koganbot | Still More Years In America January 20, 2011

When the camera tracks, you know it's Max, and when the tracks track, you know it's Max too, even if it's a different Max, and this week we've got Max tracks to the max.

Britney Spears "Hold It Against Me": Right, I've switched my Jukebox grade on this from 9 to 8 to 9 back and forth about ten times in the last five minutes and will no doubt continue switchbacks until deadline. In the war between bass scuzz and pretty tunes, the prettiness wins, though if that's enough to totally redeem the bass and make it right, I haven't decided. In the meantime, Britney successfully sounds untamed and unsocialized, which is impressive given that control-freak Max and crew are orchestrating. This is downtime January and here's one of the songs of the year already, and there's an even better song of the year down this list. TICK.

Avril Lavigne "What The Hell": I don't know what to call this particular Maxvril subgenre: "superpop," maybe, everything w/ hands in the sky and feet on the stomp and melodies flowing like pancake syrup. Hard to feel anything amidst all the flashing lights except annoyance at myself for being snookered by the hook, though hooked I am - and disappointed that the dead-perfect garage-rock'n'soul organ and its sorrowful little chords didn't actually set the mood for this song, and that Avril's live-wire spark of a voice didn't grapple with that mood instead of being wasted on this bright wash. Nonetheless, I'm hooked. TICK.

Kanye West ft. Jay-Z "H.A.M": I wonder if these lame-asses realize that the title is a back-formation from "L.A.M.F." OK, just kidding, no idea how it was generated; think Kanye has the exact-right strain in his voice, knows hardness isn't really in his reach, so he and Jay-Z put out; and when the ominous melodramatic chorus enters at 1:09 and re-enters at 2:30 this becomes dark and thrilling just like they drew it up on the chalkboard. Problem comes when Kanye and Jay-Z step aside and let the melodramatics take over and this turns into something like a shitty soundtrack to a historical epic, cheese that's clumped and impacted and awful, for a whole fucking minute and a half. Tick is for the first two-thirds. TICK.

Pink "Fuckin' Perfect": Pink's blues-mama's burnt-daughter's mode sometimes worked well on Linda Perry compositions; seems weird when Max and Shellback are the ones putting notes on the clefs. Is often hit or miss what Pink's scarred pain makes me feel; this is a miss, in your face but recessive. Wonder if results would've been better if Pink and Avril had swapped songs. NO TICK.

Usher "More": Ah, we're back to the regular old dance mess that dominated 2010, chords at the start reminding me of "Turn The Beat Around" but what we get forgets what we had and turns to something else, then a different something, then to another different something. Interesting emphases, main beat, off beat, then prettiness squirted atop everything, too many beats below. Doesn't jell. BORDERLINE NONTICK.

Jeremih ft. 50 Cent "Down On Me": Hums and mutters adding up to insanely beautiful sadness, which the booty-dance-sex lyrics seem to have nothing to do with. I'm baffled, if amazed as well. This took four months to reach the Top 40. Want it to keep climbing, its subterranean gorgeousness infiltrating the pop soil. TICK.