I'll never be the hot actor, I'm too cold
My P&J ballot is due in less than a week, and while I'm struggling to keep my singles shortlist under 100, I'm also struggling to come up with a really good albums list (though it's already way better than last year's). My struggle doesn't say anything about recent albums, just that since no one's paying me to review, I'm not spending a lot of time listening to them. I do like the idea of listening to a lot of stuff by the same artist so as to allow one track to enrich my understanding of the others. But with singles and conversation coming so fast and furiously, doing their own job of enrichment... Actually, what happened is my CD player broke, and I haven't replaced it, so now I'm required to pick up CDs and carry them into another room to play on my computer, which not only deters me from listening but means I can't listen to albums while washing the dishes, my preferred method of album consumption. Anyhow, here are my four certainties, plus some prime candidates, a few of which I've listened to more than once.
Top Four:
1. Ke$ha Animal (RCA)
2. E.via Must Have EP (Dline Art Media)
3. The-Dream Love King (Radio Killa/Def Jam)
4. Various Artists Ayobaness! (The Sound Of South African House) (Out Here)
Candidates:
Marina And The Diamonds The Family Jewels (Atlantic)
E.via Via Polar EP (Dline Art Media)
Taylor Swift Speak Now (Big Machine)
Ke$ha Cannibal EP (RCA)
Rihanna Loud (Def Jam)
Princesa Más Fuego (no label)
Various Artists Shangaan Electro (Honest Jon's)
Jenni Vartiainen Seili (Warner Music Finland)
Yelawolf Trunk Muzik 0-60 (Interscope)
Far East Movement Free Wired (Cherrytree)
DJ DOC Elegance
Roach Gigz Roachy Balboa (Goomba)
Mumford & Sons, Laura Marling, Dharohar Project EP (Universal Island)
Hurts Happiness (RCA)
Chely Wright Lifted Off The Ground (Vanguard)
Wiley Best Of Wiley Zip Files (Davey Boy Smith version) (no label)
Robyn Body Talk (Konichiwa)
2NE1 To Anyone (YG Entertainment)
Ne-Yo Libra Scale (Def Jam)
Flynnville Train Redemption (Next Evolution)
Pending: I Blåme Coco, K. Michelle, Girlicious, SNSD, Kelis, Nicki Minaj, Rick Ross, Jamey Johnson, Gucci Mane, M.I.A., Kenny Chesney, Selena Gomez & The Scene, Crystal Bowersox, Arcade Fire, Sleigh Bells, Laura Bell Bundy, Ariel Pink, Lee Brice, Jerrod Niemann, Trace Adkins, Randy Houser, Jace Everett.
Reissues:
1. Bob Seger Never Mind The Bullets Here's Early Bob Seger (Myonga)
2. Various The Roots Of Chicha 2: Psychedelic Cumbias From Peru (Barbès)
The-Dream is a brilliantly galling combination of Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson, and if his voice were more than one-fifth as good as either of theirs he'd be the best thing in history. As it is, he gets to me anyway, basically all the time now. I don't feel a drop-off from his last album at all. Makes his lush lovers' tracks edgy and rambunctious, just like his edgy and rambunctious tracks. When he goes, "I'll never be the hot actor, I'm too cold," he probably only means he's not topping anyone's name-recognition list, but I like to think he's also referring to the piercing icicles of his mind.
Rihanna's Loud and Robyn's Body Talk turned out better than their singles had made me fear, and Ne-Yo's Libra Scale turned out worse than the singles had caused me to hope. As I said when "Only Girl (In The World)" came out, Rihanna sings the sweet seductive parts with beautiful precision. She's got a basic command in her delivery even when she's being as anonymous as can be, and none of the other tracks on the album ruin themselves with the dance pulverization that wrecked "Only Girl"'s chorus. Is good-to-great bubblegum, the old roughness and sorrow that spill into her voice just making for stronger bubbles. Best tracks: "Man Down," "S&M," "Love The Way You Lie," "Skin."
I'm only on my first impression of Body Talk. Its weakness relative to Robyn 2005 is that back then she and Åhlund had cleared out the arrangements so as to allow her cute and grating voice to make its own rules. Whereas now she's got more full-and-balanced tracks, and the voice feels like an element that doesn't necessarily belong. The Röyksopp tracks work best 'cause they provide severe electronic cliffs for her to scratch her way up.
Ne-Yo's album simply doesn't have enough good tunes, and his delicate connoisseurs' voice isn't sufficient to carry the rest. (One hearing only, however.)
Top Four:
1. Ke$ha Animal (RCA)
2. E.via Must Have EP (Dline Art Media)
3. The-Dream Love King (Radio Killa/Def Jam)
4. Various Artists Ayobaness! (The Sound Of South African House) (Out Here)
Candidates:
Marina And The Diamonds The Family Jewels (Atlantic)
E.via Via Polar EP (Dline Art Media)
Taylor Swift Speak Now (Big Machine)
Ke$ha Cannibal EP (RCA)
Rihanna Loud (Def Jam)
Princesa Más Fuego (no label)
Various Artists Shangaan Electro (Honest Jon's)
Jenni Vartiainen Seili (Warner Music Finland)
Yelawolf Trunk Muzik 0-60 (Interscope)
Far East Movement Free Wired (Cherrytree)
DJ DOC Elegance
Roach Gigz Roachy Balboa (Goomba)
Mumford & Sons, Laura Marling, Dharohar Project EP (Universal Island)
Hurts Happiness (RCA)
Chely Wright Lifted Off The Ground (Vanguard)
Wiley Best Of Wiley Zip Files (Davey Boy Smith version) (no label)
Robyn Body Talk (Konichiwa)
2NE1 To Anyone (YG Entertainment)
Ne-Yo Libra Scale (Def Jam)
Flynnville Train Redemption (Next Evolution)
Pending: I Blåme Coco, K. Michelle, Girlicious, SNSD, Kelis, Nicki Minaj, Rick Ross, Jamey Johnson, Gucci Mane, M.I.A., Kenny Chesney, Selena Gomez & The Scene, Crystal Bowersox, Arcade Fire, Sleigh Bells, Laura Bell Bundy, Ariel Pink, Lee Brice, Jerrod Niemann, Trace Adkins, Randy Houser, Jace Everett.
Reissues:
1. Bob Seger Never Mind The Bullets Here's Early Bob Seger (Myonga)
2. Various The Roots Of Chicha 2: Psychedelic Cumbias From Peru (Barbès)
The-Dream is a brilliantly galling combination of Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson, and if his voice were more than one-fifth as good as either of theirs he'd be the best thing in history. As it is, he gets to me anyway, basically all the time now. I don't feel a drop-off from his last album at all. Makes his lush lovers' tracks edgy and rambunctious, just like his edgy and rambunctious tracks. When he goes, "I'll never be the hot actor, I'm too cold," he probably only means he's not topping anyone's name-recognition list, but I like to think he's also referring to the piercing icicles of his mind.
Rihanna's Loud and Robyn's Body Talk turned out better than their singles had made me fear, and Ne-Yo's Libra Scale turned out worse than the singles had caused me to hope. As I said when "Only Girl (In The World)" came out, Rihanna sings the sweet seductive parts with beautiful precision. She's got a basic command in her delivery even when she's being as anonymous as can be, and none of the other tracks on the album ruin themselves with the dance pulverization that wrecked "Only Girl"'s chorus. Is good-to-great bubblegum, the old roughness and sorrow that spill into her voice just making for stronger bubbles. Best tracks: "Man Down," "S&M," "Love The Way You Lie," "Skin."
I'm only on my first impression of Body Talk. Its weakness relative to Robyn 2005 is that back then she and Åhlund had cleared out the arrangements so as to allow her cute and grating voice to make its own rules. Whereas now she's got more full-and-balanced tracks, and the voice feels like an element that doesn't necessarily belong. The Röyksopp tracks work best 'cause they provide severe electronic cliffs for her to scratch her way up.
Ne-Yo's album simply doesn't have enough good tunes, and his delicate connoisseurs' voice isn't sufficient to carry the rest. (One hearing only, however.)