Author: Tim

Jessica Agombar – Double

A quick “that’s what she said” is most definitely in order.

Tim: A self-described ‘cockney songbird’, here, and quite a nice lyric video.

Tom: There are going to be so many glottal stops, aren’t there?

Tim: Actually no, but a quick heads-up: from now on, my side of this will focus almost entirely on the ambiguous meaning of the main chorus line.

Tim: Well, I think a quick “that’s what she said” is most definitely in order.

Tom: If only the song were as quick. If you’re going to base your whole chorus on one pair of lines, then you’d better make sure they’re bloody amazing. Which, let’s be honest, they’re not. Even the gorgeous animation in the lyric video couldn’t keep my interest. “Come on the double”. Hurr.

Tim: But on the double what? That’s the real question. Double cheeseburger? Double bed? Double entendre, which is probably the most appropriate even if it is just a linguistic construct rather than a physical object. I’m going to go with ‘double cream’ just to keep the vibe going.

Tom: Messy.

Tim: But enough nonsense. I actually think this song’s alright, albeit occasionally slightly dull. I’d say it could be improved by putting a quick ‘here’ in the chorus line before ‘on’, but then I wouldn’t be able to make childish sniggering noises while listening to it so it’s actually fine as it is.

Robin feat. Mikael Gabriel & Uniikki – Boom Kah

That rap middle eight is awful.

Tim: Cast your mind back to the beginning of last year, you might remember this kid singing a not particularly bad song about skateboarding. Fifteen per cent of his life later, he’s back with a freshly broken voice and ready to show off more of his after-school activities.

Tom: Has he done a Miley Cyrus? He’s a bit too young to have done a Miley Cyrus, surely?

Tom: Nope. He’s done a Bieber.

Tim: There are a lot of things I like about this: the chorus, the instrumental post-chorus, the verses, even the video to some extent. I specifically don’t like the rap middle eight (which now I think about it seems to be slightly going out of fashion, which is nice).

Tom: That rap middle eight is awful. It’s like the Blackout Crew suddenly burst in.

Tim: Mostly, though, I’m just not sure about the titular BOOM KAH – it works well enough as a HERE’S THE CHORUS bit, but at other times, especially towards the end, it just seems to get in the way a bit. Obviously it needs to be there, as otherwise we wouldn’t know about the martial art lessons his parents have been paying for, but does it need to be quite so intrusive?

Tom: I don’t know, I reckon it works; it gets away with having that shout-along quality without seeming too cheesy.

Tim: You’re probably right. Finally of note, though, are the lyrics: as previously, we’ve not yet got to the romance so this is all about having fun (“Where will we go, what will be be today? BOOM KAH, BOOM BOOM KAH”), and even the rappers are joining in, encouraging him to be Batman, tracking gangs and building a hide-out.

Tom: Wait, what? Are you making that up, or is that an actual translation?

Tim: Really wish I was joking there, but no. Their last line is “Don’t worry about tomorrow, it’s important that today is cool.” Which I suppose is true.

Saturday Flashback: Dina Garipova – What If

I THOUGHT I WOULD DIE OF HAPPINESS.

Tim: This, Jenny Red, is how you do a proper key change.

Tim: When those wristbands turned out throughout the arena, I THOUGHT I WOULD DIE OF HAPPINESS.

Tom: Ah, what more can I say? It’s textbook Eurovision heavy ballad. It actually did better than I thought it would: fifth is pretty damn respectful.

Tim: This was originally my fourth favourite of this year’s Eurovision, though with repeated listenings it’s actually crept up to joint first, with Iceland’s Ég á Lif (currently my favourite ‘shout out loud in the shower’ song).

Tom: I feel a little bit sorry for your neighbours.

Tim: It’s a great track – it’s joyous, it’s uplifting, it’s remarkably different from what’s actually going on in Russia at the moment, and it’s just wonderful.

Tom: And that outro. That is an old-school, glorious outro.

Tim: This key change just makes it that much better.

Cars & Calories – Runner Up

If this doesn’t lift you out of your ‘funk’ I don’t know what will.

Tim: Monday was a sort of rock/electropop blend that you weren’t keen on, despite that chorus. This from a new Norwegian group is similar, but more so, and if this doesn’t lift you out of your ‘funk’ I don’t know what will.

Tom: Oh, that’ll do nicely.

Tim: The duo apparently grew up on rock and punk music, and now want to do their own variant and, according to one interview, ‘expand the horizons of commercial pop music’, which I think is an entirely noble quest, because this is just wonderful.

Tom: I was all ready to be disappointed in it until that wall of sound hit — possibly needs a bit less compression on it, but hell, I’m not going to complain.

Tim: Lovely intro, Donkeyboy-esque vocals, good verses building up to that blinder of a chorus.

Tom: Let’s not forget that middle eight: he’s got the vocal skills to make it work unaccompanied. That’s not to be sniffed at either.

Tim: Oh, absolutely. Lyrics are good as well: they’re of the “are you sure he’s just your friend?” variety, but in a nice way that doesn’t get angry about it, but just keeps singing instead with more a sense of desperation and giving up. Not exactly alpha male stuff, but then again if you’ve got that chorus and everything else going for you you shouldn’t need to be begging. She’s a fool.

The Killers – Shot At The Night

The Killers have gone and done electropop.

Tim: The obligatory new single from the upcoming Direct Hits singles collection, this is produced by M83.

Tom: Ooh, now that’s exciting. That’s a combination I hadn’t thought of.

Tim: Now I’ve told you that, you’ll hit play and about thirteen seconds later think “oh, yeah”.

Tim: So, The Killers have gone and done electropop, and they’ve made quite a decent job of it.

Tom: M83’s influence is obvious, although it’s not quite the full-on explosion of electropop that they’re known for before. It’s a much calmer track than I expected.

Tim: Yes – outside the chorus, it has to be said there’s not a lot going on, aside from a gradually increasing level of anticipation for what’s coming inside the chorus. Because that chorus is fantastic. It makes the song, though that does come with with a sense of disappointment: if the verses matched up to, this could have been one of the songs of the year.

Tom: I still reckon there could be more, even there – M83 are known for producing such massive tracks that even the chorus was a touch disappointing to me.

Tim: You think? Either way, this could be better, and “America’s biggest rock band changes direction and absolutely smashes it” has a nice ring to it; “…and does a manageable job” doesn’t so much. But still, for me, what a chorus.

Britney Spears – Work Bitch

Ah. Generic EDM. Super.

Tim: First new track since the really rather good Femme Fatale album; back then we were playing with dubstep, what’s up this time?

Tim: Ah. Generic EDM. Super.

Tom: Whoa, before we get to the music: what’s with that album cover? Something seems really… well, badly Photoshopped.

Tim: Well, it’s certainly a very narrow waist she’s got going on.

Tom: I know that’s to be expected, but her head doesn’t seem to fit quite onto her body, and the angle of her arm just seems… wrong. Either that’s a really awkward position, or there’s been some rather interesting editing done in post.

Tim: Looking at the mirror reflection, I’d tend towards the former, actually – like she’s leaning as far towards the camera as she possibly can whilst keeping her head tilted back and her arms on the side. You’re right, it is a bit odd.

Tom: Anyway, yes. This really is generic, isn’t it?

Tim: Yes, and very disappointing, for any number of reasons. Lyrics for one (Maserati/Bugatti is as lazy as they come, and you’re using it twice?), dullness of the backing for another, but the biggest one is simply two words: where’s Britney? This could be any singer at all – if it wasn’t Britney, this’d be a track by will.i.am (who is the producer BTW) feat. Vocalist.

Tom: Agreed. She’s talking for a good fraction of it, and what’s left is so distorted by vocoders and production that there’s not really any of her left.

Tim: She’s been one of the biggest pop sensations for all of the past fifteen years – why on earth is her personality almost entirely absent from an album’s lead single? Well, I say almost entirely – the middle eight is good. The middle eight is what the track should be. The middle eight, in fact, turns my reaction from a “what the hell is this?” to a “why the hell is this?”. This should be so, so much better. But it isn’t.

Daft Punk – Lose Yourself To Dance

Is it any better than Get Lucky?

Tim: We didn’t originally review Get Lucky because we both found it a bit dull and uninspirational. Let’s see if the same applies to this next one.

Tim: Yes. Yes it does. It is just as monotonous, just as repetitive, just as mathematically calculated to get stuck in your head, and just as, essentially, dull.

Tom: Which is a great shame, because – for once – it was the intro and first verse that I found the best bit of the song. After that, yes, it just keeps going. Still, at least there’s an actual video this time… even it does go on a bit.

Tim: Does it really only last four minutes eleven?

Tom: I don’t know, I sort of lost track after three.

Tone Damli – Perfect World

This a is track with a BIG CHORUS.

Tim: This a is track with a BIG CHORUS.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CantenToGpk

Tim: You see? This is actually the kind of track I’d hoped Katy Perry would be doing when she said she was done with the bubblegum-flavoured pop, rather than actually just doing more bubblegum-flavoured pop. Loud, brash and wonderful.

Tom: Agreed. I know you liked ‘Roar’ better than I did, but even so – I’m glad you agree this would have been a better direction. Mind you, just comparing her to Perry isn’t fair — she’s clearly not, she’s clearly going her own way, and it’s a damn good way to go.

Tim: To be honest, it almost seems like there’s too much in there – not that they should lose anything, but perhaps just turn down one or two bits? I don’t know, I’m probably just being picky, but it’s a bit odd that she’s shouting her head off and it’s still a bit difficult to make her out.

Tom: That’s probably down to YouTube compression – the song’s been mastered for high-bitrate MP3s and proper speakers, and it’s not doing well being crushed down. Either that, or they’ve just turned everything up too loud.

Tim: In terms of pure pop noise, though, it’s great.

Satin Circus – If You Love Me

It’s difficult for a boyband to pitch a chorus like that without comparison.

Tim: Satin Circus (known to their parents as Krippe, Axel, Paul and Olli), you’ll recall, are a Finnish “we’re really not a boyband” boy band, who gave us quite the One Direction-esque debut single Emma. That was about five months ago; probably time for a follow-up.

Tim: So, good news for them: it’s not quite as One Direction as previously. It’s remarkably close to The Wanted, but at least it’s not One Direction.

Tom: You say that, but it’s difficult for a boyband to pitch a chorus like that these days without comparison to 1D. The rest of the song doesn’t match, but man, that chorus.

Tim: Actually, this isn’t quite fair. Well, it is fair, because it is like that, but it’d be rude to judge them just based on their similarities to varying boybands. (You’ll note that I did not say “other boybands”, because that would imply that Satin Circus are a ‘boyband’. They are not. Boyband members would not be manly enough to chop wood or handle fireworks.)

Tom: I propose a new term, Tim: MANBAND.

Tim: Debatable. For the moment, let’s judge them on the music.

Tom: Probably for the best.

Tim: Full marks to them for not putting out a crappy acoustic guitar-led ballad to encompass all bases, because this as it is is very good. I like it a lot, and fine, I will grudgingly admit that I appreciate that they combine the talents of singing, writing and playing.

Tom: Yep. The verses go on a bit for me, but the middle eight and final chorus make up for it so much that I don’t really mind.

Tim: Well done everyone.

Thirty Seconds to Mars – Do Or Die

“Is this chorus big and bold enough?”

Tim: I have a thing with rock bands. Basically, I can cope with their music being a bit of a racket, as long the chorus is epic enough, or at least has a decent, generally quite drawn-out, hook to it.

Tom: Crikey. There’s a reason we don’t normally review rock music, folks, and that’s it.

Tim: Kings and Queens, for example – utterly fantastic track. And now there’s this (a fan-made lyric video, by the way – the official seven minute one is full of all sorts of guff).

Tom: I want to go to Iceland now. Disappointingly, though, it won’t have a soundtrack like that.

Tim: So, my question is this: is this chorus big and bold enough that it outweighs the fair racket that is the rest of the song?

Tom: I disagree with your basic premise there. That’s not a racket – the song’s great! And that chorus, in particular. But does that big, bold chorus enough for you?

Tim: I think it just about is, though inevitably if I wake up to it on the radio I’ll think ‘oh, God, can’t we have something a bit calmer’. It’s quite a short chorus, and I wouldn’t mind a bit more, and I can’t quite see it ever rising to Kings and Queens levels, but I think it’s alright. Just about.

Tom: Speak for yourself. I think it’s marvellous.