Monday, July 21, 2003
Random thoughts on my top 50 of 2000, part 3.
*
I’ve suggested in this space recently that Madonna, artistically speaking, appears to be in decline, and I stand by that. But that doesn’t mean she can’t still strike gold from time to time, as she did on the single “Music.” This should’ve been what she was going for with Ray of Light: nasty Frenchified funk (courtesy of producer Mirwais) that endlessly, effortlessly, makes asses shake like some miracle product advertised in hour-long 3am commercials – the kind you watch after a night at the club, shaking your ass to the music, and the “Music,” all night long. Plus she uses the word “bourgeousie.” So what went wrong on American Life?
*
Ruff Endz were, themselves, instantly forgettable, but “No More” is a delectable sweet/tart of a song, one which’ll still bring a smile to my face a decade from now.
*
“The Light” is one side of the Common coin, his most-displayed side, the sensitive-guy/black Phil Donahue side. [Please – tell me he wouldn’t wear a hippie dress in harmony with womankind, and I’ll tell you how wrong I think you are.] It’s good, and it’s refreshing in the pimps up/ho’s down world of hiphop, but it’s starting to smell a little stale. The otherside of that coin comes through all too rarely, but still pops up on tracks like “The 6th Sense.” The key is in the production; the genius who is DJ Premier helps keep Common from fully succumbing to the tarpits of complete pussiness.
*
“Party Up (Up In Here)” is to 2000 as to “In Da Club” is to 2003. And, really, you can take that parallel even further and suggest that DMX is to ‘00 the way 50 Cent is to ‘03. The big difference? When I hear DMX rapping, I always feel like he’s about thisfar from coming unhinged. He’s unstable – and I love that about him. DMX is pure animus on wax.
*
I sure hope Mystikal invested the royalties from “Shake Ya Ass” well.
*
Michael Moog is, basically, irrelevant to me, but “That Sound” was the best disco-soaked filtered house record of 2000 – and maybe 2001, too.
*
“I Think I’m In Love With You” is the sound of “Jack and Diane” on the radio, singing along at the top of your lungs in your best friend’s convertible as you fly down the highway heading towards the beach, on the cusp of leaving your teenage years, high on life, high on that certain someone. It’s the sound of Jessica Simpson in love. It’s the sound of you in love, too.
*
Hearing Armand Van Helden ripping shit (and “Cars”) up on “Koochy” is the epitome of the phrase “fuck me gently with a chainsaw” transformed into brilliant tech-house. The purists hated it, always a good sign. [I ranked this #8 at the end of 2K; a re-rank would likely land it at #3, possibly even in the runner-up spot.]
*
Do you remember the first time you heard anything from Radiohead’s Kid A? That wonderment, that amazement, that oh-my-fucking-God jaw-droppingment? I remember being particularly interested in what they’d come up with after OK Computer, and actually tuning into the local “modern rock” (my ass) station to hear the first spin of “Optimistic.” And it was so, so – dissonant. So almost Sonic Youthish. So pushing the parameters of what you can do in the rock idiom, as the “next/last great hope.” And they’re still. Fucking. Doing It. They may not be the best rock band alive today, but they’re unquestionably the most important, I think, because of the way they push and prod and kick at the constructs of the genre, of the form, from their position as a global colossus. Like a man given superpowers who uses them for good, they’re the good guys, they’re on our side. People will talk about them in 50 years. Seriously.
*
Outkast = P-Funk. It's that fucking simple.
*
D’Angelo’s “Untitled (How Does It Feel)” might just be the “Let’s Get It On” of our generation.
*
I’ve suggested in this space recently that Madonna, artistically speaking, appears to be in decline, and I stand by that. But that doesn’t mean she can’t still strike gold from time to time, as she did on the single “Music.” This should’ve been what she was going for with Ray of Light: nasty Frenchified funk (courtesy of producer Mirwais) that endlessly, effortlessly, makes asses shake like some miracle product advertised in hour-long 3am commercials – the kind you watch after a night at the club, shaking your ass to the music, and the “Music,” all night long. Plus she uses the word “bourgeousie.” So what went wrong on American Life?
*
Ruff Endz were, themselves, instantly forgettable, but “No More” is a delectable sweet/tart of a song, one which’ll still bring a smile to my face a decade from now.
*
“The Light” is one side of the Common coin, his most-displayed side, the sensitive-guy/black Phil Donahue side. [Please – tell me he wouldn’t wear a hippie dress in harmony with womankind, and I’ll tell you how wrong I think you are.] It’s good, and it’s refreshing in the pimps up/ho’s down world of hiphop, but it’s starting to smell a little stale. The otherside of that coin comes through all too rarely, but still pops up on tracks like “The 6th Sense.” The key is in the production; the genius who is DJ Premier helps keep Common from fully succumbing to the tarpits of complete pussiness.
*
“Party Up (Up In Here)” is to 2000 as to “In Da Club” is to 2003. And, really, you can take that parallel even further and suggest that DMX is to ‘00 the way 50 Cent is to ‘03. The big difference? When I hear DMX rapping, I always feel like he’s about thisfar from coming unhinged. He’s unstable – and I love that about him. DMX is pure animus on wax.
*
I sure hope Mystikal invested the royalties from “Shake Ya Ass” well.
*
Michael Moog is, basically, irrelevant to me, but “That Sound” was the best disco-soaked filtered house record of 2000 – and maybe 2001, too.
*
“I Think I’m In Love With You” is the sound of “Jack and Diane” on the radio, singing along at the top of your lungs in your best friend’s convertible as you fly down the highway heading towards the beach, on the cusp of leaving your teenage years, high on life, high on that certain someone. It’s the sound of Jessica Simpson in love. It’s the sound of you in love, too.
*
Hearing Armand Van Helden ripping shit (and “Cars”) up on “Koochy” is the epitome of the phrase “fuck me gently with a chainsaw” transformed into brilliant tech-house. The purists hated it, always a good sign. [I ranked this #8 at the end of 2K; a re-rank would likely land it at #3, possibly even in the runner-up spot.]
*
Do you remember the first time you heard anything from Radiohead’s Kid A? That wonderment, that amazement, that oh-my-fucking-God jaw-droppingment? I remember being particularly interested in what they’d come up with after OK Computer, and actually tuning into the local “modern rock” (my ass) station to hear the first spin of “Optimistic.” And it was so, so – dissonant. So almost Sonic Youthish. So pushing the parameters of what you can do in the rock idiom, as the “next/last great hope.” And they’re still. Fucking. Doing It. They may not be the best rock band alive today, but they’re unquestionably the most important, I think, because of the way they push and prod and kick at the constructs of the genre, of the form, from their position as a global colossus. Like a man given superpowers who uses them for good, they’re the good guys, they’re on our side. People will talk about them in 50 years. Seriously.
*
Outkast = P-Funk. It's that fucking simple.
*
D’Angelo’s “Untitled (How Does It Feel)” might just be the “Let’s Get It On” of our generation.
# posted by Thomas : 2:28 PM
