New pop songs!

Are any of them worth hearing? I added 16 songs to my top hits playlist this week and it's the usual mixed bag:

• Panic! At The Disco is the big debut this week with "Nine In The Afternoon". They seem to be following the lead of My Chemical Romance's "Black Parade" and the band is no longer playing the "two guitars, bass, and drums" emo style. This is a big production with a bouncy piano beat, plenty of studio tricks, and a big strings/horns arrangement and even if it's not as good as "Black Parade", it's worth a listen. It's the most Beatles-like hit song in a while.
• It's been a while since Missy Elliott has been in the charts, but she's here now with "Ching-A-Ling". She and Sean Combs see, a lot alike to me: a decent set of guest performers with a knack for good production, but a terrible performer. This one isn't that great, but it's not awful, given the stellar supporting cast.
• "Like You" from Bow Wow is here. It's nothing special, just a sugary, romantic, mid-tempo confection that's hardly distinguishable from the rest of the music industry's "product".
• Having just met the Jonas Brothers in person a couple of weekends ago, I feel bad saying that "When You Look Me In The Eyes" is their weakest single yet. The singing doesn't survive the slower tempo and the song is not up to their usual standard.
• It hasn't been that long since the last Against Me! single, which is bad news. Guys, it's not authentic punk just because you bellow rather than sing and nobody beyond your own little circle of believers really likes your tuneless stuff--even if they respect your "commitment" to the punk/political ethos.
• You know, I remember thinking that Chingy's "Right Thurr" was a novelty song and we'd never hear from him again. He's had a longer career than I expected and he's back in the charts with "Gimme Dat". With a guest shot from Ludacris, this is pretty good.
• "I'm Not Jesus" by Apocalyptica is pretty interesting. It opens with a little dose of Nine Inch Nails-style brooding before opening to a broad, muscular chorus. Not bad.
• The Audition, from Chicago, brings a tiny dose of that city's famed power-pop to the charts with "Warm Me Up". It sounds suspiciously like another generic Emo band at times and it's a really undistinguished tune.
• You know, sometimes you hear some of the top hits in the UK and you just have to scratch your head. This week's puzzler is "Weightless" from Wet Wet Wet. In case you wondered what the most generic product of the 1970s pop music industry sounded like, take a listen. Mid-tempo, heavy studio augmentation, and a frightening resemblance to the worst of Eric Carmen. Stay away...
• As if you needed a tour of the history of pop music for the last 40 years, your next stop would be courtesy The Feeling, which is a loose-limbed throwback to the style they used to call "dance-oriented rock" (think late 80s). It's a near-disco beat with layered, oh-so-slightly noisy guitars. The song is charming enough, if not the most brilliant thing ever. I have a weakness for this stuff, so I may not be the most unbiased judge.
• And continuing our historic tour, we come to a star who's solo career was very prominent in the early 1990s. Morrissey is back on the UK charts with "That's How People Grow Up", and, having not listened to him in a while, I'm surprised to hear him these days. He's still crooning about issues in a kind of pop-psychology way, although I'd say he's missing the remarkable songwriting skills of his earlier days. The tougher guitar sounds are pretty good, but an odd fit for his style of singing.
• J Holiday is hardly a throwback. He's the state-of-the-art pop star these days with a blend of R&B, hip-hop, and the latest in electronically modified singing. "Suffocate" is the new song and it's another slow jam that's a little too much. "Bed" was better, but this stuff is pretty predictable product--not art--that won't be remembered in a few years.
• Another one of those UK dance acts, Goldfrapp is on the charts with "A&E". This is not a dance track, though. It's a middling ballad that you don't have to rush out and hear.
• How long since a new Chris Brown single? Weeks? In case you were worried, there's a new one rising on the charts: "No Air". I've never thought much of Mr. Brown, so this song won't make much of an impression on me. He's a much better dancer!
• I really liked Kylie Minogue's last single, where she seemed to be channeling her inner Ann-Margret with a bouncy, sexy dance number. This track, "Wow" isn't nearly as much fun and the chorus pretty much makes me cringe.

CDs listened to today:

• Claudio Monteverdi: L'Ottavo Libro dei Madrigali
• The Presidents Of The United States: (eponymous)
• Arild Plau: Concerto For Tuba And Orchestra
• Verne Reynolds: Partita
• Bill Watrous: Manhattan Wildlife Refuge
• Cuong Vu: Vu-Tet
• Roger Sessions: When Lilacs Last In The Dooryard Bloom'd
• Nick Didkovsky: Amalia's Secret