Time to look at what's new in the pop-music spotlight.

• Soulja Boy debuts his follow-up single to Crank Dat, called Yahhh!, and it's a stinker. Crank Dat wasn't too bad, a shout-along kind of track pushed along by a YouTube-fueled dance craze--pretty much a hip-hop Macarena. The new single is another rapper complaining about how he hates the trappings of fame and fortune. Isn't that rather tiresome? And this from a guy who had one novelty, dance-craze hit? And the shouted, low-fidelity refrain is ear-splitting compared to the rest of the recording, to the point of unpleasantness.
  
• Chris Daughtry presents what seems like the only track from his album that hasn't been a single, Feels Like Tonight. How many is this? Five hit singles? Like all the other Daughtry songs, this features his big-time voice belting boilerplate lyrics in the high-volume style you expect from a competitor in American Idol. He's hard to dislike, but I don't hear a song that you'll remember ten years from now.
  
• Timbaland's latest single release is Scream. His last single, the gorgeous remix of One Republic's Apologize, is still on top of the charts as this one comes out and it's really unfair to compare the two. He brings along a couple of the Pussycat Dolls and between Timbaland and the ladies, you have three very undistinguished voices on the track to go with an undistinguished melody and some lame rapping. Still, it's a Timbaland track, so the beat is the usual unbelievably sophisticated groove. He's a genius at rhythm and production.
  
• Kanye West's Homecoming is out and about on the radio. You know, Mr. West is a vain preener and I find that off-putting, but when Jay-Z or other stars do the same thing, I'm unperturbed. The difference? Jay-Z has talent as an MC. This guy's one-note, sing-songy delivery is nothing short of tedious and grating. Every track I've ever heard from Mr. West is the same basic phrasing. This was charming when I first heard him perform Through The Wire, but the charm wore off quickly. Just to make things less appealing, Homecoming features Chris Martin of Coldplay singing, whose voice and style hardly elevate the chunky piano-riff and plump, stomping rhythms.
  
• The big debut in the UK is from Booty Luv (I'm pretty sure that name would be illegal in the states), called Some Kinda Rush. Another act that you'll probably never hear in the United States, this is a dance track with a big synthetic bass groove reminiscent of the sound of Jive Records in its heyday (think early Britney Spears or 'N Sync). It's fun.
  
• And we finally see formal pop chart success from the Disney star of Hannah Montana, as Miley Cyrus cracks the top 20 with See You Again. I've really been surprised she hasn't got more radio play and singles chart success, given the huge live show numbers reported by her tour. She sings with a slight twang, befitting the daughter of a country singer, but this is pure Disney product. Unlike the gang from High School Musical, Ms. Cyrus is a sufficiently capable singer so you don't hear many signs of that dreadful electronic "auto-tuning" to correct her pitch. The tune is a sinuous melody of basic teen, boy/girl stuff, but the rhythm track is a grotesque amalgam of dance, country and sugary pop. Yeesh, the Disney machine at full bore almost overwhelms the poor girl.

CDs listened to today:

• Girls Against Boys: Freak*On*Ica