Single reviews: April '09

LADY GAGA: Poker Face
One of my friends speaks disapprovingly of Lady Gaga as a ripoff of Peaches. I agree - but I see that as a positive thing. Lady Gaga took Peaches' edgy electro-dance style and made it more mainstream. For that she deserves credit. My problem with "Poker Face" is that it sounds like she's singing "My my my booger face." Grade: C

SEETHER: Careless Whisper
On occasion, hard rock bands can remake uncool pop songs and make them better - "Land of Confusion" by Disturbed and "Kiss Me" by New Found Glory come to mind. But this version of "Careless Whisper" is just stupid. It's almost identical to the original recording by Wham! Featuring George Michael!, with a guitar in place of the sax, which means that it's just a lame rock ballad. I personally love sappy ballads, but that's clearly not what Seether were going for. Might as well stick with the superior Wham! Featuring George Michael! version. Grade: D-

PLAIN WHITE Ts: 1,2,3,4
How do you follow up "Hey There Delilah?" With a simple song called "1,2,3,4." No, this is not a Feist remake. It's a breezy little acoustic number that reminds me of Merril Bainbridge's "Mouth" with the way it's so happily lightweight. A nice carefree summer song. Grade: B-


LILY ALLEN: Not Fair
I don't get why anybody pays attention to Lily Allen. She had one minor hit on her last record ("Smile" peaked at a pathetic #49 in the U.S.) Yet she gets to appear on the covers of magazines and people act like she's some kind of star. Why?? The concept of this song (a lover who is great in every way except the bedroom) is interesting, but the chorus is pretty weak lyrically, so the idea never realizes its full potential. Grade: C+

2008 Grammy nominee analysis, with comically small photos

Grammy night at my place is like Super Bowl night to everyone else. I take this shit seriously, although in recent years, as I've grown to like more non-mainstream music, the luster of the Grammys has started to wear off.

The nominations were announced today, and it's time to rip them.

THE ONE THAT MAKES ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE
Everyone agrees that Herbie Hancock in the Album of the Year category is totally bizarre, but the one that really gets me is Lily Allen for Best Alternative Album. On what planet is Lily Allen alternative? She could not possibly be more pop. She's up against the White Stripes, Bjork and the Arcade Fire. The alternative field is the one I really care about these days, and every year the Grammys manage to fuck it up.

THE COMICAL PRESS RELEASE
My Chemical Romance's epic Welcome to the Black Parade got overlooked, except for a Best Box Set Packaging nod. MCR's label, Reprise, put out a press release touting this nomination as if it was something to be proud of. I can just see Reprise preparing this big press release, thinking that MCR were going to get a bunch of nominations, and then when they only got one, someone said, Shit, what do we do now? Fuck it, send the press release anyway! (Read it here).

RECORD OF THE YEAR CRITIQUE
Rihanna's "Umbrella" is hands-down the Record of the Year. I thought from day one that Beyonce's "Irreplaceable" was a stupid song, and I'm sticking by my story. Justin Timberlake got nominated, but for a weak song, "What Goes Around." It was as if the academy felt they had to nominate him, but couldn't really decide for which song. And the Foo Fighters have inexplicably been Grammy favorites for years.

PLEASANT SURPRISES
It's cool to see female-fronted emo rockers Paramore in the Best New Artist field, though I can't say they truly deserve it. And I was a bit surprised to see my personal choice for Song of the Year, the Plain White Ts' "Hey There Delilah," actually be recognized in that field. Arcade Fire and Madonna also managed to score nominations.

THE ONES THAT KINDA MAKE SENSE
The Grammys continue to do a decent job in the dance fields, where Justice, Mika and LCD Soundsystem got recognized, and Best Music Video, which features Justice, Feist, and Johnny Cash, who all made brilliant videos.

THE ODDITIES
Politicians always show up in the Best Spoken Word category, and this year Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter are all there. But my favorite oddity is R. Kelly, whose Trapped in the Closet Chapters 13-22 is up for Best Long Music Video. Sweet!

The full list of nominees is available at www.grammy.com.