Life On Shuffle 03.10.10: MGMT, Rihanna, Smashing Pumpkins, Wale

Posted by Julian Williams on 03.10.2010

Come inside for the latest edition of Life On Shuffle where we break down songs from Rihanna, MGMT, Smashing Pumpkins, and others. Are all the songs safe or will there be deletions galore? Only one way to find out. Click The Link!

Happy Wednesday folks and welcome to another edition of Life On Shuffle. You should know the routine by now. I shuffle my iPod, review the songs, slap a rating on them, and then decide whether they get to stay or if they've gotta go. No time to waste this week people, let's get right to the list.


Song #1: Electric Feel – MGMT



I was sort of a late-comer on MGMT. I had heard some of my friends rave about how great they were, but I never took the time to listen to their stuff. Finally, early last year, I was bored one day and decided to listen to some of their tracks. I immediately went out to purchase Oracular Spectacular after I was done because I was thoroughly impressed with what I heard. The album did not disappoint and this track is one of my favorites off of the album. It sounds like a lost Bee-Gees record and I mean that as a compliment. The song has the type of soul and funk that just isn't heard anymore. I feel like I'm traveling back in time everytime I hear this song and I always enjoy the ride.
Rating: ****
Status: SAVED




Song #2: Hard – Rihanna ft. Young Jeezy



Rihanna is kind of an enigma to me. She's one of the biggest pop stars in the world and a trend setter to the highest degree. Yet, her music barely impresses me. I liked her more when she first debuted and she had a Caribbean vibe to her because it made her unique, but she quickly lost that persona to become the "good girl gone bad". That persona has without a doubt made her into a much bigger star than the "cute island girl" would have, but I think her music has suffered as a result. In this day and age, though, people care less about the quality of the music and more about what's popular. So I can't blame Rihanna for doing the popular thing and thus becoming a huge star. Ok, my mini-rant on Rihanna is done, let's take a look at this song. It's a good song. Not great, mind you. Merely good. Good beat and decent lyrics. I'm sure that this is the type of song that many people will forget about until they randomly hear it in some diner a couple of years from now and go, "Heyyyy, I remember that song! That's the song that was playing when I got my first BJ from Tits McGee " or something like that. It won't be an all-time classic, but it does the job for now. (Author's note: The inclusion of Young Jeezy on this song resulted in half a star being taken off the rating. I can't stand that fool.)
Rating: ***
Status: SAVED




Song #3: 1979 – Smashing Pumpkins



I remember in 1996, I had a friend call me and tell me excitedly to turn on the radio because they were playing the latest Smashing Pumpkins song. I ran to my radio and was expecting to hear something that would pound my eardrums into submission. Instead, I heard this slow, almost dreamy song that seemed more like a Matchbox 20 song rather than a Smashing Pumpkins one. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a bit disappointed after hearing it. I picked up the album a few weeks later and I would frequently fast forward past "1979" based on my disappointment from my first time hearing it. But then one day on the train, it was insanely crowded and I couldn't reach my Walkman once this song came on. Begrudgingly, I listened to it since I couldn't skip past it. Much to my surprise, by the time it was over, I wanted to listen to it again. I don't know if it was because it was such a relaxing song when I was in the middle of such a chaotic scene, but I instantly loved the song. It has gone on to become one of my favorite Pumpkins songs and it is one of those songs that I never skip. I doubt that I will ever skip it again.
Rating: ****1/2
Status: SAVED




Song #4: Indestructible – Disturbed



In my freshman year in college, one of my friends made me a mix CD and "Stupify" was included on the disc. I loved it. It was loud, it was aggressive, it was mean. Pretty much everything that a 16-year old male filled with testosterone wants to hear. I soon became a fan of all things Disturbed as I just loved David Draiman's voice and the aggressive music in the background complimented his devilish screams perfectly. I picked up the Indestuctable album when it came out in 2008 and had big hopes for it. It was pretty good, but not as good as I was hoping for. The opening song was also the title track and when I first heard it, I dug it. It was a nasty piece of Metal and Draiman's voice sounded great as usual. But the more and more I hear it, the more I tire of it. It's now to a point that I skip it every time it comes on. So even though the song isn't really bad, I'm just bored of it and it doesn't make sense keeping around a song that bores me.
Rating: **1/2
Status: DELETED




Song #5: Diary – Wale ft. Marsha Ambrosius



I love this song because I feel that Wale perfectly captures the mindset of a woman who tries to move on after a bad relationship and the things that her next boyfriend has to deal with. It's always hard being the boyfriend after a girl has been through a nasty breakup. You usually have to deal with all the disappointment and distrust that the girl still has towards her ex. Is it fair? No. But is it understandable? Of course. And Wale is able to perfectly capture that in the lyrics of this song. He speaks of his frustration of when he spits out verses like, "Every problem you ever had with another man/I gotta face/Started off on thin ice/I'm still here/But I can't skate". Marsha Ambrosius, of Floetry, provides a beautiful chorus speaking from the perspective of the girl and you can feel her pain as she sings out, "I wonder why I sit and cry/Wish I could shed all these tears/I'm down and out/I'll keep on moving and try to get out/I don't know how to move on/Where I went wrong/Wish I could live with those fears/So down and out/I'll keep it moving and try to get out/Somehow". You can tell that she doesn't want to treat Wale the way that she does, but she can't help it. On the opposite end of the spectrum, although Wale is frustrated, he understands where she is coming from. He just wants her to understand that not all men are like her ex and she needs to realize that. This is an unexpectedly beautiful song because it truthfully breaks down a barrier that many new couples face.
Rating: ****
Status: SAVED




Song #6: One More Drink – Ludacris ft. T-Pain



This song is fun. Plain and simple. It's a silly, ridiculous song, but it's one that you won't be able to get out of your head for days. I remember when I first heard this song, I was at a club and I thought it was a pretty stupid song. I then started to hear it a lot on the radio and before I knew it, the song was stuck in my head and I was singing right along with it. The premise of this song is simple: Luda is talking about being one drink away from going home with a girl that he normally would have nothing to do with. I'm sure that many people can relate to that (see: Goggles, Beer). I think the chorus of the song says it perfectly, "If I have one more drink/I'm gonna end up f*cking you/Is that what you wanna do shorty?" And somehow people think that romance is dead.
Rating: ***1/2
Status: SAVED




Song #7: 1901 – Phoenix



It's funny that this song pops up when we had 1979 show up earlier. Now all we need is "1999" by Prince and we'll be all set for the 1900's. I first heard this song last year on WRXP, which is a rock station based out of New York. I liked it the first moment I heard it. What's great about this song is that nothing about it is particularly great. Let me explain. The music? Not that great. The vocals? Meh. The chorus? Decent. But when you throw all of them together? Great song. It is one of those rare songs where nothing about it is particularly outstanding, yet your ears are given a fabulous treat whenever it comes on. I went out and bought the Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix album shortly after hearing this song and this song is probably one of the weakest songs on the album because that entire album is fantastic. Still, this is a highly enjoyable song to listen to even though you might not be able to pinpoint what exactly it is that you like about it.
Rating: ***1/2
Status: SAVED




Song #8: My Country – Nas ft. Millenium Thug



I'm very conflicted when it comes to this song and when it comes to Nas in general. I feel that Nas sometimes gets what I like to call "Tupac Syndrome" which means that one minute he's making a song about uplifting his people and then the next minute he's making a song about bitches and guns. It's upsetting because Nas is such a phenomenal lyricist and storyteller, yet he seems to succumb to peer pressure and dumb down his songs frequently. I feel that this song is a mixture of both of Nas' personas: the "conscious" rapper and the street thug. The only problem is that the message of this song, at least in my view, isn't a very good one. Nas keeps on referring to how his country (USA) has "shitted" on him, as well as his ancestors. To me, it just seems like a bunch of needless complaining. I'm sorry, but it's kind of hard for me to feel sorry for a millionaire who is talking about how his country has "shitted" on him. Give me a break. On top of the asinine message of the song, the guest rapper on the song, Millenium Thug, drops a horrible verse. That was kind of disheartening because he had a verse previously on the song "Last Words" and was great there. But his verse here was just trash. Overall, although I think Nas is a fantastic MC (one of the Top Ten ever….easily), this is just not a good song and is a blemish on an otherwise magnificent album in Stillmatic.
Rating: **
Status: DELETED




Reader Feedback

First up is Tyrone who provides his own shuffle list:

my top 8
1. Taio Cruz ft. Ludacris - Break Your Heart
2. Paul Couture - Johnny Vegas
3. Jordan Gardiner - Bad Karma
4. Justin Bieber - Pick Me
5. Juelz Santana ft. Weezy - Homerun
6. B.o.B. - Nothin On You
7. B.o.B. - Cool Side
8. KiD CuDi - Know Why

Alright Tyrone, let's take a look at this list, shall we? I liked "Break Your Heart" when I first heard it, but got bored with it a few weeks later. One of my friends put me onto "Johnny Vegas" about a month ago and I dig it. I must admit that I've never heard "Bad Karma", I'll have to hunt it down. I don't hate on Justin Bieber like some people do because I think he serves his purpose as a cute, little kid that makes catchy little pop songs to drive little girls crazy. That being said, I don't really like "Pick Me", I think it's one of his weaker songs. I like both "Nothin On You" and "Cool Side" and think that B.o.B. has a good future in front of him if he continues with songs like that. I'm a big fan of CuDi and "Know Why" is definitely one of the many reasons. Thanks for the list Tyrone!


Next up is my man Hombre (which is kind of like saying "my man man" or "mi hombre hombre") who gives us his shuffle list:

Gotta agree, Kurt Cobain is probably in the Top 5 of frontmen ever. Although in my opinion he got nothing on guys like Freddie Mercury or Mick Jagger. Even though one has to say that it's really hard to compare those two to him. Adding to that the fact that he was in the business for about 7 years if I'm correct, who knows how big Kurt Cobain would be today?

And to me "In Bloom" and "About a Girl" are a lot better then "The Man", but that's just me.

Anyways, another 8 songs from me, since the first time brought up so many great songs ^o^:

1. Shaggy - Boombastic
2. Inner Circle - Bad Boys
3. Frankiy Lymon & The Teenagers - Why do Fools fall in Love?
4. The Ting Tings - That's Not My Name
5. Snoop Dogg - Gin and Juice
6. The Connells - '74-'75
7. The Pussycat Dolls - When I Grow Up
8. The Everly Brothers - All I Have to Do is Dream

At least no embarrassing disco songs this week!

I agree with you that Freddie Mercury was much better than Cobain as a frontman and I could even see how you would place Jagger ahead of him also. I just don't understand how some people feel that Cobain shouldn't even be included in the Best Frontmen discussion. That's crazy to me. Anyhow, let's check your list. "Bombastic" is definitely a guilty pleasure song as I'm ashamed to admit that I like it, but I will not skip it if it shows up on my iPod. I can never hate on "Bad Boys" because how can you go wrong with a song that is the theme song for Cops AND inspired a Will Smith/Martin Lawrence movie?!? "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" is absolutely classic and I always get a warm feeling in my heart whenever I hear it. The Ting Tings are awesome (and a bit underrated IMO) and "That's Not My Name" is a great song. "Gin and Juice" is mandatory at any house party that I go to. It's not officially a house party until "Gin and Juice" plays. I remember hearing "74-75" around 1997 when a friend played it for me and I like it a lot. I haven't heard it in a long time, but I looked it up to refresh my memory and it's just as good as I remember. I'm adding it to my iPod as we speak. I Don't mind The Pussycat Dolls because they make harmless, fun music, but I don't like "When I Grow Up". It just doesn't do it for me and is kind of boring in my view. My mom used to listen a lot to the Oldies station when I was a kid and I remember loving "All I Have To Do Is Dream" whenever it came on. I still love it to this day, great song. Thanks once again Hombre.


Michael James is up next with another fantastic shuffle list:

I'm impressed that you seem to have heard every song on all the reader-submitted lists. Damn you have a lot of listening time.

I have to say this is addicting- here's a new list:
1- Little Brother- Carolina Agents
2- Amy Winehouse- You Know I'm No Good
3- Ian Van Dahl- Castles in the Sky (oops)
4- Mase- Breath, Stretch, Shake (feat. Diddy)
5- Jimmy Eat World- Last Christmas
6- Dar Williams- I Won't Be Your Yoko Ono
7- Fat Joe- The Crack Attack
8- Tony Yayo- Drama Setter (feat. Eminem & Obie Trice)

I'm kind of a music nerd (well actually, I'm a nerd in general) and I'm open to listening to all types of music. So I frequently ask my friends for song recommendations and I scour various music websites and blogs for songs that I have never heard before. As a result, I'm quite informed when it comes to the current music scene as well as the classics. My girlfriend frequently likes to play a game with me where she tries to see if she can find a song that I've never heard before. It's only happened a few times and the first time she realized that she had finally stumped me, she celebrated like she won the Super Bowl. One of the reasons I love you guys sending in your lists is because it provides an opportunity for me to discover songs that I may have never heard before and I hope that my weekly lists might do the same for you. Alright, let's take a look at Michael's list. I love pretty much everything that Little Brother does and "Carolina Agents" is definitely a great song. One of the most upsetting things about Amy Winehouse is that she's so immensely talented, but it seems like she'd rather smoke crack and fight her husband instead of making great songs like "You Know I'm No Good". Hopefully one day Amy will snap out of it so we can have a long career from her instead of her being a flash-in-the-pan. I've never heard "Castles in the Sky" (See, it is possible to stump me), but I'm going to check it out. WOW!! I forgot all about "Breath, Stretch, Shake" because I haven't heard that song in years. I really like it, though, so it looks like I have another song that I'll be adding to my iPod. Jimmy Eat World is another band that I feel is severely underrated and I do love their cover of "Last Christmas" although I do prefer the Wham original more. Fat Joe kind of annoys me, but I must admit that he gets some great beats and "Crack Attack" is another one of his songs that have a phenomenal beat. It's one of my favorites off of the Don Cartagena album. I really, really, REALLY can't stand Tony Yayo, but "Drama Setter" is hot. No thanks to Yayo, mind you, because it's Obie that shines on that song. Thanks again Michael, keep sending in those lists as I love your taste in music.


Carny doesn't agree with a deletion:

I'm surprised you deleted that Usher song, I think it's pretty good.

Them's the breaks Carny. It's not that I think the song is bad, I just notice that I skip it whenever it comes on so it's just taking up space on my iPod. I've been known to add songs back that I had previously deleted once I hear it again years later and my opinion of it changes. But for now? It stays deleted. GET OUTTA HERE USHER!!!


Ant-Lox joins me in the Madonna love-fest:

Dude, I'm 6'3' Black, and Heterosexual, but I love nearly all of Madonna's career.

Bedtime Stories, American Life, and Hard Candy are the only albums I can't listen too.

Well it's good to know I'm not the only tall, black man who likes to jam to some old-school Madonna. I think me and Ant-Lox should hit up an 80's club so we can dance together to Madonna jams all night. In a completely manly and heterosexual way, of course.


Jcon and Guest#7754 have a slight beef with my pick for the #1 Nirvana song:

I love the man who sold the world, but I don't think a cover really qualifies as nirvana's best

lol your number 1 nirvana song ever is a cover

While I can understand some people's critiques about me naming a cover as number 1, I stand by my selection. I know that it's a cover of the David Bowie original, but in my opinion, Nirvana's version SURPASSES Bowie's version. Yes, I said it. Bring on the hate Bowie fans. Not that the Bowie version is bad, I actually love it. But I love the Nirvana version even more. When you cover a song by a legend and make it even BETTER, that's what I call a classic song. And out of all of Nirvana's songs, there is none that I'd rather listen to more than "The Man Who Sold The World". It's just a haunting and beautiful song that I absolutely love so I stick with my pick.


The Outcast Legend The Wolf not only provides his shuffle list, but also provides his Top Ten Nirvana songs. Now THAT'S what I call participation:

I agree that hating on Kurt Cobain for his "frontman" quality is lame, but I can understand where it comes from at least: The guy seemed like he could give a sh*t about fronting the band. I'm not saying that indifference should eliminate you from being a great frontman, just arguing a point.

I WILL say that he is overrated as a guitarist, at least on what he put on record. When mags toss him on lists of "Best guitarists" it p*sses me off beyond belief. Just sayin'

Also, picking covers (Serve the servants was a cover too wasn't it? I'm not sure! LOL) as a best of a band seems counter productive. You'd think that would make Nirvana's actual output seem crappier by compairison (and I feel that TMWSTW is overratted because of everything that happened soon afterwards, just mho)

Here's my choices for that list:
10. Sliver (I think thats the name, its been a while since I haven't called it "Grandma Take Me Home" LOL)
9. Lithium
8. (New Wave) Polly (sorry I like the "electric" version best)
7. You Know Your Right
6. Heart Shaped Box
5.Rape Me
4. All Appologies
3. Smells Like Teen Spirit (or as my 13 yo bro called it "The Hello Song"?)
2. About A Girl
1. Come As You Are (BUT HE SAID HE DIDN'T HAVE A GUN!)

With that, here's my 8. Hopefully I don't embarass myself, lots of stuff on my Zune. lol
1. Lifeline-Papa Roach (Not a good start!)
2. F*ck Tha Police- N.W.A. (For a suburban white boy that seems odd!)
3. Spoonman-Soundgarden (Not a huge Soundgarden fan really, but one of thier better songs)
4. Career Suicide-Kittie (for someone who claims to be a metal head it took FOUR songs to get a metal song?)
5. Dead!-My Chemical Romance (There goes any "metal" cred I've got left!)
6. Temperature-Sean Paul (Uh, I can explain...)
7. Welcome To Paradise-Green Day (For all the haters, back in '94-95 Dookie was the SH*T!, pun totally intended!)
8. Heroin Girl-Everclear (Not sure when i got into everclear, but they remain a band that I like a lot of their stuff.)

Honestly, aside of Lifeline and it's cheesiness, and MAYBE Temperature (I say maybe because it's great to see the girls get down to it!) All of it is stick around worhty! Whatta you think?

I can agree with you about Kurt being overrated as a guitarist. He was awesome on the guitar, but there were many who were far better than him so I wouldn't consider him one of the best guitarists by a long shot. But he's easily one of the best frontmen ever in my view. I like your Top Ten list of Nirvana songs, I can't disagree with any of them being included because they are all great songs. I was never a big fan of Heart Shaped Box, but I can understand why so many people love it so much. Ok, let's take a look at your shuffle list. I actually like Papa Roach and I think they've made some very underrated songs, especially on The Paramour Sessions, but "Lifeline" isn't exactly their shining moment. Hey, it doesn't matter if you're a suburban white boy, there's never anything wrong with blasting "F*ck Tha Police". I love Soundgarden, even if Chris Cornell is sort of a major league douche. "Spoonman" is a great song from them, one of my favorites. Kittie is awesome and I think they play harder and better than many of their male counterparts. "Career Suicide" is a great song from them that frequently pops up on my iPod since I play it so much. While My Chemical Romance definitely won't help your metal cred, I think they are a pretty decent band that have made some killer songs. "Dead!" is a decent song from them, not one of my favorites, but I like it if I'm in the right mood. I'm half-Jamaican (no, I do not talk with a horrible accent like Kofi Kingston circa 2008) so I love some good reggae and my iPod is filled with tons of it. "Temperature" is a decent reggae song which was obviously made for crossover appeal since it's one of the few reggae songs that non-Jamaican people can understand. I've pretty much become the unofficial translator for my friends whenever a reggae song comes on and they cant understand the lyrics. "Welcome To Paradise" is probably my third favorite Green Day song ever behind "Longview" and "When I Come Around". Good lord, that Dookie album was CRAZY! So many classic songs. The theme of this feedback today seems to be "Underrated Bands" and Everclear was definitely one of them. I love "Heroin Girl" to this day as it was one of the first Everclear songs that I heard and I instantly loved it. Great list Wolf, keep them coming!


The Log-Off

That's it for this week folks. Be sure to leave your own shuffle lists as well as any feedback you may have.We finish with 6 Saves and 2 Deletions. The Shuffle gods were a little more unkind this week, but will next week see them unleash their full fury? Only one way to find out. Come back next week!



Nelly Furtado bids you adieu