N.E.R.D. "She Wants To Move"

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The new N.E.R.D. single has leaked, you can get it right here for a limited time.

I like it, it sounds different and familiar at once. I like that Pharrell can actually pull off a lyric like "her ass is a spaceship I want to ride" without sounding like a total dweeb.

What are your thoughts?

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Wednesday, 21 January 2004 14:07 (twenty-two years ago)

dude i haven't listened yet but I find it impossible to believe a) anybody could pull off that lyric and b) Pharrell doesn't sound like a dweeb

― Sonny A. (Keiko), Wednesday, 21 January 2004 14:16 (twenty-two years ago)

I find it hard to believe anyone COULDNT pull off that fine lyric! Maybe Pharrell is my man though.

― Tico Tico (Tico Tico), Wednesday, 21 January 2004 14:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Well, it is kinda dweeby, but endearingly so. At least, I think so.

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Wednesday, 21 January 2004 14:18 (twenty-two years ago)

dfa has remixed it

― Yanc3y (ystrickler), Wednesday, 21 January 2004 14:19 (twenty-two years ago)

No way! That should be really good.

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Wednesday, 21 January 2004 14:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Dweebiness is obviously part of the NERD aesthetic.

― bugged out, Wednesday, 21 January 2004 14:26 (twenty-two years ago)

I find it hard to believe anyone COULDNT pull off that fine lyric! Maybe Pharrell is my man though.

Stop whatever you're doing and say it out loud! Maybe you should look in the mirror, too, while you're saying it

― Sonny A. (Keiko), Wednesday, 21 January 2004 16:37 (twenty-two years ago)

That lyric is so George Clinton/Kool Keith.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Wednesday, 21 January 2004 16:49 (twenty-two years ago)

hooray! thx matthew!

― vahid (vahid), Wednesday, 21 January 2004 16:51 (twenty-two years ago)

do you think that's spymob playing all the parts? maybe they'll do a virgin europe release where they re-record it with samples / drum machines.

― vahid (vahid), Wednesday, 21 January 2004 16:54 (twenty-two years ago)

The verses are very good. The chorus really lets them down, I feel... it sounds like it should open up, really explode in the chorus, and when it tries, it just... doesn't. It's quite deflating. But it's not bad.

― William Bloody Swygart (mrswygart), Wednesday, 21 January 2004 16:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Okay it's pretty good. That quote doesn't seem as brazen in context. The guitars aren't cool, but I can deal with them. I certainly hope they're not like that through the whole album.

x-post, I thought the chorus added to the groove a lot!

― Sonny A. (Keiko), Wednesday, 21 January 2004 17:00 (twenty-two years ago)

the guitars are most uncool in the bridge. though i am amused by the idea of pharrell eventually morphing into the 21c carlos santana.

― vahid (vahid), Wednesday, 21 January 2004 17:02 (twenty-two years ago)

um ... what was the single on the first N.E.R.D. album? was it "lapdance"?

also has anybody listened to their copy of "in search of..." lately? i don't think i've put it on since last spring...

― vahid (vahid), Wednesday, 21 January 2004 17:05 (twenty-two years ago)

they've said in interviews that for this album they're doing most of the live instrumentation themselves, no more Spymob, Chase Chad is learning guitar, etc.

― Al (sitcom), Wednesday, 21 January 2004 17:06 (twenty-two years ago)

lapdance and rockstar were singles last time. i listened to it (the version without live instruments) a few weeks ago when drunk. it's not as good as kaleidoscope is it?

thanks matthew!

― pete b. (pete b.), Wednesday, 21 January 2004 17:25 (twenty-two years ago)

oh god those santana guitars are a bit off-putting! but i ended up loving the AOR bits of 'in search of...' so i'll give it some time. i'm not sure about this live instruments thing though, i liked nerd because they sounded like a computer imagining a real band, actually *being* a real band seems to spoil the fun :-(

― pete b. (pete b.), Wednesday, 21 January 2004 17:38 (twenty-two years ago)

"live instrumentation"...arrrrgggggh

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 21 January 2004 17:40 (twenty-two years ago)

i really like the beat, though! there's something satisfyingly dancey about it, more in a big beat sense than a hip-hop sense.

― vahid (vahid), Wednesday, 21 January 2004 17:56 (twenty-two years ago)

But, um, Neps use "live instruments" on 80% of their stuff anyway...

― bugged out, Wednesday, 21 January 2004 17:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Provider was also a single, and then there's the Live in Paradiso EP of course, only released in the Netherlands... :-)

― JoB (JoB), Wednesday, 21 January 2004 22:26 (twenty-two years ago)

"also has anybody listened to their copy of "in search of..." lately?"

More than any other album this past year.

I think "Lapdance" was a single for the original version of the album, or at least the video was. "Rock Star" and "Provider" were both from the second version.

― billstevejim, Thursday, 22 January 2004 08:12 (twenty-two years ago)

I saw the 'Lapdance' clip on the TV last night and that would explain the lack of guitar. Way more synthy.

― Hayden Nicholls (Pop the Weasel), Thursday, 22 January 2004 09:40 (twenty-two years ago)

how long is it?
i'm trying to find it on kazaa
but every file i try to get all i can hear is air.
maybe if i know how long it is i can find the right file

― Dude (The Yellow Dart), Thursday, 22 January 2004 19:02 (twenty-two years ago)

Why don't you just download it directly from the link above? Is that not working for you? It should.

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Thursday, 22 January 2004 19:04 (twenty-two years ago)

no it's not for some reason

― Dude (The Yellow Dart), Thursday, 22 January 2004 19:07 (twenty-two years ago)

three weeks pass...

Her ass is a space ship... quite literally.

― JoB (JoB), Friday, 13 February 2004 02:34 (twenty-two years ago)

this video is odd. what's with the mother and daughter?

― ryan (ryan), Wednesday, 25 February 2004 06:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Wow, this sucks.

― Le Coq, Wednesday, 25 February 2004 06:53 (twenty-two years ago)

yes it does. nerd is such a bad idea.

― Sym (shmuel), Wednesday, 25 February 2004 07:36 (twenty-two years ago)

this song couldn't suck more if it tried.
and the video is just garbage.
the neptunes really ran out of things to do.
it's boring and very very stupid

― Dude (The Yellow Dart), Wednesday, 25 February 2004 07:38 (twenty-two years ago)

"Our fiendish plan consists of the following: by building on the solid foundation of Like I Love You's organic funk groove by removing both the catchy melodies and interesting vocals, we can find favour with a greater number of chuckleheads than ever before!"

"That won't work unless you include a music video that outdoes Andre 3000 video in the Beck-alike stakes."

"Dammit! We knew we forgot something! Hey, does Spike Jonze still do videos?"

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Wednesday, 25 February 2004 07:46 (twenty-two years ago)

i didn't like it at first but it's not that bad. sorry.

― William Wiggins, Wednesday, 25 February 2004 07:47 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah it's actually okay, but it *does* reek of self-conscious positioning as vaguely "arty".

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Wednesday, 25 February 2004 08:11 (twenty-two years ago)

Interesting video, but the music is truly dreadful.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 27 February 2004 07:28 (twenty-two years ago)

It's Alesha from Mis-teeq in the video, right?

― Nick H (Nick H), Friday, 27 February 2004 12:55 (twenty-two years ago)

neck and neck with that jc chasez single for the most overrated piece of rock-biting shit of the year.

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 27 February 2004 13:19 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh dear, I really liked this single, although come tae think of it, it's um, levelled-off groove reminded me somewhat of the latest Victoria Beckham single*! (But surely it was some OTHER credible hip hop style artistes wot remixed her, like?)

I haven't heard the JC Chasez at all - has it even come out here?

*which is good as a ten second clip but hellish torture to sit through for four bluddy minutes whilst she writhes about in an ill-fitting dressing grown from la senza.

― Sarah (starry), Friday, 27 February 2004 13:46 (twenty-two years ago)

Liked it the first time but have hated it ever since. The video did not help matters.

Now that I've seen the album cover, my expectations are very very low.

― Andy K (Andy K), Friday, 27 February 2004 14:09 (twenty-two years ago)

This is crap, it's made crapper by the fact it's going to be the final retarded drop of the penny for the general schlubs out there. I notice N*E*R*D are playing the big festival here this summer. Transition complete I guess. As if the whole dictionary of Neptunes descriptions "guns for hire", "superproducers", "magicians" hadn't become desperately hackneyed already, it's now time for a whole new sort of hack to use it ALL. OVER. AGAIN!!!!

― Ronan (Ronan), Friday, 27 February 2004 14:16 (twenty-two years ago)

This is a bad song.

I expected much more.

― ben welsh (benwelsh), Friday, 27 February 2004 15:54 (twenty-two years ago)

ronan so otm there are impressions of abe lincoln on his ass cheeks

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Friday, 27 February 2004 15:55 (twenty-two years ago)

It's weak, but could be worse. Live instruments are lame.

― ENRQ (Enrique), Friday, 27 February 2004 15:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Ronan/Jess/Tim all otm, this song is hideous and those guitar solos are especially awful. And Pharrell's smugness is reaching epic proportions.

It doesn't help when people write bullshit like this about them.

Fly or Die, he explains, is about nothing less than "the evolution of man. We can be optimistic - fly - or become extinct - die. We gotta keep moving forward." There is something dreamy, even spacey, about Williams. Like OutKast's Andre 3000, he is a hip-hop kook. An article by Kodwo Eshun, N*E*R*D and the Rise of New Geek Chic, hailed a new archetype, the smart, witty, literate black nerd who, ignoring the playas and thugs, flaunts his love of sci-fi and white rock'n'roll. The video to N*E*R*D's forthcoming single, She Likes to Move references Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. And Williams is delighted that Coldplay included a version of a Neptunes production, Nelly's Hot in Herre, in their set last year. "Coldplay and Radiohead specifically I'd like to work with," he tells me. "Thom Yorke is dope."

Fucking hell, that is retarded.

― The Lex (The Lex), Friday, 27 February 2004 17:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Jesus, this place is retarted. I now agree with Jess et al that maybe the Neps have dropped off a little, but I don't see that working with Radiohead is necessarily bad at all. And not playing thug is also not necessarily bad. Making a big thing out of it, as Pharrell, regretably is, is a bad thing. But being so protective about pop music is laughable.

― ENRQ (Enrique), Friday, 27 February 2004 17:28 (twenty-two years ago)

Maybe I missed it, but how does "She Wants to Move" allude to "Bohemian Rhapsody"?

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 27 February 2004 17:49 (twenty-two years ago)

Enrique you'd be totally right if "She Wants To Move" wasn't crap. The problem is confirmation bias - a pop artist starts talking about rock/indie credibility and suddenly they start going to shit. It's not a rule, but it happens so inevitably that it feels like one.

(assuming it's not better than the single - which maybe I shouldn't cos I always thought "Lapdance" was a so-so cut) I have a feeling that the praise for the new N.E.R.D. album is going to annoy me even more than praise for the recent Missy album did. If this is pop-elitist I don't care.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Friday, 27 February 2004 21:45 (twenty-two years ago)

Which is worse? Rockism or Pop-Elitism?

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 27 February 2004 21:48 (twenty-two years ago)

Ism

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 27 February 2004 21:57 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't see that working with Radiohead is necessarily bad at all. And not playing thug is also not necessarily bad. Making a big thing out of it, as Pharrell, regretably is, is a bad thing.

I don't see how I was implying otherwise, I mean I actually agree with this. What I didn't like about the Grau article was specifically praising Pharrell for these things as well as the strange quasi-racist undercurrent of "ooh he likes white rock'n'roll so he must be good".

It's not even the rock aspects of "She Wants To Move" per se which make it so bad - I mean I loved those on "Lapdance" and "Rock Star" - it's that NERD have chosen to retread and expand on them rather than anything else.

― The Lex (The Lex), Friday, 27 February 2004 22:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Pharrell was on Top Of The Pops tonight saying he wanted to work with Jamie Cullum. Ha, and indeed, ha.

― Nick H (Nick H), Saturday, 28 February 2004 00:03 (twenty-two years ago)

two weeks pass...

They're performing this on Saturday Night Live as I type this.....and it's a whole new realm of dreadful.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 14 March 2004 05:10 (twenty-two years ago)

I agree alex.... ugh

― LITTLE LAMB [Jon Williams] (ex machina), Sunday, 14 March 2004 06:22 (twenty-two years ago)

what makes it wirst is that ben afleck is the host....
damn that afleck DAMN HIM!!!

― Dude (The Yellow Dart), Sunday, 14 March 2004 06:25 (twenty-two years ago)

dreadful is too kind, alex

― oops (Oops), Sunday, 14 March 2004 07:52 (twenty-two years ago)

On the bright side, it looks like they're putting Iggy Pop's long lost drumming skills to good use.

― anode (anode), Sunday, 14 March 2004 08:12 (twenty-two years ago)

That wasn't Iggy, it was the guy who played the hippy teacher on Freaks & Geeks.

― Phil Freeman (Phil Freeman), Sunday, 14 March 2004 14:48 (twenty-two years ago)

I like it's awfulness. It's wrong but entertaining, like all the best Pharrell-voiced tracks. I'd so listen to this rather than, I dunno, "Beautiful." SEXY!

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Sunday, 14 March 2004 17:28 (twenty-two years ago)

This song is accidentally the best argument ever for genre purism.

― Clarke B. (Clarke B.), Sunday, 14 March 2004 17:30 (twenty-two years ago)

I should also note that I'm impressed Pharrell has reached a commercial level that allows him to put nu-salsa on the radio.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Sunday, 14 March 2004 18:15 (twenty-two years ago)

I did like Pharrel's Lord Kitchener jacket, however.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 14 March 2004 19:25 (twenty-two years ago)

Apparently there's a Basement Jaxx remix, which may lessen it's shitness.

This thread is going to be such a Googler target.

― Nick H (Nick H), Sunday, 14 March 2004 21:58 (twenty-two years ago)

Admins should be able to do this to threads, imho.
<meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow">

― LITTLE LAMB [Jon Williams] (ex machina), Sunday, 14 March 2004 22:03 (twenty-two years ago)

This thread is going to be such a Googler target.

Bring'em!

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 14 March 2004 22:17 (twenty-two years ago)

I like this song. I couldn't really give a shit about the video or pharrell's smugness or how it was performed on snl or if he likes coldplay.

― bnw (bnw), Sunday, 14 March 2004 22:25 (twenty-two years ago)

...or if it's godawful.

― oops (Oops), Sunday, 14 March 2004 22:33 (twenty-two years ago)

seriously that 'rock' riff is the most unimaginative, braindead riff ever.

― oops (Oops), Sunday, 14 March 2004 22:34 (twenty-two years ago)

I really like the DFA mix of it though. There's a gorgeous undercurrent of melancholy to it.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Sunday, 14 March 2004 22:35 (twenty-two years ago)

I think my only point there was sometimes being a more casual fan has it's benefits. Obviously people are free to hate the song as they please.

― bnw (bnw), Sunday, 14 March 2004 22:48 (twenty-two years ago)

...the advantage presumably being that you can enjoy inferior product?

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Sunday, 14 March 2004 22:51 (twenty-two years ago)

I think the song's inherent craptacity is actually more Chad Hugo's fault. I don't know why, but I kinda can't fuckin' stand that guy.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 14 March 2004 22:53 (twenty-two years ago)

:-( (Said because Chad is precisely what makes the Kenna album so fantastic musically, and then Kenna tops it off with that voice and etc.)

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 14 March 2004 22:56 (twenty-two years ago)

Advantage being you don't have as much at stake with the genre/figures. Take the angst following over Jay-Z mentioning Talib for example.

― bnw (bnw), Sunday, 14 March 2004 22:59 (twenty-two years ago)

This may be the first Neptunes thing ever I really think is bad. (Especially the second song they played on SNL. And what was up with that dancer???). But hey, at least it doesn't really sound like anything they've done before. I'm glad they're still trying new stuff. I don't think it has jack shit to do with them shooting for rock/indie "credibility" either. They've always had a bit of rock in the sound, that's one of the things that made them great, now they're just isolating that element more.

The DFA mix is nice, too.

― bugged out, Sunday, 14 March 2004 23:04 (twenty-two years ago)

(Also there's an argument to be made over not having such high standards i.e. I hear this song, I enjoy it. You hear this song, you feel bored/disappointed. Sounds like I win.)

― bnw (bnw), Sunday, 14 March 2004 23:05 (twenty-two years ago)

I dunno, I saw 'em a year or two ago on one of those "live on PBS" thingies (first time I was aware of them, I live udner a post-punk rock), and they were much more "rocking'" then. On SNL they seemed like a mix of live "rock" performance tropes as interperted by an aging high-school teacher who used to be with it in the sixties before he went straight.

― anode (anode), Sunday, 14 March 2004 23:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Actually, that was the one thing I kind of liked about it. It was retro in a really odd way. Like, can they actually be bringing these cheesy sounds back (what would you call that second tune? was it like pseudo-psychedelic? was there a farsifa organ in there somewhere?) I didn't like it musically, but it was fun conceptually.

― bugged out, Sunday, 14 March 2004 23:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Exactly, the problem isn't that they're retreading "Lapdance" or "Rockstar", it's that instead of rocking even half as hard as either of those songs, it's a pile of lame "funky black man" signifiers.

― Colin Beckett (Colin Beckett), Sunday, 14 March 2004 23:23 (twenty-two years ago)

x-post

― Colin Beckett (Colin Beckett), Sunday, 14 March 2004 23:23 (twenty-two years ago)

Plus the lack of a good chorus. Also from a groove perspective I think they're fetishising messiness when their skill has always been superb super-tightness.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 15 March 2004 00:01 (twenty-two years ago)

OK, after last night I can start to see why you all think SNL sucks these days. Seriously I fell asleep during last night's show. (And what is it with SNL that the host and casts are never able to keep from laughing at their own jokes? Aren't they professionals?) I thought the song was OK though.

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Monday, 15 March 2004 00:08 (twenty-two years ago)

The most telling moment in this fucking thing is that laser sound right after the ass/spaceship line that I guess is supposed to allude to outer space, but on, like, Wanderland they would've constructed whole songs out of that sound. I do like the little piano bit before the first chorus, though.

― Colin Beckett (Colin Beckett), Monday, 15 March 2004 00:09 (twenty-two years ago)

NERD were pretty boring on SNL last night. Yeah, it was a pretty subpar episode too - way too many jokes about Ben Affleck, too much Jimmy fucking Fallon, not nearly enough Will Forte. At least the Bangkok ad recurring bit was funny.

Anyway, I keep going back and forth on "She Wants To Move" - maybe one in six times I hear it, I enjoy it, and the rest I get kinda antsy and bored. The DFA mix was a let down (it's two distinct aesthetics clashing, it doesn't quite work), but I was sent a fan remix by a Fluxblog reader that I'm very impressed by - the guy totally rewrote/recorded his own backing track which sounds kinda shoegazery and also a bit like mid-80s The Fall. I'm probably not going to post it, but if you've got slsk, just look up "She Wants To Move (Barbaro Fuckup)" - I've got it shared.

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Monday, 15 March 2004 00:24 (twenty-two years ago)

Hell, I'm glad this song exists just for that damn spaceship line. I'll take funny over respectable anyday. bnw OTM, except I don't think it's necessarily higher standards as much as higher expectations from the artist (and my expectations are none from these guys. Plus I think Chad is cuter than Pharrell and nobody agrees with me).

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 15 March 2004 00:28 (twenty-two years ago)

A lot of people on ILX are so hung up on what they WANT something to be that can't always appreciate what it is. Hell, I was guilty of this with the Darkness (just cuz I want pop-metal artists doesn't mean I shouldn't enjoy pop-metal clowns).

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 15 March 2004 00:29 (twenty-two years ago)

I appreciate what it is. It's a Chili Peppers outtake.

I will still be checking the album and hoping to have my mind changed though.

― bugged out, Monday, 15 March 2004 00:31 (twenty-two years ago)

A lot of people on ILX are so hung up on what they WANT something to be that can't always appreciate what it is.

You've got it backwards. I don't think most people go into songs (in most cases anyway, stuff like the Darkness where you hear way more ABOUT it than actually hearing it doesn't count I guess) wanting something specific, but instead hear something lackluster and want what it's reach for (or ignoring).

― Colin Beckett (Colin Beckett), Monday, 15 March 2004 00:33 (twenty-two years ago)

i just saw the end of that performance and the last skit last night but hey that last skit (the serial killer one) was really funny!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 15 March 2004 00:34 (twenty-two years ago)

"A lot of people on ILX are so hung up on what they WANT something to be that can't always appreciate what it is. Hell, I was guilty of this with the Darkness (just cuz I want pop-metal artists doesn't mean I shouldn't enjoy pop-metal clowns)."

What do you think people here want this song to be?

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 15 March 2004 00:34 (twenty-two years ago)

There's always been a sense for me, reading Pharrell interviews, that if he ever really began to do all the stuff he's into it would be crap anyway. Perhaps the limitations of working with or FOR other artists are healthy in this case, I mean I'm not really into him as a character so much, N*E*R*D have always had this sort of wishy washy political thing going on which just doesn't cut it, he comes across like a vaguely motivated indie rocker sometimes. She Wants To Move just is kind of rubbish. But how it can actually match up to them working with other artists is a mystery to me I guess, you can't really expect it to, totally different setup.

That's no real reason not to dislike it though, people here are right.

― Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 15 March 2004 00:39 (twenty-two years ago)

Colin: I don't think most "people" do, I think music crit obsessive ILX types are fairly capable of it. But out of curiousity, what do you (or anybody else) think "She Wants To Move" is reaching for?

Tim Finney: I think some people on ILX don't WANT to like something from folks who have crossed over (Timbaland, Outkast, Neptunes). Other people want every single from an esteemed artist to make the listener shit themselves immediately. I think most people want this song to not be such a bonkers toss-off goof. It does sound like the Neptunes took as long to make it as it does to hear it. But I find it more entertaining then some of their big hits, in part because of its sloppy oddity.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 15 March 2004 00:40 (twenty-two years ago)

I can expect it to match up to them working with other artists because the first NERD album was fantastic (the original version anyway).

― bugged out, Monday, 15 March 2004 00:42 (twenty-two years ago)

It helps that I've never been impressed by the Neptunes aside from some novel grooves and, frankly, the unapologetic idiocy of their lyrics (like Ronan says, the political element is way underwhelming).

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 15 March 2004 00:43 (twenty-two years ago)

Anthony how is this the Neptunes crossing over? In this case "crossing over" for alot of people just happens to mean "making a crap record".

The first N*E*R*D album was ok, some of it was only good because it was so ridiculously bad (Jimmy James for example had the most awful lyrics of possibly any song ever, but if you imagine it as being ironic then it's great I guess)

― Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 15 March 2004 00:44 (twenty-two years ago)

Colin: I don't think most "people" do, I think music crit obsessive ILX types are fairly capable of it. But out of curiousity, what do you (or anybody else) think "She Wants To Move" is reaching for?

"Sloppy oddity" are the words you used.

― Colin Beckett (Colin Beckett), Monday, 15 March 2004 00:46 (twenty-two years ago)

ronan, note that I used the past tense. I'm not saying they're doing it, I'm saying they've done it.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 15 March 2004 00:46 (twenty-two years ago)

Colin, I'm not sure what you mean but if you're saying that NERD is reaching for "sloppy oddity" I'd say they've pulled it off!

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 15 March 2004 00:47 (twenty-two years ago)

It falls in line with the same kind of bullshit undie afro futurism fetish Jess mentioned on on the indie/mainstream thread.

― Colin Beckett (Colin Beckett), Monday, 15 March 2004 00:48 (twenty-two years ago)

Anyway I find it hard to see people really going for "She Wants To Move" to be honest, except people who are smacked by the weight of "the neptunes superproducers, you should have heard these ages ago" stuff. And they're not going to be just joe public, you're talking middleground here.

― Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 15 March 2004 00:48 (twenty-two years ago)

Who cares about lyrics? And what is this "political element"? Can't say I've ever noticed it.

Amazing tracks on the first NERD album: Lap Dance, Things Are Getting Better, Provider, What's Wrong With Me, Stay Together, Run to the Sun, Baby Doll, ROck Star...

The reason I love it is cos it sounds like Steely Dan meets hip-hop.

― bugged out, Monday, 15 March 2004 00:50 (twenty-two years ago)

Colin, I'm not sure what you mean but if you're saying that NERD is reaching for "sloppy oddity" I'd say they've pulled it off!

You think it's really some oddball one-off? Instead of some lame retread of "sloppy oddity" signifiers.

― Colin Beckett (Colin Beckett), Monday, 15 March 2004 00:50 (twenty-two years ago)

oh I'll be shocked if this is a big hit too, Ronan, don't get me wrong. Though already one pop-radio addicted friend has told me she likes it because it's so weird (which is the same reason she likes Dizzee Rascal, har de har har).

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 15 March 2004 00:50 (twenty-two years ago)

lapdance, jimmy james=political element, i'm sure there's more if i could be arsed to dig out the record.

― Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 15 March 2004 00:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Slocki's right. That last 'serial killer' sketch at the end was funny. Most likely it was written by Will Forte - he was in it, and you can always kinda sense his authorial voice, just like how it's easy to spot a Tina Fey-written sketch.

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Monday, 15 March 2004 00:51 (twenty-two years ago)

This song also fulfills my main criteria for radioplay: Is It Better Than The Nickelback Songs That Are Undoubtedly Playing On At Least Two Of The Six Stations I Listen To When Walking To Work? The answer is a resounding yes.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 15 March 2004 00:54 (twenty-two years ago)

Anthony, John Ashcroft sourly breaking wind fulfills that particular mission.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 15 March 2004 00:58 (twenty-two years ago)

"Tim Finney: I think some people on ILX don't WANT to like something from folks who have crossed over (Timbaland, Outkast, Neptunes).

I take it when you say "crossed over" you mean to non-pop listeners? I can't see any other sense in which this might be a Neptunes crossover.

At any rate I agree with Bugged Out in that I didn't have a problem with even the rockier bits of the first N.E.R.D. album (though I do prefer their albums for Kelis and Clipse), but I will admit that it's partly the sloppiness of this song that annoys me. But I think that's kinda legitimate as I don't think the Neptunes do sloppiness well - it sounds half-assed in a half-assed faux-goofy way, not half-assed in a fun-goofy way.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 15 March 2004 00:58 (twenty-two years ago)

matthew: you know the reason, i think, why that particular sketch worked was that a) they had a pretty good joke to start it off and more importantly, b) they didn't just pound said joke into the ground but rather had a pretty good turn halfway through, which actually made it funnier. this is pretty rare on snl; usually they take one sorta-funny premise and repeat it for 7-10 minutes.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 15 March 2004 01:13 (twenty-two years ago)

as I explained upthread, Tim, I'm saying the group (like outkast and Timbaland productions - if not Timba himself, maybe Missy would be a better example) has CROSSED OVER, meaning that they basically get the pop world's attention with their new single, no matter how absurd or undeserving of mainstream attention it is. If "She Wants To Move" wasn't sung by THE Pharrell Williams, there is no chance I'd be hearing it on the radio. If I was saying this song is a crossover itself, I wouldn't have used the past tense.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 15 March 2004 01:14 (twenty-two years ago)

That makes absolutely no sense to me, admittedly I'm tired and it's Sunday evening but erm.....I still amn't sure what kind of sense it makes.

― Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 15 March 2004 01:17 (twenty-two years ago)

ok, replace "crossed over" with "established." does that make more sense?

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 15 March 2004 01:20 (twenty-two years ago)

not to this guy, really

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 15 March 2004 01:21 (twenty-two years ago)

but they've been established for so long that I fail to see how the "some people on ILX" thing makes sense, I mean plenty people liked the JT productions and things.

― Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 15 March 2004 01:23 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah, but I get feeling any admiration established artists get from the trainspotter crowd is grudgingly given.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 15 March 2004 01:27 (twenty-two years ago)

argh. get the feeling...

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 15 March 2004 01:32 (twenty-two years ago)

how so? basement jaxx are established and lots of people like them here, there are loads of other examples too I'm sure. if an established band makes a bad record it's a bad record, if you think that, it doesn't make much difference how long they've been around.

― Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 15 March 2004 01:35 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't understand your argument either, Anthony. I *love* the Neptunes!

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 15 March 2004 01:37 (twenty-two years ago)

basement jaxx isn't commercially established in the U.S. I'm not saying that actual quality is LESS important to any ILXors than how common approval for the artist is (and god knows I'm not saying "She Wants To Move" is a great song), I'm just saying that I notice a real willingness to dismiss something if it's from a chart-topper. And even if it's enjoyed it's not celebrated with much passion.

It's highly possible I'm just talking about Jess.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 15 March 2004 01:41 (twenty-two years ago)

What?????

ILX normally gets flak for supporting pop!

― Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 15 March 2004 01:42 (twenty-two years ago)

from who, and it depends how you define "pop." I think the ILX-praised pop is really a small subset of the whole pop scene.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 15 March 2004 01:43 (twenty-two years ago)

from who

ok that should have a question mark at the end. who gives us flak?

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 15 March 2004 01:44 (twenty-two years ago)

plus I think we both should remember that we're coming from completely different planets here (you're knee-deep in UK dance culture, I'm in central Pennsylvania with no file sharing service)

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 15 March 2004 01:45 (twenty-two years ago)

the ILX praised pop? like what exactly? ILX is just a fluctuating mass of people.

The fluctuating mass of people which is not a fixed set of opinions that is ILX often gets flak from members of that fluctuating mass of people or has done in the past for being pro-pop, pretending not to like indie etc etc etc, maybe this doesn't happen anymore I don't know, but it did in the past.

It's nothing to do with where we are living, I just can't understand your argument really, is all.

― Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 15 March 2004 01:47 (twenty-two years ago)

I think we should just let it drop as to whether or not I'm right in thinking this, but my argument is just that I sense a desire in many ILXors (Jess being an example but not the only one) to bring down sacred cows - folks who get a lot of critical and commercial love (and god knows the Neptunes get both). I think it's perfectly understandable, especially when the praise these artists get is clearly coming from people who haven't done their homework. It's just the desire to jump off a bandwagon as soon as possible once it starts getting too crowded.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 15 March 2004 01:53 (twenty-two years ago)

This is all tangential to my original claim, which was just that this song is SO not what people want the Neptunes to be doing. I think the hate wouldn't be as great for this song if it was from a new band.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 15 March 2004 01:55 (twenty-two years ago)

I haven't heard the Chad Kroeger/Santana collabo, but I assume the Neptunes' version of nu-salsa is WAY more fun.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 15 March 2004 01:56 (twenty-two years ago)

Of course it wouldn't get the same reception because for a new band it'd be an insignificant bad single rather than a disappointment.

In the same way a carrot wouldn't be a carrot if it looked like a banana. Fuck sake!

― Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 15 March 2004 01:57 (twenty-two years ago)

but I'm saying the song isn't bad, it's just not a classic! The qualities it has are being ignored because of the disappointment.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 15 March 2004 01:59 (twenty-two years ago)

All you seem to be saying is that people should have a less strict standard of quality, which makes little or no sense either. The nature of discourse is that people say they like or dislike something generally, if you're arguing for a more neutral approach to everything fair enough but it's not as though you display this yourself, or anyone else does really.

If you essentially don't like something there's not a great deal of point in going into what you think is good about it. The qualities something has are hardly the same for the other people on this thread as they are for you personally.

― Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 15 March 2004 02:02 (twenty-two years ago)

miccio if you think anyone on ilx has a tendency to dismiss chart topping music or "not celebrate it passionately", i suggest you do a little search for "r. kelly" on ilm OR ile. if you think people have a tendency to dismiss the neptunes out of hand, please do a search for anything relating to the neptunes in 2001/2002.

this is still a shit song.

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 15 March 2004 02:09 (twenty-two years ago)

(x-post to ronan)
I could quibble about every sentence of that post but the last one. It's clear that not all of you will give a song a passing grade just because of the spaceship line. But I sure as fuck will.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 15 March 2004 02:10 (twenty-two years ago)

Jess: R. Kelly, as befitting a man who will likely not go to jail for peeing on schoolchildren, is an exception in sooo many ways.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 15 March 2004 02:11 (twenty-two years ago)

plus his critical love has only recently matched the commercial love. You're gonna turn on him on the next album, I know you will.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 15 March 2004 02:13 (twenty-two years ago)

except for the first single, which you will grudgingly appreciate after hearing it on the radio 90 million times.

(luda basher)

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 15 March 2004 02:14 (twenty-two years ago)

that really doesnt make the second sentence go away though. you know, the part about ilx's love for the neptunes at the same time they were ALL OVER the charts. have you honestly been living under a rock for first FIVE YEARS of the neptunes?

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 15 March 2004 02:14 (twenty-two years ago)

haha not knowing what ILX thought of Neptunes for the last 5 years = "living under a rock"

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 15 March 2004 02:16 (twenty-two years ago)

plus I'd argue that the Neptunes didn't reach full commercial dominance until, say, "Beautiful."

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 15 March 2004 02:18 (twenty-two years ago)

at least for me that's when shiny-on-top felt inescapable

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 15 March 2004 02:19 (twenty-two years ago)

yes, that's what that meant. i'm just going to leave you to your ever more convoluted/involuted justifications for todays pet theory and hopefully you'll colapse in on yourself eventually like a star.

x-post: yeah, now i know you are clearly out of your mind.

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 15 March 2004 02:19 (twenty-two years ago)

touchy

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 15 March 2004 02:19 (twenty-two years ago)

i'm happy "that's when it felt inescapable" for you, but their actual chart placement and cultural ubiquity might have a little more to do with their actual commercial dominance.

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 15 March 2004 02:23 (twenty-two years ago)

I love this alternate universe where The Neptunes and Missy etc. are underground hipsters until they reach average joe punter with "Beautiful" and "Pass That Dutch".

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 15 March 2004 02:24 (twenty-two years ago)

It must be true, there weren't any blog posts on them until then. Er.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 15 March 2004 02:27 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah, that's what I meant, Tim.

when would you both argue the Neptunes hit their commercial saturation point?

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 15 March 2004 02:28 (twenty-two years ago)

oh thank god you guys showed up. i thought i had fallen down some rabbit hole there for a while.

x-post: uh "hot in herre" anyone?

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 15 March 2004 02:29 (twenty-two years ago)

ok I was talking about Pharrell-as-star, not Pharrell-as-beatmaker

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 15 March 2004 02:35 (twenty-two years ago)

I passed out before the last skit.

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Monday, 15 March 2004 03:05 (twenty-two years ago)

But I knew it had the makings of a weak episode from that dire dire opening skit about the gay marriage. That has to be the worst and longest intro to a SNL that I've ever seen (not that I watch all of them or anything).

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Monday, 15 March 2004 03:09 (twenty-two years ago)

When Pharrell was in the videos and 13yrolds knew who he was I guess

― Mr Mime (Andrew Thames), Monday, 15 March 2004 03:21 (twenty-two years ago)

so, 2001 then.

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 15 March 2004 03:28 (twenty-two years ago)

if you're the least famous musical artist in a Harlem Nights homage then you have NOT achieved your dominance yet. So 2001 is out, baby. Though damn, I didn't realize its been that long since "Pass The Courvoisier." Time flies.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 15 March 2004 03:39 (twenty-two years ago)

again, for those of you playing along at home, today's pet theory is across-the-board critical acclaim + commercial inescepability = your ass is grass with the trainspotter crowd on ILM, with the exception of R. Kelly (who is beyond ALL laws) and the occasional case of grudging admiration (Missy + Timby!).

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 15 March 2004 03:44 (twenty-two years ago)

inescapability. I may be a mentalist but I can spell (when I bother), damn it.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 15 March 2004 03:46 (twenty-two years ago)

haha wtf does "across the board critical acclaim" even mean? do we really need to dig out all those n.e.r.d. articles from 2001? or the first batch of timbaland critical ass-kissing from 1998-2000? in that same era where both producers were making records selling, you know, millions of copies.

yr otm about the mentalist part, at least.

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 15 March 2004 03:54 (twenty-two years ago)

across the board critical acclaim = pazz'n'jop whatnot.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 15 March 2004 03:58 (twenty-two years ago)

it's no more vague a concept than "commercial dominance"

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 15 March 2004 03:59 (twenty-two years ago)

so despite the fact that the neptunes (and timbaland) had been postively reviewed/covered in local and national and international rags for two-three years, they didnt achieve "across the board critical acclaim" until pazz & jop 2003?

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 15 March 2004 04:04 (twenty-two years ago)

number of neptunes singles in p&j top 40:

00: 2
01: 3
02: 4
03: 4

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 15 March 2004 04:20 (twenty-two years ago)

I count five in '02

― Colin Beckett (Colin Beckett), Monday, 15 March 2004 04:29 (twenty-two years ago)

well there we are then.

― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Monday, 15 March 2004 04:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Duh Strongo, "Cross the board critical acclaim" means "a hit with corny indie fuxx". Check your mentalist rockist dictionary, and then check Check Your Head!!!

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 15 March 2004 04:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Hey, it's hard to keep up with pop culture in big Eastern college towns, it's not the UK dance scene out there.

― Colin Beckett (Colin Beckett), Monday, 15 March 2004 04:59 (twenty-two years ago)

I will confess that some of the This Is NOT A Test-indifference did seem a bit of "WHY ARE MISSY/TIM NOT CONSTANTLY INNOVATING LIKE THEY USED TO?" as opposed to just enjoying what is IMO a pretty good album (if perhaps a slight failure on some we TRIED to sound WAY OUT THERE but couldn't level) but the new NERD single and a large portion of the new Kelis album basically suck and that's the main reason why a lot of ILMers dismiss it. It's called not liking something cuz it's not very "good".

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 15 March 2004 05:13 (twenty-two years ago)

What about Jay-Z?

― Sym (shmuel), Monday, 15 March 2004 05:27 (twenty-two years ago)

What about him?

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 15 March 2004 05:28 (twenty-two years ago)

He generally got crit/commercial/ILM love, right?

― Sym (shmuel), Monday, 15 March 2004 05:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, but he was always acknowledged as being wildly uneven.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Monday, 15 March 2004 05:30 (twenty-two years ago)

Jess is all aflame.

― Barima (Barima), Monday, 15 March 2004 21:24 (twenty-two years ago)

Everyone should just d/l Royce's Make Em Run with pharrell and Kelis and remember why Wanderland was so great.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Monday, 15 March 2004 22:32 (twenty-two years ago)

The wings/back thing on that track is as chilling as Kelis' UFO Man.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Monday, 15 March 2004 22:33 (twenty-two years ago)

one year passes...

what's the name of the english r&b-pop group that the dancer in the video is in?

― petlover, Saturday, 19 November 2005 22:48 (twenty years ago)

I only heard "Can I Have It Like This" this week, and can't be bothered reviving the Skateboard P thread, so can I just say here that I absolutely loathe it. How can Pharrell have sunk so fucking low?

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Sunday, 20 November 2005 11:53 (twenty years ago)

Mistique? But spelt like that or something.. maybe there are some z's in it somewhere..

― Don Rowlando (Sam Rowlands), Sunday, 20 November 2005 12:40 (twenty years ago)

Mis-Teeq?

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Sunday, 20 November 2005 12:50 (twenty years ago)

yes, that's who i was looking for. thank you!

― petlover, Sunday, 27 November 2005 04:32 (twenty years ago)

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