media frenzy!!!

Self-explanatory.

1. RadioLab's Desperately Seeking Symmetry

Jad and Robert probe the benefits of symmetry, and asymmetry.


2. Chris Brown's 'Look at Me Now'

I don't love supporting domestic abusers, but I do love Busta Rhymes and Lil' Wayne. And disco ball faces.


3. Lil Wayne's '6 foot 7 foot'

Nothing like watching Weezy's brain go flying. I also love the "death is her sister" part. And of course the whole 'Inception' reference (is it a reference if it doesn't make any sense?)


4. Karmin!
I can't seem to embed their videos, so just go to their YouTube channel and watch their covers of 'forget you', 'look at me now', 'whip my hair', 'born this way', 'hold it against me,' just for starters.

follow-up

First, I suppose I should note that the genesis of that giant word vomit was an ongoing, approximately four year-long discussion that my friend Todd and I have had about the merits of Mr. Timberlake following a night where Todd's feelings on the subject were clarified while watching an HBO special of his performance. I should also note that this clarity may have been chemically aided. But I digress.

I feel that I should offer a little bit of (still unsolicited) clarification to the imaginary people who are up at arms about my previous post. It’s possible that because I had such an obviously good time deconstructing the myth of JT’s artistic supremacy that my post appears to be primarily about how I hate him. But that’s really not the point – I don’t hate him at all (as many people who have heard me give poor renditions of “Senorita” can attest). It’s more about how enticing it is to buy into established narratives. Somewhere along the line we decided that Justin and Gaga are “artists” whereas Britney is a “product.” Because of that, we view all of their activity through those filters: Gaga imitating Madonna is an homage, and songs like Telephone are satire, whereas Britney performing Like a Virgin is marketing. I just think that with prominent pop culture figures like these particular people, for whom their imposed narrative seems far more dominant than their reality, that its interesting to re-examine their careers.

The other obvious criticism is that JT and Gaga are established musicians – they are both extremely talented singers and musicians, whereas Britney Spears clearly is not. I completely agree (see Gaga’s VMA performance of Paparazzi or JT’s SNL performance of Senorita if you need proof). One might even argue in the case of JT that he has not attempted to consciously manipulate his public image, instead allowing his musical product to speak for him. To that I would say 2 things. First, I think its reasonable – I just think it’s a double standard to view Gaga’s control of her image as clever and Britney’s as fake. And second, JT’s decision to allow his music (whenever he makes it) to speak for him is commendable – it just makes him less relevant. It reminds me of Nirvana and Pearl Jam. Both emerged out of Seattle, both were relatively counter-culture (especially compared to Michael Jackson), but unlike Pearl Jam, Kurt Cobain was extremely aware that Nirvana had cultural resonance beyond the simple quality of their music (which is why he wrote “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and agonized over making In Utero sound ugly – Klosterman’s article on this is genius). As a result, Pearl Jam might well have had better musicians, but Nirvana was far more important. And that’s how I feel about JT and Britney.

I will also add that, whatever my feelings about his musical legacy are, there's one thing that can't be doubted about JT, and that's his SNL hosting legacy - he is awesome on that show.

relevance

I’m returning from a lengthy hiatus to urgently discuss a matter of significant importance (to my sanity). So.

I’ve always been a big music fan; when I was young it was simply a matter of what music I liked listening to (as a kid, Michael Jackson, as a teenager, Nirvana and Nine Inch Nails). As I got a little older, as all teenagers who like to wax poetic about art do, I started becoming interested in characterizations of artists in terms of their broader cultural significance. This topic was more interesting with regards to conventional ‘popular’ (pop) artists, in large part because pop artists’ significance seemed to be determined as much by their ability to influence the cultural landscape as by the intrinsic quality of their music. This was in contrast, at least somewhat, to

the more meritocracy-based popularity of rock and hip-hop artists (just allow me to stipulate that argument, we can debate it at another time.)

It’s not surprising that arguments over which pop artists were most relevant were more heated when I was a kid. Two reasons come immediately to mind: first, the lack of broad access to media (aka, the lack of the internet) decreased competition for the attention of fans, and second, … well, the artists in question were just much better. Feuding for control of the pop culture landscape in the mid 80s and 90s were Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Prince. We then went through a period of counter-culture in which alternative music became mainstream before re-emergence of classical pop music in the late 90s with the growth of so-called bubble-gum pop. Two of the primary characters in this new emergence were, of course, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake.

The notable events in the biography of Timberlake and Spears are fairly common knowledge to anyone in high school or college during this era: their parallel early success, their high-profile, yet strangely boring and unrealistically serious relationship, and their inevitable breakup rife with accusations of infidelity. In the aftermath, Timberlake’s blistering single “Cry Me a River” was the genesis of an emerging narrative in which Spears’ success was determined to be a product of her ruthless ambition and to be in spite of her artistic vacuity, while Timberlake was cast as the earnest poet. The hero and villain(ess) in this story were obvious. Over the following years, each character did their best to advance the narrative with which they had been supplied; JT ascended to pop royalty, producing two fairly popular and critically acclaimed albums, while Spears married and divorced a guy who wrote “Popo Zao,” had two children, shaved her head, and generally became a lunatic. When Spears quietly re-emerged with 2009’s Circus, 2010’s “3,” and 2011’s Femme Fatale, while JT continued to be musically silent, this narrative remained curiously unchanged; JT continued to be considered one of popular music’s 2 culturally transcendent artists (along with Lady Gaga), while Spears’ success continued to be cast as outside of the realm of cultural significance.

Well, I plan on reassessing these myths, despite the fact that no one really asked. Let’s take a trip down memory lane, shall we?

Early Careers (late 90s to early 00s)

Now, most would consider the early careers of Timberlake and Spears to be a wash; Spears was the face of a production team that generated largely forgettable hits, while Timberlake was the face of a boy band that was the face of the same production team generating yet more forgettable hits. And while that may be mostly true, I think a few points are worth noting:

• Spears’ job was ostensibly tougher as a solo artist, attemping to win the favor of an emerging target audience (young teenage girls) who generally tended to favor male artists. Despite this, Spears’ freshman album effort, …Baby One More Time, and its title single were far more culturally resonant than the summation of *NSYNC’s entire catalog. It’s further worth noting that the driving force of the single’s notoriety (it’s controversial, Catholic schoolgirl-themed video) came from Spears herself (the label had originally suggested an animated video). This was the first suggestion that Spears was highly aware that she was able to use her status to stir up controversy.
• At the peak of her success from …Baby One More Time, Spears continued to court controversy, appearing on the cover of Rolling Stone with her shirt unbuttoned. When asked, Spears reportedly responded, “What’s the big deal? I’d do it again. I thought the pictures were fine. And I was tired of being compared to Debbie Gibson and all of this bubblegum pop all the time.” (During this time, *NSYNC did not seem the least bit uncomfortable with their sqeaky clean image, choosing to keep still waters calm with such singles as “This I Promise You,” “It’s Gonna Be Me,” and “Bye, Bye, Bye” – none of which, thank god, has had any musical permanence.)

In 2001, Spears began to experiment sonically with her sound. Apparently inspired by Jay-Z, she hired the Neptunes (who until this time had produced only modest hits such as N.O.R.E’s “Superthug,” Kelis’s “Caught Out There,” Mystikal’s “Shake Ya Ass,” and a few others) to produce the lead single from her third album, Britney. The single, “I’m a Slave 4 U” was radically different from all of her prior singles, featuring a slithering, hip-hop oriented beat; nevertheless, the single was a worldwide #1 smash (and for the record, is an awesome song, probably the Neptune’s best beat ever.) During this time, Spears also took a brief, and fairly terrible, foray into acting with 2002’s Crossroads.

JT, meanwhile, took a larger hand in the production of *NSYNC’s 2002 album, Celebrity. The album featured probably their only worthwhile song, "Gone." While none of the songs on this album matched the sonic inventiveness of "Slave 4 U", the band did interestingly take a hint from Britney and commission the Neptunes for production of their third single, “Girlfriend.” (You’ll note this theme of Spears’ going uncredited for innovative choices while JT incomprehensibly receives credit for generation of unoriginal work a few more times.)

2002 – 2004: Generation of divergent narratives

2002 in the arc of both of these stars is defined by the end of their relationship and conviction of Spears for said end. Following their breakup, rumors circulated widely suggesting infidelity by Spears during their relationship. In late 2002, JT released his first solo album, Justified. It was produced entirely by the Neptunes, who, by this time, had produced not only Spears’ “Slave 4 U” but Nelly’s “Hot in Herre” and won Producer of the Year at both the Source and Billboard Music Awards, and Timbaland, who by this time had already produced countless hits for Jay-Z (“Big Pimpin,’”), Aaliyah (“Are You That Somebody,” and Missy Elliot (“Supa Dupa Fly” and “Work It,”) amongst others. So he was really taking chances with unknown commodities. The video for the album’s second video, “Cry Me A River,” eliminated the doubts of anyone who had suffered a severe brain injury and thus did not understand the subject matter of the single (Spears’ purported infidelity.) Meanwhile, Spears’ declined to comment publicly on the end of their relationship, noting only in an interview with Chuck Klosterman that she and Timberlake “were too young to be so serious.” She did, however, co-write a song, “Everytime,” in which she pleads for forgiveness following the end of a relationship.

Justified was a successful debut album for JT (although with 3 million records sold domestically, nowhere near the success of Spears’ first 3 albums, with 26, 20, and 12 million albums sold respectively). The album’s relatively diminished commercial success was compensated by its critical acclaim; the album received strong reviews, and “Cry Me A River” was its biggest hit; Timberlake was rewarded for exploiting his private relationship for public gain, while Spears was vilified for her silence on the issue. But this growing narrative failed to account for one minor point:

Justified sucks. OK, well, it doesn’t suck; it’s a perfectly decent album with a few catchy songs (though not nearly as many as any of Spears’ or NSYNC’s prior albums). Rather, the canonization of Justified as an artistically sound album is just categorical nonsense. First, its mind-bogglingly unoriginal in its near-total reliance on production by the Neptunes and Timbaland, the 2 most popular producers in the world at that time. Lyrically, the album is a joke, featuring 11 songs that express the topic of Timberlake’s excellence as a lover and 2 songs that bemoan how he has been unfairly wronged. To this day, I cannot understand how Timberlake was actually lauded for “Cry Me a River,” in which he very publicly aired the dirty laundry of his former relationship – a man, who bears no pressure of fidelity in popular culture, publicly questions the morals of his ex-girlfriend (who, as a woman, is constantly held unfairly to a standard of virtue that he is not), and we celebrate him for it? Unreal. Oh, I almost forgot. Justified also includes one song, “Rock Your Body,” in which he educates us that not only is he terrific in bed, but that smoking weed is awesome. Thanks, guy.

Spears, meanwhile, followed her newfound notoriety with 2003’s In the Zone, in which she also took an artistic step forward by co-writing and co-producing nearly all of the tracks. Unlike Timberlake, Spears shunned high-profile producers, opting instead to work with unknown producers such as the Matrix, Bloodshy & Avant, and Redzone, as well as non-pop producers such as Moby. These choices marked Spears’ desire for the album to reflect her changing musical tastes; the album appropriately features more club-oriented music. Spears was aware of the commercial sacrifice of pursuing her individualism, saying, “Of course I’m not doing ‘Baby One More Time’ and those massive hits anymore. I think this record is where I am at right now in my life.” The album’s first single, “Me Against the Music,” was originally a solo track, but was re-envisioned by Spears’ as a duet after she played the track for Madonna, who expressed her interest. The album’s second single, “Toxic,” was one of Spears’ biggest hits (and probably the most interesting song in her catalog); despite its production by an unknown producers, it far outclasses any song off of Justified. Lyrically, the album was Spears’ most autobiographical, and featured Spears’ emergence as a single woman (note the much more interesting topics of “Early Mornin’” (hangovers) and “Touch of My Hand” (duh)). The album’s only reflection on the past, the aforementioned “Everytime,” was as understated as Timberlake’s was grotesquely public (Spears’ music video for Everytime showcased her growing anxiety with the paparazzi, a concept that, I suppose, is far less creative than dancing around a Britney Spears imitator – I imagine those were pretty hard to find.) In the Zone outsold Justified domestically and internationally by almost threefold, and like Justified, was awarded with a Grammy (best dance recording for “Toxic”), yet was considered to be a relative failure.

2004 – 2008: Canonization of a myth

I will be the last to deny that from 2004-7 Spears really helped further the public perception that she was a hack, marrying the decorticate Kevin Federline, having 2 kids, divorcing Federline, shaving her head, showing her hoo-hah getting out of limos with Paris Hilton, and finally checking into a rehab center in late 2007 (although, why any of these behaviors diminished her validity as an artist is not entirely clear to me - don't we regularly glorify male celebrities for this sort of excess?). The net effect of all this behavior, occurring during a vacuum in which Spears released no music, was that her notoriety for non-artist behavior far outmeasured her artistic output (of which there was none).

On the other hand, lets consider young Timberlake’s monumental accomplishments during this time. It begins in 2004, where Timberlake gave us his most forgivable act of these 4 years: briefly showing Janet Jackson’s boob during the Super Bowl. Good for him. Of course, this led to years of unnecessary TV censorship and apparently some sort of mandate that everyone who performs at the Super Bowl has to be old enough to have an enlarged prostate; thus, 2005’s Paul McCartney, 2006’s the Rolling Stones, 2008’s Tom Petty, 2009’s Bruce Springsteen, and 2010’s the Who. Meanwhile, Janet Jackson’s career began a slow descent following the infamous ‘warddrobe malfunction’ (her subsequent albums Damita Jo, 20 Y.O., and Discipline were all commercial failures) while Timberlake escaped unscathed, despite the fact that he was the one who ripped her bra cup off in the first place (by all accounts, the whole stunt was his idea). Unbelievable.

I suppose this incident was so scarring to JT that he put his fledgling music career on hold to make as many movies that are worse than Crossroads as possible, playing bit parts in Edison Force, Alpha Dog, Black Snake Moan, and Southland Tales. I have actually seen one of those movies – how many people can say the same?

All of this nonsense, however, was apparently forgiven with the release of Timberlake’s sophomore effort, the hilariously titled Futuresex/Lovesounds. The album won Timberlake significant acclaim, despite the fact that, from the title, I can only assume that JT has some closeted fetish for robot pornography or something. Nevertheless, FSLS is not without its merits (See? I’m not an unequivocal hater!) Sonically, despite being produced entirely by Timbaland, who proved how important Timberlake was to this process by being equally responsible for the success of Nelly Furtado’s Loose as well as his own album, Shock Value, JT’s second album is far more interesting than his first. While the first single, “SexyBack,” which features a boast, that he is “bringing sexy back,” made many of us wonder whether he actually understands what a noun is, I was impressed by the song’s unconventional melody and structure. The album featured a number of other interesting bits of music; however, these were mostly in the interludes between songs (“Let Me Talk To You,” “I Think She Knows”). These interludes were reportedly the result of Timberlake’s broadening musical interest (the band Interpol reportedly being the inspiration for “I Think She Knows”) – yet in stark contrast to Spears, Timberlake was unwilling to risk his commercial success by featuring his interests, and thus relegated them to hidden interludes at the end of featured tracks. Oh yeah – the album has a track, “Losing My Way,” in which Timberlake pretends to be a middle-aged blue-collar male who has become addicted to crack. I find this to be one of the stupidest songs ever written. Nevertheless, FSLS was Timberlake’s biggest hit, selling 14 million copies worldwide and 4 million domestically.

In late 2007, Spears released her fifth solo album, Blackout, quietly and notably without promotion from her label, Jive Records (which was angered by the online leaks of tracks from the album before its official release). The album, which reflected Spears’ continuing interested in club culture and music, was perhaps her most critically acclaimed, winning Album of the Year at the MTV Europe Music Awards in 2008 and named the most influential pop album of the past five years by Rolling Stone in 2011. However, as the Guardian noted, “It’s a bold, exciting album; the question is whether anyone will be able to hear its contents over the deafening roar of tittle-tattle.” Undoubtedly, Spears’ attempted comeback was premature as evidenced by her discombobulated and critically panned performance of “Gimme More” (an admittedly awful song) at the MTV VMAs in 2007. However, even on this album, Spears’ showed us an ability for self-awareness that JT seems to be conspicuously lacking with her second single, “Piece of Me,” in which she announces herself as “Mrs. Oh my God that Britney’s shameless.” “Piece of Me” served as the true jumping off point for Spears’ resurgence.

2008 – The Return

It’s pretty easy to summarize Timberlake’s activity since 2006’s FSLS, because there isn’t much. He collaborated with Madonna on 2007’s hideous “4 Minutes” (did I mention Madonna collaborations before?) also contributing 4 other tracks to her album, Hard Candy, which competes strongly with American Life as her worst album. Apparently content with one forgettable album and one decent one, Timberlake resumed his acting “career” with 2008’s The Love Guru. That’s right: The Love Guru. With Mike Myers. Remember that movie? He also because a sort-of cast member on SNL, hosting three times and featured in multiple other guest appearances. His collaborations with Andy Samberg produced “Dick in a Box” and “Motherlover,” which were both unequivocally awesome. He appeared in 2010’s terrific The Social Network, in which he used his finely honed theatrical craft to play Sean Parker – a famous young white man who enjoys going to clubs and hooking up with women. In 2011, he will appear in Friends with Benefits with Mila Kunis, a movie to whose awfulness I can do no justice, so I’ll simply link to the trailer.

Meanwhile, following 2007’s abominable performance of “Gimme More,” Spears was involuntarily hospitalized at Ronald Reagen UCLA Medical Center in early 2008. However, following her release, she appeared in How I Met Your Mother as Abby, a socially awkward receptionist trying to win the heart of Ted (one of the main characters). She was critically lauded (and I have to say, pretty funny) and later reprised her role in a subsequent episode. She then filmed and released a documentary, “Britney: For the Record” chronicling her efforts to regain her former prominence; the documentary garnered MTV’s highest ever ratings in the timeslot in which it aired. At the same time, the aforementioned “Piece of Me” won video of the year at 2008’s VMAs. This combination of events paved the way for Spears to renew public interest in her as an artist (as opposed to as a headline on a Perez Hilton website).

Her sixth studio album, Circus, did just that, returning her to critical and commercial prominence by way of her first number 1 single, “Womanizer,” since …Baby One More time. Spears continued to depart from her former squeaky-clean image and poked fun at her love-hate media relationship with the follow-up smash hit, “If You Seek Amy.” This return to prominence was rewarded by a matching resurgence in public appreciation/fandom as marked by her massively successful Circus: featuring Britney Spears tour.

Spears followed Circus in 2009 with a compilation, The Singles Collection. This featured Spears’ second consecutive number one hit, “3,” which met the notable challenge of writing a hit single about threesomes. Not content with this success, Spears released her seventh studio album, Femme Fatale, featuring two consecutive number 1 smashes, the mediocre “Hold It Against Me” and the frankly awesome “Till the World Ends.” Femme Fatale is yet another mark of Spears’ desire to express her personal musical evolution, as the album features a number of tracks written in dubstep, a dance music style popularized in clubs in South East London.

So. How can we summarize all of this?

On one hand we have JT, an immensely talented singer and songwriter, who helped produce a series of largely unmemorable, conservative hits for *NSYNC, forayed into solo artistry in the most safe way possible, using the most popular producers of his time while exploiting his recently ended relationship to further his reputation, took a brief hiatus to make a bunch of terrible films, made one pretty good album, made another bunch of terrible films, 2 funny songs with Andy Samberg, and did a reasonably good job in the Social Network.

On the other hand, we have Spears, a solo female artist who produced three monumentally successful commercial albums (with significant evidence that she was the driving force, both sonically and artistically, behind a number of critical elements responsible for her success), refused to respond to her public denigration following her breakup, began an artistic departure that reflected her shifting musical tastes at the expense of her commercial success, went crazy, married a loser, had 2 kids, divorced said loser, released 1 critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful album, went into hiding for about a year, and re-emerged to completely shed the coattails of her former success and reinvent herself as a club-busting hitmaker with her sixth and seventh riotously successful albums. In doing so, she’s summarily dispatched of many of her so-called competitors (remember how willing we were to call Christina Aguilera the artistic yin to Britney’s yang? We were all pretty quiet when after 2006’s Back to Basics, Aguilera’s attempt to reflect her personal tastes, flopped, her transparently pathetic attempt to regain pop success with 2010’s Bionic was thankfully forgotten).

Meanwhile, Lady Gaga has supplanted Spears as Madonna’s heir apparent (partially because of Britney’s embracing of slightly left of mainstream club culture, and partially because Gaga is obsessed with cultural relevance), yet despite her awesomeness (and don’t get me wrong: Gaga is as flat-out awesome as they come), her completely transparent aping of Madonna (her machine gun bras, her new single which can literally be superimposed with Madonna’s “Express Yourself”) has not even remotely tainted her artistic credibility. And I don’t dispute that; really, I don’t. But we shouldn’t forget that Gaga’s true rival for lasting cultural impact this decade isn’t Katy Perry, or Rihanna. It’s Britney.

(sigh, fine) Bitch.

retract it, scientist.

Fine, Annie and Jeff Morrow, I'll admit to being wrong about "All of the Lights." It's good. But it still doesn't crack my favorites.

Watch out, Gaga.

Kanye's gunnin for your video-throne.

MBDTF: thoughts

I think I have mentioned this before, but I was kind of apprehensive about listening to Kanye's new's album. This is really not so much an affront as an homage; my wife and I often refer to Graduation as our favorite hip-hop album of all time. Now, for all the polarizing opinions about him, I think we can all agree that he is pretty self-aware, and I think that after the success of Late Registration, Graduation represented a departure for Kanye, showcasing a newfound obsession with European club/synth based music. The result was an album with almost no weak spots ('Drunk and Hot Girls' and 'Barry Bonds' excluded) and some of his highest points ('Homecoming', 'Can't Tell Me Nothing', 'Stronger').

In the aftermath, we can now look back and see that the prodigious success of Graduation left him bored. This, combined with some emotional tumult (relationship drama, I think?) led to Kanye's first truly radical departure, 808s and Heartbreaks, which, while uneven, did have some great songs ('Say You Will' and 'Love Lockdown'). The lead-up to the true successor to Graduation has been filled with the usual Kayne-esque hullaballoo that is largely self-generated (I've written before about how this shows his incredible media savviness, a fact accentuated by his amazing tweets). So, after all that, what are my (quite late to the party, understandably) thoughts on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy?

Unquestionably, its his best album, for a number of reasons. First, it's an album that, at this point, no one but him could produce. It's interesting that I was listening to Dr. Dre's new single, "Kush," on the same day that I listened to this album beginning to end for the first time. Honestly, "Kush" is probably more intrinsically catchy than anything on MBDTF, with a great hook and the classic West Coast heavy, slithering, synth track that Dre originated and perfected. But, ultimately, its a fairly standard hip-hop song; one that you'll hear a bunch for the next few months and then forget.

Conversely, MBDTF is truly the product of a "twenty first century schizoid man." You get the proud/indignant Kanye on tracks like 'Power' and 'So Appalled' and the introspective Kanye on 'Blame Game' and 'Runaway.' You get a re-interpolation of Black Sabbath on 'Hell of a Life,' a three minute orchestral outro combined with Kanye autotune-riffing on 'Runaway' and a closing track, 'Lost in the World' that can barely be classified as a hip-hop song. Mostly though, what makes the album, like Kanye, so likeable is how human he is. Rather than hiding his faults, he expresses them and works on the publicly, on Twitter and on the album. He brags about dating a porn star, then blames himself for the end of a relationship, then has Chris Rock testify to his sexual transcendence, then tells everyone to "runaway fast as [they] can" ... he is everyone's identity crisis, filtered through his incomparable artistry and played with the speakers turned to eleven. Kudos, Kanye.

Best tracks: 'Monster', 'Power', 'Runaway', 'Blame Game', 'So Appalled', 'Lost in the World'

Worst tracks: 'All of the Lights', 'Devil in a New Dress'

I like standing next to you, Sean...it makes me feel tough.

I know I said I'd blog about asthma and chemokines and neurotransmitters and strokes, but...I'm all amped up over The Social Network (two weeks after everyone else) so, here's a "stuff I've been watching and/or listening to" post!

1. The Social Network

There are so many things that made this movie brilliant, and no one who acted in this movie is undeserving of praise, to be sure, but ultimately, this movie is about a central iconoclastic figure, and its what Jesse Eisenberg, Aaron Sorkin, and David Fincher bring to his character that defines the movie. After all, this is a movie that takes place largely in front of a computer, yet the tension (brought brilliantly to life by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, hoorah!) remains palpable for the entirety of the movie. And I think its because we can't make up our mind about Zuckerberg. While it's clear that he is ruthless, whatever emotions we suspect lie under the surface range from haughty to childish to spurned to vindictive to needy to regretful without so much as an eyebrow furrow. Unsurprisingly, I think the New Yorker is right when they say that that tension is upheld by the the essential conflict between Fincher and Sorkin's worldview:

The portrait of Zuckerberg, I would guess, was produced by a happy tension, even an opposition, between the two men—a tug-of-war between Fincher’s gleeful appreciation of an outsider who overturns the social order and Sorkin’s old-fashioned, humanist distaste for electronic friend-making and a world of virtual emotion.

I think different people will likely come down on different sides of the fence on the issue of Zuckerberg's ethics. On one hand, one could easily make an argument that his was the only moral code that was transparent (aka he respected only productivity) and that his all-consuming commitment to Facebook validates his desire to control the involvement of all other partners (notice how he was programming in virtually every scene in the movie and how he was content to let his associates take some marginal credit until the second that they compromised the integrity of the product). On the other hand...the job he pulled on Eduardo was cold, man. And that makes me wonder - does so-called social media like Facebook actually promote dehumanization by allowing people to only present to the world what they choose and not reform the parts of themselves that are petty, angry, vindictive, or otherwise damaging?

2. Cee-Lo

Let's switch gears from the razor-sharp, coldly perfect Social Network soundtrack (as mentioned before, by the incomparable Trent Reznor) to 70s soul-loving fun-fest that is Cee-Lo's newest album, The Lady Killer. It's almost unnecessary to review this album; just listen to and/or watch the video of his first single, "Fuck You." I mean, how can you get better than "I guess she's an X-Box, and I'm more Atari?" You can't. But for the record, almost equal to this song in quality is his transformative cover of Band of Horses' "No One's Gonna Love You." Video for "Fuck You" below.

3. The Arcade Fire

It's flown under the radar alot more than their previous albums, I really think that The Suburbs is equal in quality to Arcade Fire's past two albums. In terms of of range, they continue to feature uplifting, somewhat bombastic pieces like "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)" and "Rococo," uptempo NYC-rock pieces like "Ready to Start" and "Month of May" and more pensive pieces like "City With No Children" or Modern Man."

Where the band has really taken a step forward is lyrically. After an ill-advised turn for the faux-political (no doubt Obama 'Yes We Can' inspired), they turn inward and deliver an album that is about getting old, giving up the dreams of your youth, and accepting a life that feels unfulfilled. Now, as a former suburbanite, and someone who has little tolerance for people who sneer at people from the suburbs, I would ordinarily hate on this hipsteresque superiority complex, but the album finds the hipster obsession with what is transiently 'cool' to be equally stupid (see their song "Rococo"). Ultimately, the album seems to be about themselves, as artists at an intermediate point, caught between two disappointing choices. Just some snippets from some of my favorite songs from the album:

"So can you understand/why I want a daughter while I'm still young?/I want to hold her hand/and show her some beauty/before this damage is done." - The Suburbs

"They heard me singing and they told me to stop/quit these pretentious things and just punch the clock." - Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)

"I feel like I've been living in/a city with no children in it/A garden left for ruin by/a billionaire inside of a private prison." - City with No Children

"Let's go downtown and talk to the modern kids./They will eat right out of your hand/using great big words that they don't understand" - Rococo

4. Kanye West's Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Kanye West also seems to be having a struggle with his identity, although it might just be between whether he has Narcissistic Personality Disorder or is full-on bipolar. I acutally think that Kanye is incredibly savvy, and realizes that acting out as he does is a way more effective marketing tactic than a music video is nowadays (and we all know how frustrated he is about his lack of music video recognition.) I happen to actually agree with him when it comes to his treatment on the Today show - as if people are going to listen to his explanation when they get to watch him yell at Taylor Swift again. Shut up, Matt Lauer. Meanwhile, his music continues be the absolute gold standard for hip-hop. The guy comes out with a sneering challenge to all of his critics with his first single, "Power," then issues a free remix in which he completely rewrites the song, and its even better than the original. His collabo with Jay-Z and Nicki Minaj, "Monster," is probably the strangest, coolest single since the era of Missy Elliot and Busta Rhymes. For me, personally, it will be difficult to match Graduation in quality, but i certainly agree with Rolling Stone's opinion that he is one of the few artists in music with any interest in challenging us:

There’s a famous story about Queen making "Bohemian Rhapsody": Whenever the band thought the song was finished, Freddie Mercury would say, "I’ve added a few more ‘Galileos’ here, dear." But nobody can out-Galileo Kanye. With Fantasy, he makes everybody else on the radio sound laughably meek, but he’s also throwing down a challenge to the audience. Kanye West thinks you’re a moron if you settle for artists who don’t push as hard as he does. And that means pretty much everybody.

5. The Young Money Crew: Lil' Wayne, Drake, and Nicki Minaj

My love for Lil' Wayne is well-established in this blog, so I'll just say that his assembly of the Young Money crew is yet another feather in his cap. Unlike other successful hip-hop artists who ascend to the level entrepreneurs (Jay-Z, P. Diddy, Master P, etc.) Wayne's hires reflect an eye for talented, unique young artists. Like Drake, a half-Jewish (and bar mitzvah-ed!) former teen soap actor who had released a mixtape in which he rapped over unconventional artists like Peter Bjorn & John. Or Nicki Minaj, a young, african/indonesian/trinidadian rapper who raps under multiple pseudonyms, sports a strange Barbie obsession, and a rapping style that morphs from British accents to reggaeton. Now, Drake is probably the most popular hip-hop artist on the charts, and Nicki Minaj's performance on Kanye's "Monster" is probably the best verse delivered all year. Also, they were both in the New York Times. Also, Nicki Minaj's single, "Check it Out," which samples "Video Killed the Radio Star" is one of the most clever things I've ever heard. And Wayne? Well, he just got out of prison, released a new album (which is apparently only a predecessor to the forthcoming Tha Carter IV), and will drop in on fellow Young Money albums to occasionally drop a few blistering verses (like his performance in Drake's "Miss Me" where he reminds us "I got so many styles - I am a group.")

I'll leave you with Nicki Minaj's video for "Check it Out." Haters, you can kill yourself.

big boi

I return, to tell you that Big Boi is amazing. I always hated that people gave Andre3000 the majority of the props for Outkast's success, when I always thought that his rapping skills were better. Then came their dual album, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, and Dre got tons of accolades because of his mega-hit, "Hey Ya," but people seemed not to care that other than that and "Roses," Big Boi had made a far superior album.

Apparently, this record has been done for almost 3 years, but Big Boi hasn't been able to release it because of contract disputes. Well, now its out, and it is phenomenal. I hope he gets the credit he deserves. Oh, and check out the video for the first single, "Shutterbugg," which is awesome.

MITM

My brother-in-law begs to differ on MJ's best performance, and brings up this, his performance at the 88 Grammy Awards' "Man in the Mirror." It's lip-synching until 4:00, but then when he actually starts singing, its so full of passion and urgency that you wonder why the heck he ever lip synchs at all.

michael jackson

michael jackson was pretty much the only american music i listened to until i was 12 or so. i had a tape of his hits that my uncle made me, and i listened to it so much that the tape started to warp, so it almost seemed like he was going out of tune sometimes - the warping of the cassette film would make the playback a little slower or faster for a few seconds. as much as i loved his music on that tape that was slowly deteriorating, i remember what a mindblowing experience it was to listen to him when i bought some of his CDs in high school and was like "oh my god, he's actually better than on my tape!"

so, with due respect to his motown 25 performance, here's the coolest MJ performance I ever saw. keep in mind this was in 1995. so many things to love about this performance - his obsession with 20s/30s gangster attire (how hipster would 95 MJ be right now), the fact that this is probably one of the weakest tracks ('Dangerous') off maybe his 4th best album (Dangerous) and its still better than anything Justin Timberlake has ever done. Finally, the choreography is vintage Michael Jackson - the moves aren't so complicated, they're just executed with such perfect timing that they give you the impression that what he's doing...is magic.

What's so great about In Utero?

My roommate and I listened to In Utero beginning to end today, and it reminded me of all the reasons that it's my favorite Nirvana album, and one of my top...7 favorite albums. Consider the context: Nirvana's previous studio album, Nevermind, had turned the pop landscape on its head by showing that tracks as aggressive as "Lithium" could still be considered pop. Now, with fans and critics looking for the grunge Abbey Road got something quite different. So here's what i love about In Utero.

1. They kick off side 1/track 1 by burning their status as "critical darlings" in effigy. Dear music critics: "Teenage angst has paid off well/Now I'm bored and old/Self-appointed judges judge/more than they have sold." So, basically (and poetically), fuck yourself.

2. If tracks like "In Bloom" and "Drain You" from Nevermind represent the perfect amalgamation of the Beatles and the Sex Pistols, consider those 2 forces to be pitted against each other on this album. Consider that 2 back-to-back pairs include "Milk It"/"Pennyroyal Tea" and "Tourette's"/"All Apologies."

3. The inaccessible wail of some of my favorite Nirvana songs of all time: "Milk It" (featuring the incredible chorus "Doll steak/Test meat") and "Tourette's" (basically 2 minutes of incoherence ending up with Cobain yelling "Mean heart/cold heart/cold heart/cold heart/cold heart" and of course, "Scentless Apprentice," one of the only songs written by the entire band, featuring the chorus, "Get away/go away/go away"

4. On the other hand, they still produce some of the most infectious, affecting songs of their catalog. Give me "Pennyroyal Tea", "Heart-Shaped Box", "Dumb", and "All Apologies" over the Nevermind chart-toppers any day.

5. All Apologies? One of the great album closers of all time. A song that would absolutely not have been out of place on Revolver. And, by the way, who really thinks Kurt Cobain didn't kill himself? "In the sun/In the sun/Married/Buried"...come on.

I do think that, around age 12-14, kids begin to identify with music in a greater way as their own personality develops. So for me, In Utero (and another album by a disaffected artist projecting his dystopian vision on a slightly larger scale - The Downward Spiral) kind of taught me what music could do as more than just music. Maybe I would have ended up a kinder, gentler soul if I felt the same way about...I don't know, Stone Temple Pilots or something.

Todd says he's going to blog about the first Led Zeppelin album. Let's see if he means it.

lady gaga in the house

The New Yorker has a fascinating piece that is somewhat on Lady Gaga, but also on the ephemeral nature of pop music. According to Sasha Frere-Jones, Lady Gaga represents the current return of disco-synth to the pop scene (giving Alex and Annie hope that Metric will finally get their just due). The question is, do artists like Gaga (who claim to be self-aware) bring about the shifts in popular music taste, or are they just a product of intrinsic volatility in what is "in the moment"? It's an interesting question, Lady Gaga is a pretty interesting character, and this is a very interesting piece.

the last shadow puppets

I know. This album came out a year ago, but I'm listening to it now. I put it off for quite a bit because I felt that the Arctic Monkeys were somewhat overrated (though I like them too). Maybe its my penchant for bombast (the opening riff to "The Age of Understatement" sounds an awful lot like the opening riff to Muse's "Knights of Cydonia") but I like the fact that Alex Turner listened to a ton of Bowie, got the guy who does the string arrangements for the Arcade Fire, recruited the London Symphony Orchestra, and made a cool album. But, according to Pitchfork, there's an improvement that goes beyond the arrangements:

So obviously the biggest difference between the Last Shadow Puppets and Turner's main gig is in the lyrics. Though less immediately noticeable than the majestic production, the change in the scale of Turner's songwriting is ultimately more profound. The video for "The Age of the Understatement" is set in Russia, and compared to the Arctics' insider-ish dispatches about Life Among the Chavs or Life As the Biggest New Band Since Oasis, these songs are Tolstoy in their bird's-eye omniscience. "Burglary and fireworks, the skies they were alight," Turner sings on "Calm Like You", describing a once-exciting city and the bitter romance that took place there.

Maybe that was my problem with the Arctic Monkeys - I don't enjoy any time bands are too self-referential (that's why I so often hate most band's second album where they ruminate on what fame has done to them. Give me a break).

yeah yeah yeahs

New album "It's Blitz": Great. I know I haven't posted in a long time, but maybe the awesomeness of this new album will bring me back!

coldplay: lost

coldplay annoys me, but this song is great.

a variety of topics

Today's nonpolitical entry!

1. Kanye
I like Love Lockdown, the new single from Kanye West, but I'm not sure exactly how much. This was the natural next step for Kanye, who was probably always a little closer to Gnarls Barkley and Andre 3000 than he was to Jay-Z. Love Lockdown features a great hook supported by a phenomenal beat that sounds like its being played by the Blue Man Group or something. The only problem is its repetitiveness; I felt the same thing about Andre's The Love Below (which I felt ultimately was inferior to Big Boi's Speakerboxxx). I kind of feel like people coming from a hip-hop background are much more creative lyrically than singer-songwriters but are lacking melodically and so their songs end up pretty monotonous. Still, I don't think he was going to write a better album than Graduation, so I'm glad to see that he's looking for new challenges.

2. ER Visits
Slate (yes Alex, Slate) has a very interesting article that questions the uninsured as the sole culprits for ER overcrowding. Among the most interesting points: 1) everyone is using the ER more (not just the uninsured), and this can be explained mostly by looking at how the incentives align (aka, economics!). The value of having immediate, reliable treatment is worth the additional cost, not just to those who can't pay, but to those who can. Intriguing.

3. The Value of Blogs in Africa
On the Takeaway today there was a nice story on the Kenyan blogosphere and the emergence of independent reporting in the presence of mainstream media shutdown. I found a nice article on this phenomenon, and on Ushahidi, a site that allows public reconstruction and recording of, for example, post-election violence:

We as Kenyans are guilty of having short-term memories. Yesterday’s villains are today’s heroes. We sweep bad news and difficult decision under the carpet... and get shocked when the country erupts as it did two months ago. Ushahidi gives everybody, anybody, the opportunity to get his or her experience recorded. Through SMS, through email, through the Internet, through meeting an NGO worker who will write down what happened and share it with us. Ushahidi is a project that has to be owned by those who use it; they have to believe in it.

This is something to both admire and to note, as in Zimbabwe some political reconciliation is being attempted. Independent coverage of violent outbreaks will be critical here, especially given Mugabe's history of strongarm tactics.

4. Freakonomics
Finally, as a lead in to tonight's heavily political blog entry, I'll leave you with a tip of the hat to the amazing Freakonomics blog. I'm a huge Freakonomics homer, mostly because I appreciate how they are able to solve problems by constructing questions and experiments in unique ways (rather than using cutting-edge technology or previously unknown methods). A quick perusal of recent freakonomics entries yielded the following interesting questions and answers:

1. Part of what makes people vote? Extrinsic incentives (aka, you don't want your friends to know that you didn't vote)
2. But that's OK, because voting may make you happier. And finally,
3. Rather than asking all the standard questions about Sarah Palin, Steven Levitt asked the most fascinating questions I've seen so far: Why would Sarah Palin get an amniocentesis (threatening the life of her baby) if she planned on having the baby regardless of any medical anomalies?

Stay tuned for political rants, later!

its called epMotion.

now, a few important notes before you watch.

1. Eppendorf paid to have this video made. Way to know your audience. I mean, how better to market to a bunch of 23-35 year olds stuck in lab than with a catchy boy band ballad, with pipet references?
2. There's a downloadable ringtone.
3. Thanks, Fooks, for the link.

With that, enjoy.

coldplay: viva la vida

I'm the type of person who is always hopeful about Coldplay. Of course, that's because I'm an idiot, but lets go into more detail. They write pretty strong melodies, have in my opinion a very talented guitarist who (when he has a chance to breathe) can write some strong riffs, have a flair for the dramatic, and have the ability to expand their instrumentation (albeit mostly with piano).

The problems? 1) Not exactly measured doses of the aforementioned items. 2) They throw in the truly unforgivable sin of soft-rock, major chord, earnest sappiness. 3) Every time they choose to change up their sound, they do it by selecting one technique and beating it mercilessly to death.

So with that, Viva La Vida.

The Good: I've already mentioned their solid first single, Violet Hill. This is why they are frustrating - because they are clearly capable of getting it right. They showcase their guitarist, keep the emoting to a minimum, make it a little more dramatic with the stomp-like piano, and keep it out of major. They pull this off exactly one other time on this album, with Lost, another fantastic song where they accomplish all of these things. Finally, their iTunes song, Viva La Vida, despite violating many of these rules, is pretty good. I like the instrumentation, and it's a strong melody. Plus, the lyrics are a little strange, but at least they are interesting.

The Bad: Every other stupid song on this album. They beat the eastern influence to death with a bunch of stupid sitar-like guitar effects which start on their first track, Life in Technicolor. The rest of the tracks aren't even worth mentioning. They're just hallmark card sentiment, overproduced, generic major chord progression, eastern-twinged blathery garbage. And the annoying part is that the 3 decent songs are good enough that I'll probably pay attention to their next release as well.

So How Do I Restore My Faith In Music?: Wolf Parade has a new album, and I have yet to share my thoughts on Lil' Wayne.

Don't worry, I have thoughts beyond music (which has dominated my recent post). Uninformed political opinions and weirdo human interest links are sure to follow.

...

initial verdict on new coldplay: infuriating, for reasons that im sure to blather on about by the end of the day.

PSH rocks out, Jonah Hill harmonizes.

I'm not sure how I feel that yesterday was my 3rd Bang Camaro experience. I guess, if hard-pressed, I would go with "fine". For those of you not in the know, Bang Camaro is a metal band from Boston who's claim to fame is their use of 3 guitarists and anywhere from 10-15 vocalists yelling lyrics like " Rock it up!/Lock it down!/Rock it right!/Bring the night!" and so on. I don't really have any problems with this - they have killer guitarists and a really phenomenal drummer.

My issue is with their decision, at this most recent concert, to venture into the land of harmony. The way I see it, the awesome thing about Bang Camaro is the impact of 15 dudes yelling lyrics in unison. If you throw 3-part harmony in there, all of a sudden they sound alot less like Motorhead and unsettlingly more like Bon Jovi. If theyre going to do any harmony, it should be 5ths and that's it. Power chord style. Also, one of the singers looks like Jonah Hill with a peach-fuzz goatee. And another dude kept putting his hand to his ear, like he's trying to locate the pitch while 14 other guys yell borderline incoherently. Trying to locate your pitch Stevie Wonder style is another action that in my mind is antithetical to the Bang Camaro vision statement, such as it is.


On the other hand, the Giraffes seem abundantly clear on how to sell themselves. According to Alex, its by sounding "like Badmotorfinger-era Soundgarden." I guess they do, kind of, although the lead singer, Aaron Lazar, has a half-spoken, half-singing style that reminds me of the Hold Steady. In any case, he's pretty impressive on stage, managing to yell over the on point guitar work of founder Damien Paris. Who, by the way, plays a lefty guitar, which is re-strung so it looks like its a righty guitar that just got flipped over by a lefty. Weird, but also, awesome.

And as a final thought - everyone should try and see shows at Bowery Ballroom when they can. It's a great venue.