week 2:
for love of mixtapes; god is a dj (and his name is fred); wyclef returns; A-HA RETURNS (!); the twenty greatest songs ever scientifically determined by a three man panel consisting of me, myself and i; oh, and, boobs.

week 3:
get drawn to the magnetic fields; three movies that are grossly overrated; some of the greatest movies...ever; xtc murders love...again; james brown breaks out in a "cold sweat"; morrissey and springsteen...separated at birth?; i bare my soul...again; and MORE!

week 4:
gladiator slays me, eminem and xtc reviews, a new look!, i poke fun at my own writing, the inmates take over the asylum, and MORE!

other blogs i like:
(because they're out there, you know)
nylpm
blue lines
josh's blog
westernhomes
log.nu
skykicking
pearls that are his eyes
catherine's pita
public blog
i drank WHAT?
cultural artifacts of the moment
frytopia

MADONNA - "MUSIC"

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well, let me just start off by saying, "hmmm!"

if anyone was expecting another "american pie," you won't find it here. the futuristic-retro stylings of william orbit are replaced by the dancefloor-friendly beats of veteran house producer, mirwais. i'm not sure how the two met up, but madonna contributed lyrics and vocals to a track called "paradise (not for me)" that appears on his most recent album. mirwais was then recruited to co-produce the upcoming madonna album with the aforementioned mr. orbit and house dj sasha, who remixed some of the ray of light tracks. when i heard the news a month or so ago, mirwais was as much an unknown to me as i bet he is to many of you. since then, though, i've heard several of his tracks, including the particularly stunning, "v.i." which samples serge gainsbourg's "melody" and features some great sounds.

one thing that confounds about "music" is that it's an odd choice for a single. i haven't heard the album, but if this is as radio-friendly as it gets...well, things could get interesting, to say the least. to my knowledge, madonna has never released, as first single from an album, a song that was more friendly to the dance charts than to the pop charts, but it looks as if the time is upon us.

the production on "music" is fairly good, and it seems to get better with each listen as you pick up on different nuances. basically, it sounds like daft punk with better drum programming, but the wild card is this fantastic g-funk synth line that comes in near the end that would make even dr. dre himself stand up and take notice.

there's a problem, though, and her name is madonna. when writing lyrics for a dance tune called, simply enough, "music," you should keep the lyrics just as simple and universal and all of that. madonna does this for the majority of the song; the words are admirably nondescript and they don't distract you from the dancing. but then comes the chorus: "music...makes the bourgeiosies and the rebel..."

D'OH!

rule #1 of pop music writing: do not under any circumstance use the word bourgeiosies. failing to do so will result in groans and guffaws from the world over.

besides that faux pas, the chorus is very weak. i initally scoffed at the lack of a strong hook on "beautiful stranger," so image my dismay with this one -- then again, look how well "beautiful stranger" did. i guess this one isn't all about hooks, though, it's about the music, maan, thus the title. and the music itself is interesting, it's just madonna's contributions that are lacking. the video is supposed to have madonna interacting with female lap dancers or some such -- though who can believe anything one reads on the internet these days -- so in a way, she's returning to the madonna of old that the fans have been clamoring for but, damn, mo, lose the dictionary, huh?