FRIDAY FEEDBACK: FOXY BROWN

Chinchill Na Na

This week's Friday Feedback track is:

"Lights Go Out" by Foxy Brown feat. Kiara
from the forthcoming LP Brooklyn's Don Diva

I dare you to name a better new song from an artist who is currently in solitary confinement.

And just to hedge my bets, I dare you to name a better new song by an artist who reveals that her "na na na tastes like Jamaican kiki" in the song.

I don't know what Jamaican kiki is or what it tastes like, but I hope my na na na will one day taste like that, especially if the lights go out.

I especially enjoy the line "Me and my girls real hard in the Bentley Arnage."

One would think that her attacks on nail salon workers, fights with Jamaican cops, beatdowns of neighbors with a Blackberry, and attacks on other prison inmates would have been enough to solidify the "hard" image. But hey, I guess driving in a Bentley Arnage is pretty hard, too.

So back to the music, what do you think? Are you feeling this song?

--Junichi

FRIDAY FEEDBACK: DIPLO / PETER BJORN & JOHN

Skinny Diplo

This week's Friday Feedback track is:

"Youngest Folks" by Peter Bjorn & John / Remix by Diplo
not on the "Young Folks" CD single

Arguably one of the biggest songs of 2006 and 2007, Peter Bjorn & John's "Young Folks" gets the Diplo treatment here. (You can also hear a slightly different version here.) Apparently Kanye West's rapping over it on his mixtape and AT&T's jacking it for a commercial hasn't killed the song.

For me, that ubiquitous hook is starting to surpass the theme song for The Andy Griffith Show as the most recognizable whistled melody in music.

What do you think? Is Diplo doing something fresh with the song? Or do you think he's starting to get lazy by playing a Casio beat underneath the original and passing it off as a remix?

--Junichi

FRIDAY FEEDBACK: LUDACRIS

I wanna li-li-li-lick you from your knees to your toes

This week's Friday Feedback track is:

"Ludacrismas" by Ludacris
not on the soundtrack for Fred Claus

This new Christmas song by Ludacris -- a promotional track for the movie Fred Claus, in which he plays a vinyl-spinning elf -- raises the following questions:

1. What won't Ludacris sample?


2. Why is Luda's Christmas tree decorated with toilet paper?


3. Did he negotiate a contract whereby he earns a few Gs each time he says "Fred Claus"?


4. If this song wasn't good enough to make the Fred Claus soundtrack, what does that say about the Fred Claus soundtrack?


5. What has a better chance of becoming an annual holiday favorite: this song or any random track off of the Christmas on Death Row album?


6. Will Santa Claus pay attention to "wiss-lists" provided by persons swerving from egg nog?
   


7. What happened to Chris "Ludacris" Bridges' future as a serious Oscar-caliber actor?

Comments?

--Junichi

FRIDAY FEEDBACK: MC HAWKING

Straight Outta Cambridge

This week's Friday Feedback track is:

"All My Shootings Be Drivebys" by MC Hawking
from the new LP, A Brief History of Rhyme

(For some reason, DivShare seems to be malfunctioning. Here's another link.)

What, is there another MC with better flow ... who speaks through a voicebox?

(Please don't say T-Pain.)

Even being confined to text-to-speech software, MC Hawking clearly has a better command of rhythm, intonation, spacing, and breathing than, say, Mase or Soulja Boy.

Plus, MC Hawking gets points in my book for being a conscious rapper. Conscious, that is, of the fact that the Euclidean path integral over all topologically non-trivial metrics is asymptotically independent of the initial state of black holes.

--Junichi

FRIDAY FEEDBACK: TINARIWEN

Please do not call me the Tuareg version of Justin Guarini

This week's Friday Feedback track is:

"Tamatant Tilay" by Tinariwen
from the new LP, Aman Iman: Water is Life

The West African band Tinariwen is a superb example of why my collection of music from Africa needs to expand beyond Paul Simon's Graceland. (That's only a half-joke.)

My friend Zahir exposed me to Tinariwen, which, sadly, exposed me to the existence of the nomadic Tuareg people. I've since learned that the Tuaregs now mostly reside in Mali and these rebels have been fighting for a homeland for decades. Out of this struggle, this band was born.

I can't really describe their latest album other than to say that the electric guitar plays a starring role in a sound that is a little blues, a little Santana (with whom they've performed), and something entirely unique. I believe this track that I chose is sung in their native language of Tamashek, but it could be French or English, for all I know.

Thoughts?

(Credit: Zahir)

--Junichi

FRIDAY FEEDBACK: PAUL POTTS

Apparently, beautiful voices don't require beautiful teeth

This week's Friday Feedback track is:

"Everybody Hurts (Ognuno Soffre)" by Paul Potts
from the new LP, One Chance

I thought I was too jaded to be truly moved by any talent discovered on reality television.

During the last season of American Idol, for example, winner Jordin Sparks had a spectacular voice. But I am looking forward to her new CD in the same way that I look forward to the security at TJ Maxx handcuffing me while they remove from my colon the plastic colander that I tried to sneak out the store.

However, I have to confess that when I watched the video below, I was nearly moved to tears. No lie.

Paul Potts is a cell phone salesman in the UK. He looks like he could be Britain's version of William Hung. But then he sings ...

... and I'm suddenly a few seconds from buying his new album. Keep in mind that I'm hardly an opera fan.

The divShare track I uploaded is from his debut CD. It's his cover of R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts," sung in a language that is one of the romance languages: probably Latin or Italian, or maybe Balsamic, and possibly Thousand Island.

The US version of his album also contains two Christmas tunes because apparently opera singers can't move discs here without singing about Jesus Christ Round yon Virgins, which still sounds blasphemous to me.

Anyway, what do you think? Do I need to up my meds for even suggesting that Paul Potts sings better than Pavarotti?

(Credit: Banamrs)

--Junichi

FRIDAY FEEDBACK: THE GO! TEAM

Generic cheerleader uniforms are so rock 'n roll

This week's Friday Feedback track is:

"Bull in the Heather" by The Go! Team
from the import CD single Doing It Right

I've always loved the idea of the Go! Team -- multiple drummers, a pastiche of Saturday morning cartoon songs, the spirit of Japanese cheerleaders, and some hip hop beats on meth.

Yet, I rarely pull their discs from my bookcase of alphabetized CDs. Sure, it doesn't help that their two CDs are right next to every Go-Go's album ever made.

Alas, this is the first Go! Team song that keeps me coming back for multiple spins. "Bull in the Heather" is a faithful cover of Sonic Youth's noise jam, except that it has a more voracious orgy of xylophones and it leaves the counting to the Japanese cheerleaders.

Are you digging this? Or do the sounds of screeching car engines, guitar feedback, and cartoon sound effects make you hunt for Vacation, Beauty and the Beat, and God Bless The Go-Go's instead?

--Junichi

FRIDAY FEEDBACK: WING

On a Wing and a prayer

This week's Friday Feedback track is:

"Back in Black" by Wing
from the EP WING sings AC/DC

The executive board at Poplicks is ashamed to admit that we consistently neglect Asian New Zealander soprano vocalists, especially ones who could pass as both Oliver's and Junichi's mother. But that era is over as we spotlight Wing, a successful superstar who gained her audience by first singing in nursing homes in Auckland.

Like Isaac Hayes, Macy Gray, and Janis Joplin, Wing Han Tsang has an undeniably singular voice, instantly recognizable to her fans. Her offbeat phrasing and unpredictable vibrato recalls James Brown, Aretha Franklin, and other vocalists who changed the history of music.

On this song, she adopts keyboard minimalism and a Beck-like retro Casio percussion feel to put her own spin on this classic AC/DC anthem. Pay attention at the 3:30 mark as she repeatedly riffs on "Yeaaah!" over a keytar solo. Who knew anyone could out-rock Brian Johnson?

Sadly, I'm still on suicide watch because I missed her American debut at Cafe DuNord in San Francisco back in August 2007.

But on the bright side, you can download this song in iTunes.

Leave your Wing praise in the comments.

--Junichi

FRIDAY FEEDBACK: EDITORS

This band is not happy about doing photo shoots

This week's Friday Feedback track is:

"Smokers Outside The Hospital Room" by Editors
from the new LP An End Has A Start

What kind of a band begins a song with the lyrics: "Pull the blindfold down / So your eyes can't see / Now run as fast as you can / Through this field of trees"? A band that wants you to die, that's who.

And what band would have a hook that goes: "The saddest thing that I'd ever seen / Were smokers outside the hospital doors"? Obviously, a band that has never seen a puppy flattened by a steamroller while trying to save its best friend, Fluffy, a kitten that was intrigued by a ball of yarn thrown into the street by a little girl whose dying wish was to watch her two favorite pets play in a world without steamrollers.

And for the sake of Allah, what band names themselves after a group of employees only slight more enjoyable than anesthesiologists, meter maids, and repo men?

Regardless, Editors -- a British band that sounds like the love child of Arcade Fire, Joy Division, and J.J. Fad if J.J. Fad were not involved in the reproductive process -- has released a soaring, anthemic single that begs for multiple listens. But that's just my opinion.

What sayeth you?

--Junichi

FRIDAY FEEDBACK: DURAN DURAN

Five and the Ragged Tiger

This week's Friday Feedback track is:

"Nite Runner" by Duran Duran feat. Justin Timberlake & Timbaland
from the forthcoming LP Red Carpet Massacre

This new Duran Duran album track is the result of yet another not-yet-ubiquitous-enough Timberlake/Timbo combo. Andy Taylor, the band's original guitarist, left before collaborating with the Tims; I'm guessing Andy was more of a Backstreet Boys fan.

Does Duran Duran's collabo with Timbaland reek of desperation? Do you suspect Nelly Furtado passed on this beat? Do you enjoy Simon Le Bon's obsession with people who jog in the evening? Are you too busy to comment because you're still trying to figure out the meaning to "The Reflex"?

Discuss below.

--Junichi

FRIDAY FEEDBACK: PUBLIC ENEMY

The Security of the First World play a mean game of Risk

This week's Friday Feedback track is:

"Long and Whining Road" by Public Enemy
from the new LP How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul???

Here is a new PE cut that weaves a bunch of Bob Dylan record titles with older PE tracks. Chuck D reminisces on his twenty years in the game, observing that he's "seen a nation reduce 'Fight the Power' to 'Gin and Juice.'" Can you comment without predictably noting that PE will never live up to its heydey in the "It Takes A Nation" days?

Discuss below.

--Junichi

FRIDAY FEEDBACK: M.I.A.

M.I.A.'s left foot is bigger than her album sales

This week's Friday Feedback track is:

"20 Dollar" by M.I.A.
from the new LP Kala

Here is an album track from M.I.A.'s latest, complete with gunshot noises, syncopated synthesizer nonsense, and New Order bass lines. Can you think of better songs named after hte price of AK-47s in Africa? Is "20 Dollar" twice as good as "10 Dollar" on her first album? Can you make sense of phrases like "My stains hang low", "We goat rich", and "Born out of dirt like I'm porn in a skirt"?

Leave your comments below.

--Junichi

FRIDAY FEEDBACK: will.i.am

ill, I am.

This week's Friday Feedback track is:

"Songs About Girls" by will.i.am
from the forthcoming LP Songs About Girls

This is BEP's will.i.am's latest solo effort, which includes the following poetic masterpiece of a quatrain:

Everyday should be your birthday, hun.
You make the guys all dumb.
Maybe cause you’re blessed with the beautiful buns.
Maybe cause your beauty keep the dudes on sprung.

Did Pablo Neruda ghostwrite this song? Do you appreciate the lesson in the hereditary properties of beauty? Or do you think I might be enjoying this song simply because I got my body from my mama?

Leave your comments below.

--Junichi

FRIDAY FEEDBACK: COMMON

To save money on touring expenses, Common handles crowd control himself.

This week's Friday Feedback track is:

"Drivin' Me Wild" by Common feat. Lily Allen
from the new LP Finding Forever

Kanye West paired up Common and Lily Allen to produce this track that seems to reference everything from the crazy astronaut with diapers, OK Go's "Here I Go Again" video, and the breakup of Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Philippe.

What do you think? Would you have preferred that the hook be sung by a different British chanteuse with three nipples? Are you still unable to forgive Common for Electric Circus and the Gap commercials?

Leave your comments below.

--Junichi

FRIDAY FEEDBACK: FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS

From the folk ghettos of New Zealand

This week's Friday Feedback track is:

"Hip-Hopopotamus vs. Rhymenocerous" by Flight of the Conchords
unfortunately not from the forthcoming EP The Distant Future

This track/video is from Episode 3 of HBO's Flight of the Conchords and arguably one of the better hip hop songs of 2007. (2007, thus far = bad year for hip hop, again.)

Do their rhymes make you pregnant? Do you submit that the Hip Hop Hippo's "bottomless" lyrics are ten times better than whatever verses Yung Berg or Mims might spit? Did Steve tell you that, perchance? Steve.

Leave your comments below. And be more constructive with your feedback, please.

--Junichi

FRIDAY FEEDBACK: ANDRE 3000

What is 3000 - 2995?

This week's Friday Feedback track is:

"Throwdown" by Andre 3000
from the album Class of 3000: Music Volume One

This track is from the soundtrack for Class of 3000, a new animated series on Cartoon Network, that seems to be the Fat Albert for the "Bill Cosby made cartoons?" Generation.

What do you think? It is bumping like fried bologna? Do you miss the good ol' days of Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik? Is throwing down really better than throwing up? Is it the "Hey Ya" of 2007?

Leave your comments below.

--Junichi

FRIDAY FEEDBACK: SLAVIC SOUL PARTY

Always crammed onto small stages, every band member fantasizes going solo.

This week's Friday Feedback track is:

"Teknochek Collision" by Slavic Soul Party
from the album Teknochek Collision

Credit goes to DJ Matsu on KALX for busting out his lederhosen and introducing me to this funky new track from New York's Balkan brass sensation, Slavic Soul Party.

What do you think? Have you heard a better slide trombone or accordion solo this year? Is it the "Hey Ya" of 2007?

Leave your comments below.

--Junichi

FRIDAY FEEDBACK: 50 CENT FEAT. JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE

50 is frustrated that you neither consider his metaphors fresh nor clever.

This week's Friday Feedback track is:

"She Wants It" by 50 Cent feat. Justin Timberlake
from 50's forthcoming album, Curtis

Here's a new song with lyrics like "smokes got the club all hazy" and "working the pole," which strongly suggests that this is a tribute to firemen. Will this jam finally get enough airplay to convince the record company to release Curtis? Do you wish more songs sampled 1980's videogame consoles? How do you feel about 50 Cent's collaboration with the Timbaland/Timberlake powerhouse? Should 50 also duet with other members of *NSync?

Leave your comments below.

--Junichi

FRIDAY FEEDBACK: PHAROAHE MONCH

Simon says, "Shut the f up!"

This week's Friday Feedback track is:

"Body Baby" by Pharoahe Monch
from his album, Desire

What do you think of the Bed Stuy Hustler's latest? Is impersonating Elvis the new sampling Daft Punk? Is this single the "Hey Ya" of 2007?

You can also watch the video, featuring martial arts moves in front of urinals, here.

Leave your comments below.

--Junichi

FRIDAY FEEDBACK: CHEMICAL BROTHERS FEAT. FATLIP

What's up, Fatlip?

This week's Friday Feedback track is:

"The Salmon Dance" by The Chemical Brothers feat. Fatlip
from the forthcoming Chemical Brothers album, We Are The Night

Are you feeling this new Chemical track? Did the Pharcyde's Fatlip teach you fun facts about salmon? Or did you already know that salmon can float up toward Japan? Is the "Salmon Dance" going to to be this century's "Safety Dance"?

Leave your comments below.

--Junichi

FRIDAY FEEDBACK: DIZZEE RASCAL

Dizzee does another chin-up on his invisible bar

This week's Friday Feedback track is:

"Sirens" by Dizzee Rascal
from his album, Maths & English

What do you think? Why are snitches causing Dizzee to run from the law? Do Mr. Rascal's problems add up to 99?

Leave your comments below.

--Junichi

FRIDAY FEEDBACK: KANYE WEST

George Bush doesn't care about flaming black people

This week's Friday Feedback track is:

"Stronger" by Kanye West
from his forthcoming album, Graduation

What do you think? Did you enjoy how he rhymes with Klondike? Are there better songs that reference Apollonia and O.J. Simpson?

Leave your comments below.

--Junichi

FRIDAY FEEDBACK: R. KELLY

Double Up with R. Kelly

Starting today, I'm going to post a new song here every Friday to solicit Poplicks readers' commentary and help get your weekend started.

I'm not necessarily endorsing whichever track I choose. In fact, I'll minimize my commentary so as not to taint your opinion.

The inaugural Friday Feedback track is:

"The Zoo" by R. Kelly
from his new album, Double Up.

What do you think? Did you enjoy Kels's chimpanzee noises, Jurassic Park references, and avant-garde bongo-playing techniques? How does this latest slow jam compare to the genius that is "In The Kitchen"?

Leave your comments below.

--Junichi