"Herculean" is pretty astounding, though
In what is a personal record, I've only got two blurbs in this week's Jukebox, due possibly to a combination of factors; I got mine in rather late thanks to Halloween festivities, we had a lot of contributors this week, and I don't know, maybe mine weren't very good (the Girls Aloud one, I know the effect I wanted, but I couldn't quite make it work, admittedly). Judge for yourself.
Girls Aloud - Something Kinda Ooh: OH MY GOD YOU GUYS, HAVE YOU HEARD THIS SONG BEFORE? IT'S AWESOME? LET'S GO DANCE! COME ON, FINISH YOUR DRINKS!
Seriously, if you can hear this without wanting to be in a dark club with too much alcohol in your bloodstream, you're a better person than I. [9]
The Gossip - Standing In The Way Of Control: Beth Ditto has one of those voices that are technically quite nice but that doesn't quite jibe with the material – I've been so acclimatized to hearing certain kinds of voices with this kind of abrasive garage rock that it's not so much passion over technique that I want (Ditto has plenty of both), it's passion instead of technique. It's like ordering pizza with barbeque sauce on it instead of tomato sauce – even if both things are good, it doesn't always work. [6]
K-Sis - Beijos, Blues & Poesia: I find it weirdly endearing when foreign language songs slip a bit of English into the chorus, and the fact that here it's “baby, I love you” is kinda cute. But really, you could tell this was a love song before that, down to the cheesey late 90s electric guitar doing a slowburn in the background. If this wasn't trying so hard, it might be lovely, but until they make something more low key they're going to keep missing the mark. [5]
Pascal Obispo ft. Melissa Mars - 1980: I have no idea why they're singing about the year 1980, but this sounds exactly like the sort of song that should have come out that year to celebrate the turn of the... decade, I guess. It's got this kind of triumphant feel to it, meanders for far too long but basically remains pleasant, and Obispo and Mars sound lovely singing together. The sax solo is a bit much, and the only really interesting bit is the brief section that stutters the beat, but mostly I want this to have been playing at Epcot Center as the 70s end. [6]
Girls Aloud - Something Kinda Ooh: OH MY GOD YOU GUYS, HAVE YOU HEARD THIS SONG BEFORE? IT'S AWESOME? LET'S GO DANCE! COME ON, FINISH YOUR DRINKS!
Seriously, if you can hear this without wanting to be in a dark club with too much alcohol in your bloodstream, you're a better person than I. [9]
The Gossip - Standing In The Way Of Control: Beth Ditto has one of those voices that are technically quite nice but that doesn't quite jibe with the material – I've been so acclimatized to hearing certain kinds of voices with this kind of abrasive garage rock that it's not so much passion over technique that I want (Ditto has plenty of both), it's passion instead of technique. It's like ordering pizza with barbeque sauce on it instead of tomato sauce – even if both things are good, it doesn't always work. [6]
K-Sis - Beijos, Blues & Poesia: I find it weirdly endearing when foreign language songs slip a bit of English into the chorus, and the fact that here it's “baby, I love you” is kinda cute. But really, you could tell this was a love song before that, down to the cheesey late 90s electric guitar doing a slowburn in the background. If this wasn't trying so hard, it might be lovely, but until they make something more low key they're going to keep missing the mark. [5]
Pascal Obispo ft. Melissa Mars - 1980: I have no idea why they're singing about the year 1980, but this sounds exactly like the sort of song that should have come out that year to celebrate the turn of the... decade, I guess. It's got this kind of triumphant feel to it, meanders for far too long but basically remains pleasant, and Obispo and Mars sound lovely singing together. The sax solo is a bit much, and the only really interesting bit is the brief section that stutters the beat, but mostly I want this to have been playing at Epcot Center as the 70s end. [6]
Totally agree with you on Beth Ditto's voice.
Posted by
John C. |
12:31 PM
I'm actually really glad to hear that - I kind of figured everyone else would be going "what are you talking about?" there.
Posted by
Ian |
2:06 PM
Heh, you think two's bad? Look how many I got in! Er, probably deservedly, I admit.
Posted by
Anonymous |
5:37 PM
I'm telling you, it's all about the number of contributors. You're probably being too hard on yourself, though.
Posted by
Ian |
5:46 PM
Glad you agree on the lack of worth of the Winehouse, Katie. I can't believe that song was getting [10]s and [8]s.
And Ian, I was missing your insight this week.
Posted by
Jonathan |
12:27 PM
I haven't heard the Winehouse yet. But I'll be sure to mention whether I think it's shit when I do!
And thanks, Jonathan.
Posted by
Ian |
12:38 PM
The Winehouse is an embarrassing, trite excuse for a "neo-soul" song. Even the horns sound terrible and boring. Her voice could be put to much better use. I can't believe people could even say anything halfway decent about that song, much less give it an 8 or a 10. Some of you Styloid counterparts are completely deaf or something.
Posted by
Lady K! : |
12:58 PM
also, ian, you should really listen to the soulwax remix of that gossip track. I generally can't stand the gossip or beth ditto's vocals unless they're sped up and danced up a bit.
Posted by
Lady K! : |
2:01 PM
Sounds intriguing, but something about the link doesn't work for me - the page loads fine, and there looks like there's a link, but if I right click and "save link as" I get nothing, and if I just click normally it just reloads the same page. No idea why.
Posted by
Ian |
1:38 AM