Best. Number 26. RIHANNA - “TE AMO”
Hmmm – bit of a funny choice for me this. I’m not a big fan of Rihanna usually, but she has what must surely be a huge and highly competent production team behind her, and they sometimes manage to eek out stuff that is just undeniably good, even if it is very pop. Typically, the quality of her voice is my major beef with the star, as it often has an incredibly harsh, percussive timbre; here, however, within “Te Amo” she seems to have developed a softer, gentler quality that is much more appealing and suits the track well. The song’s minor key signature is also more interesting than some of her other down-beat stuff; “Umbrella” (ella ella) for example. What I really, really love in this track though is the accompanying synth melody and its timbres. The two intertwining synths are prominent, and are the most apparent element musically apart from Rihanna herself. The primary synth part has a late 80s pop quality and really makes this track stand out in an interesting and not too obvious a way. The Spanish guitars at the end can go though. Way to tacky.
Worst. Number 4. PENDULUM – “WATERCOLOUR”
To be fair to “Watercolour”, this is nowhere near the worst Pendulum track released. Indeed, the first thirty 30 seconds or so actually have some potential, in that they are gently melodious and restrained fairly far away from the house crap they usually pedal. But then at the first chorus this track lurches itself back into the awful, dated, frenzied Pendulum usual. Ultimately though, it must be said, I truly find pendulum bizarre. It the hardcore trance instrumental accompaniments are something that I just cannot stand. I have always always always hated trance, and as Pendulum seem to fucking love it, I really must hate Pendulum purely on this principle. Hard dance/trance is such a dated musical genre, and judging Pendulum purely on their haggard looks, they slot right in with the dated ethos. Additionally, not only is hardcore trance incredibly dated, it is also very unsatisfying, both to listen to and to dance to. Ultimately it really is appalling that a musical medium designed primarily to dance to is just so fucking fast it is too difficult to dance to. The ridiculous bpm of this and other such tracks would only be satisfying for mosquitos or people on a near fatal dose of speed.
