12.14.2002
posted by fred solinger 12:10 PM
8. electric six ft. jack white, "danger! high voltage!"
jack white may want to rethink his group's dynamic because he sounds really great with a bassline, even if that bassline may lead the listener into singing, "you and me baby ain't nothin' but mammals..." or maybe it's just me. best disco-metal single since "i was made for lovin' you."
12.13.2002
posted by fred solinger 6:55 PM
9. hives, "hate to say i told you so"
after the 1,000th listen, one starts to think that these guys are too intelligent to be making this music. not that higher aims are more admirable necessarily, but that it's really too studied to work as well as it should. sure, iggy's bright but in a brilliant beast kinda way, not in the snarky, wink-wink howlin' pelle fashion. it is difficult to interface with both this song and this band unless you try to obviate the need to by shouting along and, in which case, are the words you're shouting registering? and doesn't it seem a bit wrong? i'm left with the impression that behind the histrionics they're rather hollow, intentionally so, like a bunch of stuffed matching suits. but, oh, that riff. best walking song of the year.
12.12.2002
posted by fred solinger 4:50 PM
10. kylie minogue, "come into my world (fischerspooner remix)"
an argument could be made -- rather easily -- for the inclusion of "can't get you out of my head," but i was walking around, going "la la la, la la la laaa la, la la la, la la la laaa la" some months before that single broke into the billboard hot 100 in january 2002. besides, i've had enough of kylie and her hooks having their way with me; now, i'd rather listen to someone get their hooks in her...and who would've figured that she and fischerspooner would hit it off so well? (perhaps she held mssrs. fischer and spooner rapt with stories of what the 80s were really like.) what made "can't get you out of my head" was kylie, her kittenish sexuality and her appearance in the video. by contrast, "come into my world" works not because of her physical presence or any of her attributes, but simply because it is kylie and that fischerspooner have taken her vocals and have inserted behind her a throbbing bassline. they press a button and she pants out of sexual exhaustion, and once they feel she's had enough, they digitally manipulate her into perpetual orgasm. like early duran duran videos, a fischerspooner touchstone, it is pure male fantasy but also aural ecstasy.
12.11.2002
posted by fred solinger 1:56 PM
11. clipse, "grindin'"
what "grindin'" does, more than any other record i've heard this year, including andrew w.k., is make me acutely aware of just how white i am.
posted by fred solinger 11:56 AM
thomas has begun his top 50 of the year. and given the fact that he compiled one of my favorite singles of the 90s lists, i'm very interested in seeing how it all turns out.now, in shitty lists news, spin has named its tops for the year...and it's like it's 2001 all over again! in a year most notable for julian injuring his knee and missing a lot of gigs, the strokes were named band of the year. yes, it's all very last year but, oh, it continues. spin's promo copy must've gotten mislaid or lost under a pile of strokes press releases because white blood cells (rel. jul. 3, 2001) is their album of the year. maybe they just didn't get around to buying it until it was re-released with a bonus dvd. no, if that were the case, is this it would've taken top prize. for single of the year, they manage to avoid the anachronisms, but bad taste is far trickier to elude. one had a 66.67% chance of picking a good eminem single, and yet spin still somehow managed to choose "cleaning out my closet" as the year's best. well, maybe next year "lose yourself" or "without me" will be honored...unless white blood cells is still eligible.
12.10.2002
posted by fred solinger 4:58 PM
12. space cowboy, "die 4 u"
now herre's a summer hit that translates well to the winter months. prince's sentiment is, of course, warm but the sound, particularly that subtle synth french horn, was frigid; space cowboy only emphasizes that aspect with the antiquated synths he employs: one can actually hear the dust in between the notes, redolent of drafty attics. i think i made the link between prince and electro elsewhere -- the romantic fatalism, the electronics, all of the female singers sounding like wendy & lisa at the opening of "computer blue." it is ultimately they who are the most successful inheritors of his legacy. space cowboy even one-ups the master by realizing that the repetition of the bridge only makes the song better. true, the use of dynamics -- not to mention the truncation of the title (space cowboy apparently has no interest in self-sacrifice) -- lessens the message but these electro-types really don't mean it; it's all ironic, right? or do they?
posted by fred solinger 4:45 PM
from yesterday's times, my obituary.
12.9.2002
posted by fred solinger 8:18 PM
i saw adaptation earlier today. and once i've organized my thoughts, i'll likely say something about it. what i can say with certainty right now is that it contains the best deconstructionist joke i've ever heard.
posted by fred solinger 7:48 PM
13. yeah yeah yeahs, "bang"
"machine" was officially a single; "bang" is just the first track on their debut ep. and it doesn't even serve as the title of the ep. someone, please, assist me here; let me know the legality -- and not the discretion -- of such a move. why would i place myself in such a moral quandary when "machine" is so readily available and easy on the conscience? like "hot in herre," "bang" is another triumph of personality, this time for karen o., that siouxsie sioux in debbie harry's clothes. as she delivers the lines, "bang bang bang, the bigger, the better" over the break, she elevates herself quite knowingly to the status of greatest phone sex operator ever. and it sounds like "cold sweat" without the sexual angst (and bassline!) she dismisses a lover coolly -- "as a fuck, son, you suck" -- and, like tweet, proves that sisters are indeed doing it for themselves.
posted by fred solinger 12:02 PM
re: the good mr. finney's comments: a) it's not number 2 because it's my list. actually, i think i'm way too much of a synesthete to enjoy a warm weather song in the winter. or just chalk it up to hemispheric differences. b) we're both wrong. i wouldn't say it's generic because the beat isn't insistent enough and the keyboard aren't chirpy. i also disagree with myself: it's not mediocre. how about uncharacteristically muted? i'm not sure how the process usually goes, but i get the sense that the neptunes make the beat and the artist writes a song. "hot in herre" strikes me as opposite; the beat was made-to-order because i can't think of another neptunes production where the keybs are so humid (cf. kool & the gang's "too hot.") unlike, say, "pass the courvoisier," "hot in herre" isn't about pharrell -- it's a platform for the artist. now, with so much personality to burn, when will nelly release his double album?
12.8.2002
posted by fred solinger 2:01 PM
14. nelly, "hot in herre"
fact: "hot in herre" is a lot more fun when listened to with a group than by one's self.
fact: there wasn't a more quotable single released this year. for example: "i was like, 'good gracious ass is bodacious'"; "me and the rest of my heathens"; "get on up on the dancefloor, give that man what he askin' for"; "cos i feel like bustin' loose and i feel like touchin' you"; "'girl, i think my butt gettin' big'"; "unless you gon' do it"; et. al.
fact: nelly says, "i've got a friend with a pole in the basement," not, "i've got a friend with a phone in the basement." it really makes a lot more sense that way.
fact: "hot in herre" is a rather mediocre neptunes production and, similar to missy's "work it," it represents a triumph of the artist's considerable personality.
fact: it's fucking cold in her(r)e; reason why this doesn't make the top 10.
posted by fred solinger 11:33 AM
best piece of sports commentary in many a moon. from larry merchant on hbo, critiquing jameel mccline's reluctance to hit wladimir klitschko in their wbo heavyweight title fight last night:
"mccline acts as if attacking klitschko was like attacking russia in winter."
contact me.
the following are some sites i visit
from time to time. you'd be all the better if you did the same:
nylpm
freaky
trigger
josh
blog
loatd
grr
skykicking
maura.com
popshots
matos
badger
catherine
pearls
the voice music section
submeat
perpetual motion
tmftml
the rub
no rock&roll fun
spizzazz
fluxblog
close your eyes
technicolour
