Nice to hear there’s a depth of talent and sonic influences in The xx. The steel drums and the song’s rainbow-coloured carnival feel belies the fact that the song really isn’t a million miles away from some of the dancier borders of his band’s whole noir pop thing. Boiled down to essentials, It’s got that James Blake/Pariah buzz to it that their debut occasionally dabbles in. I think the kids call ‘post-dubstep’ – but I’m not entirely sure.
Whether it’s just a creative outlet or a sign of things to come from the band proper, time will tell.
I couldn’t understand the fuss over Swizz Beats’ verse on Lord Lord Lord. It’s probably the weakest, sure, but it did the job and had a certain charm in how laid back and shambolic it was (I mean, Kanye rhymes ‘movie’ with ‘cootie’ in the same song – with is almost as bad as the ‘Have you ever had sex with a Pharaaaaoooooh’).
Regardless, that track is the best, most consistent thing to come from this G.O.O.D Fridays project, which is more and more evidently a process for Kanye to clear out some tracks that won’t make the cut for his next album (I hope). Obviously that then asks the question of what he’s doing roping in Raekwon, RZA, not members of the Kanye stable like Jay-Z, Charlie Wilson and so on, for a free download project. But anyway…
Watching that video, the roar that erupts when she comes on and the quality of her verse in itself, it’s hard argue that Nicki Minaj doesn’t have some real potential. It’ll be interesting to see what she does with it.
Anyway, there were some real stadium-sized stars (and egos) on that stage yesterday. I’m not a big fan of stadium gigs, but the roster Jay-Z had supporting him and the whole set up deserves respect. Even if, like me, you’re not into 50 cent or Eminem so much, it’s staggering that he got those two supporting him – along with Dr Dre and Chris Martin popping in. Unlike Matt Bellamy, some guy from Kings of Leon, or even Bono, these guys are megastars, celebrities in their own right; without the music, it’s exciting just seeing Jay and Kanye stalking about the stage. I can’t think of a bigger spectacle this year. In the age of blogs and ‘nichification’, it’s worth doffing the cap to
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