56. Safe And Sound: For quite a while now, there's been a fairly massive discrepancy on the Billboard charts. Looking at all the songs in the lower reaches of the charts, they seem to be the same generic electropop they have been for about a decade. But up higher, we have all sorts of stranger; more out-of-left-field hits: We Are Young, Somebody That I Used To Know, Thrift Shop and Can't Hold Us, Harlem Shake, Blurred Lines... and, I predict, Get Lucky; and probably Safe and Sound, too. It may seem crazy to predict that a random song in slot 56 will top the Billboard charts; after all, there are 55 other songs that statistically have a better chance. But here's why I think Safe and Sound is going to do it: Because it sounds different. For a very, very long time now, pop music has sounded one certain, very specific way. It's clear that the pop music audience is ready for change. Maybe it's not an organized protest, but there's a certain kind of protest going on among pop music listeners: A rejection of nearly all traditional electropop, and an embracing of everything that's not that, that they hear on pop radio. How else do you explain the fact that, when you get rid of all the country, rap, (the two most successful niche genres in terms of getting radio play), traditional electro-pop, and songs by pop radio artists that have been around for five or more years with a high level of success; you are left with Blurred Lines at number one; Get Lucky at number two; Can't Hold Us at number three; Radioactive at number four... the inexplicable semi-success of Cups, The Song From "Pitch Perfect" With All The Cups, at number 18... and nothing else in the whole top 40. In fact, the next song that applies is this song, Safe And Sound. So that's why Safe And Sound is going to be popular! Well, that, and the fact that it's a really good song. 19/20
74. What About Love: There is nothing fundamentally wrong with Justin Bieber. Bieber, who emerged in 2009 after being discovered from his YouTube singing videos, started off as saccharine teenybopper bait, but eventually turned into a major-league pop star. And look, I'm not saying the same thing couldn't happen to Austin Mahone. Mahone has a very Bieber 2.0-esque arc: Discovered on YouTube, mentored by a famous producer, and now making some of the most popular songs-- Sorry, some of the 70th-most-popular songs around. And, of course, the music is horrible. Imagine Justin Bieber's producers discovering dubstep before he had the talent to use it correctly. You'd end up with something very similar to the nearly unlistenable What About Love. And look, maybe this Mahone kid will mature into a fully-fledged pop star who can score actual hits and make listenable music. Unfortunately, "Justin Bieber" the phenomenon happened under very specific circumstances, at a very specific point in time. I'm betting Mahone stalls at the teenybopper stage. 2/20
24 on the Heatseekers chart, which is basically the chart for songs that are rapidly gaining in popularity without cutting into the high reaches of the Billboard charts. Breezeblocks: Alt-J, or ∆, has been touted by some as the next Hot Chip, by others as the next Arcade Fire or James Blake or Jack White or Alabama Shakes or even LCD Soundsystem (although really, what hip band hasn't been called the next LCD Soundsystem?) But that could easily be a list of "Pitchfork's Favorite Bands," who are ∆ really? Well, it's a tricky question, because, see, what they are is an amalgam of all the formerly listed bands. As much as ∆ sounds like everything Pitchfork likes, Pitchfork actually hated their album. That's because it doesn't have any of the deep meaning or resonance of the bands I've listed above. Here's the thing that Pitchfork and some other reviewers missed, though: That doesn't make their music bad. And ∆ makes really, really good-sounding music. Breezeblocks is a catchy, addictive bit of pop meaninglessness, and I'd love it if generic pop music sounded like this instead of whatever it decides it sounds like next. 19/20
Quick Takes:
25. The Other Side: Jason Derulo, sorry, JAY-SENNN DUH-ROO-LOW, is back with another generic piece of pop electronica. This guy's fanbase consists of the following: 50 percent like him ironically because he sings his own name at the beginning of all his songs, and 50 percent like him because he's a Chris Brown they can listen to without getting creeped out.
70. Jump Right In: I may be harsh to country music sometimes, but there is absolutely good country music out there; and furthermore, not all good country music has to subvert expectations. Zac Brown Band continues to be an excellent straight-country band that cranks out fun, listenable music on the regular.
81. High School: Nicki Minaj spends the first minute proving she's still really good at rapping, then spends one minute singing and one minute letting Lil Wayne whine incomprehensibly. My god, Nicki Minaj, are you using our frustration at your wasted talent as an alternative energy source or something? It's really the only explanation for this.
Did you enjoy this post? I read and respond to all comments! I am also available at my email address, SamECircleProductions@gmail.com -- If you like what you see, shoot me a note!
No comments:
Post a Comment