The Year In: Popstar Parties

Happy New Year! It’s that time of the year when everyone freaks out about where and exactly with whom they’re going to spend an underwhelming, bitterly cold, vomit-concentrated evening. I can practically feel the dread of underage partiers raising their fake IDs to a bartender. It’s glorious, and so is partying: Cool kids do it with other cool kids. And they have good lives. There were plenty of parties in popular music this year, so let’s take a look at some of the best. Just a quick update: KP and Russell are divorcing; which is a huge loss for someone who thought that they sort of just made sense as a couple. Anyway, if The One That Got Away goes to number 1 (it’s at number 3) breaking MJ’s record, that will be incredibly bittersweet.

The Year In: Underdog Anthems

Losers Like Them: GaGa, P!nk, Taylor and Glee.

If there were ever a year to be an outcast, 2011 was that year. I’m not being cynical about it because society can be pretty isolating and if people can find support through music, so be it. Of the year’s biggest themes in popular music (dubstep and underdogs), the anthems that heralded the misfits and anyone that the majority deems different were surprisingly heartening. There are far worse trends (homophobia, misogyny) that artists have exploited in the past. At least this one spreads a freakin’ good message. So we’ve rounded up the top 5 most notable examples of artists singing, ‘hey, just because you think stamp-collecting while drinking hedgehog blood is the bee’s knees doesn’t mean you’re weird. In fact, you’re all the better for it.’ Unsurprisingly, every single choice on this list has been featured on Glee (Edit: Taylor’s Mean totally hasn’t). That may make people roll their eyes, but it makes me want to give the show a massive hug and make it cookies. There is however, a problem with these anthems as they tend to convey a broadbrush message completely devoid of subtlety. But that’s another post entirely. Please also note that I am currently tired from an excess of eating, unwrapping and sellotape-induced injuries. I have already misspelt ‘underdog’ as ‘undergod’ twice which would give this article a much different, more worrying undercurrent. Bear with me:

The Can You Hear This Countdown: Artist of the Year

Is this the most important qualification in end-of lists? I’d say so. Let me tell you why you should, too. Years aren’t defined by singles (not in the long term anyway), artists are. You might say that Summer 2007 was the year of Umbrella but you’re far more likely to say that Umbrella is Rihanna’s signature song. Likewise, years aren’t defined by albums. Albums define artist’s careers. No-one’s going to say, ‘Hey, 2011 was when The Suburbs was released, right?’ They’re going to be saying, ‘The Suburbs was when Arcade Fire got good again, right?’ Years are, however defined by the artists that dominate them. In a few years time, we’ll be talking about how 2011 was the year everyone found about The Weeknd (as much as we could anyway) or it was when that band Yuck broke through Nirvana-like into the mainstream. It was when Adele had her heart broken and went on to break America. It was when a girl drove to Cali and scored five number 1s from her Teenage Dream. It was a year when break-out British acts restored faith in our country’s potential for ground-breaking (or at least 2007 levels of) music. Here were our highlights:

10 Things I Love About Pop: Week 11

It’s been a lovely week in popular music. We’ve been surrounded by lists of lists of the best lists of 2011 which is always a pleasure. When Christmas comes round, all the best things collide at once: Lists and tinsel. On another note, this will be our last TILAP column of the year as  there will be some special one-offs over the break and I need some valuable hibernation time. But we’re going out with a firework, the cherry on top of a truly magnificent year for pop music. Enjoy, my lovelies, enjoy:

10 Things I Love About Pop: Week 10

Happy Birthday!: This picture was relevant. For science.

I apologise for almost everything about this post. This hasn’t been the most laid-back period of my life but I shall be on top form soon enough! Enough moaning, here’s some shiny, shiny pop music:

 

10 Things I Love About Pop: Week 8

Pink Ladies: GaGa, Nicki and KP.

Don’t hate me because this is a short post, let your eyes thank me for all the reading I saved them! Brevity is all:

10 Things I Love About Pop: Week 7

Do you remember when I promised a review of Talk That Talk earlier this week? Well, do you remember when I promised a review of 4 earlier this summer? The point is, I can be forgetful. So to strike while the pop-iron is hot, I’ve decided to dedicate this week’s column to the two hottest things in pop music at the moment. That’s five highlights from Rihanna’s new album, and three from Drake’s. As a side note, I won’t be featuring previously reviewed tracks, We Found Love or Where Have You Been. Jonah, who is a much more accomplished Drake source than me has already reviewed Make Me Proud, Crew Love, Shot For Me and Underground Kings (hence why I’m reviewing fewer Drake tracks). So check that out. If Barbadian pop stars or Canadian rappers aren’t your thing, I apologise. Better luck next week?

10 Things I Love About Pop: Week 6

Talking That Talk (in black and white): It’s been a moody time in pop. Not really, but I couldn’t find colour photos.

Last week was pretty dramatic for me, and pop music. And the WORLD.  So let’s take a more peaceful gander through the world of pop music this week. No apocalyptic visions, just ear-friendly beats. It was a Rihanna-centric week which is good news for anyone who’s a fan of the Good Girl Gone Debauched, bad for anyone who still has Umber-ella-ella-ella ringing through their brain. This is also a video-heavy post, because a) there seemed to be rather a lot this week and b) I’m tired. Let’s pop!

Ten Things I Love About Pop: Week 5

Pop Pantheism: The chart-toppers getting through the week, this week.

The thing about being obsessed with something more than the average observer, pop music being as good an example as any, is that when something major happens, you have fewer people to talk about with. If I had wanted to talk about Italian politics or American presidential debates this week, I would have been fine. But I didn’t. I wanted to talk about seismic shifts within the pop music industry. It just seems that that’s not something anyone around me wants to take seriously yet. And so 10 Things I Love About Pop could probably have been renamed 10 Things I Wanted To Discuss All Week And Will Rant To You About. Don’t you feel like the luckiest people in the world?

The Ultimate Glist: Glee’s Top Ten Best Songs!

So as you may have read, I was in New York last week, meaning I didn’t do any posting for the blog. Apologies, I’m sure you missed your dose of pop-vitamins. So now I’m up to date with all things American (snowstorms, Occupy Wallstreet and taxis) and ready for another week of high-brow musical analysis. It also means I wasn’t able to post my weekly Glist (here’s the first, and the second), but you can crawl out of your respective corners because there’s one heading at you right now. For my (slightly compressed) list of Glee’s top ten (we’ve come so far, you guys!) songs, read on!