McNutt Against the Music

I haven’t done one of these in months, so let’s make it an extended edition, shall we?

Mariah Carey – “Touch My Body”

Although The Emancipation of Mimi was received as a huge comeback album for Mariah, everyone neglects that its lead single – “It’s Like That” – was a wee bit of a flop, another one of the hip hop-influenced tracks that had driven sales of her last couple of records into the ditch. It was only when they followed that up with the album’s ballad – the quite fantastic “We Belong Together” – that sales picked up and the ‘comeback’ was complete.

This time, someone at her label got smart – release a slow song first. “Touch My Body” is no “We Belong Together,” though, despite its few charms (that pre-chorus of “If there’s a camera up in here…” is catchy as hell). It just feels redundant to me: another sex song that really doesn’t add anything lyrically or musically to the genre. Come to think about it, is there any theme in music that’s as limiting as sex? It’s the kind of thing where describing it kind of misses the point.

Leona Lews – “Bleeding Love”

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORING.

Every year someone releases a stereotypical ballad that gives everyone a chance to revisit the false loves of their life, and a year later that someone is usually forgotten. Don’t try and add a Timbaland-ripoff beat and an organ and try to convince me that this is anything special.

Panic at the Disco – “Nine in the Afternoon”

When I first heard “I Write Sins Not Tragedies,” I don’t think I could have possibly hated it any more than I did. It used strings for pretentiousness to offset its boring guitar hook, it stuffed a ridiculous number of words into every line without any sense of rhythm or rhyme, and Brendon Urie’s vocals were stereotypically indulgent emo tripe.

“Nine in the Afternoon” can’t do anything about that last point, but it’s an improvement on the rest. It’s got a decent melody, the strings feel right at home, and its indulgences tend to be charms instead of turnoffs. Plus, it distances the band just enough from their emo peers that they almost sound a tad bit unique (well, until you realize the hundreds of other bands that they’re ripping off, but hey – but within a trendline as redundant as emo has become, you take what you can get).

Lil’ Wayne – “Lollipop”

Yeah, like we’ve never heard THAT metaphor before. And can we officially place a moratorium on the use of “shorty” in hip hop/R&B? Lil’ Wayne’s got a wickedly cool voice, and that’s the only reason this is even worth 30 seconds of your time – not a moment more.

Death Cab for Cutie – “I Will Posses Your Heart”

I’m not a big fan of this track, and that somewhat bothers me. I worry that because I see Death Cab as a pop band, I’m being unfairly discriminatory towards “I Will Possess Your Heart.” There’s lots of musical genres where this sort of slow build is the norm – dance and electronica, post-rock – but because I keep expecting a chorus to kick in, or for something other than the same repetitive bass line, I end up finding the song long and boring.

Or maybe it actually is long and boring. Sure, the band’s last two records were a bit polished – like them though I did – but I’m not sure that indulgent jam music is the direction I was hoping they’d take. The song is charmingly creepy once it kicks in, but it takes four minutes to get there, and I’m not sure that it’s good enough to earn that build. Props to the band for releasing an eight-minute track as their first single, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I listen to the radio edit more often than the album track.

Sara Bareilles – “Love Song”

What a weird hit single. Like, I could see this breaking through as a CanCon single or something like that, but an American top 10? Never underestimate the need for adult-pop material on the radio. It’s not a bad hook, but it’s like Feist without the quirk, like Sarah Slean without the operatics; in other words, kind of pointless.

B-52’s – “Funplex”

R.E.M. aren’t the only band from Athens, Georgia trying to win over their old fanbase this year. When you realize that the band is in their 50’s – hell, Kate Pierson is almost 60 – the fact that “Funplex” sounds so young can be a bit distracting, but it’s great to see that the band’s charms haven’t been dulled that much in the intervening years since their heyday.

Fred Schneider is still shrill and sassy, the hooks are still tight, and Pierson and Cindy Wilson still harmonize like a dream. Does it near their best work? Of course not. But it’s better than it has any right to be, and if nothing else, can hopefully convince a few people that the B-52’s have always been more than just “Love Shack” and that their back catalogue is worth a raid.

Madonna ft. Justin Timberlake – “4 Minutes”

The moment this song started, I hated it. HATED it. You see, while I put Timbaland on my “things that made 2006 great” list, I felt 2007 was the year where Tim jumped the shark: overexposed, overplayed and (given the material on his solo album) overhyped. So when he starts this track with his typical self-indulgent rapping, I prepared for the worst. Things didn’t get much better when I remembered that JT was on the track. Is this really Madonna’s attempt for 2008 relevancy: hooking up with the hottest duo of two years ago?

But then the hook kicks in, easily the best Tim’s made in a long time, and my interest returns. And then comes the pre-chorus, where Madge and JT sing the hook, and – originality be damned – I think I’m digging it. The chorus seals the deal. By the end of the song, I’m a complete convert and cranking the track over and over again. There’s a few things that still bug me about it – the fact that Madonna and Justin split the “grab a boy, grab a girl” line, the mediocre lyrics – but the screw it: this is the best hit of the year so far.