"A little color on a greyscale" (Santigold - 99¢)

I first heard of Santigold on the Beastie Boys song "Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win".  She's got a cool modern knack for reggae and soul that really sticks out in the pop music world.  I remember checking out her debut album after that, but I must have given up on it quickly.  I should give it another shot though, because 99¢ won't be discarded anytime soon.  It's a wonderful little hodgepodge of not only reggae influenced hip-hop, but retro doo-wop, gritty dub, 80's influenced synth-pop, and strong ballads.

Why you'll love it: Innovative, eclectic, FUN!

Why you'll hate it: Shallow, occasionally uses pop tropes

The lead single, "Can't Get Enough of Myself" is so perfect, it should make other modern pop artists pull their hair out with jealousy.  Normally I can't stand self-aggrandizing pop songs, but "Can't Get Enough..." presents itself with such a dorky sugar-coated melody that it brings my guard down enough to bop along.  Santigold brilliantly uses the music to set up this delirious fantasy world, and makes herself into a character.  It's stupid silly fun, and quite possibly may be the best pop song of the year.  

That's not to say Santigold is cut entirely from a different cloth than most pop artists.  The predictable crescendos of "Banshee" is a prime example of everything I personally hate about modern pop radio hits.  "Banshee" sounds like it was created in a boardroom to sell me Gatorade or a T-Mobile data plan.  "Who Be Lovin' Me" is like a non-tongue-in-cheek version of "Can't Get Enough...", and boy is the difference night and day.  Aside from those two songs, and "Big Boss Big Time Business" sounding a little bit too much like a PaRappa The Rapper stage, 99¢ delivers pure gold.  (There is a pun to be worked out there, but forget it, let's talk about the rest of these great songs)

"Chasing Shadows" plays up to Santigold's reggae-influenced hip-hop skills much better.  I really love the way the falsetto singing clashes with the low-end music on this track.  I was surprised to find how much I enjoyed the slow songs by the end of this album.  Santigold uses electronics brilliantly in her ballads.  The vocal manipulation in "Walking in A Circle" stands out more than anything I could remember on Painting With Animal Collective.  "Run The Races" sounds like building a section of FRACT OSC.

The pop songs that fill out the rock solid second half of 99¢ are nothing to scoff at either.  "All I Got" again proves Santigold is willing to trade in looking cool for a fun pop song with all the "dum-dum-dey"s being thrown about.  It's almost like a Vampire Weekend hit (I mean that in a good way).  The Cyndi Lauper like bubbly delivery (yes, I mean that in a good way too) of "Rendezvous Girl" and "Who I Thought You Were" make those tracks into highlights as well.  Especially "Rendezvous Girl".  It may give "Can't get Enough..." a run for its money for best track.

Santigold isn't exactly this shining knight to slay all of the monsters of modern pop music, but it's great to have someone out that that goes left when most of the mainstream goes right.