on air: 2010 year in music, pt. II

TELEPHONE
Lady GaGa feat. Beyonce
The Fame Monster

Hello, hello baby, you called I can’t hear a thing.

Riding on the spectacle that is the Geyonce tandem, Lady GaGa releases Telephone. It may not be as epic and original as Bad Romance but Telephone can still hold its own. "Can call all you want but there's no one home and you're not gonna reach my telephone," she sings, and we are reminded that when we're out to have fun, we should have fun.

ONLY GIRL (IN THE WORLD)
Rihanna
Loud

I want you to love me like I’m a hot pie.

The girl returns to her roots and delivers a certified dancefloor burner. Rihanna showcases better and fresher vocals on this Europop-inspired track. With its catchy and infectious beats, Only Girl (In The World) is tailor-made to be a club staple.

BILLIONAIRE
Travie McCoy feat. Bruno Mars
Lazarus

I wanna be a billionaire so fucking bad.

Travie McCoy spits lines that are made of pure wit and charm interjected with Bruno Mars' sung hook that is as impressive as his work on B.o.B.'s Nothin' On You makes for a timeless summer anthem.

LOVE THE WAY YOU LIE
Eminem feat. Rihanna
Recovery

Just gonna stand there and watch me burn, that’s alright because I like the way it hurts.

It is both disconcerting and ingenious to let the current poster child of domestic violence Rihanna lend vocals to a song that talks about abusive and turbulent relationships. The shock value adds to the haunting effect of Love The Way You Lie.

CAN'T BE TAMED
Miley Cyrus
Can't Be Tamed

For those who don't know me, I can get a bit crazy; have to get my way, 24 hours a day cos I'm hot like that.

It's quite difficult to understand how Can't Be Tamed be the natural progression of Miley Cyrus' music career when not too long ago she was nodding her head like "yeah" and moving her hips like "yeah" to her favorite Britney song. Nevertheless, the song is still a decent piece of pop that goes well with the current trend in radio.

TERRIFIED
Katharine McPhee and Zachary Levi
Unbroken

You, by the light is the greatest find.

No other contemporary love song comes as sweet and pristine as the DioGuardi-penned Terrified. It's the perfect track for those who believe in happy ever afters. However, it would've been a lot better if it got the exposure it deserves.

SOMEBODY TO LOVE (REMIX)
Justin Bieber and Usher
My World 2.0

For you I’d write a symphony.

It is rather a mystery why everyone's so caught up moving to Somebody To Love's beat when it is a fairly generic dance track done by fairly generic pop act. It shall be blamed on the Bieber fever.

PYRAMID
Charice feat. Iyaz
Charice

Stones, heavy like the love you’ve shown.

Pyramid does little to truly showcase Charice's supposed extraordinary vocals. While it fits in the mold of contemporary radio hits, Pyramid is too generic and too safe to be make a dent in an industry dominated by innovative movers and shakers.

WAKA WAKA (THIS TIME FOR AFRICA)
Shakira feat. Freshlygroundz
Sale El Sol

You're a good soldier choosing your battles, pick yourself up and dust yourself off and back in the saddle.

Shakira's music is novelty for mainstream audience so it is not a surprise how everyone seems to embrace Waka Waka (This Time For Africa) as their guilty pleasure. Justifiably, this Latin-Afro fusion is addictive indeed.

TEENAGE DREAM
Katy Perry
Teenage Dream

You think I’m pretty without any make up on.

Teenage Dream feels and sounds vintage and that is what sets it apart from the rest of the Top 40 in which nearly every damn song is follows a template of melody filled by non-sensical rhyme. Katy Perry, on the other hand, feeds us with lines that take us back to the day when we were all young, careless and in love; back when we believed that love is all there is to life.

TO BE CONTINUED.