The Useless Critic 2.0

Matt has exceptionally good taste in music, so I should listen to him more, no? I just am lazy and unless I hear a band and they get me on that first listen- I'm screwed. if not, well, whatev. OMG LET'S PLAY UFFIE NONSTOP AND DECIPHER HER LYRICS. "damn good cheese." THERE HAS TO BE SOMETHING HIDDEN IN THERE, SOME SUBTEXT. so he's been on my case nonstop to listen to Lush. and I've listened to Lush in passing, but inactively. I haven't allowed myself to get into it. is it the same fear that keeps me subdued on dating websites? giving myself away to random strangers/bands and then realizing they have my heart, don't care and will never give it back? that is it. UFFIE, WHAT THE HELL. IT'S JUST THE EMOTIONS, TAKING ME OVER.... all right, I listened to Lush. Matt was nice enough to pass me enough their body of work. yay! so I want to write this like a snob at a winetasting. and I hate wine. here we go: at my first sip of Lush, I am reminded of shoegazin...

The newspaper had to cut it, but you can enjoy it in all its splendor right now: Ke$ha, Animal (RCA) Oh, pop music! It’s hard to cough glitter, but you finally did it! Resident Ke$ha expert, Brittany Kemp, recently cited this Los Angeles kinda-diva’s rise as a stem from the world ostensibly falling apart around us, and this seems about right. There was another earthquake, there is a volcano, another teabag protest, everyone is dead: Ke$ha will make it better. And Ke$ha does make it better. She wants you to know how much she “just loves your ass, mmm.” She even reminds you, “when you write notes” on the chalkboard, how it “shake-shake-shakes (shake) shake-shakes” and sometimes such flattery is a nice thing to hear even if it’s from someone who’s visibly proud of having just thrown up in the closet, like she is when telling us about the rich dude’s house party she was at. “Oh my god!” she exclaims, “The sun’s coming up / And I think I’m still [fluffied] up,” but, even...