12.20.2002
posted by fred solinger 1:15 PM
2. eminem, "lose yourself"
i didn't want to put "lose yourself" this high but eminem was implacable; that he's not in the top spot is only because he was shouted down by the artist at number one. "lose yourself" is inexorable and obstreperous; people who didn't like eminem up to this point -- my nephews, for two -- are caught up in it, and that's in no small part due to the use of rock dynamics. when i first heard it, i mistakenly lumped it in with "cleanin' out my closet" and it wasn't until i saw 8 mile that it finally set in and made sense. one of eminem's rare gifts is that he brings real-life people into his rhymes -- his mother, his ex-wife, his daughter -- and makes them interesting if only be association. (even benzino.) with "lose yourself," he draws the audience in, regardless of age or race, and refuses to let them go. greil marcus has called it a career-defining hit. it's amazing that, with all of the huge, epochal hits eminem has behind him, marcus could make such a claim; and it seems ridiculous that he could compare it to "like a rolling stone" or "gimme shelter." but most amazing of all though is that he's right on all accounts.
12.19.2002
posted by fred solinger 5:33 PM
3. missy elliott, "work it"
musically, "work it" (and under construction) offer big, honking nods to the old school. this is, of course, a new development since missy and timbaland have always seemed to be forward-thinkers. as i think someone else may have said, we expect missy singles to create new subgenres of music, but here instead she and tim are content to revitalize the old school and introduce not just the sound (cf. "grindin'" and its updating of schoolly d.) but the look and the culture. in a war-torn, materialistic hip-hop world, missy is bringing it stylistically and sonically back to the simpler days. missy herself has always been a throwback, particularly to the pre-rakim days of rap when rhymes were rarely metaphorical (or metaphysical) or political. at the beginning of her career, she was maligned by purists for lines like "beep beep who got the keys to the jeep," much the way an andrew w.k., himself redolent of an earlier time (and i don't mean the 80s), catches flak in a post-kurt cobain world. for his part, timbaland foregos the role of traditional hip-hop producer (a.k.a. beat-maker) to instead play the gil evans to her miles, the nelson riddle to her sinatra. the track is propulsive and in a state of perpetual motion, but it always allows missy to speak, to sing, to just plain bug-out. missy and tim press rewind, take it back one time, and get us to do the same.
12.18.2002
posted by fred solinger 6:01 PM
4. bruce springsteen, "the rising"
the most classic(al) evocation of the springsteen legend since..."badlands," i'd say, and it's due in large part to the e street band who sound mythic themselves here. quiet verse, chorus with thrumming bass, drum fill, full band on second verse, chorus, la la las, guitar solo, bridge, quiet extended verse, slow build, full band on chorus, la la las. like "the scientist," it sounds overly calculated on paper but that's because max weinberg's drums and bruce's wailing guitar don't translate well to paper and ink. that "the rising"is about a 9/11 rescue worker is no longer news, but what still surprises me is how the bridge -- with the "faces gone black" and "eyes burning bright" -- still affects me so. like many songs within his catalog, "the rising" is a celebration of a life even as it was written in the shadow of death. it's a reminder that the best way to honor those who died that day is to live unafraid; that despite the events of that tragic morning, it's still no sin to be glad you're alive.
12.17.2002
posted by fred solinger 6:24 PM
5. conway, "lisa's got hives"
it's arguable that the worst tracks on the recent tlc and missy albums were the treacly tributes to left eye. when intimate relationships are involved, sadness is the first reaction to a death. as fans, though, without the sense of personal loss, i think we tend to want a celebration of that lost life. the best thing that could be done is to find a way to release this commercially, a la "freak like me." it represents lisa at her best (the hives, too) -- vibrant and excited. what's more, it flat-out rocks; as mike pointed out, it's the only rap-rock that has ever sounded fully convincing, and the only bootleg i've heard that surpasses the originals that comprise it. i don't think i'm misstating the case to say that the interest in bootlegs has waned. a few more numbers like this -- where the artist is not trying to be snarky or cheeky or, worse, obvious, but strictly attempting to entertain -- should reverse that trend.
posted by fred solinger 10:34 AM
attention must be paid. i really need to apologize for not linking to the church of me before today. it is maintained by ilxor don marcello carlin, and if you're familiar with him i don't need to tell you that it is absolutely required reading. right now, he's working on his favorite films of the year (which i really can't do until i see the two towers, about schmidt, gangs of new york, and the hours), compilations, and he does me a great service by reviewing the new common record, electric circus (verdict: i must buy it.) so go there now; don't waste your time here!
12.16.2002
posted by fred solinger 1:15 PM
6. coldplay, "the scientist"
science: aside from one other number released this year -- on its way in this here countdown -- "the scientist" is the most meticulously crafted single of the year. the pieces are carefully measured and combined with cold precision: spare piano, melody, chorus, spare piano, full band, melody, chorus, break, wordless falsetto, coda, music drops out, voice. magic: despite its calculated origin, it works. it is reducible; it can be dissected and its parts analyzed, but its essence escapes the eye and entangles the heart. i shouldn't like this and yet it strikes the same chords as peak u2; it has the same ability to make me feel blithely blissful. some things science just can't explain.
posted by fred solinger 9:21 AM
as you may know, the way vh1 has been filling the gaps between commercials has been dubious at best. the rerun show reruns? all access: booty call -- an analysis of the asses of pop-stars? one meaningless awards show after another?but the most treacly, unbearable "show" they've attempted to foist upon an indifferent public to date has to be jen loves ben. it's like j-lo's "dear ben"...only extended into an HOUR-LONG TELEVISION SHOW. i ask you: how bad could liza's reality show have really been? i mean, really?
12.15.2002
posted by fred solinger 5:28 PM
7. streets, "weak become heroes"
in walker percy's novel, the moviegoer, binx bolling performs what he calls "repetitions," evocations of past events. he'll go to a film he saw ten years ago and, in the darkness of an empty theater, reflect on how his life has changed since then. mike skinner does the same thing, only his memory is stirred by hearing a certain song, he becomes mesmerized by piano notes. and with good reason: this might be the most pristine keyboard sound i've ever heard on a record; a coruscating gold. he notes that his life has had its ups and downs but the song remains the same. memory fades, but the same piano loops over and over and over...
contact me.
the following are some sites i visit
from time to time. you'd be all the better if you did the same:
nylpm
freaky
trigger
josh
blog
loatd
grr
skykicking
maura.com
popshots
matos
badger
catherine
pearls
the voice music section
submeat
perpetual motion
tmftml
the rub
no rock&roll fun
spizzazz
fluxblog
close your eyes
technicolour
