POPTIMISM SPECIAL EDITION: Unedited notes on Top Of The Pops, BBC1, 7.30PM, 16th April 2004.
Joe – trad loverman stuff, looks quite saturnine, R&B always a bit hampered by the live thing, cold brit fish like me want to hear the drum sounds more than the silken tones.
Special D – GREAT STUFF! Europop trance, girl in tartan skooldisco skirt, happy hardcore w/ little filterdisco touches. Bubblegum lives. POPTIMIST THUMBS UP!
The Calling special feature, “anticipation high”, NO TA.
Hilary Duff “got to sit with the writers and give them concepts”, not possible to tell if her single’s good.
Jessica Simpson w/ housewife video, HAS IT COME TO THIS. I have been tidying the flat all week and glamorising the domestic hurts me in my heart. Song sounds winsome.
Alex Cartana – never heard of her, song is a weird mix of stutter beats, droney sounds, bad rock, rave stabs, its called “hey papi”, nervous performer, bobs from side to side, god that guitar is horrible, it’s like the weird mixed-down solos they put all over the end of the last Sugababes album. It’s like a pop take on Primal Scream circa Vanishing Point. Crowd do not seem enthused. Hands on the gearstick hyuk hyuk.
Exclusive Beyonce performance = off to the fridge for a can of pear cider. This is the kind of thigh-rubbing nonsense that gets Mark K-Punk writing angrily to Points Of View about SHARK EYED ROBOVIXENS. It’s kind of reaching for something interesting but it can’t decide if it wants to be a love-to-love-you rewrite or snakecharming panethnica or something a bit more bump and grind. GREAT shot of some little kid whose eyes are absolutely POPPING OUT – the little girls understand.
WHAT IS THE ALBUM CHART DOING ON TOP OF THE POPS. WHAT IS ANASTASIA DOING AT THE TOP OF IT.
The Rasmus – I totally don’t remember this song being so disco. This is what comes of relying on downloads I think. He’s a rum cove. I’m enjoying this – poptimist approval. “I’ve been waiting in the shadows of our time” – that’s a good line, I think. A remix of this would be awesome.
I don’t mind Tim Kash. WHAT IS TOP OF THE POPS DOING OFFERING TICKETS TO CHELTENHAM JAZZ FESTIVAL?!!?!
Eamon – I like this record a lot, it’s like Blink 182 making an R&B song, YES it’s whiny but it’s convincing, albeit in a thank-god-thats-not-me way, anyway soul has always been Emo, it’s just David Ruffin wasn’t allowed to swear. Nor is Eamon so his special performance sounds a bit weedy.
The chart countdown now actually plays bits of the songs, good. Judging by snippets I like 5 of the Top 10 and dislike 2. McFly I’m neutral about, maybe a bit hostile, individual lines and hooks are good, but it’s basically power pop isn’t it? Fuck the Monkees, they don’t mean shit now, etc etc, this performance isn’t selling it either. The middle eight reminds me of Blur when they went American, ugh.
And that’s your lot!