R.E.M.’s 2008 album Accelerate received the best reviews of any record they released after drummer Bill Berry’s departure. Personally, I’d rank it below Up but I agree it’s a high point of the late phase of their career.
That said, today’s Random SOTD, ‘Sing For the Submarine,’ is not among my favorites. It has its moments it’s way too melodically unsophisticated for my taste.
Rounding out my latest installment of ‘What the Kids are Listening To These Days’ is Pink, who sits at Billboard’s #10 with ‘Just Like Fire.’ The track is featured in the new Alice in Wonderland movie, Through the Looking Glass.
I like Pink a lot and this is a perfectly fine song, though for my money the best song by a pop singer featured in a 2016 family movie is still ‘Try Everything’ by Shakira, as heard in the delightful Zootopia.
Rihanna’s second appearance in the top ten comes courtesy of her third collaboration with DJ Calvin Harris, following ‘Where Have You Been?‘ and the smash hit ‘We Found Love.’
I don’t know if this single will reach the heights of that one, but it’s definitely destined for sustained chart success and a long life on the dance floor.
Rihanna is featured on three of the top 12 tracks in this week’s Billboard Hot 100. Love her or hate her, there’s no denying the woman is a hitmaker.
Me, I’m a fan. I won’t get into her latest album, Anti, here because I’ll save that discussion for an upcoming theme week on this year’s album releases, but suffice it to say it’s her best work since 2009’s Rated R, and the most ambitious record of her career.
The song at #7 this week, Mike Posner’s ‘I Took a Pill in Ibiza,’ is a good example of what I was writing about just yesterday.
Here’s a track that started its life as a slow, acoustic ballad about the loneliness of fame. But it didn’t hit the Top Ten in that form. It took the EDM producing team SeeB speeding it up and laying it over a beat to pull that off.
Meet Me In Montauk 