song reviews
The Strokes
"All the Time"
After the curveball Atari falsetto rush of "One Way Trigger," the Strokes drop another jam from the pending Comedown Machine, and it's 2001 all over again: a tuneful, tight, three-minute rocker tossed into an EDM-ish pop scene like a louche grenade. Even better, they've bulked up a bit and sound like U2 flipping through old indie-rock 45s. | More »
Usher
"Go Missin"
Usher and Diplo's last collaboration was the sonically nuanced, sex-tacularly sensitive "Climax." Their new one isn't so subtle, with Usher trying to persuade a woman to ditch the schmo she came to the club with and high-tail it back to his pleasure cave for some first-class Ushin'. "A chance like this only happens once in a lifetime," he informs her, like the Mr. Roarke of hitting it on the down-low. Diplo's glowering synth stabs give the track a nervous, predatory throb. | More »
Mariah Carey
"Almost Home"
"Over the Rainbow" it ain't. Still, the theme song from Disney's The Wizard of Oz prequel, Oz the Great and Powerful, has its modest virtues: an instant earworm chorus, deft production by Stargate and, just where you'd expect them (on the other side of the third chorus), some flamboyant vocal runs from Ms. Carey. | More »
The Postal Service
"A Tattered Line of String"
The first new song in a decade from Ben Gibbard's much-beloved synth-pop duo doesn't quite reach the heights of their 2003 bedroom-glitch-pop grail, Give Up. But the guy can still adjudicate post-hookup awkwardness over Depeche Modean tinkle like no one else. | More »
Nelly
"Hey Porsche"
There would be no Flo Rida had there not first been a Nelly showing how to take half-sung, half-rapped party anthems to the top of the charts. Now, though, the flow of influence has reversed. "Hey Porsche" is a shameless, nearly note-for-note rewrite of Flo Rida's "Whistle," catchy but pitiful: That smell isn't exhaust fumes, it's desperation. | More »
Ghostface Killah
"The Rise of the Ghostface Killah"
A spaghetti-Western-flavored origin story delivered with typical irresistible flair – from the strangulated sample of Ol' Dirty Bastard calling Ghost's name to lines like, "Colombian neckties from a black Gambino/Bodies get dumped in the black El Camino." Listen to "The Rise of the Ghostface Killah": | More »
Drake
"Started From the Bottom"
Drake's new single arrived on the Internet with Cliff's Notes: an open letter from the man himself. "I feel sometimes that people don't have enough information about my beginnings," he wrote. "Started From the Bottom" doesn't exactly fill in the blanks – we learn Drake used to argue with his mom and sometimes borrowed his uncle's car. The real statement is the revamped sound: Drake raps in a higher register over a spare, staccato beat built around a nattering 80... | More »
Fall Out Boy
"My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)"
What happens when an arena-emo band jettisons the "emo"? Turns out it's a big, goofy, stomp-along pop-metal anthem. The first Fall Out Boy single since 2009 might have a wordy sad-journal title and angst-wracked lyrics, but Patrick Stump sounds like a manimal banging on his cage door as he sings restraining-order-worthy blather like "You're the antidote to everything except for me" over a track strung between the club and a Kiss convention. The Paul Stanley-style "I'm on fire!"... | More »
Wavves
"Demon to Lean On"
The greatest song yet by these twentysomething San Diego surf punks treats Nirvana like a killer thrift-shop find, with the guitars set to "mudslide" and an oh-well Nathan Williams drawling (possibly accidental) Kurt Cobain allusions like "We're probably just dumb." Gloomy though the lyrics may be ("no hope and no future" gets repeated), Williams sounds like a talented slacker with a sugar high, barreling into bigger and bigger choruses. Grimier bubblegrunge is seldom found under a schoo... | More »
Maejor Ali feat. Juicy J & Justin Bieber
"Lolly"
We're not sure how they do things in Canada, but here we are a nation of laws, and this is one of them: When you make your first rap song about how good your penis tastes, make it one to remember. But if this jam with MCs Juicy J and Maejor Ali is pro forma, Biebs acquits himself reasonably well with chest-hair-poppin' flow and verses more cute than cringe-inducing: "Got your girlfriend at my crib watching Netflix/Let's just admit that I'm the bestest." One to grow on. | More »
Music Reviews
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star ratingRandom Access Memories -
star ratingModern Vampires of the City -
star ratingTrouble Will Find Me
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star ratingExcuse My French -
star ratingDemi -
star ratingSports (30th Anniversary Edition)
Photos & Videos
Random Notes: Hottest Rock Pictures
Gallery: Summer Tour Preview 2013
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