Of Taiwan and Korea — well, it’s not quite a theme day…
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[5.88]
Scott Mildenhall: The grand opening brings to mind images from the Pandemonium section of the 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony, but they don’t recur as much as the feeling that someone involved in this is familiar with some Calvin Harris “deep cuts,” right back from when he created disco.
[6]
Alfred Soto: From the back to the middle and around again, this group puts the verses and choruses to work. One of the few Asian pop slammers I can imagine crossing over.
[6]
Katherine St Asaph: Factory-reject autotune and industrial-hellscape percussion, like the noise from a song machine that, if it weren’t half-charred and banged up, would manufacture “Footloose.” I’m going to get so much shit for preferring this over today’s other two, aren’t I?
[7]
Patrick St. Michel: The autotune piles up in an awkward way and just sounds off, especially come the chorus.
[6]
Iain Mew: I hear this level of obvious vocal processing and I think of the ways I can appreciate it: vocals subsumed into sleek designer electronics, or given exaggerated personality beyond the humanly possible. “Beautiful Top News” doesn’t do anything of either sort, though, deadening the individuality of the singers while leaving their weaknesses intact. It’s a shame, because the song is a decent bit of kinetic pop in territory somewhere near Little Mix and f(x), and with better vocals it might have sounded great.
[5]
Brad Shoup: Is it a net positive that this didn’t end up as a hellish march? A playful cod-trumpet figure and roller-rink spangle help DG shoo away the cyber guitar and industrial churn, but their legacy of awkward transitions and general undanceability remain. The lyrics are about how news shouldn’t be given over to scandal and fluff; even that doesn’t hector as much as this production.
[6]
Anthony Easton: I like the grind of percussion that works as the third element of the mix, and how high the vocals are. I am intrigued at how this thinks about speeding up, but resists it and ends almost abruptly.
[6]
Josh Langhoff: Like Who songs and grade school band arrangements, “Beautiful Top News” insists on interrupting its raddest parts with obligatory slow passages. Even worse, the Dream Girls’ slow sections just keep coming. Why couldn’t the whole thing sound like Nine Inch Nails remixing the Ying Yangs’ “Shake”?
[5]