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…I think it says, “Cha-ching!” single: “The Fox” artist: Ylvis “The Fox” sounds like what would happen if Bjork sold out and got a lobotomy. It’s a wondrously wide-eyed, full-blown EDM version of the See ‘N Say, except there’s a wildcard animal in the henhouse: “What does the fox say?” What follows that hook… is…
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…Britney said to her producers. single: “Work Bitch” artist: Britney Spears It is perhaps the biggest testament to the clout Britney Spears holds that she can continue to release such production-reliant singles and not need to give the producers a featured artist (or heck, LEAD artist) credit. In the pre-EDM days, when singles like “Toxic”…
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They certainly did. single: “Get Lucky” artist: Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams Electronic music icons Daft Punk hit the jackpot this time. And to my ears, it is quite a bit like the jackpot: random, not necessarily unearned, but could just as easily have gone to someone else. The issue here may be how to…
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Better not invite Randy Travis to this night outing… just sayin’. single: “That’s My Kind of Night” artist: Luke Bryan Country music is an anomaly as far as contemporary music goes. It’s the only genre that reflexively rejects technological advances and gee-whiz production gimmicks. Each decade brings a trickle of fresh sounds, but tradition is…
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Heard any good similes lately? single: “Wrecking Ball” artist: Miley Cyrus It’s almost unbearable. The levels on which we can take the central simile (strictly speaking, not a metaphor, because she uses the word “like”) of our nation’s new number one single are more numerous than any record I can recall. Of course, there’s the…
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One thing that isn’t clear is where these artist names come from. single: “Clarity” artist: Zedd featuring Foxes Anton Zaslavski featuring Louisa Rose Allen. Doesn’t have quite the same ring to it. Yet these are the given names of the two artists responsible for this latest emo-EDM smash. I think it’s fair to say that the hip-hopping of…
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Mostly safe. single: “Safe and Sound” artist: Capital Cities Much in keeping with the weird timetables of the current crop of pop top tens, this single was released well over two years ago. After buzzing about on different charts and in different countries, it has finally caught fire on the big chart. “Safe and Sound” also…
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What rules? single: “Summertime Sadness” artist: Lana Del Rey vs. Cedric Gervais Pop music has opened up in the past couple of years; so much so, in fact, that there seem to be few if any rules about what makes a hit. Case in point: Lana Del Rey, a virtually un-pigeonhole-able artist from New York…
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Home to the 80s, perhaps? single: “Hold On, We’re Going Home” artist: Drake feat. Majid Jordan Every so often, a record wallops you over the head with a dreamy melodic and percussive precision, unobtrusively metered lyrics, and sinewy, effortless vocals. Every so often, a song makes you forget you’re a consumer being sold a product.…
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A remarkable half-life… single: “Radioactive” artist: Imagine Dragons Over a year after entering the pop charts, these Dragons keep burning them up. And since this record has been hanging out on the media radar for so long, I doubt there’s little new I can add. But I’ll try. The inspired rock tune has increasingly become an anomaly…
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