But it definitely jumped out at me while I was listening to Z-100 in the kitchen today, and yeah, the rockabilly in Miley's vocal inflections wasn't hard to hear, either. I forget if Frank had burned me "See You Again" on one of his mix CDs or not if so, it somehow didn't jump out at me from them. Yeah, that's pretty blatant, now that you mention it. Someone on livejournal suggested Duane Eddy in relation to the Miley song, which I can definitely hear in the guitar tone A specter in the foreground, ghosts in the back.įrom the country thread, replying to something Frank had said about Miley Cyrus's "See You Again" should have posted this here instead: Keak Da Sneak "That Go" - The man of a thousand rasps. Linda Sundblad "Lose You" - The voice is helpless with feeling, but Linda is one of those clear-eyed Scandinavian bombshells, and you know she's got claws in reserve. Lil Wayne drops in, tips his hat, plays card tracks, twirls his cane, skips off into the sunset.ĩ. Lil Wayne "Easy" - She knows she's a hot hot shawty, wears an ache in her voice lent to her by the costume department, while she demands something more meaningful from the boys than sex and admiration. So what's all this emotion doing in the air?Ĩ. The lyrics are foul, a standard kiss-off. Berg can veer in two ways, can sound hard and can sound pleading. Yung Berg "Sexy Lady" - Back to a mood of butter. Britney's voice is hedonistically warm, entirely self-contained, the warmth directed inward meanwhile the surrounding sound contains snake-tongues and hisses. Britney Spears "Gimme More" - I still feel totally fucked-with by this song. So, a beautiful voice atop an obvious but beautiful sample.Ħ. JoJo "Anything" - The opposite of Tisdale: JoJo is pure music, to such an extent that that I wish she would insert more personality. And the music is this round bounding thing, and it takes her anyway.ĥ. She's too busy delivering the psychology of the character. Ashley Tisdale "Not Like That" - Ashley's an actress who hasn't yet figured out that in music you have to let the music take you. Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons "Beggin' (Pilooski Edit)" - Little editorial tweaks from the remixer make a monomaniacally desperate soul song (this is Frankie having discovered the Four Tops) even more monomaniacally desperate.Ĥ.
This voice could turn into a weapon, as it gets older.ģ. A reverbed guitar bends ominously, yet the girl retains her sweet eagerness. Miley Cyrus, "See You Again" - Teen nice girl puts a rag of petrol in her voice. Why is this totally beautiful? Plush sadness, and Wayne strolls along making shit up: funny seduction, comic irrelevancies, against a backdrop of sad yearning.Ģ. Lil Wayne "You" - An OK singer just doing the emotive bit, guest rapper Lil Wayne amusing himself by tossing lines at the carnival barker, while an obvious sample from Spandau Ballet provides pretty scenery. Nice girls drink petrol in lush settings men rasp (my Pazz & Jop singles ballot 2007):ġ.
"Obviously, I'm identifying hard with teenpop in that just as I don't see a path for the teenpop girls into the future, I don't see a path for myself either - which isn't to say that there's no future for me, or for them, but my path isn't given, my way isn't clear, so we're going to have to invent one." -Frank (Who, until this year, always started this thread). There's something at stake in the music when you live your life to it - when you use music to live your life. It is music that, real or not, feels like it has something at stake.
Teenpop, or Bubblegum pop, or adjectiveless pop is music that risks itself, risks its singer, risks its listener. Plus: Ashley Tisdale, Carrie Underwood, Cassie, Kelly Clarkson, Miranda Lambert, Tegan and Sara, more, more, more. Not to mention A.Idol winners Jordin Sparks + Blake Lewis had albums sneaking in at the end of last year. Natasha Bedingfield still wants to have your babies. Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, Plain White T's, The Used, and Boys Like Girls are Warped Tour-cum-radio heroes. Amy Adams wants to know how you love her. Rihanna has one of the biggest albums of the year, and half the songs have become ubiquitous fixtures of pop culture in 2007. Avril's hubby doesn't really like the President, or me.
Lil' Mama isn't just the lipstick queen, but also the remix queen. Aly + AJ have gone from "Into the Rush" to "Blush." Miley Cyrus has the hardest concert ticket to get in the world, and one of the biggest songs, too. Britney Spears is powerful, indignant, funny.