It was just a fling before--now, you're the one

Two very different songs I'm loving at the moment:




As far as rap (or grime) meets pop goes, we're in a pretty decent moment right now and British artist Tinchy Stryder's upcoming single "Number 1" looks to continue that trend. Here, the pop is vaguely electro, with some strings thrown in for good measure, but, good as the verses are, it's nearly all about the chorus, which is just really good catchy pop stuff. It's perfect for singing along, over-the-top gesturing, iPod play, radio play...just about anything. Co-writer Fraser T. Smith is really on a roll, as well as showing some writing diversity: he also wrote James Morrison and Nelly Furtado's "Broken Strings."



I have to thank Bobby of Don't Stop The Pop for giving me the go-ahead to write about Via Gra's "My Emancipation" since DSTP's Swedish season means he can't write about it right now. The song, a 2008 single from the Russian/Ukrainian group with enough line-up changes to easily put the Pipettes to shame, had me hooked from the moment that hard disco-electro beat kicked in--it's a bit like the sort of thing I'd expect Dimitris Kontopoulos to come up with, though it doesn't go for full-force punch in quite the same way. The music video, depicting a bank robbery, is full of synchronized strutting (including through a laser-filled chamber) and men falling to the ground at the mere sight of the girls, in addition to including what is probably the most amazing gun shot in music video history. Fabulousness personified? Oh yes.