Apocalypse Bubble Party: Just a Cross-Hair, Just a Shot Away-- 2k4's Twenty-Two Best Singles
Dec 22 '04 (Updated Dec 26 '04)
The Bottom Line The Bottom Line doesn't blame the drummer for the outcome of the election.
There's this cliché among rock critics that conservative presidential administrations foster the most artistically significant popular music-- songs of rage and protest that attempt to give voice to various groups whose values and interests are not well represented by the quote-unquote mainstream. While the sociopolitical climate of 2004 spawned several noteworthy musical statements-- American Idiot, Green Day's fully justified critical breakthrough and commercial comeback; My Country II, an unabashedly leftist EP by folk singer Dan Bern; "Mosh," the only halfway interesting song on Eminem's Encore-- the bulk of the year's most interesting, best popular music ultimately had very little to do with reactions to four years of George W. Bush's policies and far more to do with intensely personal explorations of artistic identity. This does not mean, however, that such statements aren't inherently political. Given that the Bush II administration's general credo frequently distills to "This is what we stand for; take it or leave it," it turns out to be quite timely that so many of popular music's most compelling artists chose to express themselves in such similarly extreme terms that challenged fans and critics to (re-)evaluate those artists under new guidelines-- Wilco's attempt to shirk the responsibility of following up a critically adored album, Bjork's releasing an album that's nearly all a capella, or Loretta Lynn's pairing with a producer who finally matched the correct sound to her lyrical content. 2004's music, in its aggressive pursuit of identity, converses in the language of personal freedom... in spite of The Patriot Act.
Continuing the political discussion, then, were the RIAA's ongoing efforts throughout 2004 to prosecute individuals who engaged in online file-sharing. Many of those prosecuted have attempted to claim that this is an encroachment on their personal freedoms-- a clearly flawed argument, that-- and the RIAA hasn't necessarily done the best job in getting their point across without resorting to scare-tactics, with a handful of cases of having targeted people who downloaded as few as five songs. While "legal" mp3 downloading services have proliferated in the past year, perhaps the more interesting response to this issue has been the emergence of the music blog. By and large, the more successful blogs have avoided litigation by stating that their greater intent is to increase exposure of artists favored by the blog authors, coupled with a rapid turnover rate in which mp3 files are available for only a short time and an ability to remove the files should the artists or record labels object. Frequently run by hipster types who favor themselves as cutting-edge tastemakers, music blogs often promote the kind of independent singles that rarely make their way onto Clear Channel's iron-fisted playlists. So, again, the demand for readily consumable material manifested itself as something of a political statement, even when the singles themselves were little more than exceptionally well-crafted dance-pop or mashups of rock songs with crunk production.
As far as the year's best singles were concerned, it's also interesting to consider that many artists did their damndest to evoke the sound of the Reagan era. Of course, the criteria for a great single-- production values, performance, and an undeniable hook-- are relatively stable across both political and genre lines. And while at least one overtly political song made its way onto this list, it should also be noted that pure escapism can be interpreted as a political stance, too.
Prep work out of the way, then, the twenty(-two) best singles of 2004:
20). "Just A Kid," Wilco.
Well, it's not like A Ghost is Born, great as that album is, offered many viable options for radio singles, seeing as how its two best songs clock in at over nine minutes and shorter tracks like "Hummingbird" sound slight when removed from the album's overall context. Listening to A Ghost is Born, it's nearly impossible to believe that Wilco is capable of a punchy guitar-pop offering like "Just A Kid." It's no coincidence that Avril Lavigne performed the theme song to The Spongebob Squarepants Movie; "Just a Kid," with its electric guitar powerchords and youth-baiting, deliberately angsty lyrics, both sounds like a production job from The Matrix and is fully aware of its place on the soundtrack to a children's film. And the absurdity of a band like Wilco making a bald-faced stab for Avril's principal demographic matches nicely with the gleeful illogic of Spongebob's world, so no one can accuse the band of entirely abandoning post-modernism. Wilco has proven repeatedly that they're an exceptional album band, but they've never written a single this simple and straightforward, and, more than anything, "Just a Kid" is a refreshing change of pace from a band who absolutely needed to prove that they don't take themselves too seriously.
19). "Somebody Told Me," The Killers.
Proof that even a hopelessly derivative band can still churn out an engaging single-- unless, of course, that band happens to be Jet. The Killers, however, go a long way towards justifying themselves with their update, albeit an update without the irony or the overt social commentary, of Blur's "Girls And Boys" for a post-emo gender politic, filtered through their New Order meets eurotrash aspirations. It rightfully shouldn't work, but the dual downbeat that leads into the chorus is an almost impossibly effective hook. And it pretty well has to be, since mainstream radio doesn't often embrace minor-key singles. To recap: it's unoriginal, lacks any noticeable insight, and sounds especially mopey because it's in a minor key. But somehow, it comes together so that the whole affair is both catchy and somehow urgent. That they were nominated for the Shortlist Prize suggests that quite a few people have mistaken the professionalism of their hooks for depth. Make no such mistake: "Somebody Told Me" is shallow and trashy. But that's precisely why it's a great single-- it's what The Rapture would sound like if they bothered to keep their guitars in tune.
18). "I Don't Care," The Roots.
Even in a stronger year for hip-hop than 2004, the groove put down on "I Don't Care" would surely rate as the smoothest. The problem with The Roots is that they make their grooves so effortless-- how many other hip-hop artists routinely avoid drawing undue attention to themselves and their production? Let the functionally itstarted Black Eyed Peas churn out their autofellating Jock Jamz; The Roots know how good this sounds, and they don't even care. The bassline's pumpin' and the drumline's bangin' away, and if hip-hop did reach The Tipping Point in 2004, The Roots know exactly what their strengths are and what their place in hip-hop is, and they're not making a big thing about it because singles like "I Don't Care" assert that they don't have to stoop to their contemporaries' levels of self-aggrandizement. It's certified sick.
17). "I Don't Think We've Met," Nikka Costa.
The self-proclaimed "Funky White B1tch" attempts to avoid a sophomore slump by taking all of the best elements of her debut album to the nth degree. The handclaps! The moog bass! That wicked falsetto! They're all back, and they're even more cracked-out than before! And with a chorus that opens with ?estlove asking, "Do we know each other, baby?" to which Nikka replies, "I don't think we've met" in a way that would make Xtina blush! If the remainder of the material she recorded for her album can'tneverdidnothin'-- even the album title begs for an exclamation point!-- is half this solid, Virgin is going to have some serious 'splainin to do as to why it was pushed back from an August 2004 to an indeterminate "Spring 2005" release. Because this lead single brings the exclamation points like it's Shania.
16). "Wake Up," The Arcade Fire.
Not the most obvious choice for a lead single from their remarkable, dense debut album, Funeral-- "Neighborhood #3: Power Out," which sounds like a song by The Cure built around a xylophone and is every bit as wonderful as that description suggests, would have been a far better fit with the year's other new wave inspired rock songs and is a more traditionally catchy offering-- "Wake Up" is nonetheless an effective, affecting introduction to The Arcade Fire. The opening post-garage riff sets the bar of expectation deceptively low so that when the harp flourish leads directly into the anthemically sustained "Oh!" of the chorus' hook, it's a gloriously transcendent moment. So is the way frontman Win Butler shouts, "I guess we'll just have to adjust!" at the bridge in a way that suggests "Wake Up" is a direct reply to The Flaming Lips' "Do You Realize???." So is the way that post-garage riff speeds into a Motown-inflected rhythm section in the song's final act. So is the whole thing.
15). "Good Luck," Basement Jaxx Featuring Lisa Kekaula.
With American Idol having established "loud" as the new "good," this third single from Basement Jaxx's Kish Kash album should've been a massive hit with the Idol demographic. Because Lisa Kekaula is all glorynotes and vitriol on what is easily the year's most forceful kiss-off single, and she's loud in a way that suggests she's actually trying to sing her no-good man to death. Kekaula may not be a household name-- admittedly, I've heard nothing she's done besides this single-- but there's no denying the sheer magnitude of her performance here. The emotions are outsized and the beat is infectious and an entire generation of drag queens are working on their choreography right now.
14). "Dirt Off Your Shoulder," Jay-Z.
Worst. Retirement. Ever. Like all of his best singles, "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" is about nothing more than Jay-Z offering an entirely objective assessment of his place in hip-hop-- he ran a few focus groups and hired an outside consulting firm, and, somehow, it seems he's come to the conclusion yet again that he is, in fact, the "best rapper alive." So he's earned the right to brush off his shoulders like he's in a commercial for dandruff shampoo, and, really, who's going to argue with the man who's dating Beyoncé? If not as big a hit as "99 Problems," this was certainly a better send-off for a man who clearly craves a lower star profile. Don't forget this boy told you, Jigga: we can't miss you if you don't actually go away.
13). "The Town Halo," A. C. Newman // "Be Kind + Remind," Rogue Wave.
Thankfully, the year's best indie pop wasn't confined to the soundtrack to Garden State. Yes, The Shins are certifiably great, but "life-changing" is more than a bit hyperbolic, and they hardly have a patent on the entire genre of unpopular pop. Witness their Sub-Pop labelmates Rogue Wave, whose "Be Kind + Remind" manages to match "New Slang (When You Notice The Stripes)" note-for-note in its acoustic loveliness, but without the obtuse lyrical bent and with some unexpected breaks in the lead guitar melody and subtle electronic touches in the backing production. It's just one of the prettiest, most delicately crafted pop songs, unpretentious and underappreciated. In contrast, then, is the second single from The Slow Wonder, solo debut from The New Pornographers' frontman, A.C. Newman. "The Town Halo" is many things, but it certainly isn't delicate-- it's built around a driving seven-note bass riff provided by a cello. Because the cello? Criminally underused as a rock instrument. The melody is carried on some Jerry Lee Lewis style piano powerchords, and Newman doesn't hold back with the falsetto in the chorus. Newman sells the song with such conviction that he nearly proves that he doesn't need Neko Case to sing his pop hooks. Nearly, but not quite.
12). "Kiss Kiss," Baby.
Marilyn Manson may have offered his cover a few years ago, but it's with "Kiss Kiss," the first single from Baby, the new project from former Shudder To Think frontman Craig Wedren, that we finally have a version of Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" for the world after Missy Elliott. The arrhythmic opening verse, in which the Hammond organ in the background stops and restarts as the song's minimalist lyrics find their footing, suggests that the single will be an experiment in indie-lounge, but then that "Tainted Love" percussion kicks in, and "Kiss Kiss," with its deceptively complex vocal harmonies, evolves into an entirely different creature. When in the third verse Wedren quite literally puts his thing down, flips it, and reverses it, "Kiss Kiss" recalls the controlled genre-bending lunacy of Andre 3000. There's a reason "Tainted Love" has aged so well, and if there's any real justice, "Kiss Kiss" will come to find a similarly appreciative audience because it's just as fantastic.
11). "Portland, Oregon," Loretta Lynn Featuring Jack White.
Quite a few made game attempts at it (#17 above, #10-b, #6 below), but no woman pulled off as effective a tease in 2004 as did Loretta Lynn. "Portland, Oregon" is a single marked by, above all else, this audacity-- the way she keeps the listener just waiting and waiting until the lead guitar riff has taken its sweet time to resolve out of that jam-band intro, only to bust out with this coy sex kitten act that, pushing 70 years of age, not even Eartha Kitt could hope to top. It's no wonder Jack White sounds so smitten: Loretta's is a sexiness borne out of confidence that ultimately has nothing to do with her age and everything to do with knowing that she's finally teamed with a producer able to complement the rougher edges of both her vocals and her songwriting. Five decades into her career, she finally sounds comfortable. The single works brilliantly as a recount of a one-night stand, but there's a far deeper connection at work between Lynn and White, and "Portland, Oregon" is but one high point of an album that is in many ways a career peak for both artists.
10). "Heartbeat," Annie // "Toxic," Britney Spears.
Thin-voiced dance pop, both imported and domestic.
As Swedish pop acts go, Annie aligns more closely with ABBA's brand of sugarcoated perfection than with the acne commercial jingles of Robyn, but on "Heartbeat," she actually evokes an Australian pop star. Somehow, Annie manages to out-Kylie Kylie Minogue, and that's hardly a bad thing. In fact, it makes "Heartbeat" one of the best pure "pop" singles of this or any recent year, a blissful, pulsating three minutes more polyphonically complex than anything her US counterparts have released. While Annie's lovely soprano disappears into the ether at the chorus' peak ("Feel my heartbeat twirling to the beat / Like a symphony!"), the year's deepest bassline deftly avoids the cliché of imitating an actual heartbeat, and it's all as unabashedly joyous as a pop single can get. The song closes with Annie sighing a wistful, "How can I forget the greatest times ahead / When I was dancing with you," but "Heartbeat" keeps the greatest times in the present tense.
A fascinating companion piece to the straightforward ecstasy of "Heartbeat," then, is the career pinnacle of an even thinner voiced starlet, Mrs. Federline's "Toxic." Finally, Brandine's handlers came to the realization that no one listens to her singles-- not even the handful of genuinely pretty-good ones like "... Baby One More Time" or "Oops! I Did It Again!"-- for their vocal technique, so why not tweak her voice such that it sounds like the "flute" setting on a mid-80s Casio keyboard. Unlike Annie, Mrs. Federline can't get by on sheer force of goodwill: she lives or dies by the strength of her hooks and her production values, and those are where "Toxic" outshines anything else she's released. It presents its gimmick-- sounding like the best-ever James Bond theme song-- from the outset, and it executes that gimmick so well that the single realistically could've been a hit had it been released by anyone. But it's in the way "Toxic" draws into sharp relief the weaknesses of the remainder of Britney Spears' catalogue and how it toys with Spears' public image as a tarted-up cipher who spouts the occasional catchphrase or soundbite (read: Bond girl) that makes for something far more transcendent. It's fluke brilliance to be sure, but it's brilliant all the same.
09). "Take Your Mama," Scissor Sisters.
A single that couldn't be more out of sync with the nation's sociopolitical climate, "Take Your Mama" is the sound of a band-- an unusually gifted pop band, at that-- throwing caution to the wind and the book of Leviticus on a bonfire. The frequent comparisons to 70s era Elton John are apt, but John was never this much fun, nor has he ever been in the business of so obviously baiting social conservatives. Americans are terrified of the idea of, as Jon Stewart put it, two dudes kissing, and it's perhaps many folks' greatest nightmare that homosexuality is every bit as contagious as "Take Your Mama," which boasts not one but two hook-heavy choruses. That "Take Your Mama" scored quite a bit of airplay on Adult Top 40 radio is a testament to how undeniably catchy a single it is-- that second chorus with Jake Shears launching into his falsetto is just about the best thing ever-- but it does beg questions of the geographical distribution of that airplay, because it's hard to imagine this single going over well in the red states... not that much of anything does.
08). "Oceania (Remix)," Bjork Featuring Kelis.
Less a traditional remix than a complete sonic restructuring, this version of "Oceania," the first single from Bjork's Medulla-- which she performed on the Opening Ceremony of the Summer Olympics, of all places-- proposes a marriage made on the lunatic fringe of popular music, combining two of the most distinctive voices in pop in a most unexpected setting. That Kelis opens the single with two newly written verses isn't even the remix's most dramatic change; it's the addition of an industrial-dance backbeat to a song originally performed entirely with human voices. And it's a testament to the strength of Bjork's compositional skill that this change doesn't weaken the song. Instead, the focus is on how these two dramatic voices eventually combine after Bjork's third and fourth verses have run their course. Kelis is often criticized for her aloof delivery, but here she's at her most immediate and vital, and she even manages to match Bjork's typical guttural power. As fits the lyrical content of both the original and this version of the song, their layered harmonies sound like fundamental elements-- Kelis' first line is "I am the continents," after all-- engaged in a lovely call and response. Captain Planet would be proud.
07). "Float On," Modest Mouse.
The best single of its kind since Talking Heads' "Road to Nowhere," "Float On" accomplished something few people would have ever expected: it broke Modest Mouse, perhaps the defining band of "indie rock" over the past decade, into the mainstream. Though no one could rightfully accuse Modest Mouse of selling out, there's one significant, obvious change to frontman Isaac Brock's songwriting that is the likely source of the song's popular embrace. "Float On" is anchored in a fundamental optimism-- "Good news is on the way" and all-- whereas much of Brock's previous songwriting efforts are characterized by a sometimes aggressive misanthropy. It's surprising, then, to hear Brock sing about getting robbed by a "fake Jamaican," without following it up with a line about wanting to beat said fake Jamaican to death. It's a sea change of sorts that Brock's lyrics have undergone, and, in a year desperately in need of causes for optimism, it was refreshing that "Float On" secured such extensive top 40 airplay. Better still is the way that the single suggests that misanthropy doesn't have to be ultimately corrosive. The appropriately lighter-than-air chorus and killer melodic hook are just garnish.
06). "Lose My Breath," Destiny's Child.
In which the independent women reunite for no good reason other than to take stock of their place in pop music with a single more shrewdly auto-critical than anyone could ever have believed possible from the women who dropped the obviously contradictory "Bug-A-Boo" and "Bills Bills Bills" back to back. Beyoncé is predictably all melisma as she references one of her bigger-than-any-group-effort solo hits, and, as on Destiny's Child's best singles ("Independent Women, Part One" and "Bootylicious"), it's Kelly who delivers by far the best vocal performance, since she knows that sass doesn't hinge on vocal histrionics all the while referencing the most memorable of her own solo work, when she nearly administered CPR to one Jason Voorhees-- someone whose mama did not teach him how to give affection and someone desperately in need of a lifeguard-- in the equally auto-critical Freddy Vs. Jason. And Michelle, just like her gospel album, turns up as a nicely-sung afterthought that's gone as quickly as it arrived. Producer Rodney Jerkins even chimes in with the occasional "dark child" in the background, just as he did on "Say My Name," and the lyrics are most productively interpreted as a condensed version of the post-post-feminism brand of female empowerment that has driven the group since it still boasted its original line-up and of the group's predilection for breathlessly fast singing. It's all meta and handclaps, with the added bonus of a drumline that just gets better with each listen. That a single this sick stalled at #4 speaks to everything wrong with top 40 radio, but for a group sure to disband it still stands as an excellent last gasp.
05). "Save A Horse (Ride A Cowboy)," Big & Rich.
If Big & Rich have learned anything at all from the hip-hop they claim to incorporate into modern country music-- and the remainder of their debut album suggests that they haven't learned anything at all-- it's the mileage to be gained from unadulterated braggadocio. "Save A Horse (Ride A Cowboy)" is four minutes of pure swagger, laced with the kind of self-deprecation sorely lacking in the patriotism-as-p1ss1ng-contest of Montgomery Gentry and Toby Keith. It's loud, brash, and despite the pun in the hook, it's also the smartest, catchiest single to hit country radio in ages. For better or worse, no one else sounds like Big & Rich, at least not until Nashville pinches off several knockoff acts, and "Save A Horse (Ride A Cowboy)" succeeds so well because it avoids the larger problems of race-baiting that characterize their album as a whole. Were they content, as they are on this single, simply to have fun, Big & Rich would certainly rank as the year's most engaging new artist. Instead, "Save A Horse (Ride A Cowboy)" turns out to be an amazing one-off-- something just north of a novelty single from an act already treading dangerously close to that territory.
04). "Stand Up Tall," Dizzee Rascal.
Even were he not simply the most interesting alternative to the "crunk" that's taken over US hip-hop, Dizzee Rascal would remain, without question, hip-hop's most distinctive voice-- that indecipherable accent, that idiosyncratic delivery-- and he would remain well ahead of the curve of what's popular in the US. He thoroughly documented urban rot on his debut album, Boy In Da Corner, over beats heavily layered in grime, and he launched a pre-emptive strike against the aggressive misogyny of crunk with "I Luv U," a single-- 2003's best, in fact-- that deconstructed gender politics on the brink of the apocalypse. For his encore, then, Dizzee ups the magnitude of his self-consciously juvenile boasting and matches it with the ideal possible production, backing himself with video game beats. Here, he raps over a track that sounds as though it's been lifted entirely from one of the latter-day Mega Man games, and he does so without a trace of irony, knowing how well it complements his rhymes- and how, despite that inimitable voice of his, he deftly keeps "Stand Up Tall" from sounding cartoonish.
03). "Penny & Me," Hanson.
Possibly the most unjustly ignored act in popular music, Hanson fall into an unfortunate no-man's land: fans of mainstream pop don't take them seriously because of the residual effects of the backlash that followed the success of "Mmmbop," while fans of indie power-pop acts like The Shins and Death Cab for Cutie refuse to listen to them because of the multiplatinum sales of their debut album. And that's really a shame, because it leaves a band recording "pop" music every bit as perfectly crafted as that of, say, The New Pornographers, without the audience they deserve. "Penny & Me" represents a creative peak for the band-- sure, it sounds as though it's been run through several Pro Tools cycles, but the song is all powerchords and killer three-part harmonies, and nothing on pop radio in the past several years-- not Fountains of Wayne's "Stacy's Mom" nor Jimmy Eat World's "The Middle"-- has sounded nearly this anthemic. Even with the highly imagist lyrics of the opening verses, "Penny & Me" is a song that demands to be played with, as the chorus says, the windows rolled down, the radio up, and the pedal to the ground. Were popular music actually a meritocracy, songs like "Penny & Me" would define the pop mainstream.
02). "Home," Marc Broussard.
A blistering slice of swamp-funk, "Home" is essentially a five minute-long crescendo punctuated by a co-opted southern hymn that gives at least some credence to the oft-repeated statement that country music is the white-man's soul music. But for all of the posturing done by Big & Rich or the concerted effort at genre-blurring made by Bubba Sparxxx, it's in the dense, syncopated percussion line driving "Home" that best suggests how roots music could most compellingly merge with modern hip-hop. While the single's percussion is its initial hook, it's Broussard's voice that makes the song unforgettable-- there's something in the way he snarls the word "towards" in the song's bridge ("And my daddy turned his face up towards the sky / And I knew that there was nothing to lose") that, though many soul singers try, just can't be affected, Joss Stone. And when the beat drops out and he shouts, "You don't know nothing about this," in the year's most singly hair-raising moment, Broussard establishes himself as a powerful new voice in soul music and issues a dare to the listener not to feel something down deep. The single is made all the more astonishing, then, by the fact that the remainder of his album Carencro sounds like a label-forced John Mayer knockoff.
01). "Take Me Out," Franz Ferdinand.
That exceedingly rare moment when hype is not only fulfilled but exceeded, the 0:55 mark in "Take Me Out" manages to separate Franz Ferdinand from the countless other buzz bands who've been burdened with the "next big thing" label by the critical establishment over the last decade. For its first 54 seconds, "Take Me Out" works as the type of post-garage rock that The Strokes and The Libertines attempted on their sophomore albums, and it works far better than anything either of those bands has produced to date. But then there's that tempo change, and all of a sudden Franz Ferdinand turns into precisely what post-garage rock needed: its own Blondie. But even Blondie didn't manage to record "Atomic" right out of the gate, and that's what makes "Take Me Out" all the more unexpected and satisfying. There's an undeniable genius in the way that latter half of the song marries the guitar hook of The Waitresses' "I Know What Boys Like" to the beat and melody of Justin Timberlake's "Rock Your Body" without managing to sound the least bit derivative. If Franz Ferdinand never manage to top "Take Me Out"-- though several of the tracks on their debut album hold their own in its company, which suggests that they have plenty more left in the reserves-- they will still have trumped the rest of their peers, none of whom can claim to have made an entire generation of image-conscious hipster kids dance for four glorious minutes.
And there we are. A great year for music, really, and for singles, in particular-- realistically, spots 15 - 20 could've been filled by any permutation of at least 15 singles (from Rilo Kiley to Usher or Emma Bunton and so on indefinitely) to little appreciable detriment. Individual mileage may vary, of course, but this list makes for an awfully nice mix cd. Just don't tell the RIAA what you're up to.
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
omophagia
|
|
Reviews written: 45
Trusted by: 142 members
|
|
|
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.