Tag: Diana Vickers

Diana Vickers – Music To Make The Boys Cry

Slightly rude sentiment in the title.

Tim: Slightly rude sentiment in the title, but other than that, well, just have a listen.

Music To Make The Boys Cry by mdstmgmt

Tom: That’s the most 80s start to a pop song I’ve heard in a while.

Tim: Isn’t that fantastic? She got ditched by RCA after her first album, apparently as a result of directional differences blah, and if this does anywhere near as well as it deserves to they’ll have made a bit of a cock-up, really. In other technical details, it’s been produced in conjunction with Norwegian electronic act Donkeyboy (them who did the original of Joe McElderry’s very good track Ambitions, and of whom more soon), and any influences they’ve had have almost certainly been a very good thing.

So, the track itself: well, as I said, fantastic.

Tom: And that’s where we disagree.

Tim: Seriously? It’s got a great underlying electrobass line, brilliant vocals, verses that stroll along nicely and a chorus that goes from strolling to skipping around the fields in a nice jumpy fashion.

Tom: I agree that the chorus is lovely, and that the whole song’s generically pleasant, and that she’s got a lovely voice… but it’s like it never really takes off. The final chorus almost saves it, but I wouldn’t go so far as fantastic. It’s… nice.

Tim: More than that. And as for the lyrics: well, I myself am not crying, but at a recent funeral I discovered I am in fact an emotional robot, so I won’t let that bother me. Finally, the best thing of all? It’s an actual free download, which you can get for yourself here.

Saturday Flashback: X Factor Finalists 2008 – Hero

Lurking in the background.

Tim: It’s probably time we discussed this. We’ve referred to it briefly on a couple of occasions, and ever since then it’s been lurking in the background, waiting to rear its beautiful, graceful head.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sOoTeprHiU

Tim: Now, I think this is marvellous.

Tom: It’s not beautiful, it’s not graceful, and it’s not marvellous.

Tim: It is, though. The emotion of the original is all there.

Tom: Yes, it is. Maudlin, saccharine emotion. Only this time, just in case it wasn’t drummed into you enough by the song, it’s backed up with Ken Burns Effect-photos of soldiers emoting. The only thing it’s missing is a big block of scrolling text which says “FEEL SAD NOW HURRRR”.

Tim: Oh, I have no problems whatsoever admitting the video is appalling – it is, by far, the worst thing about the song. It is the music where it shines, though, such as the key change – fairly impressive already in the original, here it’s been turned up to about 27. The only bad part of it is the vocals from Rachel at 2:33, which are just nasty, but they can be turned down a bit.

Tom: Musically, there’s nothing wrong with it. I’ll agree with that. It’s just so goddamned syrupy that it sends me into the musical version of hyperglycaemia.

Tim: Everything else? Brilliant, and I challenge you to provide an actual reason otherwise.

Tom: There’s a comment on YouTube from “PeterKaay94”, which says “How can you dislike this video? It’s for the armed forces you dicks.” I had a whole riff here about other fund-raising efforts that said commenter would then have to approve of, but frankly it just got a bit disrespectful so I’ve cut it.

Tim: Well as far as I’m concerned the cause has got nothing to do with it, and Mr 94 is speaking out of his arse. A song should stand out on its own merits, and being for charity should be no excuse whatsoever for weakness – JLS proved that.

Tom: Yes, it’s for a worthy cause, and yes, musically there’s nothing really wrong with it – but it just makes my skin crawl. That’s a reason.