20 May 2004 As a Kerry person, I have devoted my life to showing compassion to people from Cork. Yes, they live in their own filth and eat their young: we know all that; we don't need to rehash their many failings. Let's instead celebrate the positive in Cork. After all, Cork are the second-best … Continue reading Tim O’Riordan & Natural Gas – ‘The Langer’
Tag: 2004
Chris Doran – ‘If My World Stopped Turning’
29 April 2004 You're A Star, Ireland's early-'00s talent show format for Eurovision selection, had two crucial design flaws. First, it's one thing plucking a fresh-faced unknown from obscurity and planting them in the white-hot glare of national TV. But You're A Star went way beyond that: it then teleported them onto the unforgiving stage … Continue reading Chris Doran – ‘If My World Stopped Turning’
Eamon – ‘F**k It (I Don’t Want You Back)’
15 April 2004 "Disingenuous" is probably not the first bone you'd pick with this single, I grant you. However, the expression 'Fuck It', the track's title, has an air of resigned acceptance: a world-weary shrug. The track itself, though, is a spittle-flecked, vein-bulging "Fuck you", repeatedly, to a woman he calls some quite derogatory and … Continue reading Eamon – ‘F**k It (I Don’t Want You Back)’
Usher ft. Lil Jon & Ludacris – ‘Yeah!’
1 April 2004 The capital of US chart music in 2004 was Atlanta. Already that year, OutKast had occupied the top two spots of the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks, the sort of pre-digital feat then associated with The Beatles. Now here's Usher, Texas-born but relocated to Atlanta at age ten, with the first … Continue reading Usher ft. Lil Jon & Ludacris – ‘Yeah!’
Britney Spears – ‘Toxic’
4 March 2004 A chart-topping pop record called 'Toxic' is distilled essence of the '00s. The early '00s especially were high times for lads mags, zoo radio, upskirt paparazzi, skeezy music videos, and an all-round unpleasant pop-cultural vibe: a virtual Temple Bar of crassness, sexism, homophobia and misogyny. Ironically, 'Toxic' isn't the worst offender: the … Continue reading Britney Spears – ‘Toxic’
Kelis – ‘Milkshake’
29 January 2004 'Milkshake' popped up in the news unexpectedly in 2022, in circumstances best described as sour. A snippet of it was interpolated by Beyoncé in 'Energy', from her blockbusting album Renaissance, where 'Milkshake' was credited as “written by Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo and performed by Kelis.” Kelis had previously criticised the Neptunes as … Continue reading Kelis – ‘Milkshake’
