DJ Earworm’s annual “United States of Pop” mashup is still compelling this year, but he feels off his game compared to the last two years. The moments of the track where he’s not using “We Found Love” as the base of the track just feel off…it starts way too suddenly, and the final segment over the base of “Born this Way”—but keeping the same vocal melodies—is a bit of a mess.
Perhaps the lesson is just how different “Born this Way’s” melody is from most other pop songs this year. Earworm tries to shove it in here a few different ways, and none of them quite fit.
Quick thoughts, observations and Interweb discoveries from Ryan McNutt—musicology student, freelance music journalist and PR practitioner based out of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. 