checking the samples out now at amazon. funny you mention her, because just last night at the gym i was reading a Rolling Stone from last summer, and it had some fine pics. it also was busting on my girl britney. bummer.

hey, i didn’t know “Ain’t No Other Man” was aguilera. loved that song the first, oh, 34 times i heard it. now it reminds me of every mindless fuck manning the controls at the gyms i’ve frequented.

one thing i really dig about her, she doesn’t usually sound like a white girl trying to sing black, though she often sounds black. way too many white chicks in this genre overplay the black girl thing. silly.

a few months ago i was listening to the radio more than usual, and noticed a few songs with a cool retro vibe. “Ain’t No Other Man” was one of them.

i happened to hear the commodores “Easy” (the “easy like sunday morning” song) on the radio recently. don’t normally like using the word craftsmanship with music, but damn, it just has this relaxed and tense air to it that so much pop music lost when the machines came along.

“Hurt”. like that one too, but she’s slipping into white girl black girl imitation on a syllable or two, IMO.

probably my fave aguilera song is “What A Girl Wants”, which i think was used very well in the lamer film “What Women Want”.

Nevertheless, I’ve always known she had the chops, it was just a matter of getting everything in place, so to speak. She’s there now insofar as her “Back to Basics” release is indicative. Close to perfection on that one. I was totally reacquainted and re-enchanted within two or three good listens.

yeah, i like CA pretty much (when she’s not doing the modern overfuck routine with note/melody “embellishments”), but i also think spears has a much better voice than generally acknowledged.

Still, a beautiful flower that could fade or wilt if not addressed properly. Obviously going through some confusion, dissolution, and dissipation right now. She could use a good “editor” to provide some guidance and strength–and most important, “input.” I would be willing to help, but she hasn’t called me…

But another who came on the scene in the same timeframe should be mentioned in a gloriously postive vein (man does she stir me): Christina Aguilera! Damn she can sing! And she can be just as nasty as she wanna be! She’s the real deal I do believe. In full blossom right now.

Mark Odell