by staff on February 21st, 2012 at 8:13 pm in Music
Santigold, "Disparate Youth." Lyrically, Santigold's new single, "Disparate Youth," adheres faithfully to the themes of small-town escape and youth rebellion of countless fight-or-flight pop manifestos before it. It's what the track does sonically that elevates it above both its ilk and Santi's recently released "Big Mouth," which, though exhilarating, cribbed too much from pal M.I.A.—and Gwen Stefani. "Disparate Youth" begins with a synth arpeggio reminiscent in effect, if not sound, of Eurythmics' "Here Comes the Rain Again," followed by thunderclaps of metallic percussion. "Don't look ahead, there's stormy weather," Santi warms just as guitar licks crackle like electricity. The song builds from there into an expertly layered piece of synth-pop whose "Oh-wah" and "Aye-o" hooks are perfectly complemented by co-producer Ricky Blaze's dub embellishments. Sal Cinquemani
A couple days had passed since Whitney Houston died, and I was still flipping through the channels looking for her name. If the grotesquely ironic circumstances of her death already seemed banal within a few hours of the news sinking in (thanks in large part to cable TV's dependably crass repetition of the details), what was it I was still looking for? Some critic or musical collaborator who might confirm her genius and validate my fascination? The gratification of seeing my fan-grief shoved down everyone else's throats? It seems right to be self-deprecating and embarrassed about my inability to let go of that voice booming out of my speakers, her beautiful image on the TV screen—as I know I must now that this weeklong coverage is mercifully over. But upon learning of her death, my reaction was similar to what Frank O'Hara described in his great roundabout elegy to Billie Holiday: However briefly, I started sweating and stopped breathing. Continue Reading »
by staff on February 15th, 2012 at 10:23 am in Music
Nicki Minaj, "Starships." Following two lackluster promo singles meant to bolster the rapper/singer's hip-hop bona fides, Nicki Minaj isn't taking any chances with the official lead single from her forthcoming sophomore album. The Red One-produced "Starships" aims to reprise the success of Onika's crossover smash "Super Bass," similarly mixing her signature rapid-fire verses with a pre-chorus and main hook on loan from just about every Eurotrash song on the radio right now. The track begins with a guitar riff that sounds nearly identical to that of Jessie J's lame "Domino," but ultimately has more in common with Rihanna's "We Found Love"; both songs' verses and hooks seemingly exist solely to serve their stadium-house breakdowns. Lyrically, "Starships" is about as inconsequential as they come: "Fuck who you want and fuck who you like" is as deep as it gets—and that's only icing on this hot-pink, multi-tiered gay wedding cake. Sal Cinquemani
Part of the intrigue of Lana Del Rey's breakout "Video Games" was its two-sided nature. It's ostensibly a love song in which the singer rhapsodizes devotion to her man ("Heaven is a place on Earth with you/Tell me all the things you want to do"), but there's a stinging quality to both the words and her blasé delivery: "Open up a beer/And you say get over here...It's you, it's you, it's all for you/Everything I do." It's unclear who's being played: the guy, who might actually think he's worth her time, or Del Rey, deluded and desperate enough to stay with somebody who's so clearly no good for her.
This slippery question of identity and intention is also, of course, what's made Del Rey the center of a national conversation in recent months. Simply put, Del Rey isn't the singer the viral "Video Games" had led people to believe she was—the "authentic" singer-songwriter ingénue plucked out of obscurity based on the merits of a DIY music video. Her Lana Del Rey persona is the latest incarnation of several years spent putting in time in the industry. Nor is she the kind of pop artist we've come to expect these days—the primetime-savvy vessel of club-ready hits. She's awkward in interviews and on stage, with a high-pitched speaking voice and vampy mannerisms, expertly imitated by Kristen Wiig on Saturday Night Live last week. She seems to be both trying too hard and not trying hard enough, stoking questions about whether she even means any of what she's singing. Continue Reading »
by staff on February 6th, 2012 at 11:36 am in Music
RECORD OF THE YEAR
"Rolling in the Deep," Adele (WILL WIN)
"Holocene," Bon Iver
"Grenade," Bruno Mars
"The Cave," Mumford & Sons
"Firework," Katy Perry
Sal Cinquemani: Predicting the top three catgories this year seems suspiciously easy. I can't see any of these songs upsetting Adele's inevitable sweep, except maybe Katy Perry, and I'm only saying that because I feel obligated to write more than 10 words here. Jonathan Keefe: Rocket Tits is my new Black-Eyed Peas in the sense that, after writing these Grammy predictions for the past five years, I've run out of creative ways to convey the depth of my absolute, utter loathing of her and her execrable music. Eric Henderson: As someone who nearly earned myself a toaster oven in a karoke contest busting hip rolls to "Teenage Dream," I can't fully sign off on your malcontent, but that song still represents the sole time Perry's formula struck on something winsome and enduring. "Firework," in contrast, is as arch and addicted to whip-its as anything else in her catalogue, and ergo hypocritical because of it. That still places it one notch above the smarmy nothingness that is "Grenade" though. Continue Reading »
This Sunday, Maya Arulpragasam is going to the Super Bowl, which is like Harold Bloom going to Disney World. It's hard to imagine M.I.A. having much fun at America's premiere chauvinist orgy of consumption, and her recent interview with BBC's Radio 1 suggests she was still trying to psych herself up for the event. "If you're gonna go the Super Bowl," she told Zane Lowe, "you might as well go with America's biggest female icons." And indeed, it's somewhat gratifying to think of M.I.A., Nicki Minaj, and Madonna unleashing the hot pink stinker that is "Give Me All Your Lovin'" on the most hallowed ground of American masculinity, during a halftime show typically dedicated to the geezer-rock pantheon. Ultimately, though, not even M.I.A. can make playing the Super Bowl sound badass or defiant. Walking into the epicenter of the American media to sing and dance between millions-per-minute car commercials with two thoroughly mainstreamed pop stars can mean only one thing, and that's that you yourself must also be a pop star. Continue Reading »
"Have you ever watched a dog vomit and then immediately lap it up?" That was one of the only notes I made after a demo of Madonna's new single, "Give Me All Your Luvin'," leaked last November. I can't be 100% certain where I was going with that indelible image, but it seems instructive, perfectly encapsulating the essence of Madonna's music career as she approaches the end of her third decade as a pop star. Indeed, the very title of "Give Me All Your Luvin'" tells you all you need to know about Madge's primary purpose for continuing to make music today. That might sound cynical, but for the last few years, the Queen of Pop has been peddling a brand, not necessarily art, regurgitating the same themes and images and asking us to continue to consume them, no questions asked. After all, what were songs like "4 Minutes" and "Celebration" if not commercials for Madonna Inc.? Continue Reading »
by staff on January 31st, 2012 at 1:27 pm in Music
Wild Nothing, "Nowhere." While "Nowhere" features Jack Tatum's distinct vocals, the tracks' production and overall instrumentation are obviously upgraded from the likes of the echo-y Golden Haze EP, the last batch of songs Tatum released under his Wild Nothing moniker. Surprisingly, "Nowhere" is downright jangle-pop, with a twangy, lighthearted tone that's miles away from the C86-inspired jams of Tatum's past work. With a hint of twee sentimentality, a dash of accordion chic, and a little help from Twin Sister's dainty-voiced Andrea Estella, "Nowhere" calls for constant reminders that it's not a Tatum side project, simply Wild Nothing heading in a new, conceivably wonderful direction. Mike LeChevallier
by staff on January 23rd, 2012 at 10:03 am in Music
The Shins, "Simple Song." Contrary to what James Mercer sings during its first verse, "Simple Song" isn't really all that simple. Decked out with surprise key changes and expertly layered vocals, not to mention characteristically perceptive lyrics from Mercer, this is power pop with brains and guts, exactly like we've come to expect from the Shins. True, Mercer intended the song to serve a fairly uncomplicated purpose (telling a girl how she's made him feel), but in fulfilling that purpose he ends up recounting an imagined rendezvous on a football field, a capsized boat, the ocean being warmed by the sun, and a fateful nighttime walk during which a "fumbling play for [her] heart" turned out to be exactly the right move. Matthew Cole
Just before she was publicly shamed with a plate of planted truffle fries, M.I.A. tried to secure her avant-pop bona fides by going after Lady Gaga, accusing the ascendant starlet of ripping her style (dubious) and of getting the ratio of awesome songs to awesome outfits wrong (pretty fair). One couplet in Santigold's "Big Mouth" could be interpreted as a swipe at Ms. Germanotta ("Ga-ga-ga all slightly off/Not me I'll take the loss"), but that would be just one more example of Santigold running congas-first into the M.I.A. comparisons that have dogged her since her debut. Santigold's M.I.A. problem is actually a lot like Adele's former Amy Winehouse problem: In one corner, you have a trendsetter who also happens to be an unstoppable font of charisma, and in the other, a challenger with a more powerful voice, a purer pop sensibility, and a thankfully diminished tendency to show up to shows on Ketamine or go on contentless rants about Sri Lankan terrorists. Continue Reading »
by staff on January 17th, 2012 at 4:32 pm in Music
Tanlines, "Brothers." It would be easy to dismiss the understated "Brothers," the first single from Tanlines' upcoming debut, Mixed Emotions. Evocative of the Brooklyn duo's Tropicalian "Real Life," the track is drenched in the kind of jungle-thumping world pop that so endeared Vampire Weekend to the indie world four years ago. But to call "Brothers" derivative is to overlook its quiet appeal, a combination of warm, pulsating crescendos and syncopated Afro beats. United by the low, plaintive chanting of vocalist Jesse Cohen, "Brothers" is both seductive and deliberate, and hopefully indicative of Mixed Emotions's overall mood. Kevin Liedel
Grimes, "Genesis." Claire Boucher's work as Grimes has always played like an exercise in arty distraction. Just when you think you're going to get a beautiful electro-pop song (see "Swan Song" and "Crystal Ball"), she dives headlong into loop-fueled flightiness. On "Genesis," the second single from her upcoming album, Visions, Boucher defies expectations in the opposite direction, sticking to the lilting climb of the track's opening bassline and building on, rather than abandoning, its octave-skipping melody. There are points when "Genesis" sounds like Enya backed up by CANT, but it's one of Grimes's most fully realized songs—catchy without having to jettison its intricate details, percussive while melodic, and wonderfully weird. Kevin Liedel
Destroyer, "Leave Me Alone." On New Year's Day, Destroyer delivered what was either a belated Christmas present or a really early one. Though the track is faithful to the original, Dan Bejar's bizarre and beautiful vocals make for an addicting update to New Order's "Leave Me Alone," from Mojo magazine's covers comp of the band's seminal album Power, Corruption & Lies. It's a delight to hear Bejar swim around inside a genre—and decade—he's famous for so tastefully emulating. Kenny S. McGuane
by staff on December 28th, 2011 at 9:43 am in Music
Frank Ocean, "4 Tears." "4 Tears" is skeletal enough that the overblown earnestness that rendered "Made in America" the wishy-washy low point of Kanye West and Jay-Z's Watch the Throne actually works here. Accompanied by only a basic drum-machine beat and a keyboard riff that evokes a keening harp, Ocean's brief ballad withholds weeping for a more dramatic description of single tears running down the singer's face, imagery he somehow manages to pull off. It's a nice, uncynical love song to no one in particular, a bravely simple track that feels like a little step forward for Ocean. Jesse Cataldo
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