Pop Blitz 3/17/11

George Michael - True Faith
Michael comes back with a midtempo track (a cover of the New Order hit) that overuses vocoder effects. He's got one of the best pop voices of all time, so what's with the electronics? And why can't we get something more uptempo (or at least with a better melody)? C-

Glee Cast - Loser Like Me
Glee remains as frustrating as it is entertaining. There's more potential than this radio-friendly track displays, but it's not bad, either. Next time, they need to opt for a more unique sound that capitalizes on their use of choral harmonies. B

Selena Gomez - Who Says
It's a brief (hopefully) pit stop to "uplifting" Taylor Swift-esque material for the Disney star. It's actually not as bad as I feared. The production's catchy enough, but I wish it was in another language so that I couldn't understand the lame lyrics. C+

The Wanted - Gold Forever
They're really building up a strong set of singles. This is the exact direction I was hoping they'd follow -- more electronic, more dramatic and uptempo. It's a promising sign for their second album, whenever they decide to release it. A

Martin Solveig & Dragonette - Hello
If this is what it takes to give Dragonette a world-wide audience, I'm totally okay with it. It's not the band's best track (and yeah, I know it's Solveig's song, but it sounds enough like Dragonette to be classified as such), but even their average material is heads above most everything else. A-

Jessie J - Price Tag
Honestly, isn't the chorus to this exactly the same as Pink's "F**king Perfect" (another song that completely underwhelmed me)? I just don't get the hype over this. It's dull, predictable and forgettable. What am I missing? C+

Black Eyed Peas - Just Can't Get Enough
How can one band be responsible for both some of the worst songs and best songs on the past few years? This isn't close to their low point (that would be previous single, the vomitatious "The Time (Dirty Bit)") but it's no "I Gotta Feeling," either. It's simply alright. B-

Dragonette - My Things

"Don't touch my things"

When you've written a song as fantastically titled as Get Your Titties Off My Things, why shorten it to simply My Things? It reeks of record company infiltration, but whatever. The song's still the same, and it's a good one. Taken from the band's new EP Mixin' To Thrill, the track's an attitude-filled, aggressive electro stomper. Throughout their relatively short career, Dragonette have excelled at producing extremely high quality non-album tracks and b-sides. This is no different. In fact, the entire EP's amazing. There are three new songs and a bunch of remixes (but if you add the new stuff they recorded with Kaskade and Martin Solveig, you get a nice 5-track EP of original songs). And speaking of Dragonette, I have--for whatever reason--been absolutely re-obsessed with their '09 single Pick Up The Phone recently. What a brilliant pop song. (And the album it's taken from is only $5 on amazon! Can't beat that!)

Dragonette - My Things by alienhits

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Buy the EP here. Follow me on twitter and facebook.

Top 50 Singles of 2009: 30-26

30. Måns Zelmerlöw - Hope & Glory



The polar opposite of track number 31, this huge, bombastic pop song easily became my Zelmerlow anthem of choice. Very campy.

29. Hot Leg - Cocktails



Who knew that after the Darkness Justin Hawkins could do it again? In fact, the glorious glam rock here trumps a lot of what the Darkness released.

28. Noisettes - Never Forget You



One 60’s throwback I can get behind, this single breathed some life into the genre with great lyrics and an even better hook.

27. Private - Killer On The Dancefloor



How many years in a row have these guys been featured on this list for the same album? Here’s yet another single, and yet another stunner. Now it’s time for a new campaign.

26. Dragonette - Pick Up The Phone




A mature, beautiful pop song from these guys, and a deserved hit in their native Canada. I’m not sure they’ve ever recorded a better track.

Top 20 Albums of 2009: 16-15

16. Dragonette - Fixin‘ To Thrill



These guys returned with a more mature, sophisticated release and surprised everyone (well, surprised me) by scoring a massive radio hit in Canada. They’re becoming more interesting by the moment, willing to push pop music in different directions and play around with their style. Martina, in particular, has blossomed into quite the frontwoman, someone who I can see rivaling Lady Gaga in avant garde wardrobe and image. This is one of the more consistent albums on the countdown, and hopefully the gateway to even more radio success. There are certainly plenty of potential singles to choose from.

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15. Shakira - She-Wolf



The first Shakira album to appear on my year end countdowns since I started doing this, it’s also her shortest work yet. Brevity as its rewards, though, as this is the strongest collection of songs she’s come up with in awhile. In fact, when I reviewed this a few months ago, I don’t think I really gave the album enough credit. It’s grown on me immensely, and become something I’ve played quite a lot this Fall. I loved Shakira the rock chick, but who knew she could do straight up pop music so awesomely? Another album with no shortness of single choices.

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