Another Year In America February 5, 2009
The Taylor Swift album finally falls from number one to number two. The Bird And The Bee enter at 78. Meanwhile, on the singles chart, something happens, somewhere, probably. Possibly.
Lil Wayne "Prom Queen": OK, what's happening is Autotune, for the thirtieth (or three hundredth) consecutive week. A sketch of a voice, a blob of an accompaniment, I can't make sense of the decision not to put more dance in the blob (really, once upon a time people danced to rock music, really), but this has a tune and Wayne's got his usual panache even if the lyrics just go through the TV high-school motions. TICK.
Soulja Boy Tell 'Em f. Sammie "Kiss Me Thru The Phone": Soulja Boy gets sensitive. The orchestra is convincingly stately, but nothing in the vocals commands attention. I hate to say it, but this sounds phoned-in. NO TICK.
Katy Perry "Thinking Of You": Katy gets sensitive, kinda. She kissed the wrong guy. She didn't like it. The singing is obvious, of course, big NUANCE here, emotional crack in her voice there, but Katy's singing is actually the only thing that keeps this half afloat. NO TICK.
Jamie Foxx f. T-Pain "Blame It": This is some silly zeitgeist. The syllables do silly breakdowns, the words do silly rhymes (butt/what?), Autotune makes the world fizzy, sensitive soulfulness becomes light and funny. Borderline, but I'm smiling. TICK.
Lil Wayne "Prom Queen": OK, what's happening is Autotune, for the thirtieth (or three hundredth) consecutive week. A sketch of a voice, a blob of an accompaniment, I can't make sense of the decision not to put more dance in the blob (really, once upon a time people danced to rock music, really), but this has a tune and Wayne's got his usual panache even if the lyrics just go through the TV high-school motions. TICK.
Soulja Boy Tell 'Em f. Sammie "Kiss Me Thru The Phone": Soulja Boy gets sensitive. The orchestra is convincingly stately, but nothing in the vocals commands attention. I hate to say it, but this sounds phoned-in. NO TICK.
Katy Perry "Thinking Of You": Katy gets sensitive, kinda. She kissed the wrong guy. She didn't like it. The singing is obvious, of course, big NUANCE here, emotional crack in her voice there, but Katy's singing is actually the only thing that keeps this half afloat. NO TICK.
Jamie Foxx f. T-Pain "Blame It": This is some silly zeitgeist. The syllables do silly breakdowns, the words do silly rhymes (butt/what?), Autotune makes the world fizzy, sensitive soulfulness becomes light and funny. Borderline, but I'm smiling. TICK.