Jukeboxin': 09/05/22

Since the beloved Singles Jukebox, to which I contributed for years, has just ceased publishing new reviews, I thought that I‘d start semi-regularly blurbing singles myself, here. I love the format, which works aces for me and my style of writing. No rhyme or reason, just things that I think should get blurbed. (There may also be occasional retro editions.)

Eliza Rose & Interplanetary Criminal - B.O.T.A. (Baddest of Them All)

I like that this ‘90s-indebted pop/house single isn’t actually based on, nor samples, a ‘90s pop/house single; I believe it’s entirely original. That gives “B.O.T.A.,” the new UK #1, a freshness that most of its current peers don’t have. And it actually sounds like something I can imagine hearing out in a club in the mid ‘90s. Rose’s vocals are alternately annoying (her high-pitched verses) and kinda sexy (her lower-register chorus), but there’s something compelling even about the annoying ones. This doesn’t sound quite like any other chart pop right now, and accordingly it pulls me in. [7]

Cam’ron & A-Trak - All I Really Wanted

I wasn’t much of a fan of Cam’ron during his Dipset glory days (aka the 2000s, “Oh Boy” et.al.), but was knocked the fuck out by his last team-up with A-Trak, on 2014’s Yes-sampling (!) “Dipshits” - talk about a killer Cam. This has all of the boxes I tend to tick as an aging hip hop fan - a pitched-up soul sample, a classic NYC midtempo beat (A-Trak clearly knows what best suits Cam), a rapper who knows how to rap (and enunciate) - but it’s missing an urgency, like that which was on display on “Dipshits.” And Cam’ron sounds, well, a little tired and a little old - no shame in that, but it doesn’t tend to lend itself to exciting hip hop. Solid enough, but I’d hoped for more. [6]

Special Interest feat. Mykki Blanco - Midnight Legend

The previous single from these New Orleans queer dance-punkers, “(Herman’s) House,” was kind of an if-LCD Soundsystem-debuted-now-and-were-much-more-inclusive kind of thing. This follow-up is more no wave-y, spikier, and still v danceable. Blanco’s rap verse fits right into the proceedings, and good lord this would sound great in a club. [7] now, but I can imagine it growing even more on me.