Janet Jackson - "All Nite (Don't Stop)"

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Okay, apparently Janet's new album isn't chock-full of unmemorable nonsense as I'd assumed from the first two singles; the new single pretty much panders everything I like about her music and is all the more glorious and wonderful for that. Far and away this is the best Janet single in YEARS (I think you'd have to go back to "Go Deep" or "Together Again" to match it).

― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 9 June 2004 13:08 (twenty-two years ago)

is this the one where she does her semi-whispered/rapped thing. janet used to have great pop/R&B songs.

― thesplooge (thesplooge), Wednesday, 9 June 2004 13:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Somewhere in the un-searchable archives of Pitchfork's We Are the World singles section, there's a paragraph echoing your sentiments, Dan.

― Chris Ott (Chris Ott), Wednesday, 9 June 2004 13:13 (twenty-two years ago)

This is the whispery one, yes. That type of thing often irritates me but it really, REALLY works on this song.

I am somewhat surprised to find myself in agreement with Pitchfork on this song (mostly because whenever I've read a Pitchfork pop/dance/r&b review that wasn't done by an ILMer I've violently disagreed with it even if the reviewer liked the song) but that's really a testament to how fucking excellent it is.

― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 9 June 2004 13:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Mixes beautifully with David Byrne's "Tiny Apocalypse", too, though obviously not in the club.

― Chris Ott (Chris Ott), Wednesday, 9 June 2004 13:20 (twenty-two years ago)

The problem is that it's the only song where her breathy whispering isn't supremely annoying, i.e. Slolove could have been fantastic if she'd just, you know, PROJECTED.

There are actually five good songs on Damita Jo.

― edward o (edwardo), Wednesday, 9 June 2004 13:50 (twenty-two years ago)

the way she delivers the funky/junkie couplet kind of kills it for me. I love the weird warm synth that almost sounds like it doesn't belong, though.

― Al (sitcom), Wednesday, 9 June 2004 13:54 (twenty-two years ago)

Moby keys make song.

― Chris Ott (Chris Ott), Wednesday, 9 June 2004 13:58 (twenty-two years ago)

also the video is almost a time capsule in its likeness to her '90's videos. how many times can we see her hanging out and getting crazy with her backup dancers, who apparently want to dance dance DANCE even they're just hanging out?

― Al (sitcom), Wednesday, 9 June 2004 13:58 (twenty-two years ago)

The Sander K mix of this is amazing on the d-floor

― rentboy (rentboy), Wednesday, 9 June 2004 14:01 (twenty-two years ago)

the d-floor????? oh you crazy ravers

― Al (sitcom), Wednesday, 9 June 2004 14:03 (twenty-two years ago)

More dance trax plz so we can have a chill-out renaissance.

― Chris Ott (Chris Ott), Wednesday, 9 June 2004 14:14 (twenty-two years ago)

Nothing new here beyond self-serving "LOOK! DAN POSTED ON NYPLM!" nonsense, except perhaps we should talk more about the video. OOOOH THE VIDEO.

― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 9 June 2004 14:23 (twenty-two years ago)

The mashup craze that ushered in this naught decade was no coincidence: Pop producers in the digital age combine past hits like Legos, dreaming up new, ear-catching juxtapositions to dazzle radio. Whether MP3s are to thank for the culture-crash that’s led to Miss E, “Crazy in Love”, and Eminem pitting Zeppelin against the Human League (“Lose Yourself”), since the late 1990s-- thanks in no small part to Timbaland-- mainstream ears have been wide open. For every pathetic Puffy appropriation we’ve endured, the pluralist impulse has sown substantial benefits in our producer-powered boy-band afterglow.

While Janet Jackson’s long-winded, largely misguided 2004 LP Damito Jo offers Puffy-caliber predictability (the ridiculous Nelly rip “Sexhibition”) and beyond-prurient porn (“Warmth”), a few tracks of Justified genius dot her 23-track litany. “All Nite” is a notable standout from the latter class, snatching the breathy beats Timbaland built for Timberlake and setting them against two improbable counterweights: samples from Herbie Hancock’s funk masterpiece “Hang Up Your Hang-Ups” and early-90s ambient-techno keyboards (instantly recognizable to anyone familiar with Moby or Future Sound of London). Lewis & Jam's borderline Latin club rhythms overcome Janet’s by-now unbearable monotony, setting her alongside Britney’s recent best.

― Chris Ott (Chris Ott), Wednesday, 9 June 2004 20:57 (twenty-two years ago)

I couldn't resist.

― Chris Ott (Chris Ott), Wednesday, 9 June 2004 20:58 (twenty-two years ago)

ridiculous Nelly rips and beyond-prurient porn sound AOK with me.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 9 June 2004 20:59 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, I was going to ask what the problem was but then I remembered the first two singles.

I wonder if I Would feel more charitable towards the second single if it hadn't ended with her snuggling up to her treasure troll?

― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 9 June 2004 21:13 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm kind of glad I missed that song, whatever it was.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 9 June 2004 21:16 (twenty-two years ago)

It's called "I Want You" and basically it's several good ideas put together in precisely the wrong way.

― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 9 June 2004 21:19 (twenty-two years ago)

I think I only heard the first single once and wasn't particularly moved. Lyric quotes from "Warmth" found in reviews have been more effective in stirring me, though.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 9 June 2004 21:20 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't like that review that much. It sounds like it's trying too hard to maintain its position above what it's reviewing. How long has it been since We Are The World started? Why are there still reviews which boil down to "omg i like a pop song lol wtf??!?!"

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Thursday, 10 June 2004 02:37 (twenty-two years ago)

Tim I think it's down to the fact that these people have access to more time, technology and cash than anyone else on the planet yet, increasingly, think less about what they do than college students with digital 8-tracks.

― Chris Ott (Chris Ott), Thursday, 10 June 2004 02:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Ha ha Chris Puffy has a lot of big hits - whether you or I like what he does I think it's pretty clear he thinks it through.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Thursday, 10 June 2004 02:54 (twenty-two years ago)

four years pass...

What other song uses that Herbie Hancock "Hang up Your Hang Ups" sample? I'm thinking maybe a house or techno track........

― Kevin John Bozelka, Thursday, 26 February 2009 20:26 (seventeen years ago)

I just would like to put in that anyone who doesn't like "I Want You" is loco.

― The Reverend (rev), Thursday, 26 February 2009 20:52 (seventeen years ago)

It's probably the best single from her last 3 albums, but I didn't like it much at the time because I was comparing it to her pre-Damita Jo career.

― some dude, Thursday, 26 February 2009 20:58 (seventeen years ago)

Both "I Want You" and "All Nite" are better than any of the singles from All For You imo.

― The Reverend (rev), Thursday, 26 February 2009 21:01 (seventeen years ago)

are you not counting "Doesn't Really Matter" because it was a pre-album soundtrack single or are you just full of shit lol

― some dude, Thursday, 26 February 2009 21:04 (seventeen years ago)

Never particularly cared for that one. All seemed kinda lightweight and not in a good way.

― The Reverend (rev), Thursday, 26 February 2009 21:09 (seventeen years ago)

how u feel about "Someone To Call My Lover"?

― Lorax in NYC (some dude), Thursday, 26 February 2009 21:14 (seventeen years ago)

"All For You" > "All Nite" > "I Want You" > "Doesn't Really Matter" > "Someone To Call My Lover"

― Nurse Detrius (Eric H.), Thursday, 26 February 2009 21:16 (seventeen years ago)

But then again, "Feedback" > all of them except "All For You"

― Nurse Detrius (Eric H.), Thursday, 26 February 2009 21:16 (seventeen years ago)

i've warmed to "All For You" over the years but that one really matches the "kinda leightweight and not in a good way" description for me.

― Lorax in NYC (some dude), Thursday, 26 February 2009 21:17 (seventeen years ago)

and you lost me giving "Feedback" props

― Lorax in NYC (some dude), Thursday, 26 February 2009 21:17 (seventeen years ago)

hmmm... 2000s Janet singles I'd go

"I Want You" > "Rock With You" > "All Nite" > "Someone to Call My Lover" (those are the really good ones) > "Luv" > "All For You" > "Just a Little While" > "Doesn't Really Matter" > "Feedback" > "Call On Me" > "Son of a Gun" > "So Excited"

― The Reverend (rev), Thursday, 26 February 2009 21:30 (seventeen years ago)

I want to love "Rock With You," and the thought of Janet channeling the hook and melancholy of Everything But The Girl's "The Future of the Future" was delicious, but lately (post-1998) she sounds...I don't know, distracted.

― The Screaming Lobster of Challops (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 26 February 2009 21:32 (seventeen years ago)

STCML was one of those songs I liked a little at first but soured surprisingly quick for me. AFY was sort of the inverse.

Agreed that "so excited" is trrible tho.

― Nurse Detrius (Eric H.), Thursday, 26 February 2009 22:00 (seventeen years ago)

Any act that samples Change won't go wrong.

― The Screaming Lobster of Challops (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 26 February 2009 22:04 (seventeen years ago)

OK since none of y'all helped me, I FINALLY figured it out myself. It was B-Line: "Herbal Hand" (Cleveland City 1993).

― Kevin John Bozelka, Friday, 27 February 2009 14:43 (seventeen years ago)

Although I remember it slower.

― Kevin John Bozelka, Friday, 27 February 2009 14:43 (seventeen years ago)

Though not as slow as Janet's.

― Kevin John Bozelka, Friday, 27 February 2009 14:44 (seventeen years ago)

And actually that's a pretty damn obscure song so sorry for the snarkiness above.

― Kevin John Bozelka, Friday, 27 February 2009 14:46 (seventeen years ago)

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