JustMuxtape

Since the "muxtape" site is popular right now, I decided to make a muxtape for one of my friends who just listens to a lot of indie and alt-country. So basically it's a mix of indie friendly pop. I figured I could post it here, and since this is my blog I'll include commentary. The muxtape is here: http://miserlou22.muxtape.com/. Just click on a song title to listen to the song.

Track List:
1. Amy Diamond - "Domino"
Comment: This my favorite song off of the semi-underrated third Amy Diamond album. And since "Stay My Baby" was just outside my top 10 last year, that means I like it a lot. The album wasn't that good, and it was far inferior to her second album, but it had a few really good tracks, including this driving up-tempo number with a killer chorus. I also like the main instrumental riff a lot.

2. Dido - "Hunter"
Comment: Ah, pleasant, sweet-voiced female music. Will your charms ever cease to grab me? Although I'm not generally a big Dido fan, this is one of my top 5 favorite songs in that "genre" of this decade, and it's definitely my favorite Dido song. It's really pretty and catchy and I like Dido's voice. Basically, it's a better version of "White Flag", which is a pretty good song as is.

3. Natalie Imbruglia - "Intuition"
Comment: I've previously written about this song. It's not my favorite Natalie (it's probably not in my Natalie top 10), but it's really good, and it's the one that fit in best on the mix. The problem is that Natalie's style is so distinctive that she doesn't fit well on a standard mix. It's so sunny! Natalie is usually best in desperate, pretty longing mode, but this is one of her better relentlessly upbeat songs. It's kind of cheesy but I love Natalie and I love this song.

4. Blake Shelton - "She Don't Love Me"
Comment: One of my 10 or 20 favorite songs of last year, but I haven't really talked about it because it was never a single. I really like the central lyrical conceit, and the chorus is very catchy. Plus, Blake gives a great vocal performance.

5. Sheryl Crow - "Can't Cry Anymore"
Comment: This is a standout album track from her first album, Tuesday Night Music Club. The stuttering guitar and rambling, talky melody in the verse makes the song roll along nicely. The song doesn't go anywhere necessarily but it floats into the background, and the lyrics are really weird!

6. Rachel Stevens - "Funky Dory"
7. Darren Hayes - "Crush (1980 Me)"
Comment: I'd imagine that almost anybody reading my blog would already know these two songs. But, I'm sure my friend Rich doesn't know them, and they are two of my favorites of this decade. "Funky Dory" is very sleek and "Crush" is just so unabashedly poppy and catchy. I have found that "Funky Dory" holds up better than any other Rachel Stevens, excepting "I Said Never Again (But Here We Are)" and "Sweet Dreams My L.A. Ex".

8. Miranda Lambert - "Guilty In Here"
Comment: Like the Blake Shelton, this is a superior album track from 2007. Actually, I included it on my top 10 songs of the year list to Poptimists. This was one of the most acclaimed tracks of last year, and I don't have much to add to the acclaim. Miranda is a great singer, and the lyrics to this song are really good. It was the best country song released last year, and one of the top 10 of the decade.

9. Connie Francis - "Stupid Cupid"
Comment: I guess there wasn't really any reason to include this on the mix. But, it's one of my favorite 1950's hits, and I think it sounds really modern compared to most of the stuff that gets played on oldies radio. It has one of the best all time melodies and awesome lyrics! Any pop fan should know this song, it's one of the early songs that set the template for pop music to come.

10. that dog - "Every Time I Try"
Comment: The purpose of this mix was to provide indie friendly pop for my friend to enjoy, but I threw him a bone and included a genuine indie song. That dog were the first band who I ever saw in concert, opening for The Wallflowers, and I loved them when I heard them. This album was one of the very first I ever bought and was one of the first pieces of music I really loved. It's a key part of my musical autobiography. So, obviously I have a very personal connection to it, and I love this driving, pretty ballad. It's probably my third favorite song on the album, behind "Retreat from the Sun" and "Minneapolis" (which is probably my favorite indie rock song of all time). But it's very poppy and has really good piano, even if the indie guitar does get a little tiresome.

11. Jaci Velasquez - "On My Knees"
Comment: I've slowly been reacquainting myself with my past of listening to contemporary Christan music. Most of it wasn't that good, but I've previously repped for a couple ones that hold up (Point of Grace - "Circle of Friends" and Amy Grant). Other than the very best of Amy, this testament to the power of prayer is probably my favorite contemporary Christian song. It's really pretty and Jaci is a really good singer. When she lets her voice loose at the end it's awesome! I love the way the pre-chorus builds up into insanity, and then it flows into the more subdued chorus. But then the chorus gets crazy too! This holds up with the best ballads of Celine and Mariah, and if it wasn't a Christian song I think it would be similarly remembered today.

12. Third Eye Blind - "In The Background"
Comment: I decided to close the mix with my favorite Third Eye Blind song. It's very simple, but, like the title implies, it fades into the background nicely and is pretty and pleasant. I realize that these may sound like insults to some people, but I like those qualities in songs! This is one of the best rock ballads of the 90's.

Top 10 Albums of 2007

I'm positive that my top 10 albums and movies will change over the next couple months, as I finally get fully caught up with 2007 stuff. But that's life. I was going to do all 3 of these in one post but I'll split them out to pad my post count.

Top 10 Albums of 2007
1. Britney Spears - Blackout
2. Miranda Lambert - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
3. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
4. Aly & AJ - Insomniatic
5. Fall Out Boy - Infinity on High
6. Blake Shelton - Pure B.S.
7. Avril Lavigne - The Best Damn Thing
8. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
9. Jordan Pruitt - No Ordinary Girl
10. Kelly Clarkson - My December

Where is?:
Amy Diamond - Haven't absorbed the album enough to place it yet. Possible top 10 material, a step down from Still Me, Still Now.
Little Big Town, They Might Be Giants, Girls Aloud - Haven't heard
Tegan & Sara - 100x better than I expected, still not quite good enough. Late cut.
New Pornographers - I thought this album was extremely disappointing
Hannah/Miley - Just too much filler
Hilary Duff - Never got into it. Aside from "Play With Fire", nothing on here that grabbed me as especially memorable.
Rihanna, Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Great hits, too much filler
All indie albums except Spoon and LCD - I don't like indie music
Any rap or R&B - Just how it turned out this year. I loved Ciara last year and will probably love Cassie next year.

Comments: The Britney album stands up as extremely solid start to finish. Not only is almost every track very good (it tails off in the last few tracks), but it has a real personality as an album and it all adds up well. My favorite album since Come and Get It. I really thought Miranda would be my album of the year as I love every track on it, but it just doesn't have enough personality to push it over the top. I still think it's great.

LCD and Spoon are the indie favorites I really loved this year. Spoon especially is my favorite indie rock album in the last few years, much better than anticipated. Both are packed with great pop melodies. Is it possible to love an album and be really disappointed with it at the same time? That's my reaction to Insomniatic, where I love most of the tracks & the album so much better than I thought I would, but I don't love it in the way I'd hoped from Aly & AJ. Nothing here comes close to packing the emotional punch of "Rush" or "Not This Year", but it's great pop music anyways.

Fall Out Boy is a great pop album overlayed with electric guitar and sung by a great emo singer. Blake Shelton is hit or miss male country, but the hits ("The More I Drink", "She Don't Love Me", "This Can't Be Good") more than make up for the misses. Avril's album is my favorite by her yet, very fun. Jordan Pruitt still has an amazing singing voice and I still like the teen angst lyrics and the music is still blah. Kelly Clarkson was disappointing but very unfairly treated and still a very good album.

Used CD Store Haul

Went to the local used CD store for the first time today (I had never noticed it before, tho it's only 5 minutes from my apartment!!!) and had a nice little haul. All albums I had never heard in their entirety before. Below is a list, the used price, and initial comments. Following the albums is a list of albums that were on sale which I could have bought. Let me know what seems worth it! The initial comments are very initial, I reserve the right to change my mind at any future time.

1. Sheryl Crow - Tuesday Night Music Club
Used Price: $5.99
Initial Comments: Considering how Sheryl Crow and The Globe Sessions are two of my favorite albums of the 90's, and that I enjoy the singles I've heard off this album, it's kinda weird that I've never heard this album. I've always heard that it's worse than those two and I guess I just could never get up the interest to actually go out and get it. "Leaving Las Vegas" is a classic, every bit as good as "My Favorite Mistake" and "If It Makes You Happy" and all her other great ones. And I guess the overplaying had just made me forget that "All I Wanna Do" is really a good song! But this album isn't just about "All I Wanna Do" and "Leaving Las Vegas" and "Strong Enough", it's filled with lots of great down-tempo acoustic numbers. There's a little musical bounciness here and there, but it's a mostly somber effort throughout. Not quite as good as The Globe Sessions, which this album clearly resembles, but it sounds pretty good on first listen. Initial listens revealed no standout tracks beyond those three hit singles, which means they did a good job picking singles out ("Can't Cry Anymore" is probably my favorite of the rest).

2. Fefe Dobson - Fefe Dobson
Used Price: $4.99
Initial Comments: I only ever heard "Unforgiven", which some people love but I never cared for too much. But I figured at 5 bucks it's probably worth at least giving it a check-over. A nice little teenpop-punk effort, with crunchy guitars throughout, though the up-tempo numbers are balanced out by a lot of ballads. The guitars have plenty of power, and these aren't bad songs, but none of the songs really grabbed me. "Rock It Till You Drop It" was particularly bad. Actually, I really liked "Stupid Little Love Song", I wish the rest of the songs had that kind of energy, but there are just too many ballads here, and few stand out ("Julia" is pretty and pleasantly Meg and Dia-ish). I'll give it another try or two, but I'm not too impressed by my first listen.

3. Shooter Jennings - Put the 'O' Back in Country
Used Price: $7.99
Initial Comments: The most expensive album I bought, and the only one in which I had not heard any of the tracks, but Rolling Country Thread raves convinced me to get it. I was really surprised to see this priced so much more expensive than the other stuff (3 bucks more than Come on Over for example, though it probably sold less than 1/10 the copies). I guess this had a bit more "hip" cred and is a bit tougher to find, so it can fetch a little more used. This is some cooking old school country rock! The most raves here were reserved for the single "4th of July" and man is that a great one. My initial reaction is that it's one of my favorite country singles of this decade. But this is really solid country rock throughout. I could have sworn listening to this that Shooter was some real old-timer, some 50 year old who'd been around since the 70's, but, no, this was just his debut album. This and pretty acoustic female are my favorite types of modern country and is it as good as Montgomery Gentry or Horse of a Different Color or Toby Keith at his best or etc., etc.? Okay, it isn't, but it's good enough as is, and right there with Eric Church in that second tier of good modern country-rock. Even though I expected to love "4th of July" based on the raves, I was surprised by how much I liked the album as a whole.

4. Lush - Lovelife
Used Price: $5.99
Initial Comments: Britpop, of which I've only heard "Ciao!", but figured it might be worth it to check out the rest. They didn't have any Pulp or Blur, otherwise I might have been tempted to go elsewhere for my Britpop, but I'm glad I heard this, even if I probably won't play it a ton in the future. It drones and drones and drones and it all kinda starts to blend together, but it's got nicely poppy melodies, and I really dig the groove, and it'll be perfect for when I'm in the mood for this type of album. I mean, this is the kind of stuff that if you had played me 4 years ago in my indie phase I would have positively eaten up, but I'm mostly tired of this music now. Every once in a while I get in an indie mood still though, so this can remain a guilty pleasure. "Ciao!" breaks up the monotony with a bang in the middle (and it still sounds great to me), but it's not remotely representative of the rest of the album. "Ladykillers" sounds particularly good.

5. The Veronicas - The Secret Life of...
Used Price: $4.99
Initial Comments: I love "4ever" but never bothered to check out the album since everybody was saying that the album itself was pretty mediocre. I mean it's got the two Martin/Luke songs, and it's got "When It All Falls Apart", but there's no real reason to listen to this all the way through. It's pretty boring. But, because I bought the album, I just now realized that "When It All Falls Apart" is a Steinberg/Alexander song, like "Too Little, Too Late" and McPhee's "Over It"! I should have realized, since it perfectly taps into that same kind of area that those two do. And it's a genuinely great song, as is "4ever", but there just are not enough highlights here to really justify a full value purchase. But it was a solid five dollar purchase. Like the Fefe Dobson album I like the album in theory more than I like the album actually.

6. Skye Sweetnam - Noise from the Basement
Used Price: $2.99 (!)
Initial Comments: Yes, sorry Dave Bedbug, until today I had never actually heard this album in full. Kinda weird that it was priced so much lower (percentage-wise) than the Fefe and the Veronicas ones, but I'm not complaining. While I'm not quite in the Skye fan nation like Dave, I do have to agree that this was far better than the similar Fefe and Veronicas albums. I still there's nothing on here which touches Avril at her best, but it's an enjoyable listen and, similar to the Shooter album above, it's solidly in that second tier of 00's teenpop. And there's nothing wrong with that. Initial rating is like an 8, and it could have gotten up over that "classic" hump if it had more memorable tunes or if it was less same-y sounding. First listen favorite is "Hypocrite". "Billy S" was a terrible choice as a single.

7. Third Eye Blind - Third Eye Blind
Used Price: $4.99
Initial Comments: I actually already knew 6 songs on here (out of 14) making it the album in this haul that I knew the most of already. So many great hooks on here that the album really should be better than it is, but it' s still pretty good and the singles are classic. Probably my favorite of the popular 90's alt rock albums, unless Sheryl Crow counts. Pretty much every song on here has a great hook on it, which is why it's kind of a shame that the songs themselves aren't all so great. I mean, like "Narcolepsy" has a great hook and all, but why do we need to take 1 and a half really boring minutes to get to it? And "Jumper" is a 10/10 chorus surrounded by a like 6/10 song. But there's still an awful lot of good stuff on here and this is probably like an 8/10 album or so (though "Side 1" is way way better than "Side 2"). "Semi-Charmed Life" is still a classic, and "Losing a Whole Year", "Graduate", "How's It Gonna Be" and a couple others are very very good.

I also bought Penguin, Heroes are Hard to Find, and Rumours, all by Fleetwood Mac. The first two I haven't heard and do not have high hopes for, but I've never heard any pre-Buckingham/Nicks Fleetwood, other than "Albatross", and I've always wanted to see how it sounds. As for Rumours, what can anybody even say about it at this point? The main criticism I can think of is that it's only arguably the best pop album of all time and not definitely the best pop album of all time.

Total price was $52, including tax, which I'm pretty happy about.

Contemplated/Contemplating:

Ace of Base - The Sign ($1.99)
Roxette - Joyride ($5.99)
Britney Spears - ...Baby One More Time ($2.99)
George Michael - Faith ($5.99)
Deana Carter - Did I Shave My Legs For This? ($5.99)
Amy Grant - The Christmas Album ($4.99)

They also had nearly every Everything But The Girl and Pet Shop Boys albums there, for no more than 6 dollars an album.

They had a ton of 90's and early 00's popular country albums there if anybody has any particular suggestions I can see if they have it.

Any opinions on the above are welcomed, via comments or email.

New Pop

I heard them too late to be on my singles list, but they'd contend:

Carrie Underwood - "So Small": The debut single off of her new release, this song is a dramatic, sweeping country ballad, along the lines of "Jesus, Take the Wheel". Now, we'd all like to hear more poppy stuff like "Before He Cheats" out of her, but let's not forget that "Jesus, Take the Wheel" was a completely brilliant single as well. And, oh yeah, so is this one. The production on this is a bit cheesy and so are the lyrics, but she's an amazing singer and what an awesome melody! The type of song that can really sweep you up and carry you away, if you let yourself give into it. It's a really pretty song, and I'm so pumped for this album. [8.5 out of 10]

Girls Aloud - "Sexy! No, No, No": My favorite GA single since, oh, 2004 or so? It's a lot harder and more electro than most of their singles, and a bit less based on melody and more based on music. Those usually portend ill for me, as I tend to love songs with strong melodies, but the propulsive rhythm and vocal/musical effects make this their most infectious single in a while. It's fun, and I'm sure it would be a great dance song! I wish the clubs in America would play this song, but that's clearly never going to happen :(. [8 out of 10]

Natalie Imbruglia - "Glorious": A really pretty acoustic ballad from Natalie. OK, all of Natalie's songs sound kinda the same -- that's true, and this will win her no new fans. But I'm a previously declared fan of Ms. Imbruglia, and I really, really love this song. It's so pretty and summery! It's got a very catchy melody, and Natalie continues to be one of my 3 or so favorite vocalists in pop music today. This contends for her best non-"Torn" song. Really fun and amazing. [9 out of 10]

208/365-Year Top Singles List

This was supposed to be a half-year singles list, but obviously I am too late for that, so it is what it is. Since my year-end list consists of 50 singles, this list therefore consists of (208)/365 * 50 = 28.63 singles. I'll round to 29.

The TCR 208/365-Year Top 29 Singles:

1. Rihanna - "Shut Up and Drive": Much like my 2006 single of the year, "Sweet Temptation (Hollow)", this is a song that a lot of people seem to like, but nobody seems to like as much as me. Oh well. It's got a great melody, fun car-as-metaphor-for man lyrics, and the same enveloping, warm instrumental background as "Umbrella". The central metaphor may be somewhat stilted, but it produces several nice little turns of phrase. The bridge takes everything down a notch, but I like it.

2. Miley Cyrus - "See You Again": Although I thought that, on the whole, the music in Hannah Montana 2 lacked the fairly consistent highs of the first season's soundtrack, I loved this song. I mean, if I made a list of my favorite 5 Hannah/Miley songs, about 4 would come from soundtrack 1, but I can tell you that this song would be number one. Frickin' incredibly infectious melody and definitely Miley's best lyrics ever: "The last time I freaked out/I just kept looking down/I st-st-stuttered when you asked me what I'm thinking 'bout/Felt like I couldn't breathe/You asked what's wrong with me/My best friend Lesley says 'Oh she's just being Miley'/The next time we hang out/I will redeem myself/My heart can't rest 'til then/Oh I can't wait to see you again". The "st-st-stuttered" is my favorite moment in music in 2007, and "My best friend Lesley says 'Oh she's just being Miley" is also in my top 5. I've probably listened to this song 50 times since the soundtrack was released. Very, very questionable eligibility, but when it comes to this Diz stuff, who is to say what is and isn't a single. Shrug.

3. Aly & AJ - "Potential Breakup Song": Best lyrics of the year, best vocal performance of the year, and a truly outstanding melody. I guess that would seem to add up to higher than number 3, but Miley and Rihanna have truly transcendent melodies (and good vox/lyrix too). (see previous Potential Break-Up Post). Also, best music video of the year.

I'm certain that the three songs listed above, (plus "The Best Damn Thing", if ever released) are my 3 favorite songs of the year, but the order keeps changing in my head! This is where I stand now.

4. Keith Urban - "Stupid Boy": Heartbreaking and gut-wrenching. Very nice guitar sound on this one, Keith is a great singer, and and a nice melody, but it's really the lyrics that make this one. That, and the song-end fakeout at 3:45 leading to the best outro of the year. That outro, a 2 and a half minute powerhouse of a gutpunch makes for as moving an experience as music can create.

5. Natasha Bedingfield - "I Wanna Have Your Babies": Still totally awesome. I've written about the outstanding lyrics and melody of this song before, and have nothing new to add.

6. My Chemical Romance - "Famous Last Words": Powerhouse rock epic which, like Aly & AJ, weaves together various awesome but disparate parts in a very deft way to make the whole greater than the sum of the parts. Not to mention, I AM NOT AFRAID TO KEEP ON LIVING is the greatest sing/shout-along chorus to come along in years.

7. Vanessa Hudgens - "Say OK": Quite possibly still the best pure melody of the year. And Vanessa gives a good performance too! Not quite ambitious enough to crack any higher than this, but if I had to pick any one song to listen to over and over again for hours this would be the one. Dozens of listens later that melody is still as amazing as it was when I first heard it. One of the prettiest songs in years.

8. My Chemical Romance - "Teenagers": So fun! Don't trust anybody over 30! Funniest lyrics of the year, and a great high-energy chorus. Great usage of electric guitar. MCR continue to be the best mainstream guitar based rock band out there today. This is a great song that may climb even higher as the year goes on.

9. Natasha - "Hey Hey Hey": I suppose there isn't too much too this song, but it's a fun, infectious number that deserved to be a smash hit. Natasha has breathy, airy vocals that lend a sense of airiness to the song, and which conflict with the hard, driving background music in a really wonderful way. Then we kick into "Hey Hey Hey" and nothing else matters. It's very slight, and I'd like to see what a self-assured braggart of a singer could do with it, but it's a real winner as is.

10. Sophie Ellis-Bextor - "Catch You": I've really loved this song since the first time I heard it, and I still think it's the best song on SEB's (kinda disappointing) album this year. This thing has the power to just lodge in my head and hang around there for a long, long time.

11. Amerie - "Gotta Work": Yeah, yeah, yeah, a ripoff of "Crazy in Love", not to mention "1 Thing", but it's a bouncy fun number. The trumpets are great and the chorus is great. But the stutter-step, start-and-stop verse, with it's bouncy, fast, shouting qualities is what really made me love the song. You'd think they'd try to marry a chorus like this to some silky-smooth melody, but there isn't even really any melody to the verses at all. Unexpected, but it really holds the song together, I think, and is the main reason the song holds up to multiple listens so well when other similar songs tend to fade away quickly. I'm hoping for this one to go #1.

12. Ne-Yo - "Because of You": Speaking of silky-smooth melodies...I like Ne-Yo a whole lot, and all of his singles have been pretty good. His album gets a bit tiresome to listen to all the way through, because the songs are so samey, but this is basically the theoretical peak of the style of music he's going for. I love the slap bass in the verses and the main instrumental hook, but the silky smooth melody and vocals are the story of this song. Just kinda makes me drift away when I listen to it. Like "Say OK", one of those melodies that just says super-crisp no matter how many times you hear it.

13. Avril Lavigne - "Hot": Man, the art of the power-ballad is practically dead these days. So many amazing power ballads in the 80s but nobody even tries any more. Avril is one of the last who consistently produces great power ballads. This song is right in her wheelhouse and she knocks it out. Very catchy melody, it gets stuck in my head for days.

14. Blake Shelton - "The More I Drink": Hilarious and true! Drinking does, in fact, make one want to drink more. This is part of a long, long tradition of drinkin' songs in country, and it's a worthy entry into the lineage. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the chorus is catchy as hell too.

15. Katharine McPhee - "Over It": So pretty it almost makes me tear up. Just a great wistful melody and so what if it's a "Too Little, Too Late" ripoff, the formula works and McPhee knocks it right out of the park, as always.

16. Fall Out Boy - "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race": Fall Out Boy step out of their normal box to create a more ambitious, experimental rock song, but it really works. A great explosion of a high energy rock song. Nothing going on with the lyrics and not great vocals, but just as pure music it's very, very good.

17. Toby Keith - "High Maintenance Woman": Another I've written plenty about and have nothing to add too. Like Blake Shelton, catchy-as-hell and funny. Lyrix aren't quite as good as Blake's, so it ranks 2 slots lower.

18. Cupid ft. DJ Unk and Fabo - "Cupid Shuffle (Remix)": Best hip hop novelty song of the year! This has a catchy melody and a nice energy, and that basically makes up for the lack of substantive lyrics. I have never done the Cupid Shuffle myself, but I can tell you this is a hell of a lot better than the Cha Cha Slide song (as a pure song).

19. Shop Boyz - "Party Like a Rockstar": OK, putting the two best hip-hop novelty songs of the year right in a row required a bit of cheating/shuffling, but it seemed appropriate. Really fun song, though. The Boyz have some great flow and they can write some great lyrics and it all comes together in this one song. The rest of their album is just OK, but it kicks way into high gear for this. Like I said about Ne-Yo, this is basically the theoretically best possible song for what it's going for.

20. Sara Evans - "As If": Another great single from one of my 5 or so favorite single artists of the decade. And, okay, this great single sounds kinda like most of her other great singles, but she's got her sound and she runs with it. She's still a really phenomenal singer, and this song has a very nice melody and good lyrics. Not much going on with the music, and it's a little too unoriginal to rank any higher.

21. Rihanna ft. Jay Z - "Umbrella": Amazing synths and amazing lyrics, but the melody (other than ella ella ey ey ey) doesn't grab me as much as it apparently grabs some others. And the Jay-Z part is stupid. It's gotten old from overplaying but don't let that diminish that this is still a very good song. Just needs a little bit more to be a great song. But, great marriage between the sound of the song and the title/lyrics though, very impressive.

22. Tim Armstrong ft. Skye Sweetnam - "Into Action": Heh, a fun throwaway number that will be completely forgotten 5 years from now. But given all that, it's pretty amazing. So fun and catchy. I thought ska was a dead genre, but if the genre can still produce numbers like this bring it on.

23. Carrie Underwood - "Wasted": OK, with the release of this, they've finally run of out great singles on Carrie's debut album to release. (Seriously, the 2nd best song on her debut album). Her 2nd album is definitely my most anticipated album of the 2nd half of the year, let's hope it doesn't get delayed.

24. Sophie Ellis-Bextor - "Me and My Imagination": Great disco melody and disco beat. Sophie's not a great pop singer, but she's competent and she's able to carry a good pop song. This is a dreamy, dizzying little pop number, and I don't like it as much as "Catch You", but I do like it an awful lot.

25. Fergie - "Big Girls Don't Cry (Personal)": Probably my favorite song on Fergie's album other than "Fergalicious". It should be clear from this list that I am a real sucker for mid-tempo ballads. For whatever reason, mid-tempo ballad melodies ("Say OK", "Hot", "Because of You", "Over It") seem to hit me way stronger than the melodies for other songs. I'm not sure why that is but I certainly am not going to fight it.

26. MIMS - "This Is Why I'm Hot": Fun brag-rap that straddles the line between amazing and completely irritating. It mostly sits on the right side of that line, but it is tough to listen to over and over again. But come on: "I'm hot cuz I'm fly/you ain't cuz you're not". Awesome.

27. Ciara - "Like a Boy": It's a mid-tempo ballad. The melody grabs me. Shocker. Nice bouncy musical backdrop though.

28. Enrique Iglesias - "Do You Know (The Ping Pong Song)": Probably the best single Enrique has ever released, thanks to a great chorus and very inventive ping pong ball percussion. The cheesy music and dragging verses do all they can to eliminate the goodwill generated by that chorus and percussion, but the forces of good win out.

29. Kelly Clarkson - "Never Again": I still like the lyrics and I still love the bridge. The melody is maybe not as strong as the best of KC, but it's still pretty good. A tad disappointing, maybe, just because it's Kelly, but judged on it's own it's still a triumph. I like the "Sunday School answer" line.

American Idol Top 7 - Country Night

Well, readers, it's definitely been a while since I last chimed in on my thoughts about American Idol and with this being country week it seemed like the perfect opportunity. As always, I am making a concerted effort to get this all written down before I hear the judges comments, to avoid tainting. So awaaaay we go:

1. Phil Stacey - "Where the Blacktop Ends" (Keith Urban)
Comments: Phil still has a real nice tone to his voice, but this is pretty boring. He's got no life to this performance at all and seems incapable of injecting emotion to his performances. Martina was right, this sounds way too practiced and deliberate. He needs to let loose a little bit. He left out the soulful lick that Martina liked so much! It was a decent performance, but it sure wasn't anything great. Randy comes in with crazy over-praise. "You seem to be best in country" <-- They are quite clearly trying to shoehorn somebody into releasing a country album post-Idol, given the success Idol has had in that genre. Really surprised by the judge's reaction to this.
Phil's Performance in 7 Words: Nice Tone, Stiff, Bland, Decent, Ultimately Forgettable

2. Jordin Sparks - "Broken Wing" (Martina McBride)
Comments: This is not one of my favorite Martina McBride songs, but it sure is a singer's song, and Jordin seems kinda countryish, so let's see how she does with it. Jordan hilariously dwarfs Martina McBride. The low register on this isn't really doing it for me that much. I'm starting to realize that Jordin really doesn't have the chops that some of the better singers do, no matter how much emotion she sings with and how awesome her personality is. That being said, she's injecting a really nice heartbreaking twang into the chorus here, though her voice is going a bit out of control. Really nice glory note at the end there, but this was another relatively weak performance from Jordin. By which I mean not as good as her best, but I liked it. She's good at injection emotion into songs and interpreting them. Crazy overpraise from all three judges again, I have no idea what's going on this week.
Jordin's Performance in 7 Words: Emotional, Weak Verse, Good, She's Been Better

3. Sanjaya Malakar - "Something to Talk About" (Bonnie Raitt)
Comments: Rockin' the Willie Nelson bandana. Back to the old Sanjaya of nice tone to his voice but really, really boring performance! His voice is way, way too weak for this song, and there's really no singing required for it. This is really bad, it reminds me of what everybody hates about Sanjaya in the first place, after a few straight weeks of taking 100% of the media heat after being better than Phil and Haley. He seemed to go off tune there and didn't have half enough attitude to pull it off. Judges all hated the performance correctly. Simon: "Utterly horrendous", absolutely correct. This was an extremely bad performance, from a vocal performance maybe Sanjaya's worst (and not even in an entertaining way!).
Sanjaya's Performance in 7 Words: Boring, Boring, Boring, Boring, Boring, Utterly Horrendous

4. LaKisha Jones - "Jesus Take the Wheel" (Carrie Underwood)
Comments: A bit dangerous, of course, doing a Carrie Underwood song, but I really love this song. I know it takes a lot of heat from the intelligentsia, and I think most "intelligent" music critics hate it but I think it's great. She's playing this pretty much straight and with nothing but pure class here. She's applying the amount of drama you need to sell this song. The only problem is, I'm not sure how much I like the soul licks she's injecting into the chorus here, and then she's glory noting it to all get out at the end here. She is singing a soul ballad atop country instrumentation here. It was rather screechy in the chorus, but at least she sold the emotion. Way better than "Conga" at least. Judges pan it probably excessively, but I kind of agree, the glory noting clashed completely with the country instruments. We all know I'm a Simon hata, but I agreed with Simon 100% here. He is so on the money here that I am shocked.
LaKisha's Performance in 7 Words: Screechy, Shouty, Incongruous, High Emotion, Below Par

5. Chris Richardson - "Mayberry" (Rascal Flatts)
Comments: Lots of people hate Chris' nasally and thin voice, but I think he ("Smooth" aside) is OK. He's picked a really good song here where nasally and thin are actually kind of a good thing for the song here. He's piercing up in those high notes and it's putting a bit of emotion here. I even really like the runs and soul licks he's put in here. 'Twas a bit boring and forgettable, but I actually one of Chris's best performances yet. Randy says he lacked emotion, which is true, but since he never shows any emotion during his singing at all I don't see why they chose this week to nail him for it. Simon criticizes him for being nasally, tinny, and nondescript, which he also always is. This was a really unfair judge's reaction here.
Chris' Performance in 7 Words: Somewhat Bland, Nasally, Nice Tone, Above Average

6. Melinda Doolittle - "Trouble Is a Woman" (Julie Reeves)
Comments: I don't even know what to say about Melinda Doolittle at this point, but I'll give it the ol college try. She's doing a really upbeat, and actually fairly trad country song here. Give credit where credit is due: This song is from 1999, and sounds like a contemporary song. Like always, she's got extremely proficient technical chops here and she's doing really interesting things with the phrasing. And she's doing it with a style of music and singing that I actually CARE about! Further credit: Unlike LaKisha, she's actually adapted her singing to match the song here, rather than trying to shoehorn her singing on top of a song where it doesn't fit. This was incredible. By a huge margin the best of the night, and possibly my favorite Melinda Doolittle performance. Judge's are giving it super praise and she really deserves it this week. Simon tells Melinda to drop the humility after directly feeding it for 10 weeks in a row. Screw you Simon.
Melinda's Performance in 7 Words: Proficient, Fun, Interesting, Best Of The Night

7. Blake Lewis - "When the Stars Go Blue" (Tim McGraw/Ryan Adams)
Comments: I've been looking forward to this, because I think Blake is actually his best when he is being forced to reign himself in, as he will this week. He's playing this completely straight so far, and oh my he has a pretty falsetto. Wow, I never noticed that before. When he's not jumping around the stage like an idiot and trying to comtemporize and old song and Blakify the vocals, he's got a really pretty voice. He still has trouble capturing the emotions of the songs, but this is really pretty, and the song has enough natural emotion in the lyrics and melody that it carry through and wash over the performance with no effort from Blake at all. This was a really smart song choice. I thought this was a good performance. I like country night here, this was one of Blake's better performances.
Blake's Performance in 7 Words: Inessential, Pretty, Good Song Choice, Above Average

ONE THROUGH SEVEN:
1. Melinda
2. Blake
3. Chris
4. Jordin
5. Phil
6. LaKisha
7. Sanjaya

I predict that many will call this a weak episode, but this was my favorite non-Leslie Hunt (screw you America, I still haven't forgotten!) featuring episode of the season. Peace out folks!

Album Review: Martina McBride - Waking Up Laughing

I have been extraordinarily busy over the last 4 - 6 weeks which explains the lack of posting, and will continue to be over the next 2 weeks. Then it'll be back to normal, at least for the next four or five months before it starts back up again. Ah, the joys of being an actuary. As any writer/blogger knows, inertia takes over, wherein the less you write the much more difficult it is to start writing up again and the more you write the more good ideas you get. I continue to post on the Rolling Teenpop thread and ILX American Idol threads though. Anyways, I will post a review of the new Hilary Duff eventually, no matter how ridiculously late it will end up being. I haven't even had the time to really absorb it yet, much less think about what I will write for a review.


I have had time to more or less absorb the new Martina McBride and think it's pretty mediocre, apart from a few tracks.





The album starts out on a rocking note with "If I Had Your Name", which rocks and is a nice kiss off song, so who cares if the lyrics don't really make too much sense. But the whole album from there veers off into trite, treacly, unoriginal country melodies that are often pleasant and pretty but also not groundbreaking (not that we expected this out of Ms. McBride). "Independence Day" aside, Martina is at her best when she is light and flighty. When she gives into the fun and cheese entirely and screws originality lets loose an MOR country masterpiece like "This One's for the Girls" or "When God Fearin' Women Get the Blues". She does a great job seeming self-assured on songs like those, but the lyrics and melodies here veer into the overly sentimental which prevents her from really breaking out. Of particular note is "How I Feel" which is, I think, one of the worst country songs I've heard all year, and "Anyways" (the lead single) which is trite sentimental religious garbage, and I can't decide if that makes it better or worse than the secular kind. The problem is, that sentimental, unoriginal garbage is what sells, which is why, I've noticed, the singles released off country albums are often among the very worst tracks on those albums (see Montgomery Gentry - "Lucky Man" and Rodney Atkins - "Watching You"). Which is one of the main reasons modern country gets such an awful name.


She does let loose, musically at least, on "Beautiful Again" which is kinda brilliant, a bouncy-as-hell little country number that sounds like a throwaway song about dancing with your baby or something. But it is an extremely dark story about somebody whose parents abandon her, is molested by her uncle, gets pregnant young and loses her boyfriend, but the world goes on and gets beautiful again! Uh, only so that something else crappy can happen again, but whatever. It's got a really great bouncy and catchy melody and I kind of like songs that completely mess with your expectations like that. I think that it can actually afford greater lyrical punch to the song. The key comparison here is, I suppose, "Independence Day" (I hate to keep going back to this, but it is the highlight of her career and one of the major highlights of modern country). It's a big sad song, and it comes out blasting with a massive melody and music that instantly convey importance, which is what helps it to convey most of its pathos. Compare a song like "Beautiful Again", where you can just get washed away in it and forget what's going on. When you do take the time to pay attention to it, however, the stark contrast of the music provides a nice counterpoint for the lyrics that help it from all getting too much, just going too far off in one direction. It's a very hard line to travel and just because "Independence Day" travels it completely brilliantly doesn't mean it's always the way to go. I guess there's little hope a song like this will be released as a single, but if by chance it is it will be one of my top 10 country singles of the year.


This is a very unoriginal set by Martina here but it's a pleasant one too, so I kind of have two minds about it. Listening to it for a while at a time gets to be a real chore because the whole thing is just so trite and unoriginal that it really bears down on you. But on the other hand it's a pretty good collection of songs, Martina McBride can still knock em out of the park, and it's generally very pretty all throughout. I can't think of a single reason to recommend this album over several other, superior ones but if you are a big fan of this type of music you will like this one. And if, like me, you are a moderate fan of the genre, I suspect you will find that it's a perfectly pleasant listen, but fairly forgettable and nothing that demands special attention. Well, that's how I feel about it anyways. C+.

Random Orphaned Song Reviews

Not much time for posting, so random dump of song reviews now. Upcoming post on Scatman John.

I couldn't fit these in any other post:

2gether - "The Hardest Part of Breaking Up"; 2gether - "U + Me = Us (Calculus)"
Review: 2-gether was the "fake" boy band produced by MTV. They starred in a TV movie that was all the rage when I was in high school. It was funny, or at least it seemed so at the time. In any event, they released two songs that were hits on MTV, in an example of blatant and shameless cross-promotion that far precedes the Disney Channel's exploitation of the same. Anyways, since they were in a movie that's a parody of boy bands, I guess that makes them a fake or parody boy band, but these both sound like pretty awesome boy band songs to me. The lyrics are just a bit sillier, but these would both fit pretty well in the Backstreet Boys catalogue, for example. Anyways, "U + Me = Us" is their ballad and "The Hardest Part of Breaking Up" is their uptempo tune, and both are good songs with funny lyrics! In any event, I can't think of another song about an ex-girlfriend stealing all of your stuff when she leaves, and it's a pretty good conceit that's handled in a funny way. They've got the boy band look and dance moves and looks down so pat, and they play it so straight faced that it begs the question of where the line between reality and parody is crossed. I guess they are a parody, but they had substantially the same audience as the actual boy bands, and it was pretty genius of MTV. Boybands dominated MTV to an almost nauseating degree at this time, and they capitalized on it. They made their own boy band, but they couched it in "parodying" or "making fun of" boybands, like they were too good for that whole boy band thing. That's a gesture I find inherently distateful, but when it works it works. [8] and [7] respectively

Roxette - "Fading Like a Flower"
Well Roxette is only like, what, the best pop band from 88-92? That's an absolutely fantastic run of 8 singles or so spanning 2 albums, maybe the best set of singles from 2 consecutive albums of any band. Well Madonna or Prince or Michael Jackson or somebody would probably be ahead of them, but anyways it's still excellent. They really deserve their whole post and maybe they'll get it someday, but for now this will suffice. Roxette particularly excelled at writing absolutely massive ballads like "Listen to Your Heart" (my favorite) or "Spending My Time", but this one is uptempo and awesome. There is, of course, the famous dance versions and what not of this track, but I love this song in it's original form with the cheesy 80's pianos and guitar and drums, but it all works. Roxette is all about the spectacle and this is their most spectacular: it's all over the top and crazy and great. And one hell of a catchy chorus. Song starts out with piano, crashing into guitars and piano. Leading to a verse bubbling with tension, waiting to bust out. It breaks out into the big chorus with a sense of great freedom and triumph, and then it just fades out. One of those truly soaring and triumphant choruses like "Breaking Free" and it doesn't even need to be that massive to achieve it! It just soars by contrast to the tension set up in the chorus. Then it just fades away, too soon. Like a flower. [10]

Garth Brooks - "Papa Loved Mama" (not online as far as I can tell)
What can even be said about Garth Brooks? I decided this year that I wanted to start listening to some of the big modern country artists, and Garth was the obvious starting point. So I picked up the hits collection. I already knew only two of the songs, due to my complete ignorance of country until 2005-ish, those two songs being "Friends in Low Places" (clearly the best karaoke song of all time) and "The Thunder Rolls", both of which I love. None of the other songs on his greatest hits really hit the level of those two, but this rollicking and rolling honky tonk type number about a husband killing his wife grabbed my attention on first listen. It's weird to listen to the hits collection though, stripped of all the GARTH-ness of it all. He was massive and great, and he knew he was massive and great and he was a phenomenon and he was the man. But listening to a nicely crafted little fun tune like this, it's impossible to hear any of that. In fact, it's impossible, listening to this greatest hits collection free of context and free of swagger and free of boasting, to fathom just how he became as massive as he did (wasn't until I listened to the live album that I understood that). It just sounds like a good little disposable country number, albeit one that makes an immediate and long-lasting impression. The music to this stands in very stark contrast to the lyrics. Compare to another popular country song about domestic abuse, "Independence Day". That one soars and flies and stays low and sad and just conveys importance from the first listen. The song sticks with you from one listen, and the lyrics match the soaring and the crying and the sadness and the massiveness perfectly. This one sounds throwaway and silly. It sounds like a song that should be about fishin' or drinkin' with the good ol' boys or something. It sounds like a karaoke number, like all Garth's songs do. I sure as hell ain't gonna do karaoke to a song about killing your cheating wife. Upon further listens, it doesn't really stand up as one of the better songs on Garth's greatest hits collection, and it doesn't stick as well as it should, but it's interesting to consider. [6] ---Note to Stylus writers: Somebody do "On Second Thought: Garth Brooks - Double Live." Ripe for the picking.

Toby Keith - "I Love This Bar"
By contrast, this is a song that sounds like it should be about drinkin' with the good ol' boys and it really is about drinkin' with the good ol boys. Another all-time great karaoke song, due to the lyrics being about drinking and bars and the naturally singalong chorus. It's slow and it rolls along, and it's easy to sing and it's laughably simple musically. But Toby's a great singer and he's just got a natural charm to his voice, even his recorded voice. The lyrics are kinda silly, about how much he loves his local bar, but damnit, they're right for the song! It's big and it's massive and it's got natural swagger and charm and it does all of that with no outside context at all. It does all that without even seeming like it's trying to do it. It's the type of song I assumed Garth's catalogue would be filled with, but it really wasn't. It's nothing revolutionary, and it's not nearly as good as the extremely similar "Friends in Low Places", but it'd slide right into Garth's greatest hits collection with great ease. [8]

Anna Nalick - "Breathe (2AM)"
This is acoustic, piano based girl pop, like Sarah McLachlan or Dido or Vanessa Carlton or something. It's not a world away from something like Natalie Imbruglia or Natasha Bedingfield, but somehow I feel oddly disconnected to it and oddly cold towards it and, it's ironic for me to say this, I feel like it doesn't speak to me because I'm not the target for it. (Ironic because it's not like I'm the target for teenpop either). It just feels like sophisticated music for sophisticated people, the type of music that has no dialogue with pop at all and would be offended by being called pop. The genre that just has nothing in it that speaks or appeals to me. But there it sits, on my list of the top 10 singles of 2005, sticking out like a sore thumb amidst the peppy pop songs ("I Said Never Again (But Here We Are)", "Wake Up", "LaLa") and the country ("As Good As I Once Was", "Kerosene"). "Unwritten" stands on the list as well, but that's about 100x sunnier and poppier than this one. To be honest, in fact, I've listened to the whole Anna Nalick album and didn't really care for the other songs. But this song is perfect. It find a genre and sticks to it to the letter and just perfects it, just like that. The lyrics provide insight without being big or cliched or uplifting. I remember when I first heard this song, in mid 2005 on the local top 40 station. I instantly filed it away in the Dido category. But as the song went on, and I heard that amazing, soothing, catchy as hell chorus, I started to get worried. "Hey," I though, "this is a really good song". I learned to embrace it. OK, but WHY is it good?

Anna's voice is nice and kinda generic and forgettable, but she's a good singer and she's got great phrasing. The verse rolls along with a nice little groove to it, into the pre-chorus, which feels like it's leading to something BIG and TRIUMPHANT. Something like "White Flag", some declaration of freedom or some kind of big catchy melody. It leads instead, in a nice bit of misdirection, to a flowing, fading harmony. Friend calls her having troubles. She details all the crap she's going through. Anna tells her, well you've gotta live life, there's nothing you can do about it. So cradle your head in your hands, and...do what, go out? Solve your problems and be proactive and have fun and make the best of it? No, just BREATHE. Just sit down and take stock of the situation. And there's a light at the end of the tunnel and you'll keep making mistakes so what's the point in getting so upset. And it flows through and fades away from the building melody, dropping into a beautiful breathy harmony. A relaxing, soothing harmony. Something that just makes me smile. It doesn't have to be so bad. [10]

Avril Lavigne - "Losing Grip"
The song encapsulates all the problems I have about Avril and all I love about Avril. It's bratty but vulnerable and it's got a melody that's simultaneously catchy and annoying. It's angsty. It's sung with Avril's trademark thin voice that's not strong at all, but instantly conveys the angst and tension that's inherent in most of her lyrics. It sounds like a "real person"s voice. The song is overdramatic about 10 times over, with its huge bombastic melody and it's breakup song lyrics. Dig the lyrics: "Why should I care/Because you weren't there/when I was scared/I was so alone/You, you need to listen/I'm starting to trip/I'm losing my grip/and I'm in this thing alone". Losing grip on what? Her sanity? Her emotions? It's all left vague, and I have no clue what's going on in this song, other than that the dude emotionally devestated her. It's not Avril's best songs, it's probably not one of her 5 or 10 best singles, but it's interesting, and it's probably the single song that best encapsulates her career. [7]

Blink 182 - "All The Small Things"
I don't have much to say about the song here, which hit huge when I was a senior in high school. It was seens as the "antidote" or "alternative" to all the "processed pop" that was out there, though this song shared much of its audience with the fans of those processed pop singers. It's an OK pop-punk song, but not nearly as good as "Dammit" or "What's My Age Again" (or for that matter "The Middle" or "Basket Case" or "Don't Call Me White", etc.). What upset me though was that after remembering the song and seeking out the video, I can't remember what videos it's parodying! I thought I was fairly knowledgeable on this, but clearly my memory is fading. At the start, they are on a plane runway then dancing in front of a group of adoring fans. This is clearly a parody of "I Want It That Way". Then they are in a brick room with combat gear. What the hell? Presumably some boyband video but my memory has faded. It cuts back and forth between these barely distinguishable boy band parodies (maybe they are not parodies of specific videos but just the style?) Then at about 0:30 they are in colored silk pajamas in front of a colored blue silk sheet, which is apparently a parody of "Creep" by why would you parody that??? Boyband and "Creep" parodies continue, then they are on a beach in black and white (at about 0:50). I initially thought this was a parody of the "Survivor" video, but since this video predates that one it can't be the case. That bothers me because I was certain it was a parody of "Survivor". Cutting around, then at 1:10, he looks through a telescope to see a dog biting a man at a beach? This cannot possibly be a parody of a music video, can it? Next new scene is at 1:24, a parody of "Genie in a Bottle" that I could identify in my sleep. Then, one of the band members dresses up as a blonde and runs on a beach holding a red ball? They run naked on a beach next, in a callback presumably to their "What's My Age Again" video. Obvious parody of "Living La Vida Loca" at 1:50 when the girl dumps candle wax on the frontman. At 2:00 we get a brief clip of the singer in a white shirt and a big gold necklace with water dumping on him, that I don't recognize at all. Then is a scene of him dancing in front of a tour bus being washed, which is I think a parody of a Limp Bizkit video though this seems like it predates them too. That's the last new parody in the video. Please provide help if possible. [4]

Back from the Grave

Just wanted to bump that damn American Idol post off the top of the page, staring and laughing at me. In reality, I haven't had internet connection at home for the past 10 days, which explains the lack of posts. I've had a couple ideas for posts in the interim, so expect some action over the next few days. I won't make any promises, per se, because I've made enough failed promises on this blog already. OK, to steal an idea blatantly from Frank K, here are my top 10 singles of 2007 thus far (an attempt to redeem this post slightly):

1. Natasha Bedingfield - "Babies": Completely mental lyrics, the "Babies, babies, babies, babies" part is completely bonkers, the main hook is "mm mm mm mm mm mm" (Crash Test Dummies!) and the whole thing never really comes together. But it's still brilliant! Good misdirection to the chorus (lyrically), where it seems like it's gonna be a simple declaration of love. Lyrics are funny and great.

2. Toby Keith - "High Maintenance Woman": Hilarious! "A high maintenance woman don't want no maintenance man". Great vocals, as always. Toby Keith has shown a remarkable knack for writing lyrics with funny lyrics and extremely catchy melody, and this goes right in that vein (erm, "As Good As I Once Was", "I Love This Bar", et al). Main hook can get stuck in your head for days, but in a good way! Right up there with Toby Keith's best work. If he can combine great hit singles like this with the remarkable consistency of White Trash With Money perhaps we can get a great album from the guy.

3. My Chemical Romance - "Famous Last Words": It starts out fairly standard, but ends up being nothing short of a genuine rock epic, weaving about 3 or 4 different, equally big, parts together with a great deftness, and all 3 or 4 parts are great, especially the main chorus! It sneaks up on you, but once it hits, it hits hard: emo-rock has met its peak with this song.

[The top 3 songs are all so close in quality and so different that there's no meaningful separation between them. I've listed them like this, but I keep changing my mind! In any event they are all equal, and will likely all be in my Top 20 or close to it.]

4. Vanessa Hudgens - "Say OK": A beautiful ballad. After "Come Back to Me" I had basically, unfairly, written off her entire musical career, but this song knocked me out. A great vocal performance from Baby V here, as her piercing voice just adds a lot of beauty here. Not much going on in the lyrics here, but I can forgive it for the catchiness and prettiness.

5. Hilary Duff - "With Love": It was hyped that the new Hilary Duff album would be more Eurodance, but this sounds like a pretty standard American R&B song to me. Hilary’s voice is filling out as she gets older, but it’s still remarkably thin. But in any event, it’s a super catchy song with a great and original melody, and that forgives all manner of sins. Markedly inferior, however, to “Play With Fire”.

6. Sophie Ellis-Bextor - "Catch You": This sounds appealingly like an electro cover of a great Blondie song that never was. Nice lyrics/music synergy here as this song just SOUNDS like the soundtrack to a high-energy chase. The catchiest melody and music of the brief year to this point and great stalkerish lyrics make this a refreshingly original pop tune that puts a good start on 2007, after British pop's rather weak 2006. (Kickass video too)

7. Ashley Tisdale - "He Said, She Said": Ashley's not a very strong singer, which does hurt this song a bit, but the production and main hook are so catchy they can overcome it. Ashley's album was really inconsistent, but the best of it is quite good indeed. And this is her best effort.

8. Christina Aguilera - "Candyman": Normally I don't go much for the retro sound, but I dig the crazy lyrics here a lot, and that plus the hook are enough for me. And the video! So, yeah, it's rather simplistic and maybe even a bit annoying, but it's my second favorite song on Xtina's last album, and this is one of her best vocal performances ever. She totally sells the ridiculousness of the song.

9. Katharine McPhee - "Over It": The song has the same songwriters and the exact same general sound as Jojo’s “Too Little, Too Late”, which makes it easy to dismiss. But it also has a great melody, conveying the sadness of the lyrics very well. Alas, the lyrics and vocal performance aren’t quite up to the wistful beauty of the music, but they are still pretty good and that “Too Little, Too Late” formula just works so well that it can drive at least a few more great songs. Still the best "Over It" of the year.

[All songs above this comment are 8/10 or better...songs 1-3 are 9/10 and will strongly contend for top 2o singles of the year, songs 4-8 are 8/10 and will strongly contend for top 50 singles of the year. What really separates the 8/10 songs from the 9/10 songs here is lyrics.]

10. Avril Lavigne - "Girlfriend": I want to like it more than I do but the whole thing bugs me. I like the lyrics a lot, but the main hook is kind annoying and I dislike the video so much that it is seriously hampering my enjoyment of the song. Well below the level of Avril's best work ("Complicated", "My Happy Ending", "He Wasn't", et al). But obviously, I still like the song, or else it wouldn't be up here.

Great Lyrics: Lee Ann Womack - "I'll Think of a Reason Later"

I was gonna write a full song analysis tonight, but I kinda realized that the song I wanted to do an analysis of (Lee Ann Womack's "I'll Think of a Reason Later", for those of you not into reading titles) doesn't need one, as the lyrics are extremely straightforward. There is no trickery, and as far as I can tell the musicality of the song does not enhance the lyrics at all. I'm going to print the lyrics here anyways, since they demonstrate something I wanna talk about a bit. The song's not available on Youtube or any other free listening site as far as I can tell, boo! Anyways, I recommend you download (or legally buy!) the song, because it's great!

Here are the lyrics, before I get too ahead of myself:

I heard he was gone to marry some girl from Denver.
Then my sister came over, had the Sunday paper with her.
There was the girl on the social page,
loooking in love and all engaged.
We decided she don't take a very good picture.

It may be my family's redneck nature
Rubbin' off, bringin' out unladylike behavior.
It sure ain't Christian to judge a stranger,
But I don't like her.
She may be an angel who spends all winter
Bringing the homeless blankets and dinner.
A regular Nobel Peace Prize winner,
but I really hate her.
I'll think of a reason later.

I drew horns and blacked out her tooth with a marker.
Childish, yes, but she made such a thin little target.
I couldn't be happier on my own,
But I've got the slightest of a jealous bone,
And seein' her with him tends to enlarge it.

It may be my family's redneck nature
Rubbin' off, bringin' out unladylike behavior.
It sure ain't Christian to judge a stranger,
But I don't like her.
She may be an angel who spends all winter
Bringing the homeless blankets and dinner.
A regular Nobel Peace Prize winner,
but I really hate her.
I'll think of a reason later.

Inside her head may lie all the answers
To curin' diseases from baldness to cancer.
The salt of the earth and a real good dancer,
But I really hate her.
I'll think of a reason later.

(Well, it was just one tooth.)
(Did I mention I don't particularly care for her.)
(She makes me sick.)

Reasons this song has great lyrics:
1. It has a great story and simple theme that is used in a few other songs but not so many other songs as to make it totally overdone. I can't really think of another song that deals with quite this aspect of your ex hooking up witha new lover.
2. It doesn't need a whole lot of words to say what it's got to say. It gets its message across then rides off into the sunset
3. The lyrics are genuinely funny and nearly have made me laugh out loud on some occassions (though, admittedly, some of the humor is in the performance too). I love love love the "thin little target" line. Also where it punches in with the "We decided she don't take a very good picture" out of nowhere.
4. It's a country song that is anti-redneck! Take that red states!
5. It demonstrates that songs don't have to be serious and oblique to have great lyrics. Anybody could listen to the song once and instantly understand (and probably identify with) the message to the song, and it's entirely tongue in cheek the entire way. But the lyrics are still great! Back when I was indie (a.k.a. "The Dark Years") I used to only respect (and I get the idea that a lot of people still do this) songs that had obtuse, inscrutable lyrics with multiple interpretations. Or only one correct interpretation but it's hard to get to. Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, etc. And a song as tongue and cheek as this is a silly little throwaway novelty hit; maybe good for fun but not to be seriously enjoyed. Anyways, this song demonstrates that silly and very straightforward songs can have great lyrics if they can pick a good theme and consistently turn good phrases, as this song does. [Not that serious or inscrutable or general or vague songs can't have good lyrics too, of course.]

Song gets a 10/10, it's one of my 10 favorite country singles of the 90s.

As a bonus, here's another great song with great lyrics that takes the same general idea and goes a different way with it [Note: Setting the line breaks in these lyrics was really hard]:

Well he used to be mine, not so very long ago.
I was crazy to ever let him get away.
But girl you should know better,
than to go braggin' in my face.
So forgive me for what I'm 'bout to say.

Big deal.
So what.
Who cares.
You just got lucky, that's all it was. Shut up.
Don't wanna hear another word about candlelight and long-stem roses
And how you've fallen head over heels
In love.
So what.
Big deal.

He's perfect, I heard ya
the first ten times that you told me, yeah yeah
It's amazing, it's lovely, I can't believe I let him go
I regret it, there I said it.
You call yourself a friend but you just keep rubbin' it in.

Big deal.
So what.
Who cares.
You just got lucky, that's all it was. I swear.
If I hear another word about candlelight and long-stem roses
And how you've fallen head over heels
In love.
So what.
Big deal.

Congratulations I'm just so happy for you
I can't contain the way I feel.

[Chorus repeats a few times to close out.]

Youtube: LeAnn Rimes - "Big Deal"

Miscellaneous note: This one goes with the angle of pretending not to care when she clearly does, which is another nice angle to take on the matter. Lyrics have a nice sense of humor but are more anguished and definitely less funny than "I'll Think of a Reason Later". So I guess it's a matter of taste, but I prefer the Womack one. Anyways, this is probably my favorite LeAnn Rimes song. This or "Commitment".

Meta: I was at a Sara Evans concert on Thursday night and I'll probably put something down on that this weekend. Jordan Pruitt album comes out this Friday, and I'll be posting a review of that sometime soon (as I have gotten my hands on an advance copy). Plus there will be a real song analysis coming soon. My queue on that is growing, but the plan as of right now is to do "So Yesterday" then some Sheryl Crow song, maybe "My Favorite Mistake". Plus other stuff too, if I think of it I guess. Maybe some non-musical stuff but I haven't been watching much of TV lately and I don't really watch movies, so whatever. Still waiting on Unfabulous to come back on...(screw you Nick).

Songs That I Have Been Listening To...

As always, the early part of the year is a rather dire time for music. In a couple of weeks, Jordan Pruitt's and Ashley Tisdale's albums will be released. Soon enough Hilary Duff will release the full single version of "With Love", and a debut single from Kelly Clarkson's album is probably not too far off in the horizon. So, the dry spell will not last long. But, for now anyways, I've been listening to a bunch of older music in order to pass the time.

Jimmy Ray - "Are You Jimmy Ray?"

Frank Kogan over on the teenpop thread says it defies easy categorization. Jimmy Ray is a 50's throwback himself, but this isn't. And he's kinda rapping but kinda not. xhuxk says it sounds like George Michael's "Faith". Both are right. It's like a weird "Faith" mixed with awkward white rap or something. In any event, it's absolutely great, just an incredibly catchy song. Funny self-referential lyrics add to the quality, although they are rather silly. Jimmy was a one hit wonder in the late 90's, so I don't know how any of his other songs are, but this is a winner. 9/10

Aqua - "Lollipop (Candyman)"

Thanks to Frank Kogan, I recently rediscovered this great followup to "Barbie Girl" by Aqua. "Barbie Girl" and "Tubthumping" (by Chumbawamba) were both novelty hits around the same time, and I loved and still love both. That being said, this followup single is just as good as either of those. Of course, having been branded as a novelty act forever, this song had no chance of success, but it totally deserved it! Again, very catchy, though slightly annoying, as all Aqua songs I've heard are. The man's voice and woman's voice are both initially jarring and they sound nothing alike, but I still think they sound good together, in an odd way. "Oh my love I know you are my candyman" has to rank as one of the catchiest hooks of the entire decade of the 90s. 9/10

A*Teens - "Floorfiller"

This song comes off of A*Teens' second album, which is generally inferior to the first, but it's probably my favorite A*Teens song. A truly great song about going to the club and dancing, and indeed it does have a nicely danceable beat. Not only that but it features one of the catchiest vocal melodies I've ever heard in a song. The whole thing is a bit juvenile, and the lyrics aren't anything great: "A bomb diggy drum coming at me with the groove" -- ugh. But it makes up for that and more with the incredibly energy and catchiness that permeates the whole thing. And the kids, as always, are great pop singers. Everything great about being a kid encapsulated in one song. One of my 10 favorite singles of the decade to this point. 10/10

Martina McBride - "This One's For the Girls"; Martina McBride - "Independence Day"; Martina McBride - "When God Fearin' Women Get the Blues"

Three of the greatest country pop songs of all time. I absolutely cannot stop listening to them because they are so catchy and awesome, but yet all three fairly different. "When God Fearin' Women Get the Blues" is probably the most musically original. Lyrically it is of the middle aged women going out and getting crazy and having fun segment that is fairly prevalent in country pop. The lyrics are nothing special. "Indpendence Day" is the real showstopper. With really powerful, sad (but also really great) lyrics about domestic abuse, and a truly soaring and powerhouse chorus, this is one that'll bring tears to your eyes. But it's also really catchy and upbeat too! "This One's For the Girls" is pure fun. A standard, completely unoriginal, but completely awesome country pop songs that stands out for it's great pro-grrl power lyrics and catchy melody. None of the other Martina McBride songs I listened to were up to this level, and none of her albums seem consistently great, but this is a top 3 songs that contends with most other artists in music history. All 3 are 10/10, and right now I'm inclined to rank them 1. "Independence Day" [probably one of my top 10 singles of the 90s], 2. "When God Fearin' Women Get the Blues", 3. "This One's for the Girls"

Sheryl Crow - "If It Makes You Happy"; Sheryl Crow - "My Favorite Mistake"; Sheryl Crow - "A Change Would Do You Good"; Sheryl Crow - "Leaving Las Vegas"

Other than Martina, the other artist I've been really loading up on lately is Sheryl Crow, who released two truly great albums in the 90s, Sheryl Crow and The Globe Sessions that I have been listening to just nonstop. The more of her songs I listen to, and rediscover, and put on repeat over and over, the more inclined I am to say that she is at least a contender for the best singles artist of the decade of the 90s. Not even sure who else would compete with her for that, though I'm sure I could think of one if I tried. Mariah, maybe. Anyways, all 4 of these songs are awesome, and all for different reasons! "If It Makes You Happy" is just a high energy song about a messed up relationship, with a real edge to it. A great shrieking chorus. "My Favorite Mistake" is much more standard musically, but still a great melody and guitar, and it has excellent codependent lyrics. "A Change Would Do You Good" sort of like a cross between the last two, like a "My Favorite Mistake" but with a more screwed up relationship and more of an edge. "Leaving Las Vegas" is the pretty ballad, and I love it. All are 10/10, and I'd rank them as listed in the outset. "If It Makes You Happy" and "My Favorite Mistake" are contenders for top 25-ish singles of the decade.

OK, that's all I have time for tonight. Hope you enjoyed. Just because I mentioned it for "Floorfiller", I recently compiled a list of my top 20 favorite singles of the 2000s so I maybe will post it here soon, though maybe I won't too. I'll follow my heart. "Everywhere" is number one.