BEST: 2) I Need A Dollar - Aloe Blacc
Official video is only the first two-thirds of the song, for some reason.
It was really pleasing to see this song do well over the summer. I guess I should be thanking the recession or something. This song has a perfect desperate feel to it, where you really do feel like the guy is singing for the money. I also really appreciate the blues-y-ness of the whole thing. The piano fits perfectly as does the brass when it comes, everything just feeling so understated and... well, solemn, I guess. Really though, it's Blacc's singing that carries the song, and the feeling of general trouble the guy's in. I want to buy it so he can get some more mone-
"Who can help me take away my sorrow?
Maybe it's inside the bottle"
Oh. Mr Blacc, I'm disappointed in you sir.
WORST: 2) Swagger Jagger - Cher Lloyd
Okay, not being funny but what the hell is this? Who is this Chipmunk/Lady Sovereign wannabe? Why did she debut at Number One in the UK?
Oh, she used to be on the X-Factor. Right. But yeah, this song sucks pretty much every way possible. The verses go out of their way to be as irritating and as obnoxious as possible - seriously, who thought it was a good idea to end every line high-pitched like that? - the choruses are dull, bland and sound like they're channelling Away In A Manger, which given this song was released in the summer is just plain bizarre, and the transition from verse-chorus-verse is awkward and jarring. Plus near the end it starts trying to turn itself into a club/dance hit, even though the first two-thirds of the song do NOT work in a club. So musically it's terrible in just about every way, and that's not even getting into the lyrics.
Seriously, pop stars NEED to stop addressing 'haters' on their DEBUT hit. Cher Lloyd has done something astonishing, which is to manage to look childish and stupid next to Willow Smith's "Whip My Hair". This is basically a self-fulfilling prophecy. Check that link I posted, the like/dislike ratio - noone cared about Cher Lloyd before this song, and it immediately made her hated to an almost astonishing degree. This song reached number one because in the UK there's a sizeable portion of teenage girls who will buy EVERY song an X Factor performer puts out, but thankfully the rest of the public didn't join and this fell away sharpish. Her next single was a good step too, both in that it was far less obnoxious and in that Mike Posner guested on it so Cher Lloyd was only the second most irritating person on the track. I hope that's it, but I fear the worst.
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James - Board 8's Resident Warm And Safe, Slipper-Wearing User
& The Cream of Porcupine Tree Fanboyism