David never really had personality, but at least his (or his ghost producers') music was new and kinda memorable I guess? Of course ruining old songs for TikTok will make him more money but does he really need it?
After the huge success of their previous four albums, LOVG had to face the departure of their lead vocalist Amaia Montero, replacing her with X Factor contestant Leire Martínez. Did this mean any change of direction in the band's music? Not the very least: the songs were on the works from way before her arrival, and sound pretty much the same, just with nicer vocals. Still, the first album featuring her, A las Cinco en el Astoria, was packed with some classics.
In typical LOVG fashion, ... read more
From the creators of "What a great idea, let's stretch it for 15 minutes", comes "What a great idea, let's stretch it for the whole album". If great enough, it may be the core of a cohesive project, which for sure this is, but the lack of uniqueness among the songs (which never was their strongest point), feels less than ever. It starts incredibly haunting, its orchestral direction seems to be the right one. The first four tracks (especially Klettur) live up to the ... read more
Everything, from its who-can-put-more-chords origins, to the grunge rollercoaster it turns into in the second half, is no less than gorgeous. Despite the lyrics being pure angst, they are way less “on your nose” than in the PH era or even in the more recent My Iron Lung. In an album mostly divided between safe Britpop-ish to fulfill EMI’s requests; and attempts to find their own style with varying degrees of success, this is definitely a huge standout.
Surprisingly avoids the "generic late 2000s-early 2010s car commercial" category I expected this to fall into. I really can't see any other than Martina on the vocals, and while the simple lyrics and production are far from bringing anything new at all, it manages to achieve its main objective: fun. So damn fun, actually. As basic as it might sound, it is, indeed, way more remarkable than most other mainstream hits of the time.
It couldn't really get worse after 'Don't You Worry'... right, David?
Well it DID. Take a sampled-to-hell eurodance song, add crappy, meaningless lyrics and some even more meaningless, extremely auto-tuned vocals. I'm scared of what's next...
Hey, listen, I can sing!
Oh, nice! Anyways, there's nothing else than vocal talent, apart from another average radio piano ballad. Which is, at least, more decent than most successful music these days...
I wasn't 100% sure about this direction when I first heard 'There'd Better Be A Mirrorball' but I am now. This isn't TBHC improved; this is a unique, mature, perfectly orchestrated, artsy way of making music. Second half with the guitars is pure eargasm.
The best Christina has sounded in years. Which, to be honest, isn't saying much.
Coldplay before Coldplay.
As for Planet Telex, wow, I love how it sounds so unique in The Bends, less grunge-y and more like the later Radiohead. Easily top 3 of the album.
Maquiladora and Killer Cars are decent B-sides but, essentially, that's what they are worth.
Great effort from AM, who seem to continue the path set by "Tranquility Base: Hotel & Casino", but in a more solid and confident way. Alex Turner's vocals are more on point than ever; those strings were the perfect ending as well. If the whole thing didn't last so long, though...
An insulting level of genericness, never even reached by three artists which are usually blamed for that. A boring and unbearable self-parody which would have made me cringe the same in 2009.
A simple, generic formula repeated to death. Money above art. Music getting more and more plain simple with time, if that was possible. When we thought we had heard everything, Rosalía comes to blur the language barrier, to destroy the line between genres, to refresh Latin music in a weird, dissonant, chaotic... but surely, effective way.
'Motomami' contains from deep reflections about the fame acquired from 'El Mal Querer' onwards, to experimental Reggaeton bangers, to the Flamenco ... read more
Not even sampling Bronski Beat's 1984 hit "Smalltown Boy" could save this. If the production is uninspired, the lyrics are at a level of "generic" that not even Ed knew. Combine that with the overplaying... Only getting points because it manages to be somehow catchy, in a way I wish it wasn't.
"Electric Feel", the band's second international single from "Oracular Spectacular", manages to be the one that fits better with "the irony of the most generic pop tunes" while actually being everything besides, well, generic.
It has a common pop song structure with a repetitive chorus. However, if their idea of "generic" is a 6/4 time, lyrics *and* music that perfectly capture the hallucinating ritual it is about, and a great production including those ... read more
MGMT's 2008 version of "Time to Pretend" is as amazing as ironically-catchy-synth-pop can get. Everything is perfectly crafted and mixed (!). It doesn't need to get to the hook as quickly as possible to capture the listeners' attention, since the fuzzy synths and the teenage hope lyrics will do so from the first second. Definitely an astonishing improvement from the 2005 version.
While it still doesn't show much of what MGMT are capable of when it comes to neo-psychedelia, it's ... read more
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