song reviews
Jenny and Johnny
"Scissor Runner"
Real-life lovebirds Jenny Lewis and Johnathan Rice have been lurking in the background of one another's records since Lewis's 2006 album Rabbit Fur Coat, but the brisk and breezy "Scissor Runner" marks their first front and center collabo. And what's it about? Love, of course — but not the entirely healthy kind. Over bright, bounding, summery guitars, Rice sings, "She's an artist/ painting a portrait all over my heart" to which Lewis responds: "Colors bleeding/ so deceiv... | More »
Jay-Z feat. Swizz Beatz
"Ultra"
'Fuck the DA, the mayor know me,' Jay raps on this new mixtape track. 'Ultra' works the space between Roc Boy and society man, name-dropping Cosa Nostra and Obama over Swizz Beatz's police whistle and grinding static. | More »
Enrique Iglesias Feat. Pitbull
"I Like It"
Enrique is back with his most danceable fiesta since "Bailamos" swept the States more than a decade ago. Rather than getting his samba on, he's scouting for some forbidden nookie with a babe he can't keep his hands off of while his girl's out of town. "No one can know the things I'm gonna wanna do to you," he swoons. And Pitbull gives us insight into his bedroom: "Tiger Woods times Jesse James equals Pitbull all night long." Cheating never sounded so fun! | More »
Seu Jorje
"Everybody Loves the Sunshine"
The Brazilian singer with the killer Bowie covers (see The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou) wraps his chocolate baritone around this blissed-out '76 Roy Ayers jam while Beastie Boys producer Mario Caldato Jr. makes the vintage synths sizzle like summer cicadas. More, please. | More »
Eddie Vedder
"Better Days"
This spare slow-burner had Pearl Jam scholars wondering whether it was a Riot Act or Backspacer outtake. Turns out it's Vedder's contribution to the Eat Pray Love soundtrack, though it would have been a quiet standout on any recent PJ album. | More »
The Situation
"The Situation"
And you thought Pauly D would be the first Jersey Shore star to rap. Sorry, Pauly — the Situation pulled the robbery! Sitch raps with DJ Class, Fatman Scoop and the Disco Fries, complete with the party chant "Whoa, we got a Situation." It probably sounds fine when you're beating the floor at Bamboo in your "I Heart House Music" t-shirt — especially after a jug of Ron Ron Juice. | More »
Drake feat. Jay-Z and Lil Wayne
"Light Up (Rikers Remix)"
A song about how hard it is to keep the world partying when you feel like dying inside, 'Light Up' was already one of the more poignant tracks on Drake's Thank Me Later. Jay-Z's cameo was note-perfect ('I'm not as cool with niggas as I once was'). But this remix cranks the pathos to 11 with a verse from Lil Wayne — delivered over the phone from freakin' Rikers Island. (Is this how he used his one phone call? Talk about true to the game!) Reception in ... | More »
Kanye West feat. Dwele
"Power"
After you've sampled Can and compared yourself to Maya Angelou, how do you reach new heights of left-field craziness? How about rapping over King Crimson's paranoid prog jam "21st Century Schizoid Man"? Kanye's best single since "Stronger" rides a torrid whipsaw beat, as he takes on his spelunking media image, pinballing from self-aware ("I'm an asshole") to defiant ("Kiss my asshole"). The sentiment is classic Kanye, but he hasn't melted down this brilliantly in a lo... | More »
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