Thursday, June 19, 2008

Top Ten and thoughts on Music

I've wanted to do this for a bit and as I've got a bit of dead space to fill in I thought I'd post up the present top ten just to see how out of touch I am with current music. While fairly connected to music I tend only to listen to music I've already got an interest in and don't pay much attention to current stuff. As I'm no longer in school or Uni I din't tend to discuss music much and therefore I'm often unaware of current hits. I only really listen to radio in the car, which isn't that often and I only occasionally catch the music channels. I'm also very miserly so I don't often splash out on music unless I feel it's worth getting or it's tried and tested - it was a stretch for me to buy the new Coldplay album today, and that's mainly 'cause I saw the live gig last night! Anyway enough of the bla bla and on to the chart - I'll try to embed videos. Note that I am no music expert and opinions are purely what pops into my head.

10. Heartbreaker - Will.I.Am ft Cheryl Cole



An interesting song, but a bit blase in my opinion. I do like WillIAm's work with the Black Eyed Peas, but I think I prefer his support rapping to solo singing. Nonetheless the song is not off putting or boring and I could listen to it all the way through without falling asleep or wanting to bash my head against the wall just to make it stop..so pretty good for an R 'n B song really! The presence of Cheryl Cole of Girls Aloud on backing vocals was interesting though she remained resolutely in the background. So interesting, but nothing special.

9. Black and Gold - Sam Sparro



I'm much more a fan of this one as it is much more attention grabbing with a style that if not quite unique is at kleast distinctive and great to listen to. The vocals are a little ambiguous and this does no harm as it makes you want to listen to it again. I find it quite interesting as the first verse and chorus seem to decry evolution or at least subvert the theory for poetic purposes which I'm intirgued by, but my cursory search has failed to find more. While I wouldn't rate this too highly I am very intrigued by it and would like to hear more.

8. Forever - Chris Brown



I nearly broke my mouse clicking on the pause button for this one. Yet another generic black skinhead R 'n B guy talking about "you 'n me girl" and the "dancefloor." I very quickly got bored at this one everything from voals to beat to video had been done before and there was nothing in it. Don't get me wrong there are some people who are very skilled and can do this thing very well, but in my opinion this guy ain't one of 'em. Next track please...

7. Warwick Avenue - Duffy



Probably my fave track of the chart, this belter from Duffy is well written and performed. Her voice captures the lyrics well without trying to force too much emotion in, but instead effortlessly creates a worthy breakup song. I think the specific detail of the location makes it more real and gives it an edge that most songs of the genre lack. Her first single Mercy came out of nowhere to be a big hit, but I did get tired of it quickly and thought I'd gone off Duffy but this single proved me wrong and I hope the extreme amount of airplay it's getting won't detract from that.

6. Sweet About Me - Gabriella Cilmi



If her surname's pronounced "Kill Me" then I'd be happy to oblige! Ok it wasn't that bad, but I just felt like getting that one in anyway! I can't quite say that it was generic, but it did feel like it had been done before and didn't particularly grab me. I must point out that at this point in writing the music player I'm using (Yahoo) has gone stupidly slow on buffering so I'm viewing vids on YouTube, what bearing that has I don't know, but it's more interesting than anything I have to say about this song.

5. Love Song -Sara Bareilles



I expected to fall asleep at this one too, but it's actually quite catchy and with a nice vocal. A nice twist from what you expect from the title, making it a nice original piece. And I've actually run out of things to say - it's nice, not pay for it nice, but listen to it and nod my head to it nice sure!

4. That's Not My Name - The Ting Tings



A nice in your face hit that can't quite be described...well it probably can, just I wouldn't be good at it. I do like this, though I think I prefer Great DJ and Shut up and let me go but noetheless it's fun and refreshing piece of music and I'm even slightly tempted to part with some of my lovely pounds to get the album.

3. Closer - Ne-Yo

Can't find video, for review see Chris Brown.

2. Take a Bow - Rihanna



Not quite "my thing" but it is a good song. I think Rihanna sold herself short by appearing literally naked in the video to Umbrella which just put me off completely thinking it was just another song sold on the appearance of the singer. But actually she's quite the singer and listening to Umbrella again I was quite captured by the vocals. This new song is a good quality breakup and a good hit and is almost enough to restore my faith in female musicians of her genre.

1. Singin' in the Rain - Mint Royale



Obviously hanging on the coat tails of Britain's Got Talent, but I can't blame them for doing so. If I'm correct then this song first appeared in a classic advert and so they must have leapt at the chance to attempt the charts once more and fair enough they've done it. Don't think much of the video and I doubt we'll be seeing any further success from Mint Royale, but it's a cool hit and I hope they're grateful to the young lad for their success.

So there you are, that's what Britain's into at the moment, I mostly disagree with the nation, but if you want to voice your opinion with your wallet heck, maybe it's worth more than mine. I hope you've enjoyed this and maybe when I'm feeling out of touch once again I'll check what's at the top some other time, but for noe there's only one thing left to do.

Word of the post: Peruse - verb
1.to read through with thoroughness or care
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1 comment:

Samuel Li said...

Coldplay gig was good.
Will I Am is John Wraith in Wolverine
Succinct is good.

8:26 pm

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