I still don't know if it's Kara or Ashlee I should fall in love with

[koganbot]

Advance word was negative on the new Madonna alb, and it starts with the wretched "Candy Shop," but I just now heard it way in the background and it sounds really nice, far better than the last album, despite "Candy Shop." I continue to think that "4 Minutes" is a slamming track, even if the vocals can't match the intensity of the rock and the rhythm. Nothing stood out as supremely great, or remotely innovative, but as I said, basically nice from (almost) start to finish. I'm on the second runthrough, and I'm still happy. A nice surprise.

The Ashlee album I have expectations for, and a great emotional stake in her doing good stuff and, paradoxically, a compensatory tendency to underrate the album out the box so as to not get too hurt and disappointed. I know that's irrational, but as Lester once said (though I can't find it, so maybe it was someone else, though it's probably somewhere in the morass of "Let Us Now Praise Famous Death Dwarves"): Having heroes sucks. It's even worse than being a hero, especially in this instance where I've imprinted on this sweet, naive ordinary girl who has an exceptional talent for creating phrases or inspiring other people to create phrases for her that they can't create for anyone else including themselves that capture a moment and a predicament and a germinal idea and the flat-out emotion that accompanies the situation/predicament/idea (notice the tortuous path of this sentence in its attempt to locate/dislocate the source of this woman's intensity): "I walked a thousand miles while everyone was asleep," "I'm the one who's crawling on the ground/When you say love makes the world go 'round," "Sunday morning blues always about you," "Maybe you don't/Love me/Like I love you baby/'Cause the broken in you doesn't make me run." I want her to somehow morph this beauty into a broader intellectualism and articulateness and insight that she so far has given no indication of being interested in. So it's going to take me a long time to disentangle all these hopes and fears from what is actually going on, and I've basically been giving this the background treatment too, only attending to a scrap here and a scrap there of the lyrics, perhaps to shield me from a direct taking-in of what seems sometimes evasive and sometimes doggedly prosaic and so far not punching me anywhere near my epigram center or my gut.

There are two tracks that I absolutely totally tremendously love, which is the same number I got from I Am Me and not close to the six (!) on Autobiography, then another for sure gushy if not total tremendous transcendent love, whereas I Am Me had two or three of those as well and Autobiography had another several, and then... well, we get to a lot that I like and I almost completely like all the singing, which for better or worse has gotten rid of anything raw and grating (possible parallel to her straightening her nose?), in general sounds quite warm, really nice, but also like there's a total conscious commitment to making herself sound like a goofball (the only interesting thing in the Us Weekly interview was when she said that post-nosejob when she looks in the mirror she still sees the same goofy girl as always). Lots of playing dress-up (you see, I called it RIGHT on I Am Me, when I said she was running through styles and trying on voices, but none of you guys could hear this), her being this Vicky Valentine alter ego moll chick on various benders and rampages, though gently and amusedly portrayed.

What I wrote the other day on the Haloscan at Bedbugs (slightly revised):

Very early reactions to Bittersweet World: The two singles are some kind of breakthroughs, or would be if anyone would play 'em and any musicians would follow up on 'em: manage to be silly and emotional and dancey and confessional in the same giggly gasp. Don't think their lyrics are nearly as articulate as the equivalent desperation and comedy was back when Kara and John (and a bit of Steve and a bit of Shelly) were lending a hand, but especially in regard to "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)" you're getting a bounce and a zing that doesn't sacrifice emotion even more than you get from the second Aly & A.J. album - which isn't to say it's better than "Blush" or "Potential Breakup Song," 'cause it isn't, though "Little Miss Obsessive" probably is. I don't think Higgenson added anything by taking up so much space on "Little Miss Obsessive" but ultimately he doesn't get in the way. I find that song just beautiful. As for the other tracks, where the album overall isn't kicking in as well is its tunage, which on all previous stuff including b-sides and bonus tracks and outtakes runs to an astonishing 95% or so whereas this seems to be running at 60%. But melodies can take time to click, so maybe I'll revise the hit rate upward; in the meantime there's nothing on the alb that doesn't sound good in some way; so a nonmelody track like "Hot Stuff" is exuberantly excellent. Think it's a Neptunes track: her entry into the batshit sweepstakes that both Gwen and Jessica have taken a shot at recently and I think it's just as happily frazzled as "Wind It Up" and "Push Your Tush" but holds together better than either. But it's not authoritatively out-the-window like Robyn's "Konichiwa Bitches" or Teena Marie's great "Square Biz"; it is totally sweet in its spazziness, and I think I'm hearing more force in it as I listen more.

Anyway, she's fitting with the r&b/dance producers better than I'd expected she could and sounding uniquely herself nonetheless, a better motion than she's ever had, but Shanks is missed for his tunes and maybe his gravity. And she's not changing my life this time, not yet. I'll check in later.

EDIT: "Little Miss Obsessive" live and raw and metal and totally lovable several days ago on TRL. (Link keeps getting wiped away by Viacom, but I'll keep trying to keep it refreshed.)

Comments

Madge

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

A lot of the negative advance word I think comes from the fakes that were circulating (even though they were very very obviously fakes - two of the tracks were the same thing and the fake "Four Minutes (Extended)" was shorter than the unextended version!). The fakes were collections of Madonna rarities, some of which show a less fully-baked side than she tends to put on the albums.

The full thing is, as you say, nice. Not amazing, no great sonic curveballs, but some good hooks and a few grabby personality moments. Several tracks could have used an editor (and not to suggest expansion). I've only listened once though, I have to get a review in for Pitchfork before the weekend though so I'll be playing it and thinking about it a lot more: I'll try and get the Poptimists going on it tomorrow.

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

Shouldn't be on lj and only have time for a brief comment, especially since I haven't heard either album but I had wondered if Ashlee's nose rearrangement might alter her voice.

[koganbot]

Well, I think there may have been nose and throat problems (I know there were throat problems, the well-documented acid reflux, though I don't know if that can be operated away; a friend of mine's got it, and it seems to have gotten better when she had a nose operation for unrelated reasons) that had something to do with the operation. But I think the parallel is more that she wanted a more normal nose and that she's abandoned the raw splat of her earlier voice for similar reasons. Also, she's probably technically better than before, for what that's worth. Here's Ashlee live from a couple of days ago, if you're interested. "Little Miss Obsessive". I'm listening as I type. Metal guitars! And her voice is raw and she's having trouble holding pitch and it sounds good anyway. (Anyway?) (So, so much for that easy access "technique." And it's really sweet when she rises in pitch.)

[koganbot]

Easy access to "technique."

[piratemoggy.livejournal.com]

The best bit of that video is the guy in the front row singing all the words.

Her voice sounds really lovely there, actually. Well, I don't mean 'lovely' exactly; powerful, capable of a lot. I very much like that moment when it cracks just for a second in the middle -that shit can't be affected. She still sounds very defiantly natural but just older and more in control of her voice.

That bit where the guitars break up and spatter in the middle eight tripped some kind of auto-response in my musical aesthetics. A positive one, I might add.

Right, back to Schopenhauer.

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

No deviated septum issues (which was Ashley Tisdale's official line on her nosejob) -- Ashlee's throat issues actually stem from severe acid reflux. I would say "apparently," but I know this quite certainly because I have seen inside her throat on more than one occasion!

Credits

[koganbot]

Jim Beanz does "vocal production" on ten of the eleven tracks. He also did the same on a lot of Blackout, which means he's damn good; so given that he cowrote and did vocal production on the best song on Bittersweet World and did vocal production and some singing on the best song on Blackout and cowrote and did vocal production on the second-best song on the Danity Kane album, this guy is worth remembering (and I'd never noticed his name until yesterday).

Here's a real interesting site called "The Thomas Crown Chronicles" that has thorough credits for the album, and in general seems devoted to excavating everything done by Timbaland and his collaborators and protégés. Two of them, King Logan and Jerome Harmon, constitute two-thirds of a production team called Royal Court, and seem to have been work horses on this album.

More credits

[koganbot]

Might as well paste them in. Santi White, who co-wrote "Outta My Head" and "Ragdoll," is better known as the singer Santogold. Her own alb comes out next week.

1. "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)"
Written by Ashlee Simpson, King Logan, Jerome Harmon, Santi White, & Kenna. Produced by Timbaland for Timbaland Productions, King Logan for Royal Court/Timbaland Productions and Jerome Harmon for Bronze & Brains/Timbaland Productions
Vocal Production by Jim Beanz

2. "Boys"
Written by Ashlee Simpson, Chad Hugo, Kenna and Jim Beanz
Produced by Chad Hugo for The Neptunes & Kenna

3. "Rule Breaker"
Written by Ashlee Simpson, King Logan, Jerome Harmon and Jim Beanz
Produced by Timbaland for Timbaland Productions, King Logan for Royal Court/Timbaland Productions and Jerome Harmon for Bronze & Brains/Timbaland Productions
Vocal Production by Jim Beanz

4. "No Time For Tears"
Written by Ashlee Simpson, Chad Hugo and Kenna
Produced by Chad Hugo for the Neptunes & Kenna

5. "Little Miss Obsessive"
Written by Ashlee Simpson, Jim Beanz, Victor Valentine and Karl Berringer
Produced by Jack Joseph Puig and Karl Berringer
Vocal production by Jim Beanz

6. "Ragdoll"
Written by Ashlee Simpson, King Logan, Jerome Harmon, Santi White, & Jim Beanz
Produced by Timbaland for Timbaland Productions, King Logan for Royal Court/Timbaland Productions and Jerome Harmon for Bronze & Brains/Timbaland Productions
Vocal Production: Jim Beanz & Kenna

7. "Bittersweet World"
Written by Ashlee Simpson, King Logan, Jerome Harmon, and Kenna
Produced by Timbaland for Timbaland Productions, King Logan for Royal Court/Timbaland Productions and Jerome Harmon for Bronze & Brains/Timbaland Productions
Vocal Production by Jim Beanz

8. "What I've Become"
Written by Ashlee Simpson, Kenna, King Logan, Jerome Harmon and Jim Beanz
Produced by Timbaland for Timbaland Productions, King Logan for Royal Court/Timbaland Productions and Jerome Harmon for Bronze & Brains/Timbaland Productions
Vocal Production: Jim Beanz

9. "Hot Stuff"
Written by Ashlee Simpson, Kenna, Chad Hugo and Jim Beanz
No producer listed (odd) but safe to say it's Chad Hugo for The Neptunes

10. "Murder" f/ Izza Kizza
Written by Ashlee Simpson, King Logan, Jerome Harmon and Jim Beanz
Produced by Timbaland for Timbaland Productions, King Logan for Royal Court/Timbaland Productions and Jerome Harmon for Bronze & Brains/Timbaland Productions
Vocal Production by Jim Beanz

11. "Never Dream Alone"
Written by Ashlee Simpson and Kenna
Produced by Kenna and Ashlee Simpson. Additional Production: Jerome Harmon
Arranged and vocal production by Kenna

Re: More credits

[edgeofwhatever.livejournal.com]

Victor Valentine?

Victor/Victoria

[koganbot]

Vicky Valentine in male costume, perhaps.

(Dave and I had speculative comments on this subject, down at the bottom of this thread.

Re: Victor/Victoria

[edgeofwhatever.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking maybe Pete Wentz.

Re: Victor/Victoria

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

That was my first thought, too, though she's been fairly insistent that Pete had nothing to do with the sound on this album. At least, I remember her emphasizing this point in an interview.

Re: Victor/Victoria

[edgeofwhatever.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that was actually why I thought he'd use a fake name.

Re: Victor/Victoria

[koganbot]

Pete Wentz is BMI and Tom Higgenson is ASCAP, which doesn't narrow it down a whole lot, but does eliminate Higgenson (unless Higgy Baby's changed his affiliation).