Invasion of Privacy [Atlantic, 2018]
Because she's smart enough to know the difference between a mixtape and an album, she earns the right to treat this official debut as the one that counts--no filler, no throwaways, no riding her smash, no withholding her smash either. Musically and lyrically, every track is thought through, with debts called in and incurred. The Noo Yawk accent she's right to lean on is so blunt that she's not a truly fluent rhymer, so she does well to pull in Chance's flow, Migos's trickeration, Pete Rodriguez's clave. And lyrically, her aim is true. "Write a verse while I twerk / I wear off-white in church"? Tell it, sister. "Only thing fake is the boobs"? Ca-ching. "Pussy's so good I say my own name during sex"? Car-di! A
Invasion of Privacy [Atlantic, 2018]
what a dumb loser
unironically based.
>Ys[Drag City, 2006]
>Original is one thing, worth doing another--and if only indie ideologues knew the difference. So much that is sprightly about the debut is subsumed here by ambition, to be kind, and privilege, to be brutally accurate. The through-composition does gain melodic grace over time but would mean little without the ministrations of Van Dyke Parks, whose fancy stuff requires simpler tunes than Newsom wishes to provide. And the libretto--ach Gott! Supposedly inspired by milestones in Newsom's life, these whimsical pastoral allegories reveal only that her taste for the antique is out of control. All those who gave this a rave should proceed directly to Edmund Spenser'sThe Faerie Queeneor John Bunyan'sThe Pilgrim's Progress. The new Arcade Fire will only waste their time. C+
joanna newsom btfo, arcade fire based
Fuck Van Dyke Parks anyway. That asshole ruined the Beach Boys.
please stop giving this cuckold the attention he desperately craves
The Best of the Guess Who [RCA Victor, 1971]
What on Earth do people have to gain by resisting all this popcraft? Is AM acceptance so tainted that these proven riffs and melodies shrivel the soul upon contact? Or does the way Burton Cummings shifts effortlessly between croon and growl and smooth just makes him slick, as they say? I have noticed ever since the romantic loss recorded in "These Eyes" that Cummings has become unnecessarily spiteful. But then again, songs that put down women and people who work for a living have never bothered AM haters before. B
Hi Infidelity [Epic, 1980]
I'm not saying they deserve the biggest selling album of their crummy era, but these boys have always known a thing or two about the hook and the readymade. Best song--"Tough Guys," which will never make the radio because it features this inspirational verse--"They think they're full of fire/She thinks they're full of shit." B-
Mother's Milk [EMI, 1989]
Punks who loved Hendrix and P-Funk, they've decided to cash in on their excellent tastes. Problem is, they didn't have the chops to pull it off before and now that they've pushed the guitar up front, they sound even cruder. But I'm sure they're nice guys and all--even mention "compassion" in the first verse of the first song. C+
Streetlife Serenade [Columbia, 1974]
Boy, these piano boys--on "Root Beer Rag" and "The Mexican Connection" Joel abandons Irving Berlin for George Gershwin, or do I mean Roger Williams? Granted, "The Entertainer" is so nasty it's witty--so nasty it may be about Joel himself. But why does it include a Rick Wakeman imitation? C
Duets [Capitol, 1993]
He clicks, he creaks, he clacks, he groans. That's not the point. Older guys with worse voices have sang better--for example, Champion Jack Dupree prevailed in his 80s because he didn't stake his manhood on the technical impeccability of his instrument. For decades, Sinatra's sound was magnificent, spellbinding, beyond reproach. But although he still sings better than the likes of Bono and Carly Simon, Luther Vandross runs rings around him in the vocal department while Liza Minelli out-acts him now. Lesson learned--he who lives by the larynx dies by the larynx. C