July 18: Thumbs up/ Thumbs down

This is the debut of a new feature which I'm going to call Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down, until I think of something more creative.


THUMBS UP:
Pink. Her single "U + Ur Hand" has incredibly made it to #2 on the pop airplay chart. This song was released last fall, and seemed to die a quiet death. Pop radio has a way of discarding artists after it decides they're no longer relevant, and it seemed radio had done that to Pink. I remember driving in Johnstown on New Year's Day and hearing the song on the radio for the first time, months after its release, and getting excited. Slowly, slowly, slowly, it kept building, and now almost a year later it has rightfully earned smash hit status. It is one of several great songs right now (like Kelly Clarkson's Never Again) about women telling off lame ex-boyfriends.

Shop Boyz. I have this thing where, if a song becomes a hit on the charts before I've ever heard it, I kind of resent it, and I resist liking it. That happened for a while with Shop Boyz' "Party Like a Rockstar," but I finally gave in. I love when rappers try to be rockers. What clinches this song's status as a guilty pleasure is the silly "Totally, dude!" after each chorus.

The White Stripes. They closed their Canadian tour with the shortest concert in history - one note. Gimmicks are great.

THUMBS DOWN:
Of Montreal. They announce more tour dates. And skip Pittsburgh again. I don't care how beautifully quirky their music is or how great their gender-bending, theatrical stage show is supposed to be - I won't be able to get into this band if they refuse to perform anywhere within a 4-hour drive of my house.

Neko Case. She's on a solo tour right now and thus didn't play with the New Pornographers at the Pitchfork Music Festival. Thank goodness I didn't go! I seriously considered buying a ticket and traveling to Chicago for the final day of the festival, just to see the New Porns. If I had done that, only to have Neko not be there, I would have been furious!

Paris Hilton. Word is she's decided to make a second record, which makes sense since the first one was such an immense success. Somewhere, Kevin Federline is crying.