Crazy Kids and Country Boys: Hot 100 Roundup—6/15/13
Ke$ha featuring will.i.am or Juicy J or Pitbull—“Crazy Kids” #59 The credits tell the tale. Ever since “Die Young” was pulled from radio (the decent thing to do, though the conflicting explanations...
View ArticleSlow Down and Stop: Hot 100 Roundup—6/22/13
Miley Cyrus—“We Can’t Stop” #11 It’s not the drug references. It’s not even the lying about the drug references (Mike Will says she’s singing “dancing with Miley”, not molly, but even if you accept...
View ArticleBubbles: Hot 100 Roundup—6/29/13
Just to reiterate, I don’t review anything I consider a musical souvenir or soap bubble—i.e. any record from Glee or the growing number of singing competitions that fill primetime—unless it rises far...
View ArticleThe Usual Suspects: Hot 100 Roundup—7/6/13
One advantage of falling so far behind is that I know the fate of many of the records I review before writing about them. Instead of wondering whether they have the stuff to become hits, I can write my...
View ArticleDance, Mr. Mambo, Dance! Hot 100 Roundup—7/13/13
Eli Young Band—“Drunk Last Night” #79 A good song, but the performance and arrangement are strictly average. Despite three decent, promising singles, I still can’t hear anything that sets Young apart...
View ArticleRoyals and Returns: Hot 100 Roundup—7/20/13
The royals are thanks to Lorde, of course, who’ll be in the top ten, if not the top five, soon, but could also refer to the returns, a batch of artists who were pop royalty once, but have been...
View ArticleBranded: Hot 100 Roundup—7/27/13
Jay Z “Holy Grail” (featuring Justin Timberlake), #8 “Tom Ford”, #39 “Fuckwithmeyouknowigotit” (featuring Rick Ross), #64 “Part II (On the Run)”, (featuring Beyonce), #81 “Oceans” (featuring Frank...
View ArticlePop Makes Me Feel Some Type of Way: Hot 100 Roundup—8/3/13
Danielle Bradbery—“The Heart of Dixie” #58 Bradberry is a decent singer, probably the best to come off a TV competition in the last few years. But this is a terrible song: obvious musically, confused...
View ArticleObsessive Nostalgia: Hot 100 Roundup—8/10/13
One Direction—“Best Song Ever” #2 A good song, with nifty lyrical details, but One Direction’s love of rock and roll would be more meaningful if their idea of rock and roll extended beyond loud...
View ArticleSentiment and Schlock: Hot 100 Roundup—8/17/13
Enrique Igelsias—“Turn the Night Up” #62 It figured that Iglesias would jump on the EDM bandwagon, and also that it would be as clichéd and plastic as everything else he does. The only thing missing is...
View ArticleWandering Home: Hot 100 Roundup—8/24/13
As anyone who is paying attention can tell, I’m playing catch-up this week and probably into next week as well. With luck I’ll get a post up every other day, maybe more, so be on the lookout. I’m...
View ArticleTouch: Hot 100 Roundup—8/31/13
Lady Gaga—“Applause” #6 What’s most surprising about “Applause” is how friendly it is. Gaga doesn’t thrive on applause because she’s a megalomaniac fueled by adulation (though that may be partly true),...
View ArticleOh, Those American Girls: Hot 100 Roundup—9/7/13
Miley Cyrus—“Wrecking Ball” #50 I’m inherently biased against power ballads, but I’m impressed by the verses and the pre-chorus, which Cyrus sings very well (that burr in her voice is a great tool when...
View ArticleMuy Loco: Hot 100 Roundup—9/14/13
Eminem—“Berzerk” #3 As good as it is to see Eminem running at full, sober throttle again, the fact remains that “Berzerk” is a hopeless, chaotic jumble—it’s a tribute to Rick Rubin’s production skills...
View ArticleRap Attack: Hot 100 Roundup—9/21/13
Despite the fact that rap’s dominance over popular culture cracked in 2008 and has been dropping ever since, there are still a lot of great records being made, and occasionally one of them shows up on...
View ArticleIt’s Just a Reflection of a Reflection, Honest: Hot 100 Roundup—9/28/13
Zedd featuring Haley Williams of Paramore—“Stay the Night” #51 Another step toward the mixing of EDM with more traditional pop music, and the best of the bunch so far (though considering the...
View ArticleThe Grand Parade of Lifeless Packaging: Hot 100 Roundup—10/5/13
Mediocrity has always been the curse of the pop charts, but for the biggest debut week of the year to contain not one superior song has to be some kind of record. There are small pleasures to be had...
View ArticleSo There: Hot 100 Roundup—10/12/13
Drake “All Me” (featuring 2 Chainz & Big Sean), #20 “The Language”, #51 “Furthest Thing”, #56 “Too Much”, #64 “Pound Cake/Paris Morton Music 2” (featuring Jay Z), #65 “From Time”, #67 “Own It”, #78...
View ArticleAnyone for Tennis? Hot 100 Roundup—10/19/13
Kanye West featuring Cam’ron & Consequence—“Gone” #18 Now that YouTube has figured out how to monetize the use of copyrighted material in personal videos, it’s conceivable that any piece of music,...
View ArticleAtmospherics: Hot 100 Roundup—10/26/13
Eminem—“Survival” #17 It’s not fair to blast Eminem for his bad taste in rock and roll. Most rappers, black or white, lean toward lugubrious power chords, and as far as I know only Ice-T has ever been...
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