In case you’re wondering, 2011’s sidebar top ten will begin when 10 songs score more than 7. This may take a while…
[Video][Myspace]
[6.71]
Zach Lyon: In which Frank Kogan’s comment from almost a year ago proves to be almost creepily OTM.
[8]
Chuck Eddy: Trance-dance of unusually delectable (if nonetheless in-one-ear-out-the-other) liquidity, and I’m guessing the apparently female vocal isn’t Dennis’s, but I’m too lazy to investigate further. Also, I keep hearing “red room” as “redrum” — as in, “murder” backwards.
[6]
Alex Macpherson: When a trick is as effective the second time round, why change it? “The Red Room” is, to all intents and purposes, “Hey Hey” part two: again, a punkier-than-expected vocalist does her thing over clattering, climaxing beats. Dawn Hulton sounds possessed more by demons than love, though, and the way in which she twists against the beat builds constantly up to the entrance, four minutes in, of a demented one-note organ that takes over as she fades away into echoes.
[8]
Michaelangelo Matos: I definitely prefer it to “Hey Hey,” which I found catchy-annoying rather than plain old catchy. “The Red Room” is darker, more acidic (love that slow-rising 303), and spiky, thanks to Dawn Hulton’s icy singing.
[7]
Mallory O’Donnell: OK, this is pretty damn solid. The beats are pleasantly thwacky, there’s actually a little bit of progression — well, atmosphere change at any rate. But, yes, the vocal really is as reminiscent of you-know-who as everyone’s saying. Still, definitely a big improvement over last year’s puzzlingly successful “Hey Hey.”
[7]
Martin Skidmore: Some Latin bongo rhythms start us off, and it feels like it takes a while to really get going, but in due course we get some heavily echoing vocals and building beats and synths. I like the way the music grows, but the female vocal sounds really awkward. Music good, needs better singing.
[6]
Anthony Easton: I think this song would be better with actual bongos.
[5]