Death By Airplay

Single #19: Enrique Iglesias - Tonight (I'm Fucking You)

2011-02-01T15:26:00.000-08:00

Or ‘Tonight (I’m Lovin’ You) if you want the radio friendly version.

Doesn’t mess about does he Enrique? As he spends the song explaining to us very carefully, he will have sex with us tonight, pretty much whether we like it or not. That probably won’t improve his chances in court if we decide we’re not up for it, but it’s nice to know that he doesn’t feel the need to placate us with thinly veiled innuendo or telling us we can ‘lick the lollilop.’

Other than the comical title and lyrics, this is a reasonable bit of dance pop. It’s not as good as Spark or even Rihanna’s newer direction, but it goes all euphoric in the right place and takes some getting out of your head.

We look forward to the sequel Tomorrow (I’m Watching TV).

Death By Airplay: The Return....

2011-01-30T14:53:00.000-08:00

Death By Airplay returns on Tuesday...

Single #18: Keri Hilson - Pretty Girl Rock

2011-01-11T15:44:00.000-08:00

Best known for hooking with Timbaland for "Knock You Down", Keri Hilson is looking to step out of the shadow of being just a voice on a track and into the spotlight in her own right.

Her new single "Pretty Girl Rock", which has Ne-Yo amongst its songwriters, is a bizarre choice for a big entrance. A funny mixture of coo doo wop and hip hop posturing, it's unreasonably catchy, but also strangely collage esque in its prodcution.

It's difficult to work out why Hilson has chosen this track, it's good and it'll stay in your brain for days. But it's lyrical content makes it very very annoying. Catchy wins out this time though.

Death By Airplay Top Ten Singles Of 2010: #1

2010-12-31T11:00:00.000-08:00

Marina And The Diamonds - Hollywood

It takes something special to beat Robyn’s masterpiece and this song is it. If 2010 is remembered for one artist, it should be Marina Diamandis. She’s one of the most interesting, creative and talented artists in music at the moment and seems to have a gift for writing sugary pop music with a biting satirical edge in their lyrics. This is her finest moment so far. Happy New Year.

Death By Airplay Top Ten Singles Of 2010: #2

2010-12-31T05:00:00.000-08:00

Robyn - Dancing On My Own

Most artists are lucky if they release two great albums in their careers. Robyn's released two in one year. The first single from her "Body Talk" trilogy of albums, this is pretty much the perfect pop song. As well as being insanely catchy, its lyrics are brutally emotive, really setting the scene of a crowded club which seems as empty as country road at 4am. With icy synths, throbbing hooks and a driving melody, it's a beautiful piece of music. In any other year, it would be the best track of the year, but 2010 was not just any year…

Death By Airplay Top Ten Singles Of 2010: #3

2010-12-30T11:00:00.000-08:00

Kanye West - Power

Most of his fifth “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” requires four or five listens before you really start to get it, but the lead single is as instantaneous as they come. Underpinned by a booming King Crimson sample, the track zips through its five minutes. Completely brilliant.

Death By Airplay Top Ten Singles Of 2010: #4

2010-12-30T05:00:00.000-08:00

N-Dubz - Best Behaviour

The video is one big exercise in showing off. The lyrics are as subtle as a right hook from a night club bouncer. And yet it’s all saved by a soaring, whallop of a chorus. If it was written by anyone but N-Dubz, it would have been hailed as a brilliant anthem of tour burnout and song writing. A top track.

Death By Airplay Top Ten Singles Of 2010: #5

2010-12-29T11:00:00.000-08:00

Rihanna - Rude Boy

Easily the standout single from her “Rated R” album, this wonderfully playful track still sounds fantastic, nine months after it was released and played to death on the airwaves.

Death By Airplay Top Ten Singles Of 2010: #6

2010-12-29T05:00:00.000-08:00

B.O.B Feat. Hayley Williams - Airplanes

Hayley Williams may have endured a traumatic end to the year with her song writing partner and former boyfriend walking out of Paramore, but she’ll be best remembered this year for her star turn alongside B.O.B. A neatly crafted, wistful collaboration, Williams’ vocals make the song, which was one of the most played this year and yet it still sounds great.

Death By Airplay Top Ten Singles Of 2010: #7

2010-12-28T11:00:00.000-08:00

Florence & The Machine - Heavy In Your Arms

The only new release from Florence & The Machine turned out to be an absolute belter. All the best bits from her “Lungs” album all compressed into one track. It was ornate, graceful, lavish and full of vocal yearning. Deserved more attention than it got.

Death By Airplay Top Ten Singles Of 2010: #8

2010-12-28T05:27:00.000-08:00

Crystal Castles Feat. Robert Smith - Not In Love

Taking a break from abrasive, Nintendo sampling electronica, Crystal Castles suddenly went all hands in the air pop, with a little help from the Cure’s Robert Smith. And it really really worked. All cooing vocals and a stupendous chorus. One of these an album from now on would be brilliant.

Death By Airplay Top Ten Singles Of 2010: #9

2010-12-27T11:00:00.000-08:00

#9: Professor Green Feat. Lily Allen - Just Be Good To Green

Professor Green’s reworking of Beats International’s seminal bit of reggae pop is one of the best uses of a sample this year. Powered by the catchy groove of the original and the vocal chemistry between Green and Lily Allen, this is a cheeky, lively bit of pop music.

Death By Airplay Top Ten Singles Of 2010: #10

2010-12-27T05:00:00.000-08:00

#10: Hurts - Wonderful Life

The Mancunian duo’s debut single, which tells the story of a suicidal middle aged man being talked down from jumping over a throbbing 80s pop soundtrack, has one of the year’s most uplifting and irresistible choruses. The best thing they’ve done so far and more than likely, the best thing they’ll ever do.

Death By Airplay Top Ten Singles Of 2010

2010-12-27T04:23:00.000-08:00

Right, end of year countdown time.

For the next five days, two tracks will be knocked off the list, appearing at 1pm and 7pm (GMT), culminating in the Death By Airplay single of the year on New Years Eve.

5 Artists Worth Getting Excited About In 2011 #5: Lights

2010-12-18T13:29:00.000-08:00

Given there are people of acts who do kooky electro pop, it's pretty difficult to stand out. But Canadian singer Lights has something different about her. She's messier, less slick and she's even duetted with Bring Me The Horizon. She has a real pop art quality to her songs, like they've been built using paint and glue and ended up with this glittery, slightly wonky finish. It's great though. She's one to watch.

5 Artists Worth Getting Excited About In 2011 #4: Primary 1

2010-12-16T14:27:00.000-08:00

Last year so much was expected of Ali Love, but he let everybody down, badly. So did Dan Black, but hopefully Primary 1 will be able to pull off the "British Prince" tag in 2011. Sharp, funky and great live.

5 Artists Worth Getting Excited About In 2011 #3: Esben And The Witch

2010-12-15T14:47:00.000-08:00

If you liked either Bat for Lashes or Florence and the Machine, then you should fall in love with Esben and the Witch. Covered in the same ethereal mist as those two, but with a real wickedness to their sound. It draws you in slowly, but utterly and completely too. Brilliant.

5 Artists Worth Getting Excited About In 2011 #2: exlovers

2010-12-08T14:17:00.000-08:00

Heartbroken pop is so hard to do well. Most who try end up sounding like Pixie Lott and like they've been copying doing lyrics from livejournal. London's exlovers however manage to fuse earnest indie pop guitars with cooing harmonies and spine tingling choruses that are just completely irrestible.

They combine all the best bits of Britpop, shoe gaze and alt rock in their sound, with Pulp, Teenage Fanclub and Dandy Warhols being most pronounced in the mix.

Hopefully, their first album should be ready next year, it can't come soon enough.

Check them out here:

5 Artists Worth Getting Excited About In 2011 #1: Jamie Woon

2010-12-07T16:11:00.000-08:00

A break from the usual as it's almost the end of the year. The next few blogs will look back at 2010, praising and panning those who deserve it. We start by looking forward, to next year, and the five artists worth getting really excited about. You get one a day for the next five...

Jamie Woon

In the loosest possible terms, Jamie Woon is a soul singer. But he's not about to do a Plan B and start offering out Marvin Gaye lite, no, Woon has his own take on the much mined genre. For his debut album, he's worked with king of dubstep Burial and his material has the same spacious grace that makes dubstep such a beloved sub genre. His debut single "Night Air" has the same delicious melancholia of Portishead and early Massive Attack, hauntingly beautiful and incredibly infectious. Hopefully his first record, due in March, will be full of more of the same.

Check it out here:

Single #17: Alesha Dixon - Radio

2010-11-29T13:50:00.000-08:00

Technically, you’d have to say Alesha Dixon runs a portfolio career. Once a member of girl band Mis Teeq, she’s best known these days for being a judge on Strictly Come Dancing. She’s also been trying her hand at TV presenting, column dictating and has been attempting since Mis Teeq’s demise to forge a name as a solo artist. So far with little success.

The benchmark for Dixon should be Cheryl Cole. They’re both more famous for judging other people than their own output and despite being background members of girl bands, have to become the only members of their outfits to have solo careers.

Dixon however is nowhere near as shrewd choser of a pop song as the Colemeister. All her tracks so far have been about as exciting as a paving slab. Sludgy ballads with emotional lobotomies. Even “The Boy Does Nothing”, her rattlely upbeat number that had a video covered in ballroom dancers (see dancers, making the connection, people can be so forgetful you see) was an oddly empty track. Her biggest hit “Breathe Slow” went from being pedestrian to passable when it was remixed by Cahill, but she’s yet to have a proper big hit. And she won’t get one either, if she keeps picking tracks like new single “Radio.”

This as cold and neutered as pop songs get. It’s supposed to be love lorn, it’s supposed to be a tribute to emotional turmoil. It’s neither of those things, the lyrics are clumsy and it is incredibly one paced. Written by Chipmunk collaborator Emeli Sande, it lacks any tangible heart or soul, with Dixon pleading with listeners to turn off the radio. She only needs to say it one or twice before most will oblige.

Even when compared with Dixon’s early career in Mis Teeq, this feels like a let down. Mis Teeq only had one or two decent tracks, but they were feisty and likeable with Dixon providing a streetwise, bolshy vocal to supplement her bandmates. Now she just sounds wounded all the time, lacking any musical personality or authority, drifting from ballad to ballad, photocopying a vocal performance, forever destined to under whelm.

Dixon’s constant presence in the public eye will buy her more time with her record label, but this just isn’t good enough.

Single #16: Michael Jackson & Akon - Hold My Hand

2010-11-23T15:14:00.000-08:00

Normally, introductions to a single are packed with details about the artist's past endeavours and future plans, but, you'd imagine, most people are pretty up to date with the background of this particular artist, and, well, it's difficult to have future plans when you're dead.

If you've just escaped from a padded cell however, Michael Jackson was a pop singer who sold a lot of records and spent a lot of money. Check him out. He made some decent records.

Key word there, "Was", as in no longer, not anymore, dearly departed and very much missed. Jackson died in 2009. Yet he's still making records apparently, with the mystinfingly successful Akon. They've done a duet. Yes, a duet, they've called it a duet. To emphasise this, Akon even shouts "Akon and MJ" over the hammy synthesised strings that start the song. This is Jackson's record label saying "This is real, this is genuine, we've got Derek Acorah in and apparently Michael's fine with it."

The track itself is non description blandness of the worst kind, much like many of Jackson's later releases. Akon does his stereotypical pleading whine over the top of a sickly sweet backing track, while bits of Jackson float in and out, cut and pasted with the skill and delicacy of a five year old making a collage.

It's cringe worthy in the extreme and goes well beyond homage territory and into downright exploitation.

When artists die young, it's only natural that people want to know more about them and find lost treasures. Take Nirvana or Jeff Buckley, who's careers both ended with only meagre back catalogues built up. There's a need and clearly a market for releasing whatever you can find in those cases.

Jackson though is different. He made albums for forty years and has more than enough material released with his living approval for this to be completely unneccessary. Tracks like this, should be left alone, on the cutting room floor where they belong.

Scraping the barrel? That's much too dignified for what this is. If it flops, as it deserves to, then hopefully this will stop any future plans. If it succeeds? Jackson may be the new Tupac.

Single #15: N-Dubz - Girls

2010-11-16T14:41:00.000-08:00

To everyone who's not a signed up fan, N-Dubz are a bit of a joke. They (And by they, you're usually talking about Dino "Dappy" Contostavlos and Richard "Fazer" Rawson, not Tulisa) dress like they've been left in Urban Outfitters with the lights off, make headlines for the wrong reasons all the time and yet both are keen fishers and love flying model planes. They make hip hop for pre teens. Hormone hop, if you like.

Hormone hop is though a profitable place to pitch yourself though, N-Dubz have shifted over a million albums so far and are just about to release their third, entitled "Love.Live.Life."

They've been working with Salaam Remi on their new record, which is quite a coup and perhaps a sign they're looking to be taken a bit more seriously. Previously Dappy and Fazer had produced the albums themselves and it's a surprise to see them handing over control to a third party. Remi has an excellent track record though, he's worked extensively with Nas, a rapper even non rap fans love and was the first person to work with Amy Winehouse, producing her debut album.

The band have talked up a sonic change, especially as they're being geared up to have a big go at the US market this time round. They want new fans, older fans and to see their albums in the hands of adults who aren't just buying it as gifts for their children.

Their comeback single "Girls" doesn't show any sign of a change though as it starts in the way every N-Dubz seems to, with a blast of "Na na....niiiigghhhh" giving way to a garage band beat.

Lyrically, it's no more refined either, with the opening line of "Girls, I fuck wid dem, I dan't usually fall in luv wid em."

Remi has had some effect though, especially when you compare this track to their early stuff. When Dappy and Fazer controlled everything, the tracks were a lot more theatrical and dramatic, with big crescendos and very clearly defined choruses. "Girls" is a much steadier track, with the beat being allowed to develop as the song progresses.

Is it enough of a departure to win over any new fans? No, it's not. The lyrical posturing is still there, as is the clunking hip hop cliche of singing about batting armies of girls away. The beat and structure might be subtler and a little more elegant, but love them or hate them, this is still N-Dubz and they won't have anyone reappraising them just yet.

Single #14: B.O.B Featuring Rivers Cuomo - Magic

2010-11-09T02:17:00.000-08:00

It's hardly unusual for hip hop tracks to have collaborators all over them or to borrow a famous pair of lungs for their choruses, but Bobby Ray Simmons Jr or B.O.B to you and me, has made more use of guest vocalists than most.

His first track "Nothin On You" featured the vocal talents of rocketing soul singer Bruno Mars in its gentle litlting hook and his second release and breakthrough hit, "Airplanes" crossed over into a whole new market, thanks to Paramore's Hayley Williams heartfelt chorus.

Both singles did superbly, with "Airplanes" in particular sticking around in the charts for nigh on three months.

Third time out, B.O.B has turned to a more experienced man to supply the chorus. Weezer frontman and famous mental person Rivers Cuomo, who's approaching his twentieth anniversary in the music industry, sings the catchy as you like chorus of "Magic".

It's not a bad track, full of bouncy keyboards and it's got a hook that's very hummable. Cuomo is at his poppy best, with the charm and enthuiaism that make Weezer such a likeable rock band all over this track.

It has a summer party feel to it and is the kind of track you'd think Travie McCoy would be proud to put his name to.

The trouble is for B.O.B, the best and only memorable bit in this song is the chorus. The rap, which is delivered at a ferocious pace, is rendered forgettable by the track's glossy production and as a result, it'll pass most people by.

This isn't the first time this has happened. "Airplanes" might have stuck around for a long time, but that was because of Williams' vocal and the impact of Paramore's ever widening fanbase. B.O.B's verses served as nothing but build up, with his rhymes reduced to bum notes against William's earnest vocal delivery.

On each one of his releases, B.O.B has basically been reduced to a guest artist on his own song. He lets his collaborator become the track's focus and dominate the listener's attention, so whether his words are worth listening to or not, they're buried in the background.

B.O.B needs to strike out on his own next time round and see the public responds.

He was due to do so on his next track single "Don't Let Me Fall", which is a solo track in its album version, but guess what? It's being remixed as we speak to feature rising star Heather Vesey. Someone said once that if you something isn't broken, there's not much point in repairing it. Chances are, B.O.B's label have been guided by the same logic.

If you read the lyrics to "Airplanes", you'll learn of a man craving to go back to a time when he wasn't famous. If he's not careful or he runs out of luck in finding collaborators, his wish will be granted.

Check it out here:

Single #13: Rihanna - Only Girl (In The World)

2010-11-02T17:25:00.000-07:00

Rihanna is probably the finest pop star in the world at the moment. That's pop star defined as arena filling, every single a hit type pop star. There are better artists making better records, but as far as household names go, Rihanna rules supreme at the moment.

That's entirely down to her choice of songs, as she mixes it up with great aplomb, excelling in a variety of styles. She can do soulful ballads like "Take A Bow" and "Rehab" without making you reach for the sick bucket. She can do slick, posturing R&B superbly, especially "Rude Boy" and "Hard". And, most crucially, she pick you a hit, like, well, "Umbrella."

She also has an enviable work ethic, with two albums in the last two years. The promotional singles for her last record "Rated R" have actually bled into the build to her new long player "Loud" with both "Hard" and "Rude Boy" still a common site on many music channels.

Her new track, the first UK release from her new album, is "Only Girl (In The World)" and, once again, it's a sonic departure from her previous record.

Much of "Rated R" was hard edged poppy R&B, full of bite and swagger, with production from UK dance duo Chase and Status and Ne-Yo amongst others. It was fun, playful and packed with singles that seem to bait the listener, saying throughout "Am I supposed to be impressed?" It worked a treat, three million sales a treat, but it's not a vein that Rihanna has decided she wants to extend to two albums worth of stuff.

"Only Girl (In The World)" is built like a dance record. Or, more specifically, like the kind of track that ruled the Ibiza dancefloors in the early 1990s. It has something of Snap's "Rhythm Is A Dancer" or Urban Cookie Collective in its make up, with earnest vocals playing out over a pulsating keyboard refrain.

It probably sits best in Rihanna's back catalogue alongside "SOS" and "Pon Da Replay" and it's a little bit of a let down following on from her "Rated R" stuff. She had an aloofness to her image that was worth pursuing and this sounds a little needier, keener to please and to played on every sticky dancefloor on a Saturday night.

"Only Girl (In The World)" actually feels a bit retro, which, for a girl who was always quietly challenging in who she worked with and songs she released, is a something of a disapointment. This track could have been recorded by any number of acts, including people like Cascada. Though it's still a decent tune and won't have people switching their car radios off, it doesn't have the bite of "Hard" or the playful teasing quality of "Rude Boy" and suffers for it.

She can, has and will do better than this.

Disagree? Video's here....

Single #12: Diana Vickers - My Wicked Heart

2010-10-26T14:34:00.000-07:00

Most musicians are pretty lax about letting younger artists raid their back catalogues for inspiration, so it takes something to bring a band to the brink of legal action against a young pop starlet. But get ready, it's all set to be the Red Hot Chili Peppers vs Diana Vickers in a court of law soon.

The two tracks in question are the Chilis classic 1991 track “Under The Bridge” and Vickers’ new single “My Wicked Heart.” The choruses of which are so similar, it’s borderline laughable. Vickers hasn’t helped herself with her response to it either, admitting she’d listened to it the day before and had noticed the similarity. There’s only one dignified out of this for Vickers, and that’s handing over all the royalties from the track to the Chilis. Either that or lose it court, owe costs and look really stupid.

This is out of step, because, in her fledgling pop career so far, Vickers has actually made some pretty smart choices. She’s worked with Guy Sigsworth, who’s half of Frou Frou with Imogen Heap on some of the tracks from her debut record “Songs From The Tainted Cherry Treee” as well as Ellie Goulding, Nerina Pallot and Starsmith. She’s made the impression of someone who wants to follow more in the vein of Goulding and Florence Welsh than of Leona Lewis or Alexandra Burke, but thus far, she’s only succeeded in putting out watered down, smoothed out versions of the people she’s worked with. And this has never been more evident than on “My Wicked Heart.”

Even if you leave aside the plagiarism, this is one of the weakest singles released this year. It goes nowhere and does nothing. There’s never any momentum created and Vickers not so subtle attempt to channel a bit of Florence Welch’s taste for the bombastic, never sparks even the smallest speck of feeling. At least Burke and Lewis are slick and efficient in what they do, Vickers is just hiding behind a smokescreen of pseudo indie to distract from the fact her songs aren’t good enough. Even the horn section, chucked in half way through the track, can’t stop this sounding like a pompous bit of dirge.

There’s no point comparing it to “Under The Bridge”, that is a beautifully written, heartfelt pop song that will move people till the end of time, subtle drug references and all. This is a shoddy, half arsed piece of fluff, lacking in momentum and merit.

It doesn’t matter who you work with or how you dress, you’ll get nowhere if you churn out sub standard songs and this is a prime example of that.

Disagree? Video's here: