(t5!) My Year In Lists 2006: Singles! 20 to 16
During her two-year hiatus, X-Tina hooked up with two guys who were both beneficial to her success in 2006: Her new husband who was seemingly responsible for the commitment-happy lyrics of this single; and producer DJ Premiere who provided her with another invigorating style reinvention, this time from dirrrty whore to classy pin-up songbird. As usual, Aguilera steps into the mic confidently with her vocal gymnastics and Premiere lays out the most complimentary production for her soprano to strut on. Nothing touches Aguilera’s pipes other than the frantic vintage soul drums while every bellowing horn serves as an exclamation point to each vocal line. "Ain't No Other Man" is a remarkable return for radio’s most talented diva.
You can hear it from a mile away, the panoply of gargantuan orchestral synths. It’s a warning that you’re about to witness something monumental. Afterwards, T.I., the self-proclaimed “King of the South”, nonchalantly parades in, hat cocked to the side, spitting sing-song bravado to all the haters who still don’t want to recognize. There was life in the South before his arrival—OutKast, UGK, 8Ball & MJG—but they didn’t have everyone’s attention. “What You Know” made every hip-hop head turn with an anthem so loud that it can’t be ignored. Calling himself the “King of the South” is debatable, but with a single this huge, that proclamation is a
lot harder to debate against.
Traveling from Berlin to London to Ibiza, “Night Falls” inspirited its share of Europe’s wildest parties. But as good as it is at moving butts, it’s equally as effective at moving souls. The trance synth melody and delicate delayed accents constructs and deconstructs gracefully around the track’s focal point, its purposeful hollow bass line and disco house beat. At a genre that’s been ridiculed for its repetitiveness, Booka Shade’s electronic kaleidoscope, which refuses to be stagnant, is encouraging. And its versatility is admirable: “Night Falls” is ideal for headphones or skyscraping speakers, for the living room or beach raves, for audiences who are either meticulously paying attention to detail or narcoticly feeling the music in their bones.
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Out of all Ciara’s wonderful string of hits, this is the most up-tempo. You take the “1-2 Step” 808 rapture and increase it immensely in BPM, and you get this. It’s also the richest instrumentally, where accents of subtle bongos, synth woodwinds, staccato strings, and tympanis creep up to endow the hyperactive beat. All of that contrives a playground for Ciara’s heavy breathing to whirl around in, flawlessly as usual. But, while all that is good, this works because it’s authoritative, and that’s why it belonged on the apex of every club night this year. It commands everyone to dance, to be ecstatic, and to reach, if only for an instant, a surreal state of being “up”. When the Princess of Crunk tells you to do something, you do it.
Damn, that Thomas Mars is one charming motherfucker. So charming, in fact, that he successfully charmed his way into Sofia Coppola’s bed and, consequently, his “boys” charmed their way into her womb. In this single, he proves that a little charm goes a long way. With the help of that effortless delivery, that shimmering off-beat organ chords and that Strokes-ian swaggering guitar and rhythm section, “Long Distance Call” easily charmed its way into your summer drives, your city walks and your everyday dance flashes. You were already attempting to sing eight consecutive “it’s never been like that’s” without inhaling before noticing that you’ve already fallen for it.
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