#862 Paul Simon - Graceland

It's all about the beat. The backbeat that makes rock rock, the 4/4 that makes house house, the clave that makes a dozen afro-cuban styles what they are, and on and on. So the fact that this otherwise pretty straightforward Paul Simon album wields a variety of African rhythms is not actually window dressing, its actually a move that makes for a whole different style of American pop.

And what of this new style of American pop? It works. Mostly it works because it all cooperates: the offkilter lyrics are tuned to turn the ears of Western listeners, the structures churn repetition into miniature hypnotics, the instrumentation rings unplaceably uncanny, all at parallel lines to those wobblewheel rhythms.

And what of this American pop that works? Well, as admirable as it is as a venture, it's often more of a well-reasoned, well-working piece of American pop than it is something you'd actually want to listen to. Hit single You Can Call Me all is a splintering piece of pop brilliance, and The Boy in the Bubble paints in broad strokes of magical realism that will haunt your dreams, and Under African Skies' female vocals simply soar. And across the board its just some vaguely pretty, slightly unusual, downright adventurous well-working pop music that is wholly worthy of our admiration.

But can I be honest with you? I miss my goddamned backbeat 3.5/5