The month in pop: JANUARY

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Haven't had one of these for a while!

[Poll #1343375]

As ever, the definition of 'new' is fully open to interpretation. If it's new to you, that counts! Expanding your answer in the comments is warmly encouraged.

Comments

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

I'll go to bat for pretty much the whole Ryan Leslie album, which is like the first half of the Cassie album half defrosted, replaced with a standard pre-Ne-Yo Gentleman wooing in the traditional manner. Flies low and steady, might sorta betray Ryan as a huge dork, which isn't so much endearing as a non-issue. He's kinda boring anyway.

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

But he's as obsessive in layering his own voice in interesting ways as Danity Kane, and his songs are really economical and spare, full impact from very few ingredients. And his Autotune experiment isn't a total bomb.

[koganbot]

I've only heard the first half, but so far it's hit or miss for me. Guest girl Cassie helps "Addiction" get over, and "Just Right" and "How It Was Supposed To Be" are effectively spare, but "Diamond Girl" and a lot of the rest are tedious, neither fish nor fowl, below-average vocals against average r&b tracks (that possibly would be better than average if Cassie were singing, but it seems to me that she does better without Ryan than Ryan does without her, which I wouldn't necessarily have expected)(these opinions are after one listen to half the album, mind you, so provisional, of course).

[koganbot]

OK, I'm listening back to "Quicksand" and can hear how a singer with any charisma could deliver it - if that singer could put a glide into the vocals and get Ryan to slow it down. So, wrong speed, wrong singer, but viable tune and arrangement. Maybe its virtues will grow on me.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Yeah I have this, only listened to once, not convinced by R-Les as a viable solo performer yet but this is v provisional. His guest spot and production on 'Precious' grabs me a lot more.

[koganbot]

Guitar line functions a lot like the guitar in "Satisfaction." But for the first half of "Precious" the good stuff is when Jones is talking and you just want Leslie to shut up; finally towards the end he melds the parts well.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

The guitar reminded me a bit of The LOX's 'Ryde Or Die Bitch'.