Example – Kickstarts
All of a sudden, fifth-biggest UK rapper is actually something to aspire to…
[Video][Website]
[5.27]
Alex Ostroff: The Sub Focus remix of Rusko’s Hold On was a perfect marriage of drum’n’buzz with ethereal trance, and one of my favourite dance tracks of 2010, but “Kickstarts” sounds like Mike Skinner singing atop a house remix of MGMT. Chase & Status’ work with Rihanna and Britney’s Freakshow has already demonstrated that dubstep can be successfully dragged into pop contexts, and the rapping mostly works, but the sappy, blokey chorus overshoots James Murphy’s pathos and ends up just plain pathetic.
[5]
Martin Skidmore: The Sub Focus production is excellent — bouncy, with grinding bass and uplifting high noises. Sadly Example himself remains unappealing. His singing is flat and utterly lifeless. He’s a bit better as a rapper, but he’s still a lightweight in that form, and most of this is sung. The backing track deserved better.
[5]
Iain Mew: The highpitched loop and supporting whoosh really do achieve the euphoria that this is going for, and it’s so close to wonderful. Example himself can’t match it though, sounding disinterested and flat at all times, whether his words suggest despair or bliss. He tugs everything gently but disappointingly back down towards the mundane.
[6]
John Seroff: Somewhat blandly, clubby, middle-class formula that asks a lot out of an electronic zipper noise, theremin-pitched keys and a beat so worn it barely catches your attention. Like Iyaz’s “Replay”, this is edited in such a way that repeat play loops this in on itself endlessly. Unlike Iyaz’s “Replay”, this is reasonably listenable.
[6]
Mark Sinker: There’s such a lovely pull in the sound towards the meat and cry of the synth beats that you can’t quite understand why the singer — self-absorbed as he in his own pseudo-diffident reserve — can’t hear it the way you do. Every time the singing is treated, it lifts momentarily — looped or harmonised or even the first moment he jumps off into his rap (until the dullness kicks back in). And this stop-start is what the song’s about: same old her, same old him, except he doesn’t grasp that when the narcissism of small personality needs treatment and lift from something outside itself all the time, that something will soon go off and find someone else. She’s nowhere in the song; there’s nothing but him, and he’s SO not enough.
[5]
Chuck Eddy: Man, this guy has no business trying to sing. Though on the other hand, if it wasn’t for his singing, I’d probably have no use for his rapping, either. Here, it comes as a relief.
[3]
Katherine St Asaph: It’s unseasonably hot here, and dance tracks like this are like being doused in air conditioning. This isn’t the best offering — Example’s singing and rapping is competent, not great, and the synth riff repeats its note about 17 times too many. Still beats at least half of what’s on the radio, though.
[6]
Erick Bieritz: He allegedly went on Radio 1 and described this as a mix of MGMT, Snow Patrol, and Dizzee Rascal, but it’s really just MGMT, Asher Roth, and more MGMT. The hook at least is aping something catchy, which is more than can be said for the dopey blokish rapping. A Mike Skinner comparison would have been reaching; Dizzee Rascal is just silly.
[2]
Alfred Soto: Although not produced by Calvin Harris, it bears his sonic imprint, and Example’s Phil Oakey timbre conveys the right balance of insouciance and melancholy. Far be it from me to suggest that American rappers should look across the pond for models, but Drake should study this kind of no-frills number more closely.
[7]
Ian Mathers: I kind of wish I hadn’t tracked down the video (Example irks me for some reason, it turns out), but the backing track seems to be composed mostly of beeps and buzzes, which is a reliable way to win my heart, and the lyrics are basically the important bits of High Fidelity in three minutes. Which is either a plus or a minus depending on how I feel at any given moment. Right now I’m cautiously assigning it to the plus column.
[7]
Jonathan Bogart: If I’d heard this three or four years ago I would undoubtedly have loved it; but I’m less impressed by British people making modern pop than I was then, and I can’t help wondering if this is the UK equivalent to Mike Posner. But that’s rather uncharitable, and it’s a pleasant, cheerful enough pop song. Even if I don’t ever need to hear it again, I’m generally on the side of pleasant, cheerful pop songs existing rather than not.
[6]