Critic of Music

Icona Pop: The swedish electro-pop duo that took the world by storm this year with I Don't Care (I Love It). While listening to their LP, I'm absolutely polarized in whether or not to think this is a 33 minute extended version of the aforementioned single (or perhaps even the dreadful We Cant Stop), or whether or not this is true pop genius.

There is no doubt a song like I Love It is pop perfection in every sense. Most people would be frightened at the notion of driving your car into the bridge, but Icona Pop makes it sound frighteningly appealing. However, as the album moves through its brisk tempo, the songs start to sound factory pressed, cloned from the same DNA of I Love It, with little change, if any. Songs like All Night are sharply crafted, but cannot distance itself from the track before it. Then there's Ready For The Weekend, which turns into a distorted mess, thats twists itself in more directions than a demon in The Exorcist. By track 7, the voice in your head starts screaming in horror, begging you to stop the party and read a book.

Even with the voice in your head forced into a straitjacket, there is no denying that the party songs are good. But track after track of this party is enough to make Lana Del Rey sound like an easy listen. If you don't mind having 11 of the same songs on your iPod, This Is... Icona Pop is right for you. However, if you were looking for an artist that plunges itself into different styles and varieties of music, save your money.

Lyrics: C+
Vocals: B-
Production: A
Overall: B

Twerkaholics beware, Katy Perry has unveiled the full length version of Dark Horse, and its a banger. The first promotional single and second overall from Prism excellently captures the "dark" in "dark horse," making Circle The Drain look like Last Friday Night.

The first 13 or so seconds aren't a very strong entrance for "Dark Horse," with the strange baby-coo and Juicy J introduction. But don't despair for too long, for the trap beat kicks in with a freakishly dark and effective riff accompanying it. Katy lets the lyric quality of her voice take over here, purring the lines "Make me your Aphrodite / Make me your one and only." Once the background vocals kick in for the chorus, the song takes on a much lighter quality, but once the beat drops, we're plunged into sticky, gooey darkness. Juicy does well his verse, its nice and simple, and takes the opportunity to make use of the off beats.


This is what we wanted from Katy when she burned her Teenage Dream blue wig: darkness, edge, a new Katy style. With "Dark Horse," she brings all of that to the table (and Juicy J). Its understandable why Roar, an inferior to 'Horse,' was chosen as the lead single now: perhaps the rest of Prism is too edgy, too jarring for those accustomed to "Teenage Katy." Katy, you have been absolved of your sins, Dark Horse answers our prayers.

Lyrics: B+
Vocals: B
Production: A+
Overall: A-

As the follow up to 2011's Femme Fatale, Britney Spears has unveiled the lead single from her as of yet untitled LP, entitled conservatively Work Bitch.

'Work' is much more experimental than anything we've seen from Britney, or any other pop star for that matter, this year. Its a heavy dance floor banger, not something that will easily blend into pop radio. Gritty synths, hints of dubstep and sparse lyrical content make 'Work' a bit hard to enjoy fully. Britney sounds no more human than she has on her past 4 albums, which is a tad alarming (does she even have a pulse anymore?).

If this was an album track, maybe the sin that is Work Bitch could be more forgivable, but its a lead single. If this is the most radio friendly track RCA could find for Britney to promote, she could be in a serious predicament (though hopefully/likely thats not the case since the word "bitch" is the centerpiece of the track). Its not even a matter of this being too experimental for radio, its too experimental in general; its a hot mess. The lyrics are disastrous and Britney doesn't sing them any better than what they deserve. Overall, very disappointing, and a bad move by her and her label.

Vocals: D+
Lyrics: D+
Production: B-
Overall: C-

After Clarity soared into Billboard's Top 10, and while Still Into You continues its steady ascent up the same chart, Zedd and Hayley Williams have come together for Stay The Night, off of Zedd's rerelease for his album Clarity. But don't let the zombie-esque cover art deter you, its still a pretty blatant, club ready single.

Right off the bat, the Clarity shadow is pretty evident here, starting off with a similar piano riff and ballad lyrics. What made Clarity so effective as an electro-ballad was Zedd's combination of, of course, EDM and balladry. Here, the lyrics are second rate to those of Clarity, and having a superior song like that lingering over Stay The Night makes it hard to avoid comparisons.

That being said, Stay The Night is far from a bad song, quite the opposite, its great. Hayley shows off some vocal versatility, being quiet and restrained on simpler lines and then taking it into the clouds with some higher pitches. Zedd of course, creates an excellent, radio friendly background for Hayley. Together, they've created a strong showing for Pop radio.

Vocals: A-
Lyrics: C
Production: A
Overall: A-

Bashing Miley will only help her further dominate iTunes charts across the globe. Chastise her all you want, call her a slut, call her a whore. Yes, she's naked, but it's really not that big of a deal.

She's naked. Get over it. Everybody and their mother knows she likes to over sexualize things. Would it be better if she didn't? Of course. But with the music industry rewarding those who bare as much skin as possible with platinum records, it shouldn't be that shocking for people. Yes, she's 20. Yes, we also know her as Hannah Montana. Yes, she is trying to push the envelope way too hard, but really, it's the world that we live in we should blame for her turning out this way, not Billy Ray's parenting techniques.

With that out of the way, the song Wrecking Ball is far superior to We Cant Stop in every single aspect, but with its less club ready nature, it was a smart move on the part of her label for waiting to put it out (ballad lead singles are generally a no-no). She wails pretty hard, chokes out all the emotion that she can, but even then, its just good. Not great. She makes the lyrics sound more powerful than generic, but the production really lets her down here; we've probably heard the same arrangement on 400 power ballads, but with that said, Miley did the ballad justice. Applause for Miley, no standing ovation.

The video brought One Direction's VEVO record to the slaughterhouse, pummeling 1D's 12.3 million one day views, with 19.3 million. In the video, as mentioned, she's naked and holding on to the Wrecking Ball for dear life. And yes, for whatever reason, she makes out with a sludge hammer. This video shows so much potential, but throwing sex into a power ballad video just makes it feel out of place. Even though Rihanna was naked in a bathtub in her Stay video, it didn't feel out of place. Because it didn't feel like she was relying on her body to sell the video. Miley however, makes sure you see as much of her as you possibly can, and thats why the line should be drawn. Nudity is okay, as long as it doesn't drown out your art. Miley needs to understand this, so she can be appreciated as an artist and not a stripper.