somewhere out there, somewhere far away
(or: november 6’s honey from the hive)
posted at 9:38 am by brandon in sweet you rock and sweet you roll
Bruno Mars — “Talking to the Moon”
(from Doo-Wops & Hooligans
In terms of quality music, one of the fall’s great surprises has been the terrific Hooligans, a dazzling, genre-defying blast of fun, with flashes of great profundity, from Mars (given name: Peter Gene Hernandez), the undeniable breakthrough of the year. The Michael Jackson comparisons are too easy (though not at all unfounded, especially on tracks like “Our First Time,” which feels, in the best way possible, like a lost outtake from the ABC sessions), and if you listen closer, you can also detect unmistakable glints of early Prince, especially on tracks on “Moon,” wherein Mars punches up the plaintive cry in his voice and lays his entire lovesick soul open in prayer, hoping his beloved can feel his burning pain.
November 6th, 2010 at 12:55 pm
Great choice of song for Honey From the Hive today, with an added bonus: “Talking to the Moon” shows a different side of Bruno Mars than what may be inferred from “Billionaire,” a song that the Buzz succinctly-but-oh-ever-so-wrongly described as “annoyingly whiny”. (Not that “Billionaire” is especially profound (although the references to Katrina and FEMA are far from trivial!), but “annoyingly whiny” is simply off-base.)