Posts Tagged ‘Mary J Blige’

Bubbling Under—5/7/11

Tuesday, May 17th, 2011

Incubus—”Adolescents”
#101
Intelligent hard rock that isn’t loaded with pretension is so rare that I’m probably overrating this, and as smart as it is it’s still mired in hard rock’s negative view of the world, with any signs of a sense of humor intentionally removed. All the same, it’s pleasantly melodic without being cloying, never overwrought, and makes a few decent observations about the adolescent mindset. It isn’t a masterpiece, but—and here I speak as someone who instinctively distrusts any band that calls itself Incubus—it’s far better than I would have expected.

Naomi Scott—”She’s So Gone”
#103
This record, yet another standout from the Lemonade Mouth soundtrack, is a blatant Kelly Clarkson rip-off, and I couldn’t care less. Find me another current single that’s as catchy, self-propulsive, lyrically astute, or that makes such a strong case for female self-reliance without being full of worn-out homilies. If you were embarrassed by the way “Friday” stuck in your head against your better judgment (not that you should be, but that’s your problem), try this antidote. Teen pop has never sounded so good.

David Cook—”The Last Goodbye”
#105
Speaking of Kelly Clarkson ripoffs, here’s the distaff side, which in this case means trying to create the same sort of pop hooks while sounding like you just stepped off the Daughtry tour bus. Needless to say, the mixture makes no sense, not that Cook is enough of an artist to make something of it if it did. I doubt he even understands that that’s what he’s doing.

The Asteroids Galaxy Tour—”The Golden Age”
#113
I like sugary Danish pop as much as anybody, but this is almost an object lesson in overkill, guaranteed to rot even the sweetest tooth. Three years old, it’s been making the rounds of TV commercials and soundtracks all over Europe, where this sort of glossy, junky ready-made is accepted as some kind of homage to American pop music (it was even used to promote Mad Men in Denmark, where they apparently can’t tell the America of the 1920s from that of the 1960s). Why it should even come close to being a hit on these shores, where it sounds like something you might hear on a TV show for kids (not tweeners, but little kids), is anyone’s guess. Wait a minute. Does Gossip Girl count as a kids show? Now I get it.

Mary J Blige featuring Diddy and Lil Wayne —”Someone To Love Me (Naked)”
#125
This is the first Blige record I’ve liked in a long time, which is probably because it’s the first one she’s made in years that isn’t devoted to telling us how happy she is. It’s good to get the drama out of your life, but its absence in your material can kill a pop career. The dub reggae is a little soft, but the hook is good, and Diddy and Lil Wayne add just enough to keep the record from becoming too repetitive. Very pleasant all around.

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New this week–2/14/10

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

P!nk—”Glitter In the Air”
#18
Even aside from the impressive aerial ballet on the Grammies, this song has a lot of things going for it, all of which P!nk somehow manages to subvert well before it’s over. It’s frustrating to see an artist of such obvious intelligence and craftsmanship constantly fall back on cliche in order to get through her songs, but that’s what she does, time and time again. Whenever she gets close to a real emotion she stops and whips out some tried and true piece of schtick. It’s almost as if she’s afraid. Either that or she’s not as smart as she seems.

Lil Wayne
“Knockout” (featuring Nicki Minaj), #44
“Fuck Today” (featuring Gudda), #76
“American Star” (featuring Shanell AKA SNL), #91
On first listen these seem a big step up from the Lil-Wayne-goes-metal tracks that have appeared off and on over the last year. The sound is brighter, the tempos have more snap to them, the songs even seem to be about something besides the usual rap bragging. But they wear thin fast, and though I’m fascinated by the sense of racial frustration that permeates them (especially “Fuck Today”, which is a far better version of the same idea than “Drop the World”), the simple fact is that these records don’t work. He may love it, but metal doesn’t do Wayne any favors: it slows him down and constrains his natural gifts, and leaves you wondering exactly what he’s trying to get at. I’m not even sure that Wayne knows. Does he think that metal will allow him to delve into a deeper and more profound form of rage than rap (since when?), or is he just bored? Someone should remind him that twenty years ago Ice-T pulled the same trick just as his own interest in rap was fading. After that his music career was pretty much over (and the Body Count album was a lot better than this). What a perfect time to go to jail.

Dave Matthews Band—”You and Me”
#57
For all his much vaunted skill and musical sophistication, it’s amazing how easily Matthews falls into cliche—hitting a high note on the word “fly” is about as old-fashioned and hackneyed as you can get—and all the rhythmic trickery in the world won’t cover up the fact that this song has virtually no melody; it’s just a collection of riffs strung together. I can understand why musos like him—I just don’t see why anyone else would care.

Kevin Rudolf featuring Birdman, Jay Sean, and Lil Wayne—”I Made It (Cash Money Heroes)”
#59
I find it hard to believe that anyone from New Orleans (I mean Lil Wayne, not Rudolf, who’s from New York), could ever find this sort of plodding, lugubrious mush appealing, but obviously that’s a regional stereotype I’ll need to reconsider. The chorus isn’t terrible, but it isn’t exactly fresh, either, and the raps are meaningless. Why would anyone, from anywhere, think it’s a good idea to play hair metal slowly?

Mary J. Blige and Andrea Bocelli—”Bridge Over Troubled Water”
#75
I missed Blige and Bocelli on the Grammy Awards, but I read somewhere that Blige appeared intimidated by Bocelli’s voice, to which I can only say “Huh?” Even forgetting for the moment that Bocelli can’t sing (not in English anyway, and I’m not sure about his Italian, either), Blige walks all over him. Not that that’s a good thing, since she walks all over the song, as well, but “Bridge Over Troubled Water” has a long and glorious history of being oversung, and I’d be the last to deny Blige her shot at it. I just wish she’d done it on her own—she might have taken it even more deeply into church.

Gucci Mane—”Lemonade”
#93
This is the most interesting Gucci Mane track I’ve heard, and easily the most eccentric. I haven’t been able to parse out enough of the lyrics to decide whether he’s saying anything worth hearing, but the music, especially the chorus (are those children singing or women’s voices electronically raised a couple of pitches?) holds my attention well enough even without being sure about what’s going on.

Shiny Toy Guns—”Major Tom”
#97
This record, which sounds like a bunch of semi-talented suburban middle-schoolers playing in a three car garage with two of the doors open to annoy the neighbors, provides further proof that with enough exposure in TV commercials—especially during the Grammy Awards—anybody can scrape into the bottom reaches of the Hot 100 for a week. That we already knew. What I want to know is how anybody could have dared to complain about Taylor Swift’s vocals with this blaring out of their TV every ten minutes?

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New this week—12/20/09

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009

Ludacris—”How Low”
#13
Since Ludacris announced his intention to make more serious records a couple of years back, things have shifted in the pop world. The recession created an audience that wanted anything other than the serious, and Ludacris wisely reverts to his old party persona. He does this, ironically enough, by sampling the most serious of all rap groups, Public Enemy, and making a record more reminiscent of Soulja Boy than anything he’s done before. The result is as silly as you might expect, but not in a particularly entertaining way, and it isn’t funny at all. Maybe that “serious” move was just a sign that he’d run out of ideas and/or jokes.

Glee Cast
“My Life Would Suck Without You”, #51
“Don’t Rain On My Parade”, #53
“You Can’t Always Get What You Want”, #71
“And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going”, #94
The songs from the final episode sum up quite nicely everything that’s wrong with Glee as music: bad karaoke (“My Life”); bad Broadway impersonations (“Parade”); bad, meaningless rock covers (apparently no one involved with this show knows what “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” is actually about—why did they even bother with the verses?); and bad, histrionic versions of overrated pseudo-soul screamfests. The world has until April to wise up, but I’m not holding my breath on that one.

Lil Wayne—”On Fire”
#62
Anyone who doubts that rap, if not dead, is at least at a turning point, should give this record a listen. It’s not just that it’s bad (though it surely is), but that it encapsulates a moment of confusion amongst even the greatest rappers about what to do next. Based on this, Lil Wayne’s rock album is gearing up to be the greatest piece of career suicide since Kelly Clarkson’s My December, except apparently nobody has the nerve to tell Wayne it’s a mistake. It’s not surprising that he’d take a downward step—after the creative burst that culminated in Tha Carter III anything he did was bound to be anticlimactic—but this is like walking off a cliff.

Jason DeRulo—”In My Head”
#63
The problem with this record is simple: after playing it half a dozen times, it hasn’t stayed in my head at all. Without Imogen Heap, he’s nothing.

Mary J. Blige—”I Am”
#67
This is nothing new, but it’s a good, solid song, and for the first time in ages Blige sounds comfortable again, wisely relaxing and not overplaying her hand or her pipes. It helps that she’s taking on a role rather than singing as herself. It may not be a masterpiece, but it’s the best single Blige has put out in years.

30 Seconds To Mars—”This Is War”
#72
Imagine if U2 and Pearl Jam got together to make a concept album about global conflict. Now imagine that the album was written not by U2 and Pearl Jam, but Queensryche. No, I wouldn’t want to hear it, either.

Snoop Dogg—”I Wanna Rock”
#80
Ah, here’s the semi-annual Snoop I’ve been waiting for, and as an extra treat it comes with a shout-out to jerkin’. Not as daring as he’s been in the past, but as masterful as ever, and that choir chanting “Snooooop dooogg” in the background makes me laugh every time I hear it.

Chris Brown featuring Plies—”What I Do”
#88
I can’t help wondering if that title wouldn’t make more sense with a question mark at the end, with lyrics reflecting Brown’s dismay at having to work with The Worst Rapper In The World® in order to boost his plummeting commercial potential. And where’s that Akon duet we were promised?

Lifehouse—”Halfway Gone”
#99
That title invites all sorts of easy quips, but the song isn’t worth even that much effort.

George Strait—”Twang”
#100
If there have to be country songs about how wonderful country songs are, I’d rather hear them from Strait than anybody else, if only because he’s made some wonderful country music himself. Trouble is, the idea of country songs about country songs is as worn-out as rock songs about rockin’ out, and nothing Strait can do is going to revive it or make anything new out of it.

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New this week

Sunday, August 9th, 2009

T.I. featuring Mary J. Blige—”Remember Me”
#29
The verse about his woman cheating on him while he’s in the joint sounds real enough, but it doesn’t matter, because T.I. loses me on the very first line, where he compares himself to Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcom X. Is it even necessary to point out to anyone but right wing gun nuts the difference between being arrested fighting for your civil rights and a federal weapons violation (for that matter, did Malcolm X do jail time for anything but being a pimp?)? Of course, the line goes perfectly with the over-the-top production and Blige’s prayerful chorus. Did I really believe that T.I. had changed? I may have to take it all back.

Toby Keith—”American Ride”
#54
Despite it’s jingoistic tone, this is really about tolerance and loving this crazy country of ours, liberal or conservative, black or white, Democrat or Republican, rich or poor, right or left. Too bad all his examples seem to come off The O’Reilly Factor.

David Guetta featuring Akon—”Sexy Bitch”
#56
I like the conceit of the hook line, “I’m trying to find the words to describe this girl without being disrespectful”, but the music is like Kid Cudi’s “Day ‘n’ Night” badly welded onto Sean Kingston’s “Fire Burning”, and Akon’s vocals lack whatever distinctiveness they once had. He also sounds uncertain—that hook line may as well have his fingerprints on it, but it sounds like Guetta is singing it. After the relative failure of Akon’s loverman album, this half-hearted return to his player ways suggests confusion about how to recover from all that bad publicity a couple of years ago. It will be interesting to see how this pans out. It has all the marks of a hit, but I think Akon’s blown whatever goodwill he had going for him. And I don’t think anybody’s going to turn this into a wedding video.

Tim McGraw—”It’s A Business Doing Pleasure With You”
#73
No kidding. Except this is so plodding there isn’t even any pleasure involved. Co-written by Chad Kroeger of Nickelback, which figures.

Jay-Z, Rihanna, & Kanye West–”Run This Town”
#88
Jay-Z’s career is becoming confusing. On American Gangster he was on top of his game, cool and confident. Without Denzel Washington’s example, however, he seems a little more insecure. “D.O.A.” was just dumb, and this negates a not bad black pride rap by ending with West belittling a woman for having less fashion sense than he does. And why would anyone who hates autotune feature Rihanaa, who sounds like a machine even without the help of special effects? If these guys are the new Rat Pack, then this is the original Oceans 11: lazy, self-absorbed, and self-satisfied.

Michelle Branch—”Sooner Or Later”
#93
Second-rate Taylor Swift, just the thing to revive a rapidly dwindling career.

Uncle Kracker–”Smile”
#95
Kid Rock cohort turns into Daniel Powter knock-off. He’s still trailer trash, but now his trailer’s on the beach.

Martina McBride—”I Just Call You Mine”
#97
Before the country banality and the usual Nashville overarranging take over, McBride confirms what a sharp and intelligent singer she can be. By the end of the first chorus, though, she’s just another country diva singing what’s been handed to her. I don’t know if McBride deserves better or not (she co-produced this, so she takes a greater share of the blame than usual), but her voice sure does.

Parachute—”She Is Love”
#98
This sounds like the intro to what could be a really nice love song. Too bad nobody wrote the rest of it.

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New this week

Sunday, August 2nd, 2009

Mary J Blige featuring Drake—”The One”
#63
As good as it was to know that Blige had found marital happiness, her odes to her man and their relationship didn’t sell very well, so here she toughens up, brings in a ringer, and delivers a rip off of “A Milli” that, if nowhere as good as the original, is still a lot better than Beyonce’s. Drake, whose part seems to have been stuck in as an afterthought, adds nothing but sales power.

Michael Franti & Spearhead—”Say Hey (I Love You)”
#82
Despite the lyrical references to dancehall and production by reggae legends Sly and Robbie, this sounds more New Orleans than Jamaica to me, not that that ‘s a bad thing. It also sounds more Jack Johnson than Franti, which is. There’s something frustratingly automatic about this record in it’s sunny brightness, something a little too perfect, as if everybody were being careful to only color within the lines.

Demi Lovato—”Catch Me”
#89
Lovato’s vocal affectations—the short sharp breaths at the end of phrases, the cracking teen falsetto that at times makes her sound like a 12-year-old—can be so irritating that it’s easy to forget how well they fit the song’s subject: romantic confusion and barely tempered longing. Needless to say, that irritant also acts as a hook, and Lovato oozes innocent charm even as she’s overtaken by lust (though she would never call it that).  She’s no Taylor Swift, but she’s not quite your run of the mill Disney pop princess, either. Of course, that might just be a part of the Mouse’s marketing plan.

Beastie Boys featuring Nas—”Too Many Rappers”
#93
“Grandpa been rapping since ’83.” They’ve lost a few steps over the years, of course, and the clever rhymes and disses don’t flow as freely as they used to, but the beats still thunder, and they’re still smarter and wiser than most. But aging rappers are no less of a conundrum than aging rock stars, and I’m not sure they should waste their time dissing the Black Eyed Peas, no matter how cleverly they manage it. Once they start yelling at kids to get off their lawn, it’s over.

Zac Brown Band—”Toes”
#95
This is the first Jimmy Buffet rip-off (or homage I guess you could call it) I’ve heard that captures Buffet’s laid-back smarts at their best, catchy tunes, silly rhymes, and all. Unfortunately, the silliest rhyme (“care-o” and “dinero”) draws on a feeling of good ol’ boy privilege in a foreign land that comes across as just short of racism.  Perhaps I’m being too sensitive, but this sense of rural superiority (rural meaning good old American values, of course, whatever they are), even, or especially, when drunk or stoned, is one of the things that’s most irritating about current country music, and this song, despite all its charms, strikes me as stepping over the line.

Jeremih—”Imma Star (Everywhere We Are)”
#96
I’m still not sold on “Birthday Sex” except as camp, but building a cut as artful as this one based on nothing but variations on the hook from Kanye West’s “Flashing Lights” demonstrates real talent on the make. His phrasing and timing are near-perfect, and there are lyrical moments that suggest he may have more brains than “Birthday Sex” let on. But on only his second single he’s already rapping about how famous he is. Not a good sign.

Beyonce—“Sweet Dreams”
#97
Not bad, but underneath the drums and the low warbling synth is one hell of a corny song. Whenever I hear the male backup singers going “Ho!” in the background I have visions of a dream sequence from some big Hollywood musical from the fifties, full of garish Technicolor and energetic dancers seen only in silhouette, a no-expenses-spared mixture of conspicuous class and pure hokum. That’s entertainment, I guess.

Mat Kearney—“Closer To Love”
#100
I usually try to avoid the “Artist 1 + Artist 2 = Artist 3” formulation when I’m reviewing records, but “Closer To Love” is so lacking in any distinguishing characteristics of its own that it’s unavoidable. So, The Fray + Leona Lewis = Mat Kearney. Sometimes pop really is just formula.

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New this week

Monday, July 6th, 2009

Jay-Z–”D.O.A. (Death of Autotune)”
#24
This is terrible. Not so much for the music as for the insipidness of Jay-Z wasting his talents to attack something as meaningless and ephemeral as a software plugin. He’s isn’t going to convince anybody how tough he is punching bags of feathers.

Demi Lovato–”Here We Go Again”
#51
Lovato’s last couple of singles (“Don’t Forget” and “La La Land”, both written with the Jonas Brothers) had an idiosyncratic quality to them that, flawed as they were, lifted them above the usual Disney fare. This is the usual Disney fare: light, pleasant, totally forgettable.

Green Day–”21 Guns”
#55
Slow, ponderous, packed with musical and lyrical cliches, decorated with the wimpiest drum sound you’ve ever heard–when they reach their social consciousness phase, this is exactly what the Jonas Brothers will sound like.

Eric Church–”Love Your Love the Most”
#90
A country list song. Better than some, if only because Church, in order to avoid charges of blasphemy, leaves out Sunday meetings and Jesus.

Keyshia Cole featuring Monica–”Trust”
#93
Mary J Blige meets Mariah Carey, lightweight division. I wonder which Montovani record they lifted that horrible string arrangement from?

Shinedown–”Sound of Madness”
#95
This makes more sense than “Second Chance” (not that it would take much), but just like that record, it’s basically “Chicken Soup for the Headbangers Soul”. They say they wrote the “book of pain”, but it sounds more like a self-empowerment, daily affirmations calendar for tough guys.

Jack Ingram–”Barefoot and Crazy”
#98
A lot of this is cliche (what country song isn’t?), but it has a strong, steady groove that’s rare in country music (sounds like a real band, though I suppose they’re the usual session pros), and Ingram picks all the right cliches. And that line about kissing at the bottom of the swimming hole doesn’t sound like a cliche at all.

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