2009: Songs of the Year...FINALLY! - #100 to #51

Most sincere apologies, dearest readers. I actually cannot remember the last time I blogged, a sad state of affairs indeed. The reasons are (not so) may and (not very) varied; laptop reset itself, thus deleting everything I was writing and had written to put on the blog, uni got in the way a little, then came Christmas, New Year's, a lot of eating and procrastination, an obsession with (500) Days Of Summer and Inglourious Basterds (amazing soundtracks for both by the way) etc etc. Excuses, exucses, I know. So without further ado, here's #100 to #51 on Hitsville U.K.'s Songs of 2009 countdown. The rest will come tomorrow, with some actual writing for the Top 10 and the Albums of 2009 list following next week, along with tips for 2010. Better late than never eh? (Even further apologies if you can't read this well :[)

>>>HEAD TO HEAD<<<
Little Boots vs Florence vs La Roux















So it's finally happened. After all the hype, tentative interviews, glamourous photoshoots and all the other bollocks that comes with showbiz, the "Three Hot Ones To Watch in Pop 2009" Little Boots, La Roux and Florence & The Machine have finally all released their albums for public consumption on the derision of music snobs (a.k.a me). Impressively Little Boots and Florence have both made the Top 5 in the Album Charts, but La Roux has grabbed a Number One single which puts her in pole position to become the biggest of the three. But enough chit-chat.

LITTLE BOOTS - HANDS
Big catchy pop tunes, a few of which are better than anything Girls Aloud have released (excluding "Love Machine"). "Stuck On Repeat" is one of the pop singles of the year, without a doubt and succeeds where Madonna and Kylie have failed recently in crafting pure electro-pop that is actually worth listening to. Similarly "Meddle" shows Little Boots' talent for a big pop hook, as does "New In Town". But that's all "Hands" is really, choruses. Even Steps and S Club Juniors could do choruses! Even whilst listening to it now, I can't remember "New In Town"'s verses. When she decides to get a bit ravey (e.g. the intro and chorus to "Earthquake") Little Boots has tunes to rule the charts and the clubs. But whilst she decides to peddle schlock like the overly-80s and tired Symmetry, which features The Human League's Phil Oakley (sample lyrics "You're the night to my day/And the left to my right". Anyone else have an almost jaw-breaking yawn at that?) she'll unfortunately be stuck dangerously close to the pop scrapheap. I'd advise sticking to singles, but then again I have no bearing over anything in music really...at least she's better than The Saturdays.
ESSENTIAL TRACKS: "New In Town", "Earthquake", "Stuck On Repeat"
FOR FANS OF: Madonna, Kylie, Girls Aloud anything big and shiny and pop
5.5

FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE - LUNGS
Or the non-electronic one as she may be seen as. Barely a hint of synth or keyboard anywhere on this album, which leaves Florence seeming more human, more real than tired, boring mainstream pop (Little Boots) or cold, expressionless 80s revivalism (La Roux). Oh, and the fact that she dress like a woodland sprite and is a mainstay on the London scene, but we'll brush past that. "Lungs" is the most ambitious out of the three, with some big orchestral ideas just beneath that "modern Kate Bush" exterior. "Dog Days Are Over" and "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" should be pretty familiar to anyone who's listened to Radio 1/read NME in the last year, as they showcase Flo's good set of lungs (awful pun, sorry) and ear for a tune. Much of the album follows suit, with liberal use of harp and various other folksy elements along with the mystical or magical feel brought on by the lyrics. The only time "Lungs" diverts from the style is for the early White Stripes-aping "Kiss With A Fist" and "Girl With One Eye" which is so bluesy that I imagine it being sung in a smoky bar somewhere in the American south. However, the foresty, folksy schtick does begin to grate after a while with a handful of tracks indistinguishable from each other but skip past them to get to the good stuff.
ESSENTIAL TRACKS: "Dog Days Are Over", "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)", "I'm Not Calling You A Liar", "Kiss With A Fist", "Girl With One Eye", "Between Two Lungs", Cosmic Love", "Hurricane Drunk"
FOR FANS OF: Kate Bush, Laura Marling, Bat For Lashes, Lightspeed Champion
8

LA ROUX - LA ROUX
La Roux are already on the path to being big. A duo with a public face and a producer beavering away in the background, a unique look, possibly iconic album artwork and of course a Number One single and a Number Two album (thanks to a certain Mr Jackson). Whether they're a retro-futurist pop act to be loved or shameless 80's revivalism to be discarded is an arguement that will rage on for quite a while, but personally, they land somewhere inbetween. The tinny synths of "In For The Kill" as well as the Thriller-esque spoken word middle-eighth belong back with the miners strike and Thatcher, whilst drippy ballad "Cover My Eyes" is sooooo 80s that the video for it would involve a smoke machine with a black background, a slightly out of focus camera, lots of pastel and Elly Jackson on a stool. I don't care if she broke down in tears after recording it, it's shite. But apart from this and the plodding "As If By Magic" and "Reflections Are Protections", "La Roux" is a suprisingly good, modern pop record. It manages to steal the theme of heartbreak from country & western/crappy emo and bring it to the euphoria of electronica without being too cheesy or heavy-handed. Elly Jackson's voice, which trembles between annoyingly fragile and ear-bleedingly shrill often within the same verse, may make it a bit hard to like as well as her looking like the most twattish of LDN scenesters, but don't be suprised if she gathers a few more Number Ones in future.
ESSENTIAL TRACKS: "In For The Kill", "Quicksand", "Bulletproof", "I'm Not Your Toy", "Fascination"
FOR FANS OF: Little Boots, Ladyhawke, Lady Gaga, Passion Pit, Erasure, Eurythmics
8.5

NEU!
>>>TRACKS>>>31.05.09>>>Little Boots, Kasabian, Jamie T, Alexis Blue, The Chapman Family

Little Boots - New In Town
Apologies for reiterating the most over-used cliché concerning new music this year, but let the electro-pop battles commence! For those not in the know/living under a particularly heavy rock, Little Boots is being grouped together with La Roux and Florence & The Machine as a "Holy Trinity" of modern, hyped, female electro-pop singers. All three are being weighed down by the expectation laid on them at the beginning of the year by critics eager for bright new stars to foist into the limelight. Anyways, "New In Town" is the lead single from LB's debut album "Hands" and has "CHOON!" written all over it. It's pretty clear to say that this will be getting repeat plays all over the country during Freshers Weeks in September, and they'll be deserved. The chorus "I'm gonna take you out tonight/I'm gonna make you feel alright" is simple yet genius at the same time and puts the former Victoria Hesketh out in front against her rivals. {Watch the video for "New In Town"}
8

Kasabian - Fire
The Leicester loudmouths comeback single is something of a slowburner (pun intended). Starting off sounding like a psychedelic jam, "Fire" soon bounces into a bluesy stomper of a chorus and possibly the easiest thing to sing along to at this summer's festivals that isn't "Ruby" or "Chelsea Dagger" ("I'm on fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrrrrre!" is pretty much it). As always with Kasabian's lyrics, they don't exactly mean too much, but who really cares with a something this groovy (hippy-ness not intended). It's not even the best track on their third album "West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum" but still possibly the best thing Kasabian have released. {Watch the video for "Fire"}
7.5

Jamie T - Sticks N' Stones
How Jamie T isn't as big as Arctic Monkeys will forever be a mystery to me. He's got all the lyrical wit and verve of Alex Turner, the musical eclecticism of The Clash and the likeability of Kaiser Chiefs (without actually sounding like them, which is a talent in itself). "Sticks N' Stones" is his first new material released since the fantastic debut album "Panic Prevention" and it jumps about in all the right places. For a middle-class white guy from Wimbledon, he can't half rap and can craft a tune better than almost any 'bonafide popstar' around. Once again, it'll be massive at the festivals and if it doesn't propel Mr T. (no, not that one) to a similar level as the aforementioned Kaisers then I'll eat my straw hat. {Watch the video for "Sticks N' Stones}
10

Alexis Blue - Tarred & Feathered
AB have returned! Any new material from them is a cause for celebration, and "Tarred & Feathered" is no different. No massive deviation from the typical AB formula, but if it ain't broke, then it doesn't need fixing. "Tarred & Feathered" sounds more focused, tighter than anything AB have produced previously and, like Jamie T up there, they should been rising faster than mercury but for some baffling reason, they remain virtually unknown. So go download their debut album (it's free) or other demos or get down to a gig. You won't regret it. {Download "Tarred & Feathered"} {Download AB's debut album for free}
7.5

The Chapman Family - Kids
I haven't got a clue whose idea it was to stick The Chapman Family on the bill of the NME Radar tour below Magistrates, Heartbreak and La Roux, but whoever it was has a wicked sense of humour. Imagine a bunch of Radio 1-obsessed kids running to the front of the venue to see La Roux and all her electro tricks and being hit with the wall of distortion and anger that the Chapmans make. Hilarious, in my mind anyway. Back on topic, "Kids" is the first single from Teeside's finest and has an unfortunately similar chorus to Maximo Park's "The Kids Are Sick Again". But, this is a world away from the slick indie-pop of Maximo. This is proper "turn-it-up-loud-and-piss-off-your-parents/neighbours" angry rock that has been missing from British music for a long while (I don't count Gallows). "Kids" should be the anthem for all pissed and pissed-off teens across the country and for those in the know, it certainly is. {Watch the video for "Kids"}
9

SOUP OF THE DAY
Oooh look! It's a new feature/article type thing. It's basically me going on about whatever artist/band has been taking over my brain recently. Along with the "Obsession of the week" bit on the sidebar. Predominantly new bands, since if I did a SOTD on The Beatles, it would be rather pointless. Anyways....

LITTLE BOOTS
FROM: Blackpool
GENRE: Electro-pop
SOUNDS LIKE: What Madonna's been striving to get with her last few re-inventions; massive slabs of electo disco heaven
BEST TRACKS: "Stuck On Repeat" (the normal version and the Fake Blood remix), "New In Town", "Meddle"
SIMILAR TO: Lykke Li, La Roux, Kylie
ALSO CHECK OUT: Her cover of Hot Chip's "Ready For The Floor", her MySpace, and her blog