Since I can’t adequately cover everything I’d like to in this space,
I’m introducing the first It’s a Hit speed-round edition: a line or two
(or slightly more), done up in bullet points disguised as paragraphs.
Fasten your seat belts, here we go.
These New Puritans’ “Navigate, Navigate” (Domino) is over 15
minutes long. It needn’t be. The B-side remix by the DFA’s Tim
Goldsworthy is closing in on 12 minutes long. It needn’t be, either. On
the other hand, DJ Donna Summer’s “Sweet Assed Child o’ Mine” (Cock Rock Disco MP3) is a shamelessly exciting big-pop laptop hijack,
a kiddie-disco record struggling to get out from under everyone’s
favorite power ballad—and, in the funniest dance-record climax in
a while, finally does. Speaking of getting over, or under, not only is
Hercules and Love Affair’s “Blind (Frankie Knuckles Remix)” (DFA) grade-A disco redux, its crushed-velvet gloss gives Antony his
plummiest and most convincing sonic backdrop yet.
Stewart Walker’s “The Stiff Materialist” (Orac) is sweet
screen-saver techno for fritzing databases. Speaking of which, even if
you’re over “minimal” it’s hard not to find yourself craving the
sneaky, beautifully layered neon-on-black noises of Dop’s
“Merci” (Orac), which incidentally makes better percussive use of
found sound than most of its competition. Further goodies for
clicky-poppy 4/4 eccentrics: Guy Noir’s Flex EP (Resopal Schallware), whose constant textural shifts and
rhythm pinpricks sometimes push into pure abstraction (with a beat, of
course), and Rodriguez Jr.’s “Rubbo Swingo”/”Soledad” (Leena),
whose bottom ends the A-side’s title describes perfectly.
Erykah Badu’s “The Cell” (Universal Motown) is the most
brilliant moment from the most brilliant album of the year so far, with
a glassy synth and busy drumming that recall prime Stevie Wonder and a
lyric as tough (and good) as anything on Super Fly. Janet
Jackson’s “Feedback” (Virgin) is her first real ear worm of a
single since “Together Again” a decade ago, a positive first step even
if she’ll never be as convincing a robot as she was on Rhythm
Nation. Raheem DeVaughn’s “Customer” (Jive) is why R&B
metaphor (he’ll take your order, you fine lady you; “satisfaction is
guaranteed”; sugar and honey delivered to your door; etc.) will never
die, and why alien chimes tied to finger-snap percussion deserves to
live on for as long as they make good headphones. 