Archive for November, 2011

Gotye "I Feel Better"

I love the directness of these lyrics -- it's nothing you've never heard in a pop song before, but I can't help but feel totally moved by this guy's genuine, unguarded expression of joy after coming out of a period of loneliness and depression. If you're lucky, you'll find yourself relating, and tapping along to its quasi-Motown beat. More likely, you'll just nod and think "wow, good for you, buddy!" There's something in the grain of his voice that really sells this sense of hard-won optimism. The sentiment doesn't sound like it came cheap. Buy it from Amazon.

Danny Brown "I Will"

Danny Brown spends a lot of time rapping about his intense love for performing cunnilingus, and this track is pretty much his most enthusiastic ode to that act. Even though there's a number of other emcees from Brown's generation who are keen to boast about their love of going down on ladies, it's still pretty refreshing to hear hip-hop music so focused on selflessly providing pleasure to women. Well, it's not that selfless. Danny's clearly having a grand old time down there, and the chorus about how he'll do what some other guy will not suggests that this is just as much about competition with other dudes than it is about making his girl happy. Get the mixtape for free from Fools Gold.

Rihanna "We Found Love"

The sound of Rihanna's voice is very distinct and interesting, but she rarely conveys a recognizable persona in her songs. Her biggest hits tend to dispel with lyrics entirely, so her icy, metallic tone can carry purely melodic or rhythmic hooks. She often elevates so-so material just by showing up – in some ways, she's like the vocal equivalent of a really cool effects pedal. "We Found Love," her latest hit, makes use of that ineffable x factor in her voice, but it's powerful mainly because it pushes her beyond her typical phrasing. The chorus is basically a mantra, but Rihanna's reading is dynamic – she reaches into the high end of her register, and in the process reveals a vulnerability that rarely comes into play on her up-tempo numbers. Calvin Harris' hard-charging Eurodisco track brings all of the heaviness here, while she focuses on sounding like a person who has truly found love in a hopeless place. She sounds elated, relieved and overwhelmed. It's a breakthrough for her as a vocalist, and the best and most moving song of her career to date. Buy it from Amazon.

Cities Aviv "Coastin'"

Cities Aviv's verses here are mostly about his ambitions and desire to stand apart from other rappers, the chorus is about wanting to get to a level of success that doesn't require him to work quite as hard. It's something he hopes to achieve by the age of 25, but the melodramatic movie score strings signals a retirement much further along on the timeline. The mood of this track is incredible – from the very first time I heard it, I felt like I was instantly transported to this wistful, romantic, cinematic place. It works every time, though sometimes it feels more melancholy, and other times more tranquil. Buy it from Bandcamp.

King Krule "The Noose of Jah City"

It can be so difficult to reconcile the sophistication and sexiness of this music with the fact that it was written and performed by a gawky teenage boy. Archy Marshall's voice is immediately fascinating – it has the poetic English grit of a Joe Strummer or latter-day Elvis Costello, but a more elastic phrasing than either. "The Noose of Jah City" frames his voice with echoing guitar, shimmering keyboards and a dubby bass line; it sounds like the middle of night. The lyrics get rather morbid, but the sound and feeling is pure romance. And you know, even if the words aren't about sex and love, there is a romanticism in imagining the end of your life, right? Buy it from Amazon.

Action Bronson "Ronnie Coleman"

It's pretty easy to listen to Action Bronson's debut album and kinda lose track of things and find yourself thinking "Man, this new Ghostface album is terrific." The vocal similarity is remarkable, but the skill levels are different - Bronson is witty and nimble, but Ghost's flows are more eccentric and emotionally volatile. Bronson's obsession with food gives his album Dr. Lecter a lot of color and character, and in "Ronnie Coleman," he engages the dark side of that obsession with a lot of brutal honesty and humor. It's almost impossible to find music that frankly addresses the psychological elements of dealing with obesity, so it's sort of exciting to hear a song that nails it while being quite complex, funny and funky. Buy it from Amazon.

Pistol Annies "Hell On Heels"

Cold-blooded country pop. This song benefits from being sung by a trio of vocalists – it might be a bit too static with one singer, but the dynamic improves the piece on a line-to-line level. The Miranda Lambert parts are most compelling, mainly because she conveys the least compassion for her character's mark, but I think the relative sweetness of Ashley Monroe and the sassy tone of Angaleena Presley balances it all out. It's a dark fantasy, but the suggestion of three separate faces for the same character adds a touch of humanity to what could just be cartoonish cruelty. Buy it from Amazon.

Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire featuring Despot, Das Racist, Danny Brown and El-P "Huzzah! (Remix)"

My favorite rap tracks are usually posse cuts: a steady, repetitive beat and a series of verses, preferably with no chorus. The instrumental for "Huzzah" isn't totally static – there's a few flourishes to accentuate particular lines – but it's not really the draw here. The dynamics are all in the vocal performances, and the contrast of very different rhyme styles. Despot and Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire bookend the piece with aggressive, rough rhymes, while the Das Racist guys are, respectively, lackadaisical and charmingly sloppy. The most remarkable performances here are by Danny Brown, who sounds more like a maniacal animated character than a human being, and El-P, who delivers a stunningly crafted verse containing a subtle escalating counting theme and a narrative about rioters in London. He might be the least magnetic rapper on the track, but seriously, those lyrics. Wow. Download the mixtape for free from Bandcamp.

Future of the Left "Polymers Are Forever"

The obvious thing that Andy Falkous is very good at is making his making his voice hit the speakers with a blunt, violent force. This is especially powerful when paired with a sharp, stabbing riff, like the one found in the first half of this song. The less obvious thing that Falkous does well – and really, that's kind of an understatement, he truly excels at this – is in constructing songs that cycle through a series of hooks before moving on to other ever-escalating melodic patterns. It's an unusually sophisticated strength for a guy who essentially makes heavy, venomous punk rock. "Polymers Are Forever" is split down the middle – the first half is more bludgeoning, his voice alternating between nasal hectoring and throaty shouts. The second half seems to expand in scale, with a quasi-anthemic chorus that seems to stretch out from close-up to widescreen panorama. (Structurally and tonally, it's rather similar to Wire's classic "Map Ref. 41°N 93°W.") In this section, Falkous' voice is more distant and pitiless, like an indifferent god. With this contrast, the implied violence of the first part seems almost warm and intimate - undeniably human. The rest of it, though – it's all science. Buy it from Amazon.

U2 "Ultra Violet (Light My Way)"

"Ultra Violet" has been one of my favorite songs for 20 years now, and I find that I as I get older, I only love it more. This makes some sense: It's a song about adult love, and a connection that endures so that both partners can show each other support in hard times. This could be a very trite song, but it's not – Bono's lyrics make it clear that none of this comes easy, and the band successfully convey a sense that this love is genuinely miraculous and invigorating. That passion and excitement comes through in the Edge's unusually jaunty guitar rhythm, but that's contrasted with a solemn, gorgeous bass line by Adam Clayton that emphasizes the intensity and romance at the heart of the piece. The lyric that totally slays me comes at the climax of the final verse: "When I was all messed up and I heard opera in my head / your love was a light bulb hanging over my bed." The sentiment is one thing, but the specificity of the language is what gets me. I picture this bulb dangling on a cord above a squalid mattress, the light casting about, warping shadows around the room as it sways. Buy it from Amazon.