Some Albums Through The Third Quarter of 2010

[koganbot]

Wrote this album wrap-up in response to Greg over on my singles thread, so might as well give it its own post. I've let album-listening slide, so I need to do lots of exploring. These are my top five:

Ke$ha's Animal: her vision or shtick is up my alley, and is pretending to come from an alley, but her lyrics could use stronger, more original images, and her voice is opening-act raw; yet somehow she's the only Top 40 star who knows what she's doing this year, the only one to sound like she's riding the current dance-pop mess rather than just trying to grab hold somewhere, balances ugliness and prettiness, storm and calm, etc. "Blah Blah Blah" is my favorite and after that the best stuff hasn't been singles: "Backstabber," a hint of Latin freestyle, the words being a bitch-fest about a gossip but the music bouncing the words around in the rhythm so much that Ke$ha hardly sounds unhappy; "Boots And Boys," which compares boys to boots, loves them both, tries them on, they got her looking rad, while a quagmire bass tries to pull her under but she floats blissfully above it; and "Party At A Rich Dude's House," sounding like Dr. Luke finally getting the loud-blaring-chorus-thing right, the melody lifting the song without blasting our ears off, except Luke actually had nothing to do with the song (is Ke$ha, Shellback, and Benny Blanco; but Luke restrains his own blare effectively on "TiK ToK" and "Take It Off"). In any event, for all the puke-slinging etc. the album is surprisingly pretty.

Marina And The Diamonds The Family Jewels, ridiculous lyrics coming across as if she's just discovered rebellion and originality, and she sounds like a heavily overburdened posh woman in the throes of letting loose, and I'm charmed.

Princesa Más Fuego, which Princesa herself posts on Mediafire for legal free download (all her links are on her Facebook); a reggaeton ball of fire from Argentina, got the ugly reggaeton yammering bit down but also what sounds like grief and dreaminess, even with a rough not particularly flexible voice; you may have heard the title track if you were following Argentina in the Pop World Cup.

E.via Must Have (EP), which even for an EP is scattershot in tone and quality, and through my cultural misunderstandings of Korea and my non-knowledge of the language I'm basically inventing her in my mind, so this account may have nothing to do with reality but... I imagine her as what I wish Gaga were, someone critiquing the sex sell while selling herself sexily in both a cute and threatening manner, and crucially she really can rap with force, while doing all the tuneful Asian chirpy things well.

Various Artists Shangaan Electro, South African speed dance with bubbling "marimba" keyboards; I like the fast burbles and the slow rich voices.

And that's all I've got for you, though I now possess the new Jamey Johnson without having had a chance to listen. Listened once to Chely Wright's Lifted Off The Ground and it feels like a potential grower, she now being more singer-songwriter than country, writing and singing with gentleness. Hurts' Happiness may also be a grower: only has one wonderful "Wonderful Life," but in general their dourness doesn't weigh down their prettiness as much as I'd feared, in fact the two facets sometimes work well together. Also intend to give Traband's Domasa and Kelis's Flesh Tone further listens, 'cause they have good stuff on them though so far they haven't hit me as much as they hit Chuck and Dave, respectively.

Disappointments: Little Big Town, Shontelle, A-Trak, Nina Sky, Lillix, though I've not listened all through the last two and only listened to the first two once.

Comments

[askbask.livejournal.com]

Someone said about e.via that "she just gets her hoes to strip for her" in reply to someone else pointing out the fact that she's usually in a hoodie with scantily clad girls dancing around her. Not entirely true, but...

She just released a teaser for her new song. This time there won't be any sex controversy, but maybe Nintendo gets her for copyright infringement instad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCDWdR3fdFE

Pick Up You, Attack!

[koganbot]

Any idea how the Korean lyrics translate into English? I'm wondering if "pick up you" means to imply "pick you up in some bar and go off and have sex" (if that's a Korean idiom; if not, how would "pick up you" translate back into Korean?) or is it just meant to make people think (as someone at allkpop suggests) of "Pikachu!"

(It seems as if the song might also be called "Bbik Kka Chu!" in which case the suggestion of Pokémon is likely to be deliberate.)

By the way, I just now discovered the lyricalmovement livejournal community, devoted to translating Korean song lyrics - mostly indie, they say, but I've linked a couple translations of E.via, whom I'd assume would be considered "rap" rather than "indie":

"Diary," which translates with raw, clumsy beauty, which is sort of what the lyrics are claiming about themselves:

this might sound like the lyrics you might pick up on the streets
but this is just a clumsy picture of separation, drawn with tears...
a stepping stone called memories on top of a broken road called 'us'
madly walking around on the road in the moonlight
with a big voice, filling up my mouth with your name...
(translated by someone named gogoparty)

"Oppa! Can I Do It?" (this is the xxx version, supposedly, but the lyrics mainly concern clubbing, flirting, and bitching about lack of airplay if you're a rapper)

Also, found a transcription and translation of "Shake" at JpopAsia, which gives us "Groggy butt (I wanna shake it)," but if we run the same line through Google translator we get "Ass, wonky (I wanna shake it)."

Here are all the JpopAsia translations of E.via. I haven't checked them yet. There are eight.

I'm now tending to think of E.via less as "critically subversive" and more as "rapper w/ an r&b and hip-hop sex sensibility running a deliberate juxtaposition with super cutey-mode looks to see what happens," alternating chirpy voice and tough voice, though maybe that is critically subversive. It does come across as really smart (not to mention sexual, of course), though again that could be me projecting my liberal hopes onto her.

Though I wonder if the new track is meant to appeal to kids.

Re: Pick Up You, Attack!

[askbask.livejournal.com]

This youtube translation of Shake similarly goes for 'wonky' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zsg1g8sgFQ

I'm afraid my limited Korean becomes even more limited when the rapping picks up speed. I think 'pick you up' translates as 'in a bar etc', on a date if not straight to sex. I don't think it's meant to appeal to kids (very little is, explicitly, except for the obvious: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKwh6ofhPDs) as much as appeal to the mainstream. When money is set aside for a video you need a pop gimmick to make it worth the money, because, in her words, if you try to sell it as rap you'll fail!

In the spirit of third quarter summaries, I have to conclude that the SNSD album doesn't offer much outside of the singles. The album tracks feel a bit "will this do?"-ish. Doubly disappointing since their debut is my favorite Asian bubblegum pop album of the new millennium. I appreciate that they've moved on in image and sound, but even last year's two modern-sounding mini albums were enjoyable from start to finish.

Re: Pick Up You, Attack!

[koganbot]

Here's a new link for an Eng Sub "Shake," since YouTube killed the other one. This one gives us both "groggy" and "wonky."

Re: Pick Up You, Attack!

[koganbot]

Er, here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9zw85uFqsM

And here's the only Eng Sub for "Pick Up! U!" I could find; unfortunately not only has it been chipmunked, but they didn't get the first two verses:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJgaIOnNe9Q

And I doubt that James at the Grand Narrative will ever try any E.via translations since he thinks she has no talent, leading me to decide never ever to trust his judgment about music. (He adds that he doesn't like rap. This is sorta like saying you never thought Keith Moon had talent, but then, you don't like drumming anyway.)

Re: Pick Up You, Attack!

[koganbot]

And I found "Pick Up! U!" in Korean (hope it's accurate):

날 따라와
날 따라와
나 를 선 두 로
여 긴 이 미 난 장 판
판판판판판판~~~
(ah~ yeah~ pick up you!)
Pick up pick up pick up you
Pick up pick up pick up you
Pick up pick up pick up you
Pick you up now pick you up
Pick up pick up pick up you
Pick up pick up pick up you
Pick up pick up pick up you
Pick you up now pick you up
다긴장하라구준비땅
학실한한발의 신호탄
킁킁따브다재밌다 (ha!)
내맘대로하는힙합
동해물백두산
내가못가는없단다
니멋대로듣다간 oh my GOD!
내매력을놓치고말아그러니까
자따라와
나를선두로여긴이미난장판
빠라바라바라밤길을비켜라
꽤잘노는우리들이나간다
의로운군인빠도
기다리던의fan 도
Yo wait a minute now
내가널데리러갈게
Pick up pick up pick up you
Pick up pick up pick up you
Pick up pick up pick up you
Pick you up now pick you up
Pick up pick up pick up you
Pick up pick up pick up you
Pick up pick up pick up you
Pick you up now
Pick you up
Follow follow me
나 를 따라 와따라 와
누 구 랑
달 러 달 러
비 교 는
관 두 고
잘 들 어 (ha)
피리 부 는 소 년 처 럼
매 력 이 넘 처
길 을 잃 은
아 이 들 도 내 뒤 를 촟 아
백 이 면 백 점
(만 이 면 만 점 )
나 는 백 점 만 점 에
백 만 점
자따라 와
나 를 선 두 로
여 긴 이 미 난 장 판
빠 라 바 라 바라 밤
길 을 비 켜 라
꽤 잘 노 는
우 리 들 이 나 간 다
Under 랑 over를
왜 갈 러
엄 마 랑 아 빠 가
뭐 가 달 러
Yo wait a minute now
내 가 널
데 리 러 갈 게
Pick up pick up pick you
Pick up pick up pick you
Pick up pick up pick you
Pick you up now pick you up
Pick up pick up pick you
Pick up pick up pick you
Pick up pick up pick you
Pick you up now
Pick you up
You you you pick up you
You you you pick up you you
Pick up pick up
Ah~~ ye pick up you
너도bat잲아여긴이미난장판
내가만들어부르는음악따라간다
내길앞에가짜는 dwit걸음질해
야자는손들어박수를치네
김이 라 는 게 있다 면 남 들 을 이 끌어
이 건 우 리 가 만 들 어 가 는 매 력 의 color
내 가 하 는 거 bat 어 ? 너 도 할 소 있어 !
Hey come on everybody
날따라 와
Pick up pick up pick up you
Pick up pick up pick up you
Pick up pick up pick up you
Pick you up now pick you up
Pick up pick up pick up you
Pick up pick up pick up you
Pick up pick up pick up you
Pick you up now pick you up
이 비아 내 무 대 는
뜨 거 운 놀 이 터
나 를 보 고 만 있 어 도
모 든 일 을 잊 어
모 두 다 소 리 처
나 를 보 고 미 처
두 번 말 안 해 이 렇 게 날따라해
딱내 가 노 는 것 만 큼 만 놀 다 가 면 돼
넌 내 입 술 을 보 고 반 하 지
난 다 알 아안 녕 ? 내 이 름 은 이 비 아
날따라 와