US Singles Chart - Music From Across The Pond

You may remember a few months ago I took on the UK singles chart, explaining in my opinion why I think they got where they did. I would like to retract my statement about Lady Gaga from that by the way. But anyway, its that time again, but this time I'm taking on the land of the free, the home of the American dream, Uncle Sam's kingdom. That's right, the US of A. Bring it on bitch!

1. Rihanna - Rude Boy
Ohmydeargodilovethissong. Its absolutely fantastic. But then again I have always loved Rihanna, ever since the bass of 'Pon De Replay from the speakers' first flowed through my sneakers. (See what I did there, I don't even wear sneakers, well, trainers as we Brits call them, its a right pain when i want to go to the gym...) This song is a great song to dance to, its got that thumping repetitive beat that makes drunken people think they can move to. I tend to flick my hair around a lot to it. But the whole song is about sex. "Come on rude, rude boy, can you get it up? Come on rude, rude boy, is you big enough?" No wonder the album is called 'Rated R'. And whilst its nice to see a woman asserting her sexuality, its worrying that a large amount of Rihanna's fan base will be young girls, can you imagine your 11 year old sister belting out these lyrics? No, I didn't think so either.
2. Need You Now - Lady Antebellum
I must say this one stumped me. Who the fuck are/is Lady Antebullum? Like a new more complicatedly named Lady Gaga or what? So I stumbled over to my beloved youtube (over all not too happy about it, seeing as I'm currently listening to the new Laura Marling album) to listen. Is it just me or does the guy on the left look like a hairy version (oh shit, don't show him to Eileen) of that guy from N Sync, Lance Bass and do they other two look like extras from Hollyoaks? But no, they don't sound anything like N Sync, they just sound like Taylor Swift singing with Miley Cyrus' dad. Not sure it would sell over here, but then again Miley and Taylor have done quite well. Its very country and western, something American's love, something I'm not over all impressed with and this song isn't a lyrical masterpiece. But its a sweet love song, that's my only explanation.

. Break Your Heart - Taio Cruz ft Ludacris
An English R&B artist breaking America? I'm impressed. He has done what Robbie Williams so many others failed to do... (and hopefully what Cheryl Cole also fails to do, lets not spread that torture even further) Although this song is all about being a player. I'm not sure why people would want to identify with a song which repeats the line "I'm only going to break, break your heart". Nice guy. But it features a big named rapper, which seems the general way to break America. And its the repetitive, R&B sound that the masses like. It makes me want to break his heart... but in a more sadistic way. But hey, gotta hand it to the guy. He broke America.

4. Imma Be - Black Eyed Peas
WHY? WHY? WHY? I loved 'I've got a feeling' and 'Meet me halfway', but why do they feel the need to ruin Fergie's already shitty voice by making it robotic. It seems like Will.I.Am makes the rest of his band mates into cyborgs and keeps his own voice completely natural, surely that's a bit mean? But this song has a thumping bassline which the uneducated music listeners seem to like. And maybe they like appalling english to? I mean what the fuck does 'Imma Be' even mean? It it some other language? The language of the peas with black eyes? I have no clue, I just know I don't like it.

>5. Nothin' On You - B.O.B & Bruno Mars
Firstly, why do they feel the need to get rid of the 'g' in nothing. Is that asserting there gangster powers or something? I was taught that proper english will get you everywhere, but apparently spelling like a twat gets you onto spots number 4 and 5 on the US singles chart. Also, B.O.B? You're name is Bob, deal with it. Unless its something different, cos again, I don't have the faintest idea who these people are. To Youtube once more! The songs quite nice, but its very much like every other R&B song, it features a gorgeous black guy with a lovely voice and a less gorgeous rapper and they sing about love. Come on guys, be original. I heard this years ago when Neyo was so sick of love songs and Chris Brown wanted the lovy-dovey kiss kiss.

What can I derive from this information? Americans like R&B/rap music. In fact number 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 18, 20, 21, 22, 24, 27, 31, 33 and 35 are also all R&B/rap songs. At least America's consistent.

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10 Songs of the Week

I'm getting worse and worse for posting, though not through choice. I've only been back at college for a week, and I'm already bogged down with essays and reading lists and all sorts. I guess this is sort of one of those years where I have to work, lest I risk messing up my future.
Ho hum, enough with the negative stuff- how have you all been? All slowly getting back into the swing of things after the holidays, I suspect. I'm having a bit of a musical week, by which I'm meaning to shitloads of music, not that I'm rockin' out to the Sound of Music, or anything. So, I thought it would be nice to share with you what's goin' on musically with me as of late:

THE WHO, 'BABA O' RILEY'
'Who's Next' has easily one of the best album covers of all time, and is one of the best albums of all time as well. Baba O'Riley is very, very high up on my list of ultimate tracks to play air guitar to alone in my bedroom. The Who also provide all of the theme tunes for CSI, and I do love a good bit of CSI.

MARIANA'S TRENCH, 'ACADIA' I just remembered the guitar solo on 'Acadia' reminds me of 'Baba O' Riley', for some strange reason. I still don't think 'Masterpiece Theatre' is a patch on 'Fix Me', but they're still seem like a pretty cool bunch of dudes, so ho hum.

ALEXISONFIRE, ANYTHING, EVERYTHING, JUST GIVE ME ALEXISONFIRE QUICK!
(BUT MAINLY 'THIS COULD BE ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD')
I'm going to see them in concert in October! Win! I also like to imagine what would happen if Alexisonfire and Marianas Trench got into some Canadian-rock-band-battle-to-the-death. Alexisonfire would easily win- it would be a bit of a massacre, actually. Any member of Alexisonfire could snap the rather effeminate Josh Ramsay (lead singer of MT) like a twig. No offence to Josh- he just seems like he'd benefit from a good square meal.

CITY AND COLOUR, 'AS MUCH AS I EVER COULD'
My Alexisonfire binge just sort of merged into a City and Colour binge. I think I gravely underestimated 'As Much As I Ever Could' in particular.

THE CURE, 'JUST LIKE HEAVEN'
Ooh, I love The Cure. It is a pity that all decent bands from England have been and gone, though. Our music scene is a little lacking in comparison at the moment.

NEKO CASE, 'PRISON GIRLS'
'Middle Cyclone', the album this song is from is easily my favorite of the albums that I reviewed on Song by Song. All of the songs are also alot of fun to sing along to, particularly 'People Got a Lotta Nerve'- on the count of three, 'I'm a man-man-man, man-man-man-eater!'

THE BEATLES, 'PAPERBACK WRITER'
You may notice an old-English-band theme to my current musical taste. I don't know, maybe I'm going to patriotic. For some reason, there's this massive taboo about people listening to '1'- what, just because it's basically a compilation of their famous songs, I'm not allowed to listen to it?

BAT FOR LASHES, 'MOON AND MOON'
Since viewing her performance at the Mercury Prize Awards, I can't stop listening to her. Her strangely hypnotic voice gets me every time.

AS CITIES BURN, 'PETTY'
Still my album of the year thus far. Truly stunning. Enough said.

JOY DIVISION, 'LOVE WILL TEAR US APART'
A truly immense song. Have you watched 'Control', the biopic about them? That too is immense, and so visually beautiful. Go buy it, now.

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Song by Song: 'Middle Cyclone' by Neko Case

A new feature, in which I break down a new release, song by song. This review was also written during the first time I heard this album. First up: 'Middle Cyclone', by everyone's favorite country-singing, flame-haired vixen, Neko Case.

1. This Tornado Loves You- Solid guitars, usual silky-smooth vocals, nice lyrics. Good, but nothing outstanding.

2. The Next Time You Say 'Forever'- One of my favorite tracks on this album. Short, sweet, swollen with sound and emotion. A rare mix of beauty and comedy: "The next time you say forever, I'll punch you in your face..." A wonderful offering for the insecure lover in all of us.

3. People Got A Lotta Nerve- I'm a man-man-man, man-man-man-eater! The song that lead me to this album. Joyous, bouncy, catchy- I'm having a hard time typing and not dancing right now.

4. Polar Nettles- Something a little different from Ms. Case- a little electronic, a little depressing. Seems a little strange to put this next to 'People Got a Lotta Nerve', though- they don't quite flow from one to t'other.

5. Vengeance is Sleeping- Very, very pretty- there's something about her voice that rings like a deeper, richer Jenny Lewis.

6. Never Turn Your Back on Mother Earth- Pretty good song all in all, but it sounds a little middle-of-the-road. A little slow, and doesn't really offer anything new to the album.

7. Middle Cyclone- Painfully country, in a good way. The vocals at their prime- soft in places, formidable in others. Speaking of which, does anyone else feel this is an odd cover for a country album? I can't decide whether or not that picture of Neko Case brandishing a sword on the top of a car is genius, or shite.

8. Fever- I'm beginning to love the recurring jangly sounds- they definitely add something to the percussion, particularly in this song. In fact, all of the sounds in this song work beautifully together. Some nice wordplay as well-lovely.

9. Magpie to the Morning- From 'doves' in Fever to magpies, she certainly likes her bird imagery. Sleepy and beautiful, with some lovely harmonies, but I'm getting a little miffed about how short the songs are.

10. I'm an Animal- Ok, the songs are too short. I want a little more bulk, a little development, a little more. I think the shortness of the songs makes the album sound a little premature. The length of the songs compromises this album's potential.

11. Prison Girls- The deep, brooding side of Neko Case at it's best- appropriately named, I feel. What's striking me about the album is the exquisite lyrics: 'I love your long shadows and your gun powder eyes...'

12. Don't Forget Me- Here's one for the lovers- choc-full of pianos and powerhouse vocals. Lovely jubbly.

13. The Pharaohs- The most commanding vocals of this album thus far- and that's saying something. 'I want the Pharaohs, but there's only men'- looking for a sugar daddy, clearly- some Pharaohs are, like, 5000 years old, afterall. Love the slightly fairground ending.

14. Red Tide- Something a little different- this song packs more of a punch than the rest of the album. This song has a little more back bone, and the kind of instrumentals that can actually contend with Case's vocals. Love it.

15. Marais la Nuit- Translates to 'The Night Marsh'- literally half an hour of frog noises from Neko's farm in Vermont. I guess I should've seen this coming, since the album is packed with natural imagery. Pitchfork said this track shows: ' just how thoroughly Case has imagined her own little world on these three albums and how thoroughly she rules that realm.' Really, I think it's a little unnecessary- it's like whale music, but without the relaxing part. In short: a little pointless.

All in all, a very good album. Could do with revising timing (make 'Marais la Nuit' shorter, and everything else longer), but remarkable vocals and a very strong sound nonetheless.

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