Oh, Manchester, So Much To Answer For

went on another downloading binge last night, and uncovered some real gems, perhaps led by - of all things - kelly rowland's "stole." this is an ace slice of commercial r-and-b, slick as hell, but with surprisingly strong vocals from rowland, and really quite good lyrics - all support-the-children and lost-little-girls, but with an odd sense of uplift, somehow bringing it above typical pop-songwriting cliche. not to mention a generically "asian" keyb figure stolen, I think, from peaches and herb.

"girls talk" is the first salvo from the forthcoming last tlc album. lyrically bland with unexciting production, the best thing about it, as with so many tlc tracks, is left eye's feisty rap. she's gonna be missed, real missed. and by the way, has anyone else noticed how much left eye sounded like mc lyte?

I'm not ready for snoop dogg's jelly, or to write about "from tha chuuuch to tha palace" yet, 'cause I can't put my finger on something about it. suffice it to say it's the best thing he's done in years, and the second-best neptunes production of the year (after the clipse's "grindin'").