Bedmux#2

Now featuring selections from my FIRST QUARTER folder. Some of these are older (or a little newer, maybe) than that, but they hopped on my radar sometime between January and the end of March.

1. September - Cry for You
2. Danity Kane f. Missy Eliott - Bad Girl
3. The Knux - Cappuccino
4. Wiley - Wearing My Rolex
5. V.I.C. f. Soulja Boy - Get Silly
6. Teyana Taylor - Google Me
7. Cupid f. B.O.B. - 369
8. Maria Daniela y su Sonido Lasser - Dame Mas
9. Britta Persson - At 7
10. Dolly Parton - Jesus & Gravity
11. Ashlee Simpson - I'm Out
12. Karina Pasian - 16 @ War

September's a lot stronger than some of the discussion of it over at Poptimists suggests it is -- weirdly, my reaction to it is similar to Sharam's PATT, in that it brings out weird latent second-hand nostalgia responses that I'm not sure what to do with...it's as if I've tapped into the "why now?" aspect of Tom Ewing's reluctant endorsement without knowing anything about its past. Which isn't true (it's a slightly simpler/cheesier rendition of straight Euro-club-pop that just about every UK/Euro/Scando poptress does occasionally -- Margaret Berger's "Samantha," say), but there's some sorta Pavlovian shit going on. Plus Emily loves it, so there.

Danity Kane's album is really strong overall, a definite top ten contender (and now I'm wondering why Rihanna never had a shot at my ten with a stronger buffet-style R&B/pop album last year?) and I reluctantly picked "Bad Girl" over my inexplicable favorite, "Lights Out" -- lot to be said for catching a decent song for the first time on the first great day of the year. Cupid is similar -- an obvious pick, not too interesting but I think it gets better the more you listen to it. Verses need a bit of a lift but as the chorus loses its novelty (and I guess it's been done to death elsewhere anyway) the whole thing kind of levels out.

Teyana and V.I.C. both paler shades of '07 teenpop, but I like 'em pretty well anyway -- the former has nothing on Lil' Mama (or Kelis, more obvious reference point) but this song has really wormed its way into my brane. "Googlemebebbe" should be great for about another eight seconds, but whatever what a fun couple of seconds it will be. Anyway, I was wrong about the staying power of "Lip Gloss," which continues to knock me out. V.I.C. is more or less indistinguishable from a Soulja Boy track, except the rapping is more competent [EDIT: in case the last bit there wasn't clear, I don't mean to insult Soulja Boy or give any undue credit to competence]. A couple of great one-liners, and I think it's sum good natured fun, though not much of a contender for the Soulja Boy-related product of the year. YAHHHHHHHH.

The Knux and Wiley are both swiped from Tom and Frank and I don't have much to say about them except that if you haven't heard them yet, try them first. Maria Daniela with questionable single status here, but the song is probably the highlight on her new album. Matthew Fluxblog turned me on to Britta Persson, who does second (or first-and-a-half) shelf occasionally whimsical Scandoangst in Marit Larsen fashion. Doesn't hold a candle to Marit, but a lot of that is because she decided at some point in her career that singing with cotton in her mouth was a good idea. OH WELL. Great great great opening line: "You look a mirror to me / I am not saying that I think you're ugly / Just hard to look at." GOLD GOLD GOLD.

Dolly Parton's "Jesus and Gravity" might (might might might) be my single of the year so far. I KNOW. I don't know. But there's just something about it -- this articulation of the humbling effect of gravity on her faith. I know it's basically cleverer than it is deep, or comes across that way -- but I dunno, I still can't help but project my own ambivalence about that split onto it. Jesus, being all things to all people, gives you kind of a big head, but let's just see how you deal with nature's arbitrary cruelty. Dolly Herzog. Yeah yeah yeah it's a stretch I know, but there's...just...something...that compels me to stretch it anyway. And that's to say nothing of that great moment where Dolly is singing "Jesus!" and the choir behind her is singing "holding me down!" (I mean, Jesus basically is gravity, too, right? LIKE WHAT IF JESUS WAS CANCER AND THE CURE FOR CANCER AT THE SAME TIME MAAAAAN.)

Ends things up with Ashlee's promising bonus track to upcoming Bittersweet World, which, from what I've heard, could use more of its relaxed, wistful vibe -- sort of middle-stretch-of-Autobiography in its easiness (thinly) masking somewhat more conflicted lyrics. The lyrics aren't quite there ("my heart is feelin' jaded" = *BARF*, maybe Kara was, like, her copy editor or something...and she keeps singing "lovah" in a way that really bugs me) and maybe the easiness isn't in stark enough contrast to make it an on-second-thought mind-bender like "Pieces of Me" ended up being. Should really give "Little Miss Obsessive" a few more chances to make a comparable impact (I do forget how long it took me to really click with a few Autobiography tracks, longer than the I Am Me album as a whole). And Karina Pasian's "16 @ War" is an overwrought ghetto lament without the fairytale flourishes of Keke Palmer's "Music Box," but there are a few lines that kind of strike me -- the peer pressure line doesn't come across as too preachy somehow, and I like how she tackles smog and mean girls simultaneously.