Itunes Top 50 11/18/06 30-26

30. Evanescence- Call Me When You're Sober

PAS: Evanescence does a thing that I don't particularly care for, but unlike a lot of music I don't like, I think I can differentiate between good and bad Evanescence. This feels like kind of a throwaway Evanescence track. Like any cutting done to this song would be desultory rather then enthusiastic.

TKG: So Phil goes looking for this tune on Limewire. their record label has put up a bunch of fake links to prevent us from downloading it for free. Phil realizes that their fans probably can't spell and so looks up Evenescence and we get it immediately. I understand the construct that Brad Paisley is working with. He sings a song where he portrays a really needy demanding girlfriend....the kind of woman that even other women would go...shit how does anyone put up with that. And then he talks about how much he is devoted to her. this should elicit response of "aww what a great guy". That construct makes sense."Don't cry to me, if you'd love me you'd be here with me" ? Huh? I don't get this construct. She's describing a needy girl who won't put up with her boyfriends drinking? This is supposed to appeal to boys that don't drink and want to rescue her from her relationship? They make songs to appeal to those losers now? Don't those guys still collect limited edition power pop singles?

29. Rascal Flatts- Life Is a Highway

PAS: The Tom Cochran original is really not a good song, but this is so much worse, that it's shittiness actually elevates the original. The twang here is ridiculously fake sounding. It actually kind of sounds like Bruce Bruce imitating a redneck.

TKG: Fu-uck. fifteen years from now I imagine some fucker is going to try to country up "Ants Marching" and I'll be left nostalgic for this. It's not just that the vocal twang feels Def Comedy fake, but the guitar twang sounds like a parody too. Can't someone expose Flatts mom as a Tunisian Jew?

28. Chris Brown- Say Goodbye

PAS: There are parts of this when Chris Brown was attempting to do almost an Akon voice, and he is not Akon. There is also a section where he is trying to sing really fast like Crazy Bone, he isn't Crazy Bone either.

TKG: On some level this whole project has been a failure. As both me and Phil kind have been speaking with the same voice. We're guys who disagree on pop music. He likes Gnarls Barkley's Crazy alot more than I do. Crazy really feels to me to be a really obvious attempt at a Seal/Bill Withers mash up. and really isn't as interesting (doesn't have the friction) of an actual Seal/Bill Withers mash up. Crazy feels like something that would sound fine in Chipolte. I like Unk's -"Walk it Out" a lot more than Phil. I really like that it's just a DJ who figured out a couple neat loops and beats and threw some DJ patter on top of it. It's kind of a throw back to the origins of rap, capturing the spirit better than Jurrasic 5 would ever be able to. It's underdeveloped-ness is endearing. Phil thinks its underdeveloped and needs a better rapper on remix. We really haven't done a good job articulating the differences in our musical opinions. I've heard "Say Goodbye" a million times and never much cared for it. Hearing it after Lady Sovereign, Pussycat Dolls, Rascall Falatts , etc...and I think I have a new appreciation of the tune. It is sub- Celebrity N'Synch. But I I kind of like Brown's attempt at fake Akon sustain, and fake Crazy Bone stutter speed as it feels like it really does nice job laying out the outline for OG RON C to remix this on a F*ck Action CD..

27. The Killers- When You Were Young

TKG: Amusing to listen to guys who started as fake New Order doing fake R.E.M. I never really liked R.E.M.. But for bubblegum R.E.M "he doesn''t look a thing like Jesus/ but he talks like a gentleman/like you imagine when" may be better than anything Michael Stipe ever wrote. "They say the devil's water it ain't so sweet"... that's fucking "Daydream Believer" great.

PAS: Your basic music reviewer shorthand for this new Killers album was that they were doing Bruce Springsteen shtick. I agree with Tom that it sounds way more like R.E.M. then Bruce Springsteen. I liked the first Killers album a fair amount more then I liked this album on first listen. However this single may be better then Mr. Brightside, and kind of makes me want to re-listen to the whole album again, something I imagine I would do if Hell Hath No Fury wasn't coming out on Tuesday.

26. KT Tunstall- Suddenly I See

PAS: In a world where you have Sheryl Crow and Bonnie Raitt, I see no reason to have a Scottish Sheryl Raitt with a much flatter voice.

TKG: I hang out in Irish bars. There always is some band playing Charlie on the MTA telling me I can buy their CD. I'm shit faced drunk and willing to drop cash on anything. Still have never been suckered into buying a CD. Apparently some A &R guy can't hold his drinks as well as I can.