Word: songe
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...shimmering counterpoint to the guitar line in the first verse. He doesn't stand out, but subtly supports the structure created by the rest of the instruments. Though "Hide Out" doesn't win any awards for complexity, Buttercup's pop sensibility and devotion to melody are apparent in the song's well-structured design and focus on vocals. "Hide Out" doesn't get in the way of itself. From the first downbeat, this is a rocking tune; Lech's drums propel it all the way through, but he stays restrained and doesn't overplay. Throughout Love, he plays with...
...strange thing about Buttercup is that this kitschy pop works. Buni conveys genuine pathos on "A Fire" despite the banality of the song's form. Blotches like "A Fire" aside, Buttercup writes strikingly original and effective pop tunes. Though at times they seem like a post-pubescent version of Hanson, the maturity of most tunes confounds any attempt to categorize them simply as pop. Surging underneath the glittery surface of these tunes is a seriously reflective look at friendship, regret and love. "I Got Friends" examines the pain associated with losing contact with old friends, but in the end hope...
...bitterness of many of his relationships. The sugary tunes do become saccharine sometimes, as if they were a parody of pop history from the Byrds to R.E.M. After a while, the constant tambourine shaking and acoustic guitar strumming become grating. "A Fire," for example, relies heavily on pop love song conventions--the chorus dreamily addresses a lost lover over a slow, swaying beat and swirling chord progression...
...Love: it's unfair to expect an artist to keep producing the same kind of material, but in the case of Yeah, It's That Easy, the different elements are unsuccessful. G. Love's music incorporates hip-hop, blues, funk, rock, soul and jazz, often within the same song. Somewhat paradoxically, this breadth of influences may serve to constrain, rather than expand, his musical frontier, because after pinpointing a way of incorporating all those elements, there wasn't much he could change without losing one or more of them. Unfortunately, unlike his groundbreaking initial efforts, G. Love & Special Sauce...
Highlights "Willow Tree" and "Take You There" follow up on the more melodic and structured tendencies of Coast to Coast Motel. "Willow Tree" may be the most beautiful song G. Love has recorded; with its relaxed groove and flowing instrumentation, it is an instance in which his musical conception is fully formed and fully successful. In keeping with the overall sound of this album, though, the vocal line is doubled and multiple guitar tracks are used, to questionable effect. An earlier version with stripped-down instrumentation, available on a tape distributed at G. Love concerts, is arguably better...