Recently in single-phile Category

single-phile: the latest singles, dissected and discussed

Mariah Carey is famous for (at least) two things: Her exquisite vocal high notes -- and her rather disastrous personal low notes. (Now, if that statement doesn't perfectly sum up the often sad complexities of pop stardom, we don't know what does!) Anyway, as we were gearing up for la diva ultima's 12th album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel (which does feature a goodly number of those skyscrapers), we started wondering how (or if) these two markers of Mariah-dom correlated with each other. And so for this week's single-phile, we conducted this highly scientific study, comparing the most heavens-scraping single from each of her albums with what was going on in Mariah's personal or professional life at the time to see if her high notes suggest reaching for the top or hitting bottom.

The air is starting to turn crisp and cool, every store has backpacks and notebooks (and, uh, laptops. Oh, these kids!) on display and suddenly cardigan sweaters and plaid skirts are looking much more fashionable than your breezy summer dresses. Yep, it's that time of year again -- time for the VMAs! In honor of that time-honored coming-of-age ritual, this week's single-phile takes a look at this year's class of Best Pop Video nominees, analyzing their class rank and role, future plans, the upper-classmen who inspired them and the under-classmen most likely to take up their mantle after graduation. To listen to the all the nominees, check out Sam Chennault's 2009 VMAs playlist.

single-phile: The latest singles, dissected and discussed

A savvy businessman, an industry player with an ear for up-and-coming talent, and, of course, one of the most quick-witted, silver-tongued emcees in the game, Jay-Z is many things -- and most of them are synonymous with hip-hop credibility (no matter how many times he "retires"). But Beyonce's (alleged) hubby is also one of the music industry's best and brightest pop stars, a label that has not so often been synonymous with hip-hop credibility. Which brings us to another of Hova's claims to fame: perhaps more than any other contemporary emcee (with the exception of Kanye, who helped orchestrate many of Jay's hits), he has managed to strike an impressive balance between chart-topping pop viability and hip-hop respectability, to prove over and over again that the twain shall meet (and that they weren't really all that disparate to begin with). This is a man who knows his way around a hook -- and isn't afraid to use it to reel you into his flow. On this week's single-phile, we take a listen to some of Jay-Z's biggest pop songs, including several high-profile guest shots and his latest, "Run This Town," off his upcoming The Blueprint 3.

single-phile: The latest singles, dissected and discussed

What a week, pop fans! Not one, but two fierce, fabulous, formative pop divas have dropped new singles this week. So, naturally, we thought it best to pit them against each other. In this corner, we have Madonna, whose "Celebration" anticipates her upcoming Greatest Hits collection. And in this corner is none other than Ms. Whitney Houston, coming out of a decade or two of struggle and scandal with a new attitude and a brand new comeback single called "I Look to You." Although they aren't typically all that closely associated with each other, these two dueling divas have experienced some rather fascinating career parallels: They are close in age (Whitney's 45 and Madge is 50) and career contemporaries (both got their start in the early '80s) with an impressive number of hits under their respective belts (Whitney's had 11 No. 1 hits and Madonna's had 12). More than quantity, however, it's the quality of their singles -- and the analogous career trajectories they trace -- that makes this battle royale so compelling. And logical. Totally, totally logical. Off we go!

From left: Pitbull, Shakira and Nelly Furtado

single-phile: The latest singles, dissected and discussed.

Industry insiders and music critics have been predicting for years that Spanish-language pop is poised for a massive crossover -- the kind of infiltration that would not only challenge the domination of English on the American charts, but also break down the division between mainstream (read: black and white) pop and Latin pop. And yet for many years, what happened instead was that the industry was paying attention to -- and working to grow -- a powerful but separate Latin pop market. That market has its own constellation of stars, many of whom (like Shakira or Ricky Martin) have crossed over into the mainstream -- but only by also switching languages. Until recently, the presence of Spanish on the pop charts basically consisted of "Livin' La Vida Loca."

single-phile: The latest singles, dissected and discussed

A bunch of new singles came out this week, each of them totally compelling but for totally different and unrelated reasons. So rather than trying to lump them together under some kind of jacked-up, ill-fitting umbrella, we'll give each one its time in the sun. (Ugh, sorry!) This week on single-phile: Lupe Fiasco, Anjulie, Fefe Dobson and Ms. Mariah Carey.

single-phile: The latest singles, dissected and discussed

When Michael Jackson passed away last week, I think many of us felt like he'd been taken too soon, his life cut short just as he seemed to be poised on the verge of some kind of comeback (although the stress of that may have been a contributing factor in his untimely demise). A lot of that feeling probably had to do with his age: he was only 50, but even that relatively young age seems shocking since Michael often seemed to exist in a state of (largely self-perpetuated) boyhood for us, a Peter Pan figure we prefer to remember as a chubby-cheeked child star or a charismatic teen/young adult. But an important part of Jackson's legacy is his rather prolific professional life -- a career that extended over at least three decades and was often a touchstone for what was (or would soon be) going on in popular culture and music. In honor of the late, great King of Pop, this week's single-phile takes a look at some of his greatest hits, their relationship to the pop cultural climate at the time and their influence on the pop music that was to come.

single-phile: The latest singles, dissected and discussed

It's shaping up to be a fabulously rainbow-hued kind of week, friends. Not only does it feature Pride celebrations in many cities around the country and the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots that Pride commemorates, but Gossip, perhaps the music industry's most vociferously out and proud band right now, also digitally released their discoriffic fourth album (and major-label debut) on Tuesday. Therefore, focusing this week's single-phile on hot pop singles by LGBT artists seemed appropriate. The problem is, they are hard -- if not impossible -- to find.

This week we got the rights to a song that is destined to go viral -- OK, already has gone viral if you're a hip kid on the West Coast who takes to YouTube to learn the coolest new dance (which, as demonstrated by that statement, we obviously are not). So, the song: New Boyz's "You're a Jerk," a repetitive, minimalist, dangerously addictive affair that is destined to crawl under your skin like the best kind of rash and accompanies a squirmy, jumpy dance style called (what else?) "jerking." In short, it's got "summer jam" written all over it.

Now, New Boyz might not ever make much of an impact beyond SoCal (though Diddy's son's fandom might suggest otherwise). But it's got me thinking about what other songs we're bound to hear booming out of every car window this summer. A few candidates have already set up camp at the top of the charts, and more are destined to assert their own claim over our eardrums before Labor Day rolls around. On this week's single-phile, we take a look at and listen to the likeliest contenders for summer jam dominance.

single-phile: The latest singles, dissected and discussed

If there's one thing Black Eyed Peas do brilliantly, it's make what often seem to be (let's face it) incredibly dumb songs -- and then make those apparently nonsensical ruminations on humps and such incredibly fun and culturally prominent. (In fact, they're so good at it that Rolling Stone's review of B.E.P.'s new album, The E.N.D., for instance, focuses almost entirely on this talent and even situates it in the context of a pop history of great dumb songs.) Dumb songs serve some important functions: they allow you an opportunity to stop thinking, of course, but at the same time, they let you shift into a more sensory, visceral mode of listening where you just, you know, experience the music, man (that was supposed to be like a tripped-out hippie voice. I don't know why). And, of course, they're usually great for dancing.

But what if there's more to a dumb song than meets the ear? In this week's single-phile, we take another listen to some of most inane singles by Black Eyed Peas (aka the Kings of Dumb Songs), focusing especially on their latest offerings, and offer an alternate, "smart" reading. You may or may not buy it (hell, I'm not even sure I buy some of these), but therein lies another pleasure of the dumb song: the opportunity to pull it apart and search for deeper meaning in its innards -- and the opportunity to debate whether said surgery is even worth performing.

La Roux

single-phile: The latest singles, dissected and discussed

The American pop charts are notoriously difficult to crack, even for artists with major celebrity cachet in other parts of the world. Just ask Kylie Minogue, who's never been able to match the success she's had in the U.K. and Australia stateside (in fact, if you can believe it, she's mounting her first ever U.S. tour this September). A lot of factors contribute to this impenetrability, not the least of which is a rather narrow definition of what kinds of sounds constitute a hit -- and what kind of artist is capable of making them. In this week's single-phile, we take a look at some of pop's outsiders: singles by artists who are making waves elsewhere, and who might even stand a chance on our turf.

single-phile The latest singles, dissected and discussed -- before you hear them so many times your ears bleed

Have you heard "Poker Face" so many times you want to stab your ears with an ice pick? Never fear: a new Lady Gaga single is climbing the charts this week. I know a lot of people (OK, a lot of music critics) have expressed some disbelief that Gaga has achieved as much of The Fame (sorry) as she has. Myself included -- when "Just Dance" was released last year, I predicted Gaga wouldn't get very far because it was too dancey and clubby for the mainstream, like it just skipped over the whole pop single thing and went straight for the wasted-"dancing"-at-4-a.m. remix. Looks like I totally called that one, right? But her latest, "LoveGame," hints at something I've been suspecting for a little while now: disco (and its descendant, house-infused dance music) is back, baby, in both style and the spin it gets.

SoundTreks: A regular feature on the music the other 97 percent of the globe is listening to.

"World music" has always been something of an ironic (not to mention ironically limited) descriptor: The "world" in world music doesn't include significant parts of Europe and North America, the music of the whole "world" is given a disproportionate amount of global media and promotional attention, etc., etc. One of the less central (and less often discussed) ironies of the industry, however, is that Asian music, in general, and especially Asian pop music (with the occasional J-pop exception) just doesn't circulate through the world music conduits all that readily. To some degree, the rest of the world's lack of access to Asian pop has to do with differences in local music industries. But it also might be related to a general dismissal of commercial Asian pop as just a bunch of sappy ballads and canned beats.

And okay, yes, there are actually a lot of sappy ballads -- although we shouldn't be too quick to write that material off either. But that's another SoundTrek. Today we're talking about the peppier stuff in the Asian pop oeuvre, particularly in the region's videos. And, oh boy, are there plenty of downright campy, deliciously candy-coated nuggets there -- the stuff that makes pop everywhere good and addictive. Moreover, there's a kind of joie de vivre (and sometimes a wacky plotline) that's often missing from Western pop.