Friday, July 18, 2003
Random thoughts on my top 50 of 2000, part 1.
*
Ideal: the double-zero’s version of Next. [You can argue that Next have released three albums or whatever, and had other hits, but just name a song of theirs not titled “Too Close.” Didn’t think so.] Wasn’t this the first appearance of Lil’ Mo on a single? [“Whatever” is appropriately lugubrious midtempo R&B; I must’ve fallen in love with the groove or something. It certainly wasn’t the lyrics.]
*
The are great duets, and there are great bad duets. The combo of Whitney Houston and Enrique Iglesias falls in the latter category. They have about as much chemistry as Pepsi and milk, Laverne DeFazio notwithstanding. Of course, this isn’t a patch on the greatest bad duet of the last decade, Christina and Ricky’s “Nobody Wants To Be Lonely.” That’s Glitter-level bad, blissfully so.
*
“That’s What I’m Looking For” is the sound of Da Brat finally making the excellent strip-club song she’s always had within her.
*
As I stated during my 2001 run-down, yes, Toby Keith has become a raving, raging wrapped-in-the-flag ass in the last year, year-and-a-half. But that doesn’t change the fact that “How Do You Like Me Now?!” is a classic, career-defining record – not to mention one of the greatest kiss-off songs of all time. Appropriately, I bought the CD single at Wal-Mart.
*
The best thing about Steely Dan’s Two Against Nature is that it sounds almost just like their classic albums 20-plus years prior: Aja, Gaucho, et.al. “Cousin Dupree” continues in their fine line of pervy songs about old guys and teenage girls – which reminds me of how, for probably a year, the only thing I heard during the song’s chorus was how it was misheard by my then-coworker Matt: “how about some dick from your cousin Dupree?” Maybe it’s a Beavis and Butt-Head thing.
*
The seeds of Christina Aguilera’s escape from teen-pop land (which came into full flower on “Dirrty”) were sown during the spoken-word bridge on “Come On Over Baby,” in case you were wondering.
*
What happened to Eric Benét? Did Glitter kill him? Or was it Halle?
*
2000 was the year DMX broke mainstream – even though he’d already had some #1 albums on the pop chart, that was thanks to his fanbase, not to the larger pop diaspora – thanks largely to the globe-conquering “Party Up.” But prior to that came the “What’s My Name” single, a thrusting, ballsy, anthemic track which practically dared you not to know who he was, complete with some typically just-thisfar-shy-of-avant-garde production (all minor keys) from the then-ruling Swizz Beats. It’s when I fell in love with his bark, all guttural and testosterone-drenched and in your face.
*
What happened to Toni Braxton, for that matter? I mean, she hasn’t disappeared like Mr. Benét, exactly, but her career kinda has (her last album didn’t even go gold. Insert sound of jaws hitting floor here). Maybe she was trying too hard, doing collabos with fucking Baby, for pete’s sake, not playing to her strengths of peppy female-empowerment uptempos and lush ballads? Not working that sumptuous voice against some state-of-the-art/moment R&B production from the likes of Darkchild (who produced her last great single, “He Wasn’t Man Enough”) or Babyface? [Just think, just allow yourself to fantasize for a moment what she could have done with that angular, machinistic Brandy single, “What About Us?” Oooh.] Come back, Toni, all is forgiven, even your turn in Beauty and the Beast on Broadway. We miss you.
*
Ideal: the double-zero’s version of Next. [You can argue that Next have released three albums or whatever, and had other hits, but just name a song of theirs not titled “Too Close.” Didn’t think so.] Wasn’t this the first appearance of Lil’ Mo on a single? [“Whatever” is appropriately lugubrious midtempo R&B; I must’ve fallen in love with the groove or something. It certainly wasn’t the lyrics.]
*
The are great duets, and there are great bad duets. The combo of Whitney Houston and Enrique Iglesias falls in the latter category. They have about as much chemistry as Pepsi and milk, Laverne DeFazio notwithstanding. Of course, this isn’t a patch on the greatest bad duet of the last decade, Christina and Ricky’s “Nobody Wants To Be Lonely.” That’s Glitter-level bad, blissfully so.
*
“That’s What I’m Looking For” is the sound of Da Brat finally making the excellent strip-club song she’s always had within her.
*
As I stated during my 2001 run-down, yes, Toby Keith has become a raving, raging wrapped-in-the-flag ass in the last year, year-and-a-half. But that doesn’t change the fact that “How Do You Like Me Now?!” is a classic, career-defining record – not to mention one of the greatest kiss-off songs of all time. Appropriately, I bought the CD single at Wal-Mart.
*
The best thing about Steely Dan’s Two Against Nature is that it sounds almost just like their classic albums 20-plus years prior: Aja, Gaucho, et.al. “Cousin Dupree” continues in their fine line of pervy songs about old guys and teenage girls – which reminds me of how, for probably a year, the only thing I heard during the song’s chorus was how it was misheard by my then-coworker Matt: “how about some dick from your cousin Dupree?” Maybe it’s a Beavis and Butt-Head thing.
*
The seeds of Christina Aguilera’s escape from teen-pop land (which came into full flower on “Dirrty”) were sown during the spoken-word bridge on “Come On Over Baby,” in case you were wondering.
*
What happened to Eric Benét? Did Glitter kill him? Or was it Halle?
*
2000 was the year DMX broke mainstream – even though he’d already had some #1 albums on the pop chart, that was thanks to his fanbase, not to the larger pop diaspora – thanks largely to the globe-conquering “Party Up.” But prior to that came the “What’s My Name” single, a thrusting, ballsy, anthemic track which practically dared you not to know who he was, complete with some typically just-thisfar-shy-of-avant-garde production (all minor keys) from the then-ruling Swizz Beats. It’s when I fell in love with his bark, all guttural and testosterone-drenched and in your face.
*
What happened to Toni Braxton, for that matter? I mean, she hasn’t disappeared like Mr. Benét, exactly, but her career kinda has (her last album didn’t even go gold. Insert sound of jaws hitting floor here). Maybe she was trying too hard, doing collabos with fucking Baby, for pete’s sake, not playing to her strengths of peppy female-empowerment uptempos and lush ballads? Not working that sumptuous voice against some state-of-the-art/moment R&B production from the likes of Darkchild (who produced her last great single, “He Wasn’t Man Enough”) or Babyface? [Just think, just allow yourself to fantasize for a moment what she could have done with that angular, machinistic Brandy single, “What About Us?” Oooh.] Come back, Toni, all is forgiven, even your turn in Beauty and the Beast on Broadway. We miss you.
# posted by Thomas : 2:36 PM
