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Hot 100 Roundup—1/21/12

Tuesday, January 31st, 2012

Jason Mraz—“I Won’t Give Up”
#8
Being the minor talent that he is, I expected Mraz to play it safe with a snappy sound-alike to “I’m Yours” for his next single, but it seems his talent is so minor he doesn’t realize where his best interests lie. This is super-serious, packed thick with sincere clichés that appear to have been lifted at random from self-help books. Each verse ends either with an affirmation or a “deep” question: “I had to learn what I’ve got, and what I’m not, and who I am”; “God knows we’re worth it”; and my favorite, “How old is your soul?” These seem to have no connection to the lines that precede them, or a connection so vague that only those well versed in the jargon could understand them. I’m not sure that group includes Mraz. Just to give him the benefit of the doubt, I’d like to think this is intended as parody, but the music suggests otherwise. Which means that Mraz probably isn’t even a minor talent. He is a cad, though. That I know for sure.

Skrillex featuring Sirah—“Kyoto”
#74
Skrillex is polishing and improving his sound with every record. “Kyoto” adds a guest rap, but otherwise uses the same basic formula as his previous singles: establish a familiar groove with a hyped, bass heavy mix, stop dead with a scream of urgent exclamation, followed by a needle drop and all hell breaking loose, repeat, then end on the original groove. The big difference here is that the shifts are less dramatic, the change in style almost seamless (the fact that he’s working with hip-hop rhythms may have something to do with that). Whatever you may think of him, he’s a talent, and he isn’t stupid, his music is growing and developing. How far that development goes is another question: the clichéd “Japanese” melody here suggests that his musical sensibilities, however broad they may be, aren’t very deep.

3OH!3—“Set You Free”
#84
Another couple of minor talents who aren’t as smart as they think they are. I’m not saying that electro-clash can’t be used to transmit a “serious” message, but it does tend to take the “clash” out of it, which means it’s missing all the fun and most of reason for its existence. I like the line “I don’t live in bed no more”, but otherwise this is boring, pretentious, and self-pitying. They don’t even sound like themselves, they sound like Weezer fans with sequencers. Ke$ha should heed the warning: this is where taking yourself seriously gets you.

Gotye featuring Kimbra—“Somebody That I Used to Know”
#91
Imported from Belgium, this sounds like it could become the sort of sleeper hit that “Pumped Up Kicks” was, only without the pretentious seriousness. The mid-sixties Latin groove (courtesy of Luiz Bonfa’s “Seville”) gives it the feel of a Nancy Sinatra-Lee Hazlewood track, minus the camp value of Hazlewood’s singing. And the woman’s part, which starts with the best line in the song, “Now and then I think of all the times you screwed me over”, carries echoes of Human League’s “Don’t You Want Me”. In other words, this contains references to enough pop landmarks, without any of them being obvious on first listen, to make it sound both familiar and out of the ordinary.

Montgomery Gentry—“Where I Come From”
#94
For the most part, I don’t mind country songs praising small town life—two of my favorite records of the last few years are Miranda Lambert’s “Famous In a Small Town” and Ashton Shepard’s “More Cows Than People”—but this is so aggressive, and so defensive, that it comes close to a kind or rural fascism. Their examples of small town life are bizarre, especially the lines about two guys fighting in a parking lot: “Nobody’s gonna call the cops”. So that’s what’s wrong with big cities; it’s not that people fight in the streets, it’s that people insist on summoning the authorities when they do. Better yet is the old man sitting on the porch who can “buy your fancy car with hundred dollar bills”. What is he, a rapper? A meth dealer? Whatever the case, I bet he drives an old beat-up pickup truck covered in mud when he takes his mother to church on Sunday morning. They always do.

Jay-Z Kanye West—“Gotta Have It”
#98
Is this actually being promoted as a single? If it is, it’s an odd choice. For starters, it isn’t even two and a half minutes long, which means it won’t fit on any existing radio formats. Second, though the James Brown sample provides a great hook, it isn’t up there with “Niggas In Paris” in sing- or hum-along terms. It does, however, continue in a more obvious way the theme of racial politics and black history that “Niggas” snuck in between the lines. Have they got some kind of thematic singles campaign going that they’re not telling anyone about? Or are they just being eccentric?

Listen on Spotify

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Hot 100 Roundup—10/22/11

Thursday, November 3rd, 2011

Daughtry—”Crawling Back to You”
#41
The hook sticks in your head, but only because you’ve heard it a thousand times already. Fans of this kind of stuff can probably sing along after the first two or three notes, which I’m sure is a large part of its appeal. There isn’t an original or interesting idea anywhere on it. Not that that’s a surprise.

Hot Chelle Rae featuring New Boyz—”I Like It Like That”
#51
This is like 3Oh!3 for the younger crowd (what became of those guys, anyway?), and if it wasn’t for the presence of the New Boyz, might be considered as an audition for the next Kidz Bop collection. The New Boyz, however, though they keep it clean, also add a bit of personality, which is the last thing a Kidz Bop record would want. They’re still good enough that I wish they weren’t so obviously at the mercy of the industry, and I only hope they don’t get every ounce of talent, or their regard for each other, squeezed out of them before their contract expires.

Glee Cast
“Fix You”, #53
“Run the World (Girls)”, #91

Taio Cruz featuring Flo Rida—”Hangover”
#62
I like this a lot, mostly because I get the feeling that Taio Cruz is secretly putting forth an anti-drinking message, or at least an anti-drinking-to-excess message. When he brags about drinking till he throws up I always catch the whiff of satire, no matter how hard the beat is pumping in the background. Satire, of course, is beyond Flo Rida, because most of what he says is incomprehensible anyway. He does claim that he never throws up, so maybe he considers satire unmanly.

T.I. featuring Big K.R.I.T.—”I’m Flexin’”
#66
I can’t think of any particular reason to recommend this track. The flow is good, the raps intelligent, but neither T.I. or K.R.I.T. have anything important or interesting to say, which may explain why the music seems old-hat and lacking in punch.

Enrique Iglesias featuring Pitbull & The WAV.s—”I Like How It Feels”
#76
This record confuses me. I like the openness of the arrangement, and the beats sound like they were made with live drums (probably not, but that’s how they sound), but the lyrics are weird. The first verse sounds like a standard dance track, with an odd reference to the It Gets Better project tossed in for no apparent reason. Then the second verse is all we-can-save-the-world-if-we-stand-together. Then Pitbull enters, and since all he’s ever been able to rap about is sex, he does that for a while, and then the record ends. My assumption is that Iglesias was just stringing words together and callously cashing in on an internet meme. Then again, if Pitbull wasn’t on here, I might wonder if this wasn’t Iglesias’ confused idea of a coming out song. I have no real evidence to back that up, and it probably isn’t true, but weirder things have happened.

Big Sean—”Dance(A$$)”
#93
This is like a Busta Rhymes track without Busta. Why exactly did Kanye West sign this guy? Because he reflects West’s id (or anybody’s, really) without the limitations of conscience, intelligence, or taste?

Beyonce featuring Andre 3000—”Party”
#95
I haven’t heard the J. Cole remix that is apparently replacing this for the video and radio, but it can’t possibly be better. This is a good record, especially the harmonies on the chorus, but Andre is the only thing that makes it special. His rap is about being older, about not partying, but being looked up to by the kids who are. It adds a level of contemplation to the song that’s only hinted at in the mature groove of the arrangement. I’ve heard that some people think Andre is slipping as a rapper. I think he’s entering a realm that those people don’t understand.

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Hot 100 Roundup—8/27/11

Thursday, September 22nd, 2011

Drake—”Headlines”
#13
Is this guy capable of doing anything but feel sorry for himself? Fame didn’t turn out to be as much fun as he thought it would be; no one understands him or how hard he works; and there are all these women! Makes you wonder what he got into the business for. It sure wasn’t the music.

Jason DeRulo—”It Girl”
#39
I have mixed feelings about this record, largely because I find myself liking it more than I think I should. Most of DeRulo’s records have been terrible, but this time around he switches up his style, dumping his usual dense, sample based hip-hop for a lighter, more straight-ahead sound. Some say he’s trying to be Bruno Mars, but what I hear is a less desperate, more relaxed version of Chris Brown. In other words, a pleasant, minor talent who doesn’t carry a lot of excess baggage around with him. I doubt he’ll ever do anything great, but at least he isn’t an embarrassment.

Jay-Z & Kanye West
“Who Gon’ Stop Me”, #44
“Niggas In Paris”, #75
I have real difficulties with Watch the Throne. The music is often brilliant, but the lyrics are intentionally paradoxical, full of contradictions and ego-based hyperbole that are hard to work around or excuse. The opening line of “Who Gon Stop Me” is a perfect example: “This is something like the Holocaust/Millions of our people lost”. It’s a powerful statement, and like much of Watch the Throne, it places current events in a deeper historical context. Whether or not that context is fully justified in relation to what most of the tracks are about, however—that is, being rich and living high—is open to question. The overall stance of the album is that the suffering African-Americans have gone through is justification for those who are successful exalting themselves, living as high as they can, and bragging about it as much as possible. It’s hardly a new idea, as they well know; just the title “Niggas in Paris” alone conjures up images of black men and women who were in a position to take advantage of financial independence and the relative racial freedom of Europe and did so to excess: Joe Jackson, Josephine Baker, Sidney Bechet, James Baldwin, and many others. What gets left out of the story are the great majority who don’t have anything to brag about; not just African Americans, but Africans, whites, Latinos, Asians, and the Europeans who make their living serving people like Jay-Z and West and satisfying their needs. Like Jay-Z said in “Empire State of Mind”, “Pity half of y’all won’t make it”, with the unuttered followup, “sucker”, implied in his phrasing. It’s a drug dealer’s mentality, and even if they’re aware of it, and unsure of it, and emphasize the irony of it, it still stinks.

David Guetta featuring Sia—”Titanium”
#66
Guetta wisely lightens up his sound before the bombast takes over completely, and though this is nothing special at least it isn’t openly hostile to anyone with sensitive ears or a working brain. If he had found a singer other than Sia, whose lack of enunciation I find even more irritating here than on her own records, it might have been even better.

Miranda Lambert—”Baggage Claim”
#67
After Revolution I was afraid that Lambert was softening up, and that the woman who had made Crazy Ex-Girlfriend was gone for good. Going by this and the Pistol Annies album, though, that judgement was premature. “Baggage Claim” isn’t a great record: rhythmically it’s a little stiff, and the metaphor gets stretched almost to the breaking point, but it brings back the take-no-prisoners stance that made Lambert famous, with only the slightest lessening of intensity. She may not be as brash as she used to be, but she makes up for it with a sense of confidence that may be even more impressive. She knows what she wants, she knows how to get it, and she knows that she can. My only worry is that she’ll try so hard to make a perfect record that she’ll mistrust her best instincts and stiffen up. That’s was Revolution’s greatest weakness, and you can hear some of that on this record. Still, this sounds like a step in the right direction.

Evanescence—”What You Want”
#68
Keeping up with the times, Amy Lee and her new band mates toss a little Paramore-style melody into their mix, along with an easy to chant along with hook. I like this more than any Evanescence I’ve heard before, and for metal-edged pop (or is that pop-edged metal) this is high caliber. If the whole album sounds like this it could be another Superunknown (which should give you an idea of how much metal I listen to).

T.I. featuring B.o.B.—”We Don’t Get Down Like Y’all”
#78
The change in style—less fuzzy synths, more hard beats—is appreciated, but it’s also a step backwards towards a style he moved beyond years ago. What is new, at least to me, is the blatant homophobia. If people have a problem with Odd Future, what are they going to think of “Listen up, fag bait/them hot pants bad for your prostate.” Maybe he is just a jerk.

Luke Bryan—”Drunk On Love”
#79
Yet another song about a country girl shakin’ it for her man. In rap, women work the pole; in country, the tailgate. Bryan even steals an image from the blues: “Honey drips on the moneymaker”. Country radio programmers must know what that means, but I bet they’ll play it anyway. Pretty slow for yet another version of “Whole Lot of Shakin’”, though. I imagine Bryan intended this as a sexy grind, but since he doesn’t know sexy from a rusty pickup truck, all he gets is the grind.

The Script—”Nothing”
#89
You said it.

Mindless Behavior featuring Diggy—”Mrs. Right”
#97
There have been a lot of good teen rap groups the last couple of years, but this record is so insane, with both the vocals and the beats run through an autotune turned up to 11, that the damn thing never touches the ground. By the end of the first verse you’ve lost your bearings: just where did they expect this to end up? Good for a laugh, but that’s about it.

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Hot 100 Roundup—8/6/11

Wednesday, August 24th, 2011

Red Hot Chili Peppers—”The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie”
#38
Not that it means much, but their craftsmanship is impressive: the grooves have become tighter, the song construction less erratic, the playing and singing expert. None of which changes the fact that this is the alt-rock version of mellow, smooth and meaningless. They wanted to be Parliament/Funkadelic, and turned into Tom Petty. It’s almost enough to make you feel sorry for them.

Jay-Z & Kanye West featuring Otis Redding—”Otis”
#47
The idea that this somehow demeans Redding is ridiculous. If anything, the way the sample is used emphasizes his vocal strengths and puts them in a framework younger listeners can appreciate. Besides, the song isn’t called “Otis” for nothing. It may be hubris for Jay-Z and West to see themselves as part of that tradition, but they’re not claiming to be more talented than Redding, just richer. Not that they don’t twist the meaning of his song. What “makes it easier to bear” in their case isn’t tenderness, it’s money, and all the style and beauty and high-powered toys it can buy them. Which doesn’t mean they’re not aware of the ironies of their situation, either: “Sophisticated ignorance” may be the greatest self-description West has ever come up with, only they’re not ignorant by a long shot. There are so may intellectual and emotional twists and turns in this record that it’s almost impossible to keep up with, and then James Brown get thrown into the mix and things jump to still another level. A great one.

Drake—”Marvin’s Room”
#68
Like all late night drunken phone calls, this starts out interesting but quickly becomes repetitive and boring. I appreciate what Drake is trying to do, but the relentless self-pity has become unbearable. He needs a new approach.

50 Cent—”Outlaw”
#87
This is easily 50 Cent’s best record since 2005 or so, maybe even longer. But he’s achieved it by going back to 2005, where he will no doubt be stuck for the rest of his career, such as it is. If you feel like reminiscing, I’d give this a listen.

Big Sean featuring Kanye West & Roscoe Dash—”Marvin & Chardonnay”
#88
Reviewed in Bubbling Under, 7/30/11

Miguel—”Quickie”
#95
Reviewed in Bubbling Under, 7/23/11

DJ Drama featuring Fabolous, Roscoe Dash & Wiz Khalifa—”Oh My”
#100
Reviewed in Bubbling Under, 7/30/11

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Bubbling Under—7/30/11

Wednesday, August 24th, 2011

DJ Drama featuring Fabolous, Roscoe Dash & Wiz Khalifa—”Oh My”
#101
In which three guys who have never had anything to say say it together over a track that has nothing to say, either. At least DJ Khaled’s tracks are full of racial pride; this is just full of it.

Big Sean featuring Kanye West & Roscoe Dash—”Marvin & Chardonnay”
#102
Big Sean is Big Sean, Roscoe Dash is, I guess, Roscoe Dash—to tell the truth I didn’t even realize he was on here until I read the credits—and Kanye West is a strange and shriveled parody of himself. First time I heard this I thought West was Big Sean doing a Weezy imitation; even when I realized it was West himself I could barely believe it. It’s not just that his verse is bad—West has been bad plenty of times before—it’s that it isn’t even an interesting or offensive form of bad, it’s sub-par in every possible way. Now I’m beginning to wonder if it isn’t West making fun of Big Sean instead of the other way around.

Pia Toscano—”This Time”
#105
Apparently Jimmy Iovine thinks Toscano can be a star despite her early booting off of American Idol. To prove it, he gets Ester Dean to write up a pale imitation of a Ryan Tedder track and tells Toscano to sing as loudly as she can. At least that’s how I imagine it went. I figured I’d give Toscano a break and not blame her the first time out. Next time, though…

Craig Campbell—”Fish”
#109
This is as dirty as country can get and still be played on the radio, though I suspect the only program it would really fit on is the old Dr. Demento show. The main joke you see, is rhyming “fish” with “truck” and “luck”, an idea that puts it right up there with “Shaving Cream” in the intellectual humor department. There are also some double entendres involving fishing rods and little pink bobbers. Which doesn’t mean it isn’t enjoyable in a leering, adolescent sort of way.

Rascal Flatts featuring Natasha Bedingfield—”Easy”
#121
What exactly is Natasha Bedingfield, or her management, or her record company, thinking? A few years ago she was pioneering a form of white-girl hip-hop which, if slick as hell, at least carried some meaning; now she’s lending her voice to one of the worst bands in the world on a “country” power-ballad that makes Lady Antebellum look like masters of emotional restraint. Unless she’s planning to go “country” herself how does this possibly further her career other than keeping her name in the charts? Yeah, her last album tanked, but that’s because she had lost track of where her true strengths lie. Now she’s even further off course.

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Hot 100 Roundup—7/23/11

Wednesday, August 17th, 2011

Frank Ocean—-”Novacane”
#82
Reviewed in Bubbling Under, 6/18/11

J. Cole—”Work Out”
#85
You can’t blame Kanye West for rappers acting like self-obsessed, shameless assholes, but he certainly popularized the idea. The difference, of course, is that West is both pleased and appalled by his behavior, whereas Cole is only pleased. This makes Cole less threatening, but also far less interesting. It also makes him an even bigger jerk.

Josh Turner—”I Wouldn’t Be A Man”
#92
Reviewed in Bubbling Under, 6/4/11

Avril Lavigne—”Smile”
#94
Reviewed in Bubbling Under, 7/9/11

Don Omar—”Taboo”
#97
Reviewed in Bubbling Under, 5/14/11

Foo Fighters—”Walk”
#100
Strange. The song isn’t bad, and Dave Grohl sings as well as he ever has, but the production is so clean it robs the track of any dynamic force. Even the distortion sounds clean, if such a thing is possible. Maybe they tried too hard to make it perfect. Wonder what the demo sounds like.

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What renaissance?

Tuesday, June 7th, 2011

David Hajdu at The New Republic continues to demonstrate his own mixture of research-rich, understanding-poor column writing, this time taking on what he call the “Renaissance of Pop Collaboration”. Hajdu, it seems, has just discovered the mix of mini-inspiration and profit-driven collaboration used to create most pop records (I call it mini-inspiration because it generally consists of writers and/or performers creating one section of a song, and counting on another writer/performer’s mini-inspiration to complete the rest). Hajdu gets all his facts right, but doesn’t seem to realize that this is something that’s been going on for a long time and has been one of the distinguishing characteristics of pop music for a decade or more. He also makes the somewhat bizarre assertion that Katy Perry is “coat-tailing” Kanye West on “E.T.” Or is it West who’s coat-tailing Perry? Is coat-tailing even a word? Whatever the case, Hajdu seems to operate under the impression that one or the other needs help from a bigger name to get a hit, even though Perry has just become the first performer ever to spend an entire year in the top ten, and West is probably the most important rapper of the last decade (he also fails to mention, or doesn’t realize, that the original album version of “E.T.” doesn’t include West’s rap).

I wonder what makes Hajdu consider this a renaissance, though, as opposed to an entirely new way of making records. Songwriting collaboration is nothing new, of course, but the classic songwriting partners whom Hajdu seems to be evoking by the term renaissance didn’t work in anything like the manner most pop songwriters do today. Though many songwriters and producers work together on a regular basis, and there are production/songwriting teams such as The Neptunes, Stargate, and The Smeezingtons, true songwriting partnerships are rare. Add to that the fact that many performers, once they attach themselves to a track, often bring in their own writers, or song doctors for hire, to help create their parts. And don’t forget those classic writing teams of the past worked face to face, whereas today many tracks are created by email or on shared servers, without the various contributors ever coming into physical contact with one another (B.o.B. and Hayley Williams of Paramore, who had a huge collaborative hit with “Airplanes”, first met when they performed the song on an awards show several months after it was released).

In the last paragraph, Hajdu seems to imply that this form of collaboration is a good thing, or at least that it fits the party music that currently dominates the charts. He doesn’t seem to consider the opposite possibility, that this simplistic music is a direct result of the logistics of modern record production. It’s much easier, after all, to write a party anthem from a distance than it would be to write something more involved and serious in intent. The difficulties of long distance songwriting may help expand and diversify songwriting in some ways, but it may also hamper the creation of more sustained, organic work, the kind that results from a writer sitting down and creating an entire song herself. As opposed, that is, to creating a hook to be attached to someone else’s bridge to connect to someone else’s verse to be laid over a beat that’s been sitting on a producer’s hard drive for six months, that closes with a coda another producer conceived on his laptop during a cross country flight two years ago, based on a sample from a record first released in 1973. There are advantages to both techniques, and certainly the more modern method results in records that are full of fresh and often startling musical ideas. I’m just not sure they’re filled with much thought, and without thought there’s no such thing as a renaissance.

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Bubbling Under 5/21/11

Saturday, May 28th, 2011

Zac Brown Band featuring Jimmy Buffett—”Knee Deep”
#104
Brown’s imitative powers are impressive, and I bet he worked his ass off getting this right, but this is the sort of knockoff Buffett could write in his sleep, and often does, no doubt. So it’s no surprise that Buffett himself sounds a little bored. Then again, maybe that’s just his way of including the bitter edges in his music that Brown leaves out. In his best songs, Buffett’s protagonists are lovable losers who have retired to the life of a beach bum because they’re incapable of functioning in the real world, and their sense of failure hangs over them even in paradise. Brown’s lyrics hint at this, but only because that’s part of every Buffett song and the homage wouldn’t be complete without it, and there’s no sign of it in the music. Buffett, with his slightly distant drawl, puts it back in, at least for one verse.

Trace Adkins—”Just Fishin’”
#116
Father/daughter bonding by the numbers, country style. In other words, sexist (he envisions no future for his daughter other than being chased by boys), condescending (he’s convinced that this moment will be one of her fondest memories without once considering how she might really feel about it), smug and proud to be. Family sentiment is one of the good things about country music, but this is an example of it at it’s worst.

Lupe Fiasco featuring Trey Songz—”Out of My Head”
#120
When Fiasco is concentrating, he can be a daring and original rapper. When he’s running on automatic he’s a skilled but derivative Kanye West clone, an enjoyable echo. This is Fiasco on automatic.

Kelly Price featuring Stokely—”Not My Daddy”
#122
I appreciate the message, but this is such a slavish imitation of The Stylistics, right down to the timbre of Price’s voice, that I find it hard to take seriously. Only at the end, when the producer starts deconstructing the beat, which adds a slightly modern stamp but nothing more, does it stray much from the original model. I don’t mind retro, but this sort of imitation doesn’t get anyone anywhere.

Rodney Atkins—”Take A Back Road”
#125
Even back roads get boring if you drive them too much, and the twists and turns here are far too familiar.

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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.

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Hot 100 Update—2/28/11

Monday, February 28th, 2011

Katy Perry featuring Kanye West—”E.T.”
#28
Perry is justifiably famous—or infamous, depending on how you look at it—for working all sorts of sexual innuendo into her music without ever sounding lewd or crude. Her double entendres always sound innocent, if such a thing is possible, and squeaky clean. Apparently, Kanye West thought something should be done about this, because his rap is as crude as it could possibly be, and will only throw fuel on the growing argument over his apparent misogyny. We’ve always known that he knew how to make a record; now we know how easily he can spoil one, too.


New Boyz featuring The Cataracs & Dev—”Backseat”
#37
This goes a long way towards rehabilitating New Boyz, who I worried had been completely corrupted by the industry on their last single. Their raps are bouncy and energetic again, and their youth gives them an edge over the competition. All the same, this record belongs to The Cataracs, and though it’s good it’s not as good as they’ve been in the past. It’s fresher than most of the other rap on the charts, though. I’ve been loving the stuff coming out of Los Angeles lately, and this is another one.

Glee Cast
“Baby”, #47
“Sing”, #49
“Take Me Or Leave Me”, #51
“Somebody To Love”, #62
I know, I swore I wasn’t going to review anymore of this stuff, but I did say that I would make an exception if they ever did anything interesting, and since putting out decent music qualifies, as far as Glee is concerned, as doing something interesting, I felt it was only fair to mention it. Especially since it’s not just one decent recording, but all four. None of these are great, and all the usual flaws—weak singing, simplistic arrangements, a tendency towards show tune coyness—still apply, but somehow they seem to be less glaring in this week’s batch. In fact, this is easily the best week Glee has ever had. On the Justin Bieber numbers the usual weaknesses are actually an advantage—the songs seem more human, less fine-tuned and calculated, and hence more emotional. If anything, these versions help to point out the biggest problem with Bieber: that his singing conveys no feeling whatsoever, not even innocence or naivete, just a blank nothingness. And for those Bieber haters who still found themselves being sucked in by “Baby”, now you know why: it’s a great song. As for “Sing”, even My Chemical Romance fans would have to admit that the chorus makes a lot more sense sung by a choir, even if the lead vocals are weak.

Justin Bieber—”Born To Be Somebody”
#74
Since he recently changed his hairstyle, I’m hoping this will be the last gasp of the old, mid-adolescence Bieber, and that after this he’ll at least move on to high school. In the meantime, see above.

Chris Young—”Tomorrow”
#86
Some country critics think that Young has a lot of promise, but I can’t see it. His voice is fine, but this is the third single in a row that has demonstrated a smarm and manipulative shamelessness that strikes me as glaringly obvious. This time, he goes back for one last booty call before dumping his girlfriend (his wife?). Apparently in country you can get away with this sort of sexist hypocrisy as long as you sound unhappy while you do it.

Tinie Tempah featuring Eric Turner—”Written In the Stars”
#91
Reviewed in Bubbling Under, 2/13/11

The Black Eyed Peas—”Just Can’t Get Enough”
#92
I appreciate their attempt to mix the ’80s pop they grew up on with the “future” they created on their last album, but so far the results have been disappointing. This song doesn’t build at all, it just shifts gears two-thirds of the way through, and not in an appealing way. That electric DJ voice is getting truly irritating and, unlike many others, this is not a band I’m easily irritated by.

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