Yet Another Year In America August 12, 2010
Two at least nominally country tracks jump high quickly.
Taylor Swift "Mine": Was humming this compulsively for an hour after first hearing it, but haven't totally given myself to it yet: for one thing, the ringing guitar makes it too samey, drowning out the tension in her voice between strength and vulnerability. The words imply an interesting story that doesn't quite get told ("You learn my secrets, and you figure out why I'm guarded/You say we'll never make my parents' mistakes," "You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter"), strength of love surviving struggle and conflict, but the conflict's not palpable - or it is palpable, but only in her singing ("Brace myself for the goodbye/'Cause it's all I've ever known," as her voice traces an unsure trajectory), which as I said would have more impact in a sparer setting. I think my reaction is a work in progress, defending me from disappointment while the song sneaks in and touches me. Also think the leaked version I'm listening to might be an inferior rip: sped-up and thinned-out. We'll see. TICK.
Kenny Chesney "The Boys Of Fall": Gentle, deft singing struggles to stay afloat in a bulky arrangement. Guess this is a week in which I crave quietness. BORDERLINE TICK.
Ke$ha "Take It Off": The only singer I can think of for whom "grating fun" is a compliment. TICK.
Linkin Park "The Catalyst": Longtime fans over on YouTube are aghast, but as a dabbler I'm glad that the unintentionally silly seriousness of their tuneful metal ("Far from the world of you and I/Where oceans bleed into the sky") is given to genuinely silly techno beats and gizmos. BORDERLINE TICK.
Taylor Swift "Mine": Was humming this compulsively for an hour after first hearing it, but haven't totally given myself to it yet: for one thing, the ringing guitar makes it too samey, drowning out the tension in her voice between strength and vulnerability. The words imply an interesting story that doesn't quite get told ("You learn my secrets, and you figure out why I'm guarded/You say we'll never make my parents' mistakes," "You made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter"), strength of love surviving struggle and conflict, but the conflict's not palpable - or it is palpable, but only in her singing ("Brace myself for the goodbye/'Cause it's all I've ever known," as her voice traces an unsure trajectory), which as I said would have more impact in a sparer setting. I think my reaction is a work in progress, defending me from disappointment while the song sneaks in and touches me. Also think the leaked version I'm listening to might be an inferior rip: sped-up and thinned-out. We'll see. TICK.
Kenny Chesney "The Boys Of Fall": Gentle, deft singing struggles to stay afloat in a bulky arrangement. Guess this is a week in which I crave quietness. BORDERLINE TICK.
Ke$ha "Take It Off": The only singer I can think of for whom "grating fun" is a compliment. TICK.
Linkin Park "The Catalyst": Longtime fans over on YouTube are aghast, but as a dabbler I'm glad that the unintentionally silly seriousness of their tuneful metal ("Far from the world of you and I/Where oceans bleed into the sky") is given to genuinely silly techno beats and gizmos. BORDERLINE TICK.