New pop songs in the spotlight!

• Lil' Wayne returns to the charts with "Lollipop", an example of a long-standing streak in hip-hop toward the pornographic. I'm fed up with that vein of work, and this song is just another nasty example. That said, it's not a great song, either.The sung chorus meanders along while there's hardly eny rapping that you even notice. It actually makes me miss 50 Cent's "Candy Shop". And yet, it's one of the catchier new tunes of the week.
  
• "The Way That I Love You" sounds like Ashanti's been listening to a lot of Alicia Keys lately. It's a florid, piano-based ballad. There are worse things, but Ashanti is hardly in Ms. Keys' league, singing-wise, and the song seems like a reject from Ms. Keys' last album, to boot.
  
• "Rise Above This" is the followup from Seether to their huge hit, "Fake It" and, while I enjoyed "Fake It", this is halfway to a lame power ballad. It's really not bad and singer Shaun Morgan's performance is pretty strong, but it's hardly one for the ages.
  
• Madonna has hired Timbaland to produce "4 Minutes". At this point, it's like Justin Timberlake is a package deal with Timbaland (buy Tim, get Justin!). Of course, Timbaland usually produces better singers and MCs than Madonna (well, except for Missy Elliott) and it shows. Madonna doesn't add much to an indifferent song and Mr. Timberlake's presence is limited to a minor role.
  
• A Cursive Memory has a debut on the BBC top 20 called "Everything". It's an energetic, but slightly soft-edged rock track with some extremely wimpy singing. If you've ever heard the Posies, you may hear some similarities, although this is a far cry from that band's best work.
  
• "It's Not My Time" by 3 Doors Down: This is one of those bands that never stinks, but never really creates anything transcendent. This track rocks pretty reliably, like all their stuff.
  
• In the UK, we have a debut that's the recommended song of the week: "Get Over It" by Guillemots. Why are they named for a kind of sea bird? Anyways, this has a great chorus and somewhat old-fashioned pop production (think late 1970s).
  

CDs listened to today:

• Juraj Filas: Sonata For Trombone And Piano (At the end of the century)
• William Bolcom: Orphée-Serenade
• P. J. Harvey: Is This Desire?
• Bill Watrous: The Tiger Of San Pedro
• George Crumb: Songs, Drones And Refrains Of Death