song reviews

January 10, 2011

Britney Spears

"Hold it Against Me"

Audio: Click to listen to Britney Spears' "Hold It Against Me." "Hold it Against Me" is prime Britney, packed with aggressive electro jitters, a Euro-cheese riff that's strangely close to AC/DC's "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap," and a weird breakdown where Brit moans, blows kisses, and snaps her gum. The first single from her upcoming seventh album, the song (co-produced by Max Martin and Dr. Luke) recalls the synth-gloom ambience of Britney's 2007 gem, Blackout, possibly t... | More »

Drive-By Truckers

"Used to Be a Cop"

Over seven minutes of tensely coiled Southern rock, Patterson Hood plays an ex-cop whose "temper and the shakes" cost him his badge, his family and his mind. Maybe he'll shoot up a Cracker Barrel. Either way, his too-human desolation is why Hood thinks he deserves a song this powerful. Gallery: Random Notes, Rock's Hottest Photos | More »

January 7, 2011

Discodeine ft. Jarvis Cocker

"Synchronize"

Jarvis goes disco! On the latest in a stellar year's worth of singles from DFA Records (LCD Soundsystem main man James Murphy's label), Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker teams up with French house luminary Pilooski's part-time duo Discodeine for a groove as suave as the vintage Chic records that clearly inspired it. Jarvis's foggy croon sounds perfect over cross-cutting strings and explosive drum fills. Gallery: Random Notes, Rock's Hottest Photos | More »

January 5, 2011

Tapes 'n Tapes

"Freak Out"

Like a blog-buzz phoenix, Minneapolis' Tapes 'n Tapes tries rising again to the hype-making garage rock that first earned them Internet love five years ago. This galloping mix of distorted guitars and wild yelps is their strongest effort since. Gallery: Random Notes, Rock's Hottest Photos | More »

January 3, 2011

The Decemberists

"Row Jimmy"

The bookish Portlanders cut a loose cover of the Grateful Dead's two-step, with Colin Meloy doing a spirited Jerry. It's like closing time at the library's special-collections room. Gallery: Random Notes, Rock's Hottest Photos | More »

December 29, 2010

Avril Lavigne

"What the Hell"

Avril Lavigne is pop's presiding mean girl, sneering and snarling like a punk kewpie doll with Tourette's over some of the most sticky-sweet melodies ever to hit the Billboard charts. "What the Hell" is Avril in a nutshell: Co-written by Max Martin, it's an anthem about a good girl who goes on a crazy-bender, staying out late, swapping boys and exacting psychological revenge. She starts out defiant ("All I want is to mess around") and quickly turns vicious: "I am messing with y... | More »

December 27, 2010

Snoop Dogg

"Wet"

Created for Prince William's bachelor party ("and all bachelor parties around the world to follow"), Snoop's new single is a bit of seductive minimalism that packs an R. Kelly album's worth of sex metaphors into four laid-back minutes: "Be my head coach," "I can give it to you rough, like a first draft," "I'm in between your lips, like a cigarette." Amusing stuff — but what would the Queen think? Gallery: Random Notes, Rock's Hottest Photos | More »

December 23, 2010

Lil Wayne

"6 Foot 7 Foot"

Wayne's first post-prison single (which he cut for Tha Carter IV) suggests his teeming brain was eating itself during all that time alone: Rarely has the man sounded so virtuosically loopy. Over thick synth burble and a "Banana Boat Song" sample, he makes up for lost nooky ("Never met the bitch but I fuck her like I missed her") and sprays intense metaphysical graffiti all over: "Life is the bitch and death is the sister/Sleep is the cousin/What a fuckin' family picture." Gallery: ... | More »

December 21, 2010

R.E.M.

"Discoverer"

Peter Buck's psychedelic guitar intro gives a tantalizing taste of the new-model R.E.M. — like Jefferson Airplane circa Surrealistic Pillow covering Sonic Youth's "Eric's Trip." A track from the eagerly awaited Collapse Into Now (due in March), "Discoverer" has the widescreen presence of R.E.M. classics like New Adventures in Hi-Fi. But when Michael Stipe bellows, "Hey, baby, this is not a challenge," you don't believe it. Gallery: R.E.M., A History in Photos | More »

December 16, 2010

Kanye West

"Christmas In Harlem"

Kanye's tinsel-tinted stocking stuffer sounds uncharacteristically tossed-off, as if he's preoccupied with the Xmas shopping spree he says he's planning. But actual Harlem R&B hopeful Teyana Taylor offers warmth from the wind chill, eventually slipping into the comfy melody from the Brothers Johnson's "Strawberry Letter 23." And gruff-rapping Atlanta Santa CyHi Da Prynce promises presents for non-Christian kiddies, too — hauled in a Porsche-speed sleigh. ... | More »