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After School's Good Year (Top Singles And Albums Through The Third Quarter Of 2013)
Second year running I've entitled a post "After School's Good Year." Last time, I was urging myself to get to know the group better, find out who writes the songs,* who makes the decisions, what's going on with After School's images and "concepts," whether or not personalities are spotlighted and what the personalities are, what After School's overall musical arc is, if any. Yet I've done almost none of this. Still haven't learned all their names, even. "Heaven" is just the latest in a steady stream of interesting music: it's got a riff in James Brown's mid '70s style, when James was taking in what he'd heard from Africans who'd learned from him but were stretching out even farther than he had; so James began stretching more too while not losing the obsessive tenseness he got by jamming the funk into single measures.** But "Heaven" basically flees the James Brown challenge,*** avoids the ongoing demand of the riff by simply stopping the riff and replacing it with a disco quasi-funk, going from tense to relaxed, and atop the relaxation orchestral riffs arise and After School go into their sumptuous mood (whereas James Brown riffs never allow for something to simply arise above them). Then the riff returns as a challenge, and is left behind once again.
(Um. Might the riff be a sample? It feels familiar.)
*Songwriter for "Heaven" is Shinichi Osawa, but I know nothing about him and little more about Japanese electrodance; I have no real Asian context to put this in — or American and international context for that matter, the electronic dance landscape being something I see only in tiny terrains.
**Sorry if that description makes little sense; I feel a tension in James's funk between stretching out and circling in, and this is my vague attempt to attach my feeling to musical semi-specificity.
***Real short version (too short to be comprehensible) of my concept of the James Brown challenge (long version was "Death Rock 2000"): James Brown's funk beats clustered the notes tightly and left a lot of space, so the feeling was even more sophisticated and jagged than you got from (e.g.) Caribbean music or Bo Diddley — so jagged, in fact, that he couldn't put a tune "atop" it, or much in the way of solos or extended raps; instead, the vocals had to be short shouts or chants, in effect the vocals being yet another part of the rhythm section. The challenge is how much of the funk you can keep while successfully putting melodies up top.
SINGLES:
1. Crayon Pop "Bar Bar Bar"
2. Baauer "Harlem Shake"
3. Gaeko & Choiza & Simon D & Primary "난리good!!! (AIR)"
4. GLAM "I Like That"
5. MBLAQ "Smoky Girl."
6. will.i.am ft. Britney Spears "Scream & Shout"
7. Evol "Get Up"
8. Cassie ft. Rick Ross "Numb"
9. Tiny-G "Minimanimo"
10. Qri "Do We Do We"
11. 2YOON "24/7"
12. Z.Hera "Peacock
13. Miranda Lambert "Mama's Broken Heart"
14. Baek Ji Young "떠올라"
15. After School "First Love"
16. ChoColat "Black Tinkerbell"
17. Wassup "Wassup"
18. G-Dragon ft. Jenova "Crayon (Lam Suet Remix)"
19. D-Unit ft. Zico "Talk To My Face"
20. Lee Jung Hyun "V"
21. F-ve Dolls "Soulmate #1"
22. Sharaya J "Smash Up The Place"
23. Lady Lykez "I Love My Butt"
24. Margaret Berger "I Feed You My Love"
25. Stromae "Papaoutai"
26. Sistar19 "Gone Not Around Any Longer"
27. Vick Allen "I'm Tired Of Being Grown"
28. Psy "Gentleman"
29. Tyga ft. Wiz Khalifa & Mally Mall "Molly"
30. Baek Ji Young "Acacia"
31. T-ara "Target"
32. Nyusha "Naedine"
33. Girl's Day "Expectation"
34. Rocko ft. Rick Ross & Future "U.O.E.N.O"
35. Kacey Musgraves "Blowin' Smoke"
36. Gaeko "Rhythm Is Life
37. A$AP Rocky ft. 2 Chainz, Drake, Kendrick Lamar "Fuckin' Problems"
38. Baek Ji Young "I Hate It"
39. D-Unit ft. Vasco "Stay Alive"
40. Yelle "L'Amour Parfait"
41. Vixx "On And On"
42. Annie "Tube Stops And Lonely Hearts"
43. Bomba Estéreo "Caribbean Power"
44. Pet Shop Boys "Axis"
45. Tiny-G "Miss You"
46. T-ara, The Seeya, 5Dolls & Speed "Painkiller"
47. BoA "Between Heaven And Hell"
48. When Saints Go Machine ft. Killer Mike "Love And Respect"
49. Fidlar "Cheep Beer"
50. Tom Keifer "Solid Ground"
51. After School "Heaven"
52. After School "Crazy Driver"
53. GLAM "In Front Of The Mirror"
54. Jewelry "Hot And Cold"
55. Angel Haze "No Bueno"
56. Selena Gomez "Come & Get It"
57. Boram "Maybe Maybe"
58. Lee Hyori "Miss Korea"
59. Delight "Mega Yak"
60. MYNAME "Just That Little Thing"
61. SHINee "Dream Girl"
62. Lim Kim "All Right"
63. Busy Signal "Bad Up Who"
ALBUMS:
1. After School First Love EP (Pledis Entertainment)
2. Orange Caramel Orange Caramel (Avex)
3. D-Unit Affirmative Chapter.1 EP (D-Business Entertainment/Windmill Media)
4. Kitty D.A.I.S.Y. rage (self-released)
5. Cassie RockaByeBaby (self-released)
6. Sturgill Simpson High Top Mountain (High Top Mountain/Relativity)
7. will.i.am #willpower Deluxe Edition (will.i.am/Interscope)
8. Delight Mega Yak EP (BrosMedia Entertainment)
9. Kate Nash Girl Talk (Have 10p Records)
10. Ashley Monroe Like A Rose (Warner Brothers Nashville)
11. Tom Keifer The Way Life Goes (Merovee)
12. 4minute Name Is 4minute EP (Cube Entertainment)
13. William Murphy God Chaser (Verity)
14. Lee Hyori Monochrome (B2M Entertainment)
15. SHINee Why So Serious?The Misconceptions Of Me (The 3rd Album, Chapter 2) (SM Entertainment)
16. Banda Carnaval Las Vueltas De La Vida (Disa)
17. Kacey Musgraves Same Trailer Different Park (Mercury Nashville)
Haven't listened to most of these much, to tell you the truth. So far I'd say only 1 and 2 deserve to be in the final top ten, only 3 and 4 in a top 20. The rest are subjects for further research. The Cassie dies after the first several songs.
NOTED:
SNSD "I Got A Boy"
EXO "Wolf":
I suspect these two should be on the list whether I think they're great or not; they are a risk. Although they're guaranteed an audience no matter what, coming from the most powerful label in Korea, they're not simply playing to that audience. And the two groups aren't ensconced in a subgroup of indie or experimental music that warms and nurtures them and says "Hurrah." Which isn't to say these songs don't help the groups brand themselves as Important Bands.
After School once again:
(Um. Might the riff be a sample? It feels familiar.)
*Songwriter for "Heaven" is Shinichi Osawa, but I know nothing about him and little more about Japanese electrodance; I have no real Asian context to put this in — or American and international context for that matter, the electronic dance landscape being something I see only in tiny terrains.
**Sorry if that description makes little sense; I feel a tension in James's funk between stretching out and circling in, and this is my vague attempt to attach my feeling to musical semi-specificity.
***Real short version (too short to be comprehensible) of my concept of the James Brown challenge (long version was "Death Rock 2000"): James Brown's funk beats clustered the notes tightly and left a lot of space, so the feeling was even more sophisticated and jagged than you got from (e.g.) Caribbean music or Bo Diddley — so jagged, in fact, that he couldn't put a tune "atop" it, or much in the way of solos or extended raps; instead, the vocals had to be short shouts or chants, in effect the vocals being yet another part of the rhythm section. The challenge is how much of the funk you can keep while successfully putting melodies up top.
SINGLES:
1. Crayon Pop "Bar Bar Bar"
2. Baauer "Harlem Shake"
3. Gaeko & Choiza & Simon D & Primary "난리good!!! (AIR)"
4. GLAM "I Like That"
5. MBLAQ "Smoky Girl."
6. will.i.am ft. Britney Spears "Scream & Shout"
7. Evol "Get Up"
8. Cassie ft. Rick Ross "Numb"
9. Tiny-G "Minimanimo"
10. Qri "Do We Do We"
11. 2YOON "24/7"
12. Z.Hera "Peacock
13. Miranda Lambert "Mama's Broken Heart"
14. Baek Ji Young "떠올라"
15. After School "First Love"
16. ChoColat "Black Tinkerbell"
17. Wassup "Wassup"
18. G-Dragon ft. Jenova "Crayon (Lam Suet Remix)"
19. D-Unit ft. Zico "Talk To My Face"
20. Lee Jung Hyun "V"
21. F-ve Dolls "Soulmate #1"
22. Sharaya J "Smash Up The Place"
23. Lady Lykez "I Love My Butt"
24. Margaret Berger "I Feed You My Love"
25. Stromae "Papaoutai"
26. Sistar19 "Gone Not Around Any Longer"
27. Vick Allen "I'm Tired Of Being Grown"
28. Psy "Gentleman"
29. Tyga ft. Wiz Khalifa & Mally Mall "Molly"
30. Baek Ji Young "Acacia"
31. T-ara "Target"
32. Nyusha "Naedine"
33. Girl's Day "Expectation"
34. Rocko ft. Rick Ross & Future "U.O.E.N.O"
35. Kacey Musgraves "Blowin' Smoke"
36. Gaeko "Rhythm Is Life
37. A$AP Rocky ft. 2 Chainz, Drake, Kendrick Lamar "Fuckin' Problems"
38. Baek Ji Young "I Hate It"
39. D-Unit ft. Vasco "Stay Alive"
40. Yelle "L'Amour Parfait"
41. Vixx "On And On"
42. Annie "Tube Stops And Lonely Hearts"
43. Bomba Estéreo "Caribbean Power"
44. Pet Shop Boys "Axis"
45. Tiny-G "Miss You"
46. T-ara, The Seeya, 5Dolls & Speed "Painkiller"
47. BoA "Between Heaven And Hell"
48. When Saints Go Machine ft. Killer Mike "Love And Respect"
49. Fidlar "Cheep Beer"
50. Tom Keifer "Solid Ground"
51. After School "Heaven"
52. After School "Crazy Driver"
53. GLAM "In Front Of The Mirror"
54. Jewelry "Hot And Cold"
55. Angel Haze "No Bueno"
56. Selena Gomez "Come & Get It"
57. Boram "Maybe Maybe"
58. Lee Hyori "Miss Korea"
59. Delight "Mega Yak"
60. MYNAME "Just That Little Thing"
61. SHINee "Dream Girl"
62. Lim Kim "All Right"
63. Busy Signal "Bad Up Who"
ALBUMS:
1. After School First Love EP (Pledis Entertainment)
2. Orange Caramel Orange Caramel (Avex)
3. D-Unit Affirmative Chapter.1 EP (D-Business Entertainment/Windmill Media)
4. Kitty D.A.I.S.Y. rage (self-released)
5. Cassie RockaByeBaby (self-released)
6. Sturgill Simpson High Top Mountain (High Top Mountain/Relativity)
7. will.i.am #willpower Deluxe Edition (will.i.am/Interscope)
8. Delight Mega Yak EP (BrosMedia Entertainment)
9. Kate Nash Girl Talk (Have 10p Records)
10. Ashley Monroe Like A Rose (Warner Brothers Nashville)
11. Tom Keifer The Way Life Goes (Merovee)
12. 4minute Name Is 4minute EP (Cube Entertainment)
13. William Murphy God Chaser (Verity)
14. Lee Hyori Monochrome (B2M Entertainment)
15. SHINee Why So Serious?The Misconceptions Of Me (The 3rd Album, Chapter 2) (SM Entertainment)
16. Banda Carnaval Las Vueltas De La Vida (Disa)
17. Kacey Musgraves Same Trailer Different Park (Mercury Nashville)
Haven't listened to most of these much, to tell you the truth. So far I'd say only 1 and 2 deserve to be in the final top ten, only 3 and 4 in a top 20. The rest are subjects for further research. The Cassie dies after the first several songs.
NOTED:
SNSD "I Got A Boy"
EXO "Wolf":
I suspect these two should be on the list whether I think they're great or not; they are a risk. Although they're guaranteed an audience no matter what, coming from the most powerful label in Korea, they're not simply playing to that audience. And the two groups aren't ensconced in a subgroup of indie or experimental music that warms and nurtures them and says "Hurrah." Which isn't to say these songs don't help the groups brand themselves as Important Bands.
After School once again: