Posts Tagged ‘3OH!3’
Monday, July 26th, 2010
When I was doing my half-year summation last week, an idea struck me that I didn’t have time to include. As I said there, the apparent greatness of the year overall hasn’t made much of an impression on the pop charts, at least not in terms of individual records. As the old saying goes, though, a rising tide lifts all boats, and though I think it’s fair to say that there have been few great records on the Hot 100 this year, the quality, overall, has risen.
Quality, however, may not be the right word; freshness may be closer to the truth. Since the crash and burn of the summer of 2008, there has been a slow but steady revitalization. Pop music sounds different than it did three years ago. On the top forty charts, the touchstones are obvious. With Lady GaGa and the revamped Blacked Eyed Peas leading the way, followed by 3Oh!3, Ke$ha, and quickly adapting older artists like Rihanna and Jay-Z, electronica in one form or another has become a staple on the pop charts, to the point where even Disney stars like Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez are jumping on the bandwagon (to be fair to Disney, Aly & AJ were actually ahead of the curve on this). At the same time, the pop embrace of electronica has forced those in the electronic music scene itself to up their game and look for new ideas to separate them from the mainstream (a process aided by the cross-pollination provided by DJ podcasts like those found at Resident Advisor, XLR8R, and Fact Magazine—check out Michaelangelo’s piece in the Guardian for an overview). At the same time, thanks to its exposure on the charts, electronica is garnering an ever-expanding fan base of more adventurous pop listeners.
Hip-hop and rap have also been reflecting the inspiration provided by electronic music. Unlike pop, however, the major changes are coming from smaller scenes outside the mainstream. While stars like T.I. and DJ Khaled fill their records with ever more baroque permutations of fuzzy synths, the whole of hip-hop is being remade from underneath by teenagers with lap tops. From Soulja Boy Tell’em in Mississippi to the jerkin’ movement in LA to Cali Swag District’s “Teach Me How To Dougie”, which puts an LA spin on a dance movement originating in Dallas, the movement in one form or another has gone nationwide. All that laptop rap needs now is an independently-minded genius to blow it wide open (Soulja Boy and New Boyz, unfortunately, have already been absorbed by the old guard).
Beyond the influence of electronica (and yes, I know that phrase is out of date, but find me another that covers the whole spectrum), other genres are being revamped as well, especially country. Up until a couple of years ago, country was ruled by good ol’ boys like Toby Keith and Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney, who sang, for the most part, about only one thing: how good it is to be a good ol’ boy. In the last two years, though, women have come back strong: Gretchen Wilson started the ball rolling, with Miranda Lambert following closely behind, then Carrie Underwood (whose “Before He Cheats” provided the ultimate kiss off to the good ol’ boy genre), with Kellie Pickler, Sugarland, Lady Antebellum, Rory and Joey, and a host of others quickly occupying the landscape. In a category all their own are Taylor Swift and Brad Paisley, who have brought an intelligent, charming, good-humored sensibility back to country that it’s been missing for over a decade. The good ol’ boys are still around, but their voices are muted. Many of them are trying to meet the women half way, and the result has been a batch of pleasant, if not always brilliant records that feel far more down to earth and human.
Interesting changes have taken place on the indie and alternative scenes as well, but for the moment none of those have been turning up in the pop charts. Not that that isn’t a possibility. As far as I can tell, the only major difference in sound between Ke$ha and Sleigh Bells is the mix: Ke$ha mixes her distorted electronic explosions down and her voice up; Sleigh Bells does the opposite. They may be on different paths, but they’re heading in the same direction. Everybody is. And somewhere down the road is a convergence point that’s going to blow everybody away.
Tags: 3OH!3, Aly & AJ, Brad Paisley, Cali Swag District, Carrie Underwood, DJ Khaled, Gretchen Wilson, Jay-Z, Ke$ha, Kellie Pickler, Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, Lady GaGa, Michaelangelo Matos, Miley Cyrus, Miranda Lambert, New Boyz, Rihanna, Rory and Joey, Selena Gomez, Sleigh Bells, Soulja Boy Tell'em, Sugarland, T.I., Taylor Swift, The Black Eyed Peas, Tim McGraw, Toby Keith
Posted in Hot 100, pop culture, singles | No Comments »
Monday, July 12th, 2010
Kanye West featuring Dwele—”Power”
#22
Listening to West in comparison to most other rap artists is something like listening to Ray Charles in comparison to most other R&B artists of the ’50s; his sophistication, both musically and lyrically, his intelligence, his sensibility, are so far above his peers that essentially there is no comparison, he functions in a universe all his own. Which doesn’t mean that everything he touches is golden. “Power” is as lyrically ambiguous as you might expect: he loves power, he hates power, it elevates him, it destroys him, it makes him love his life, it makes him want to kill himself, etc.—he’s obviously been thinking about the issue, hard. But all that doubt makes the record itself sound confused, and musically it’s a move backward. I don’t blame him for stepping away from the despair he plumbed on 808s and Heartbreak and his subsequent public implosion, but I didn’t expect him to go all the way back to College Dropout. That reliance on music he knows by heart is the surest sign of how uncertain he is. Journeyman work, but hardly groundbreaking.
Christina Perri—”Jar of Hearts”
#63
We have So You Think You Can Dance to thank for this sentimental grab bag making the Hot 100, though how anyone could dance to such meandering nonsense is beyond me. Perri starts off sounding like Colbie Caillat, ends up like she’s on Broadway, and tries on a half dozen other vocal styles, including Glee, in between. Unfortunately, all the stylistic confusion only puts a greater emphasis on her lyrics: “You’re gonna catch a cold/From the ice inside your soul”. Yeah, yeah. Pass me the tissues.
Flo Rida featuring David Guetta—”Club Can’t Handle Me”
#65
Whatever else you might say about him, there’s no denying that Flo Rida is a master of the hook. Anybody who can make David Guetta sound bearable must be doing something right. But hook is all this is, and even compared to Flo Rida’s other singles it’s so brainless it defies any attempt at actual concentration (I imagine it’s a different story on the dance floor, though). Worst of all, those anonymous background vocals remind me of something you might hear on Glee, and it wouldn’t surprise me if this showed up on an episode next season. If that’s not an ominous portent for the future of pop, I don’t know what is.
Lil Jon featuring LMFAO—”Outta Your Mind”
#84
This is more like it. LMFAO are insignificant enough that they don’t get in the way of Lil Jon’s crunk barrage (and even provide a not bad hockey pun, the second this week—there’s one on “Power”, too), and without having to worry about stupid concepts like melody and musicality, he’s free to be his crazy drunk self. Actual title (based on lyrical repetition): “I Don’t Give a Fuck”.
Chris Brown featuring Tyga & Kevin McCall—”Deuces”
#87
Brown is either intent on destroying his career or he’s the dumbest guy in pop music. It’s one thing to put out yet another track about what a bitch your ex is, another to add to your wrongs by featuring 1) a bad Drake impersonation (is it too soon to ask for a ban on raps that start “Uh…”?), and 2) a guy who makes dumb oral sex jokes and tasteless references to Ike and Tina Turner. This is technically a mixtape cut, so I suppose Brown can always backtrack and say he didn’t really mean it, but since he made a video to go with the damn thing, I can’t imagine anyone will be convinced. He’ll always have his apologists, but his career is essentially over. Or if it isn’t it should be.
WE the Kings featuring Demi Lovato—”We’ll Be A Dream”
#95
You go right ahead. I’ll be asleep.
Josh Turner—”All Over Me”
#97
As funky as country gets—the New Orleans breakdown piano on the intro is great—but lyrically it’s just another making love out in the sticks song, no better or worse than dozens of others. And country, needless to say, never gets all that funky.
Enrique Iglesias featuring Juan Luis Guerra—”Cuando Me Enamoro”
#99
I might feel different if I could understand the Spanish, but Iglesias sounds a lot less smarmy in this context than when he sings in English. Once again, though, he comes across as less talented than his guest, and though this is pleasant, with a nice groove and interesting Beatlesish touches, it’s nothing special.
3OH!3—”I Can Do Anything”
#100
This will probably work great live, with thousand of drunken beach partiers chanting along, but on record it’s sluggish and plodding, especially for what might be called a statement of purpose. That’s what they get for thinking.
Tags: 3OH!3, Chris Brown, Christina Perri, Colbie Caillat, David Guetta, Demi Lovato, Drake, Dwele, Enrique Iglesius, Flo Rida, Glee, Ike Turner, Josh Turner, Juan Luis Guerra, Kanye West, Kevin McCall, Lil Jon, LMFAO, So You Think You Can Dance, Tina Turner, Tyga, WE the Kings
Posted in Hot 100, new this week, singles | No Comments »
Sunday, July 4th, 2010
Drake
“Up All Night” featuring Nicki Minaj, #49
“9 AM In Dallas”, #57
“Fireworks” featuring Alicia Keys, #71
“Fancy” featuring T.I. & Swiss Beatz, #99
Approached in bulk, Drake’s tracks achieve a definite if subliminal groove that is, at first, both attractive and of a certain clinical interest. The same can be said of his raps, which are straightforward and plainspoken. But if you’re going to be this plainspoken you’d better make sure you have something to say and have some poetry hidden in there somewhere. Drake has neither, and after a few plays his minimal grooves become boring. When Drake says he wants to be a real artist, I believe him, but I believe him even more when he expresses doubts about his talent. His honesty may get him somewhere eventually, but it hasn’t yet.
Disturbed—”Another Way To Die”
#81
Environmental metal: it’s not quite an oxymoron, but it sure doesn’t make much sense.
3Oh!3—”Double Vision”
#89
When you limit your musical palette as much as these guys do—they don’t write new melodies or rhythms for each record, they just switch rhyme schemes—the smallest change or addition can come as a surprise. Here, they add a few pleasant harmonies and suddenly sound almost as upbeat and friendly as The Beach Boys. They should be careful, though: too many cracks in their obnoxious facade and they’ll start to get boring.
Soulja Boy Tell’em—”Pretty Boy Swag”
#90
Not so much a change in style as a change in speed, and a smart move. The slow, deliberate, teasing pace makes Soulja Boy sound more mature without diminishing the feeling that’s he’s still just a teenager having a great time with something he loves. That’s almost enough to make him important, even if all he raps about is how cool he is.
Bobby Brackins featuring Ray J—”143″
#91
Ray J seems to make his living now attaching himself to young rappers, where he applies his seductive crooning, reminds everybody of his biggest hit, and smooths out any rough spots that would make these records interesting. Though I’m not sure Brackins would be interesting even without him.
The Dirty Heads featuring Rome—”Lay Me Down”
#93
Unbelievable. A Jack Johnsonish acoustic reggae ballad with a plot that is basically a rehash of The Getaway—the movie version, that is, where the beautiful young couple get away with robbery and murder to spend the rest of their lives having sex on the beach, as opposed to Jim Thompson’s original novel, which had an ending so depressing, ironic, and horrifying that even Sam Peckinpah didn’t have the nerve to serve it up on screen. You should read it, if only to understand me when I wish The Dirty Heads a less final but somewhat similar fate.
Jaheim—”Finding My Way Back”
#93
If this was 1973, this would probably be a big regional R&B hit in Baltimore or Chicago, like The Whatnauts or some of the lesser Chi-Lites singles. It’s 2010, though, and what would have been second-tier in the ’70s is just an oddity now. If Jaheim is going to mine the past, he should go all the way, like Raphael Saadiq. Or he should at least get better songs.
Rodney Atkins—”Farmer’s Daughter”
#96
Notable only for the way Atkins sings, especially the first verse. His backwoods accent is so heavily played and calculated—not a single drawl out of place—that it becomes a kind of minstrelsy; good ol’ boy whiteface, if you will.
Craig Morgan—”This Ain’t Nothin’”,
#97
You need to walk a pretty fine line to pull off country sentimentality. Do it right, the way Miranda Lambert does on “The House That Built Me” and you can produce a powerful record despite the required cliches and homilies. One bad line, though, can tip you over into bathetic camp. This song has three or four bad lines, one of them in the chorus, so it gets repeated over and over again, and another in the second verse that wouldn’t be out of place in a South Park parody.
Blake Shelton—”All About Tonight”
#98
There are two things I find interesting about Blake Shelton. One is his release schedule, where he’s experimenting with putting out half an album every few months (this is the lead single from his second “six-pack”); and the other is that he’s engaged to Miranda Lambert, who outclasses him in every way I can think of. His music doesn’t interest me at all.
Tags: 3OH!3, Alicia Keys, Blake Shelton, Bobby Brackins, Craig Morgan, Disturbed, Drake, Jack Johnson, Jaheim, Miranda Lambert, Nicki Minaj, Raphael Saadiq, Ray J, Rodney Atkins, Rome, Soulja Boy Tell'em, Swiss Beatz, T.I., The Beach Boys, The Dirty Heads
Posted in Hot 100, new this week, singles | No Comments »
Monday, June 28th, 2010
Justin Bieber featuring Jaden Smith—”Never Say Never”
#33
I was expecting it to be bad, but I wasn’t expecting it to be this bad. The problem isn’t Bieber, who acquits himself as well as can be expected (it actually helps that he shows so little real emotion), and it isn’t the blandness of the song itself. It isn’t even Jaden Smith, who, despite his heritage, sounds talentless but willing to give it the old middle-school try. But his rap, if it can be called that, is terrible not only in delivery, but in spirit and in message. What it seems to be saying is that if you’re privileged enough to get a guest spot on a Justin Bieber record, then you don’t need to worry about all those people who are bigger and stronger and probably smarter than you are. Which is, of course, the exact opposite of the message presented in the movie. It would be meaningless to accuse the producers of a remake of The Karate Kid of selling-out their principles, but shouldn’t they at least know what they are, or were, once upon a time?
Glee Cast
“Faithfully”, #37
“Over the Rainbow”, #44
“Anyway You Want It/Lovin’ Touchin’ Squeezin’”, #58
“To Sir with Love”, #75
“Bohemian Rhapsody”, #84
“Don’t Stop Believin’” obviously wasn’t enough, so now the makers of Glee (sounds like they should be a division of Proctor & Gamble, doesn’t it?) have decided to revive the entire Journey catalog. If the show didn’t already deserve capital punishment, this would be enough to guarantee termination with extreme prejudice. At least it’s over for a few months. See you in September (and no, that’s not a song suggestion).
Shakira featuring Freshlyground—”Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)”
#43
As nice as it is to find some version of township jive on the American charts after 25 years, this isn’t a very good record. It was obviously done quickly and to order, Shakira doesn’t seem to put much into it, and let’s face it, township jive has run it’s course. Most of the backing here could have been sampled from The Indestructible Beat of Soweto, which was released in 1986. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but there are much fresher African—even just South African—sounds out there. But I have a feeling that for a long time to come, whenever most people think about African music—when they think about it at all, that is—this is the sort of thing they’ll hear in their head. That’s not Shakira’s fault, of course, or Soweto’s, or even Paul Simon’s. It’s a shame, nonetheless.
Christina Aguilera—”Bionic”
#66
Oddly enough, this is not one of the songs that Santigold co-wrote for Bionic the album. Which is just as well, since if she had she would only be repeating herself. It’s an old refrain, but once again I’m impressed by Aguilera’s daring in terms of inspiration and frustrated by her stiffness and oversinging. “So damn bionic” may well be the dumbest lyric of the year, and she sings it as if it were the most important thing she’s ever said.
Ne-Yo—”Beautiful Monster”
#67
There’s a wonderful tension to the verses, but the chorus is an anti-climax, musically and lyrically too simple and old fashioned to fit with the rest, danceable but forgettable. A lot of it sounds like an outtake from Michael Jackson’s Dangerous, and I like Ne-Yo enough that I’m willing to accept this as an MJ tribute and let it pass. Hope he does better next time.
Lil Jon featuring 3OH!3—”Hey”
#70
Lil Jon is no fool. In the four or five years he’s been unable to record due to legal complications, he’s kept a close eye on the obnoxious white guys who have been copping his style, and he’s more than willing to allow them to give him a little push as he gets back on the road. More than a push: 3OH!3 provide not only the hook but also the only real lyric this song possesses. The styles jar a bit, but even though the three of them have probably never been in the same room at the same time, it still works. It’s a softer, friendlier form of crunk, but Lil Jon doesn’t care. He’s seen the future, and he’s riding its coattails.
Train—”If It’s Love”
#90
Occasionally as clever as they think they are—”Flat like an Idol singer/Remember Winger?/I digress”—they’re also more cynical than their romantic tropes would suggest, and when the strings enter near the end you realize that they can pander with the best of them. Second single in a row to mention an eighties one-shot band (it was Mister Mister last time), which may well be another form of pandering. At least they’re willing to age with their audience.
OneRepublic—”Secrets”
#98
The stripped down intro reveals at least one secret—which is that all of Ryan Tedder’s songs seem to based on one of Bach’s solo cello concertos (which would explain their sophisticated yet comfortably familiar facade). The other is the dirty little secret that Tedder won’t admit even to himself: all his songs really do sound the same. Score one for Kelly Clarkson.
Tags: 3OH!3, Christina, Freshlyground, Glee Cast, Jaden Smith, Johann Sebastian Bach, Journey, Justin Bieber, Kelly Clarkson, Lil Jon, Ne-Yo, OneRepublic, Paul Simon, Santigold, Shakira, Train
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Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010
Drake featuring Lil Wayne—”Miss Me”
#15
It’s hard to determine whether Drake is the real thing or not—or anything at all, for that matter. His inability to shake his influences and come forth as himself is a major problem—first time I listened to this I thought his rap was Wayne’s. His self-consciousness has it’s charms (though not when it’s converted into beats), but it could quickly turn into a detriment if he isn’t careful. Sounding unsure of what you’re getting yourself into isn’t exactly the best concept to build a career around. Neither is the pronouncement that “life isn’t a rehearsal” when you sound like you’re still doing warm-ups.
Taio Cruz
“Dynamite”, #26
“Dirty Picture” (featuring Ke$ha), #96
Just to ask the obvious question, shouldn’t a song called “Dynamite” sound explosive? This sure doesn’t. On the other hand, “Dirty Picture” does sound dirty. It also sounds unclean, though that may just be a matter of personal taste.
T.I.
“Got Your Back” (featuring Keri Hilson), #38
“Yeah Ya Know (Takers)”, #44
“Got Your Back” is surprisingly warm and affectionate, suggesting real love, something that T.I. has never managed, or for that matter ever really tried, before. He also seems to be breaking out of his tendency to overpack his arrangements (if there’s such a thing as baroque rap, T.I. makes it)—compared to his last few singles shows admirable restraint, it’s few lose threads tied up quite nicely by Keri Hilson. I just wish someone could have done the same for “Yah Ya Know”.
Nicki Minaj—”Your Love”
#51
With her day-glo wigs and cosplay fashion style, it’s no surprise that Minaj’s idea of romanticism comes out sounding like Sailor Moon in the hood. It’s an interesting idea, but it doesn’t quite gel, and it gets confusing. One minute she’s talking about the guy’s stacks and the next she’s dreaming about samurai and geishas who speak Thai somewhere up in the sky, and then she tops it all by turning into Supergirl. She may be on to something, but this is both too obvious and too obscure to get over.
Glee Cast
“Good Vibrations”, #69
“Another One Bites the Dust”, #79
“Tell Me Something Good”, #87
“Loser”, #93
“It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World”, #95
Two more white rap songs from the crew (three if you count “Loser”), and the joke, which worked on “Ice Ice Baby”, has paled considerably. The less said about “Tell Me Something Good” and “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World” the better.
3Oh!3—”Deja Vu”
#75
This makes two songs from these guys I actually kind of like, but whether that means they’ve improved or my tastes have collapsed under the constant barrage of electro synths I can’t say. It’s worth noting, though, that this is the first of their songs to suggest that the party party world they inhabit is starting to bore them a little. Is that maturity or exhaustion? Who knows?
Billy Currington—”Pretty Good At Drinking Beer”
#83
Currington’s last single was an overwrought string of country cliches. This is cliche bound as well, but it’s also clever, and not overwrought at all. As an argument for being a lard-ass, it’s even charming.
Little Big Town—”Little White Church”
#94
They’ve learned enough from Miranda Lambert to be tough and honest, and enough from Sugarland to be cheerful and spunky even while laying down the law. Too bad they haven’t learned enough from either to write more than a passable lyric, though putting “not gonna have your baby” in the list of things she won’t do until he marries her is still a jolt.
VV Brown—”Shark In the Water”
#97
I’ve already expressed my admiration for Brown, who appeals to me not only for her upbeat sound but for the range of her musical references and influences. Here she steals from both Paul McCartney and Lou Reed, while making explicit the thread of near hysterical paranoia that runs through many of her songs. It’s also nice to see that, unlike most of her UK peers, she’s managed her US chart debut without depending on an American rapper to give her a commercial leg up. Here’s hoping she gets the attention she deserves.
Neon Trees—”Animal”
#100
What decade is this again?
Tags: 3OH!3, Billy Currington, Drake, Glee Cast, Ke$ha, Keri Hilson, Lil Wayne, Little Big Town, Lou Reed, Miranda Lambert, Neon Trees, Nicki Minaj, Paul McCartney, Sugarland, T.I., Taio Cruz, V.V. Brown
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Thursday, June 3rd, 2010
Miley Cyrus—”Can’t Be Tamed”
#8
Despite the usually sure handed Amato/James Rock Mafia putting this together, and the added controversy of Cyrus’s first “adult” video (i.e., one with bare legs, cleavage, and faux-Fosse dance moves), this isn’t that interesting of a record. There’s something flat and fuzzy about Cyrus’s voice, and the music follows suit. She certainly kisses off Disney, though, despite still being signed to their label. The video is one part of it, but there’s also a clever double-entendre reference to erections, and the words “go to hell” are followed with a digitally garbled voice that sounds like Donald Duck in one of his fits of frustration. Can there be such a thing as mature Disney pop? It will be interesting to find out, but this isn’t quite it.
Glee Cast
“Dream On” (featuring Neil Patrick Harris), #26
“I Dreamed A Dream” (featuring Idina Menzel), #31
“Safety Dance”, #81
“Bad Romance”, #86
“Poker Face”, #100
After two above average weeks (”above average” in the context of Glee, that is), the cast settles back into their usual sub-karaoke torpor. It’s no surprise that Neil Patrick Harris sings rock and roll better than any of the regular cast (who wouldn’t?), but he’s still worse than just about any other decent rock singer you could name. The GaGa covers are particularly awful, for which the production team is as much to blame as the singers: “Bad Romance” sounds like it’s being played by a lounge act, and whoever decided to use the slow version of “Poker Face” did both the singer and GaGa an incredible disservice.
3OH!3—”Touchin’ On My”
#49
This has it’s clever moments, especially the way the censorship bleeps are worked into the arrangement. For the most part, though, it’s the same old obvious, crude nonsense. Just what kind of self-respecting woman would want to *bleep* these guys, anyway?
Avenged Sevenfold—”Nightmare”
#51
I’m sure the band takes its satanist sentiments seriously, but this is the musical equivalent of an 11-year old trying to scare his little sister by turning off the lights, holding a flashlight under his chin, saying “evil” things, and laughing maniacally. It’s cute in a way, but I don’t think cute is what these guys were aiming for.
Muse—”Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever)”
#77
I don’t know enough about Muse to know whether they have a sense of humor, or even any brains. If they do, this is a brilliant piece of parody, a vicious, satiric swipe at Twilight fans and all the ridiculous pseudo-mystical, romantic mumbo-jumbo that surrounds the franchise. If they don’t, this is the most godawful, ridiculous record of the year, an unholy merger of U2, The Killers, and Andrew Lloyd Webber that has to be heard to be believed. Unfortunately, since their latest album includes titles such as “United States of Eurasia/Collateral Damage (Excerpt from Nocturne in E-Flat, Op. 9, No. 2)” and “Exogenesis: Symphony, Part 2 (Cross-pollination)”, I suspect the latter. Still good for a laugh, though.
Christina Aguilera featuring Nicki Minaj—”Woohoo”
#79
I’m probably too hard on Aguilera, who really does try to stretch her own and her audiences boundaries, often in ways you’d least expect. But intentions aren’t the same as achievements, she always sounds to me as if she’s trying too hard, and all the risk-taking in the world doesn’t excuse the fact that she’s made a record about cunnilingus that doesn’t for a single moment sound dirty or even sexy. Nicki Minaj, who you would think would loosen things up, falls into lockstep with Aguilera and adds nothing but product placement and a bad Jamaican accent. Couldn’t she at least have offered to go down on Christina herself?
Zac Brown Band—”Free”
#95
Zac Brown is a country traditionalist at heart, which these days apparently means being firmly rooted in 70s folk/rock, traveling the backroads in a van fueled with nothing but love, phrasing like James Taylor, and borrowing ideas from the pre-Michael McDonald Doobie Brothers (who are starting to become as influential as The Eagles). Aren’t these the people Merle Haggard use to complain about?
Gyptian—”Hold You (Hold Yuh)”
#96
I’ve played this record five or six times in the last week. I just played it again. I still can’t remember any of it.
Tags: 3OH!3, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Avenged Sevenfold, Christina Aguilera, Glee Cast, Gyptian, James Taylor, Lady GaGa, Merle Haggard, Michael McDonald, Miley Cyrus, Muse, Neil Patrick Harris, Nicki Minaj, The Doobie Brothers, The Eagles, The Killers, U2, Zac Brown Band
Posted in Hot 100, new this week, singles | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, May 18th, 2010
Eminem—”Not Afraid”
#1
I’m happy for Eminem; he sounds stronger, sharper, on top of things. But this is not a good record. His delivery is forced and too consciously aggressive, his mix of scatological philosophizing and sentimentality confusing when it isn’t embarrassing, the hooks are dull, and there isn’t a single moment of wit or humor. Maybe this is a lead-up to something better, but he’s still trying too hard and thinking too much. He sounds like a dry drunk.
3Oh!3 featuring Ke$ha—”My First Kiss”
#9
Hate to admit it, but this one’s growing on me. It gets a certain kind of lust just right, and Ke$ha helps to tamper down some of the more offensive edges of 3Oh!3’s masculine aggression. They’re still crude and simplistic, but as long as they’re playing on a level field and the hooks are catchy enough, I have no problem with that.
Glee Cast
“Total Eclipse of the Heart”, #16
“Run Joey Run”, #61
“Ice Ice Baby”, #74
“Physical”, #89
“U Can’t Touch This”, #92
Campy trash like this week’s selections should be perfect for a show like this, but if they had any fun with these songs on the program you’d never know it by the music. They approach these songs with the same stolid seriousness and Broadway earnestness with which they approach everything else. If that seriousness is intended as a joke, it’s never been funny, but I don’t think it is. As far as I can tell the only joke is: “Look, I’m singing those trashy hits your parents get all nostalgic about.” Only “Ice Ice Baby”, which was half a joke to begin with (in retrospect it may be the greatest rap parody ever), comes across.
Drake—”Find Your Love”
#34
This isn’t great, but it’s the first Drake record I’ve heard where I feel I’m listening to Drake, and not his imitation of somebody else. A step in the right direction, if nothing else.
Young Jeezy featuring Plies—”Lose My Mind”
#35
In a way, it’s good to know that people like Jeezy, and even Plies, are still celebrating the thug—or, as they call it, goon—life. As hip-hop has moved further towards dance-pop, and Euro-dance-pop at that, it’s only right that there’s someone on the charts to remind us of how a lot of people still live. Not that Jeezy and Plies take any of that seriously, and this is as trashy and crude as you might imagine, but it’s also clever (”We drink that rozay til we black out/wake up, drink some more, pass back out”), and they’re representing all the same.
Lee Brice—”Love Like Crazy”
#97
This starts off with so much down-home country syrup, especially in the vocals, that it’s hard not to wonder if it might be intended as parody. Then you get to the second verse, where the clean living, hard working, loving, praying small town southern man sells his one man computer business to Microsoft for big bucks, and suddenly you find yourself somewhere beyond parody, where the brushing of nostalgic country cliches against modern life generates a form of artless surrealism. Brice sings the whole thing straight, and I don’t think it’s intended as a joke, which only makes it weirder. It’s one of those odd moments where worlds collide, garishly, in the place you’d least expect.
Theory Of A Deadman—”All Or Nothing”
#99
I have no idea what a theory of a deadman would be, but these guys do inspire me to suggest a new definition of a deadman: a guy whose greatest ambition in life is to be Nickelback.
Tags: 3OH!3, Drake, Eminem, Glee Cast, Ke$ha, Lee Brice, Plies, Theory of a Deadman, Young Jeezy
Posted in Hot 100, new this week, singles | 1 Comment »
Thursday, April 8th, 2010
Sean Kingston & Justin Bieber—”Eenie Meenie”
#30
This is more Kingston than it is Bieber, and just enough of both to render it meaningless. Peeling back the garishness that has decorated Kingston’s more recent singles only reveals how lacking they are in anything resembling a hook, and mixing in Bieber’s usual pablum provides the final push toward total mediocrity. Any charm Kingston may have possessed is gone; now he’s just another dancehall-pop hack. As for Bieber, he’s never been charming. Being charming requires a personality.
T-Pain—”Reverse Cowgirl”
#75
I can understand why people write T-Pain off, but more and more I’m beginning to think he’s some kind of genius. This isn’t his most insane record (that’s still “Chopped ‘n’ Skrewed”) but it may be his funniest, and it’s at a level of musical sophistication that jokesters like 3Oh!3 and LMFAO can only dream of. All its best jokes are musical rather than lyrical (he was beaten to most of his rodeo metaphors a long time ago, anyway), and without a single swear word it’s dirty as hell. Based on the title alone, I can’t imagine it will get much radio play, but it’s bound to be a ringtone favorite. Yee-hah!
Young Money—”Roger That”
#86
The best Young Money track so far, and the second best hip-hop comedy record of the week, and that’s not a put down. Nicki Minaj does a killer Lil Wayne impersonation, while Wayne himself spends a good deal of his time giggling. The guy in the middle (do I really need to waste my time looking up his name?) is at least tolerable. The beat is insane, the raps as dirty as they want to be, and if the whole isn’t a as great as its parts, at least it doesn’t waste them.
Jaron And The Long Road To Love—”Pray For You”
#87
From the first organ note you can see the joke coming, and though keeping the music country-lovesong straight is probably intended to be satirical, in reality it drags the humor down. It doesn’t help that Jaron didn’t bother to write a third verse, either. Jokes are supposed to build, not just repeat themselves.
Luke Bryan–”Rain Is A Good Thing”
#91
Because it leads to sex, of course. Doesn’t everything in uptempo good ol’ boy country? This is better than most, though; catchy as hell, and doesn’t throw in too many cliches. I could, however, do without the self-satisfied chortle; sounds way too calculated.
Justin Bieber—That Should Be Me”
#92
This awful record makes me wonder if Bieber isn’t, in reality, Usher’s revenge on all the fickle teenage fans who have turned to younger pastures over the last couple of years. But then, those are the fans who have put this record on the chart—it isn’t being promoted as a single, it’s just an album track that the Bieberfreaks (or maybe their mothers) have decided to give extra attention. Maybe I’m just being cynical—but not half as cynical as Usher.
Martina McBride—”Wrong Baby Wrong”
#95
This isn’t bad: nice Stones inspired riff at the beginning, and I like the idea of a mother’s advice song from the mother’s point of view. It gets too tame about halfway through, though, and it goes on too long. McBride should pay more attention to Eric Church or Luke Bryan: for a song like this, three minutes is all you need. The rest is just showing off.
Miranda Lambert—”The House That Built Me”
#98
I’m always wary of this sort of country sentimentality—when country singers talk about “finding” themselves, it almost always means a return to their smalltown, family roots, a confession of their sinful, straying ways, and a nostalgia that’s sure to turn into bathos, usually accompanied by a healthy dollop of strings and some whining steel guitar. But even taking those reservations into account, this is a perfect record. There are no strings or steel guitar to be found, and Lambert’s understated vocal drives home more real emotion than any amount of Nashville oversinging. It helps that the song is the best example of its kind you’ll ever hear: the two-part chorus is stunning in its impact, and if the verse about mama and papa building their house doesn’t bring you close to tears, nothing ever will. Lambert didn’t write this, but it proves that even when she’s not falling back on alt-country standbys (Patti Griffin, John Prine, etc.), she has an unerring ear for good material. Which means she’s going to be a star for a long, long time. Boy, do we need her.
Colbie Caillat—”I Never Told You”
#99
I’ve badmouthed Caillat a lot in the past, and this isn’t a great record, but it’s made me realize who and what she really is: the twenty-something, SoCal version of Taylor Swift. She’s not as lyrically inventive as Swift, too often she falls back on cliches, and despite the title of her first hit, she’s nowhere near as bubbly—but her point of view, her romantic sensibilities, and her sense of taste and (if I can use this term) musical decorum, are almost exactly the same (there’s a reason Swift performed with Stevie Nicks, after all). The main differences are of age and geography. While Swift optimistically negotiates the fresh hell of a Nashville high school with fairy tale visions of romance, Caillat faces the ages-old Southern California disconnect of the messiness of emotional and sexual reality while living in a physical paradise. Both seem almost untouched by the real world, when the truth is that both know it all too well, and are shaping their own version of the perfect escape. Swift is the greater artist of the two, but Caillat may very well surprise us somewhere down the line.
Tags: 3OH!3, Colbie Caillat, Eric Church, Jaron And The Long Road To Love, John Prine, Justin Bieber, LMFAO, Luke Bryan, Martina McBride, Miranda Lambert, Patti Griffin, Sean Kingston, Stevie Nicks, T-Pain, Taylor Swift, Usher, Young Money
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Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
Christopher Wilde
“Hero”, #57
“StarStruck” #77
“Something About the Sunshine” (with Anna Margaret), #81
Christopher Wilde, in case you’re not a connoiseur of the Disney Channel, is the name of the fictional teen heart-throb in Disney’s latest made-for-TV tweener extravaganza, StarStruck. The actor who does the singing here is Sterling Knight, who the folks at Disney are no doubt hoping will become a real heart-throb. As Disney soundtracks go, these three songs are above average, less cutesy than the Hannah Montana or High School Musical numbers, without all the cloying lyrical uplift. They’re also more mature. “StarStruck” includes a line about girls who want to take Christopher out on a date and make him holler, which in the Disney universe is as close as you can get to an NC-17 rating. Disney is obviously beginning to realize that the audience for its teen fantasies is older than it was when High School Musical debuted four years ago. Those tweeners are into their mid- to late-teens now, and they want a little romance, and even a suggestion of sex, with their song and dance. But even though these are more adult than the standard Disney fare, they’re also not up to the best of the non-soundtrack material that Disney artists like Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, and Aly & AJ have put out the last couple of years. “Starstruck” moves along nicely, but it has nothing new to say about fame (Lady GaGa would seem to have a lock on that theme at the moment), and though I like the bouncy/stretchy sound effects on “Something About the Sunshine”, it’s obvious they’re there to hide its other weaknesses. So I’ll give Disney an A for effort and for upping their game, but only a B for the results.
k.d. lang—”Hallelujah (Vancouver Winter 2010 Version)”
#61
A few weeks ago I was complaining about Justin Timberlake’s attempt to recontextualize this song after the earthquake in Haiti. But this, performed by Lang at the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics (and what a celebratory piece of work it is!) is even worse. Verse by verse, Lang drains every ounce of meaning out of the song, and then bathes the final chorus in one of the most banal string arrangements I’ve ever heard. Even at the peak of her popularity I thought Lang was overrated, but I never thought she’d get as bad this.
DJ Khaled featuring T-Pain, Ludacris, Snoop Dogg & Rick Ross—”All I Do Is Win”
#64
The frustrating thing about DJ Khaled (aside from his fuzzy, overloaded, melodramatic beats) is that he’s a one-idea man. That doesn’t need to be a detriment—a lot of DJs have made great records with less than an idea—but Khaled’s depends entirely on the guests he finagles into rapping on his productions. The result is an often irritating variation in quality, not just from record to record, but within each record itself. In this case, he gets a mediocre but passable hook from T-Pain, a slightly above-average rap from Ludacris, and an unintelligible, below-average rap from Rick Ross. Then, just as you’re getting ready for the wind-down of another tepid Khaled production, Snoop Dogg steps up to the mike, and in four lines blows a hole in the middle of the record. I’m not familiar enough with Snoop’s stuff to know whether he’s used these lines before—all I know is they’re better than anything else I’ve heard Snoop come up with, and just about any other rapper I can think of, as well. It’s not just a matter of the shock of Snoop’s laid-back style compared to the others’, either, because every time I listen to this record that verse seems even more powerful, more portentous, more menacing. The only thing I can compare it to is Lil Wayne’s rap on Khaled’s “We’re Takin’ Over” a couple of years ago. Exactly why Khaled’s productions should be so inspirational to these guys I have no idea. Maybe there’s more to those beats than I’m picking up on.
Usher—”There Goes My Baby”
#71
The best thing Usher has done in years (he appears to have been listening to a lot of Ne-Yo and Maxwell), but still far short of whatever mark he’s aiming for. Whoever or whatever made him decide to cut short the middle-eight, which would have brought the song to a higher level, should be booted out of his entourage, or his head, as quickly as possible.
3Oh!3 featuring Neon Hitch—”Follow Me Down”
#89
You knew once they stopped being offensive they’d be boring, right?
Mariah Carey featuring Nicki Minaj—”Up Out My Face”
#100
Over the last few years Carey has been making the best music of her career (not a great leap, I know)—just in time for her audience to dry up and everyone under the age of 25 to start ignoring her. Judging by this record, which is only slightly above average but which she obviously had a great time making, and by reports of her recent concert appearances, she doesn’t really care. Good for her. That’s the sort of attitude that could make her even better.
Tags: 3OH!3, Aly & AJ, Anna Margaret, Christopher Wilde, DJ Khaled, Justin Timberlake, k.d. lang, Lady GaGa, Lil Wayne, Ludacris, Mariah Carey, Maxwell, Miley Cyrus, Ne-Yo, Neon Hitch, Nicki Minaj, Rick Ross, Selena Gomez, Snoop Dogg, Sterling Knight, T-Pain, Usher
Posted in Hot 100, new this week, singles | No Comments »
Saturday, January 16th, 2010
Ke$ha
“Blah Blah Blah” (featuring 3Oh!3), #7
“Your Love Is My Drug”, #27
“Take It Off”, #85
It’s hard not to think of Ke$ha as Reality-TV-Pop, with a musical persona not far removed from the ladies on Jersey Shore. That’s at least better, in some ways, than thinking of her as a female version of 3Oh!3, or a full time Fergie-in-party-mode. The music is suitably garish and blaring, the vocal phrasing party-girl flat, and the character that of a woman who thinks she’s a goddess because she can take five straight shots and still stand up. She explores this a little more deeply and humorously on some of the album cuts—especially “Party At a Rich Dude’s House” (she throws up in the closet) and “Dinosaur”, which is about creepy older men hitting her up—but these three cuts (plus “Tik Tok”) provide everything you really need to know. If you really want to know, that is.
Lady Antebellum—”Love This Pain”
#93
There’s nothing wrong with wearing your influences on your sleeve, especially in country music, but when those influences slip from Fleetwood Mac to Bon Jovi, it’s probably not a good idea to emphasize them by releasing the results as a single.
Timbaland featuring Drake—”Say Something”
#94
Listen to the background and you’ll notice that, as a producer, Timbaland is still capable of making interesting music. As a rapper, though, he has nothing to say, and Drake doesn’t have much more. And the music isn’t all that interesting.
Easton Corbin—”A Little More Country Than That”
#100
I love the conceit of this, where Corbin rattles off a few country and small town cliches, and then pronounces himself even more country in a tone both good humored and dismissive. He then digs behind the cliches and defines country as a form of honor and emotional honesty. It’s a neat trick, and Corbin wisely plays it as low key as possible. Though the song doesn’t build in the way it possibly should, it’s a neat llittle package.
Tags: 3OH!3, Drake, Easton Corbin, Fergie, Ke$ha, Lady Antebellum, Timbaland
Posted in Hot 100, new this week, singles | No Comments »
