Tuesday 13 July 2010

BBC Chart Blog Review Basshunter's Saturday

"I'm joking of course. Jonas may be a lot of things, but when it comes to cheesy dance anthems, he's no fool. He knows that 'I Like To Move It' by Reel 2 Real featuring The Mad Stuntman is an untouchable classic. A song so madly distracting and addictive (even if you didn't WANT to be addicted) that it wound up being used by the Madagascar franchise some 10 years after it was first a hit. And this is a fly-by-night, disposable bit of silly dance music, a song which shouldn't have made it to the end of the year without being forgotten.

Well, now it's back, and forms the backbone of Jonas's latest excursion into The Fun Zone. But in case you're thinking this is just some lame rehash, he's written a proper song to go over the top. I mean clearly fans of 'real music' will take issue with the proper-ness of the song itself, but it has a clear verse-chorus-verse structure, a melody you can whistle, lyrics which make factual sense, what else would you call it if you were trying to not act out your inner party grump?

And actually, this represents a development in the Basshunter sound. Where once he seemed to be making dance tracks to sing to, now he seems to be writing with a full song in mind. This isn't even - references to old songs aside - all that cheesy. I know!

It's not perfect by any means. It's not even really my kind of thing, beyond knowing a good pop hook or two when I hear 'em. But in terms of what it was put together to do, and who it was put together to do it for, it's actually a pretty good birthday cake.

OK, it's not a tirimisu, but they're harder to fit into the party bags."

Click here to read the FULL review on the BBC Chart Blog