It's Like Cloverfield, Minus the Nausea

I ate a monster (see what I did there?) "salad" at a Chili's Too at the MSP airport, Lady Amy incessantly sang "New York, New York" in my ear, and I was seated directly next to the blaring engine that I was sure I was going to get sucked into after the plane went two hours off course and split in two over the Pacific. So far, my vacation to the Big Apple has been gangbusters. No, seriously, I actually truly honestly enjoyed all of these aspects of my trip thus far. Because really, these will all make great memories. And memories, as the great American film Can't Hardly Wait has taught us, are all we have. Speaking of memories, I have absolutely NO recollection of any pop songs I've heard since I last reported on the Top 40 in Minneapolis. So I decided to take a look at what's hot here in on NYC's "hit music station" Z100 as I listen to them in real-time:

"Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis: Apparently this is also #1 at KDWB back at home, but I don't know if I've ever heard it. Very innocuous intro organ, then oh boy, that beat is stellar. The floor tom and kick drum sound like they're underwater! So minimalist, so stately, yes yes here comes the chorus. Very satisfying with subtly backing vox helping her out, but I can't shake the Mariah vibe this song gives. Maybe it's her new Albert Einstein-influenced album along with her recent SNL performance that has me unable to keep her out of my mind. Nevertheless, the synths turn into fake strings for a concise outro that wrings my heart, and I'm ultimately won over by this mega-ultra-hit song.

"4 minutes" by Madonna feat. Justin Timberlake: With Timbaland kicking off this song by spitting one too many "ticka-ticka"s and not being able to tell the difference between JT's and the mother of Jesus's (hey, I didn't name her) voice, there is absolutely nothing that makes this a Madonna song. There's no angst, no innovative electronics, hell there's barely even any Madonna in the actual song. Even sadder is the fact that this sounds like a leftover b-side from the Future Sex sessions. JT and Timbaland even sound bored to be singing this -- haha it ends with the generic music cutting out and Timba just saying, "save the world." Okay, it's redeemed itself.

"Damaged" by Danity Kane: Any faux-R&B girl-group song that starts off with the lyric "Do-do-do you got a first-aid kit handy?" is going to get an 'A' in my musical gradebook. The girls capably interweave their vocal harmonies and hold my attention for a good minute-and-a-half before I get sleepy---wait, in the background one of them is singing "can you fix my H-E-A-R-T?" and I just noticed it! Interested again! Haha it sounds like everything is being done with a loop pedal, just repeating all the best hooks over and over again electronically like a spacey guitar hook in a My Bloody Valentine song. Love it. I just wish the music underneath it all was more than just a chirpy synth that comes in every other measure and a bland pulsing electronic bass. Oh well, can't win them all.

Wait a second, yes I can, I'm in NEW YORK! Hello city of lights (that's this one, right?), I'm ready to face the day with three mediocre pop songs racing through my head! The question though, is - New York, are you ready for me?

This entry was posted by chris, on Friday, April 25, 2008. You can leave your response.