#Music criticism

[distracted-obsessions]

Ok, so I've been seeing some discourse around Odysseus and Eurylochus about who is the bad guy.

Odysseus is the bad guy because he gave his name, rank, and serial number to the Cyclops.

Eurylochus is the bad guy because he opened the wind bag.

Odysseus is the bad guy because he sacrificed 6 men.

Eurylochus is the bad guy because he killed the cow.

And I think a lot of you are missing the point.

Is Odysseus giving his name to the Cyclops, not knowing that would bring down the wrath of Poseidon, any worse then Eurylochus opening the wind bag, not knowing it would take them to Poseidon or vice versa? They didn't know it would end badly. They were both warned by someone they trusted that it would end badly if they took that course of action and they did it anyway.

Is Odysseus knowingly sacrificing 6 men to Scylla any worse than Eurylochus knowingly killing the sun god's cow? They both knew it would end in death. The only difference between these two actions is that Odysseus was trying to survive and Eurylochus couldn't live any longer.

Is Odysseus telling Eurylochus to light the 6 torches really any worse then Eurylochus telling Odysseus that he must carry all the blame or vice versa?

Neither of them are the bad guy. And if one of them is, then they both are. Then everyone, Circe, the Cyclops, Poseidon, everyone, is the bad guy too.

This is not a black and white story. There is no good guy, there is no bad guy, there is no clear answer. All it is is protagonists and antagonists and people pitted against each other in the desperate attempt to survive. Those stories are sad and not common in our current culture but this is one of them. Most of life isn't a black and white story and being able to understand that, both in fiction and reality, is important for every relationship, moral, and ideal you will ever have.

[thesinglesjukebox]

LADY GAGA AND BRUNO MARS - "DIE WITH A SMILE"

14 years after "Grenade," Bruno finally found someone who would do the same...

[5.70]

Kayla Beardslee: Hey, when is that Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars collab being released? [5]

Ian Mathers: Mars and Gaga are both skilled at their craft in a way that often seems like a throwback to an earlier era of the art/industry, taking the biggest swings possible in terms of seeking mass appeal without feeling like they're compromising or calculated, talented mimics and style chameleons when they want to be. Working together on a big, heartfelt, suitable-for-all-occasions ballad actually feels perfect along those lines. The result is the kind of sturdily good (or "good," depending on your sensibilities) song that, if it catches you at the right moment in your life, might make you bust out crying. [7]

Joshua Lu: This collaboration would've been unthinkable in 2010; now that their careers have somehow converged, the outcome feels weirdly predictable. The emotional heft, vocal runs, and vague nostalgia are there, even if all it does is fill that "Perfect Duet"-sized hole in pop radio. "Die With a Smile" can't help but feel underwhelming in the context of their career trajectories — the kind of corny balladry that Bruno's outgrown and that Gaga mostly uses just to recapture the general public — but it's impossible to wholly reject when it's this nicely crafted. [6]

Grace Robins-Somerville: Most Obamacore song of 2024, hands down. "Die with a Smile" is this very specific meld of the era when you couldn't go to the supermarket without hearing a Bruno Mars ballad and when Gaga was doing a country pivot (although this is far blander than anything on Joanne). It's been a while since I've heard such blatant Grammy bait. [3]

Jackie Powell: Entertainment Weekly's Joey Nolfi wrote that “Die with a Smile” is a song that recalls “the emotional bravado” of “Shallow,” the Grammy- and Oscar-winning smash from Lady Gaga’s A Star Is Born. He’s correct. “Die With a Smile” thrives upon accented and intentional dynamics while making vague and simple lyrics mean more than it they do on the page. That’s also what made “Shallow” so convincing. The difference on “Die With A Smile” is that Bruno Mars is more Lady Gaga’s equal than Bradley Cooper ever was. Mars has more to sing on a song that has Gaga’s name billed first, but both artists shine without the other having to sacrifice. Gaga’s part, which begins at around a minute and a half until the song's end, transforms this from a Silk Sonic B-side into something that’s much more memorable, emotionally resonant and cinematic. It's a song that makes me wish I had someone to sing it to.  [9]

Katherine St. Asaph: So old-fashioned that YouTube's preroll ad recommended me Botox, and so definitively a Bruno Mars song that I'm genuinely unsure why the credits are in the order they're in. It works, albeit in an unexciting way, because Bruno and Gaga have practiced melodrama for years -- see "I'd take a bullet straight to my brain" and "not even the Gods above can separate the two of us," respectively -- and have also practiced singing pretty then belting big. [7]

Jeffrey Brister: When it comes to Bruno Mars, I want immaculately executed genre pastiche, something that sounds like the past but keeps a thrilling modern affect. Gaga, for all of her artsy subversion and slight avant-garde leanings, has just as much of a traditionalist impulse, if not stronger; under the right circumstances, the results can be explosive. That alchemy is present here: two artists synced up and bringing out the best in each other’s performances. There is absolutely nothing new here, but it’s polished and perfectly executed. I’m a mark for that sort of thing. [7]

Jonathan Bradley: It's not right to say Bruno Mars is so adept with pastiche that he transcends it; pastiche is his artform, his milieu, the genre that this genre artist seeks to perfect. "Die With a Smile" has two ideas: the first being the familiar terrain of the Bruno Mars ballad, and the second being "What if a Bruno Mars ballad was Jeff Buckley?" Even a few years after the 1994 release of Grace, pop music seemed like it only had room in its past for an artist like Buckley: a soulful and beautiful singer-songwriter who leaned toward rock-god charisma rather than folkish introspection. Mars has Buckley's swooning fragility as well as his stormy squalls of guitar, but for all that Buckley represented the last of something, he never sounded like he was going over someone else's territory. That fundamentally does not work for Mars's attempt to recreate the sound; navigating someone else's territory is Mars's entire point. If "Die With a Smile" has a third idea, it's the addition of Lady Gaga, who is herself no stranger to pastiche (see the Madonna-isms of "Born This Way," the heartland rock of "You and I," or the way she slipped effortlessly into the Hollywood prestige turn that was "Shallow"). Here, she delivers only competence, as if she'd been asked to sing backup on a new recording of "When I Was Your Man" and found out at the last moment that the assignment had changed. [5]

Harlan Talib Ockey: Once you get past the surprise of "Die With a Smile" being a Jeff Buckley impression, it's remarkably insubstantial. "If the world was ending I'd wanna be next to you" sounds clunky and hyper-literal next to, say, "I'd catch a grenade for you". At least the harmonies are nice. [4]

Iain Mew: Bruno Mars's progression makes it a fruitful idea to go back and invert "Grenade" from a distance. Back then, he took the prospect of death as an opportunity to bitterly prove his unmatched love. Now he meets no less than the end of the world with smooth certainty that it's a chance for mutual togetherness. Lady Gaga's way with projecting intensity and sincerity in the most extreme contexts makes her the perfect foil, and for two lines after she comes in, it's transcendent. Then Mars comes back in, and not only is there not enough space for Gaga to shine, there's barely any space at all. Maybe the old anxiety hadn't gone away completely after all. [7]

Alfred Soto: Bruno Mars hasn't sounded this convincing a love man in years, if ever. Too convincing: Gaga is a backup singer on her own single. Mars sure would fuck himself if he could. [5]

Wayne Weizhen Zhang: Someone pointed out recently how absurd it is that Lady Gaga's Twitter bio is literally advertising for the HBO Chromatica Ball special, Haus Labs cosmetics, Joker: Folie à Deux, and now "Die with a Smile." That sums up my feelings toward this entry into the Gaga canon: random and indicating a certain directionlessness—or perhaps overdirection?—in her career. She sounds great, and the bridge is perfect TikTok fodder, but she and Bruno Mars sound like they have as much sexual chemistry as brother and sister.  [4]

TA Inskeep: Mars and Gaga sound nice enough together, but there’s no frisson, no spark; they’re just two famous singers, singing a duet for you to stream and buy.  [5]

Scott Mildenhall: To the song's great benefit, the annihilatory proposition is underblown. Instead, its precise lilt is folded and finessed throughout, heading hither and thither without over-accelerating or escalating. It's a fine balance between ostentation and undulation. There's minimal vocal chemistry, but the blend is happening elsewhere. [7]

Hannah Jocelyn: I was with family over the weekend, and my brother asked “who is this??” like it was two stunning new artists on their debut single. Upon learning it was Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, his excitement dissipated. Only Andrew Watt could make two of pop’s best vocalists sound anonymous (don’t get me started on that weightless drum sound he's inexplicably made his signature). I can’t tell where Gaga ends and Bruno begins, which is a horrible mental image. [5]

Taylor Alatorre: The drums treat every other measure like it's a climax because the entire song, or more precisely its billing, is one undifferentiated climax. Which means no build-up, no peaks or valleys, no memorable grooves or meaningful sense of release. It's just those two names together on a lighted marquee, a chart-watcher fanfic straight out of 2012, What Could Be measuring short against What Must Be, which in this case is the greatest common denominator of softer-than-talcum piano balladry. At least "Grenade" had cartoon bloodletting on its side, and "Shallow" had the benefit of context. "Die with a Smile" reaches for that old doomsday rhetoric out of sheer reflex, even when the prophesized end is painted in washed-out watercolors, like a dream whose outlines dissipate five seconds after waking. Andrew Watt's approach to retromania is less playful than the Smeezingtons' was, but also strangely less reverent, since if you truly revere the music of the past then you don't try to half-seriously Mandela effect yourself into its hit parade. [2]

Nortey Dowuona: Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga getting to coast by cornering the market on having both vocal talent and a modicum of charisma -- you know, the old-fashioned model -- would be frustrating, but at least Watt's patient hand is keeping this over there next to the white Broadway crowd. Anything but more Bruno funk. [7]

Mark Sinker: Obviously I want to claim I’m only onboard with Bruno as a project at last thanks to Gaga’s in-video cigarette — casually centred, disgustingly compelling — but I have to admit it’s something entirely more wholesome: the actual topic, the actual melody, the actual delivery! He got me in the end! (Also, I like thinking of him as a little monster. He is a little monster….)  [8]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: Would be a [6] with flipped Mars-Gaga ratio, but even then this would not quite get to the force of melodrama that would allow it to reach exit velocity and escape the great and depressing middle ground of tasteful 20th-century pop pastiche. These two have taken enough stabs at staid, boring pop songs for all occasions that they have become the legacy acts they once aspired toward and collaborated with. Good for them; bad for us. [4]

Kristen S. Hé: As much as I wish this Venn diagram had produced something more adventurous, it's arguably harder to write a song like this -- one that'll probably be on radio rotation for decades, and that I'll never object to hearing in any context. I've often found Bruno's schtick cloying and insincere, but here, I'd believe it even without Gaga's added star power. Bruno, please stay in this lane forever. (Gaga, please don't!) [7]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]

[thepopculturearchivist]

LITERARY DIGEST, March 26, 1927

What did Duke Ellington have to say about this? You won't find out here....

[alwaysalreadyangry]

diving into Phil Ochs tumblr reminds me of Chris Estey’s essay on Phil Och’s Greatest Hits album (which as everyone knows was not a greatest hits as Phil Ochs didn’t have any hits). it’s from a 2009 zine and the 2010 Best American Music Writing, which is where i came across it. Did a quick & imperfect scan on my phone, you can get it here.

uh, it talks a lot about suicide and death and other unpleasant things. think it’s great though. one of those things i read — almost fifteen years ago now — that made me realise what this kind of writing could really DO.

here are a couple of shorter bits

[alsoknownasallison]

me: "oh yeah I like some of taylor swift's music! :)"

yall: "OMG YOURE SO STUPID AND ACTUALLY YOU DONT UNDERSTAND ART YOURE SO EMBARRASSING YOU LISTEN TO BAD MUSIC! CRINGE! BASIC! ALL OF HER MUSIC IS BAD AND I WOULD KNOW!!!! I HAVE THE POWER TO DECIDE WHAT ART IS OBJECTIVELY GOOD AND WHAT I SAY GOES!!! DONT YOU KNOW YOUR VALUE AND WORTH IS ONLY MEASURED BY HOW COOL AND UNIQUE YOU ARE WHICH YOU ARENT BUT I AM SOOOOOO COOL AND UNIQUE YOURE THE PROBLEM NOT ME!!!!!!!!"

[ytcomments-archive]

[mightymelancholy]

Vengeance Saga 🌊🔱 Could Be Improved (Mostly about Calypso though)

*Spoilers of course

This is a discussion about mainly Calypso and some changes I like to see. So, this is a totally brief explanation for what can be done to improve the songs to be the best they can be.

Also Calixyn Cares Too Much is an informative but not authoritative resource on musical theatere and mainly songwriting. I recommend checking out her Vengeance Saga review.

My Thoughts:

The two first songs of Vengeance could use some work because right now "Not Sorry for Loving You" and "Dangerous" are a little vague, and don't have too much information to chew on. Especially with Calypso given the source material so being clear what happened those 7 years would be nice, because the fandom is understandably split on her.

For instance reviving the cut song "Appetite" would be nice. Also "Cope With That" because Odysseus being in the middle of choosing ruthlessness and open arms isn't much we see. He's often going to extremes with such ideologies. The Sirens, and the Cyclops for example. Circe Saga was when he was being pretty normal even after most of his men died, which is interesting he didn't immediately use ruthlessness with Circe after that event. He acted rather politely when meeting her. Anyway NSLY (Not Sorry for Loving You) has the "There Are Other Ways" motif but Odysseus doesn't use any of Circe's teachings.

Circe didn't really influence Odysseus like the Cyclops, Poseidon, and Polites did. He learned the consequence for being too kind from Polites which results in him sparing Polyphemus and giving his home address. Being too ruthless with the Sirens by throwing their bodies in the water when they could've been used to feed Scylla. And Poseidon is his ultimate consequence and the monster he could become. But Circe doesn't really teach him anything that he uses down the line. Odysseus utilizing persuasion to trick Calypso would've made the most sense and made Circe feel like an actual impact on his journey. Sure she helped him get to the Underworld but that's about it. Also strange Odysseus talks about becoming a monster when he just showed mercy to Circe and that worked in their favor. I guess he's just traumatized from seeing his dead comrades/friends and mom so sure I guess. It's a little odd Circe isn't that important in the grand scheme of things similarly to Calypso. And I wish Calypso had a conclusion. Because it's crazy how Odysseus dipped and his last words to her were-

"I love you

But not in the way

That you want me to"

I know he got places to be but still 😅

Just Ody and Calypso having a split amount of time to sing about their time together, and how they got closer. Because in "Love in Paradise" Odysseus wanted nothing to do with her, but in Vengeance Saga they seem to be on good terms. Odysseus sounds genuine when he says "I love you". Ody lying by using Circe's tactics would be interesting and was planned with the cut song "Appetite" but they scrapped it but still kept the "The Are Other Ways" instrumental. A flashback of the two reminiscing about their time together would've benefitted NSLY and made it clear that Calypso being a SA abuser is non-canon. Because at first I was conflicted on her because I didn't know if what she did was canon to Epic or not. Now I know she's just clingy and a little freaky (which makes sense, she's been on Ogygia for 100 years) but information like that or lack there of can confuse people.

Just give them a flashback scene and we eliminate the Calypso being an abuser issue and give valuable insight on both Odysseus and Calypso lives together. Because her and the island are kind of a blip on Odysseus's journey which is crazy considering the 7 years he spent there. But because we don't know much what happened Calypso being heartbroken is more pitty than actually sad for the viewer. Like I hardly know this girl, and don't know what exactly she did to Ody. Because also in "Love in Paradise" she says-

"Under my spell, we're stuck in paradise

No one can come or go, my island stays unknown"

Like I think people who step onto the island can never leave or the place is just too hard to find. But what does "Under my spell, we're stuck in paradise" mean? Like I think this is why people can't tell if the SA is canon or not, because it could be interrupted that Calypso brainwashes people. Or maybe she creates a blissful illusion/dream, which can be either good or bad since she "brings no pain". But is this something you want your audience to make interpretations and assumptions about, especially if the team wants us to sympathize with her in NSLY.

Again this should be made clear that Calypso was just being patient with Odysseus's decision. I think that's pretty impactful and would be interesting to delve into. A few lines of Calypso counting the days and waiting for Odysseus to "finally" love her. Maybe she watches him walk along the shore line and sings "🎵Waaaiting🎶" like in "Full Speed Ahead" and "The Underworld". and then Odysseus sings that part but of course he's waiting for a sign or help to arrive so he can get home. Idk I'm not a songwriter just an aspiring one lol

Because right now Calypso takes up so much of the song when it should have been 50/50. I won't say much on "Dangerous" because it's pretty similar. Hermes talks a lot when we could've had a few more lines for Ody. Also explain how Hermes got the wind bag? How did he convince Aeolus? Did Aeolus catch wind of "God Games" and was instructed to give Hermes the wind bag? Did the Winions help Hermes or are they just following him to make sure nothing bad happens?

Again the songs aren't bad, not by a long shot. They just need some improvements is all. I love this show but I can't be biased just because the music sounds good or there's actually a hidden meaning & a ton of lore if you keep digging! Nothing wrong with overanalyzing the lore or characters at all, that sounds super fun! But people should be critical otherwise the things they love won't improve.

[doshmanziari]

Hey! I have another new piece available to read on my Substack page:

PREPARE 2 SIGH: The Music of Dark Souls, etc.

A version of this piece was originally on my blog here, years ago, but -- I genuinely can't remember doing this, or why I would've done it -- it looks like I deleted it. I'd been wanting to write about the Dark Souls series' and Elden Ring's soundtracks after being disappointed (once a-fucking-gain) by the latter's music, so I recovered the lost article via Wayback Machine and have greatly edited and added to it.

As with the piece on Xenogears' soundtrack, I suppose I've taken a position against a majority opinion, but then that's the way of things usually with myself, it seems. Very good!

[spacedoutman]

This is why the elder is the best kiss album.

The “elder” not only brought us a progressive plot line, but details in every sentence and breath that have not yet seen the glory they’re due for. Let’s take a deep dive real’ quick and discuss why the elder is better than Animalize, Creatures of the night and Destroyer.

I. Doesn’t that just stick out to you like a sore thumb? What a wonderful and inspired title to catch our attention immediately. Then we have “the oath”, which has some of the most intense lyrics I’ve ever heard.

“Your glory, I swear I ride for thee

Your power, I trust it rides with me

Your servant, I am and ever shall I be”

The power in these lyrics changed my life, as well as the intense moral dilemma we’re faced with. My heart raced. The performance of this song was absolutely superb, so much so I fell out of my chair.

Gene and Paul’s faces while performing this song are packed to the brim with emotion. Eric looks down the whole time thinking of the fallen heroes from the story while Ace finishes with his back turned.

You can see the effort that was put into this album. Gene’s opera voice adds a layer to this song that puts the chipmunks to shame. Maybe, if the chipmunks had covered the album, it would’ve went platinum.

The elder was not career suicide.

“Lost in the mist

I have been there a hundred times or more

Pounding my fists”

The lyrics made my head spin with emotion, making me feel like I was lost in the mist, pounding my fists. I could feel the tears in my eyes listening to this. It’s so powerful.

It’s like the roar of a t-Rex or the ropes of the net. I’m sure many dinosaurs and hell, protozoans, even, could relate to these beautiful, awe inspiring lyrics. They had to face these complex inner issues.

The rest of Kiss’ songs are just ‘sex money feelings die’ while this opens a window to a historical period, purely composed of survival, that we have never yet seen in this sort of light.

These lyrics really open the perspective on what it was like for cave men to survive. The fight for them must’ve been more than anyone could’ve imagined. They too, were in the mist. But this also develops the narrative for animals like wolves.

Now we know the wolves’ thoughts when they howl to the moon, solely composed of the elder. Ages of evolution have been unwrapped, bringing us back to the Big Bang itself.

This was such an experience for me I developed lycanthropy. This is confirmation of what we all may have known. The dinosaurs are not ever portrayed scientifically accurate and it irks me every time.

Like a lot of them most likely had feathers as T-Rex’s sounded like microwaves no roaring. I was very surprised to find this out. There was a period when dinosaurs rules the planet then mammals that ruled over humans.

Not only that, but “I”? That’s all the caveman thought about when trying to make the world their own.

We as a species rose up. We as a species hunted and foraged to build the society we live in today. So why don’t we all just go back to leopard skins and spears like the elder intended? Does this mean Kiss are all secret geniuses?

Bravo, Vince. You did it again.

[gimmethepretense]

Let’s talk about the first verse, a perfect little poem. I find its vagueness so compelling - the words meaning a lot without saying anything specific. There is an outline of a plot. Murky details with just enough definition to entice you to figure it out. I’ve spent too much time the past week trying to unspool the story thread, with its gestures towards death, infidelity and suppressed trauma. And Thug’s delivery of it is full of drama. His voice just above a whisper, he takes cinematic pauses before a high pitched resolution that sounds definitive but isn’t: the last line is a throwaway “for what it’s worth”.

It beautifully sets up the chorus. Reading it’s title and lyrics, you might expect “Never Made Love” to be the kind of chauvinistic song about disposable sex often thrown around in Hip Hop. But it’s not. Instead, Thug croons with pain rather than braggadocio; with a sorrowful knowledge that he can’t open himself up emotionally to truly make love. He repeats those three words over and over, extracting everything out of them before Rich Homie Quan joins in. I love their interplay, the way Quan goes high when Thug goes low. They play off each other, only needing three words to create a pathos inducing chorus that runs for half a minute. It’s spectacular stuff. Would the world be a utopia if Rich Gang never broke up? Maybe not, but when you listen to a collab like this, it’s hard not to dream.

[squanchys-standup]

lyric critique~

the tortured poets department uses a lot of religious buzzwords. this is not the same as making a religious metaphor.

ex.

verses from guilty as sin

“i choose you and me, religiously.”

“without ever touching his skin, how can i be guilty as sin?”

vs mitski’s i’m your man

your an angel, im a dog

or you’re a dog and i’m your man

you believe me like a god

i destroy you like i am

you see the difference?

quoting genius’s annotations-

“this heightened status immediately highlights how intense and profound their connection was, with the other person being so trusting of her it is comparable to a religion.

this recontextualises the first line of the song; the subject is angelic because they were pure in their devotion, and mitski, now, considers herself a “dog” for not having valued that.”

also taylor has used the phrase “guilty as sin” in another song before (carolina). so it kinda seems lazy. you run out of phrases?

[bugsinnmybrain]

I keep seeing music journalists and critics referring to Eleanor Rigby as a pop song??

Maybe it’s just me but I’ve never heard it that way

[thesinglesjukebox]

CHAPPELL ROAN - "HOT TO GO!"

2-4-6-8, who do we appreciate? You all! This wraps up this month's coverage -- see ya in November!

[7.00]

Alfred Soto: Chappell Roan's The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess is a sparkling collection of moods and passing desires, best when euphoric. The ballads might have been even stronger had she spelled out their choruses. [7]

Dave Moore: Spelling is fun! [3]

Grace Robins-Somerville: It's been too long since we've had a "spell the words out with your arms" song in the zeitgeist, and seeing people do the H-O-T-T-O-G-O dance at weddings has cemented its staying power. It's nice that lesbians have their "YMCA" now.  [8]

Katherine St. Asaph: "Hot to Go!" is a crowd chant-along that shouldn't work at all as one. The template is "YMCA," but the difference and the problem is that "YMCA" is instantly parseable when spelled out, while "H-O-T-T / O-G-O" takes a moment's reassembly. The other highlight line in "baby, don't you like this beat? I made it so you'd sleep with me" is endearingly blunt -- more musicians should be that honest -- but nevertheless cannot honestly be chanted by anyone but Dan Nigro or Chappell Roan. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that "Hot to Go!" is hugely effective at getting crowds to chant along. [7]

Aaron Bergstrom: Retroactively furious about the idea that one or more of the Village People potentially did or did not endorse Jimmy Carter in the 1980 Presidential election. [7]

Scott Mildenhall: Who or what is a hottogo? The chant falls short of total clarity by going two steps further than succinct, but therein lies the charm. Bursting at the seams of some slightly thin fabric, Chappell Roan carries this so far and fast that she might struggle to find her way back. [7]

Leah Isobel: There are about five perfect hooks on Chappell's debut album. "Baby don't you like this beat?/ I made it so you'd sleep with me" is one of them, precise and funny and melodically flawless. I think that was the moment that sold me on her whole project: the bluntness balanced by craft, the expertise made human by the raw and embarrassing vulnerability of wanting sex, wanting recognition, wanting anything at all. Also, have y'all heard the fanmade Rhythm Heaven edit for this? Banger! [8]

TA Inskeep: Every generation gets a new cheerleading-cheer anthem -- think Toni Basil's "Mickey" or Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend" -- and here's the latest, with a bit of "Y.M.C.A." thrown in for good measure. It's hard to ignore Roan's joy on this chorus; this is also a rare pop single where its meme-ability actually draws me in (cf. "Call Me Maybe"). How can you not smile when you hear this? [7]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: Of all the guises that Chappell Roan inhabited on her debut album, this always felt like the truest — she sounds like Devo if they slayed, still gawking and midwestern and not quite fitting a perfect archetype of pop stardom but still, nevertheless, a star. The weepy ballads (some of them great) fade away in the face of this, the goofy chant-a-longs and dance instructions wearing one's resistance down on the strength of pure charisma and craft. There are hooks upon hooks here — I think I've had just the synth chord on the prechorus stuck in my head before. [9]

Ian Mathers: I took the number of times I've caught myself humming this song since I first heard the record last year and divided it by a very large number and got this score. I am not currently interested in Discourse beyond that. [10]

Nortey Dowuona: You're trying to take out Chappell Roan the way you took out Amy Winehouse and I don't like it. Not one bit.  Also, the '80s actually kinda sucked -- let's not go back. (This song is great btw.) [8]

Jel Bugle: I know everyone loves Chappell, and I’ve not really bothered to get too excited. I like the Casio keyboard sounds, and spelling out words in songs is always a good trick (see "D I S C O," and I’m sure Olivia has a spelling words out song?). I can see why Sabrina is winning the chart battle here in the UK. I just feel like this song is okay, warm rather than hot -- a sort of personality over the strength of the song. Plus, I’m getting tired of this song constantly being pushed to me by Spotify -- if it happens again the [6] becomes a [5].  [6]

Taylor Alatorre: For all the talk of Chappell Roan hailing the return of “recession pop,” this strikes my ears as more of a grasping imitation of the real than most of what PC Music was accused of putting out. Maybe that’s unavoidable given the generation gap, as well as the decline of the universal pop star – Chappell covers “Bad Romance” on tour, but she doesn’t exude the belief that she can be a legitimate successor to Lady Gaga. She’s ambivalent about the compromises required for mass appeal, even on songs like this one which are structured, at least internally, toward that end. It’s all the external festooning and DIY-style pageantry which redirect the song’s course toward a cozier ideal of attainable imperfection, a glitzy and glammy take on self-sabotage. Which, in the end, is its own kind of earnestness. “HOT TO GO!” is confident enough in its own gangliness to bill itself as a coming-out party where everyone, even the normies, is invited, despite the singer’s doubts about the long-term viability of this promise. [6]

Tim de Reuse: The appeal of "Pink Pony Club" was immediately evident to me on first listen. But this one's a silly Chappell Roan song: The narrative here is buried under catchy turns of phrase and the hokey pokey-ass pre-chorus, leaving us to wring pathos out of a few scant lines in the verses. So, what's the draw? The simple build-and-release drama of a I-IV-I progression? The energy of a jittery, unkempt synthesizer-driven beat? Is the chant of "H-O-T-T-O-G-O" sugary enough to overcome my pop-pessimist cynicism and light up my long-calcified dopamine receptors for once? Eh, kinda. It's well-constructed, but it just isn't aiming all that high. [6]

Will Adams: Silly fun pop that doesn't require much thought -- just do the little dance and enjoy yourself! [6]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]

[dalesramblingsblog]

The Fantano/Halsey discourse is fascinating to me, because while I definitely agree that some of the things he said about The Great Impersonator are rather harsh in light of the context of her health struggles ("main character syndrome" is definitely wild, and the backlash to that comment in particular is understandable), I do also think that it's absolutely fair game to criticise an album for not landing with you personally, emotionally or lyrically/musically.

And it's tricky, because where do you draw the line as a critic? Where does "This artist's expression of their pain isn't compelling or attention-worthy to me" end and "This artist's *experience* of their pain isn't compelling or attention-worthy to me" begin? I don't know if there are easy answers, but I do know that some of the "This review is basically a war crime" type responses are, perhaps, a mite overblown.

I think a lot about Sexless Demons and Scars from Jack Off Jill, where in hindsight it seems pretty clear that a lot of the lyrics on that album are probably Jessicka working through her emotions in response to the abuse she suffered at the hands of Twiggy Ramirez. Now, musically and lyrically, *I* personally find it to be an album that I never really want to listen to again, because it's an expression of something that's just too damn real, even if the general public couldn't have been expected to make the connection until she made the allegations public twenty years after the record's release.

But what, in this picture, am I criticising? Am I criticising Jessicka herself? (I certainly would like to think not, to be clear.) The album as it released in September 1997, when nobody in the general public knew about Ramirez's abuse? The album as a textual object that spans all the way to the allegations in October 2017?

The truth is that the relationship between trauma, the art we make to process that trauma, and the quality of that art is a very complex and confusing one.

[fanboy-feminist]

Today I presented a session on music criticism where I…

- Finished the sideshow in about half the session time (the rest was q&a/discussion format)

- Referenced Marxist musicologist & Frankfurt School critical theorist Theodor Adorno multiple times

- Signed off with “Stop Cop City byeeeeee!”

- Made the slideshow in my hotel room the night before while drinking white claws.

- Got so many good reviews and compliments and people telling me it was the best session of the conference.

Anyways now I’m about to take a 6 hour flight across the country and have an imposter syndrome crisis on the plane! Wonderful!

[alsoknownasallison]

can we be real for two seconds. Tourtured Poets was a pretty weak album, BUT that doesn't mean that taylor isn't talented, has never been talented, and doesn't deserve respect as an artist. do you really think Paul McCartney never had a mid album? do you think every single word John Lennon wrote was gold? no? now ask yourself this question: WHY do you think they are given the benefit of the doubt and taylor isn't? THATS the misogyny people are pointing out.