Guilty pleasures

I know people who say you can't have guilty pleasures (when it comes to music) and I know people who basically aren't aware of the term's existence. Also, I know people like myself, who do feel slightly ashamed of liking certain music. For me this isn't really a fact of me being embarrassed because of the music I like, more it is I unexpectedly enjoy something that I would normally consider below the quality level of the other music I listen to. Sometimes I really like music that I feel is a bit, well, "crappy" or "cheap-sounding". What music am I talking about? the less shameful examples include:


I've been trying to convince myself otherwise for a long time now but I still cannot deny the fact that this song is a very catchy and excellently executed piece of pop music. Whenever it's played on the radio I can't help but turn up the volume and sing along, while goofily continuing whatever I'm doing (whether that's taking a shower, brushing my teeth or washing my face - yes, our radio is indeed in the bath room). I've got quite a love-hate relationship with Lady Gaga's other singles and I don't like any of them half as much as I like this one. Sadly, I've yet to actually hear it played at a party but when it happens I'll be doing my thing.


The last time I saw the amazing Owen Pallett live (that's another story), the main character of a magical evening (the supporting names were Lightspeed Champion, Sam Amidon, Nico Muhly and Beth Orton... yes, wow indeed) entered the stage while miming and singing along to this song while setting up his equipment. Strangely, it has given this song a whole new dimension to me. I don't particularly like Alicia Keys and I never have, though I definitely recognize the fact that she's got talent. Somehow all things seem to come together with this track - the heavy beat (which definitely makes the song for me), the heartache lyrics and the glossy video combined equal a fairly fine pop song that gets stuck in your head and refuses to leave.


Is Jay-Z bad? I don't know. I usually don't listen to rap or hip-hop - I believe there's something good in every genre, yet I just haven't really found anything in that area that made an impact on me. It's been months since the last time I heard this song but in the media lately there's been a heavy debate about the use of Autotune in the recent series of the X Factor (a programme that sometimes also turns out to be a bit of a guilty pleasure entertainment wise - even though I absolutely hate it with a passion) and it made me think of this track that I never really listened to enough when I found out about it. Back then I heard it on the radio once and thought 'this isn't bad actually... and I quite like its message'. So, I gave it a re-listen and I still think it's really damn cool.

What these three tracks have in common is the fact that in the long run they'll probably drive me crazy and I'll hate them just as much as I tend to hate lots of other mainstream pop music. Only they haven't reached that state yet - and I'm glad they haven't, there's nothing worse (there most certainly is but you get my point) than listening to the radio when there's nothing you secretly enjoy.