Music - 2004

Brandy feat. Kanye West - "Talk About Our Love"
{7}

I like how Kanye's resurrected this classic soul sound, Brandy's voice, if not particularly unique, is definitely effective. Kanye's verse is, as always these days, clever and funny, tongue-in-cheek yet genuine. Hot shit.


Bumblebeez81 - Pony Ride
{3}

What the fuck is this shit. I mean seriously, why would anyone listen to this? Is it the lack of a recognizable melody? Or it is because it is totally uninteresting in any way? I hate it when people criticize art by saying "I could do this!" (so...why didn't you?) but forreal guys - I could do this. And I didn't do it because I'm not so bored with music that i think the world needs a song with two notes and tacky drumming.


Ma$e - Welcome Back
{6}

Oh man this feels so great the first time, so refreshing, so much pure satisfaction. An obvious sample, perhaps freaked better by Onyx, but...man. Fun. Too bad it wears out its "welcome" fairly quickly. The best part is when Ma$e talks about how he doesn't drink cuz he's a X-tian.


The Darkness - Throw it on Me
{6}

I fell almost exactly the same way about this song as I did "Welcome Back" - it's joyful, hooky and satisfying. Similarly, it wears itself out rather quickly.


Nina Sky - Move Ya Body
{10}

Single of the summer and one of the best songs of the year, no contest. The Coolie riddim is one of the catchiest, most insistent productions I've ever heard, but retains this fresh, surprising edge - the handclaps and those deep-pitched toms all over this house-like 4/4 bounce. And I haven't even approached Nina Sky's masterful singing. Although folks have compared it to the Lumidee track that was released last year over the Diwali, Wayne Wonder and Sean Paul's interpretations both roasted Lumidee's sorry ass all over 2003; Nina Sky has dropped what is easily the best interpretation of the Coolie riddim. She does this cool thing with her voice about 3/4ths of the way through the song that makes her sound like Shannon or some other early 80s electro-dance diva - "Can you feel the beat within my heart, can't you see my love shine through the dark, can't you see the two must be a part, of that beat in my heaaaart." Beauty.


Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out
{7}

It has all the hip references, you can dance to it, blah blah blah...did I mention that I hate guitars? Well, sometimes. Anyway, this song isn't anything special to me. But then again, you don't come to me for recommendations on your indie rock. This band was so much better back when they were an assassinated archduke, yo.

1. Madvillain - Madvillainy
2. Ghostface - The Pretty Toney Album
3. Trillville and Lil Scrappy - King of Crunk & BME Recordings Present: Trillville
4. Kanye West - College Dropout
5. Felix Da Housecat - Devin Dazzle and the Neon Fever
6. The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free
7. Arthur Russell - Calling out of Context
8. David Banner - Baptized in Dirty Water
9. RJD2 - Since We Last Spoke
10. Junior Boys - Last Exit
11. Wiley - Treadin' on Thin Ice
12. Scissor Sisters - Scissor Sisters
13. Pete Rock - Soul Survivor II
14. Brother Ali - Champion EP
15. Superpitcher - Here Comes Love
16. Erlend Øye - DJ Kicks
17. Murs - 3:16
18. !!! - Louden Up Now
19. Tanya Stephens - Gangsta Blues
20. Jason Forrest - Unrelenting Songs of the 1979 Post Disco Crash

21+

(the rest)


Yet to hear - Cam'ron, Kompakt 100, virtually any dancehall albums (outside of Tanya), who knows what else.

The new RJD2 is very, very good, better than his first. However I am reviewing it for stylus so I shall say no more...suffice it to say - top ten for this year (so far). I doubt it'll remain in the top ten by the end of the year, but it's a serious top 20 contender. Bling bling.

Top albums thus far, 2004
1. Madvillain - Madvillainy
2. Ghostface - The Pretty Toney Album
3. Kanye West - College Dropout
4. Trillville and Lil Scrappy - King of Crunk & BME Recordings Present: Trillville
5. Arthur Russell - Calling out of Context
6. David Banner - Baptized in Dirty Water
7. Wiley - Treadin' on Thin Ice
8. Scissor Sisters - Scissor Sisters
9. The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free
10. Felix Da Housecat - Devin Dazzle and the Neon Fever
11. Pete Rock - Soul Survivor II
12. Junior Boys - Last Exit
13. Jason Forrest - Unrelenting Songs of the 1979 Post Disco Crash
14. Brother Ali - Champion EP
15. Murs - 3:16
16. !!! - Louden Up Now
17. Lil Flip - U Gotta Feel Me
18. Superpitcher - Here Comes Love
19. Erlend Øye - DJ Kicks
20. Tanya Stephens - Gangsta Blues
21. Pantha Du Prince - Diamond Daze
22. Dangermouse - The Grey Album
23. Cee Lo - Cee Lo Green is the Soul Machine
24. Three 6 Mafia - Da Unbreakables (Screwed and Chopped)
25. Mission of Burma - OnOFFOn
26. Young Gunz - Tough Love
27. N*E*R*D - Fly or Die
28. Dead Prez - Revolutionary But Gangsta



Disappointment:
Vast Aire - Look Ma No Hands

Not yet heard (Need to):
Cam'ron - Purple Haze
Def Jux Presents III
Usher - Confessions

Thoughts on The Streets' new album
Aite here's my verdict.

It is very, very good, and I enjoy it a lot. Overall, it is a remarkable album. On a song-by-song basis, it doesn't stack up w/ OPM but its not meant to; its sort of like Skinner making this album OK for rockists, as someone said on ILM, and that's not a bad thing.

My only criticisms...urm there are too many plot-forwarding tracks that are worth v. little musically. The cell-phone conversation song is so boring and unneccessary, like the musical equivelent of "...the story so far!" blah. And I still maintain that the last track is a tad too saccharine. But yeah, really good album...8/10.

By the way, what I really like about it is that he GETS hip-hop narrative (which is probably where the hip-hop influence comes in) in that he speaks about stuff conversationally, as he would talk to a friend rather than in the all-knowing narrator that rock music so frequently utilizes.

Nina Sky - Move Ya Body
This song is pretty terrific. It uses the Coolie Riddim (also used by Pitbull and Lil Jon on "Culo," Elephant Man on "Genie Dance," and Mr. Vegas on "Pull Up") but what differentiates it is Nina Sky's amazing vocals. This could easily be a hit in this country if it's pushed properly. Nina Sky does this cool thing with her voice about 3/4ths of the way through the song that makes her sound like Shannon or some other early 80s electro-dance diva - "Can you feel the beat within my heart, can't you see my love shine through the dark, can't you see the two must be a part, of that beat in my heaaaart."


1. Usher feat. Ludacris and Lil Jon - Yeah
2. Nina Sky feat. Jabba - Move Ya Body
3. T.I.-Rubberband Man
4. Jay-Z - Dirt Off Your Shoulder
5. Ying Yang Twins - Salt Shaker
6. Lil Scrappy - Head Bussa
7. David Banner ft. Static – Crank It Up
8. Basement Jaxx - Good Luck
9. Madvillain - All Caps
10. Kiley Dean - Keep it Movin'
11. Jay-Z – 99 Problems
12. Cee-Lo - I'll Be Around
13. Ghostface Killah - Tush
14. Junior Boys - High Comes Down
15. Jacki-O - Slow Down
16. Fresh - Get Ready
17. Sage Francis F/ Brother Ali & Slug-Doomage
18. Young Gunz - Friday Night
19. Young Gunz - No Better Love
20. Missy Elliott - I'm Really Hot

(just missing top twenty...)
*21. Twista feat. Kanye West and Jaime Foxx - Slow Jamz
*22. Lil Flip - Game Over
23. Basement Jaxx - Plug It In

More album listenin' awesomeness

Tanya Stephens - Gangsta Blues
Trillville and Lil Scrappy - King of Crunk & BME Recordings Present: Trillville
Brother Ali - Champion EP
The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free

Songs rated on a scale of 1-10


Young Gunz – Friday Night (8)

This is an earth-shaking dancefloor-rocking thunderous percussive avalanche of a party banger. It’s got one chant-along chorus that never gets old - a fairly obvious old-school homage, but on the other hand, the beat has a cowbell. Just Blaze could teach Kanye West a thing or two about drum programming. “It was a Friday night and the bass was pumpin’…” This is the song where you bust out the harlem shake.


The Beastie Boys – Ch-Ch-Check it Out (6)

My expectations for this were not high to begin with, to the point where it would be hard for them to fail. But yo – this song is pretty good. I don’t really mind that they seem to have slept through the latter half of the 90s and the early 2000s, because this quick breakbeat and repeated horn blast is cool in a nostalgic, I-remember-when-the-beasties-were-cool sorta way. Too bad the Boys themselves sound like they’ve been smoking a pack-a-day since freeing Tibet. Insert your own favorite Viagra-popping, diaper-wearing old-man joke here.


Usher – Confessions Pt. II (4) / Burn (7)

Neither of these tracks is an impressive genre-crashing revelation like his first single. Usher, however, has grown into an incredibly impressive vocalist. He never really falls into histrionics and his voice is consistently honey-sweet. “Burn” is the superior track by far; Jermaine Dupri’s production is innocuous for the most part, which makes it a nice showcase for Usher’s impressive vocals, although Dupri does utilize this cool little descending sonic sizzle that sounds like sweat dropping from a lover’s body as she feverishly waits on Usher’s return. There’s also this hot breakdown in the middle. “Confessions Pt. II” is considerably worse – although Usher’s voice is impressive, the bland production and awkward lyrical allusions to the fact that this song is “part 2” of Usher’s confessions makes for one unimpressive cut. He should drop the Just Blaze-produced “Throwback” as his next single.


Avril Lavigne – Don’t Tell Me (3)

Avril is better off alone anyway, you sleazy molester. Why don’t you take a shower to cool off? The creepiest part of this song is when she talks about the guy’s arm being on her neck.


Jet – Cold Hard Bitch (1)

It sure is great how these guys brought back real rock ‘n’ roll.


Jessica Simpson – Take My Breath Away (1)

Its one thing if a song is bad; it’s another if it is totally unnecessary. I don’t even mind Berlin’s version, but this is just unforgivable. The first song was in Top Gun, so this one should be in recent Tom Cruise’s ego-vehicle The Last Samurai. It’s only fair.

Here is a list of things I’d rather do than listen to this song:
1. Anything.