The second half of Idolator's summer-jam semifinal is ready for tipoff (or whatever the musical equivalent is). Remember: These polls close tomorrow, so to have your voice heard, make sure you vote early and often—especially in this difficult matchup between Estelle's love letter to American men in baggy jeans and Alphabeat's ecstatically retro Europop party. Poll after the jump!
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Latest by n/a: Well, I guess the votes have it. I hope the Mariah track (which I hoped, but didn't actually expect to be a single) actually blows up though, because I think it really deserves it. I DO like that "the word more »
As promised, our quest to find 2008's official summer jam in a reader-determined tournament starts today; over the next few days we'll roll out the rest of the nominees, which come from all over the radio map, including even those areas we aren't very excited to be traveling through. (Hey, we have to acknowledge the inevitable, although you should know that the Katy Perry song has been disqualified on principle—especially since its "controversial even though it wasn't all that controversial in 1995" subject matter is now garnering attention from the overly gullible media.) After the jump, our first two contenders—Brooks & Dunn's "Put A Girl In It" and Alphabeat's "Fascination"—duke it out, with accompanying commentary courtesy Dan Gibson and Kate Richardson, respectively.
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Latest by n/a: While I may jump out of my car if either song becomes "Summer Anthem of 2008", i give the edge to Brooks and Dunn...mainly due to the nostalgia of my country music loving High School girlfriend who insisted we listen more »
When I wrote about so-called Wonky Pop movement and its brightest prospect, the big, goofy Danish band Alphabeat, I said of my summer-jam nominee "...it hits you like a load of laundry just out of the dryer...You get the feeling that "Fascination" should be playing on a radio in a suburban garage as someone washes a car on a Saturday afternoon." It seems I had preemptively prepared a sentence for this tournament's very purpose; after all, what's more summery than washing a car in your driveway out in suburbia? Alphabeat may seem a bit gawky and out of place when pitted against some of the smoother songs blaring across your neighborhood's byways, but the fact remains that "Fascination" is a like a sunburst in song form. It's light and breezy, but aggressively fun and entirely free of pretension. It truly embodies the relaxing-with-gusto spirit of the summer—and, best of all, it's the perfect song to get people dancing at a pool party and/or backyard barbecue. [YouTube]
The Guardian's profile of the Wonky Pop tour begins with an appeal to beleaguered music fans: "Tired of chart pop that's all manufactured groups and reality TV shows? Just as fed up of bland indie? Then Wonky Pop might just be the thing for you." It's almost crass in its resemblance to infomercial rhetoric ("Are you tired of your old, hard-to-operate pasta strainer?"), but it contains such a fundamental element of truth that it's hard not to read on. In many ways pop music is broken, and it's about time for a new regime. But is Wonky Pop the answer?
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Latest by Nunya B: @joshservo: Vampire Weekend are inappropriately huge in the UK. It's almost gross.
Wonky Pop is curated- as far as I can tell- by Popjustice, and the tour includes DJ sets by Annie, so I am all for it (I only really more »
Idolator
The second half of Idolator's summer-jam semifinal is ready for tipoff (or whatever the musical equivalent is). Remember: These polls close tomorrow, so to have your voice heard, make sure you vote early and often—especially in this difficult matchup between Estelle's love letter to American men in baggy jeans and Alphabeat's ecstatically retro Europop party. Poll after the jump!
More »
