Next month, I'll start contributing to #FearOfMu21c, an attempt to crowdsource a great playlist of 21st century singles.
Everyone contributes their favourite 50, with bonus marks for the top five.
Here's my working so far. My list of 50 is a little long.
https://www.tumblr.com/weaversweek/729506571049140224
As Mastodon has limited post sizes, full discussion of each #FearOfMu21c song is on my Tumbr. There may be spoilers there until the countdown ends on 19 November.
Index post: https://www.tumblr.com/weaversweek/729933297209262080/fear-of-music-index-post
The first of fifty excellent songs from the 21st century.
2000 marked the high point of manufactured pop, bursting through like sunshine through the clouds. Those harmonies! The uplifting melody line!
The whole century's going to be as fun and positive as this, right?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50kP4S0peAs
#FearOfMu21c #SClub7
Eva Cassidy died in 1996. She was a natural musician - came up with three-part harmonies from nowhere, improvised with skill and precision - but never hit the record company leagues.
Indie label Blix Street hawked the handful of recordings to tastemakers. One was Paul Walters, the producer of Terry Wogan's breakfast show on Radio 2; the rest is history.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rd8VktT8xY
#FearOfMu21c #EvaCassidy #TerryWogan
The new orchestral Eva Cassidy album I CAN ONLY BE ME is released 3rd March 2023 https://evacassidy.lnk.to/ICanOnlyBeMeRestored footage of Eva Cassidy perfor...
From Arizona to your heart, Jimmy Eat World helped us all with the unsubtle emotions of late 2001.
Whether it was a personal loss, or the cultural shock, the band's accessible emo music cut through crap and gave us permission to feel.
ELEVEN POINTS!
https://youtu.be/oKsxPW6i3pM
#FearOfMu21c #JimmyEatWorld
Banners - Mike Nelson to his friends and family - released this love song in summer 2017, on the Empires of Fire ep. It's brotherly love, a search for meaning and validation in life.
When the world stopped, the line "I wanna be somebody to someone. Someone to you" resonated. Tick Tock turned the obscure choon into a massive viral hit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeLaiL9tk68
#FearOfMu21c #Banners
Established francophone singer Natasha St Pier worked with singer-songwriter Pascal Obispo for this song about the fleeting uncertainty of life, thoughtful and poignant. Even if you don't speak a word of French, you'll get the emotion here.
From Natasha's 2003 album "L'instant d'après"; a top five single in France and Belgium in '04.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f1mCn3Yv5Q
#FearOfMu21c #NatashaStPier #PascalObispo
Back to 2004, when electro-pop was at its most thrilling. Richard X from Xenomania wrote a confident, swaggering pop tune, sung by Annie about her many useless exes. The chorus line gets stuck in one's head: "you think you're chocolate but you're chewing gum", a diss to anyone.
In my personal top ten of the century, but (sigh) the top five only allows five entries, and this doesn't quite get the #FearOfMu21c bonus mark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTx6enCvQ-M
#Annie #ChewingGum
Grunge never quite died, it just came back in unexpected ways. Tiffany Page was brought up on a diet of country music and Hole; her songs combine the best of both genres, relentless and verbose.
Her vocals were compared to Chrissie Hynde - soulful, smoky, sultry. "On your head", from early summer 2010, made it to Radio 1's B-list. Not that this made it a hit - into the top 40 at number 102, and straight out again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjiQrGUVYdk
#FearOfMu21c #TiffanyPage
Earnest and serious, Hozier's big breakthrough came with this masterpiece from late 2013.
Our interlocutor talks about love, using the language of catholicism. "Worship like a dog in the shrine of your lies" is such an evocative phrase, and the closing motif "a-men a-men" rams the point home.
It's a song about human sexuality, and those who would pretend it's somehow sinful.
#FearOfMu21c #Hozier https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVjiKRfKpPI
"Take me out" boasts the greatest opening minute of any song on this list. A low-pitched, menacing, guitar throb. Ominous, already we're bracing for bad news. Then in comes a low-pitched, growling Scottish voice.
Jonas Odell's video married live-action footage of the band with animated drawings - a state of the art video from 1988 is pastiche by 2004.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9jhwR07yk4
#FearOfMu21C #FranzFerdinand
The first of five Eurovision songs in the 50, and the oldest of all.
"My star" is a post-grunge song, cautious optimism for the future while being honest that life can be a bit shit.
Renars Kaupers, the singer and songwriter, is an affable and geeky chap. Made a connection through the screen, enough to have the song reach an unexpected third place, and a small release over here a month later.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZutVRMXoiiU
#Brainstorm #FearOfMu21C #Eurovision
Which song to summarise Dua Lipa's career? Dua has cornered the market in disco pop, with any number of songs to soundtrack the last few years.
"IDGAF" remains the strongest for me. It's about your own personal contradictions and battles, how they can leave you stronger.
A breakup song, an empowerment anthem: you speak, I don't have to listen. You're never alone with friends: Dua stands in fierce solidarity with her phalanx.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mgfe5tIwOj0
#FearOfMu21c #DuaLipa
Electroclash pop, a vocal to burn toast at a thousand paces, a chorus never to be forgotten.
Elly Jackson has style, androgynous genderqueer punk dystopian vibe we all love. This left us hollering the chorus while three sheets to the wind, a cry of complete love, a call of hope that we can get through this bit.
La Roux's signature song, first of a million bangers. Investigate other La Roux tunes, you'll thank me later.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk8eJh4i8Lo
#FearOfMu21c #LaRoux
One of the greatest pop moments of the 2000s.
The chorus returns – "can we bring yesterday back around?" But this time it's higher-pitched, a touch yelpy. And there's a gloriously discordant high tone, "coz I know how I feel about you now".
By 2007, we're up to Sugababes 3.0, and the video with the young man parkouring his way around south London, hopes to meet up with his date on the Southbank.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPo8XJgoqmE
#FearOfMu21c #Sugababes
Whose bingo card had "Chains" singer gets massive hit in French?
After filling her anglophone contract, Tina recorded «Un autre univers», an album of modern chanson. This was the lead single, "Love unto the impossible".
It's a rejoinder to the cruel ex - promised eternity, then ran away; much disappears under the flame of jealousy, but Tina is always saved by the way she can love. Even unto the impossible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Lk_qfB3ooI
#FearOfMu21c #TinaArena
A career condensed to four minutes. Synthpop from "1989", dense lyrics from "Folklore" / "Evermore", dark introspection of "Reputation", the effortless breeze of her early years.
"Anti-hero" is all about the insecurities that keep Taylor up, and the nightmares that wake her. She wants to be a good person, but has become convinced that her flaws will keep her from ever being one. A self-directed video extends the metaphor.
#FearOfMu21c #TaylorSwift https://youtu.be/b1kbLwvqugk
Miley Cyrus has had three blasts at fame, each more intriguing than the last. Today she's a mature woman, earlier a party animal. Miley began as the cleancut star of "Hannah Montana" and its movie.
She sings "The climb" and means it, acting through every layer of her skin. There are ups, and there are downs. "Always gonna be an uphill battle, sometimes I'm gonna have to lose" is a very rare emotion in pop.
https://youtu.be/NG2zyeVRcbs
#FearOfMu21c #MileyCyrus #HannahMontana
A straightforward relationship song, the love and the distance, the closeness and the moments when you just can't stand them.
There's gospel, there's a slow-building crescendo, there's a subtle sample from James Brown somewhere in the mix. And it's a great showcase for Alicia's skills - as pianist, singer, songwriter, producer.
"The gospel fervour of lovesick righteousness", according to Entertainment Weakly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Urdlvw0SSEc
#FearOfMu21c #AliciaKeys
Official HD video for "Fallin'" by Alicia KeysListen to Alicia Keys: https://AliciaKeys.lnk.to/_listenYDWatch NOTED: Alicia Keys The Untold Stories 4 Part Yo...
Inspired by Beyoncé and Aretha Franklin, Destiny came up through Malta's many stage schools and young theatrical scene. With Matt Mercieca and Elton Zarb, she wrote and performed a Motown throwback of extreme quality.
I said in 2015, "Being in English, this song could fit straight onto a UK radio playlist. Being utterly brilliant, it won't."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85Sxw9asfX0
#FearOfMu21c #Destiny
Gothpop twins Jessica and Lisa Origliasso have been making great music for most of the century. They've gone from power pop through synth-dance, and then into an era of molten Barbie poured into a crucible with black eyeliner.
"If you love someone" is happy, upbeat, inclusive. A big giant hug for all the queers, all the misfits, all the people who don't quite fit into Normal Bread Society.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mc5V51_kpw4
#FearOfMu21c #TheVeronicas
An occasional reminder that I'm doing extended write-ups of #FearOfMu21c on my little Tumblr site.
What was the link between Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus?
Why didn't "Bulletproof" get the still-unawarded DOUZE POINTS?
Which song will I post next? Tomorrow's hits today!
https://weaversweek.tumblr.com/post/729933297209262080/fear-of-music-index-post
Avril Lavigne splashed onto the scene in summer 2002, and snotty bratty mall-punks from Manitoba to Milton Keynes found their eyes popping out on stalks.
It's the energy that makes this song - "Sk8er boi" sees the line between "milquetoast" and "too loud", dances along it, turns a few cartwheels, and ends by making an iconic hand gesture in our face.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIy3n2b7V9k
#FearOfMu21c #AvrilLavigne
Official video for "Sk8er Boi” by Avril Lavigne Listen to Avril Lavigne: https://AvrilLavigne.lnk.to/listen_YDListen to "Let Go" 20th Anniversary: https://av...
A strange and cautionary tale of recent times.
A tale of the little band that could (but never did).
A tale of fans who chomp at anything their idol does.
A tale of a radio dj who didn't believe in grass roots rebellion, and got trampled underfoot by some bratty mallpunks.
https://weaversweek.tumblr.com/post/731772824876924928/uncool50-say-you-love-me
#FearOfMu21c #VoodooHussy
Trying to conjure up a bit of hope on a dark day, this soft jazz number features "doo-doo"s and a calm vocal. There's a lazy bassline, perhaps a bit too close to Lou Reed, and eventually a sax solo.
Less polished than their earlier work, 2019's "Summer girl" keeps the harmonies and emotional intimacy that are Haim's trademark.
https://iv.melmac.space/watch?v=ZjuA_o6Jzyo
#FearOfMu21c #Haim
HAIM - Summer Girl Listen: https://HAIM.lnk.to/SummerGirlVD Follow HAIM: http://facebook.com/haimtheband http://twitter.com/haimtheband http://instagram.com/haimtheband http://haimtheband.com Performed by Danielle Haim Este Haim Alana Haim Henry Solomon Director: Paul Thomas Anderson Recording Produced by: Danielle Haim, Rostam Batmanglij, and Ariel Rechtshaid Producers: Sara Murphy, Erica Frauman Editor: Andy Jurgensen Recording Mixed by: Rostam Batmanglij, Ariel Rechtshaid, and Shawn Everett Recording Mastered by: Emily Lazar Production Company: Ghoulardi Film Company UPM: Kat Barnette Camera / Steadicam Operator: Colin Anderson 1st Assistant Camera: Steve Cueva 2nd Assistant Camera: Jozo Zovko Gaffer: Danny Durr Key Grip: Jeff Kunkel Loaders: Drey Jordan Singer, Hadyn Pazanti Production Coordinator: Lauren Andrade Wardrobe: Rebecca Grice Playback & Other Stuff: Victoria Kunkel Production Assistant: EJ Smith Colorists: Mike Sowa, Phil Beckner DI Producer: Jason Pelham THANK YOU: Jules McLean Panavision Cameras: Lori Killam Light Force Kodak: Anne Hubbell Color and Prints by: Fotokem #HAIM Filmed on location at VOX Studios, New Beverly Cinema, Canters Deli, Ventura Blvd., California June 8 & 9, 2019
Nelly Furtado makes great singles, this one's my favourite. Her usual well-written song, this time with a strong dance beat, and Nelly uses her lyrical prowess to make poetry from the mundane.
The video features Nelly around the world, colourful and dark, wet and warm. The song's got as many aural textures.
https://iv.melmac.space/watch?v=42gn7moKmDE
#FearOfMu21c #NellyFurtado
Directed by Sophie Muller. Writer by Nelly Furtado. ℗ 2001 Geffen Records.
They may have used Amy Lee's physical assets to sell the song; it stayed a month at number one because it's a bit different, and a lot good.
There's a tune, it's danceable, it's not the cloying dance beat of every other record of summer 2003.
And the lyric has a certain spiritual quality, drawing from the band's Christian faith - even if they withdrew from the CCM scene around this point.
https://inv.us.projectsegfau.lt/watch?v=lZHPi6u8_6U
#FearOfMu21c #Evanescence
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. This is a video I made a long time ago.
Lily understood the young person's condition. The precarious life, take pleasures when we can. Not a life of hedonism, but a life betrayed by the generations above.
If the generation above had any sort of introspection, they'd ask, "why do our children feel like this? Could we have done better?" But no, for the boomers and 50s kids, it was always "me me me me me".
https://inv.us.projectsegfau.lt/watch?v=q-wGMlSuX_c
#FearOfMu21c #LilyAllen
NO SHAME - THE NEW ALBUM - OUT NOW https://LilyAllen.lnk.to/NoShameID 'The Fear' from the album 'It's Not Me, It's You' Stream, download or buy – https://LilyAllen.lnk.to/ItsNotMeItsYouID – Follow Lily online: www.lilyallenmusic.com https://LilyAllen.lnk.to/Spotify https://LilyAllen.lnk.to/AppleMusic https://LilyAllen.lnk.to/Twitter https://LilyAllen.lnk.to/Facebook https://LilyAllen.lnk.to/Instagram
An ode to his insecurity, Mika puts on all sorts of different faces in an effort to impress someone.
By the end of the song, he's learned that everyone else has insecurities, and to have that bit more confidence in himself.
Mika has remained popular in France and Italy, where pop stars are allowed to have quality. He's done casting shows for major broadcasters, and a song competition in Turin...
https://inv.us.projectsegfau.lt/watch?v=EaEPCsQ4608
#FearOfMu21c #Mika
Back on day 3, I gave a bonus to "The middle". Jimmy Eat World's single is the second best of the century so far.
Halfway round the 50-day cycle, I give a bonus to "Snap". Rosa Linn's single is *the* best of the century so far.
The two singles are similar in theme and emotional heft.
As you may expect, I have *thoughts*. Lots of thoughts.
https://weaversweek.tumblr.com/post/732403608725979136/twelve-points-to-snap
#FearOfMu21c #RosaLinn
... and if you've not heard "Snap", not met young Rosa before...
https://invidious.protokolla.fi/watch?v=a-STDPoEJOg
#FearOfMu21c #RosaLinn #JESC22
Amazing performance at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2022 of Rosa Linn, the representer of Armenia (ESC 2022)
"You're the storm" is chamber music for the pop age: it could be played by three people and a singer and no electricity.
It is played with psychedelic effects, lifting to the chorus, then dropping like Wile E Coyote as he runs out of cliff. It's a song about the eras we're leaving behind. Came out in the middle of the Iraq catastrophe, and barely scraped the top 75.
https://yt.artemislena.eu/watch?v=KMTLfChPzMc
#FearOfMu21c #Cardigans
Click here to stream and download more music from The Cardigans: https://lnk.to/TheCardigans #TheCardigans #LiveAndLearn #vevo #NinaPersson
The German speaking world had a spot for schmaltz in the mid-aughts, Mel C's tune spent six months in the top ten.
Written by Guy Chambers and Enrique Iglesias, "First day of my life" was originally recorded by Andrea Bocelli for his classical crossover album.
A download-and-radio single on Britain, promoted to adult radio - GWR's Life station loved it, for obvious reasons.
https://invidious.protokolla.fi/watch?v=W9n5AkJU-so
#FearOfMu21c #MelanieC #SpiceGirls
Music video of Melanie's European number 1 smash hit, taken from the album "Beautiful Intentions". For more Melanie C music check out http://itunes.com/MelanieC For more information visit www.melaniec.net, follow Melanie on Twitter at http://twitter.com/melaniecmusic and like Melanie on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/melaniecmusic
After leaving Veruca Salt, Nina Gordon brought out her talent as a songwriter.
A cool tune full of sparkle and potential. Nina works with strings and piano, to bring out the rich timbre of a fragile voice. The build-up to the chorus is magic, of a sort we only got around the turn of the century.
Released as a radio single and made some impact on the Billboard charts.
https://invidious.protokolla.fi/watch?v=Z29Wq7vWKDI
#FearOfMu21c #NinaGordon #VerucaSalt
Nina Gordon - Tonight And The Rest Of My Life
Covers only work if they improve on the original. This cover really works, it takes Bono's leaden vocals and puts them on the wings of angels.
"With or without you" is the perfect song for an autumn morning, a little sunlight playing on dewey grass, a hot pot of coffee and some warm croissants.
https://invidious.protokolla.fi/watch?v=1g5D8DOe77k
#FearOfMu21c #Scala #KolacnyBrothers
Live in Bruges, April 2010 Full show: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE8K_IODGzNeF1e24QBhgKWmqx-I-XzTY
2020 single, a reworking of Indochine's 1985 song "3e sexe".
One of the most iconic songs about sexual tolerance with its lyric about queerness and gender fluidity. The ideas are still timely and relevant so many decades later.
Chris was associated with the #MusicToo movement in France, an “anonymous collective against gender-based and sexual violence in the music industry”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ7H-INlclg?list=RDPJ7H-INlclg
#FearOfMu21c #ChristineAndTheQueens #Indochine
Les éditions du #CentralTour, Le Film sont disponibles partout : https://indochine.lnk.to/CentralTourLeFilm INDOCHINE - FESTIVAL TOUR 2023, infos et réserva...
Pat Monahan's voice is tailor-made for underdog stories, like this one. Behind the string riffs, beneath the pounding piano beat, there's a lot of emotion in this lyric. The song is about Pat's late mother, and he quite literally dreamed up the key image.
The strings are a deliberate homage to Elton John's "Tiny dancer"; the reference to soy latte might be a bit of filler, but we couldn't imagine the song without it.
https://invidious.protokolla.fi/watch?v=7Xf-Lesrkuc
#FearOfMu21c #Train
Train's official music video for "Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me)" Listen to Train: https://Train.lnk.to/listenYD Subscribe to the official Train channel: https://Train.lnk.to/subscribeYD Watch more of Train’s Music Videos: https://Train.lnk.to/listenYC/youtube Follow Train: Facebook: https://Train.lnk.to/followFI Twitter: https://Train.lnk.to/followTI Instagram: https://Train.lnk.to/followII Website: https://Train.lnk.to/followWI Spotify: https://Train.lnk.to/followSI Lyrics: Then I won a hundred bucks on a scratch-off ticket I bought two 12-packs and a tank of gas with it She swore they were a waste of time Oh, but she was wrong I was caller number five on a radio station Won a four day, three night beach vacation Deep sea señorita fishing down in Panama And I ain't gotta see my Ex-future-mother-in-law anymore Oh Lord, when it rains it pours #Train #DropsofJupiter #OfficialVideo
Our group declare to be true