The Kogan-Off
With Will's permission I am posting my contributions to the Jukebox's "Best-Off" for 2009, including the two rounds that never went up on the site. Apparently this does not mean that those two rounds (plus a so-far nonexistent final) will never appear on the Jukebox, but it is likely that those rounds will be replayed and rewritten.
The important thing to note in what follows is that I HAVE WRITTEN A POEM. Even if you get bored with what precedes the poem, do not leave this post without scrolling down to read the poem.
The more intrepid among you will also see that, in a less worthy moment, I say that stillness is not much of a move. I am embarrassed at making such a lame crack, but now I have warned you. Also, I somehow never found the opportunity to point out that Taylor Swift's "Fifteen" is her fifteenth best song, so I am informing you now. I know some of you may find such an assertion altogether too convenient to be believed, but I assure you I checked the arithmetic three times.
Here's GROUP 5:
1. The Lonely Island "I'm On A Boat"
2. Ne-Yo "Part Of The List"
3. Busy Signal "Da Style Deh"
4. Pill "Trap Goin' Ham"
5. Calle 13 f. Cuci Amador "Electro Movimiento"
Surely, this is the Group Of Death, top two running neck-and-neck and three and four only a hair behind. I give the Group Cup to the Lonely Island 'cause of how exuberantly they splish and splash into the ocean-bath of foamy, undeserved luxury. Ne-Yo at number two is the opposite, the guy in his thin sweet voice obsessively listing all he lost when he lost the woman, wounding himself with quick little jabs, onto infinity. It's only in the context of those two that Busy Signal's gorgeous ululations sound a bit standard. Sorry Mr. Signal that I'm not ranking you higher. (Btw, the GreenMoney Liquid Re-Rub of Busy Signal's "Tic Toc" is a sure thing for my end of the year top fifty.) Meanwhile "Trap Goin' Ham" is dogged, eye-level dealing under the sparkling, menacing Georgia night. Love the style, though this decade's given us scores of similarly good tracks from Jeezy et al. "Electro Movimiento" is glum boys having fun, is the only one here that feels forced and tired: Cuci Amador is too self-cautious to go full-scale into the freestyle passion that the song promises, and the Calle guys can't zing the beats or the words like they need to. This isn't bad, but it's indie.
Here's GROUP 7 for ya:
1. DJ Quik & Kurupt "9xs Outta 10"
2. Joy Orbison "Hyph Mngo"
3. VV Brown "Shark in the Water"
4. The-Dream f. Mariah Carey "My Love"
5. The-Dream "Rockin' That Shit"
Quik's beat and Kurupt's voice stick out their respective feet to trip each other up, and then it's a constant somersault, not one that I can pull myself out of, or want to. Then, just as I'm settling in my bath for a nice "Hyph Mngo" wash, Joy Orbison takes a cue from Quik and works a sudden stutter-step into the ship's motor, and there I am, water splashing while my core gets jarred. I've heard it's therapeutic. VV Brown's got one of those generically quirky voices that have been going horribly retro on us for the last half-decade, like the office manager getting "giddy" at the Xmas party, mixing drinks and metaphors with equal abandon. Entertains me fine, this time, despite my basic reserve. The-Dream made the album of my year, but my least favorite tracks were chosen as singles, just as if his genre were country not r&b. Not bad for least favorite, actually, Mariah singing "My Love"'s sex-mush riff with soft, beautiful insistence." On "Rockin' That Shit" Terius Nash continues with the spare lushness that only he can manage - did it superbly on "Fancy," is kinda boring here.
Frank Kogan's second round ballot, Jukebox 2009
--Taylor Swift "You Belong With Me" vs. Florence + The Machine "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)"
Taylor uses the seeming frailties of her voice to go from pissiness to joy to steel while sounding utterly natural, bending her voice from near speech to exuberantly silly melisma. Florence, in contrast, dresses her voice up expensively and sounds imprisoned in her clothes; that's something of the point here, the chorus coming along to release her, not from clothes but from rigidity. I can see how a listener might hear poignance in it, but that's not enough when pitted against a Taylor's virtuosity, and Taylor's got an even better chorus.
I vote for TAYLOR SWIFT "YOU BELONG WITH ME"
--Joy Orbison "Hyph Mngo" vs. Shakira "Loba"
Joy O. starts with beautiful dark moods and then throws dirt on the gentle wash. As for Shakira, though I sometimes find her harsh voice a barrier to what's touching in her idiosyncratic language, she low-keys the harshness this time to humorous effect on a disco-funk track that would otherwise be saying "batshit." Edge to Shakira, altered voice beating altered moodiness.
I vote for SHAKIRA "LOBA"
--DJ Quik & Kurupt "Hey Playa! (Moroccan Blues)" vs. Busy Signal "Da Style Deh"
Quik & Kurupt pile the world into this track: a twisting sample that's almost drowned by dance lounging and soulful singing, as Q and K contradict each other about the virtues and dangers of selling oneself to the party of hip-hop. A fascinating track that has the misfortune of running up against a vocal by Busy Signal that's simultaneously gorgeous and pushy.
I vote for BUSY SIGNAL "DA STYLE DEH"
--Raekwon f. Buncha Da Clan "House of Flying Daggers" vs. Röyksopp "The Girl And The Robot" ft. Robyn as The Girl.
Clan tie themselves to a dramatic, static beat, the men called Method and Ghostface being the ones to run an interesting slalom around it, but this drama pales in comparison to that of Robyn as a desperate homemaker resorting to MTV at nights while bf or hubby stays away at work and nightmare sound engulfs her.
I vote for RÖYKSOPP FT. ROBYN "THE GIRL AND THE ROBOT"
--Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Zero" vs. Taylor Swift "Fifteen"
I've heard all of Yeah Yeah Yeah's albums without ever making sense of Karen O's far-too-rigid Chriss Hyndisms; reading Anthony E. in the last round I gathered that there was a whole journey here I could notice if I were to worm my way into the lyrics. Too late for this round, where Karen's start from zero can't match Taylor's story at fifteen. Taylor overplays the fragility here, a little, but the details just keeping adding up while anticipation and events pile into small adventures and big sadness, always some sadness.
I vote for TAYLOR SWIFT "FIFTEEN"
--Phoenix "Lisztomania" vs. Pill "Trap Goin' Ham"
Man, "Lisztomania" is so not my thing. Dreamy and pensive with rock 'n' soul backing it up but the singing such a blank that this holds no dreams or thoughts for me. "Trap Goin' Ham" sounds like Atlanta 2001, and it doesn't touch me/scare me quite as much as Backbone et al. once did, but this is still a good sound, and Pill could be shoveling the driveway in Pittsburgh and I'd find it more galvanizing than the Phoenix track.
I vote for PILL "TRAP GOIN' HAM"
--DJ Quik & Kurupt "9xs Outta 10" vs. Electrik Red "So Good"
Stop-start motion, and when it stops, nine times outta ten, it's gon' start again, and my ears and eyes are w/ Quik and Kurupt as they jerk forward, and when it stops, nine times outta ten, it's gon' start again, and my ears and eyes are... Meanwhile, on the Electrik side, a leftover woman finds a man's bed irresistible and has a bed of sound to coo atop; I respect this but don't actually care about it, except for the cooing, and when it stops...
I vote for DJ QUIK & KURUPT "9XS OUTTA 10"
--Dirty Projectors "Stillness Is The Move" vs. Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Heads Will Roll"
"Stillness" sounds like wooden puppets trying to emulate Minnie Riperton; is potentially intriguing but stillness isn't much of a move, actually. Karen O's not the most supple singer either, but this best-off is no contest as she gets feisty and encounters a fearsome dance of death while her band leaps unexpectedly to competence.
I vote for YEAH YEAH YEAHS "HEADS WILL ROLL"
Frank Kogan's ballot, the Singles Jukebox Quarter-Finals:
YOU BELONG WITH ME vs. LOBA
They're both on the prowl, tracking down one
Each having fun, Shakira with "howls"
And "gasps" so off-hand, from shivery disco
Of L.A. or San Francisco, while in another land
A room in Tennessee where Taylor obsesses
But a twinkle we would guess is in her "ee-ee-ee"
That's sillier and more hot than Shakira's mock froth--
Taylor's no moth! and my vote she's got
"You Belong With Me" = 8 points
"Loba" = 2 points
HEY PLAYA! (MOROCCAN BLUES) vs. HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS
That "Daggers" beat is so claustrophobic, confining; GZA and Inspectah Deck and Raekwon slot themselves right into the rigidity, Ghostface adds a few sidesteps, and finally Method Man sashays in and out with no barriers, provides relief and release, but overall this is exhausting. In contrast, "Hey Playa" is a world-wide maelstrom that Quik treats like a horror house and Kurupt like his own living room. A party, with frightened eyes.
"Hey Playa! (Moroccan Blues)" = 7 points
"House Of Flying Daggers" = 3 points
FIFTEEN vs. TRAP GOIN' HAM
"Ham" enters with happy plinks and dark suspense, food flying. It's OK, but I've been here and it's the same old Georgia sky. On "Fifteen" Taylor's voice is almost down to plain speaking, but it's the sort of speaking that lifts and flies just like she's flying in that guy's car (he said that when her blue eyes shined they put the Georgia stars to shame at night; she said, "That's a lie," but her eyes shone when she said it).
"Fifteen" = 9 points
"Trap Goin' Ham" = 1 point
9xs OUTTA 10 vs. HEADS WILL ROLL
Two complementary tracks, Kurupt dry and riveting, Karen O. loose and wet, calling for decapitation, and Quik and Kurupt provide the guillotine - though I give YYYs the edge, heh heh.
"Heads Will Roll" = 6 points
"9x's Outta 10" = 4 points
Frank Kogan's Singles Jukebox ballot, Round Four, the semis:
--YOU BELONG WITH ME vs. HEY PLAYA! (MOROCCAN BLUES)
Just one example of how well-constructed "You Belong With Me" is: the first four lines of each verse end hard on the first beat of a measure, but rather than waiting several beats for a new measure to come around, Taylor launches lines two and three right on the next immediate upbeat, so there's the sense of rolling forward in a natural somersault. On the other team our man Quik is busy drilling holes in the ground to create his own superb density of rhythm. What wins this for Taylor is how she cuts syllables into goofy little streamers that she cheerfully waves over her head, outclassing Kurupt's generally fine drawl.
"You Belong With Me" = 7 points
"Hey Playa! (Moroccan Blues)" = 3 points
--FIFTEEN vs. 9xs OUTTA 10
Love the way Quik and Kurupt shift beats sideways past each other, creating an obsessive little perpetual-motion machine. Back when I was reviewing "Addictive," I spoke with great knowledge and authority to define Quik's beats thusly: "Damn, what's he doing?" In contrast, Taylor's pace on "Fifteen" is relatively static, a quiet swarm of mandolin notes giving her space to sit with herself. This kind of threw me - underrated Fearless at first - but now it seems right, allows her to create emphases by softening her voice. Good match, but I go with Taylor's vulnerability.
"Fifteen" = 6 points
"9xs Outta 10" = 4 points
The important thing to note in what follows is that I HAVE WRITTEN A POEM. Even if you get bored with what precedes the poem, do not leave this post without scrolling down to read the poem.
The more intrepid among you will also see that, in a less worthy moment, I say that stillness is not much of a move. I am embarrassed at making such a lame crack, but now I have warned you. Also, I somehow never found the opportunity to point out that Taylor Swift's "Fifteen" is her fifteenth best song, so I am informing you now. I know some of you may find such an assertion altogether too convenient to be believed, but I assure you I checked the arithmetic three times.
Here's GROUP 5:
1. The Lonely Island "I'm On A Boat"
2. Ne-Yo "Part Of The List"
3. Busy Signal "Da Style Deh"
4. Pill "Trap Goin' Ham"
5. Calle 13 f. Cuci Amador "Electro Movimiento"
Surely, this is the Group Of Death, top two running neck-and-neck and three and four only a hair behind. I give the Group Cup to the Lonely Island 'cause of how exuberantly they splish and splash into the ocean-bath of foamy, undeserved luxury. Ne-Yo at number two is the opposite, the guy in his thin sweet voice obsessively listing all he lost when he lost the woman, wounding himself with quick little jabs, onto infinity. It's only in the context of those two that Busy Signal's gorgeous ululations sound a bit standard. Sorry Mr. Signal that I'm not ranking you higher. (Btw, the GreenMoney Liquid Re-Rub of Busy Signal's "Tic Toc" is a sure thing for my end of the year top fifty.) Meanwhile "Trap Goin' Ham" is dogged, eye-level dealing under the sparkling, menacing Georgia night. Love the style, though this decade's given us scores of similarly good tracks from Jeezy et al. "Electro Movimiento" is glum boys having fun, is the only one here that feels forced and tired: Cuci Amador is too self-cautious to go full-scale into the freestyle passion that the song promises, and the Calle guys can't zing the beats or the words like they need to. This isn't bad, but it's indie.
Here's GROUP 7 for ya:
1. DJ Quik & Kurupt "9xs Outta 10"
2. Joy Orbison "Hyph Mngo"
3. VV Brown "Shark in the Water"
4. The-Dream f. Mariah Carey "My Love"
5. The-Dream "Rockin' That Shit"
Quik's beat and Kurupt's voice stick out their respective feet to trip each other up, and then it's a constant somersault, not one that I can pull myself out of, or want to. Then, just as I'm settling in my bath for a nice "Hyph Mngo" wash, Joy Orbison takes a cue from Quik and works a sudden stutter-step into the ship's motor, and there I am, water splashing while my core gets jarred. I've heard it's therapeutic. VV Brown's got one of those generically quirky voices that have been going horribly retro on us for the last half-decade, like the office manager getting "giddy" at the Xmas party, mixing drinks and metaphors with equal abandon. Entertains me fine, this time, despite my basic reserve. The-Dream made the album of my year, but my least favorite tracks were chosen as singles, just as if his genre were country not r&b. Not bad for least favorite, actually, Mariah singing "My Love"'s sex-mush riff with soft, beautiful insistence." On "Rockin' That Shit" Terius Nash continues with the spare lushness that only he can manage - did it superbly on "Fancy," is kinda boring here.
Frank Kogan's second round ballot, Jukebox 2009
--Taylor Swift "You Belong With Me" vs. Florence + The Machine "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)"
Taylor uses the seeming frailties of her voice to go from pissiness to joy to steel while sounding utterly natural, bending her voice from near speech to exuberantly silly melisma. Florence, in contrast, dresses her voice up expensively and sounds imprisoned in her clothes; that's something of the point here, the chorus coming along to release her, not from clothes but from rigidity. I can see how a listener might hear poignance in it, but that's not enough when pitted against a Taylor's virtuosity, and Taylor's got an even better chorus.
I vote for TAYLOR SWIFT "YOU BELONG WITH ME"
--Joy Orbison "Hyph Mngo" vs. Shakira "Loba"
Joy O. starts with beautiful dark moods and then throws dirt on the gentle wash. As for Shakira, though I sometimes find her harsh voice a barrier to what's touching in her idiosyncratic language, she low-keys the harshness this time to humorous effect on a disco-funk track that would otherwise be saying "batshit." Edge to Shakira, altered voice beating altered moodiness.
I vote for SHAKIRA "LOBA"
--DJ Quik & Kurupt "Hey Playa! (Moroccan Blues)" vs. Busy Signal "Da Style Deh"
Quik & Kurupt pile the world into this track: a twisting sample that's almost drowned by dance lounging and soulful singing, as Q and K contradict each other about the virtues and dangers of selling oneself to the party of hip-hop. A fascinating track that has the misfortune of running up against a vocal by Busy Signal that's simultaneously gorgeous and pushy.
I vote for BUSY SIGNAL "DA STYLE DEH"
--Raekwon f. Buncha Da Clan "House of Flying Daggers" vs. Röyksopp "The Girl And The Robot" ft. Robyn as The Girl.
Clan tie themselves to a dramatic, static beat, the men called Method and Ghostface being the ones to run an interesting slalom around it, but this drama pales in comparison to that of Robyn as a desperate homemaker resorting to MTV at nights while bf or hubby stays away at work and nightmare sound engulfs her.
I vote for RÖYKSOPP FT. ROBYN "THE GIRL AND THE ROBOT"
--Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Zero" vs. Taylor Swift "Fifteen"
I've heard all of Yeah Yeah Yeah's albums without ever making sense of Karen O's far-too-rigid Chriss Hyndisms; reading Anthony E. in the last round I gathered that there was a whole journey here I could notice if I were to worm my way into the lyrics. Too late for this round, where Karen's start from zero can't match Taylor's story at fifteen. Taylor overplays the fragility here, a little, but the details just keeping adding up while anticipation and events pile into small adventures and big sadness, always some sadness.
I vote for TAYLOR SWIFT "FIFTEEN"
--Phoenix "Lisztomania" vs. Pill "Trap Goin' Ham"
Man, "Lisztomania" is so not my thing. Dreamy and pensive with rock 'n' soul backing it up but the singing such a blank that this holds no dreams or thoughts for me. "Trap Goin' Ham" sounds like Atlanta 2001, and it doesn't touch me/scare me quite as much as Backbone et al. once did, but this is still a good sound, and Pill could be shoveling the driveway in Pittsburgh and I'd find it more galvanizing than the Phoenix track.
I vote for PILL "TRAP GOIN' HAM"
--DJ Quik & Kurupt "9xs Outta 10" vs. Electrik Red "So Good"
Stop-start motion, and when it stops, nine times outta ten, it's gon' start again, and my ears and eyes are w/ Quik and Kurupt as they jerk forward, and when it stops, nine times outta ten, it's gon' start again, and my ears and eyes are... Meanwhile, on the Electrik side, a leftover woman finds a man's bed irresistible and has a bed of sound to coo atop; I respect this but don't actually care about it, except for the cooing, and when it stops...
I vote for DJ QUIK & KURUPT "9XS OUTTA 10"
--Dirty Projectors "Stillness Is The Move" vs. Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Heads Will Roll"
"Stillness" sounds like wooden puppets trying to emulate Minnie Riperton; is potentially intriguing but stillness isn't much of a move, actually. Karen O's not the most supple singer either, but this best-off is no contest as she gets feisty and encounters a fearsome dance of death while her band leaps unexpectedly to competence.
I vote for YEAH YEAH YEAHS "HEADS WILL ROLL"
Frank Kogan's ballot, the Singles Jukebox Quarter-Finals:
YOU BELONG WITH ME vs. LOBA
They're both on the prowl, tracking down one
Each having fun, Shakira with "howls"
And "gasps" so off-hand, from shivery disco
Of L.A. or San Francisco, while in another land
A room in Tennessee where Taylor obsesses
But a twinkle we would guess is in her "ee-ee-ee"
That's sillier and more hot than Shakira's mock froth--
Taylor's no moth! and my vote she's got
"You Belong With Me" = 8 points
"Loba" = 2 points
HEY PLAYA! (MOROCCAN BLUES) vs. HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS
That "Daggers" beat is so claustrophobic, confining; GZA and Inspectah Deck and Raekwon slot themselves right into the rigidity, Ghostface adds a few sidesteps, and finally Method Man sashays in and out with no barriers, provides relief and release, but overall this is exhausting. In contrast, "Hey Playa" is a world-wide maelstrom that Quik treats like a horror house and Kurupt like his own living room. A party, with frightened eyes.
"Hey Playa! (Moroccan Blues)" = 7 points
"House Of Flying Daggers" = 3 points
FIFTEEN vs. TRAP GOIN' HAM
"Ham" enters with happy plinks and dark suspense, food flying. It's OK, but I've been here and it's the same old Georgia sky. On "Fifteen" Taylor's voice is almost down to plain speaking, but it's the sort of speaking that lifts and flies just like she's flying in that guy's car (he said that when her blue eyes shined they put the Georgia stars to shame at night; she said, "That's a lie," but her eyes shone when she said it).
"Fifteen" = 9 points
"Trap Goin' Ham" = 1 point
9xs OUTTA 10 vs. HEADS WILL ROLL
Two complementary tracks, Kurupt dry and riveting, Karen O. loose and wet, calling for decapitation, and Quik and Kurupt provide the guillotine - though I give YYYs the edge, heh heh.
"Heads Will Roll" = 6 points
"9x's Outta 10" = 4 points
Frank Kogan's Singles Jukebox ballot, Round Four, the semis:
--YOU BELONG WITH ME vs. HEY PLAYA! (MOROCCAN BLUES)
Just one example of how well-constructed "You Belong With Me" is: the first four lines of each verse end hard on the first beat of a measure, but rather than waiting several beats for a new measure to come around, Taylor launches lines two and three right on the next immediate upbeat, so there's the sense of rolling forward in a natural somersault. On the other team our man Quik is busy drilling holes in the ground to create his own superb density of rhythm. What wins this for Taylor is how she cuts syllables into goofy little streamers that she cheerfully waves over her head, outclassing Kurupt's generally fine drawl.
"You Belong With Me" = 7 points
"Hey Playa! (Moroccan Blues)" = 3 points
--FIFTEEN vs. 9xs OUTTA 10
Love the way Quik and Kurupt shift beats sideways past each other, creating an obsessive little perpetual-motion machine. Back when I was reviewing "Addictive," I spoke with great knowledge and authority to define Quik's beats thusly: "Damn, what's he doing?" In contrast, Taylor's pace on "Fifteen" is relatively static, a quiet swarm of mandolin notes giving her space to sit with herself. This kind of threw me - underrated Fearless at first - but now it seems right, allows her to create emphases by softening her voice. Good match, but I go with Taylor's vulnerability.
"Fifteen" = 6 points
"9xs Outta 10" = 4 points