The Chainsmokers—“#SELFIE”
#55
Of course the music is all cliche—that’s part of the joke. And of course the vocals are incompetent even at being stupid—that’s part of the joke, too. As is the already dated quality of the words themselves. Problem is, laughs are supposed to be part of a joke, too, and I don’t hear any. Not one. Which makes all the other stuff sound even worse than it’s supposed to. Makes it sound crueler than it needs to be, as well.
Justin Timberlake—“Not A Bad Thing”
#65
A perfectly fine record by a perfectly fine artist, a man from whom, based on previous achievements, many people (not me) expected better, even though, little more than a year ago, they expected nothing at all. “Not a Bad Thing” will probably be the last music from the 20/20 project to hit the charts, and whether Timberlake ever makes a record again depends not on this one’s success or failure but on his whims and his ability to read the fine print of his contracts. I would prefer that he care more about what he’s doing next time, if there is a next time, but I’m sure it will be fine all the same. If he does or doesn’t, I mean.
Pitbull featuring G.R.L.—“Wild Wild Love”
#89
Riding the Avicii-inspired gravy train, here’s yet another c&w/dubstep mashup from a man who, over the last couple of years, has almost created a private genre out of EDM and style-jumping pop samples (Flo Rida sticks to the blues, but Pitbull will sample anything). “Wild Wild Love” is less catchy than “Timber”, and the joins are more obvious, but Pitbull has made himself the king of stupidly entertaining dance music, and I for one hope he never stops.
Fitz and the Tantrums—“The Walker”
#93
You know how to whistle, don’t you? You just put your lips together and suck.
Paramore—“Ain’t It Fun”
#96
I’m sure there are some I’ve missed, but you’d probably need to go back to “Like a Prayer” to find such effective use of a gospel choir on a pop record. The trick isn’t the voices or how they fit in the arrangement (though both are excellent), it’s the words, which are funny without being less serious, and uplifting without resorting to cheap homily. Though “Ain’t It Fun” is obviously directed toward the departed members of the band, the message is universal. The words “real” and “reality” are the center upon which all of Paramore (the album and the band) spins, and I can’t think of another recent pop star who has matured as suddenly or brilliantly as Haley Williams. She’s done it without losing an ounce of her vitality or sense of fun, either. If anything, both have increased. I don’t know if she’ll ever top this album, which grew out of special circumstances, but I can’t wait to hear her try.
Neon Trees—“Sleeping With a Friend”
#100
After the retro-hop of “Everybody Talks”, the seriousness and emotional depth of this record is a surprise, if not exactly a pleasure. “Sleeping With A Friend” fits better with their past records than you might think, though: remove the noisy electronics and the dense arrangement and you have power pop without the twang, not that far removed from what they’ve done before. The chorus could easily be that of a lesser Squeeze song. The lyrics aren’t as dense as Squeeze, in terms of wordcraft or emotion, and the arrangement disperses a lot of the song’s power. Still a promising bunch, maybe even more promising than before. I just worry about them taking things too seriously.