May 2011 – I’m Only Sleeping

Guilt’s a decent song with a weird – make that really weird – video, and The Lazy Song is a deeply unexciting song with a decent video that was shot as a single take. Thing is, I like single-shot videos because they’re tricky sods to do; if you cock something up, it’s not a case of “oh, we’ll reshoot that scene later”, you’ve got to do the whole thing again, so if there’s a lot of choreography (like there is in The Lazy Song) then you’ve got to get it right from start to finish. These videos take a bit more effort in that respect, so hats off to Bruno Mars and friends.

Good work Aloe Blacc, I Need A Dollar’s really good. While we’re at it, Nobody’s Perfect isn’t bad either – sounds like Jessie J’s channelling P!nk here. Where Them Girls At is just silly; a ridiculous song saddled with a stupid video which has a breathtakingly obvious and pointless product placement slot for Renault towards the end.

There’s a saxophone solo in The Edge Of Glory. Naturally, I’m on full alert. There’s plenty of girating, dancing and prancing from Lady Gaga in the video, which is just as well because it’s more interesting to watch her than listen to the song. Pitbull’s back, complete with unsettling smirk and expensive suit. Thank heavens, it must be at least a fortnight since he was last in the Top Ten – I was starting to wonder whether the singles chart could survive without his presence.