2005-2009: The Pop Renaissance

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Here we are: the last era of our project. If you've been reading all along, I want to say thanks for tolerating my writing, and I hope you enjoyed the music.

The last few years have been some tough ones. We've been at war; we had some of the most divisive politics in a generation; and we've endured an ugly recession. In times like these, music doesn't always get better, but it usually gets more interesting. Easy times get you great party music. Tough times bring deep, soulful music. Personally, I'm ready for more party music (or at least a party).

Through all that, somehow the Pop sound reigns supreme again. In the previous years, Hip-hop dominated the charts, with some Country, and Hard Rock-Alternative mixed in. Much of Pop music had been relegated to the Disney Channel crowd: the domain of 11-year-olds. Many music fans had stopped really listening to the radio. The irony of this iPod Improvement Project is that it's based on the very Pop charts that iTunes has essentially replaced. Nobody really needs Billboard Charts anymore. We have iTunes, and American Idol and X-Factor and YouTube and now Spotify on Facebook. Our access to music is nearly infinite. Our biggest challenge is sifting through it all.

So how did Pop even survive? It does what it's always done: consumed its competition. You hear blends of Hip-hop, Country, Rock, and so on tossed into the big melting pot, and voilà: a new sound is born!

As always, you have to dig through lots of bad music to find the good. As always, I'm here to get you started:


La Tortura - Shakira Ft. Alejandro Sanz (2005)
Holiday - Green Day (2005)
Hips Don't Lie - Shakira Ft. Wyclef Jean (2006)
Irreplaceable - Beyonce (2007)
Before He Cheats - Carrie Underwood (2007)
Stronger - Kanye West (2007)
Bleeding Love - Leona Lewis (2008)
American Boy - Estelle Ft. Kanye West (2008)
Disturbia - Rihanna (2008)
Viva La Vida - Coldplay (2008)
Just Dance - Lady Gaga (2009)
Dead And Gone - T.I. Ft. Justin Timberlake (2009)

Spotify: ipodimprovement.blogspot.com: 2005-2009

2000s Bonus Tracks

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Spotify: ipodimprovement.blogspot.com: 2000s Bonus

Jumpin Jumpin' - Destiny's Child  (2000)
Fallin' - Alicia Keys  (2001)
Independent Women Part I - Destiny's Child  (2001)
Butterfly - Crazy Town  (2001)
How You Remind Me - Nickelback  (2002)
Wherever you Will Go - The Calling  (2002)
Without Me - Eminem  (2002)
Whenever, Wherever - Shakira  (2002)
Beautiful - Christina Aguilera  (2003)
Yeah! - Usher Featuring Lil Jon & Ludacris  (2004)
Drop it Like it's Hot - Snoop Dogg Featuring Pharrell  (2004)
Let's get it Started - Black Eyed Peas  (2004)
Let Me Love You - Mario  (2005)
1, 2 Step - Ciara Featuring Missy Elliott  (2005)
Gold Digger - Kanye West Featuring Jamie Foxx  (2005)
Boulevard of Broken Dreams - Green Day  (2005)
Mr. Brightside - The Killers  (2005)
Pon de Replay - Rihanna  (2005)
Hate It or Love It - The Game Featuring 50 Cent  (2005)
Sugar (Gimme Some) - Trick Daddy Featuring Ludacris, Lil' Kim & Cee-Lo  (2005)
Bring em Out - T.I.  (2005)
Crazy - Gnarls Barkley  (2006)
SOS - Rihanna  (2006)
Dance, Dance - Fall Out Boy  (2006)
Stupid Girls - Pink  (2006)
Umbrella - Rihanna Featuring Jay-Z  (2006)
What Goes Around…Comes Around - Justin Timberlake  (2007)
Rehab - Amy Winehouse  (2007)
Snow ((Hey Oh)) - Red Hot Chili Peppers  (2007)
Lovestoned - Justin Timberlake  (2007)
Apologize - Timbaland Featuring OneRepublic  (2008)
I Kissed A Girl - Katy Perry  (2008)
Paper Planes - M.I.A.  (2008)
Shadow Of The Day - Linkin Park  (2008)
Heartless - Kanye West  (2009)
Knock you Down - Keri Hilson Featuring Kanye West & Ne-Yo  (2009)
Let it Rock - Kevin Rudolf Featuring Lil Wayne  (2009)
Empire State of Mind - Jay-Z + Alicia Keys  (2009)
Sweet Dreams - Beyonce  (2009)

Stronger - Kanye West (2007)

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[2005-2009 Best Songs]
Billboard Top 100, 2007: #27                                                                
 

Kanye West takes Daft Punk's Techno track Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger and lays a Hip-hop track on it, and somehow manages to make Rock 'N Roll - how is that even possible? Normally I'm not a big fan of heavy sampling, but this is more like alchemy.

This adrenaline-drenched jam is as good for blasting in the car on the freeway as any Rock 'N Roll I've ever owned. It seems like I should be too old to even play this song. Instead, it actually makes me feel younger when I play it. 

At the peak of your party, when everyone's up and dancing, switch to this. It'll be amazing, until someone gets too excited and knocks over your stereo. 

Sorry about that.

La Tortura - Shakira Ft. Alejandro Sanz (2005)

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[2005-2009 Best Songs]
Billboard Top 100, 2005: #60                                                               

 
Since this is my list, I have to make important decisions, such as whether it's alright for a non-English language song to be included. Shakira being unbelievably hot had no impact on my decision. The ruling is: Spanish language songs are acceptable (especially when the singer is very hot). 

I did take the time to read the lyrics. Translating lyrics is always a tough thing. You lose the context of figures of speech, cadence and rhyme - all the things that make lyrics "work" in the native language. What's magical about this particular song is the sense of understanding you can get without even knowing the language. The two voices are caught up in an exchange that is full of emotion. She's wistful, but bitter; he's aching, pleading. And yeah, "la tortura" translates to torture, so you can take a guess at the meaning of it all. Or, if you really need it, here's a link to the translation.
 
Meanwhile, there's a musical treasure trove backing those vocals. There are hooks better than virtually any American Pop song. The Latin-Caribbean track has tons of energy, driven by that sharp electric guitar. It's also the best sounding accordion you will ever hear: I loathe the sound of an accordion; this one's actually sexy. 

Alejandro Sanz' vocals are even better than Shakira's, which is important because otherwise nobody would have known he was even in the room. It's a sure bet nobody was looking at him.

Just Dance - Lady Gaga (2009)

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[2005-2009 Best Songs]
Billboard Top 100, 2009: #3                                                               


 
Forget Auto-Tune, the biggest thing in modern Pop music is Nano-technology. Rumor has it* that for the song Just Dance, Lady Gaga teamed up with the late Steve Jobs to put tiny Pop-Bots™ to work. They can travel directly from your iPhone through the headphone wires into your brain. Yes, this song LITERALLY gets stuck in your head.

If you can tolerate the brain invasion, this is really a creative dance tune. The chord progressions add an odd melancholy to this feel-good tune about bleary-eyed club-hoppers. On top of that is the homage to that 1980s Techno sound in the interlude. Some of the lyrics are clever, some a little awkward. But the words aren't really the point to this one, are they?



*or I made it up just now.