Singles of the Week: Mar 27, 2010

Pop: Rihanna - "Fire Bomb"

Rihanna's new album, "Rated R," has been blasting out of people's car radios and in eating clubs for a couple months now. Let's be honest - "Rude Boy" is everywhere. But a couple of the songs on the album are hidden in the background and get easily lost. This week, I finally decided to buy the record and came across "Fire Bomb," an electric guitar-based power ballad that has a different sort of sound than we are used to hearing from RiRi. An excellent addition to that unnamed playlist you have sitting in your iTunes between "pump up" and "relax.”

-Jess Turner ‘12

Rock: The National – “Bloodbuzz Ohio”

The National’s new album "High Violet" is out May 11, but the band posted “Bloodbuzz Ohio” on their website this week for all of us who have a hard time with the whole “patience” thing. “Bloodbuzz Ohio” proves the National has perfected the art of producing songs that build. The track kicks off with driving drums and piano, and grows quickly with frontman Matt Berninger’s signature seductive crooning. Eventually he piles on subtle horns and delightfully messy guitar riffs. By the end, it feels like you’ve either just discovered yourself in a movie scene or planted your flag at the top of a treacherous mountain. Even if you’ve never been to Ohio – the band’s birthplace – the tune’s lyrics and overall vibe will make you feel nostalgic for the good old Ohioan adolescent days. You’ll be convinced that you, too, were “carried to Ohio in a swarm of bees."

-Sara Wallace ‘12

Electronic: Ellie Goulding -- "Starry Eyed"

Welsh crooner Ellie Goulding's debut album "Lights" topped the UK charts in less than a week, and for good reason. The singer's music, which she describes as "folktronica," is a smooth fusion of acoustic and electronic tendencies that are like the sonic equivalent of a rainbow of Skittles falling down into a field of daisies. Sound crazy? It is. But trust me, this is one rainbow you won't want to miss.

-Kiran Gollakota ‘13

Indie: She & Him – “Thieves Among Us”

Whether or not you’ll like this song can be determined by whether or not you like Zooey Deschanel. If this doe-eyed actress tickles your fancy, then you’ll probably enjoy her 50s style crooning with collaborator M. Ward. But if you’re one of many who find her so cute as to be annoying, well, this won’t convince you otherwise because put bluntly, it’s about as syrupy as a bottle of Aunt Jemima. Still, for the Deschanel admirers, this acoustic prom-ballad is pretty irresistible. It’s simple and twangy and evokes the lovesick slow dancing of a bygone era. “Will you go steady with me?” Deschanel seems to ask. It’s a divisive question but somehow endearing all the same.

-Cristina Luzarraga ‘11