Posts Tagged ‘Lady GaGa’

CD Review: Kid Cudi, “Man on the Moon: The End of Day”

61MK69GHfCL._SCLZZZZZZZ_[1]This probably isn’t the best week for a Kanye West protege to drop his debut full-length album, but don’t feel too badly for Kid Cudi — with a couple of hit singles (the ubiquitous “Day ‘N’ Nite” and brilliantly crude “Make Her Say”) and one of the most heavily buzzed-about releases of the fourth quarter, he didn’t need to worry about any controversies dogging his label chief. In order to turn Man on the Moon: The End of Day into a platinum seller, all he had to do was turn in a halfway decent record.

Which is exactly what he’s done.

Cudi’s downcast confessional bent has prompted some to peg his music as “emo rap,” which isn’t far from the mark, I guess — although you won’t hear any Chris Carrabba-style screaming in Man on the Moon. Instead, you’ll get a whole lot of analog (or at least analog-sounding) synths and primitive drum programs, along with lyrics about loneliness and frustration. It’s basically a slightly more sonically expansive cousin to West’s 808s and Heartbreak, only Cudi doesn’t have to rely on Auto-Tune shenanigans to get his point across. On the other hand, given how often he uses monotonous melodies, and double-tracks his vocals on top of them, you may actually pine for a little Auto-Tune, which is Man’s biggest problem — it takes some really nifty, attentive production and wastes it on songs that, by and large, didn’t deserve the effort. (more…)

Mix Six: “Mashups”

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Last week, I was trying to figure out the awkwardly titled decade called “The 2000s.”  Yes, there’s been an A.D.D. quality to the last 10 years, but it could also be argued that there’s also a postmodern current flowing underneath all those mini-trends that came and went so fast they didn’t say goodbye. If I may be so bold as to throw another musical novelty borne out of the proliferation of cheap multitrack audio software into this decade, it would be the mashup.  I think the first time I heard  a kind of mashup was with the release of the Small Soldiers soundtrack.  Just a few years later, people wouldn’t need recording studios to do what the DJs where able to do on that soundtrack — and I’m thinking specifically of the “Love Is a Battlefield” Kay Gee remix with Queen Latifah and Pat Benatar.  Nowadays, it’s clear that ProTools can do wonders, and the more people with time and interest on their hands delve into what new musical forms they can weave into familiar songs, the more the original songs take on new and interesting twists when mashed up together.  Having tried to do my own version of a mashup called “the smashup” — where I smashed covers of certain songs together — I know the time and dedication it takes to put these mixes together.  So, here we go with a mix from some very creative individuals who clearly have talented ears and great skills with a multitrack recorder. (more…)

Mix Six: “Earworm Attack!”

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Let me get this out in the open: I work in a dangerous place.  No, I don’t work with nuclear materials, nor do I work at a restaurant where I train as a competitive eater on the side.  Rather, I work in a place where earworm attacks happen, and, as of late, are happening more frequently.  You see, I work at an Adult Contemporary radio station where some of the songs have an effect that I can’t seem to shake.  Yes, some songs get trapped in my head and the lyrics, melody, and various hooks weave themselves into my cerebral cortex like those creatures did to Chekov and Captain Terrell in Star Trek II. Or as Khan so eloquently said about the worms of Ceti Alpha Five (but could easily been talking about the songs featured here):  “You see, their young enter through the ears and wrap themselves around the cerebral cortex. This has the effect of rendering the victim extremely susceptible to suggestion.  Later, as they grow, follows madness — and death.”

chek72

Oh, little earworm, how you have tortured me!  And now, dear readers, I pass along the love. (more…)