14 April 2011 Pitbull: as if Conor McGregor and Vin Diesel had a child together but never showed it love. Normally at the first huff of his dour, humourless, sexist, talentless grunting I change my radio station to something more appealing, like the death notices. So, I'm only vaguely familiar with 'On The Floor' as … Continue reading Jennifer Lopez ft. Pitbull – ‘On The Floor’ →

17 February 2011 Here we are again: another of those gargantuan early-'10s Lady Gaga hits. The blaring, overproduced, identikit, corporate-level EDM track at the centre of all this event-release, expensive-video foofaraw is bland, cliched, and fatuous. Anyone at the time who recalled Madonna's 'Express Yourself'—and 'Born This Way' certainly helps to jog memories in that … Continue reading Lady Gaga – ‘Born This Way’ →

10 February 2011 Tempting as it is to read social commentary into an Irish number one single of 2011 with the chorus "We don't need no money, money, money", 'Price Tag' isn't your zeitgeist-capturing anthem of troika-era Ireland. Instead, it shares with 'Imagine' that timeless lack of self awareness in which a big-budget pop track … Continue reading Jessie J ft. B.o.B. – ‘Price Tag’ →

13 January 2011 Content warning: self-harm It's not just our (hopefully) more enlightened sensibilities - already in 2011 Bruno Mars' chorus litany of angsty, performative self-harm came across as overwrought and crass, even by the shirt-rending benchmarks of '90s US R&B balladry and the asinine skidmarks of '00s US hip-hop-diluting chart hits. And his gripe … Continue reading Bruno Mars – ‘Grenade’ →