Critique as you listen! Osama bin Hilton edition!
"Turn It Up"
Getting "Slave 4 U" vibes...Paris is paper-thin from the start, like a shadow of her own voice at the beginning, shout-outs to Scott Storch. She sounds bored or sarcastic, but I guess it's true to character. That's one thing that perplexes me about some of the talk about Paris' evilness, the idea that somehow her mutant capitalist excess is any different from anyone else's. She's just perpetuated her image as THE evil capitalist excess figurehead, which is kind of brilliant, it's what makes The Simple Life seem so ingenious whenever I watch it.
"Fighting Over Me"
OK, I think I've heard this before. If I remember correctly, Paris is kind of like wallpaper in this song (which works) while Jadakiss and Fat Joe steal the show, kind of like Britney's "I Got That Boom Boom" where Ying Yang Twins ham it up.
One notable thing about the Paris album that might be unique is how insanely overdubbed her vocals are. You can make out multiple vocal tracks (four plus easy, maybe like ten or twenty, but hard to tell), it's a really interesting treatment of a weak voice. It obviously doesn't improve her voice, and there don't seem to be any egregious Autotune moves (which I'm not inherently opposed to, unless it sticks out like a sore thumb, as it does a few times with Ashlee and I think even a Veronicas track), but it creates this army of vapidity that has a real charm to it.
"Stars Are Blind"
I have nothing else to say about this one, today Stylus called it "impossibly treble" (well, not so impossible). The rest of the review doesn't sit right, seems confused as to what standards to judge the album by...anti-Paris diatribe, OK, I guess you can bring that to the discussion if you want (don't see how it really helps a negative review, especially since the album is actually quite good, if anything it's an argument for more "untalented" rich celebs getting the star treatment since they have nothing to prove, they're like putty in the hands of the so-called "army of serious-minded professionals with impeccable pop credentials" (if you're going to use that sort of language, why then point to Billy Steinberg of all the producers?). But more to the point, how can an admittedly good, well-produced, even, shock, enjoyable album be a signifier of "everything you hate about the pop industry"? You mean, resenting "the pop industry" because somehow lots and lots of time and money and production talent can be put into creating good pop music? As far as it being expensive goes, even if expenditures on this sort of project somehow directly funnel international aid into Paris Hilton's handbag, the music industry is still hardly the place to start with that argument; even the most expensive music production of all time (which I doubt this was by a longshot) wouldn't cost a fraction of the cost of a Hollywood film. The mere existence of this album is not in and of itself proof of the existence of some "system" that can be equated with structural concerns leading to eventual social ruin, one that must be dismissed in order for progressive social change to occur. If there is a "system" (which there isn't, at least not in the tunnel-visioned way most Paris haters conceive of one), this is actually evidence of one of its modest triumphs.
"I Want You"
Breezy dance number. On the verses, several stacked-up Paris vocals almost equal Kylie Minogue's breath. And, yep, about fifty Parises on the chorus. (Wait, is that "Grease"?) Nice speak-sing breakdown in the verse, hm, so far the album is tight and impeccable. Which means they can stick a siren through the whole song and it just sort of enriches it. Sort of.
"Jealousy"
A little darker, string opener could open into dance...and it does. So far reminding me a little of "500" by Bertine Zeitlitz. And if she wanted, Paris could hit those same harmonies, but it would take about, er, 500 of her. Oh wow, nope, first strand of Kelly C angst-rock, nice rug-puller chorus. This album is sort of perfect. Maybe Paris is the (most recent) apex of the possibilities of anonymous pop, just enough personality to offer a sort of through line but nothing else. So the music can be fine-tuned around the spectre of her public persona, which itself doesn't come through as such -- you gotta bring that baggage to the record, and even then this is produced for the baggage not to stick. Why bother anyway? (Oh, and also from that Stylus review, Paris is not Osama Bin Laden! Jeeeeeez. If you're going to get self-righteous about the idea of Paris, you can't just throw shit at the wall and see what sticks. And yet when Paris throws shit at the wall on her album, it works.)
"Heartbeat"
Kind of lulls, or maybe just lulling, a nice cool-down, even though none is needed because nothing has really heated up yet. A double entendre at a sub-Lindsay level, something about "I can hear my heartbeat when you come." Hm, maybe it's not even a double entendre. Weird, this actually has a similar vibe as the other "Heartbeat," riding this completely understated energy without ever peaking for nearly four minutes, self-contained and refreshing, but it doesn't hit as hard as Annie's version -- probably because it isn't supposed to. Not sure how much of that impact on the Annie track is contextual pathos, as opposed to this song's contextual frivolity (both songs sound frivolous, but aren't).
"Nothing in This World"
The de-clawed version of the Dr. Luke/Max Martin rock formula, bouncier and goes for a big giggly smile in the chorus instead of the weird sorta cathartic effect of the V's and Kelly C...the best incarnation of this, on Paris' feel-good terms on this track, is still probably BSB "Just Want You to Know," but Paris brings a few new elements to it, lightweight synths in the chorus, generally a more dancefloor-oriented take on the style. Better than the Dr. Luke/Max fusion effort on "U and Ur Hand" but not any better than the V's or Marion Raven or Kelly C or maybe Skye Sweetnam, who could really have some fun with this formula, plus she has the pipes, plus she won't be too overbearing on the soaring chorus, since you know there's gonna be one.
"Screwed"
Wow, I love the remix of this, and this is still much better. Probably the best use of the army-of-Paris vocals, bouncing off each other like funhouse mirrors while there's a pretty damn solid rock/pop track chugging along beneath. There's an illusory charm to the whole album, like you keep getting glimpses of a real person, but no, that one's just a mirror, chasing these infinite shadow Parises through the song.
"Not Leaving without You"
This seems to be the weakest so far, now the music and Paris are both sort of weak instead of being understated. But it's simple and effective as a perpetual, lightweight dance number, just not as strong or as tightly produced as the other tracks so far. This material is so thin that if it isn't absolutely held together it kind of crumbles. On "Stars Are Blind" it's kind of incredible to realize it isn't going to fall apart at all, but on this one there's some wavering, like the surroundings are about to disappear and Paris is standing there all alone, ready to jig off the stage. But no, there's too much going on at all times for that to ever happen, and Paris probably wouldn't jig, she'd just shrug and stand there and maybe yawn.
"Turn You On"
This one's better but not one of the better tracks. More playful with her voices, let's them harmonize, let's them explore the track a little, yelp, flirt, yawn, whatever.
"Do You Think I'm Sexy"
Hm, done up like a disco novelty, or a different kind of disco novelty. At points it's like Paris fronting the Tom Tom Club, which could work but isn't working for me right now. Whatever, about 8/11 is pretty good! Better than Marie Serneholt's average...better than the Veronicas'. Also goes on too long, it's like having three after dinner mints after only eating a light dessert.
I don't think I could ever really get into this album, not because I hate Paris (if I did, which I don't, I don't see how that would be particularly relevant -- and hey, I guess if Osama bin Laden put out a pop album and it was any good, I could probably admit it and still be able to articulate a political argument against him), but because I'm not really supposed to get into it. I could only listen to it in passing, which I have. But there's nothing below the surface, there are no enduring pleasures, even by its own aesthetic standards -- there's nothing to dig into, and there isn't really supposed to be. So it's very good, but, perhaps like Paris Hilton, I probably couldn't be bothered to give a shit. Hm...
No comments:
Post a Comment