Rich Harrison is responsible for Amerie's brilliant "1 Thing," but he also produced and is partially responsible for the wretchedness of Jennifer Lopez's "Get Right." (download from iTunes) The saxophone sample it's based around is cool, but somehow it never really gels, and the choruses are a confusing clutter of sound. Maybe what Harrison was trying to do with all that clutter was to hide poor J.Lo, but if so, he was unsuccessful. I don't know how, but you can hear her tone-deafness right through the auto-tune. Magic!
There are great songs on the radio right now too, and I think my favorite of them is Eminem's "Like Toy Soldiers." (download from iTunes) Eminem's production's the thing here: a single sputtering snare drum with beautiful, spare keyboard chords on the verse, and then that dizzy, spinning, clap-along-while-you're-crying chorus, lifted whole from Martika, but sped up and smudged, faded and melting like a tearful memory. Real magic.
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