Bimonthly(?) mp3 blog: UK pop edition
Aug. 18th, 2004 02:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
petroniaBusted - Thunderbirds Are Go
I'm given to understand that there's a new Thunderbirds movie with Ben Kingsley innit, and this is the theme song. I'm also given to understand that this is a UK Number One. So this track is probably old news to many of you; OTOH, there's the rest (and it's worthwhile to ponder the fact that North Americans have no real idea who Busted are. Does it still count as listening to chartpop, id est taking a popist stance for the analytical-among-us, if one is simply not exposed to the mediatic trappings of chartpop? Just going by the sound, the happy easy guitar-pop of them doesn't say much to me about what and who they are and even their commerciality or lack thereof, but then again you're talking to the person who thought the Spice Girls were African-American the first time she heard'em on the radio), to whom I say, ye must go forth and download, for this is A SONG FOR THE AGES.
Copy-pasting own blurb from comment thread elsewhere, because I'm lazy like that:
I'm using your analytical breakdown as an excuse to play the song (three times XD), which in any case I've been doing biking to and from work today. I think it's a great biking song, better biking than driving because of that atavistic feel it has about it (the retro, the completely unironic bugle). Driving songs need a touch of silky electronic technology, or - alternately depending on what car you're (imagining yourself) driving at what speed - a bit of grit and bounce and dirty bass. "Thunderbirds" tosses one right back to 12yrs old though, skinny summer scraped knees, driving that bicycle as fast as it will go, because it's the only vehicle one's got that goes faster than one's own feet, and in one's mind it's anything from a Gundam to a flying unicorn. Or a spaceship that comes out of the pool.
(By this I mean, of course, that it's a very bad song to play when biking on two Smirnoff cranberry twisters and a glass of Italian red raided from boss's family barbecue party, if you don't want to get into a horrible accident or at least make a fool of yourself on the public streets. Not that, er, I'd know anything about that. XD)
Girls Aloud - The Show
Which I discussed at lateral length the last time I posted an mp3. XD Girls Aloud are the product of one of the later editions of Pop Idol (am I even right?), and their latest single is called "Love Machine" which I believe is not a Morning Musume cover, though it would be REALLY FUNNY if it were. Tragically I do not have any mp3s of their songs besides this one, though I've liked all the ones I've heard; I stream their videos religiously, because I have a weird isolated crossed wire in my brain that causes me to be vastly more interested by girlbands than by boybands. Though tunes aside the only member I like like is Nicola, because stop me if this sounds familiar she's the redhead and also the least capable singer, which given circumstances I find rather endearing.
O-Zone - Dragostea Din Tei
And now for the Raiding Song of the Ghei Barbarian Hordes, which I've also discussed somewhat. >D I suspect (suspect?) that this is one of those novelty "summer hit" earworms that will hop the pond if it hasn't already - like "All The Things She Said" or "The Ketchup Song", you can actually follow the progress of its geographic invasion by sticking a red pin on a hypothetic globe every time and place it goes to #1 on the radio. Amusement! Horror! Perhaps they will have English lyrics for America, and I shall be able to understand what they say about the linden tree.
I'm given to understand that there's a new Thunderbirds movie with Ben Kingsley innit, and this is the theme song. I'm also given to understand that this is a UK Number One. So this track is probably old news to many of you; OTOH, there's the rest (and it's worthwhile to ponder the fact that North Americans have no real idea who Busted are. Does it still count as listening to chartpop, id est taking a popist stance for the analytical-among-us, if one is simply not exposed to the mediatic trappings of chartpop? Just going by the sound, the happy easy guitar-pop of them doesn't say much to me about what and who they are and even their commerciality or lack thereof, but then again you're talking to the person who thought the Spice Girls were African-American the first time she heard'em on the radio), to whom I say, ye must go forth and download, for this is A SONG FOR THE AGES.
Copy-pasting own blurb from comment thread elsewhere, because I'm lazy like that:
I'm using your analytical breakdown as an excuse to play the song (three times XD), which in any case I've been doing biking to and from work today. I think it's a great biking song, better biking than driving because of that atavistic feel it has about it (the retro, the completely unironic bugle). Driving songs need a touch of silky electronic technology, or - alternately depending on what car you're (imagining yourself) driving at what speed - a bit of grit and bounce and dirty bass. "Thunderbirds" tosses one right back to 12yrs old though, skinny summer scraped knees, driving that bicycle as fast as it will go, because it's the only vehicle one's got that goes faster than one's own feet, and in one's mind it's anything from a Gundam to a flying unicorn. Or a spaceship that comes out of the pool.
(By this I mean, of course, that it's a very bad song to play when biking on two Smirnoff cranberry twisters and a glass of Italian red raided from boss's family barbecue party, if you don't want to get into a horrible accident or at least make a fool of yourself on the public streets. Not that, er, I'd know anything about that. XD)
Girls Aloud - The Show
Which I discussed at lateral length the last time I posted an mp3. XD Girls Aloud are the product of one of the later editions of Pop Idol (am I even right?), and their latest single is called "Love Machine" which I believe is not a Morning Musume cover, though it would be REALLY FUNNY if it were. Tragically I do not have any mp3s of their songs besides this one, though I've liked all the ones I've heard; I stream their videos religiously, because I have a weird isolated crossed wire in my brain that causes me to be vastly more interested by girlbands than by boybands. Though tunes aside the only member I like like is Nicola, because stop me if this sounds familiar she's the redhead and also the least capable singer, which given circumstances I find rather endearing.
O-Zone - Dragostea Din Tei
And now for the Raiding Song of the Ghei Barbarian Hordes, which I've also discussed somewhat. >D I suspect (suspect?) that this is one of those novelty "summer hit" earworms that will hop the pond if it hasn't already - like "All The Things She Said" or "The Ketchup Song", you can actually follow the progress of its geographic invasion by sticking a red pin on a hypothetic globe every time and place it goes to #1 on the radio. Amusement! Horror! Perhaps they will have English lyrics for America, and I shall be able to understand what they say about the linden tree.
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Thunderbirds
Date: 2004-08-18 01:41 pm (UTC)(Thanks Google, but I still don't know what the movie's about - although I must've seen a preview of it somewhere, maybe TV, more probably FanTasia? o_O)
-Ced
Re: Thunderbirds
Date: 2004-08-18 01:59 pm (UTC)The movie, however, has people instead of marionettes.
There might have been an ad for it in the Fantasia programme, it's a cheesy enough movie. I'd look for it, but my copy of the programme is buried under a pile of Vogue magazines.
Re: Thunderbirds
Date: 2004-08-18 02:12 pm (UTC)i also don't know if this station is available in Canada. but. XD
Re: Thunderbirds
Date: 2004-08-18 04:35 pm (UTC)Vogue
Date: 2004-08-18 04:48 pm (UTC)... Er, it's a very well-known North American fashion magazine. Their website is here.
(I can't believe you've never heard of it.)
Re: Vogue
Date: 2004-08-18 09:57 pm (UTC)-Ced
Re: Vogue
Date: 2004-08-19 07:11 am (UTC)Re: Vogue
Date: 2004-08-19 06:32 pm (UTC)Your logic is not earth logic, man.
*scratches head*
no subject
Date: 2004-08-18 02:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-18 02:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-18 02:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-18 05:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-19 07:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-19 07:15 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-19 03:53 pm (UTC)Thank god I'm not the only one
Date: 2004-08-18 03:01 pm (UTC)I promptly spent the rest of the afternoon tracking down an mp3 of that damn song.
(As an aside, didn't think the movie was too bad for the kids' action movie genre.)
Re: Thank god I'm not the only one
Date: 2004-08-19 08:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-18 03:32 pm (UTC)Thunderbirds! is no longer #1, sadly. But two weeks! pretty good going in these uncertain times, what.
About the chartpop-by-country thing -- Ed O, who runs Enthusiastic But Mediocre, is Australian: pretty much all the chartpop he's talking about is foreign to him. And he's the guy who deals with European chartpop - most of which is completely unknown and context-free for UK people, and it seems like a greater proportion of popists are from t'UK - more than anyone, even Mr NYLPM. I guess because he's become more comfortable with dealing with chartpop without media background?
Girls Aloud were formed on 'popstars: the rivals', which formed two pop groups, the other all-male and rubbish called One True Voice whose singles were, as far as I can remember, 'Sacred Trust' (dull midtempo bollocks) and then (Shakespeare's) Way With Words, which... well. The name. XD They flopped, and were dropped. GA got to #1 with first single 'Sound of the Underground' (surf guitar! Xenomania!) and earned their place in the nation's hearts despite Cheryl getting either accused or convicted on charges of racial assault, the racial aspect of which she has consistently denied.
Nicola used to be my favourite, but the hotttness that is Kimberly has started distracting me from the True Path.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-19 08:58 am (UTC)Well, I expect people to like/blog chartpop sans media background - I mean, description of every other jpop fansite, wot. ^^; But it's precisely because of my experience with Japanese pop music (pop now used in the blogosphere sense and not as in "jpop" which is a genre thereof really) that makes me... wary? of the idea that the person sans background is going to receive an impression of the song that's anything like what the person with background is going to receive. Mostly of course due to the the artist and his/her position/image, which is an important part of why the music was produced in such a form and shape, but genre specifics even: things you'd think are obvious from the music itself often aren't. Japanese bluegrass sounds very much like American bluegrass, but the cultural associations to a Japanese person are different (70's Western rock invasion, I think?). Of course the Japanese are weird in that sense, but I see the assumption being made by popists quite often that context-free chartpop is being produced in East European countries, Japan, etc. for the same reasons it's produced in the UK/US, and intended to be consumed the same way, because it sounds similar. But what if it's not? There's projection of one's own cultural values (obv. the rock vs. pop divide/controversy among other things) onto the Other going on there.
Er, okay, dropping theory on plate to see if anyone pours ketchup onnit. Thanks for the thumbnail recap of GA's history. XD
no subject
Date: 2004-08-18 07:04 pm (UTC)Thanks. ^_^
no subject
Date: 2004-08-19 08:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-19 05:58 pm (UTC)In a way, I'm glad, because that means we got Maksim, Bond and the like. *grin*
Thank you for the music
Date: 2004-08-18 10:31 pm (UTC)I saw the trailer for the Thunderbirds remake when I got bored and ended up in the video room at Odyssey Con. It looks, um, horrible and not in the good way.
Re: Thank you for the music
Date: 2004-08-19 08:07 am (UTC)