Posts Tagged ‘Glee Cast’

« Older Entries

The Year Starts Here: Hot 100 Roundup—2/16/13

Friday, February 15th, 2013

At last, a great record makes an appearance, and I’ll try not to let the fact that’s it’s almost a year old bias me against 2013 (besides, there’s more great, newer stuff coming up next week). “I Love It” may be a freak as far as current pop is concerned, but it’s the kind of freak that could mean something down the line. Here’s hoping it hangs on for a while.

Justin Bieber
“Nothing Like Us”, #59
“As Long As You Love Me ( Acoustic)”, #98

Just as some critics (meaning me) we’re starting to accord Bieber a level of respect he at least partly deserves, he delivers a blatant cash-in in the form of an acoustic version of Believe and blows up any possibility of taking him seriously. I have no doubt this is exactly what Bieber’s core fan base was looking for, and I don’t entirely blame him for taking advantage of them by giving them what they want. The problem is that an acoustic setting, especially one designed to genuflect to his audience, emphasizes Bieber’s worst instincts. His singing is all sentiment and sham emotion, and his careful phrasing, which was becoming one of his greatest strengths, is thrown out along with the original arrangements. The lowest point is the track that’s the most popular. “Nothing Like Us”, the one new song on the album, seems designed to do nothing more than feed speculation about Bieber’s relationship with Selena Gomez. Bieber throws every bad lesson he’s learned about singing at it, and the result is worse than terrible, it’s disgusting.

The Lonely Island featuring Adam Levine and Kendrick Lamar—“YOLO”
#60

As an idea, and an old one at that, “you only live once” is no more worthy of attention than any other variation on carpe diem. As a hashtag, though, as justification for any and all levels of entitlement and stupidity, it’s a menace, and deserves all the satire and derision that comes its way. The problem with “Yolo” is that by stressing the opposite extreme it tacitly endorses the worst possible definition of the meme. It’s a parody of entitlement for the entitled. Also, it isn’t funny. Hearing Kendrick Lamar give financial advice is good for a brief chuckle, but the effect has faded away by the time he finishes his bars (it’s the only time he’s ever bored me). The song does reveal one important truth, however, if only by association: Adam Levine is the Michael Bolton of his era (i.e. uptempo and with an r&b beat). Why didn’t I realize this before?

Icona Pop featuring Charli XCX—“I Love It”
#69

One of the best singles of 2012 becomes the first great record to make the Hot 100 in 2013, and I could care less if the nation had to be exposed to the sight of Lena Dunham bouncing up and down and singing along to make it happen. “I Love It” touches on a level of anger that Girls (at least the episodes I’ve seen) has never approached. It blows a hole through the rest of the charts in a way few records ever have, not just in terms of attitude but of sound as well. It won’t last, because unless this bump in sales continues (it’s already dropped fourteen places since its debut) radio won’t touch it. My only hope is that it opens the door for Charli XCX, whose “You’re the One” was my favorite single of last year. Whatever the case, I haven’t been so happy and surprised about a record making the chart since M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes”.

Glee Cast—“Let Me Love You (Until You Learn to Love Yourself)”
#91

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
“Can’t Hold Us” (featuring Ray Dalton), #97
“Same Love” (featuring Mary Lambert), #99

At last, rap music that guilty white liberals can love. Academics, too. An entire career could be built sorting out the psychology of a rapper/producer duo that works from an exclusively white perspective but feels the need to bring in black singers to deliver the hooks. Are they simply recognizing their own limitations, or is that their idea of authenticity? Or could it be an acknowledgment of the debt they owe black music? Or a spreading of the wealth to assuage their own sense of guilt? Whatever the case, at its best its an obvious ploy, at its worst condescending as hell. Macklemore and Lewis do perform one public service, though: they render the existence of Asher Roth and Mac Miller superfluous. I wonder who’ll do the same for them next year.

Rihanna featuring Future—“Loveeeeeee Song”
#100

Rihanna’s name comes first, but “Loveeeeeee Song” is Future’s record. He not only guests on it but produced, and whether he wrote it with Rihanna in mind or just gave her something he was working on, it was a wise decision. Rihanna has been loosening up as a vocalist but retains a mechanical quality that makes her a perfect foil for Future’s auto-tuned, over the top emotionalism. At the same time, giving “Loveeeeeee Song” to Rihanna allows Future to drop the street rapper facade that generates the most clichéd moments on his own records and indulge his romantic instincts. In the end, the credits don’t matter: this is a high point for both of them.

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

Sincerely Uninspired
Hot 100 Roundup—5/19/12

Wednesday, May 16th, 2012

B.o.B. featuring Taylor Swift—“Both of Us”
#18
Well-meaning, well-crafted sincerity, devoid of any deep emotion. Swift’s hook is gorgeous, and B.o.B., despite the clichéd lyric, gets a certain intensity into his voice, but not even the most talented pop artists could make much of such generic sentiments. As the success of “We Are Young” suggests, we’re going to get a lot more of what I call “get together” music in the near future, which is a good thing overall. But fun. had the sense to include some specific personal details in their anthem; this is just B.o.B. and Swift wishing the world well and signing off. I expect more from both of them, especially Swift.

Carrie Underwood—“Blown Away”
#66
Is Linkin Park writing Underwood’s songs now? Because that’s what this reminds me of more than anything else. I know she has good intentions and is trying to do something serious (the obvious precursor is Garth Brooks’s “The Thunder Rolls”), but the record starts too big and then never really builds; it just goes on, without giving you enough detail to justify the overwrought arrangement. I appreciate Underwood’s willingness to experiment, but she’s either trying too hard or being misled. Couldn’t she get her pal Brad Paisley to produce an album for her? She could use his sense of proportion.

Juliet Simms—“It’s A Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World”
#70

Glee Cast—“Shake It Out”
#71

Jana Kramer—“Why Ya Wanna”
#97
Kramer’s traditionalism is refreshing, but her songs aren’t. This is fine, but it’s also ordinary, and it lacks something to give it a kick and allow her real personality to come through. Though I like Kramer better, in its own way this is as mechanical as Lady Antebellum.

The Band Perry—“Postcard From Paris”
#100
This shares all the strengths of the band’s previous singles—the clever turns of phrase, the melodic grace, the youthful romanticism—only in a milder form, and in a way that makes them feel rote. But then, this is the fifth single from their first LP, so it’s understandable if the inspiration seems pale this time out. Where’s that new album?

Listen on Spotify

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

Anybody Can Do This—Even Glee
Hot 100 Roundup—5/12/12

Monday, May 14th, 2012

Wiz Khalifa—“Work Hard, Play Hard”
#17
The most pop-oriented track from Khalifa since “Black and Yellow”, the first in over a year that doesn’t emphasize his dope smoking, and, no surprise, his best in a while. It’s very controlled for a rap brag track, almost stately, and ends with a little bit of self-help advice. Despite the repetition of “nigga” in the opening verse, it seems custom made for radio, and gives off the feeling that Khalifa is holding back more than he’s giving out. But then, the idea of self-control is the unspoken heart of the lyric, so maybe that’s the point. Not a great record, but a very smart one.

Flo Rida—“Whistle”
#64
Flo Rida has two things going for him: a mastery of hooks, and a gift for meaningless flow that never gets in the way of the hook or the beat. As pop rap intended purely for dancing it couldn’t be improved. Which means, of course, that it can only get worse, especially as the vagaries of pop taste lean toward lyrical clarity and force him to make his words more explicable. It’s not that he doesn’t have a gift for them—his flow wouldn’t work if he didn’t—it’s that he has no sense of taste when it comes to subject matter. Following the rough sex endorsement on “Wild Ones”, he comes up with yet another record, following “Down”, about oral sex. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this, even if it does sound somewhat obsessive, but the sing-songy, teen-pop emphasis, combined, once again, with the sexual power-play aspect of his approach, makes it more than a little creepy. I’m not suggesting that Flo Rida actually is a leering, lisping sociopath, but that sure is what he sounds like.

Glee Cast
“How Will I Know”, #65
“It’s Not Right But It’s Okay”, #92
It’s been easy to ignore Glee this year: overall, the quality of the music has dropped below even their minimal standards, and I’ve found it difficult to listen to most of the tracks all the way through, much less more than once. Their a capella version of “How Will I Know”, though, is the exception that proves the rule, and can be taken as further evidence for one of the maxims of pop: anybody can make a good record. It’s too smooth, but if anyone else has come up with as good of a Whitney Houston tribute I haven’t heard it. It’s greatest strength is that it actually sounds like what Glee is supposed to be about: a bunch of kids who love music getting together and making it as best they can. This is polished and honed far beyond the abilities of most high-schoolers, but the concept holds, and it raises this far above anything else Glee has produced. If only everything they did was as graceful, dignified, and intelligent.

Usher—“Scream”
#70
No one expected Usher to top “Climax”, which may be the greatest thing he’ll ever do, but after all his talk about the new album and how different it would be, this is surprisingly ordinary. It’s not terrible, but it’s a standard Usher track with a slightly more electronic backing than usual. He’s trying to have it both ways—the old R&B Usher and the new, electronic Usher—and as should be expected the result is neither. I wouldn’t call it half-assed, exactly, but if he’s going to embrace a new style he should go at it full-force, not in baby steps like this.

Calvin Harris featuring Ne-Yo—“Let’s Go”
#89
I have a hard time understanding how Harris manages to get hits out of records that are so musically uninteresting, so lacking in the ebb and flow of melody and structure that create enjoyment and meaning in pop music. All he has is a beat and occasional shifts in dynamics and texture (most of which, in this case, are provided by Ne-Yo’s vocals, not the music). Which doesn’t mean he’s a minimalist: it just means that he’s dull. It’s sad to see Ne-Yo, who’s career has been in a stall for a couple of years now, being wasted on music that ignores his melodic and rhythmic gifts. He’s a better singer than Harris to be sure, but on records like this what difference does it make?

Hunter Hayes—“Wanted”
#99
When it comes to teenage country singers, I prefer Scott McCreery (not to mention Taylor Swift, though she isn’t a teenager anymore). McCreery has major flaws, but at least he doesn’t sound like he was made in a country-pop factory and delivered cellophane-wrapped and ready-to-serve.

Listen on Spotify

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

Braggin’ and Thinkin’
Hot 100 Roundup—4/28/12

Tuesday, April 24th, 2012

Glee Cast
“Somebody That I Used To Know”, #26
“Hungry Like the Wolf/Rio”, #98

Ca$h Out—“Cashin’ Out”
#81
This is so reminiscent of Soulja Boy that Soulja has already done a freestyle over it (it’s awful). It lacks its model’s brashness, though, and his wit. Good hook, but the rest is the same old blunted-out bragging about money and women. I’m glad he’s having a good time, but I don’t really care, either.

Juliet Simms—“Roxanne”
#86

Jennifer Hudson & Ne-Yo featuring Rick Ross—“Think Like A Man”
#90
The arrangement is so overblown that it takes a few listens to hear past it and notice the good parts, but give it time and you’ll find them. Hudson’s voice can be a bit much when she belts too hard, and Ross’s verse is ordinary, but Ne-Yo is the best he’s been for a while, and the arrangement has some good stuff going on. Underlying theme: thinking like a man means rationalizing your, or his, two-timing bullshit. Best touch: Ne-Yo, on the fade, driving the point home by singing “You gotta think like a woman.” For all its flaws, I bet this is better than the movie.

Listen on Spotify

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

Confusion
Hot 100 Roundup—3/24/12

Monday, April 2nd, 2012

John Mayer—“Shadow Days”
#42
John Mayer would like you to know that after crashing on his hotel room floor and doing something despicable to an unnamed young lady (no guesses, please), that he has gotten over his shadow days and realized he’s actually a pretty decent guy. He celebrates this marvel of self-deceit/congratulation with a number of tasty, meaningless solos (including one that channels the spirit of George Harrison, or at least his slide guitar). Even when some guys learn they never learn.

M83—“Midnight City”
#74
This is a classy and in some ways striking piece of electronic pop, but it’s also packed with musical and thematic clichés, and its mixed up evocation of 80s pop and dystopian sci-fi cityscapes —as if Blade Runner had been scored by A-ha—results in a curious but less than compelling pastiche. I think they want to be noir. They’re not.

Karmin—“Brokenhearted”
#84
If this song, which is catchy and in several ways not terrible, were performed by some Disney ingénue, or even someone in the Glee Cast, I would find it tolerable, maybe even enjoyable. But it’s not. It’s performed by a couple of college-trained musicians in their late twenties who sound above it all, eternally pleased with themselves, and lacking in any sense of what pop music is for or what it provides both for its performers and for its audience. They’re prigs, and their bouncy but lifeless music is better proof of it than anything I could say, so I never intend to mention them again.

Zac Brown Band—“No Hurry”
#96
In addition to whatever he mentions in this song, another thing that Zac Brown isn’t in a hurry about is slowing the flow of currency from his cash cow of an album. Hence this fifth single, which is even more boring than the four that came before it. He says he’s in no hurry to stop raising hell, too, but what I’d like to know is when he’s going to start.

Trey Songz—“Sex Ain’t Better Than Love”
#97
Sex may not be better than love, but if this crawling tribute to true romance is any indication, it’s a lot more exciting and straightforward. I’m sure Songz wanted this to burn with sincere eroticism, but the arrangement is so weird and sluggish that more than anything else he sounds confused. The middle eight is one of the oddest things you’ll ever hear, and makes no sense in the context of the song. I’m not sure what Songz was trying to get at; I don’t think he knew, either.

Listen on Spotify

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

The Great, the Bad, and the Vaguely
Hot 100 Roundup—3/10/12

Thursday, March 22nd, 2012

B.o.B.—“So Good”
#11
One thing you can say about Bruno Mars, when he writes made-to-order hooks for other people’s records they at least have some emotional edge to them, which is more than Ryan Tedder, who’s responsible for this one, has ever managed. This is the worst sort of processed cheese, slimy and sticky and totally lacking in flavor. As for B.o.B., he’s obviously hoping to re-elevate himself to the pop plateau Mars placed him on two years ago. I assume Mars himself wasn’t available. I have a feeling Ryan Tedder is always available—for a price, that is.

Carrie Underwood—“Good Girl”
#24
I appreciate Underwood’s willingness, even desire, to rock out, but this jumble of clichés isn’t the best way to go about it. For one thing, she needs to settle on a single rock style; this jumps from Joan Jett to hair metal to glam without ever settling down long enough to plant its feet on the ground (or the stage). Plus, like too many of Underwood’s records, both the rockers and the ballads, it sounds mechanical—even when she gets loose everything seems to be carefully planned. It’s weird to think that right now the best country singer to come off American Idol is Kellie Pickler: any song you could choose from 100 Proof is better than this one.

Carly Rae Jepsen—“Call Me Maybe”
#38
Since Jepsen is twenty-six this isn’t technically tween pop, but it shares all the virtues of the genre and then some. It’s bright and bouncy, with a gorgeous and striking arrangement, but with enough of a self-possessed edge to make it hit home in ways you don’t expect. Not enough is made of how strong girls are in tween pop—even when they’re crushing over some boy they maintain their sense of dignity and self; in fact, one of the virtues they see in boys is the possibility of using them to increase their own strength and worth—not in the trophy sense, but in the sense of a real partnership. It’s a far more mature point of view than you find in most pop written for people in their twenties, which is why it has always seemed ironic that radio programmers think of tween pop as kiddie music. Jepsen may change that, because what she adds to the usual mix is sex. “Where you think you’re going, baby?” is one of the sultriest lines of the year, and the ambiguity as to who’s saying it, Jepsen or the boy she’s infatuated with, only makes it hotter. A great record.

Glee Cast
“Fly/I Believe I Can Fly”, #56
“Cough Syrup”, #65
“What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger)”, #66
“Here’s To Us”, #73
“Glad You Came”, #90

fun.—“Some Nights”
#62
I’m still not entirely sure what to make of this record, but it’s growing on me. Stylistically it’s a jumble: country-folk harmonies on the intro, then Brazilian drums, with subtle touches of auto-tune and other electronics, and lyrics that are half chant and half Paul Simon-like confessional, covering a lot of uneven and difficult to navigate emotional ground. They do work one neat trick: the song starts as a generic complaint about a directionless life and then progressively adds more and more personal detail, as if the singer were realizing the roots and depths of his feelings as he goes along, and ends with what sounds like a breakup—whether from a lover, a city, or an entire life, is hard to tell. I suspect the jumble is intentional, and meant to lead somewhere, but they haven’t quite figured out how to do that, even if they do know where they’re going. Allowing the generic parts to overwhelm the personal stuff is a big mistake, and sometimes the connections they hope to make aren’t there. Promising, for sure, but I’ll withhold judgment for now.

Rihanna featuring Chris Brown—“Birthday Cake”
#63
Despite all the controversy over Chris Brown’s appearance on this record, the only real reason to listen to it is The-Dream, who creates a track that’s far dirtier than any of the lyrics and has more personality than either of the principals. One question, though: is that Robyn singing the bridge, or Rihanna imitating her? Uncanny, either way.

Tyga
“Muthafucka Up” (featuring Nicki Minaj), #74
“Make It Nasty”, #91
“Mothafucka Up” has a great beat, and Tyga makes the most of it, chopping up the rhythm on one line, riding it for all it’s worth on another. He may not have much to say, but he has the flow down. Minaj, meanwhile, plays it safe rhythmically and lyrically and contributes nothing special. Even with that let down it’s still far better than what Tyga delivers by himself on “Make It Nasty”, which is filler from beginning to end.

Usher—“Climax”
#81
I’ve never been much of an Usher fan, but thanks to Diplo this is as stunning as everybody says it is, a mix of lust, regret, self-realization and despair built on the most minimal of grooves. What’s most impressive is that even though the sound is open and spacious, the overall effect is one of claustrophobia, with electronic buzzes servings as symbols of the singer’s darkest and most despairing thoughts as they surround him. Best touch: the disembodied, wordless vocals that are sampled and dropped seemingly at random throughout the track, like some long-hidden pain suddenly rising to the surface.

Jason Aldean—“Fly Over States”
#92
As someone who has “drove through Indiana”, I can appreciate Aldean’s point of view, but once again the defensiveness of rural pride becomes a stumbling block. Or maybe I should say offensiveness, since the catalog of rural charms always seems to be used to attack shallow urbanites for their lack of appreciation of things like farmers (someone should write a study of how farming has become a self-sacrificing, patriotic act in the southern imagination while remaining a corporate monstrosity in reality), “water color” sunsets (which can be found anywhere) and girls from Amarillo (who can also be found anywhere, especially on the coasts, because they can’t wait to get out of Texas). Aldean doesn’t milk this as much as Montgomery Gentry and others, at least not lyrically, but since he’s a master of musical overkill the effect is much the same. It’s still chauvinism turning towards bigotry, no matter how you play it.

Young the Giant—“Cough Syrup”
#95
I suspect something “important” is being said here, but the lyrics and music are so generic and vague that it’s hard to get a bead on—something about the state of the world or generational apathy or personal ambivalence or something. The biggest problem is that I can’t tell whether the cough syrup reference is about needing a cure for the world’s ills or the desire to narcotize oneself into oblivion. The most confusing point is the line about “one more spoon of cough syrup now, oh whoa oh”. Do syrup addicts use spoons? I always thought they swigged straight from the bottle. And isn’t cough syrup designed to treat symptoms, not the actual illness? What good is that? Do these guys even know what their metaphors mean?

Listen on Spotify

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

Everybody Dance Now
Hot 100 Roundup—3/3/12

Wednesday, March 14th, 2012

Katy Perry—“Part Of Me”
#1
Straightforward dance music like this does Perry a favor. The more she strays from groove and traditional structure the more irritating she becomes (it does something weird to her voice, for one thing). She also tends to be at her best when she’s telling her man off. She likes fireworks metaphors too much, and this is more an example of craft than inspiration, but it’s still her best single since “Teenage Dream”.

Nicki Minaj—“Starships”
#9
Minaj’s chameleon voice is one of her greatest strengths; she can shift effortlessly from tough hood rat to ethereal angel and a range of roles in between. In some cases, like this record, that versatility is the only thing holding her music together, or that keeps it from falling into cliché. But it also emphasizes her greatest weakness: the lack of connecting tissue between her many ideas. I couldn’t begin to suggest why she starts singing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”, or why parts of this sound like a Rihanna impersonation, except as a distraction from the cliché lyrics and overworked strobe-light synth bursts. I like the line about not paying the rent, but that’s the only sign of personality on the record.

Chris Brown—“Turn Up the Music”
#10
Unless you’re disturbed by the very idea of Brown’s continued career, there’s nothing offensive about this record. Though I have my doubts about the way the music industry, not to mention Rihanna, have reacted to events, it would be foolish to deny that this is decent, journeyman work, uninspired as it may be. I don’t love it, and I don’t hate it; it’s just there. I just wish I could be sure he’ll simply fade away into the mediocre career he deserves.

One Direction—“What Makes You Beautiful”
#28
A boy band almost literally put together on TV (all the members had tried out and failed as solo singers for X Factor, when the producers suggested they work together), One Direction are, in sound and history, essentially the British version of Disney pop. As such I welcome them gladly to our shores. Let’s face it, Disney pop (aside from Miley Cyrus, whose breakthrough was the exception) should have been all over American radio between 2005 and 2010, and if it hadn’t been for radio programmers’ odd belief that the music wasn’t “mature” enough for top forty, it would have been. But immature Brit-kids are different from immature Americans: they have novelty value, and accents. That the music is the same catchy guitar pop that Disney put out only makes the landing of these clean-cut invaders easier. The pump has been primed, so to speak. It’s the same old story, the British selling our own ideas back to us after we’ve failed to appreciate them ourselves. Oh, and the record? Pretty good.

Bruno Mars—“Runaway Baby”
#50
Mars is always best on uptempo material—his excessive energy level makes his ballads overwrought, but it’s perfect for material like this throwaway, which made the chart only because he performed it on the Grammies. All the same, it’s more charming, and more fun, than his last few singles. Also, though this doesn’t seem to rate mention by anyone else, he’s an excellent lyricist: the second verse is hilarious.

Rascal Flatts—“Banjo”
#63
Not terrible, which is a surprise. Maybe even not bad, which could be a sign of upheaval in the natural order. One question, though: if they love banjo so much, why do they drown it out with electric guitars at the end of the song?

Glee Cast
“I Will Always Love You”, #87
“Stereo Hearts”, #92

David Guetta featuring Chris Brown & Lil Wayne—“I Can Only Imagine”
#90
Maybe I’m just feeling forgiving this week, but despite the presence of Chris Brown I think this may be the best thing Guetta’s done. It helps that there’s some variation in the sound—even some surprises—and that there’s a decent structure to the song rather than the usual flailing around. Repeating Lil Wayne’s verse at the end is a mistake, though; Wayne’s phrasing is so distinctive that it’s easy to tell that Guetta ran the same track with only a slightly different background. On a chorus that’s excusable, but on a verse it’s weird and unsettling. It sounds like cheating.

Skrillex featuring Sirah—“Bangarang”
#95
Autotune, pitch-shifting, skittering digital snares, massive explosions of distorted bass, these are all ideas that have come and gone and come again over the last few years, all having their moment in the sun, all eventually derided as overworked and clichéd (and they were). Not to mention dubstep. Skrillex uses them all, and then some, mixes them together, and doesn’t give a shit what you think about it. He’s having fun, and learning a craft, and making art all at the same time. Every single has more packed into it, is more strongly structured and thought out, and is better than the one before. He’s taken a bunch of stuff that the cognoscenti had discarded as played-out and breathed new life into it. Isn’t that the way art is supposed to work? We’re stepping into what promises to be one of the most inventive eras in the history of pop music, and right now, Skrillex is out front.

deadmau5 featuring Greta Svabo Bech—“Raise Your Weapon”
#100
While Skrillex is an artist with a capital F (as in Fun and Fuck you), deadmau5 would like to be known as an artist with a capital A. You can hear his desire to be taken seriously through all eight minutes of this record. It’s an interesting attitude for a guy who performs wearing a giant glowing mouse head. This isn’t a bad record, but its seriousness weighs it down, and the lyrics are more confusing than anything else. It’s pretentious, is what it is. No wonder Dave Grohl likes him.

Listen on Spotify

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Hot 100, Hot 100 Roundup, new this week | 1 Comment »

Second Tier or Below
Hot 100 Roundup, 2/25/12

Wednesday, March 7th, 2012

Meek Mill featuring T.I., Birdman, Lil Wayne, D.J. Khaled, Rick Ross & Swizz Beats—“Ima Boss”
#51
His brief change in style having flopped, at least when compared to his earlier singles, DJ Khaled goes back to the bank on this remix, providing big bragging beats for big bragging rappers. Nobody says anything important, but the energy level is surprisingly high. Usually when a producer returns to a style he’d hoped to move beyond, the intensity drops. If anything, this is even more energetic than Khaled’s earlier hits. It sounds like a homecoming. Maybe he changed his style out of a sense of duty, not desire.

Lindsey Pavao—“Say Aah”
#80

Glee Cast featuring Ricky Martin
“Sexy and I Know It”, #81
“La Isla Bonita”, #99

Kip Moore—“Somethin’ ‘Bout a Truck”
#89
This is based on the usual country clichés about trucks and beer and women and skinny dipping, but Moore manages to create a good record by keeping things as simple as possible: no fancy bridges or middle eights, a tune that’s immediately familiar and easy to hum, and lyrics that never get fancy or stretch some ridiculous rustic metaphor to the breaking point. The arrangement could be less bombastic, but that’s a common problem with a lot of country rock these days, and hardly Moore’s fault.

Calvin Harris—“Feel So Close”
#90
Harris is less bombastic than David Guetta or Levels or just about any other dance-pop producer right now, but that doesn’t make him any better. His subtlety doesn’t have any actual idea behind it; it’s just the way he prefers to approach things. It does make for a more dynamic listen, I’ll admit, but unfortunately during the quiet bits you have to listen to Harris sing, which isn’t a dynamic experience at all.

Kirko Bangz—“Drank In My Cup”
#96
A Drake sound-alike without the self-doubt or the well-meaning sexist condescension—that is, without any of the things that make Drake more than just another rapper on the make. The beat’s good, but it’s a Drake imitation, as well . Except for the intro, that is, which is lifted, uncredited, from Cream. Somehow I can’t see Drake doing something like that, either.

YG featuring Tyga, Snoop Dogg & Nipsey Hussle—“Snitchs Ain’t…”
#100
With women running the top ten, it shouldn’t be a surprise to find the return of good old rap misogyny down at the bottom of the chart. I would say that’s where it deserves to be, except that it doesn’t deserve to be on the chart at all. At least the first verse shows some humor in its putdowns; the rest is catchy and dumb in the worst way.

Listen on Spotify

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

W-H-Y, Madonna?
Hot 100 Roundup, 2/18/12

Friday, February 24th, 2012

Madonna featuring Nicki Minaj & M.I.A.—“Give Me All Your Luvin’”
#13
Aside from its role in broadening the revenue stream flowing from Madonna’s Super Bowl appearance, I can’t think of a single reason for this record to exist. It sounds like Avril Lavigne fronting The Go-Gos. Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. are invited to add extra heft and to receive Madonna’s blessing, but they’re given so little time they sound uninspired and out of place. As for Madonna, her retreat to a style she long ago jettisoned only points out how much craft she still possesses, and how much of her passion has disappeared. The reference to “Lucky Star” only emphasizes what she’s lost: she didn’t know nearly as much about creating records then as she does now, but “Lucky Star” is still twenty times better than this. She was remaking the world back then. Now she’s just trying to keep a steely grip on it.

Glee Cast
“Smooth Criminal” (featuring 2Cellos), #26
“Black or White”, #54
“Human Nature”, #56
“Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’”, #78
“Bad”, #80

Melanie Fiona—“4 AM”
#97
This ends wonderfully—a sudden burst of skittering drums adds a final note of anxiety and near panic to the simmering calm that makes up the rest of the song. Unfortunately, most people won’t get to the end because the calm will have put them to sleep long before. Fiona wants to be a serious artist and avoid melodrama and gaudy vocal displays, but sometimes there’s such a thing as too much austerity.

Listen on Spotify

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

100 Roundup—2/4/12

Friday, February 17th, 2012

Glee Cast
“Without You”, #28
“We Found Love”, #56
“Moves Like Jagger/Jumpin’ Jack Flash”, #62
“The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”, #70
“Summer Nights”, #88

Tyga—“Faded”
#52
Dirty, dirty boys with lots of dirty thoughts, but not much imagination. Lil Wayne gets off some decent puns, including a bizarre non sequitur that cleverly drags Richard Pryor into the scenario, but Tyga is all flow and no brains.

Mary J. Blige featuing Drake—“Mr. Wrong”
#98
Blige is in as good of voice as ever, and Drake makes sure he doesn’t get in the way as he castigates himself for working too hard, but this is only ordinary even at its most adventurous (i.e. a breakdown that tries to be a slow, soulful version of dubstep—it doesn’t quite work). I don’t think Blige feels this kind of song anymore; her life is too good to be able to access that sort of drama.

George Strait—“Love’s Gonna Make It Alright”
#99
This is Strait on autopilot. Not terrible, but nothing special.

Jay-Z and Kanye West featuring Frank Ocean—“No Church in the Wild”
#100
The opening cut of Watch the Throne, and one of the best, this lays out the basic theme of the album with one of the most daring and intellectual rap brags I’ve ever heard, using Plato’s allegory of the cave to suggest that West and Jay-Z live in a place without illusion (unlike the rest of us suckers), where the only law is that of talent, power, and wealth, and the normal rules of morality don’t apply—desire, and the means to fulfill that desire, are all that matters. West’s reference is oblique (“Human beings in a mine”) and hard to sort out at first, but Jay-Z directly name-checks Socrates and Plato. The obvious suggestion is that the two of them are somewhere beyond the common lot of humanity; not quite gods, but powerful enough that they can ignore whatever gods may exist, or choose not to believe in them at all. And here I used to think Scarface references were grandiose.

Listen on Spotify

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

« Older Entries