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Top Ten Tunes
Date: W/c 13.02.05
1. Chromeo Rage 2. Snoop Dogg ft JT Signs 3. Coldplay Speed Of Sound 4. Ryan Adams Let It Ride 5. Battle Isabelle 6. The Tears Refugees 7. Akon Lonely 8. System Of A Down BYOB 9. Lil Jon & ES Boyz Get Crunk 10. The Dead 60s Loaded Gun
CHART COMMENTARY
It's been an age since the last Designer Magazine Top 10. A general election has happened and Tony Blair's come out with the false grin once again, z-lister celebs are tossing off pigs on farms and another series of the wanky Big Brothers in the offing soon. What better time for us to come back with some tunes to save your life for a month at least.Chromeo's "Rage" is the sort of tune you can simultaneous sing in "I Will Survive" stylee and dance like a funky mentalist. More retro than Zoot Woman at a Daft Punk prog-dance convention they bring out the vocoders to funk up a bitter rank about a c*nty ex. Breaking up has never sounded this fun...this tune proves that Chromeo's effortless classics are here to stay and it could mark their ascenion to proper popstars.
Snoop Dogg continues his non-stop assault on the charts with "Signs" featuring JT and Charlie Parker from the Gap Band. At exactly what point Snoop Dogg avoided the "Kick This Evil B*stard Out" villain tag and started making pop tunes for the tweeagers were not sure. Last time we saw Snoop Dogg on these shores he delivered a set which made Eminem and 50 Cent's career redundant, so if you haven't bought tickets for his arena shows this summer make sure you buy a pair now.
Hip Hop is currently at the crossroads, similar to the state rock music was before Nirvana came and kicked the scene up the arse. With the Neptunes happy to whore themselves to anyone flashing the cash, there’s a fight back with Lil’ Jon leading the crunk revolution. Meaning crazy and drunk, it’s seen by many as the heavy metal of hip-hop with crunk juice and women high on the agenda. “Get Crunk” / “Lovers & Friends” shows the two different sides of Lil Jon and should establish his name in the UK where we haven’t caught onto hip hop with raw grit. “Get Crunk” is a full on club banger with squalling guitars and punk attitude, “Lovers & Friends” is a ballad with Jon’s trademark shouting mauling it throughout. Buy this single as a taster, but make his last album an essential purchase while waiting for the follow up.
It’s easy to knock Coldplay and when Chris Martin called his baby Apple he made it a hell of a lot easier. You can also hold them responsible for Keane and changing Athlete, previously one of Designer Magazine’s favourite bands, to a Coldplay tribute act. It’s a lot harder to criticise the music and on “Speed Of Sound” they’ve delivered a radio friendly smash which simultaneously rips off their own “Clocks” and Aha’s “The Sun Always Shines On TV”. It’s no great leap, but what did you expect? Radio head’s “Kid A”
You get nothing from Ryan Adams for a year and then you get a zillion records at once, a fact which I’m sure his record company screams for joy at in their marketing meetings. “Let It Ride” is the obvious and perhaps only single from his recent album. With his new band The Cardinals (not the Manc band of the same name) he’s gone back to his alt-country roots rather than the rock n roll of and it works to a certain extent. Adams vocals are the strongest they’ve ever been, there’s enough slide guitar to relieve the drought symptoms and it sticks in your head for days.
When Designer Magazine saw The Tears on their UK tour earlier in the year, there was a sense of disappointment. Not because they were bad, just that they never delivered on the promise. McAlmont & Butler’s “Bring It Back” ranked amongst one of the best albums ever made and Suede were still relevant after Butlers departure a decade earlier. The one song that stood out in that set was “Refugees”, a song in the classic Suede mold with Butler’s chiming guitars and Brett;s rhyming couplets. Brett sings “ “, the strings soar and we all swoon at being romantic outsiders.
It’s been around for the past six months and you love it or hate it, but this Bobby Darin sampling single by Akon is already one of the tracks of the year. Featuring the helium Kanye West style production, this track gnaws away till you submit.
With so many facets to System Of A Down it’s hard not to enjoy the eclectic nature of the beast which can swing from political agit-rock to flippant wit laden random lyrics. It’s the diverse nature which has set them apart from political rockers such as Rage Against The Machine or International Noise Conspiracy. The last time Serj was around it was the calming sounds of with collaborator . BYOB is the bands first official single following the online streams of “Cigaro”. It’s classic SOAD verring from rampant speed metal to Algerian folk chants and an anthemic chorus. It’s everything you could want from the band and more.
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