I have conflicting feelings about B.O.B. How can someone have the indie ear to sample Vampire Weekend and still make something as rousing and foot stomping as "Past My Shades"? On top of that, he grasps for Top 40 heights with the syrupy melodrama of "Airplanes", taking a back seat (more like the trunk) on his own album. Who said you had to spring for a tween-friendly chorus or tap into high-school angst to make a hit record? The culmination of B.o.B.'s efforts on all these fronts is the fantastic "Magic" that breathes life into the deflated husk of Weezer's Rivers Cuomo while still serving to give B.o.B. center stage to perform his verbal two-step.
I ran in the Reach the Beach (TOUCH ME TO FINISH, WHAT?) relay this weekend, and as any runner can attest, running music is critical. As the race did not allow iPods (unless you were that weirdo who wore his AND ran down the middle of the road at 3AM), we spent the first 6 legs playing musical iPods, trying to find the best song to buoy flagging runners and their drowsy teammates. We entertained "Fuck You" by Cee-Lo for a time, and CHO'B's pump-up song was some MGMT sampling hip-hop song, but by the time 5pm rolled around and our van was finally handed the baton, "Magic" had a stranglehold on the playlist. When we drove past a teammate, "Magic" was turned up to ear-shattering levels to give them a boost (not during quiet hours of course). When we pulled and waited for them to come by, we opened the back-doors of the van and allowed "Magic" to reverberate off the countryside. It inspired no less than 5 spontaneous dance parties, some of which were joined by complete strangers. By the end of the race, everyone on the team had virtually memorized the last 4 words of every line (especially "GOT YOUR MIND BABBLIN'" and "BREAK ALL THE RULES LIKE EVEL KNIEVEL"). I'm not sure if I will be able to listen to it again without feeling pain in my quads, but if any song deserves an On Repeat blog post, it is "Magic".
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