song reviews
Beyonce
"Bow Down/I Been On"
The artwork features a tiara-wearing Beyoncé Knowles, age 10 or so, in a room crammed with trophies. The lyrics make the message clear: "I'm the number-one chick, I don't need no hype." Musically, this Hit Boy-produced diptych is a homage to B's hometown, Houston, with a woozy "Bow Down" beat that segues into a chopped-and-screwed rap. In "I Been On," her voice is pitch-shifted to make her sound like a 400-pound thug as she gets in touch with her inner Pimp C ("Gold ever... | More »
Rod Stewart
"She Makes Me Happy"
Writing his 2012 autobiography inspired Stewart to pen 11 of the 12 songs on his forthcoming album, Time – his first to feature original material in nearly 20 years. The album might be an unexpected move for rock's greatest interpretive singer, but on this hearty, heartfelt ode to the transformative power of his third wife, Stewart radiates cornball lovability. Over a striding beat and kilt-spinning fiddles and mandolins, Stewart sings, "Now I'm working out daily and I'm ... | More »
Best Coast
"Crying"
Roy Orbison's classic is a tough chestnut to crack, an everlasting fusion of quavery emoting and plush instrumentation. Bethany, an early-rock fetishist with a normally dominating voice, comes off more bratty than stout in this low-fi acoustic version. Points for degree of difficulty, though. | More »
Kendrick Lamar feat. Jay-Z
"Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe (Remix)"
"I'm looking to be the God MC," crows Lamar. To help with that lofty aim, he's teamed up with a rap deity and reworked his most mesmerizing track, jettisoning introspection for braggadocio. As for Jay: He plays the stoner, unleashing some slick rhymes about getting high and going to the White House. | More »
Will.i.am feat. Justin Bieber
"#thatPower"
Will.i.am is the master of dopey-pop: HGH-injected dance hooks with lyrics so silly they bend toward the sublime. This solo single doesn't disappoint on that front: "I'm-a take it higher and high and high and higher/I stay and buy attire." Musically, though, it fizzles: just a wan melody warbled by Bieber over generic 4/4 beats. #FAIL. | More »
James Blake
"Voyeur"
Blake wants to make you feel good, but only if he doesn't have to move too fast. "Voyeur," the British DJ-songwriter's latest, slinks into focus while processed words slither out of his mouth; by the time the disco cowbell starts, along with the dance party, does it even matter? Probably not. | More »
Earl Sweatshirt feat. Tyler, the Creator
"Whoa"
On his new single, the most exciting rapper in the Odd Future crew sticks to a familiar MO: a hard, unadorned beat topped with rhymes delivered in tongue-twisting configurations. Earl's pose – mildly sociopathic rebel nerd – isn't new, but the lyrics enliven the cliché. Best Anglicism-cum- Rick Ross-shout-out: "The misadventures of a shit-talker/Pissed as Rick Ross' fifth sip of his sixth lager." Prize for pure poetry: "Get 'em higher than the pitch of m... | More »
Vampire Weekend
"Diane Young"
This preview of Vampire Weekend's forthcoming third album, Modern Vampires of the City (due May 7th), roars and clatters like a souped-up jalopy, with a cyber-sock-hop groove, surf-guitar outbursts, hand claps and Ezra Koenig's giddily hiccuping vocals, which pitch-shift from Elvis to Michael Jackson to EDM chipmunk. If you were the bookish type, you just might read it as a meta-critique of pop stardom and its dark underbelly; at one point, Koenig creepily suggests, "You got th... | More »
Brittany Howard and Ruby Amanfu
"I Wonder"
Howard, the Alabama Shakes frontwoman, steps into Jack White's Third Man Records lab to take on "I Wonder," a Vietnam-era tune by Seventies sugar-man Rodriguez. Backed by one of White's touring bands, she and soul singer Ruby Amanfu turn in a sisterly workout with a reggae breakdown – what Bonnie Raitt might sound like if she went through a down-home garage-rock phase. Click to listen to Brittany Howard & Ruby Amanfu's 'I Wonder' | More »
Frank Ocean
"Eyes Like Sky"
This elliptical ballad (an unauthorized leak, presumably of a Channel Orange outtake) quietly reaffirms the songwriter's bona fides. Over some strummed acoustic guitar and loose kick-drum grooves, Ocean sings achingly of a blind boy who "sees" in colors. And when Ocean slyly croons, "I wish you could see the ocean," it's enough to break your heart in two ways. | More »
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