But that's to be expected. Being a teen in the 90s meant that guitar rock and indie was the only thing acceptable to like. Even considering pop as anything other than poison would be a crime to humanity. So I've been conditioned to look down on it. Ironically, it was indie-darlings Pitchfork magazine that made me open to the idea that pop music can at least be regarded with the same intellectual vigor as guitar music.
The point is that I have a bias against pop music, so a lot of your stuff didn't work for me. And the limited pop that I do respect didn't quite feature in your list. How come no Beyonce, for example? And you didn't choose Rihanna's most obvious, and often best, hits.
Still, I tried to give your muisc a chance, and I'm at the very least glad to have learned more about acts I've heard about but never bothered to listen to. And indeed it took a bunch of times to finally listen to, and appreciate, the hugely popular Disclosure. I have to confess I listened to Latch more than once. What I also liked about your list was the capacity to completely surprise. Such as Chelsea Wolfe, who is great, even her new album under the catchy name of Mrs Piss. You should give PJ Harvey a listen, particularly her 90s output, as Wolfe is a vocal fan of hers. There were a few other positive surprises, such as MIA, Arctic Monkeys, Timbaland, and M83, all of which were decent tunes. And we actually had one crossover, Modest Mouse's "Float On"!
I'll never get Lady Gaga, but at least you picked one of her songs that's genuinely catchy, so I'll take that as a positive. Otherwise, thanks for the pop education!
