If I see a light flashing

Before finishing up with the top six songs of this countdown, I have to take a moment to talk about two songs.



First, Najoua Belyzel's "Au féminin." You may know Najoua from her brilliant 2006 singles like "Gabriel" and "Je ferme les yeux," '80's-inspired French electronic pop that made all those who heard it stop in their tracks and pay attention. She released a new single in 2007, but it didn't leave that much of an impression in France or on listeners. She's now back again with the proper lead single for her upcoming album...and I have to say, it's not quite what I was hoping for from her. It's as if the strength and power has gone out of Najoua's songs--everything's just been dialed back some. "Au féminin" is OK, but not instantly attention-grabbing. Still, I'm going to hope the new album has something I love more on it, since Najoua's first album had songs that made me so excited about her as an artist.



When Calvin Harris's new single, "I'm Not Alone," hit the Internet yesterday and got a positive response, I wanted to love it, wanted to be inspired to go running about raving about it to everyone, but didn't. Despite not feeling any attachment to "Acceptable in the '80's," never listening to his debut album, and thinking Kylie's "In My Arms" is overrated, I've found myself pretty pro-Calvin Harris for some reason (I do love "The Girls," but that surely can't be enough to explain it). Today, though, I've returned to it more and more. Maybe it's just a function of craving listening to new music as I near the end of this music writing version of NaNoWriMo, but its "euphoric," "Grandaddy, Snow Patrol, and Faithless" (to quote the man himself) sound--basically that '90's rave sound with Snow Patrol style vocals performed by an unrecognizable Calvin--is sinking in with me now and may be clicking in a big way.

There are other songs I'm eager to write about, but I'll leave those--and maybe more thoughts on these two--for the end of the countdown.

#66 Dizzee Rascal feat. Calvin Harris & Chrome, "Dance Wiv Me"

I know you didn't come out to stand and stare
You bought new shoes and you did up your hair
You made a real effort tonight and it shows
I can tell by your face you don't wanna be alone

Who would have guessed the grime of Dizzee Rascal and dance/pop of Calvin Harris would combine so well? "Dance Wiv Me" didn't sound like anything else on the British charts this year, but it was a deserved hit in the UK. There's not much actual singing that goes on in "Dance Wiv Me"--it's mainly Dizzee and Calvin taking turns talking over Calvin's up-and-down electronic beat, but the combination of catchiness and cheeky charm turns out to be exactly what that backing track needed. The various parts of "Dance Wiv Me" wouldn't have been nearly as good as parts of another song--Calvin definitely benefits from having a different voice and narrative voice on the track and Dizzee gets a great beat and two decent hook guys out of the bargain. It's the sort of crossover pop smash the world could use more of.

Find it on: Dance Wiv Me (Single)