Yet Another Year In America March 4, 2010
Mar. 7th, 2010 04:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
koganbotMarch marches in, with Soldier Of Love atop the album charts and Battle Studies placing its second single in the Top 40.
Jay-Z & Swizz Beatz "On To The Next One": Hardly a breakthrough in futurism - blips outta hyphy and looped dissonant incantations outta Timbo - but Swizz has always been good at focusing what he finds and making it catchy. Jay-Z sounds more dogged than ebullient these days; fortunately, Swizz's compulsive riffing feeds on the doggedness and concentrates it. TICK.
John Mayer "Heartbreak Warfare": Quiet pain, skillfully set with quiet beats, the emphases only slightly more emphatic than the rest, numbed and deadlocked being what he's going for. I really dislike this song, since it feels like artistic and social deadlock as well, path of least resistance exalted as if it were inherently interesting - the deadlock in his voice owing to its not being a good voice. Bazooka-force subtlety in the lyrics doesn't help, e.g., "Watch my face as I pretend to feel no pain." NO TICK.
Usher ft. Plies "Hey Daddy": An easy long day's journey into bed, Usher a smoothie who's in a superior league to Mayer; but music not being sport I'm almost as bored by him this time; not that the track bothers me particularly, other than the faint feeling I get of being inappropriate when he sings "Can't nobody do your body like this" and I burst out laughing. BORDERLINE NONTICK.
Jay-Z & Swizz Beatz "On To The Next One": Hardly a breakthrough in futurism - blips outta hyphy and looped dissonant incantations outta Timbo - but Swizz has always been good at focusing what he finds and making it catchy. Jay-Z sounds more dogged than ebullient these days; fortunately, Swizz's compulsive riffing feeds on the doggedness and concentrates it. TICK.
John Mayer "Heartbreak Warfare": Quiet pain, skillfully set with quiet beats, the emphases only slightly more emphatic than the rest, numbed and deadlocked being what he's going for. I really dislike this song, since it feels like artistic and social deadlock as well, path of least resistance exalted as if it were inherently interesting - the deadlock in his voice owing to its not being a good voice. Bazooka-force subtlety in the lyrics doesn't help, e.g., "Watch my face as I pretend to feel no pain." NO TICK.
Usher ft. Plies "Hey Daddy": An easy long day's journey into bed, Usher a smoothie who's in a superior league to Mayer; but music not being sport I'm almost as bored by him this time; not that the track bothers me particularly, other than the faint feeling I get of being inappropriate when he sings "Can't nobody do your body like this" and I burst out laughing. BORDERLINE NONTICK.
