I’ve had to take a couple weeks out of blogging to focus on other
commitments (I had some brain surgery patients to attend to, plus I had to do a
couple shifts on the moon for NASA), but now I’m back and ready to type away
like a Hollywood computer hacker, keeping you updated on the best and worst songs
on the web so that you can sleep peacefully at night.
THE BEST:
‘Lemon’ - N.E.R.D ft.
Rihanna
Pharrell Williams and his alt rap project N.E.R.D are back
with their first material since 2010. The bubbly beat makes me want to get up
and pop dance moves like the bald chick in the music video, not that I’d want
to show her up with my dancefloor talent. Rihanna also appears on the track - not
singing but rapping. Who knew she
could spit bars? She’s not as good a rapper as myself, but hey, we can’t all be
as amazing as me.
‘Tears’ – Kaizen
Opening with twinkly synths that could score the sad scene from a Studio Ghibli movie, the last thing I expected was to be assaulted by an ear-piercing cacophony of extreme dubstep wubs. It’s completely inappropriate. I feel like I’ve just watched the tragic stampede scene from the Lion King only for Mufasa to suddenly reanimate as a zombie and gnaw Simba’s head off. I feel violated. At the same time, I can’t help but find it impressive and amusing.
‘Someone Who Loves You’ – Loveless Death Scene
Talking of death scenes, LA psych rock act Loveless Death Scene caught my ear this week with this new melancholy track. There’s a hazy shoegaze quality to it – only the guitars have been warped with phasers rather than being swamped with reverb. Loveless Death Machine have a new EP out called Hopeless Dream Machine – my fellow music junkies can stream it here.
‘Change’ – Strangely Enough
After a build-up of Muse-like riffs and an explosive chorus, I thought I had this Brisbane rock act figured, but instead the song diverts into a guitar solo followed by a beautifully ambient interlude. 'Change' lives up to it's name by constantly changing direction (and the band live up to their name by being strange enough).
THE WORST:
‘Walk On Water’ –
Eminem ft. Beyoncé
Eminem needs to stop writing songs about writing songs. It’s
getting tedious now, and it doesn’t help that he’s starting to sound like a cornier
version of Macklemore. Even Beyoncé is unable to salvage it with her sappy chorus. The whole thing just ends up being a duller version of Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth’s ‘See You Again’.
‘X-Rated’ - MK Ultra
I've seen spheres more edgy than this cheap knock-off of Marilyn Manson.