Charli XCX

it helped to hear it as a cross-pond version of kay hanley's "nicky passes marble arch"

bridge on "hanging around" >>>>>>> (everything else on "hanging around")

thoughts on her SNL appearance?

if i was on my phone rn it'd be all 100 and prayer hands emojis

she has grown leaps and bounds as a stage presence and embraces the opportunity to be a little ridiculous (dance moves during the post-refrain breakdowns of "break the rules") and can work with nonexistent or minimal backing vocals, a thing not a lot of pop stars (even ones whose stuff i enjoy on record) will do live

dunno about that -- I thought her stage presence was remarkably fully-formed when I saw her live (pre-True Romance)

I posted on Twitter that I thought she was made entirely out of x-factor. I couldn't tear my eyes away from the screen; it was a very simple performance but transfixing.

If ppl still get SNL popularity bumps, I predict her rising US profile is going to go nova.

I wonder if it would've happened if she'd released "I Love It" herself instead of pulling Icona Pop's strings.

i saw a video of a whole set from some festival and was a little underwhelmed, but, to be fair, that's video & it doesn't always give the proper impression. either way i'm really excited to see her -

*looks up dates, realizes she already came to boston two months ago, kicks underside of desk, stubs toe*

I was pretty underwhelmed by her live a couple of months back. Or rather, just whelmed enough, I guess. It felt way too constricted, from banter to setlist to music (a mix of live but plenty of shadowed pre-recorded stuff) for my tastes. I think Charli XCX's biggest strengths are also her weaknesses. She's not much of a singer (imo) and her direction is kind of erratic, which makes her kind of interesting and exciting, but dunno how sustainable. I think Gaga's overconfidence and ability c. "The Fame" (she was the same age then as Charli is now, amazingly) ultimately hurt her. Charli seems more into the idea of shaking things up, to coin a phrase.

"just whelmed enough" sums up my reaction to everything charli does in general, albeit in different ways every time, though i thought she was actually less constricted the one time i saw her live, more natural, whereas on record there's just enough there to sustain my interest and basic positivity but there's this air of second-guessing and deliberateness that hangs over both albums for me

she's more of a singer when she wants to be, cf:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BO72qcXvakE

Isn't this just Avril 2.0?

nope, next

slappy in the cut

Well, judging from her interviews she's perfectly ok with that comparison.

Loving the guitar on "Famous". I'm guessing it must be a Greg Kurstin thing, cause it's almost the same sound he used on the (sadly) never-released "Femme Fatale" by Sky Ferreira. It's a shame the melody is kind of meh, though. Something doesn't work for me. Maybe some of the notes are too high for Charli XCX?

this album is really fucking dope

best riffs of the year

Have been obsessed with this album for the last week. Need Ur Luv is my current favourite. It's been bugging me who it reminds me of and at the moment I'm thinking maybe something from the first Lykke Li album with a bit of Cher Lloyd in the chorus. My only complaint is the album version of Boom Clap is a bit different. The synth in the chorus has been changed a bit and that was my favourite part.

this record is so much fun, oh my god

I think this year my two favourite albums were released on the same day - Charli's and D'Angelo's.

killed it on letterman last night also

Found the letterman performance pretty awkward with its forced sexiness but I'm still rooting for her

Btw, my sister- and mother-in-law were at that taping yesterday although I'm not aware of them being Charli XCX fans specifically

was kinda awkward on Saturday Night Live tho I still kinda like her.

Will Hermes on NPR loves her

http://www.npr.org/2014/12/16/370318970/charli-xcx-and-the-years-most-fabulous-pop-record

i like this album a lot but at times i wish it weren't all 'attitude' all the time. like even "caught in the middle" toward the end manages to be a welcome respite despite being firmly in the territory of a merely-decent 'sensitive' ke$ha album track. i know that desiring slightly more emotional range is an almost heretical reaction to a record as 'punky' as this but i'd be lying if i said i didn't occasionally want that.

well "boom clap" is on the album too so maybe i am just complaining for no reason.

I loved the SNL appearance. Sexy as fuck. Lip syncing though for at least some of it. And fake guitarist.

Love Doing It, my high point for this album.

Same for me.

doing it
sucker
need ur luv
gold coins
body of my own
famous
breaking up
london queen
boom clap
caught in the middle
hanging around
break the rules
die tonight

would be my ranking

yeah that's about right though i'd rank "breaking up" above "gold coins"

"famous" would go much lower, sorry kurstin

god "need ur luv" is the best

i wish i liked this album more than i do but despite the many catchy hooks it never quite lives up to the promise of the opening FUCK YOU, SUCKER!!!!!! apart from maybe "body of my own". someone on the jukebox said that true romance felt good but overworked and even if this is a pivot away from it the same is true. the hooks carry every song for like, a verse and a chorus and then they start to lumber where they should leap. it's all a bit lana del rey-ish, "here is pop songwriter charli xcx inhabiting some archetypes and pushing the right buttons" but i don't feel like i connect to HER or feel there's ever much at stake. also, i thought this would click when i put it to the "tipsy on the night bus" test that most great pop ends up passing at some point, and it...failed it miserably.

consider "london queen" our revenge for countless americans writing terribly about britain

i feel like charli xcx needs to get away from the MAJOR LABEL POP mindset to really fulfil her talent tbh

supposedly the next single is a new version of "doing it" featuring rita ora -__________-

Haha, it's like she's making singles just for me now.

nope

charli get out of there what are you doing

you are not cher lloyd, cher lloyd isn't even cher lloyd anymoer

UK release date pushed back again :(

the closer she gets to sounding like republica the less i'm down with her but i still mostly like the album

the whole release strategy for the album was odd to me -- score a big top 10 hit in multiple countries, then follow it u[ with something like "Break The Rules" that was so obviously doomed to not go top 10 anywhere (except Australia, apparently) and keep pushing back the album release while that stupid single choice saps her career momentum.

hilarious

this is shit music

Omar otm

yeah "break the rules" is a proper hit down here

i love the album but i think it's flopped. don't really see how rita ora could rescue things but i'm open minded

it's probably not true that anyone considers a rita ora verse in itself to be a game-changing value-add

might more just be that rita's camp is down to put up cash for a video or radio budget that the label might not be willing to part with at this stage of the campaign

i think it sounds fine

if this replaced black widow in US top 40 playlists i'd be ecstatic

"i don't feel like i connect to HER or feel there's ever much at stake" So glad you said this, lex. I gave it a lukewarm review, acknowledging it has a handful of great songs, for this reason and the blanket enthusiasm itt confused me. It's very basic - each song has one conceit (I like partying, I don't like rules, I am from London) which is reiterated efficiently without adding any new wrinkle. My daughters are obsessed with 1989 so I'm constantly reminded how many insights, twists and idiosyncratic details Taylor packs into her conceits. This seems cartoonish by comparison.

cartoonish is great!