Saturday, December 25, 2010

The year in TUNEZ!


2010 had a lot to live up to after 2009 provided such class-A tunes as Million Dollar Bill (Freemasons remix, obvs), Tik Tok and Sexy Bitch, but it proved to be another tune-full year, with ballads basically becoming extinct (unless you're Westlife or Take That). 2010 was also an auto-tuneful year, with such super-successful acts as Ke$ha, Taio Cruz and The Black Eyed Peas all (over)using it on their hits.

Here are 16 tunes that made me lose my manners - and my mind - on the dancefloor in OH10.

1. Ricki Lee - Can't Touch It. A song so amazing, it made us all want to go to SATC 2 even though the first film was meh and the second one clearly didn't have a plot. This song has the ability to make me feel excited about absolutely anything.

Doctor: You need to go for a prostrate exam.
Me: What?!
Doctor: "HEY-EH-EH-EH BABY!"
Me: (jumps up) "Let's do this thing!"

Ricki's vocals are incredible and she looks like the kind of girl you'd want to go razzing with.
I had hoped I Am... Sasha Fierce would be full of songs like this but alas, it was a ballad-fest.
Also, love the West Coast Cooler ad-esque video and the fit, beanie-wearing love interest.
Best bit: "HEY-EH-EH-EH BABY! LEMME SEE YOUR HANDS UP IN THE AIR!"


2. Lil' Jon feat. Kee - Give It All You Got. Heard it for the first time in July when I was on a plane from New York to Dublin. I was on my own and beyond exhausted, but this song gave me back the will to live. I FUCKIN' LOVE LIL' JON! I hate it when people complain, saying that all he does is shout - yeah? So what? If my shout was that amazing, I'd go around shouting all the time as well.
Best bit: "YYEAH! I DON'T CARE WHAT TIME THE CLUB CLOSE! (WHASSUP!)"


Tinie Tempah feat. Labyrinth - Frisky. The best song from this year's biggest, new British act. The "la la la la" bit gets stuck in my head, but never makes me want to kill myself like other melodies that get stuck there. Eg. "I whip my hair back and forth, I whip my hair back and forth" and "alouette-wetta-wetta, alouette-wetta-wetta".
Best bit: "Would you risk it for a chocolate biscuit?"


Ke$ha - Your Love is My Drug. "Maybe I need some rehab? / Or maybe just need some sleep..." - from the first line, this song is a classic and it just doesn't let up with amazing lines such as "My speech is going to be affected/ If I keep it up like a love-sick crack-head."
There is a carefree abandon to the song's production - with a refreshing lack of autotune for her. Like Ke$ha herself, the song is a loveable mess.
Best bit: when she says "I like your beard" and giggles at the end of the song.



Ke$ha - We R Who We R. Unpretentious euphoric electro-pop. When this comes on in a club, it goes off! Ke$ha has this knack of making me smile - the beats in her songs are big and happy and her lyrics are always memorable. She has hit on a formula which is so simple, it's genius: killer beat + gas lyrics + Autotune = HIT.
Best bit: "We're sellin' our clothes, sleepin' in cars/ Dressin' it down, hittin' on dudes - HARD."



Taio Cruz feat. Ke$ha - Dirty Picture. Brilliant collabo from two of OH10's most ubiquitous popstars. Whoever thought of making Ke$ha dance on a filthy jaxx in the video is a genius!
Best bit: "Whenever you are gone I just wanna be with ya/ Please don't get me wrong, I just wanna see your picture."
Fun fact: Sundai from cycle 13 of America's Next Top Model (midget cycle) features in the video.


Katy Perry - Peacock. It's not clever, it's not original, but it's an absolute tune. Like many of the best songs, I fell in love with it for the first time when it came on in The George.
Best bit: "Are you brave enough to lemme see your peacock?/ Don't be a chicken, boy, stop actin' like a biatch/ Ima peace out if you don't give me the pay-off/ (Come on baby let me see what you hiding underneath)"


Katy Perry - Supernatural. Katy Perry's tribute to T.A.T.U turns out to be quite a tune.
Best bit: "Kiss me, k-k-kiss me/ Infect me with your love and fill me with your poison".


Katy Perry - California Gurls. The undisputed song of the summer. Melodically, it borrows quite heavily from Ke$ha's Tik Tok (sing the choruses of both songs one after the other - it'll make you gasp) but there are enough differences to make up for that. It also has fun lyrics and one of (if not the) best pop videos of the year.
Best bit: "Fine, fresh, fierce - we've got it on lock."


Lady Gaga feat. Beyoncé - Telephone. While the video was overblown and self-indulgent (and featured a sickening amount of product placement), there's no taking away from the song itself. The lyrics are brilliant in a 'wow - their singing about my life!' way and the Beyoncé section is nothing short of breathtaking.
Best bit: "THE WAY YOU BLOWIN' UP MAH PHONE WON'T MAKE ME LEAVE NO FASTER! PUT MAH COAT ON FASTER - LEAVE MAH GIRLS NO FASTER! SHOULDA LEFT MAH PHONE AT HOME COS THIS IS A DISASTER! CALLIN' LIKE A COLLECTOR - SORRY I CANNOT ANSWER!"


Rihanna - Rude Boy. At the end of the day, all the best songs are about sex.
Best bit: "Do you like it? Cos I want want want what you want want want/ Give it to me, baby, like boom boom boom!"


Rihanna - Only Girl. Back with her fourth album, Rihanna was keen to show that she was over feeling shit about Chris Brown and ready to rock out, half-naked with a Ronald McDonald weave on her head. Welcome back, gurl!
Best bit: When the beat kicks in after the middle eight. "Make it last all niiight (explosion sound)/ WANT YOU TO MAKE ME FEEL LIKE I'M THE ONLY GIRL IN THE WORLD!"


Rihanna feat. Drake - What's My Name. A song I thought was shit until Rihanna appeared on X Factor and threw off her robe. What a moment in pop culture!
Best bit: "Hey boy, I really wanna see if you can go down-town with a girl like me."


Hurts - Wonderful Life (Freemasons remix). There's something late-nineties/early-noughties dance about the beats. Reminds me of Chicane. A haunting piece of music.
Best bit: "Don't. Let. Go. / Never give up - it's such a wonderful life."


Deadmaus feat. Neon Hitch - Can't Behave Myself. Deadmaus has gone more mainsteam with this tune - teaming up with mate of Ke$ha and ex-roommate of Amy Winehouse, Neon Hitch, who's tipped to be big next year (cos there's such a lack of solo female vocalists atm...).
Best bit: When the Scissor Sisters riff comes in at the beginning of the song.



And there you have it! I'm Robinita - that was the year in tunez.
Here's to a tune-ful 2011!

Usher feat. will.i.am - OMG. Sorry, I don't know what E I was on at the time I compiled that list, but I somehow left this song out! While I can't pick my number one tune of the year, OMG is definitely in my top three. The song is perfectly constructed and has every element of a pop anthem; the synths create a sense of mystery and suspense while the drums and the football chanting hit you on a visceral level and give the song a tribal feel.
It's Usher's best song since Yeah! and easily will.i.am's best work of OH10.
Best bit: "You make me wanna say oh oh oh-oh, oh oh oh oh-oh, oh oh oh oh-oh, oh oh oh my gosh (beat kicks in, crowd goes wild, it all goes off)"

2 comments:

  1. You are my gateway to what the young people like these days. ILUBB.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Aw thanks! Keep reading and I'll make you kool with the kids!

    ReplyDelete