennifer lopez (7)
12. "dakota" - stereophonics (4)

11. "holiday" - green day (new entry)
i'm glad they picked this as the third single, i was afraid that they would go the two ballad in a row route and choose “Wake Me Up When September Ends”. this is pretty good stuff, continuing to prove that American Idiot was as great of an album as i originally thought it was. i'm especially impressed by how well all of the singles have held up on their own, without the overall concept to back things up. Tre Cool shows off his fantastic drumming skills on this one, i really think he's been one of Green Day's best assets all along. there's also a really nice bass breakdown before Billie Joe's political rant, which one might expect to bring the track down but it really doesn't. i never would have thought that Green Day of all bands would be the one to mix politics and pop songs so fantastically, but they have and i am very glad.

10. "back to basics" - shapeshifters (new entry)
Shapeshifters were responsible for last year's “Lola's Theme” which, if i recall correctly, was one of the few dance anthems that i somewhat enjoyed. this won't be joining that elite club, unfortunately, as its pretty much pure crap. the whole thing sounds very generic to these ears and doesn't do anything for me whatsoever.

9. "bohemian rhapsody" - g4 (new entry)
good god, did we actually need a cover of this song by anyone? Queen pulled this off – barely, and that should be enough to keep anyone from ever attempting to perform it again. but G4 doesn't consult me on these decisions, so they've went ahead and given it a shot. from what I understand, G4 is kinda like the classical/opera equivalent of a boy band and this is their attempt to capture the hearts of the pop kids. and, yes it makes this song as hard to listen to as you might be led to believe from that description. they manage to turn what little rock action there was in the original into pure AOR schmaltz with a massive string section. this is a horrible, horrible cover that should not have even been conceived of – let alone actually recorded and foisted upon an unknowing public.

8. "oh my gosh" - basement jaxx (new entry)
the Jaxx are back with a brand new single, which appears as the obligatory new track on the just released singles compilation. it’s pretty decent stuff, reminding me a little of the JC Chasez collaboration from Kish Kash, but with a little better beat. this is pretty standard Jaxx production here, lots of neat little crashes and swooshes popping up all over the place without interfering with the vocals. which, by the way, are fantastic – I really hope this girl does more work. she’s got just the right combination of sass and style, a perfect match for Basement Jaxx. also, i have to mention that this singles comp has to be absolutely wonderful – “Romeo”, “Just 1 Kiss”, “Where’s Your Head At” – how could it not be?

7. "over and over" - nelly & tim mcgraw (4)

6. "they" - jem (new entry)
my only previous exposure to Jem had been on last year’s fantastic season finale of The O.C., so you’ll forgive me if i’m a little skeptical. turns out i don’t really need to worry, as this girl has loads of talent. this is a nice little tune over a frantic pre-programmed beat and heavenly chorus, pretty heady stuff for a pop single – and it works fairly well. her voice sails along over the top, turning into a sweet and memorable melody that will come back to haunt me i’m sure (but in a good way). i have to say that this beats the pants off the Paul McCartney cover i heard previously from her.

5. "falling stars" - sunset strippers (3)

4. "rich girl" - gwen stefani f. eve (new entry)
also known as the single in which Gwen gets her Yiddish on, she’s all up in that Fiddler On The Roof shit. lucky for us she brings along her favorite partner in crime, Eve, to grace us with some hot lines. this is an alright track, but this is about the fifth song i would have chosen from the album to be a single. it’s catchy and all that fun pop stuff, but it just doesn’t strike me as the best follow-up to “What You Waiting For”. Eve’s verse is pretty solid, but overall i much prefer the song that came out of their first team-up.

3. "she's not you" - elvis presley (new entry)
the year of Elvis continues, as we get yet another shuffling ballad about some girl or other. it’s not bad but not great either, it really seems like the type of song Presley could toss off in his sleep. would it have killed him to try and branch out a little bit now and then? i never thought i would say this, but i’m dying to hear that polka one from a couple of weeks ago.

2. "all about you" - mcfly (1)

1. "(is this the way to) amarillo" - tony christie f. peter kay (new entry)
and we’ve got another Comic Relief benefit track here, so that bodes pretty well. if by “bodes well” i mean “guarantees shit to come pouting out of my speakers", then yes that fact bodes rather well. apparently the Brits just love Tony Christie, as his recent compilation album is in the top five, so let us see if all that attention is justified. well, i’m learning that this is more of a duet version featuring that Peter Kay dude – so that may just be even worse.and it very much is. anyway, it’s an old song about Marie waiting for her dude in Amarillo (Marie’s in Amarillo that is, not the dude). i think i could learn to like this song, if i were seventy-five and spent every waking moment on the nickel slots in Atlantic City.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

you've got good taste in music :)..