Bruce Springsteen — “Devils and Dust”

Released: 3.28.05 Peak: #72 It’s been a disheartening couple of decades for Springsteen fans. Well, for this fan anyway. The true diehards forever seeking redemption in the sweeping gesture–they shall not be moved, no sir. But tramps like me have been bummed to witness a good man’s struggle for significance at the expense of his [...]

Amerie — “1 Thing”

Released: 3.22.05 Peak: #8 Rich Harrison’s star loomed high in 2004. Seeking to capitalize upon the success of “Crazy in Love,” the potential super-producer hit upon a simple idea–sample beats rather than hooks. Not a new idea. After its productive fling with James Brown in the ’80s, hip-hop had abandoned this quaint maneuver in the [...]

Best Albums 2005 (21-25)

25. Of Montreal — The Sunlandic Twins Kevin Barnes always led the most diffuse of the Elephant 6 bands — not experimental like Olivia Tremor Control (ugh, that name) or expressive like Neutral Milk Hotel (id.), just unwilling (unable?) to follow any but the most circuitous route from one hook to the next. And yet, [...]

The Game feat. 50 Cent — “Hate It or Love It”

Released: 3.15.05 Peak: #2 Man, has “featuring” ever been more true? Without the wired-jaw monotone of Curtis Jackson (for whom my grudging appreciation has never once intensified into love or hate, song title be damned), the putative artist here would be left roaming in circles around those killer Trammps’ horns in search of a clue. [...]

Common feat. Kanye West and the Last Poets — “The Corner”

Released: 3.1.05 Peak: #42 [R&B/Hip-Hop] Few rap subgenres are as maligned as “conscious rap.” Haha, just kidding — every rap genre is maligned by somebody, often deservedly. If “conscious,” like “emo,” can be a barely cloaked dig at a performer’s masculinity, well, those who hate the hustle on principle are always willing to overrate good [...]

Tori Alamaze — “Don’t Cha”

Released: 3.1.05 Peak: #53 [R&B Singles] Great pop music is often made with the worst intentions, so a troupe of back-up dancers that hires its own singer isn’t de facto undeserving of success. Nicole Scherzinger certainly made more wholesome use of the Pussycat Dolls than did the many starlets who, hoping to neutralize their own [...]

My Chemical Romance — “I’m Not OK (I Promise)”

Released: 1.17.05 Peak: #86 “Emo Goth” is a snazzy tag, especially if you want to scare grown-ups (and who doesn’t?). But hell no Gerard Way ain’t either. He’s too funny about his insecurities, for starters, as the knowing cluelessness of “Well, if you wanted honesty that’s all you had to say” establishes at the very [...]

Chemical Brothers feat. Q-Tip — “Galvanize”

Released: 1.17.05 Peak: Did not chart Welcome to Q-Tip’s lost decade. His 1999 solo bow, Amplified, re-introduced an MC not just resigned to hip-hop’s new glossy pop reality, but full-on ready to embody it; yet his proposed follow-up, Kamaal the Abstract, hedged its bets. After kindly suits sidelined that mess (an ambitious mess, sure, but [...]

Top 40 Albums — 2004

1. Rilo Kiley — More Adventurous (Brute/Beaute) 2. Youssou N’Dour — Egypt (Nonesuch) 3. Kanye West — The College Dropout (Roc-A-Fella) 4. Mountain Goats — We Shall All Be Healed (4AD) 5. Courtney Love —America’s Sweetheart (Virgin) 6. Streets — A Grand Don’t Come For Free (Vice/Atlantic) 7. Sonic Youth — Sonic Nurse (DGC) 8. [...]

Top 40 Singles — 2004

1. Britney Spears — “Toxic” 2. Kanye West —”All Falls Down” 3. Gary Allan — “Nothing on but the Radio” 4. Jay-Z — “99 Problems” 5. Yeah Yeah Yeahs — “Maps” 6. M.I.A. — “Galang” 7. Franz Ferdinand — “Take Me Out” 8. Nina Sky featuring Jabba — “Move Ya Body” 9. Modest Mouse — [...]