Not a simple consensus.
[Video][Website]
[6.12]
Will Adams: I never tire of hearing Nancy Whang’s harsh, double-tracked vocals against gorgeous electro-disco. It’s a juxtaposition that always intrigues rather than jars, and “A Simple Design” is no different. True to its name, it’s a pop song at its core, but Juan Maclean is too smart to keep his gorgeous shimmer synths under wraps.
[8]
Anthony Easton: You can’t sing, and so you speak, and slide the production to Amanda Lear, 70’s style. But Lear could both talk and sing. Besides, you aren’t that louche. Aesthetic choices born out of failure should be more interesting than this mess. Minus a point for the literal-ism of the “down” in joke.
[2]
Ashley Ellerson: It’s not too loud, it doesn’t have an unnecessary buildup, it’s perfect for light moving and grooving, and Nancy Whang sings lyrics that are relevant over carefree. Disco, house, and light dance punk were mixed in a nice dance stew for “A Simple Design”, and I want to eat this stew everyday.
[8]
Alfred Soto: Or: title fulfillment. If I have to listen to Nancy Whang for more than a couple tracks at a time I get nostalgic for Martha Wash. On 2008’s “Happy House” she kept up with the thundering keyboards, creating the impression that she was another woman lost in music, caught in a trance; the “you” who is “so excellent” could be Juan MacLean himself, creator of one of the new century’s most exuberant singles. Although “A Simple Design” need no defense, just sweat, nothing feels at stake; it doesn’t even bother flirting with transgression, a decision embodied in Whang and MacLean’s self-containment. To summon the past for listeners born too late for house is defensible, but set beside Hercules & Love Affair’s The Feast of the Broken Heart this Juan MacLean album honors its title. Still. Still.
[8]
Thomas Inskeep: For having such a distinctive voice, Nancy Whang sure is a personality-less singer. Which kinda makes her a perfect fit for the Juan Maclean, because as opposed to, say, Hercules & Love Affair, the Juan Maclean’s records are, while fine, fairly sterile: music for “hip” optometrist’s offices. Also, this sounds like K-Klass.
[5]
Jonathan Bogart: Some days it’s nice to remember that disco never changes.
[7]
Micha Cavaseno: THIS CLUB IS SO BORING! OH SHIT Y’ALL, IT’S MORE ELECTRO FROM DFA! I TOTALLY HAVEN’T HEARD THIS LABEL TURN OUT THE SAME SINGLE FOR A DECADE AND A HALF! DON’T YOU GUYS MISS LCD SOUNDSYSTEM!? DO YOU WANT TO GO TO MY LOFT!? I THINK CARLOS D IS THERE, PLUS I HAVE COCAINE AND I JUST FOUND MY OLD MISS KITTIN ALBUM. WHAT DO YOU MEAN, IT’S NOT 2003!?!?
[4]
Brad Shoup: Whang’s declamations go down well; they contain the possibility of being wrong. The track shuffles along with grace — opaque like so much else on DFA, but gauzier, more nakedly nostalgic. But the vocals remind me of… Ace of Base, I think. Steely, omniscient, a little judgmental.
[7]