Monday, September 8, 2014

Does Demi Lovato Need to Give Her Voice a Break (Oh yeah, yeah, yeah)?


Pardon the pun, but does Demi need to give herself and her voice some rest? The past year and a half have been taking a toll on her vocally, from pitchy performances, to tonsils being removed and straight up unhealthy cracking, Demetria seems to have a real problem on her hands. She may be, yes, losing her voice.



While Demi is known in the pop circuit and amongst her fans for having impressive vocal prowess, she has seemingly hit a wall. Take a look at some of my reasons for concern below:


While Demi has outright said herself that she "hated" this performance, it doesn't excuse the fact that it was like she was wearing pitch repellent that night. C#5's shouldn't be a workout in all honesty.



This video was the spark of my concern. Scary stuff right here.



But Demi has also had solid moments, seen here. 

So, what say ye? Should Demi keep trucking along like she has for the past 18 months or so, or should she take some time off (after her world tour of course)? My advice: take vocal lessons ASAP, and get a healthy mix going on. Please Demi. Please.

Monday, August 18, 2014

Single Review: Taylor Swift - Shake It Off


Someone as skilled and respected as Taylor shouldn't have an excuse for making a single this bland.

Nothing about Shake It Off is that interesting. The horn line sounds too close to All of the Lights, a comparison and battle that Swift was bound to lose. The inspirational message that directly pertains to Taylor is cute, but pales to other inspirational anthems Firework or Born This Way. Even the spoken bridge comes far too short of matching Swift's last (phenomenal) lead single We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together. Shake It Off explores a different sound for Taylor with its use of wind instruments, but it comes off as following the trend set forth by Jason DeRulo and Ariana Grande earlier this year. In short, Shake It Off just doesn't bring anything new to the table.


Now, don't despair Swifties. Swift loves having diverse albums that push genre boundaries extensively - maybe this is just one of the outliers. Maybe there's an I Knew You Were Trouble or You Belong With Me lurking on 1989. If there isn't, we might have some problems, because this sure better not be it.

Grade: 33/100


What do you think of Swift's new track? Sound off in the comments section below!

Thursday, July 31, 2014

Single Review: Azealia Banks - Heavy Metal and Reflective


   Seriously? This is so badly produced I laughed. Who on earth let this not remain just a demo to be locked away for all eternity?

   This is just such a complete and utter mess. From the artwork, to Azealia's monotone robot voice, I found myself edging closer and closer to opening up my 4th floor window and just flinging myself out. Azealia just recently left Interscope records on her own accord, but I think Interscope is the real winner here. They managed to get away from the apparently talentless hot mess that is Ms. Banks. She may think that they don't deserve her because she may think she has talent, but they don't deserve to be burdened with her.

   In sum: the track is disposable. Crappy lyrics, crappy production value, no worth at all. If you want to make a mixtape for the death of music, you could definitely put this on it.

Grade: 0/100


Thursday, July 31, 2014

Single Review: Jessie J, Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj - Bang Bang


    What a shame that such a high profile collaboration that offers so much potential is wasted on such a disposable track.

    Jessie J enlisted rising star Ariana Grande and certified crossover Nicki Minaj to deliver some impressive bodies of individual work to a lackluster track. The chorus is weak and almost undefinable, the verses fail to compliment stellar vocals from J and Grande and Nicki is left fending for herself spitting out solid verses to a sparse production.
    You would think that someone like Grande, who mastered the collaboration with the incredible Problem would be able to bring some life to this track, but you can't bring an already dead track back to life. It's just not gonna happen. Jessie just wasted some star power that could save her career on a worthless song. Though it is doing respectably on iTunes, this doesn't deserve to be the song that proves to be a life saver.

Grade: 30/100

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Album Review: La Roux - Trouble In Paradise


If this is "trouble in paradise," then someone needs to make Elly Jackson's paradise even worse. If a little trouble gives us an album this great, then we should see how much more La Roux has to offer.

La Roux's breakup album - the breakup between lead singer Elly Jackson and producer Ben Langmaid - strolls through the avenues of troubled bliss. Jackson doesn't sound as convicted as Hayley Williams did on Paramore's parallel breakup album last year, but Jackson manages to twist her and Langmaid's relationship into several perspectives. Elly gets on her knees for the slow burner Let Me Down Gently, while taking jabs in the seven-minute epic Silent Partner.



The album's nine tracks all of single potential, but only two have even the slightest hit potential: the guitar driven first single Uptight Downtown, and the giddy Kiss and Not Tell. The latter is the closest Jackson gets back to La Roux's electro-gem Bulletproof, with an irresistible synth riff.

At 9 tracks and 5 years of work, Jackson definitely didn't rush the album, or put her apples in to too many baskets, and it certainly payed off. The 9 tracks all work well to create a very cohesive album. Closing track The Feeling may be the only undeserved track, and it's still comfortably wrapped into the albums story.

While we all hope not to have to wait half a decade for new music from the new solo act, it's comforting to know that if she is taking her time, it is completely worth it.

Rating: 9.1/10