The real version of “Run The World (Girls)” jumped onto a trend already a tad out-dated (Afrojack’s still-awesome but well-worn shuffle by way of Diplo). Say Wut’s scrunched-up techno take fits into the general “WTF” feel of underground dance production right now, not six to twelve months ago. Screw vetting, Beyonce should just ask worker-bee regional innovators like Say Wut for some beats. Release this generous, obnoxious version! If the Baltimore club producer’s remix found its way onto the radio (outside of Baltimore that is, here it gets almost as much plays as the real version), it could really blow some minds. And while we’re at it, can Araabmuzik give her some of that Electronic Dream shit?
Anyways, pay special attention to just how well this new beat converses with Beyonce’s vocals from the original. This isn’t one of those remixes where your ears force it all to properly interact because hey man, Beyonce goes Bmore club! Cool! The beat here, all hard, crisps snares and squonking synths, calms down and then suddenly tightens up, switching up with the help of guttural “hey”s and the slightest tinge of good and proper though predictable dance-pop structure. The entire song is the awesome, rapid-fire part that drops after the build up. Now, when Beyonce goes “this beat is cray-zee,” you’re not gonna go, “really B? This beat?”
Have you listened to the new Beyonce? Maybe you even bought it. You should. That said, I’m tempted to brashly enter “redux” mode and suggest that this Say Wut version replace the original but no, 4 is much too subdued for something this buzzing and bold. The entire album is a slow burn up to “Run The World,” which doesn’t entirely work because the ender is an at-best okay song. Bonus track “Schoolin’ Life,” the kind of empowering anthem “Run The World” pretends to be, should end the album. Or if that’s cheating, 4 should begin on track two, “I Care,” and end with “1 + 1,” which would slowly rise out of the dance party wreckage of “Run The World” and leave you with some end-of-the-world, end-of-Watchmen love in the ruins feeling.
Sorry about the lack of updates lately, you’ll just have to jump off-site to read my rambling. Trying to get back on-track this week though. For now, there’s another installment of my “Music Video Round-Up” column, this time talking about the wonderfully nutty video for Beyonce’s “Sweet Dreams” and the whatever but kinda cool video for Yo La Tengo’s “Here to Fall” and the transformative qualities of CGI when used properly, in both.
For the thousandth time now, Kanye turns being a douche in a trangressive act. Unlike other controversy-baiting outbursts at award shows, Kanye went there. He’s the only person that comes out of this looking bad. Not that he should be the only person. When Twitter’s all er, a-twitter with people invoking a lack of “class” and “cruelty” and pop-cult leeches like Perez Hilton–whose made a career of being cruel–randomly decide to put their foot down on this one, the places to point fingers are endless. Fuck it all assholism over self-congratulatory sympathy any day.
“If I Were a Boy”, a slow burning double-standard jam. “Single Ladies”, a fucking infectious empowerment song that’s also really about getting married and that square stuff. “Diva”, an “A Milli” rip-off. “Halo”, a big ballad about the right kind of comfort in a relationship that happens to trump Animal Collective’s “My Girls” in sentiment (word to Maltese Rubble on that point). And “Ego”, a celebration of her (and through that your) dude’s swagger that’s also a dick joke that’s also an artful balance of upholding pop expectations and going pretty crazy with them.
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