Another Year In America March 26, 2009
American Idol is good to Carrie, Randy, and Brad, while Wayne unwinds and Flo Rida goes searching for game.
Carrie Underwood f. Randy Travis "I Told You So": Yes, Randy wrote this and went number one country with it back in the '80s, but it doesn't make sense as a duet. It's an internal argument, a mind facing off against itself and expecting the worst, and Carrie sang the argument well on her own, singing the longing and singing the self-accusation. Enough remains in this version to merit a tick, and I can see the commercial sense of adding Randy, but Carrie's solo version is the one to hear. TICK.
Flo Rida f. Wynter "Sugar": He takes the round syllables of "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" and squashes them flat. What's he going to destroy next? NO TICK.
Ciara f. Justin Timberlake "Love Sex Magic": The spare tension of 1980-style reduced funk, made sleeker for the '00s. When Justin enters halfway in his sound is too rich for what 'til then had been a taut track. Not sure if Ciara could have pulled this off even without distractions, but I'd have liked to have heard her try, which means that where she was alone in the first half there was enough steady pressure in her singing for it to worm its way into me. BORDERLINE TICK.
Lil Wayne "Hot Revolver": Once again I'm floored, I'm flabbergasted, I'm baffled. AutoTune is a pretext for Wayne to mumble, to barely wipe the words with his gums. The track is incoherent: there's Wayne singing a Green Day lyric near the start, then there's a fractured sing-along by Dre of Cool & Dre, then Wayne goes into discursive talking that isn't rapping, and then he swallows those words and returns to AutoTune. Very strange, but I think Wayne pulls it off. Or at least I'm not ready to say he doesn't. TICK.
Brad Paisley "Them": Sentimental song about his ever-growing love for his woman. You never can accuse this guy of oversinging, but here he's just plain indadequate. NO TICK.
Carrie Underwood f. Randy Travis "I Told You So": Yes, Randy wrote this and went number one country with it back in the '80s, but it doesn't make sense as a duet. It's an internal argument, a mind facing off against itself and expecting the worst, and Carrie sang the argument well on her own, singing the longing and singing the self-accusation. Enough remains in this version to merit a tick, and I can see the commercial sense of adding Randy, but Carrie's solo version is the one to hear. TICK.
Flo Rida f. Wynter "Sugar": He takes the round syllables of "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" and squashes them flat. What's he going to destroy next? NO TICK.
Ciara f. Justin Timberlake "Love Sex Magic": The spare tension of 1980-style reduced funk, made sleeker for the '00s. When Justin enters halfway in his sound is too rich for what 'til then had been a taut track. Not sure if Ciara could have pulled this off even without distractions, but I'd have liked to have heard her try, which means that where she was alone in the first half there was enough steady pressure in her singing for it to worm its way into me. BORDERLINE TICK.
Lil Wayne "Hot Revolver": Once again I'm floored, I'm flabbergasted, I'm baffled. AutoTune is a pretext for Wayne to mumble, to barely wipe the words with his gums. The track is incoherent: there's Wayne singing a Green Day lyric near the start, then there's a fractured sing-along by Dre of Cool & Dre, then Wayne goes into discursive talking that isn't rapping, and then he swallows those words and returns to AutoTune. Very strange, but I think Wayne pulls it off. Or at least I'm not ready to say he doesn't. TICK.
Brad Paisley "Them": Sentimental song about his ever-growing love for his woman. You never can accuse this guy of oversinging, but here he's just plain indadequate. NO TICK.