Posts Tagged ‘Britney Spears’

« Older Entries

By Default
Hot 100 Roundup—12/15/12

Monday, December 10th, 2012

A busy week for the Hot 100 considering the time of year. Only two of these records—”Scream & Shout” and “My Life”—could be considered “true” hits, though. The others arrive only by default: the two souvenir songs from The Voice for obvious reasons, the other three because they were high enough up to be given a lift by Billboard’s chart rules, which drops records from the Hot 100 if they’ve been there for more then twenty weeks and have fallen out of the top fifty. In other words, there are probably records that, by Billboard’s formula, are doing better than these three, but have been arbitrarily removed to make room for more. There are times when I wish Billboard would print a comprehensive chart for singles the same as they used to do for albums (and which has now become the standard album chart). It would be interesting to see how long a song like “Call Me Maybe” or “Somebody That I Used to Know” would hang around the lower reaches. It probably won’t happen because the commercial aspect isn’t that important—once a single is out of the top fifty it isn’t pulling in much revenue anyway, and unless it somehow bounces back radio won’t care about chart placement. But just as a gauge of listening and buying habits it’s something I’d like to see.

will.i.am featuring Britney Spears—“Scream & Shout”
#12

For all the accusations of exploitation, whether of Spears, Spears’s brand, or even will.i.am’s own commercial clout, this is hardly the quickie cash-in people think it is. If will.i.am cared that much about getting a hit, he would have added some dubstep to his minimalist electro, picked a singer with a higher and purer teen profile instead of one with more history than current accomplishment, and lessened his own vocal contribution. Unless he’s playing to an oldies crowd, which in this case means kids who are eighteen instead of fourteen, I suspect he makes this kind of record because he likes it. Yes, he’ll do everything in his power to make it a hit, but that doesn’t mean he makes it to be a hit. Except in the clubs, of course, where this beat will do just fine, and where Britney’s near anonymous vocals and will.i.am’s autotuned flat ones won’t make a bit of difference.

50 Cent featuring Eminem & Adam Levine—“My Life”
#27

50 Cent’s star has dimmed so much that even Nah Right hates this record. Thanks to Eminem, who demonstrates such technical wizardry you wonder why 50 Cent even bothered with the final verse, it isn’t awful, but it isn’t good, either. Strangest moment: after 50 Cent suggests that his new album could put him back in the game, comparing it to Eminem’s Recovery, Eminem himself ponders the possibility that Recovery was a mistake, because it did put him back in the game; that is, back in the same situation that almost destroyed him the first time. If 50 Cent and Eminem ever do this again, they might want to compare notes before they start spitting.

Melanie Martinez—“Too Close”
#94

Cassadee Pope—“Are You Happy Now?”
#95

Tim McGraw—“One of Those Nights”
#96

While country moves on, McGraw, finally free of Curb Records, acts as if nothing has changed and continues to make Bob Seger records with twang. Here he advises young men to hold on to those precious memories of sex in the backseat. Other than as something to be remembered, he doesn’t say what becomes of the girl.

Ludacris featuring Kelly Rowland—“Representin””
#97

Ludacris’s flow—the stretched out vowels, the double time section in the middle of the verse, the intense, near growl at the end—has become so predictable that it hardly matters what he says; you know what he’s gong to sound like the minute he opens his mouth. So maybe the fact that he has nothing new to say and is no longer funny doesn’t matter; there’s something almost comforting in his repetition of the same effects. Still, “Representin’” is almost the definition of mediocrity, and Kelly Rowland changes nothing.

Cher Lloyd featuring Becky G—“Oath”
#99

I’ve come to think more highly of “Want U Back” than I did at first, but I still have my doubts about Lloyd overall. This bopping ode to sisterhood is too ridden with banality to reach any great height, and it’s so corny that if it wasn’t for the relative toughness of the beat you could easily confuse it for a friendship bonding number from a Disney movie (I like Disney pop in general, but the soundtrack songs are almost always terrible). It might help if I could tell Lloyd and Becky G apart vocally. Their British tough-girl act must be something that’s handed out by the labels. Either that, or Simon Cowell keep a supply of them in his closet.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Hot 100, Hot 100 Roundup, new this week, singles | Comments Off

Chart Notes—12/8/12

Friday, November 30th, 2012

There’s not much new to say about features; they increase star power, they give the primary artist a rest (and sometimes a challenge), they give new artists a chance to make a name for themselves, etc. But it’s worth mentioning that there are five debuts on the charts this week that most likely wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t for the features. Three from Rihanna, two from Nicki Minaj, one from Pitbull. All are from new albums, and all are being picked up from curiosity (especially Rihanna’s “Nobody’s Business”, with Chris Brown) as much as anything else.

This is especially true when you consider that the power of a new album to load the charts with individual tracks in it’s first week of release seems to be fading. At one point or another, every song from Taylor Swift’s “Speak Now”, including nine debuts on the week of release, made the Hot 100. But Red only managed to put five tracks there, despite the album selling over a million copies its opening week. The same is true of Mumford & Sons. One Direction, the only other performers to sell over half a million their debut week, and who are singles band if anybody is, only got two new tracks into the Hot 100 (thought there were a bunch more on the Bubbling Under chart). Neither Rihanna nor Minaj managed to get a Hot 100 record from their new albums (not counting official singles like the number one “Diamonds”, of course. Pitbull meanwhile, whose star appears to be fading (though “Don’t Stop the Party” is turning into a hit), barely squeaks into the bubbling under chart, thanks largely to Christina Aguilera and the a-ha sample the track is built around.

I’ll talk more about The Voice when I do the Hot 100 Roundup, but for now I just want to mention that Cher Lloyd, Rihanna, will.i.am and Britney Spears, and Ke$ha have all been prevented from entering the Hot 100 this week by the competition show’s souvenir singles. But then, how much fire power can these guys still have if they would have debuted so low anyway?

Finally, we have the year’s first new Christmas record, a remake of “Holly Jolly Christmas” courtesy of Lady Antebellum. It’s pretty bad, though the horn section is good. The worst part is Hillary Scott’s misguided attempt to sound sultry. When was Burl Ives ever sultry?

Here are the debuts from the charts I’m following at the moment. This list may expand as time goes on.

Bubbling Under
Loveeeeeee Song – Rihanna (featuring Future) #2
Scream & Shout – will.i.am (featuring Britney Spears) #3
C’mon – Kesha #4
Lean On Me – Nicholas David #7
Gone Gone Gone – Phillip Phillips #12
Who Booty – John Heart (featuring iamSU) #14
Trust and Believe – Keyshia Cole #17
Love Sosa – Chief Keef #21
Feel This Moment – Pitbull (featuring Christina Aguilera) #24

Hot R&B Songs
Loveeeeeee Song – Rihanna (featuring Future) #31
Love Sosa – Chief Keef #38
Nobody’s Business – Rihanna (featuring Chris Brown) #39
I’m Legit – Nicki Minaj (featuring Ciara) #40
Numb – Rihanna (featuring Eminem) #42
High School – Nicki Minaj (featuring Lil Wayne) #44
Neva End – Future #49

Hot Country Songs
Over You – Cassadee Pope #3
Give It All We Got Tonight – George Strait #25
A Holly Jolly Christmas – Lady Antebellum #48

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Chart Notes, singles | Comments Off

Start here

Saturday, December 3rd, 2011

If you’re looking for a good summary of the musical landscape over the last year, at least from an indie-centric but pop-loving point of view, you could do a lot worse than Matthew Perpetua’s Fluxblog 2011 Survey mix: 183 songs, almost 13 hours, and it hits just about every high point you can think of. Some of the choices are questionable, of course, and like most indie-centric mixes it’s a little weak on rap and even weaker on country, picking the most obvious names from each, but for the most part it’s a solid, worthwhile overview. Just listening to the first CD I’ve discovered a gem that I’d somehow missed: Britney Spears’s “How I Roll”, a perfect piece of modernized girl group fluff.

Tags: ,
Posted in pop culture, Recommendations, video | Comments Off

Hot 100 Roundup—10/29/11

Wednesday, November 9th, 2011

Snoop Dogg featuring Bruno Mars & Wiz Khalifa—“Young, Wild & Free”
#10
Half good-time dope song, half, thanks to Khalifa, public service message on behalf of marijuana as a mood stabilizer, all charming in its way, but too sleepy and boring in parts. I assume Mars or his pals in The Smeezingtons wrote the hook, though he appears to have buried himself in the mix—a smart move, since Snoop and Khalifa’s rougher, less trained vocals make more sense in this context than Mars’s trademark croon. Hardly a hallmark in any of their careers, but pleasant fluff all the same.

The Fray—“Heartbeat”
#43
It’s a no-brainer that Kings Of Leon would have imitators, but somehow I never expected it to be an already established act. Guess the sloppy vocals and even sloppier ideas seemed like such a perfect fit that The Fray just couldn’t resist. They might have covered their tracks better, though; some of this sounds so much like “Use Somebody” that when it comes up on shuffle I keep thinking it is Kings of Leon. Sometimes I even hit skip before I realize my mistake. Not that I wouldn’t skip it anyway.

Beyonce—“Countdown”
#85
This is as brilliant musically as everyone says it is—even Beyonce’s over-brassiness works in this context—but I’m getting tired of her confusing brand of feminism, which largely consists of the old saw of being a lady in the living room and a whore in the bedroom. Though she would probably phrase it more along the lines of being a powerful woman in public and a skilled lover in private. Whatever the case, her belief in ultimate sublimation to her man, which goes back to her earliest Destiny’s Child days, is unquestioned. She got out from under her father’s domineering hand in her business life, isn’t it time she got out from under his tired old ideas, as well?

Tyga featuring Drake—“Still Got It”
#89
Though he’s more talented as a vocalist, Tyga strikes me as being a lot like Jamie Foxx: whoever he has guesting on his track, that’s who he sounds like. Drake’s hook is far more interesting than anything Tyga has to say, and the track as a whole is mediocre at best.

Roscoe Dash—“Good Good Night”
#91
Dash is basically a second level version of Soulja Boy—less aggressive, less daring, and far less interesting—but every once in a while he comes up with a good hook, and this is one of them. You’ll forget all about it once it’s over, but at least you’ll enjoy it while it’s on.

Britney Spears—“Criminal”
#92
Though it points in a totally different direction, I enjoy this more than anything Spears has released since “Piece Of Me”. It’s very smart to play down the melodramatic cliché of loving a bad boy with music that sounds not just peaceful, but almost blissful. As “physical” as her love may be (a word that, in this song, covers a lot of emotional ground), it isn’t the rough and tumble that you’d expect, but something more like a day at the spa: both fulfilling and refreshing. Spears may not be the brightest singer in the world, but she does understand sex, which is more than most pop stars can claim.

Katy Perry—“The One That Got Away”
#94
Six singles in, Perry is starting to scrape the ordinary, at least musically. The lyrics, though, are something else. Everyone’s least favorite pop maven presents us with what is essentially an indie-rock romance: they make out to Radiohead and think of themselves as a modern June Carter and Johnny Cash. As it happens, though, she’s the one who’s more forward thinking, which turns her into a pop star while he ends up busking the blues on downtown street corners. Any regrets are nothing more than the usual lip service (Perry is nothing if not a master of formula), but in its way this is more honest than most indie-rock love songs, even if she doesn’t mean a word of it.

Jessie J—“Domino”
#96
A lot of people have been comparing Jessie J to Katy Perry, and not in a good way, but this is the first time the comparison has seemed totally apt. The sound and sensibility is a straight rip-off, but J doesn’t have nearly as much charm as Perry, or as much sense. She doesn’t seem to understand, for example, that being a domino just makes her one of the many women who are lined up to be used by this guy. You have to think about metaphors and similes; you can’t just toss them off because they sound good.

Drake featuring Nicki Minaj—“Make Me Proud”
#97
This isn’t nearly as sexist and condescending as some people have suggested it is, but it is something of a borderline case. The big problem is the title: saying that somebody makes you proud is much more self-directed and self-absorbed than saying that you’re proud of them, which can be a simple compliment. The former suggests that you had something to do with what makes the person so wonderful. But that isn’t the case here. Drake never utters the title line, and instead says “I’m so proud of you”. I’m assuming he changed the title to avoid confusion with The Impressions’ “I’m So Proud” (nobody with any sense dares comparison with Curtis Mayfield). Still, he does go overboard in his praise, to the point where he sounds condescending, and since Minaj is playing it safe—her rap is good but not particularly memorable—he comes off looking something of an ass (what else is new?). I’d be much more forgiving if she had smoked him. But he means well, I’m sure. Also, the music is great, which makes up for a lot.

Evanescence—“Lost In Paradise”
#99
“What You Want” made me hope that Amy Lee was stepping away from the melodramatic bombast that has been her stock in trade from the beginning, but this songs dashes those hopes in grandiose style. It’s all so obvious: from the first notes of the piano you wait for the crash of guitars and orchestra, and though it gets held off longer than usual, it’s exactly like you imagine it, overwrought and dull. And then it goes on for another three minutes.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Hot 100, Hot 100 Roundup, new this week, singles | Comments Off

Hot 100 Roundup—10/15/11

Thursday, October 27th, 2011

B.o.B. featuring Lil Wayne—”Strange Clouds”
#7
B.o.B. has been putting so much energy into the pop side of his career that I’d swear this is the first time I’ve heard him rap. That can’t be true, but that’s the way it feels. He isn’t bad—good flow, some nice twists and turns both in the rhythm and the words—though more derivative of T.I. than I’d expect him to be. Wayne, meanwhile, sounds more alive all the time. His rap feels like it came off the top of his head for once, and while it isn’t brilliant, he seems to be regathering his strengths. Not a moment too soon, either.

Bruno Mars—”It Will Rain”
#28
Somewhere under the overkill of fuzzy synths and staggered beats you’ll find a very good song with sharp lyrics and a distinct Motown feel. I’d love to hear a slightly more uptempo, sparsely arranged version. In the meantime, we’ll just need to listen past an arrangement dictated more by it’s place on the latest Twilight soundtrack than the song itself.

Nickelback—”When We Stand Together”
#48
Of course it’s awful, it’s Nickelback. But consider this for a moment: these guys are so slow at what they do—their new album will be only their third since 2003—that this song must have been written long before the Occupy protests or maybe even the Arab Spring. Yet here it is, right on time. Putting its laughable aesthetics aside, it’s exactly what it should be for this moment in time. If these lumbering Canadians could feel this coming, possibly months ago, and sympathize, it may be a lot bigger than anybody thinks. A hell of a lot bigger.

T-Pain featuring Wiz Khalifa and Lily Allen—”5 O’Clock”
#62
Adding soul raps to a Lily Allen track is a brilliant idea, but this goes on too long, and except for the organ that weaves it’s way through the track like T-Pain’s conscience, doesn’t add much. It also, of course, places the emphasis of the song on Allen’s physical, rather than emotional needs, and turns her into a nagging, if sexy, bitch. I’m not saying it does total disservice to Allen’s song, but it puts the weight on the least interesting aspect. And Wiz Khalifa only makes it worse.

Glee Cast—”Somewhere”
#75

Lloyd featuring Andre 3000 & Lil Wayne—”Dedication To My Ex (Miss That)”
#81
I wish this wasn’t such an obvious take off from Cee Lo’s “Fuck You”, not just in terms of lyrical content but in sound, as well. It’s very good, and Andre 3000 is great, but the imitative quality and the shallowness of it can’t be avoided. “Fuck You” was great because Bruno Mars and Cee Lo live and breath retro soul; Lloyd is just following in their footsteps, not forging a path of his own. That may be his whole problem: as much as I’ve enjoyed his music, I still have no idea who Lloyd is.

Jason DeRulo—”Fight For You”
#83
I thought retro-sampling had hit bottom with Gym Class Heroes’ borrowings from Supertramp, but it’s impossible to underestimate the crassness of pop culture. Just when I thought DeRulo might be worth listening to, he comes up with this. I realize that sampling the African chants from “Wanna Be Starting Something” is cliche, but Toto is not an adequate replacement. Not at all. What could possibly be next and/or worse? Pablo Cruise?

Blink 182—”After Midnight”
#88
These guys have matured enough that they don’t ruin their mediocre song with meaningless histrionics, and Travis Barker is a damn good drummer. It’s still a mediocre song, though, sung by very mediocre singers.

Luke Bryan—”I Don’t Want This Night to End”
#90
I really enjoy the way the melody of this flows and changes pace as it goes along, creating a romantic atmosphere all on its own. Which is good, because the arrangement, the vocals, and the lyrics do nothing to add to the feeling.

Zac Brown Band—”Keep Me In Mind”
#99
Brown is a one-man 70′s retro movement. So far he’s focused on the laid back sound of Jimmy Buffet and the somnambulist crooning of James Taylor, but here he ups the tempo and the tension by recreating the muzak-americana of the pre-Michael McDonald Doobie Brothers. All he has to do now is tour with Fleet Foxes and take over the world by putting it to sleep.

China Anne McClain—”Calling All the Monsters”
#100
Leave it to Disney to turn Britney’s Spear’s current sound into family-safe Halloween music. They do it very well, too. This is brighter and snappier than Spear’s has been in a while, and though the voices are young, this is never corny or cheesy. It’s a good, catchy, electro-influenced dance track. Not to mention that it cuts Lady Gaga off at the pass, keeping her from releasing a seasonal record along the same lines.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Hot 100, Hot 100 Roundup, new this week, singles | Comments Off

Hot 100 Roundup—4/16/11

Monday, April 18th, 2011

Wiz Khalifa—”When I’m Gone”
#57
In which Khalifa proudly explains why he doesn’t really give a shit. It’s not “When I’m Gone” as in “I know you’ll miss me but you’ll get by”; it’s “By the time I die I’ll have spent all my money and you guys won’t get jack.” Why? Because he can, that’s why. You don’t honestly believe he thinks about this stuff, do you?

Pitbull featuring Ne-Yo, Afrojack & Nayer—”Give Me Everything”
#60
Reviewed in Bubbling Under, 4/9/11

Sara Ramirez—”The Story”
#69
Having pioneered the commercial endorsement of music in prime time, Grey’s Anatomy finds itself behind the curve and goes Glee on us and lets one of its cast members throw a record together over a weekend and release it for purchase. For all you Katy Perry haters who wonder what she’d sound like without the assistance of Dr. Luke and Max Martin, here’s your answer. I don’t think even Perry would be this off-key on the loud parts, though.

Britney Spears—”I Wanna Go”
#73
I suppose it’s healthy on a personal level that Spears is now making jokes on the same subject she sang so passionately about just a few years ago. It’s good she’s over it, but the loss in both intensity and musical value is obvious. Besides, whenever Spears tries to be funny it always sounds forced. “Lably, lably, lably”, indeed.

Victorious Cast featuring Victoria Justice—”Beggin’ On Your Knees”
#83
Nickelodeon’s campaign to wrest the teenpop crown away from the wounded Disney is so intense that it’s almost fascinating in its own right. It must be expensive, too, bringing in producers like Dr. Luke, Max Martin, and, in this case, Shellback, to boost your chosen teen idols. Too bad those first rate producers are only bringing their second rate material. I mean, did Katy Perry and Kelly Clarkson already reject this, or did Shellback not even bother offering it to them?

YC featuring Future—”Racks”
#86
Reviewed in Bubbling Under, 4/2/11

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Hot 100, Hot 100 Roundup, new this week, singles | Comments Off

Hot 100 Roundup—3/19/11

Tuesday, March 15th, 2011

Britney Spears—”Till the World Ends”
#20
Not only better than “Hold It Against Me”, but almost the equal of the best of Blackout. The breakdown is as amazing and mesmerizing as it’s intended to be, and if she ultimately has nothing to say that isn’t going to keep anyone from dancing. She may not have gained any new knowledge from all she went through, but she found a sharp new sound, and that may be enough.

Foo Fighters—”Rope”
#70
Production matters. This is no better or worse than any other Foo Fighters’ song, but Butch Vig’s production adds a clarity, focus, and energy that have been missing from their last few records. They have nothing important to pass on but more rage, but now at least their rage sounds authentic.

Gorilla Zoe featuring Lil Jon—”Twisted”
#77
It’s always good to hear Lil Jon, even if all he does is shout “Okay!”, and I’ve found Gorilla Zoe’s earlier records interesting at the very least, and this is no exception. He makes good use of electronic effects, and occasionally comes up with a decent turn of phrase. But for the most part he’s a crunkier and less frenetic version of Flo Rida, with fewer hooks. And no amount of Lil Jon’s shouting is ever going to make him anything else.

The Band Perry—”You Lie”
#80
Reviewed in Bubbling Under, 3/12/11

Chris Medina—”What Are Words”
#83
If this helps Medina and his fiancée in their situation then I guess I’m all for it, but that doesn’t change the fact that the way their story was presented on American Idol was the worst sort of media exploitation. It also doesn’t make Medina a decent singer or this anything but a terrible record. There are far better ways to help people than making charity records, but you’ll never convince the record industry of that.

Big Sean featuring Chris Brown—”My Last”
#89
It’s getting hard for me to tell the various Drake’s apart. This one has a stronger voice and a smoother flow. He’s also cruder, if such a thing is possible. He has no other distinguishing traits.

Nicki Minaj—”Did It On’em”
#92
If there has to be hashtag rap, let it all be like this. Minaj is always at her best when she’s pissed, even when she isn’t trading up her voices the way she does on Kanye West’s “Monster”. The fact that she isn’t fooling around here must mean she’s really mad. I wouldn’t want to cross her, that’s for sure.

Mary Mary—”Walking”
#97
Reviewed in Bubbling Under, 2/13/11

Willow—”21st Century Girl”
#99
Willow actually sounds closer to her age here than on “Whip My Hair”, and though this lacks the novelty value I think it’s a better record. I don’t even hold the fact that the chorus is a reworking of Nelly Furtado’s “Promiscuous” against it. In fact, it’s kind of cute.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Hot 100, Hot 100 Roundup, new this week, singles | Comments Off

Hot 100 Roundup—1/23/11

Monday, January 24th, 2011

Britney Spears—”Hold It Against Me”
#1
I agree with those who say the middle-eight is the best music Spears has made since Blackout, but that’s not saying much, and it’s the merest echo of tracks like “Piece of Me”. The problem isn’t just that Spears is repeating herself, but lack of context. “Piece of Me” was about something that only Spears could understand, and her anger and desire to make others see what she had been going through was palpable. Now that the crisis is over and other pop stars are taking the public heat, she has nothing to do but make her presence known and do her best to assert her sense of continued importance. Except now, just as at the beginning of her career, she doesn’t really have anything to say and does nothing but repeat the usual romantic and sexual tropes. The resulting music is as blank as her message.

Avril Lavigne—”What the Hell”
#13
This one is growing on me, I admit. The middle eight is great, and though it has more than it’s share of dumb bits, it holds together as a decent piece of modernized girl group silliness. Not as good as “Girlfriend”, mind you, but not bad. I just wish Lavigne wasn’t so intent on making herself sound like she’s still a teenager. There’s something unsettling in hearing a record about the desire for casual sex that sounds like the most virginal Disney pop.

Kanye West & Jay-Z—”H*A*M”
#23
Is this intended as a parody of the cult of personality or the start of one? When two superegos meet, is a ghastly music echoing the dreaded Carmina Burana the only thing that can reflect their monstrous self-regard? Are the mediocre opera singers supposed to be Sirens luring our heroes to their doom, or just the white supermodels who give West such good head? Is there a single genuine idea behind this overblown piece of shit? And if there is, would anybody give a fuck if they figured out what it was?

Cage The Elephant—”Shake Me Down”
#78
I liked this band’s last single, “Ain’t No Rest For the Wicked”, which was self-deprecating and philosophical without being heavy. This is all heavy, every last alt-rock-pastiche minute of it, especially the parts that sound like Oasis. What a jumbled mess.

Garrett Hedlund & Leighton Meester—”Give In To Me”
#79
This is a good song, but it’s another cut from Country Strong, and it suffers from all the negatives that most movie soundtrack songs share: the arrangements are too studied, and the singers, though technically fine, sound too much like actors. I’d love to hear a couple of real country singers take a whack at this, though.

Mann featuring 50 Cent—”Buzzin’”
#95
The featured sample, Nu Shooz’s “I Can’t Wait”, of all things, makes me think that someone should start a betting pool on which white one-hit-wonder producer J.R. Rotem will appropriate next. Quarterflash? Modern English? Spanky and Our Gang? Other than that, the only notable thing about this record is that the old school bass line has prompted Mann to echo old school vocal rhythms, as well. Just wish he went all the way with it. Then this might be a welcome breath of retro air, rather than a curiosity.

The JaneDear Girls—”Wildflower”
#98
The cutesy double pun of their name will give you an idea of how hard they’re trying (too hard), and why it’s probably best to avoid them. Not terrible, but ordinary.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Hot 100, Hot 100 Roundup, new this week, singles | Comments Off

Into the woods, and out again

Friday, January 14th, 2011

This Guardian article by the usually flawless Tom Ewing is a perfect example of how looking at pop music almost solely as a rivalry between art and business can you lead you to the wrong conclusions. Trying to explain those moments when artists make records that seems beyond not just their own limitations, but everybody’s, and then retreat to safer ground the next time out, Ewing focuses on nothing but commercial pressures. He seems to ignore the personal and emotional forces that help to create such works, and often make it impossible to create another. The history of pop music is full of the stories of artists who created groundbreaking records of seemingly limitless musical and emotional depth, and then either retreated to safer pastures or collapsed completely: Sly Stone’s There’s A Riot Goin’ On; John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band; Neutral Milk Hotel’s The Aeroplane Over the Sea; My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless; Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks; Bob Dylan’s string of mid-sixties triumphs (three different albums, but released in the space of a year); Nirvana’s In Utero; Frank Sinatra’s Only The Lonely; Pet Shop Boys’s Very; and, of course, The Beach Boys’s Smile, which stood uncompleted for almost forty years because Brian Wilson crashed and burned in the middle of making it.

Britney Spear’s Blackout and Rihanna’s Rated R share little in terms of quality with these records (though that opinion is subject to change), but they do share comparable stories of creation, coming as the result either of traumatic events, intense personal pressures, or sudden changes in viewpoint (i.e., Brian Wilson’s discovery of LSD). Each represents an artist going farther into themselves and their music than they ever had before and would ever be able to do again. Some moved on to safer, more comfortable ideas, some collapsed and weren’t heard from again for years, or ever. Some died. But I think it’s fair to say not one of them changed course because of commercial pressure. These records were anomalies, not just in terms of pop music as a whole, but in terms of the artist’s careers. They’re the Bob Beamon’s of pop music, and I would no more expect these artists to continue on in the same fashion than I would have expected Beamon to be able to jump over 29 feet every time he lifted both feet off the ground. There’s only so far into yourself you can go, and once you have, if you get out in one piece, you would have to be the rarest kind of human being to dare and go back again.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in criticism, pop culture | Comments Off

Who needs viral when you’ve got Fox?

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

They flirted with this last season, but the promise of an all-Britney-Spears episode with Spears herself making an appearance cements the idea: Glee is now more than just a TV show, it’s a handy promotional tool for established pop stars, just like American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance. It won’t be long, I imagine, until that’s all it is. I expect the announcement of an all-Aerosmith episode any day now, with Steven Tyler as some student’s long-lost great-grandfather.

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in pop culture, The Biz, TV | 1 Comment »

« Older Entries