Feb 10
AndrewMusic Album Reviews, Music, pop music
I know occasionally I review an album I absolutely hate, but nothing in any of past reviews compares to the instantaneous disdain of Lily Allen’s sophomore release It’s Not Me, It’s You. From the first note, I wanted spray lemon juice in my ear and clean them out with sand paper. (If that doesn’t sound painful enough, I’ll think of something that does). From her twangy, British accent, clipped enunciation and spoken-word style reminiscent of Lisa Loeb, every sonic aspect of this album filled me with unrequited loathing. Opening track Everyone’s At It is saturated in a saccharine-cute arrangement, and then underscored with veiled, vaguely threatening lyrics. That is pretty much the combination for the rest of the album.
Take the New Order rip The Fear with the quippy observation “And I’ll take my clothes off and it will be shameless ‘cuz everyone knows that’s how you get famous.” She’s so self-satisfied, I just want to push her into a puddle and watch her flop about. When she writes about Chinese food on the track Chinese, I get so angry listening to the track, I actually imagine what it would be like to watch her fall off a bridge into the murky waters of the English Channel (don’t ask me what my drowning-obsession is about today).
Her formula works best on two back-to-back tracks Never Gonna Happen and F**K You. She’s no less self-righteous than anywhere else on the album when she sings “How on earth could I be any more obvious? It never really did and it’s never gonna happen with the two of us” or “Fuck you, fuck you very, very much cos we hate what you do and we hate your whole crew so please don’t stay in touch” but somehow the light influence of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and the cutesy repetitive shit doesn’t make me immediately want to dump a hot pan of cooking oil on my head and light myself on fire the way the rest of the album does. Like, I hate these songs too, but it’s more like scalding water in the pan instead of evoo.
BTW, Ms. Allen. It’s definitely you.
Feb 10
AndrewMusic Compilations, Greatest Hits, New Release, pop music
Accompanying the release of her greatest hits set The Annie Lennox Collection, the artist has dug deep into her collection to supplement the standard release.
The Annie Lennox Collection standard edition will feature 14-tracks comprised of her greatest hits plus two newly recorded covers Pattern of My Life and Shining Light. The collection includes her iconic hits Why, No More “I Love You’s” and the recent single Sing. A limited edition physical release will be packaged with a DVD collection of her video hits and two bonus videos Something So Right and Waiting in Vain from her covers album Medusa. The latter spawned a Mickey Mouse ears trend among her fans.
The real goldmine for fans though will be packaged with iTunes digital release. In addition to the 14 tracks that appear on the CD, the iTunes Super Deluxe packaging will include 8 bonus audio tracks and 4 bonus videos including two previously unreleased music videos.
Among the 8 bonus audio tracks is the obscure cover of Mama that Lennox recorded for 1995 compilation Ain’t Nuthin’ But a She Thing and only performed live once in her entire career to a prerecorded backing track. Additional tracks including her version of Many Rivers to Cross recorded for American Idol: Idol Gives Back and Dream Angus, which appeared on the compilation Carnival: Rainforest Foundation Concert.
Lennox is making a number of TV appearances this week to promote the U.S. release on February 17. She will also have two live performances titled An Evening With Annie Lennox in New York tonight February 10 and in Los Angeles on Friday, February 13. The U.K. release of The Annie Lennox Collection is March 9.
The Annie Lennox Collection CD
1. Little Bird
2. Walking on Broken Glass
3. Why
4. No More “I Love You’s”
5. Precious
6. A Whiter Shade of Pale
7. A Thousand Beautiful Things
8. Sing
9. Pavement Cracks
10. Love Song for a Vampire
11. Cold
12. Dark Road
13. Pattern of My Life
14. Shining Light
Bonus Audio (iTunes Super Deluxe Release)
15. Into The West (from The Return of the King soundtrack)
16. Ladies of the Canyon (b-side to No More “I Love You’s” single)
17. Hush, Hush, Hush (Paula Cole cover, recorded with Herbie Hancock)
18. Many Rivers to Cross (from American Idol: Idol Gives Back)
19. Dream Angus (from Carnival: Rainforest Foundation Concert compilation)
20. Mama (from Ain’t Nuthin’ But a She Thing compilation)
21. Everybody Hurts feat. Alicia Keys (R.E.M. cover)
22. Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye (from Red Hot + Blue compilation)
The Annie Lennox Collection DVD
1. Little Bird
2. Walking on Broken Glass
3. Why
4. No More “I Love You’s”
5. Precious
6. A Whiter Shade of Pale
7. A Thousand Beautiful Things
8. Sing
9. Pavement Cracks
10. Cold
11. Dark Road
Bonus Videos (iTunes Super Deluxe Release)
12. Something So right
13. Waiting in Vain
14. Pattern of My Life
15. Shining Light
Jan 27
AndrewMusic album review, pop music
Kylie Minogue has never been a household name in the U.S. and her new remix album, Boombox, isn’t going to change that. There are some decent cuts on the disc that might find their way into the club scene. Here’s the problem. While Minogue is clearly molded in the pop music genre, it’s just nothing like American pop music (the Madonnas or the Britneys or even the Mileys). It’s so clearly pop music from another country, and never it that more clear than on this album. So while there are some bad mixes here (2 Hearts), there are also some downright just bad songs (Giving You Up), and the combination makes for a rough time.
Fortunately (I suppose) Boombox is frontloaded with the best tracks. Songs that are great anytime (Can’t Get You Out of My Head) and remixes that are great (Wow). But by the time you get to Love at First Sight, you start to feel like the producers should have been more selective. There’s nothing wrong with the mix but there’s also almost nothing that reminds you of the original. Your Disco Needs You is a pure pop track straight out of the Abba generation (and kind of out of place on this album no matter how you look at it). The Chemical Brothers mix of Slow will remind you so much of Madonna’s Give It 2 Me that you will think you’re listening to the wrong cd. And the butchery of the usually blissful pop track Come Into My World is criminal.
If you’re already a Kylie Minogue fan, I think this album will fit pretty well in your collection. But this album, yeah I know it’s a remix collection, isn’t making new fans. But that’s too bad because she’s at least as good as the Madonnas, Britneys and Mileys. But she’s going to go unappreciated in the U.S., at least for one more release.
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