Wednesday, April 16, 2008

New songs in my pop spotlight!

OK, we had a lot of new songs this week.

  • The Kooks have a new album out and the lead single is "Always Where I Need To Be". They're an admirable power-pop band and this song is classic pop--complete with a catchy chorus. Still, this isn't up to the standard of their last disk.
  • Day 26 is getting a prominent spot on MTV's TRL with "Got Me Going". The rhythm track is cribbed from an ancient Bee Gees track, and the singing is so smooth, it's anonymous.
  • I haven't heard them before, but Ashes Divide arrives with "Stone". It's a tuneful hard rock track that exhibits a reasonably aggressive guitar sound balancing out the sugary melody. It's a pleasant balance.
  • "These Hard Times" is the latest from matchbox twenty. I'm a little tired of this band's boilerplate songwriting and performing and this song is just another mid-tempo number with slick production. I suppose this is intended to catch the zeitgeist with a not-so-subtle metaphor.
  • I'm really enjoying the joint effort from Fall Out Boy and John Mayer. They covered the old Michael Jackson hit, "Beat It" and they treat it as a ripping rock tune, avoiding the slightly soft edges of the original. Poor John Mayer guests as the guitar soloist, a thankless chore, being compared to Eddie Van Halen's original solo.
  • Three Days Grace rises in the charts with "Never Too Late", a sweeping power ballad with an acoustic guitar riff as the key hook. Like matchbox twenty, this is just reliable, expensively made, big-record-company product.
  • We have another new-to-me band, the Courteeners, on the UK charts with "Not Nineteen Forever". It's a bouncing, danceable indie-rock beat with a forgettable melody
  • Natasha Bedingfield is back with "Pocketful Of Sunshine". It's a lush arrangement with a taut drum track and a really stupid chorus. No thanks.
CDs listened to today:
  • Public Enemy: Fear Of A Black Planet
  • Nick Didkovsky: Amalia's Secret
  • Julian Orbon: Tres Versiones Sinfonicas
  • The Soup Dragons: Hotwired
  • The Joggers: Solid Guild
  • Deerhoof: The Runners Four

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