Excuse the light posting lately. If you follow me on Twitter, you’ll know what’s [click] up [click].
Once upon a time, Electronic Dance Musicians Zedd (my new husband) and Deadmau5 went on a coffee run. They also filmed it. While it seems a bit insane (and perhaps it is) to watch 22 minutes of two friends running to a Tim Horton’s drive thru, it’s filled with hysterical Joel Zimmerman-isms as they mock media interviews and banter back and forth about new music, tour stresses, mau5head shipping, and wanting to score movie soundtracks instead of lending tracks.
From the minute they take off, it’s pure hilarity; especially when Zimmerman floors it and Anton Zaslavski (who got the name Zedd because of the first letter of his last name, in case the journalists are wondering) nervously laughs as he prepares to potentially die, following it up with “I can see why you’re getting a ticket.”
Joel: This is the coffee place, buddy. The drive thru, I mean.
Anton: A drive thru..coffee place?
Joel: Yeah, a drive thru.
Anton: That does not exist in Germany..
Joel: They don’t have a lot of things in Germany.
Anton: That’s true.
The above banter is followed by a passerby screaming “DEADMAU5! ARE YOU DEADMAU5” to which Joel charismatically responds “OH MY GOD! Sometimes!”
You need this. 2020k needs this. When’s my interview, Joel? Why aren’t you called Zedd, Zimmerman?
UPDATE: This upload has been confirmed by Boards of Canada representative Mark David Garrett as a fake. [Source]
Dig deep into the minds of Boards of Canada back when they were Hell Interface with this newly unearthed rip of a cassette tape that contains their well known remix of Midnight Star’s “Midas Touch” and a newly leaked remix for “How Will I Know” by Whitney Houston.
Details are developing. FOR NOW THIS IS A RUMOR AND QUITE POSSIBLY A DRILL (whereas our other breaking Boards of Canada news was not). Right now, we know that this is at least half legitimate & the fact that the “Midas Touch” version is longer on this leaked cassette allows us to be optimistic!
Details are as follows from the user OldHat on Soundcloud, who uploaded the file: “Hell Interface early boc. Two tracks. Very bad quality unfortunately. This tape was left behind several years ago, and I’ve ripped it before returning it to it’s owner, if he ever shows his face again. Leaving it up for 24 hours only.”
Grab the download while it’s there and let us know in the comments section, Twitter, or Facebook in regards to what to think about this.
This is a monthly infrasound guest post by Amber Waves over at Open ‘Til Midnight. Inside of these issues are five tracks – mostly independent acts from Canada – that have found their way onto Waves’ radar. Be sure to check out this month’s posting by 2020k on OTM’s blog monthly as well with the same premise, called Hidden Gems.
September is a delicious time of year, isn’t it?
Lying in that cusp between summer and crisp fall weather, it holds the promise of great music with great seasonal coffee, and the kick-off of typically more intimate tours. As the summer winds down, allow me to share with you the latest treats to savour over a good chai latte.
“Reflektor” – Arcade Fire
“What’s an Arcade Fire?” asked the tweens of Twitter as the Montreal-based band snagged Grammy accolades for their album The Suburbs. “Awesome!” replied those already enraptured.
Few artists from Canada have managed to enjoy the sort of success Win Butler et al. have achieved since the release of Funeral, and even fewer have not been mainstream pop-rock bands. Blending keys, strings, guitars and happily shifting from English to French when it suits their artistic intent, Arcade Fire have a sound hard to define, often imitated now and yet, distinctly theirs.
On their new single “Reflektor”, the core elements of harmony and societal observation are at play with shades of disco and I have to say, I’m completely in love with this one. Is it anything like their other albums? No, but also yes. Fresh and authentically theirs, “Reflektor” may just be a late entry for summer jam of 2013 for the rock fan.
“Honey and Sorrow” – Amber Edgar
Hamilton-based artist Amber Edgar leaves her bio to her lyrics: “All my troubles behind/Are they all behind me now?/ I’ll be good, while I’m gone…”
Crediting music as her solace in her darker moments of youth, Edgar has now shifted gears from photography and other creative endeavours to focus on her songcraft. Her first single, “Honey and Sorrow” reverberates with the acoustic edginess of Throwing Muses beneath a more melodic rock polish. Heartfelt lyrics and haunting vocals create a soundscape that will draw you in beneath its current. Music to happily drown in.
“Buried In Cocaine” – DAVIDS
Star Trek: Into Darkness is out on DVD and absolutely amazing, my friends. Atmospheric, action-packed yet still quietly philosophical – I dig it.
This next artist is kinda like that. DAVIDS hails from Toronto, moving back home with the parentals to make electronic music. They didn’t seem to mind, from his recounting, and I can’t say I blame them: what he’s crafted on his forthcoming EP is polished, tasty electronic — New Order evolved. At turns frantic and introspective, enjoy a taste of being “Buried In Cocaine”.
“Grace Is Such A Good Word” – For Esmé
Keeping with the experimental vibe, allow me to introduce Toronto band For Esmé. The brainchild of Martha Meredith, it’s best described as a blend of the confessional storytelling of early Chantal Kreviazuk and the playful experimentation of Regina Spektor or Fiona Apple. By their own astute description, “…for esmé explores the balance between pop music and poetry, between soft and hard, between light and dark. for esmé is a study of contrast and the things that pull us in differing directions… from city lights to the window in the woods.”
“Lucid Dreams” – This Mess
I fell in love with Australian band This Mess after discovering their delicious EP (full review over here). Reminiscent of the best of Massive Attack and Portishead, their blend of trip-hop, soul and electronic just strikes at my core. Tace Macnamara’s pipes soar above the richly layered melodies, evoking glorious chills.
Their newest single, “Lucid Dreams” is a free download and blends elements of house into their usual sonic tapestry. It’s somewhat of a departure, but keeping it fresh is always a beautiful thing in art.
That’s it for this month! Be sure to swing by Open ‘Til Midnight to check out 2020k’s latest finds, as well as more reviews of the best indie has to offer.
Knowing this blog means at least acknowledging Ian Shepherd’s activism in the industry Danamicrangeday.co.uk, anyone [link]? Our article on Dynamic Range day, anyone [link]?
As a matter of fact, reasons to love Ian are almost infinite. Not only has he worked on records from the likes of Culture Club; Tricky (a favorite around this blog), Keane, and Deep Purple, he’s also an Imogen Heap fan (another favorite). In conjunction with these small facts, Ian is also genuinely one of the most interesting minds of engineering and one of the leading crusaders against the squashing of dynamic range.
Knowing this blog also means acknowledging the heavy influence we believe Nine Inch Nails has in terms of influence sonically and in the realm of music business models.
That all being said, as soon as Hesitation Marks was announced to be mastered in a plethora of different versions (standard CD, vinyl, mastered for iTunes), including a prestigious audiophile edition of the record, 2020k seemingly jumped for joy. It seemed to be, at the least, a step in the right direction, right? We could all sonically agree on what this could mean if the record would live up to the hype, right?! [Link to information about the alternate mix].
We’d like to offer Ian Shepherd’s 15 minute video breakdown between the CD and audiophile versions of Hesitation Marks. The 2020k review of the record is pending, with sound waves from the record repeatedly pumping out the monitors, and it seems Mr. Shepherd has covered the bulk of the hype between these versions, hitting the nails (pun intended) right on their heads!
Enjoy and let us know your take between the versions in the comments section below!
See that gif? It’s the actual, official promotional image for Static, the follow up release from Cults’ self-titled 2011 release. Slated for October 15th, the eleven track album seems like it’s gearing up to be quite the continuation of their debut, especially as far as the second single “High Road” is concerned.
Taken from our most recent Hidden Gems post over at OTMblog.com [link]:
“But I should’ve took the high road, now it’s such a long way back. Instead I took the low road, I figured out it’s something you can’t take back. I should’ve took the high road, now my days have all turned black, instead I took the low road, and figured out it’s something that we both lack.”
Cults became a duo on my radar after watching their outstanding performance as an opening act for Passion Pit during their summer tour [click here for that review]. Glittered in screens projected onto the stage, including Brian Oblivion, Madeline Follin, and touring members themselves, the act powered through a quick set that covered practically the entirety of their small body of work. The two are at it again, with their follow up release entitled Static due out October 15th. “High Road” may have debuted as this piece was being written, but its continuation of the band’s nostalgic vibe on this song demonstrates a growth in the band that makes the repeat button on “High Road” being pressed like it was the lifeline to keeping this cult alive. Brilliant talent.
You can receive an instant download of “High Road” when you pre-order Static from iTunes. There are also CD and vinyl copies that will be available upon the release date. What do we recommend? The vinyl. Cults is very traditional and organic, so their debut record is one of the best translated-to-vinyl releases of the past couple of years. Our standards for Static reign high.
2013 has been a year of unsuspecting comebacks and surprising summer hits. From Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky” to Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines,” the Billboard Hot 100 spectrum has taken mainstream outlets through a whirlwind of delightful obscurity. Among this league of unforeseen blockbusters comes an impassioned Electronic/Dance masterpiece called “Clarity,” carved from German producer Anton Zaslavski, better known as Zedd.
Originally released in February of this year, the Foxes featured title song from Zaslavski’s 2012 debut album has found worldwide recognition, mainly in America where it sits highest at number eight on the Hot 100 charts, as well as number one on the Hot Dance Club Songs, marking “Clarity” as one of the staple summer songs of this year. Written in collaboration with Matthew Koma, Porter Robinson, and Skylar Grey, the end result is a titan-status pop anthem, disguised in dance glory, that twists its way through enough present genres and effortlessly found a way toward found massive success.
“Clarity” is structurally intellectual. Starting out with minimal key, string, and percussion sections, the track slowly builds over a verse, chorus, and post-chorus timeframe. Eventually, the song comes down for a moment with two reverberated percussion fills, then moves into a danced-out chorus once more. What’s most interesting about this song is the moment after the second chorus, the one that contains panned instrumentation of which almost completely fades out for a moment before the a second movement of the song comes into place.
Sure, in terms of the Dance music genre, this Zedd single falls in line with something Tiesto was going for in his Kaleidoscope days. But, in regards to song structure, nothing about “Clarity” screams formula-oriented for radio; which is what makes this track’s rise to fame so incredible and refreshing.
Lyrically, the title track finds steadiness amongst romanticizing intense passion through trying times in relationships. This method of songwriting is found throughout music, period, but it’s done so indirectly at times, while allowing the metaphorical paintings to proliferate. “A clock ticks ’til it breaks your glass and I drown in you again” delicately references the time theme of which Clarity is comprised of (both the first song on the record “Hourglass” and closing “Epos” contain ticking ticking clock noises) while it hones in to the song’s content through a series of blooded questions; “If our love is tragedy why are you my remedy? If our love’s insanity why are you my clarity?”
The engineering on Zedd’s projects aren’t the best. We’ve brought this up in the past on our review of Born This Wayby Lady Gaga [click here], and while the mastering on Gaga’s projects wouldn’t necessarily reflect the final pressings of her collaborator’s projects, Anton’s debut record runs squashed at an average of 4dB of dynamic range. While it is dance music and most EDM seems to be running extra hot nowadays, it’s inexcusable; especially with a project that shine’s melodically as much as this record.
Regardless, the Foxes featured “Clarity” single is immaculate. Zedd’s classically trained skills show greatly on this record, as does his knack for crafting songs with movement, rather than bland dance-turned-pop offerings heard throughout most of the Pop spectrum.
Ultimately, he’s sexy, he’s smart, he’s talented and in terms of song composition, production, and structure. He’s given the main outlets of music some clarity into what the EDM community is capable of: timeless dance records.
Purchase Clarity via Amazon (it’s under $10! And there’s a vinyl coming out in 2020, which is obviously a reference to me, k? Goodbye, Justin Timberlake. Serving you experienced divorce papers).
Purchase “Clarity (Extended Mix)”exclusively at Beatport Purchase “Clarity – Single” at iTunes
Sure, the oversized cowbell is a bit gimmicky, but MGMT’s performance of “Your Life is a Lie” on The Late Show With David Letterman on August 23rd has caught itself in the midst of a critic firestorm from critics and fans alike for being unsatisfactory.
Seemingly disinterested, Andrew VanWyngarden battles his way over the almost two minute performance of the song, which is a lethargic track in self-realization of, well, one’s life being a lie. The mannerisms throughout the band, the lacking drive of the song, and overall stagnant performance kind of, in an ironic way, demonstrates the lead single off their upcoming self titled release in its mundane lyrical reality.
It’s nothing spectacular, could easily be mistaken for phlegm amongst the guts of artistic integrity, but at least it sounds good? It’s not that horrible.
Before the show & 2020k Forever on the Y-list
As my friend/photographer for the evening Amanda and myself arrived at Altar Bar on August 12th to watch the co-headlining Nico Vega and Crash Kings show, the attendees were inside sipping on some sunshine (read: alcohol) and we were stranded at the entrance due to a miscommunication between entrance permissions and press information.
“Do you know who I am?” I shamelessly shouted at a venue employee.”I’m the prestigious 2020k…here to watch the show!” He shook, but did not budge. Weird, right? Shouldn’t he know who I am?
There’s a running joke amongst my circle of friends that I’m forever on the Y-list. Before, I was on the Z-list, but now that I have an in real life hater (which is a weird story I won’t bore you with)and a couple of you have wonderfully taken the time to listen to my EP (and leave really nice comments that I’m greatly appreciative of), so it was an intense debate between all of them to bump my status up to Y. Why not just put me on the X-list, you ask? Too pornstary.
So, here I sit on the Y-list. That guy should’ve known who I am, right?! Z for Zebra, Y for “Y don’t you know who I am!”
I am embellishing and deeply digressing. I didn’t say any of the above dialogs to anyone, but there really was confusion. Eventually, after some contacts, Mike from Crash Kings came to confusingly assist my clearance and the issue was resolved. (Thanks, Mike!)
Moral of the story: we got inside, grabbed some sunshine (read: drinks), and laughed at the ongoing Y-list running joke while waiting for the bands to take center stage!
The Winter Brave & Daily Grind
The Winter Brave already have something going for them. During an Aske Me Anything segment on Reddit, a roommate of someone in the band asked Dave Grohl to check out the music. His response was just six words, “We just blasted it in 606!” and the entire internet flocked to their Soundcloud profile. With this seal of approval, Winter Brave gained a small following in which they’re humble for, and found their way opening for this co-headlining show.
Lead singer Jake Scarpino is adorable, as is the interaction between him and band mates Sam Scarpino and Chris Beaulieu. In fact, their chemistry is of epic proportions that is not even able to be described in words; you simply need to see them to believe it. Scarpino’s smile is as infectious as the band’s set, which included a deliciously funked out cover of Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)”. [The Winter Brave’s Facebook]
Following Winter Brave, a second opener called Daily Grind played a small set. Their legion of fans and friends made their way closer to the stage to give a warm welcome to the bunch, providing a blanket of enthusiasm and comfort. Plagued with a misplaced mic next to a guitar amp for the first half of a song, once this issue was fixed, it excited the sound to full potential and allowed the thrill of open ended pieces of music and a notable progressive instrumental to be embellished. [Daily Grind’s Facebook]
Nico Vega The start to Nico Vega’s set is as technological as it is talented and intense.
Lead singer Aja Volkman steps barefoot onto the stage, fronts herself up to the microphone, and begins high emotions in the form of a cappella calls. While her vocals are wonderful on their own, the songstress uses a looper, attached to the stand, to add layers that build and build until the room is packed with swooping soundwaves of which seemingly harmonize immaculately with each other. In this moment, the audience is silent; rightfully captured by the artistry.
Jamila Weaver, Dan Epand, and Rich Koehler take to the stage, with Koehler sporting an awesome Pittsburgh Steelers tank top. The city, as a whole, takes immense pride in their sports teams, as does the world (there are Steelers bars in Japan and Iraq). The following is immense, so to see support in the form of attire at a show is nothing new and always respected (see Gaga getting terrible with us back in 2010).
The band began tearing through their discography in a way that brings more dimension to their music than the album releases. This is not to say the records aren’t up to par; they are, but the live experience Nico Vega takes the audience through is of potent passion. Bjork-like in vocal phrasing and an optimistic version of Fiona Apple‘s stage presence, Aja assaults Nico Vega’s collection of songs with a clean cut to the jugular, while spreading joy amongst the hard hitting sonics the rest of the band provides.
You can also see the fun these four have. During “Lightning”, Aja touched Koehler and the two laughed as the guitarist mouthed “don’t touch me” back to her. Later, the two explained that she’d shocked him four times with static electricity! The two found irony in the fact that the next line after the fourth incident was “like some electric charge unbound in static on the pavement.”
Before the shocks, Aja jokingly asked if the television screens above the bar could be turned off because she kept getting distracted. “Someone I am very close to keeps appearing on the screen,” she light heartedly stated, with a smile. Who kept popping up? Dan Reynolds from Imagine Dragons (the two are married). The screens went black.
Nico Vega’s political and best known track, “Beast” ended out the set in the alarmingly combative method that portrays the song’s protest-USA subject matter perfectly. “Stand tall for the people of America! Stand tall for the man next door! We are free in the land of America, we ain’t goin’ down like this. C’mon now!” Harsh power enraptured this piece, and the group allied together as a means to create one final push of earnest artistry, honest lyricism, and finalized anger before clearing the way for co-headliner Crash Kings to take over.
Then, it ended. Some of the crowd began to fizzle out as it seemingly always does in a co-headliner show for some reason (I distinctly remember Jane’s Addiction suffering this plague during their 2009 NINJA tour, co-headlining with Nine Inch Nails), but a strong set of eager fans awaited the final piece of this night to begin. Instead of being affected negatively by this, a more intimate setting ensued.
(PS, I’m forever loving this picture of Rich Koehler).
Crash Kings
The newly independent band Crash Kings mentioned they had physical copies of their new record Dark of the Daylight exclusively at their merchandise booth. It’s true, and it’s a cause worth supporting as the band left their major label, due to complications, to release this record. Going independent after having a successful hit with “Mountain Man” is ballsy. Having a Kickstarter to raise funds for the new record also takes courage, but they did both of these things, massively succeeded, and still push their own envelopes by choosing to rock out without an electric guitar.
No electric guitar? Nope! You won’t find one in this band. Did we mention Crash Kings have balls?
Instead, lead singer Antonio Beliveau takes his eccentric vocals (half Jack White sounding, half Jamiroquai inspired) on stage and pairs them with not only with a synthesizer, but a Hohner clavinet that is modified with the most badass whammy bar to ever meet a keyboard. The end result in the Crash Kings live show is that Beliveau is off to the side of the stage, surrounded by gear, jamming out in an eclectic realm that balances modern technology and organic warmth.
What happens during a Crash Kings show is magical.
While not as playful as the previous bands on the bill, the trio is strictly down to business and rightfully so. Their songs may seem light, fluffy at times, and minimal, but the intricacies that allow these song structure and melodically driven songs to flourish are plentiful. Mike Beliveau’s bass playing is extremely pertinent to this band and the professional dedication shown through his facial expression and body language shows a conscientiousness, but technical vigor that demonstrates he and the Kings aren’t joking around with their craft.
Most of the audience’s enthusiasm came from a sub-section of the venue – the under 21 section.
Altar Bar is small, and since there is a bar area a section is roped off to accompany the under age attendees, but it’s only an eighth of the floor space is allotted for them. Throughout the night, Antonio would often glance over at the bunch and smile. At one point, he dedicated a song to a few fans in the area because of the delightful vibe that was bantering between fan and band.
The show itself, not only Crash Kings, but the three bands before them was a show in which the audience members fed the band and the band fed just as much back. This is something refreshing, something of which doesn’t happen too much at the big shows.
Universally known amongst the base of individuals at the show, “Mountain Man” and “1985” received the most praise and interaction.
Toward the end of the night, the band mentioned that they were on a curfew at the show, so they needed to improvise for the encore. They jammed for a few seconds, chalked it up to being them leaving the stage, and went into the ending tracks. “Saving Grace” concluded the set and the trio made their exit.
Aftermath
As with most shows, I made my way with Amanda to Jekyll and Hyde in the Southside of Pittsburgh where we had a few spooky drinks, reflected on the night, and came to the conclusion that what we saw was, in lieu of drunken speech and lack of better adjectives, amazing, awesome, and cool.
All four acts had extreme amounts of musicianship. Friendly pop/rock tunes, serious moments, technical skill, and interaction with the crowd bombarded the evening in a way of closeness that thrives upon the independent scene, but not normally affiliated with most shows. The night was a night of leisure, of celebration between bands, of a delightful summer sunset in Pittsburgh.
Earlier today, a BBC Radio 1 Zane Lowe premiere of a new Nine Inch Nails song off the upcoming Hesitation Marks record was released onto the internet following an audio rip. “Everything” is not anything as imagined, leaving a different mark of hesitation – one hesitant to comprehend it.
It’s an interesting turn in sonics for Trent Reznor in that it follows an extremely pop-rock vibe of optimism and love. It’s a sunny track and one of the only ounces of pure happiness throughout the huge, moody brooding that we’ve seen since 1989’s Pretty Hate Machine. Ironically, the debut record from this collective remains disputably as one of the more pop findings out of the industrial scene, so in a sense “Everything” falls in line under the surface of their expansive vision.
As far as what it sounds like, it’s a little bit of what the Smashing Pumpkins would have done if they’d stayed in the direction of “1979” from their epic double record Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, but with the minimalism of early The Strokes records and prolific-rocked out vibes from late U2 releases.
It’s cute – which is something you’d never think to associate with the Nails, would you? Melodic , eigth-note guitars florish against drum machine beats and quickly delayed Trent vocals. And there’s a lovely section toward the two and a half minute mark in which Reznor’s delayed and stuttered vocals create a stereo effect.
“I am home, I am free” Reznor sings as if releasing a weight from his shoulders, but he’s so far from it at the same time. “Everything” is a pleasant shot misfired in the direction of mainstream obscurity. Well done at confusing the entire world – proving with this song that Nine Inch Nails certainly haven’t tried everything yet.
In fact, for the first time, it actually sounds like nothing can stop Trent now.
Stream the song over at NPR now and temporarily below! Then grab a pre-order of Hesitation Marks over at nin.com to receive instant downloads of “Everything”, “Came Back haunted”, and the glorious “Copy of A”.
What do you think of this new turn in events for Nine Inch Nails?
The opinions surrounding the debut single “Applause” from Lady Gaga’s upcoming third LP, the smart phone app ARTPOP are vast. Love it or hate it, it’s a mainstream pop track crafted by the Interscope signed songstress that’s taking the entire music industry by storm, as she normally does, and is buzzing with opinions firing in all directions.
What we think?
“APPLAUSE” SUCKS.
Just kidding.
Did we rattle you, Little Monsters? Send our apologies to the Mother.
Living in an average dynamic range of 5dB, “Applause” has the standard in your face sonic realm that we’ve come to hear from Lady Gaga as of late. Producer DJ White Shadow plays with minimalistic synthesized lines during the chorus and verse placements that they could be seen almost as mundane as Will.I.Am’s atrociously simple composition for “Scream and Shout (featuring Britney Spears)” if it weren’t for the interesting movements through each segment of the track, such as the filtered synths at the pre-chorus.
Bowie-esque in vocal phrasing (yes, we’re getting this Bowie reference out of the way quick. It’s there, it’s obvious), Lady Gaga charges through her verses in theatrical expression and remains at the top and front of the mix throughout the entirety of the song. She’s so compressed, so in your face, that it’s quite difficult to focus on anything but. In fact, an interesting segment in the chorus in which she melodically spells out the word A-P-P-L-A-U-S-E is buried within the mix a bit.
A nice, free-verse approach to writing in the second verse seems to attack the critics and stay closely to demanding the acceptance of her fan base: “I’ve overheard your theory/nostalgia is for geeks/I guess, sir, if you say so/some of us just like to read”. It’s a weird part of the song upon the first few listens, but is a refreshingly interesting writing technique not heard as directly in the Pop world as it is addressed and poetic here.
The main issue with this song is related to a tirade Lady Gaga went on via her Twitter account where she urged listeners to not listen to the record through laptop speakers. If we may be combative and blunt for a moment, “Applause” is seemingly laptop pop manufactured for laptop speakers. The frequency spectrum is focused highly on the high and low frequency zones inside of this 3:32 spectacular. It doesn’t take a genius to know that laptop speakers are terrible to listen to anything on, but with the speakers being driven mostly by small beaters that are able to only translate the higher frequencies, why has Gaga tarnished the equipment if the warmth of her records have already been hidden beneath the equalization techniques in this lead single?
“Applause” is absolute brilliance at the chorus as it’s as catchy and boisterous as it is intelligent, as well as a recollection to why Germanotta reigns supreme as one of the sharpest songwriters in the genre of present pop music. Where The Fame and Born This Way brought blatant live references to her fans, adoringly called little monsters, specifically asking them to put their paws up, Stefani greatly disguises the request and appreciation for her fans through the subtle line “put your hands up, make ’em touch,” (as opposed to the more blatant reference “Paws up“) then following up with a reprise of the chorus which starts “give me the thing that I love.”
An acknowledgement may slightly occur in the pre-chorus of the song during the chanted lines “give me the applause-plause, give me the applause-plause.” plause :: paws.
This morning, a music video directed by Inez & vinoodh premiered in the United States on Good Morning America and while an almost fully unclothed Gaga prances around, it’s 2013 and not as shocking as most headlines mislead (in fact, the only shocking thing that will come from it is it’s reference to Janet Jackson’s infamous Rolling Stone cover in the 90’s). It is, however, a highly entertaining video recalling the late 20th century’s larger than life adaptation of music creation into the visual world. Simple in manner, complete with a light up tail, the video walks a line between the almost signature black backdrop that’s been featured in the “Alejandro” and “Born This Way” video and a new, slightly bonkers-without-reason mentality the ARTPOP record has been mechanically built to be.
This is by no means Lady Gaga’s finest single to date, but it’s by no means her absolute worst. While it is a bit too self-indulgent, Born This Way remains a political moment early-on in Stefani’s skyrocketed career that she’s earned the right to be a bit silly for a bit. “Applause” is an infectious piece, but hopefully it’s our “Just Dance” of the record, with the “Poker Face” and “Bad Romance” moments coming to fruition in the next coming singles.
Excuse the light posting lately. If you follow me on Twitter, you’ll know what’s [click] up [click].
2020k 