All Eyes on 2012

POP newcomers & under-the-radar artists who have us excited for 2012:

Charli XCX

Charli! You are the answer to our prayers! You are the POP embodiment of all that we love about Lykke Li, the Knife, and even Zola Jesus! We hereby crown you the Dark POP Princess of 2012.

Kay
Canadian POP singer Kay has all the star-power of Jessie J and the rhythm of Robyn. My Name is Kay sounds akin to the Ting Ting's Hands & vintage Mark Ronson. We're lovin' it. Promoted by ArjanWrites & other fantastic music bloggers, we'll be seeing more of "the most interesting lady in the world" in 2012. Oh, yes, & by now you should know: her name is Kay.

 

Neon Hitch

Neon Hitch is a star. This gypsy diva has kept busy by working with POP playboys Gym Class Heroes & 3Oh!3, but by now we cray-cray-crave a solo career.  Thankfully, Neon is teamed up with one of our favorite producers, Benny Blanco. Her debut album, Beg, Borrow, and Steal, should hit the stores this year. We're stoked. [Update: Neon aims to please with F*ck U Betta - it's dynamite!]

Skylar Grey

We absolutely love & admire Skylar Grey. Similar to a "Top 40 Bon Iver," you may know her from her work with P.Diddy and/or Eminem. Her next album, Invisible, a collaboration with producer Alex da Kid, is set for release this January.

 Michael Kiwanuka

Michael Kiwanuka, an up & coming singer-songwriter who toured with Lady Adele herself, is crafting classy & classic music.  Part jazz, part soul, part POP, we were thrilled to see him on the BBC's Sound of 2012. His debut album, Home Again, is set for release in March of this year. We're excited! [Update: Michael officially WON the BBC Sound of 2012!]

 

 MNEK

At only 17, MNEK has been named one of NME's 20 hottest producers in music, as well as the next Frankmusik by The Guardian. Since being signed to a publishing and record deal, he's written the top 5 UK hit, All Fired Up, for British girl group The Saturdays. He's also produced Oh My!'s cover of The Saturday's Higher. His first single, If Truth Be Told, is a bubblegum, funk, and early 90's R&B/dance gumbo-like mixture. Though his album won't be out until 2013, we still expect great things from MNEK in 2012.

Alex Winston

The singer who churned out country-tinged POP tunes like Locomotive, Velvet Elvis, Sister Wife, and Choice Notes, is set to release her debut album in the UK this coming year on Island Records. Can't wait to hear what she's got up her sleeve! (P.S. As a kid with Belorussian parents, Gregory feels all fuzzy inside after seeing the matryoshka dolls in the pic above.)

Florrie

Lovely Florrie lies somewhere between a 60s muse & a modern model. Her first two EPs, Introduction & Experiments, have a textured & organic feel, earning her praise from music critics across the globe. We hope to hear her third EP sometime this year.

 

 Zowie

Kiwi Power POP artist Zowie's Smash It, Bite Back, & Broken Machine have us all geared up for her time-traveling, futuristic first album which, according to Zowie, we can expect sometimes in 2012. Bring it on!

 Colette Carr

Colette Carr strikes us as Cher Lloyd meets LMFAO. Signed to Cherrytree Records, one of our favorite labels, Colette's songs sound like neon laser-tag on the dancefloor. Modern, hip, and young, Colette's debut album Skitszo is set for release later this year.

Mohombi

We love us some dancehall, so when Bumby Ride was released, replete with pelvic thrusts and smooth dance moves, we hit the dancefloor with alacrity. Signed by RedOne & recognized by Poptastic as a "big thing in 2012," the future is looking bright for Swedish-Congolese musician Mohombi. We are hoping he has a great year in 2012.

Unapologetically,

Gregory & Minna

BritPOP

Holler!

No, the title’s not a reference to Britney. My apologies.

Every time I pen a song, I think of British POP stars.  When the result doesn’t sound traditional, I don’t feel upset or peeved, but rather, like an individual. This would most certainly not be the case if I had never been introduced to artists like Marina & the Diamonds, Ellie Goulding, and Paloma Faith, among innumerable others. I consider British music and its consumers (primarily the British public) to be far more open-minded than those who only listen to American radio. The Brits (sorry for generalizing – I’m doing it for the sake of the article) have always loved some American POP tunage, whether it comes from super-creatives like Prince, Michael Jackson, and GaGa, or those who just sing sugary goodness, like Britney and Rihanna.  However, unlike many Americans, they are open to, and aware of, so much more. Their POP charts range from the super commercialized and pre-calculated, written and recorded solely for the purpose of getting your money, to the supremely artistic. They embrace everything, from mindlessly fun POP groups, like The Saturdays, to artists with emotionally intricate lyrics/rhymes, like Plan B (check out Prayin & She Said).  The Brits don't necessarily have better (or worse) taste in music. Its simply wider.

Much of the diversity in the British music scene results from the power and prominence of the BBC.  The UK singles chart is determined solely by sales, but consumers' purchases are obviously influenced by radio airplay.  In the States, the Billboard Hot 100 is assembled using a statistical combination of radio airplay and sales. The stations with the largest influence on the American charts are owned by Clear Channel Communications (i.e. KISS 108 in Boston, Z100 in New York, etc.)  Clear Channel stations tend to play the safe choice - recent chart-topping artists.  When a new artist arrives on the scene, he or she is much more likely to get played if his/her song was composed by/with a hit-maker producer, like Dr. Luke or Stargate (whom we LOVE, but that's beside the point).  Usually, the few alternative artists who make it to the top of the American charts are first played on independent stations, then on Cumulus Media and/or CBS Radio stations (the second and third largest radio conglomerates in the United States, respectively), and finally on Clear Channel stations.

The most recent examples of such rarified occurrences are Adele, with the #1 hits Rolling in the Deep and Someone Like You, and Foster The People, with Pumped Up Kicks, which tapped out at #3. One artist who reintroduced this trend (that ebbs and flows through the years - Nirvana is an example from the early '90s) was Amy Winehouse with Rehab, which peaked at #9. I'm certain that Adele's record label poured blood, sweat, and tears into getting her music onto American radio. (This was despite her second album, 21, debuting at #1 on the Billboard 200 Album Chart based on pure demand built from her internet presence, performances on American television, and awards from her debut, 19.) I doubt it was an easy feat, as she's a singer-songwriter who, aesthetically, doesn't fit the POP star mold, lacks any synths in her music, and works with producers like Paul Epworth, who is renowned in the UK but unheard of by the American radio elite. The fact that her songs are spun is intriguing, particularly because, like Amy, she was unable to get her first album's singles played on Clear Channel's stations. Alternative radio has continuously given her props, and even CBS radio played songs like Cold Shoulder a few years ago, but Adele couldn't quite get the mainstream airplay she deserved from Clear Channel... until now. Amy most likely achieved the feat through similar efforts from her label, as well as the adoration and support of the hip-hop community, which has for the past 10+ years received a great deal of spins from Clear Channel. 

As we all know, corporations set out to make a profit. Therefore, Clear Channel stations play what executives feel will make the most money. Unfortunately, this often leads to a great deal of monotony.  By contrast, the BBC (also a money-making business) is partially state-controlled. It thereby has an additional socio-cultural obligation to promote the arts. In other words, British radio views music not only as a product, but also as an art form.  As a result, artists who are left-field get a fair shot at success in the UK. For example, Florence + the Machine's first single, Dog Days Are Over, off of their debut, Lungs, received a similar amount of BBC 1 radio airplay as that of a mainstream track, like I Kissed A Girl.  This was obviously not the case in the United States.

Some may respond by saying that there are independent American stations playing alternative POP, but these stations are small by comparison. The BBC is the largest, most powerful communications/media company in the UK, so what its stations play has a far greater effect on left-field artists' sales and overall success.  If you've looked at the Top 10 on the UK singles chart this past year, you've seen a lot of variety - everything from American Top 10 staples like Rihanna's We Found Love and Maroon 5's Moves Like Jagger, to Ed Sheeran's The A Team and Charlene Soraia's Wherever You Will Go. Even American artists whose songs don't get their deserved attention stateside, like Christina Perri's Jar of Hearts and Lana Del Rey's Video Games, reached the UK Top 10.

It is worth noting American POPsters whose stars don't shine as bright on American soil.  More and more American artists with a tinge of the alternative are seeking British recording contracts.  POP musicians like The Scissor Sisters, Alex Winston, and Lissie have used this methodology to succeed without compromising their musicality and styles.  Those three bands/artists are completely different from one another, but all have been embraced by British audiences.  However, they've all struggled in America because the biggest key to their success, radio airplay, has been missing.

So is it understandable that Minna subscribes to the BBC to listen to a wider variety of popular music - from dubstep to female singer-songwriters? I think YES.

Unapologetically,

Gregory


(c) Unapologetically POP, 2011

POP-Adjacent Pyramid: Tier 2

POP-Country

     Record Collector                          Eager For Your Love                           Velvet Elvis

                Lissie                                                 Tristen                                           Alex Winston

               (listen)                                               (listen)                                                  (listen)

Holler!

I’m back with the second tier of our pop pyramid, which includes songs that fuse pop and country elements. Lissie is this gorgeous chick (she totally works the grunge look EFFORTLESSLY, which is the whole point. She’s not a hipster who takes ten hours to carefully wrinkle her shirts) who makes bluesy, country, rocky, poppy music. She’s from the Midwest, but after spending a few years in California, she was signed to Columbia Records in the UK, where she’s more popular (weird, considering her music is totally American. The Brits know someone special when they spot him/her.) It’s taken me a while to really like her songs, but once you like them, you LOVE them. She’s a fantastic songwriter. Her verses are actually catchy (a rarity), and you could totally Rihannify her songs into club bangers and they would be just as good. That’s how you separate great music from mediocre music; if it can be played in multiple formats/genres (i.e. acoustic, dance, ballad, etc.) and sounds good in all of them, then it’s a winner. (The same doesn’t apply to people. Just because you look good in ten different outfits, does NOT make you a good person. In fact, it will probably annoy me and make me like you less. I’m bitter and jealous.) The song I’ve chosen from her album, Catching a Tiger, is “Record Collector” (click here to listen). It’s totally haunting, and actually possesses the same sense of space as James Blake’s “ Limit to Your Love.” (We mentioned James in the first tier of The POP-Adjacent Pyramid. Check it out here.) I can’t describe it in a way that will do it justice so just listen to it, and while you’re at it, check out some of her other album cuts. My faves include “In Sleep” (click here to listen), “Cuckoo” (click here to listen), and “When I’m Alone” (click here to listen).

The next song included in this tier is Tristen’s “Eager For Your Love” (click here to listen). The first time I heard it, I was immediately addicted and proceeded to listen to it twenty more times within the next two hours. (I treat good songs like cupcakes; I consume them all at once, on repeat, until I’m nauseous.) I could just sing the chorus all day, “Tame that nasty shrew / ‘Cause she knows what you’re up to / You’ve gotta keep her thin and hungry / So she’s eager for your love,” which indicates just how good this track is because I absolutely loathe rodents. (I would never tame any shrew; instead, upon first sight, I would shriek at the top of my lungs while running in the opposite direction until Animal Control comes and actually takes care of the situation.) Anyhow, Tristen spent years studying the perfect pop hook and it obviously paid off with this song off of her first album, Charlatans at the Garden Gate. I haven’t listened to the rest of the record, but if I decide to and end up liking it, I will most certainly let the three of you who are reading this know. :)

The last song in this tier is Alex Winston’s “Velvet Elvis” (click here to listen). I’ll preface any description by saying that Ms. Winston’s voice is very much an acquired taste, like sushi, wine, cum, etc., etc., etc. However, once you adapt to its mousey quality, you’ll realize she really works it to the bone. “Velvet Elvis” is such a hodgepodge of sounds. It starts off with this old school TV show like intro until a banjo comes in. Then Alex gets to the chorus which soars as she sings, “When I feel your Velvet/I can’t help it/hold your frame/whisper your name.” It definitely sounds more naughty than the innocent production would suggest. I thought I knew what Elvis’ Velvet is (Hint: not a peanut butter and sliced banana sandwich. More like pigs in a blanket), but Ms. Winston informed us that a Velvet Elvis is actually a painting. Sometimes, my brain is a tad too raunchy for my own good! While this song was wonderfully produced by Charlie Hugall (Alex told us so on Twitter, as well. Thanks girl!), many of her songs are produced by The Knocks, an electronic music duo that have worked with Big Boi of Outkast, B.O.B., and Calvin Harris, who produced Rihanna’s “We Found Love,” a song we talked about at length in one of our first entries (click here to read)! I don’t know about you, but I think it’s so cool that this singer-songwriter who writes acoustic music allows these boys to give her songs a little electronic flair. They do it without forcing her to compromise. The sound is not clubby. It’s not trance. It’s definitely instrumental pop with a few synthesized bells. Check out her song, “Locomotive” (click here to listen), which I actually like better. I didn’t put it in this tier because it doesn’t have as much country flair as “Velvet Elvis.” Alex’s full-length debut is due in January 2012, so keep your eyes open!

Unapologetically,

Gregory


P.S. Click for Tiers 1, 3, and 4