Night Work/Aphrodite

Scissor Sisters
Night Work
Rating: Jeez Lady




Kylie Minogue
Aphrodite
Rating: Meh

Nothing pains me more than having to give a bad review. Most of the cds I review are ones that I enjoy, which is why you tend to see more rave type reviews. But sometimes I do have to post a less than stellar review more out of disappointment than out of spite.

So it pains me not being able to recommend the new cds from Scissor Sisters and Kylie Minogue, because I truly enjoy their music. You may be asking why I am choosing to review both cds at once: 1) because both cds were produced by Stuart Price (Madonna and Seal), 2) both artists are in the "dance" genre and have huge gay followings, and 3) they actually performed together at Glastonbury this year.

Night Work is such a misfire from Scissor Sister's first two cds that I was really shocked. Before they were fun and campy, but had a wonderful sense of songcraft, pacing, and mood. I enjoyed listening to their cds because they reminded me of cds from the 1980s where artists would try many different genres within an album release and somehow tie them all together. Apparently, Scissor Sisters had already recorded a follow-up to Ta Dah! and someone told them it wasn't good enough to release, so they scrapped it and recorded Night Work. I would love to hear that release and be able to compare both. Night Work removes almost everything I loved about them before and replaces it with something cold and generic.

Things start off poorly from the beginning. "Night Work" the lead and title track is almost by the numbers plodding disco. It almost sounds like they took presets from GarageBand.



And first single "Fire With Fire," starts off promisingly with what appears to be their old sound, one that was strong on hooks and melody, but then gets tripped up with a repetitive chorus that goes nowhere.



The remainder of the cd is very generic disco; destroying their distinctive sound under canned beats and synths. A complaint I have heard from other camps is that they focus too much on sex on this cd. My complaint would be that it needed to be sexier and sleazier.

"Any Which Way" is a good example of where it could have been sleazier and better. Instead of coming across seductive and sensual when she coos "I'm gonna find that man that is the right shade of bottle tan, a man that smells like cocoa butter and cash," it comes across sad and embarrassing.



The cd is not so bad that it is unlistenable, it just doesn't sound unique; as if they took their influences and aped them instead of in the past where they added to them. There are a couple of redeeming tracks, the driving "Running Out," which sounds like a cross between Devo and Duran Duran:



or the sleek "Invisible Light"



I'm not ready to write the Scissor Sisters off, but I will expect much more from them the next go around.

Similar problems plague Kylie Minogue on Aphrodite. The cd is generic dance music that fails to stand out in a market crowded with so many divas. In the past, Kylie has taken lots of interesting diversions, such as the indie flavored Impossible Princess and her so-bizarre-it's-brilliant pairing with Nick Cave. It becomes depressing to hear her backed by such bland beats and synth noodling. I am starting to blame Stuart Price for ruining both Scissor Sisters and Kylie's new releases.

Aphrodite is chock full of average dance floor numbers like first single "All The Lovers"



"Can't Beat The Feeling"



and the dreadful ballad "Everything Is Beautiful"



Aphrodite is slightly better than Night Work in that Kylie stretches a bit, and when she does, she makes some fantastic singles. "Get Outta My Way" is a rush of bubblegum that never loses its flavor:



"Put Your Hands Up (If You Feel Love)" likewise is not a slave to a generic beat and sound and surrounds Kylie's warm but weak voice nicely:



or with the odd glockenspiel-driven "Closer," it shows that she can flourish when given a more unique sound as backup:



At this point in the game, Kylie really doesn't have to take risks, but I think her career would be more successful if she did. Anyone can sing behind these tracks, and unless it was Kylie's picture on the front of the cd, you really wouldn't be able to know it was her.

Aside from a few singles on Aphrodite and Night Work, I can't really recommend buying either. These would definitely be releases I would cherry pick the best songs and jettison the rest. Neither of these albums will have long shelf life unfortunately, and I hope, because I like both artists, that they come back next time with more unique sounds and visions.

Rating Guide

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top albums of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not good; could have either been trimmed or polished.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.