Madonna’s ‘Hard Candy’ a sexed-up sweet treat
Published 1:55 pm Monday, April 28, 2008
New releases are expected in stores Tuesday from Madonna, Portishead, the Roots and Dizzee Rascal. Here’s a look at each.
Madonna, “Hard Candy” (Warner Brothers Records)
With Madonna’s 50th birthday a few months away, the queen of reinvention slides into full-on cougar mode for her latest, a sexed-up album that finds the cultural icon still on the dance floor.
Leaning heavily on the production skills of Pharrell Williams and Timbaland, the synth-heavy album also pairs the singer with Justin Timberlake and Kanye West.
Lyrically, Madonna suffocates her double-entendres. Opening the album with “Candy Shop,” she tells listeners her sugar is “raw, sticky and sweet.” Later on, over a screaming synthesizer, she reminds people she “can go on and on and on. Give it to me, yeah.”
Madonna knows sex sells. Shocker, right?
It’s also no surprise most of this sounds pretty good. With tracks like “Incredible,” a nearly great song that runs two minutes too long, and the unavoidable single “4 Minutes,” her duet with Timberlake, Madonna shows she still can make an album heavy with hits.
Despite the album’s audacious cover — the singer sitting with her legs spread and mouth open — “Hard Candy” isn’t shocking. It’s Madonna being Madonna, ready to dance and vamp and then dance some more.
It’s less of a reinvention than a tune-up.
Portishead, “Third” (Mercury Records)
Portishead took an 11-year break between releasing its second studio album and its new disc, the plainly titled “Third.”
So what does an 11-year wait mean? Apparently, not much. The British trip-hop trio, known for perfectionism, return with another batch of spectral electronica music that’s often difficult to grasp.
Don’t misunderstand: The group can write traditional songs with immediate pleasures. The short and elegant “Deep Water” proves it. The gentle track sounds like it was lifted from a Bing Crosby film set in Hawaii.
That song, about halfway through the album, is the exception, however. Most songs meander. Drums get coated in static. A melody appears, only to be interrupted by a fury of computer noises. Through it all, Beth Gibbons’ bleak voice wavers along.
It’s an interesting album, but also not the type of thing you want to hear on repeat. To put it another way: If it takes the group 11 years to come out with “Fourth,” that’s fine by me.
Dizzee Rascal, “Maths + English” (Definitive Jux)
You’d be hard pressed to find a better pop song than Dizzee Rascal’s duet with Lily Allen, “Wanna Be.”
The song dances around a sample from the gangster musical “Bugsy Malone” as the two Brits swap verses over a rubbery beat, coyly complaining about would-be criminals who are all bark, no bite.
The song is among several standouts on Dizzee’s album, “Maths + English.” The disc, released online in 2007, hits U.S. shelves with a few bonus tracks that don’t add or detract from the consistent disc.
The rapper mainly flips between two moods: Unabashed joy and clear aggression. He’s either sampling the sound of sharpening knives or saying he loves summertime, man — just loves it.
The disc shows that Dizzee can get away with complaining about wannabes because he’s clearly the real thing.
The Roots, “Rising Down” (Def Jam Recordings)
The Roots remind me of those socially conscious guys you don’t want to run into outside a mall — the ones handing out flyers, trying to get you to come to the protest, to sign the petition.
On the group’s new album, “Rising Down,” the hip-hop group sounds several alarms, hitting on topics that might also concern Al Gore: The state of the environment, race relations and crooked officials. That kind of thing.
It’s not to say there aren’t some good songs here. The laid back “Criminal” feels destined for a stylish soundtrack, and the album itself, bookended by the songs “Rising Down” and “Rising Up,” starts and finishes strong.
But too often, the album’s urgent intentions feel forced on you, like that flyer.
Columnist Andy Rathbun: 425-339-3455 or e-mail arathbun@heraldnet.com.
Listen up
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