29 July 2010 If in 2010 you were only consuming the latest pop sounds by whatever you overheard on TV stings or a passing radio—and it happens to us all—chances are you still knew the bleepy Charleston of 'We No Speak Americano'. Electro-this-that-and-the-other was having a moment at the end of the '00s and into … Continue reading Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP – ‘We No Speak Americano’ →

22 July 2010 Rihanna doesn't have a writing credit on this track, but she had been a high-profile victim of male domestic violence and abuse before 'Love The Way You Lie' was released. As a result, the chorus lyric she sings is uncomfortable. Still, it's her choice and her lived experience, and they're complex things, … Continue reading Eminem ft. Rihanna – ‘Love The Way You Lie’ →

24 June 2010 Our 2010 number ones from the States have so far been notably conservative: the tweeness of 'Fireflies'; the strategic corporate alliance of 'Telephone'; the wholesome high-school musical of 'Gives You Hell'; the hip-hop-hooray EDM of 'OMG'; the soccer-parent nostalgia of 'Hey, Soul Sister'. Had '00s poptimism congealed into ick? Did the economic … Continue reading Katy Perry – ‘California Gurls’ →

27 May 2010 The last time we had a Romanian act at the top of the Irish charts, Enigma with 'Return To Innocence', they were embroiled in a copyright claim over a trad-sounding element. The same thing happens here for Edward Maya: the distinctive accordion line in 'Stereo Love' wasn't a folk-hand-me-down in the public … Continue reading Edward Maya and Vika Jigulina – ‘Stereo Love’ →

20 May 2010 Inevitably, Lady Gaga's influence comes to market. 'All Night Long' is clearly a record that loves 'Just Dance' from its dance-centric lyrics to its robotic-verse-melodramatic-chorus EDM architecture and back around by its house party video. Alexandra in her video (below) also throws some Gaga-esque Weimar-cyborg shapes. If only Gaga herself had followed … Continue reading Alexandra Burke ft. Pitbull – ‘All Night Long’ →

13 May 2010 Really, this is from as late as 2010? In my mind I had carbon-dated 'Hey, Soul Sister' to the late '90s and early '00s, when Matchbox Twenty and the Goo Goo Dolls stalked the Earth. Also: really, this is the same band that did the blustery, pretentious soft rock hit 'Drops Of … Continue reading Train – ‘Hey, Soul Sister’ →

29 April 2010 That's OMG as in "oh my gosh" and not "oh my God", just in case you were worried about Usher and Will.i.am blaspheming against their creator - conservative Christian corporate America. Jesus wept. No such considerations of offence against taste or intelligence, of course. 'OMG' tends more towards Will.i.am's dumbed-down EDM inanity … Continue reading Usher ft. Will.i.am – ‘OMG’ →

22 April 2010 In a world where Ben & Jerry's had an ice-cream called Black and Tan, and Kia once named a prototype car the Provo, it's clear that international creative agencies don't have little ol' Ireland on their market research to-do list. Still, I like to amuse myself by thinking that at least one … Continue reading Glee Cast – ‘Gives You Hell’ →

4 March 2010 Boyzone's 2010 return to the Irish number one spot came in sad circumstances. Stephen Gately had died in October 2009, so 'Gave It All Away'—written by Mika—was the remaining group members' tribute to him. As the track had been recorded in 2008 it still features his lead vocals, so to hear him … Continue reading Boyzone – ‘Gave It All Away’ →

11 February 2010 The '10s was the decade when Haiti replaced Angola in our comfortable, condescending worldview as the most woe-begotten place on Earth. Years of brutal repression under the Duvaliers and their Tonton Macoute, coupled with huge external debt, had left the country politically and economically precarious, so Haiti was particularly ill-equipped for the … Continue reading Helping Haiti – ‘Everybody Hurts’ →