I think this is about the worst song on what I so far think is a really good album. I'm sad and nervous to see it receiving the single treatment, as it's not too far removed from Gimmie That, which flopped. But this video can only help its fortunes. However she managed to wrangle the budget for this, it was money well spent.
I agree 100% with this whale. The music is pedestrian, and does she even know what beat she's rapping over? And her voice and the mixing sound awful! I've discovered some good stuff from this column, but listening to this gives me the same feeling of embarrassment that I get watching stand-up comedy. Eeeeeeeek.
Dënver - Revista de Gimnasia (my #1 song of the summer!)
Daft Punk - Get Lucky AND Fragments of Time
Robin Thicke - Blurred Lines
Mariah & Miguel - #Beautiful
Drop City Yacht Club feat. Jeremih - Crickets
There's two albums that I don't think anyone has mentioned that will probably be in my top 10 for the year. One is Alex & Daniel's self-titled collaboration. I've been getting into some Chilean stuff this year, and this album is a stellar blend of chilled Balearic and dance. Everything Alex Anwandter does is incredible, I'd encourage anyone who likes slightly -left-of-centre pop to check him out.
Sakanaction's self-titled release is also excellent. They're a Japanese group blending new wave, rock, and dance. Their single 'Music' is a great starting point, and pretty much everything on the album is just as catchy.
You're absolutely not. Lots of people are praising the production, but the production doesn't help me when I find the songs so bad. There's lots of times that people are falling all over themselves to praise an album, and even though that album isn't my thing, I see why they enjoy it. But this isn't one of those times. For me, this is flat, bland, dull, uninspired, you name it. I hate to accuse people of liking something just because they want so much to like it, but my ears are bewildered that there could be any other reason for professing to like this. To each their own, though.
But...I just spent three paragraphs rating it for what it is. My only expectation, other than a good album, was a few more dance songs. And I was fine with not getting them if the album was good. In my opinion, it's not good at all.
I wanted so much to like this, but I don't think it's going to happen. Like many, this isn't the album I wanted from Daft Punk. An album with maybe two dance songs from one of the greatest dance bands of all time qualifies as a letdown in my book. But that's not a dealbreaker; above all, I wanted a quality album in whatever form. What is a dealbreaker is a lack of good songs, and that's the bigger problem here.
First of all, the bangers do not bang. Instant Crush, Lose Yourself to Dance, and Doin' It Right sound stilted and skeletal. Each of these chugs or clunks along trying to find a groove, and it just never happens. There's just no reason to return to these tracks when acts like Classixx and Denver have just released some insanely good modern disco. Get Lucky is the best of this lot, and it got old for me fast after never really taking off in the first place.
the quieter songs here seem like they're trying to capture the vibe of past triumphs like Make Love and Something About Us, but instead they just noodle along limply before bowing out. Those vocodered lines in The Game of Love just sound so awkward and exposed, it's cringe worthy. Within is 80s soft rock that I can't imagine anyone enjoying, and Beyond nails the vibe but forgets the song.
The audacious songs are the most interesting, but they're nothing I'll listen to on a regular basis. Which pretty much leaves me with Fragments of Time, an actually really sweet and groovy slice of soft rock that I'll want to listen to over and over again in the glow of summer sunsets.
tl;dr I know. But I really think this band is getting a pass because people are desperate to believe in them again and have been waiting so long. But just because RAM's ambition eclipses HAL's doesn't make it a better record, and this is another huge disappointment for me.
I've listened about four times and so far it's just not happening for me. I'm just not hearing anything that I think I'll want to return to very often. There are lots of good vibes and ideas, but they only seem to coalesce into really good songs a couple of times. Still hoping for a grower, though.
YEESSSS!!! So excited to see this here. This tape hangs together better than most albums, it's obvious she considered it carefully. And the sounds coming out of it aren't quite like anyone else's. I'm biased, I'm Cassie's biggest fan (uh, other than the guy that made that trilogy), but she's done well here. The song with Jeremih is the best on the tape.
I was going to say the same thing about Kacey! Wonderful album that hopefully people don't sleep on, great lyrics. Funnily enough, she even wrote one of the songs on that Miranda Lambert AOTW.
I still love the JT album most, though.
This album is ridiculous, JT at his best and Timbaland's entire production history dragged somehow brilliantly into the present, plus a few new tricks. This is much, much better than the singles suggested.
To me, the difference is the calibre of discussion. I like to read Stereogum comments, whether the post ranks Sleater-Kinney's albums or shares the new JT song. The discussion you get on Stereogum tends to be at a higher level and simply a lot different than the discussion you get on, say, The Prophet Blog, which I read for different reasons. I agree that JT doesn't need the publicity, but I think enough readers here believe his music has merit (or will be vocal about why it doesn't) to warrant the post in the first place.
These only make me incredibly excited for this album. Both new songs sound great to me, clunky euphemisms notwithstanding. I think he's wanted to make an album in this style for a long time and is gonna do a good job with it.
Yep, they've priced themselves out of my market. The $30 deal seems ok until the $11 shipping pops up (USPS?). For now it's an illegal download and a hope for a reasonably priced alternative, digital or physical.
I'm one of the few who would put AWWTM ahead of Yoshimi. Based on the reviews, I put it on expecting warmed over Yoshimi leftovers. Instead, I found almost every song interesting/beautiful/catchy/etc and loved almost every second of it. Not Free Radicals, though, that song absolutely sucks.
I immediately thought of TLC and En Vogue, too. At their respective peaks (And TLC peaked for a long time), both were better than Destiny's Child. I absolutely think The Writing's On the Wall is an R&B classic, but everything after that...just no.
Both 4 and BDay are pretty decent albums, though. And I'd probably pick Crazy In Love as my top song of the last decade.
THIS exactly. If you're unable to enjoy a cool song because it's Willow or because there's a producer behind her, I just think that's kinda sad for you. For me, this was a really nice start to the morning. Willow's singing is surprisingly lovely, and it sounds great over the sample.
I usually see comments like this on posts about, say, Taylor Swift, and I feel like the poster isn't even giving the music the chance it might deserve. But my god, this. Is. Awful. Morning Benders were actually good, but now it's hard to say which incarnation of this band sounds most disingenuous. Totally agree with you, sloth.
Make it stop.
Completely feeling you on your opinion of Channel Orange. It's a great album, but also about a 9/10 for me and a solid #4 on my favourites of the year. I think the stage was just set for him this year, and as long as he didn't totally fuck up, he was going to rank very highly. As a consensus pick, I think the album is pretty deserving. As a gay man, I'm happy with his success but can't say he couldn't have done even better.
I agree with you, plb. I enjoyed section.80 a ton, but for me Good Kid is my least favourite album I bought this year. The production is dull, when a song desperately calls for a hook, there isn't one, and I feel like he made a ton of choices that are just unpleasant to listen to. That "ya bish" refrain is awful, and you can't rap over a Janet track that you stole wholesale and think I'm not going to want to put on "Anytime, Anyplace" instead. To me, this is the sound of a talented rapper imploding in his self-conscious desire to make a classic record. I even still think he could have a classic in him, but I don't hear it in this snoozer at all.
Calling us silly and Solange average then justifying these things by comparing her to Aaliyah and Toni Braxton is maybe the most incongruity I've ever seen in such a small space.
I love that we have a pop artist who's so interesting and will always have the wherewithal to release her music no matter where her inspiration takes her. And this collaboration definitely sounds inspired, great stuff.
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