Under the Blacklight

Rilo Kiley is back in action and I'm super excited about it. The latest issue is not much of an improvement on More Adventurous, but more of the same lesser quality tracks.

As evidenced in Close Call, the group has the uncanny ability to vocalize almost any topic without imposing judgment. The fist single and attempt to break mainstream, The Moneymaker, is my least favorite track because it leaves all folk sensibility aside in favor of blase climactic moments. A better choice would have been Breakin' Up, a happy medium with minor electro pop sounds, actual climactic activity, and a hook while staying true to Rilo Kiley's sound. If it weren't to have competed with Umbrella, it could have been a summer hit about self-reflection/actualization a la Suddenly I See:

Oh! It! Feels good to be free!

The best part about Rilo Kiley albums though is the variety in tracks and the unexpected stories that are told. In 15, we hear an ironically playful story about a guy who has sex with too young of girl, which calls Sublime's Wrong Way to mind for musical as well as topical reasons. Then you spin into Smoke Detector, which finds a million puns for smoking. Close out with the encouraging Give a Little Love and go on with your fabulous day.

Final Note
LOVE

Lovefest 2007

This blog is becoming more difficult for me to keep up. With that said, there are going to be some changes. First, I'm scrapping the posting format. You'll still get the links you need, but I can't say as much or as little as I want trying to write in a framework so rigid.

Anyway, so Lovefest is an amazing dance party in San Francisco's Civic Center once a year. There's a parade to lead it off before the floats crowd around for daytime ravers.
If there was a trend in the floats, it was more speakers and fewer people than last year. The emphasis was put front and center with no room for gyrating bodies. Those would have to be down below.

Captains and slutty flight attendants ruled the friendly skies last Saturday. This picture was one of the better with bumpin' beats and an airplane theme.

Final Note
LOVE

Paper Planes
M.I.A.
Lyrics

Anticipation Children's voices, gunshots, and a cash register ring harmoniously together. This is by far one of the most unusual combinations that comes together better than peanut butter and chocolate.
Vocals M.I.A.'s voice is great and provides much depth--something the song survives on.
Music As mentioned, the sound effects in the chorus combine to actually sound like part of the melody. It's the centerpiece set upon a dreamy background.
Verses Rap-packed lyrics can make the message easy to miss, but it provides content for multiple listenings.
Chorus I can't spoil it here. You have to hear it yourself. I can't normally say that, but in this case, you just must.
Hook Obviously what you have to hear in this song. My greatest sadness is that you can't sing along with the gunshots.
Breakdown Steadiness in sound with stoicism in voice drive sincerity home.
Lyrics Try this on for size:
We pack and deliver like ups trucks Already going hell Just pumping that gas
Hit Potential
None. Could you imagine a radio station playing gunshots? Just the thought makes me laugh.
Final Note
LOVE

1234
Feist
Lyrics

Anticipation She's not only a VH1 Artist to Watch, but also a Starbucks cafe broadcastee. With such cred, we dive in.
Vocals The best word to describe Feist's voice is genuine. It's slighty scratchy, flater than you might expect, but clearly demonstrates range. While the music emphasizes a regular, staccato speech pattern, the words come out more song than sentence.
Music It took a while to grow on me, but this is like indie updating big band music. It's bold, brassy, and but a gem.
Verses Is she meloncholy, whiny, remeniscent, or hopeful? All combine in her tone and lyrics during the verses.
Chorus The mood turns to be more in your face about life lessons. It's wishfully unapologetic and whimsical.
Hook Something as old as counting has been reinvented.
Breakdown It just makes me want to run through a field. And maybe fly a kite.
Lyrics Feist deals with her conflicted emotions about a cheater in a way that confronts her partner without gushing with rage. It's tasteful, tactful, delicate, and simply a complex tune. There is more than appears at first listen.
Hit Potential Low. Maybe on the adult alternative side.
Final Note
LOVE

I Want Your Soul
Armand Van Helden
Lyrics

Anticipation Giant dance artist release new track possibly the next Call On Me. Yes, that Call On Me with the strippercize video.
Vocals Blah blah blah. Sounds excellent. They're not what this track's about.
Music There's something about the synth that just grabs you. Very simplistic, but it works so so so well as the second-largest climax EVER.
Verses There are only three lines to this song; I felt ridiculous when I did a google search for them. As such, it's difficult to separate the verses from the chorus.
Chorus I really should be critical, but I don't have a problem with it. I guess there could be verses.
Hook I want ya!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I want ya to be on my radio all day long!
Breakdown It leads to the biggest climax ever. Play it loud or don't bother.
Lyrics Frankly, they make no sense. Ok, they kind of do if you don't use soul literally. Surprising that it isn't just more blunt, then again, I Want Your Soul is a pretty bad ass name of a song.
Hit Potential None on mainstream radio. Pretty standard.
Final Note
LOVE

Clumsy
Fergie
Lyrics

Anticipation Don't wet your pants on this one, but I think this will be Fergie's next hit--almost sure of it. I've been saving this review, but now is the time as last weekend I finally heard it on the radio. I just can't hold it any longer.
Vocals Fergie works it bouncing between coy and innocent.
Music Sounds like there's an atari game in the background, and the jazzy chorus-lead in define this song.
Verses Strong performances. A full part of the song working hand-in-hand with the chorus.
Chorus The girl can't help it, it's just too catchy. But the drums, more than the lyrics, are what get stuck in my head.
Hook Is there one? I guess it's the music.
Breakdown I think I'd like this song better without the Fergie heart-to-heart.
Lyrics I'm not sure "clumsy" is the word to describe this song's subject. It works, but I could have imagined a song about being "clumsy" and "fumbling" as being more touchy feely in the literal sense.
Hit Potential Drink lots of water for this one, it's going to be HOT.
Final Note
LOVE

Umbrella
Marie Digby
Lyrics

Anticipation One of you loyal readers sent me this article about the manufactured-ness of pop, to which I say who cares. Pop is all about being fun to listen to, no matter how you find out about it or how good the artist is. It should be fun, catchy, and memorable. With that said, I decided to take on the artist, Marie Digby, who is a blatant liar about her climb to fame. But she does something that perhaps even she did not intend: Digby answers the Rihanna question.

The song has kind of had a life of its own, getting radio play and, where I heard it first, on an episode of The Hills, which really boosted its popularity. The artist also has history: she attended UC Berkeley for a year and even had a story in the Daily Cal for her singing ability at the time.
Vocals More sincere than Rihanna, the singing actually makes this song sound like it's about friendship and not electronic rain or something. But, c'mon, it's not like Digby's that much more talented than robotic Rihanna.
Music It's acoustic guitar. That's it.
Verses I like the verses understatedness, but the chorus is a much stronger performance.
Chorus Well sung, but boring with only acoustic guitar behind.
Hook BECAUSE...when the sun shines
Breakdown Wait, where's Jay-Z on this version?
Lyrics Whoa! It's a song!
Hit Potential It has a life of its own, although it's living off the original. Popular, but not a hit.
Final Note
LOVE

Me Love
Sean Kingston
Lyrics

Anticipation The follow up single to the MTV-censored-to-death-for-no-good-reason "Beautiful Girls", I was interested to see if Sean Kingston was a one trick pony.
Vocals Average performance. The backup are better than the lead.
Music It's a Carribean-esque track with big, proud steel drums and a reggae beat. I'm feeling the tropical heat just writing about it.
Verses The first a little slow, but you're getting in the tropix groove. Then comes the rhyming and you know you're looking for pina colada.
Chorus Ruled by the hook, the chorus could have drunk beach partiers going for hours.
Hook "Oh, oh, oh, oh, ooooohhhh, why'd you have to go away from home" is sooooooooooo fun!
Breakdown The break down sizzles up to the scorching hot final chorus.
Lyrics Miss you song belied by its fun Carribean beat.
Hit Potential Already on it's way up. It ends when the heat starts dissipating.
Final Note
LOVE

Don't Stop the Music
Rihanna
Lyrics

Anticipation After reading Pitchfork's review of Rihanna's latest album, Good Girl Gone Bad, I was anxious to hear more. I was also interested to see if Rihanna had more than Umbrella up her sleeve and if the other singles would leave me with the same question: What would this sound like if anybody but Rihanna had done it?
Vocals In a rather chant-like tone, Rihanna gets this song out on the beat. Production effects make it sound like she was carrying the note, but it's really just echo.
Music Sharp beats. I wish the beat that starts the song were used more, especially at the end. There's an MJ sample, particularly well used in the breakdown. It has a mashup-like quality.
Verses To steal a word, "robotic". Verses are toned down compared to the rest of the song, but still provide enough to dance out to.
Chorus Starts with a powerful crescendo of beat, sample, and saturated vocals. Rihanna could be saying anything to this beat-sample combo.
Hook While you can certainly sing-along, the song's a little flat.
Breakdown The MJ sample makes you wonder why the King of Pop was never making dance tracks.
Lyrics It's unfortunate that the more fun lyrics are in the verses where they're not highlighted and the chorus has rather dull ones. Every Rihanna song seems to fit "naughty" in someplace, as does this one.
Hit Potential I smell big success, but it won't reach the heights of Umbrella unfortunately.
Final Note
LOVE

I Got It From My Mama
Will.i.am
Lyrics

Anticipation Usually songs with any Black Eyed Peas members succeed, especially when it's all four together. With the BEP future undisclosed (with Fergie's solo career in progress), can the rest of the group find solo success?

Disclaimer: a lot of P2P searches turn up saying this song features Nicole from the Pussycat Dolls. It doesn't.
Vocals Will.i.am delivers a solid performance. The chick voice tight-ropes on a line of tweeniness and tartiness.
Music The beats are simple, and go on a little too long before a change up.
Verses I'm listening to this song on repeat, and I can't remember what the verse sounds like. Unremarkable apparently.
Chorus This track proves word economy has no impact on catchiness.
Hook Definitely there. A sugary "I got it from my mama" x4 is all it takes to have you coyly looking at yourself in your rear-view mirror reading the line with a different face each time.
Breakdown Made for a club, the "if you're pretty making some noise" will have crowds cheering. YEA-YEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lyrics I'm left confused whether this song is praising mamas or hating on their daughters.
Hit Potential It'll get some respect from the masses.
Final Note
LOVE

Do It
Nelly Furtado
Lyrics

Anticipation
I had to go to Wikipedia on this one. This is Nelly Furtado's sixth North American single off her album Loose. That's incredible as most albums struggle to get to three. But more than that, the bilingual album has spawned even more hits already with its Spanish-language songs such as "No Hay Iqual" and "Te Busque". I wasn't setting my sights high because "Promiscuous", "Maneater", "Say It Right", and "All Good Things (Come to an End)" are hard singles to follow.

Vocals
Does Nelly ever have bad vocals? Why would she now? Throughout the song, she demonstrates that she understands the song, dragging out the flirty lines, playfully skipping through the hook, and rocking the obscure breakdown in falsetto.

Music
The synthesizers go crazy in the background making a Bubblicious hit. Sometimes, it sounds arcade, but in a good way. It's an unexpected 1UP.

Verses
The verses are where the song shines. They are the personality of the song and give meaning to the dance-beat-two-letter-word-heavy single.

Chorus
The chorus has a great sound and flow, but the preponderance of two-letter words leaves it feeling vapid and somewhat boring to sing along to.

Hook
While the lyrics cleverly blend the senses into confusion, it's not clear what is next and becomes too hard to remember. Moreover, it changes slightly through the song.

Just a little look has got me feeling things Just a little taste has got me seeing things Just a little touch has got me off the chains Doing things that I don't want to

It hurts to say, but the hook underwhelms.

Breakdown
Somewhat uncalled for, it does a poor job of making me want to listen to the end of the song. The falsetto feels out of place, but executed well.

Lyrics
Simple works here. They tell the story of Nelly spotting a cutie and wanting to get closer without becoming inane.

Hit Potential
Oh, it'll make the charts. Unfortunately, this one's going to be under appreciated because it is the sixth single. I think it'll make it to #10 before a slow descent off the chart.

Final Note
LOVE