Sean Combs’ latest ridiculous name for his act is Diddy Dirty Money. Go ahead and laugh, maybe add a punch line, and be done with it because there’s too much going on with his new “Last Train to Paris” to dwell on monikers. The busy, kitchen-sink-included production is destined/doomed to be a success/failure thanks to the volumes of layers in the release.
The ambitious guest list alone is monumental, featuring Usher, Drake, Justin Timberlake, Chris Brown, Grace Jones, Trey Songz, Lil Wayne and even Notorious B.I.G., who has been dead for more than 13 years. A few bring a modest something to the crowded table, but most barely register.
Some tracks are simply messy (“Your Love,” “A– on the Floor”) and others are taxing (“Angels,” “Looking for Love”) as Combs’ eagerness to experiment with fractured arrangements and off-kilter rhythms gets the best of him. Worse are the missed opportunities, as when he assembles Chris Brown, Wiz Khalifa and Seven of Richgirl and then overcooks “I Know,” or when he squanders a summit with Lil Wayne, Justin Timberlake, Bilal and James Fauntleroy by packaging them in an odd kind of boy-band ballad, “Shades.”
| LISTEN UP |
| ‘Last Train to Paris’ |
| » Artist: Diddy Dirty Money |
| » Label: Bad Boy/Interscope |
| » Price: $13.98 |
| ‘Countdown to the New Year’ |
| » Artist: Various acts |
| » Label: Capitol |
| » Price: $14.99 |
Elsewhere it’s full steam ahead for “Last Train to Paris,” including on a hypnotic trio of consecutive, guest-less songs — the primitive-groove-lined “I Hate That You Love Me,” the soul-stalking “Someone to Love Me” and the clacking/buzzing “Hate You Now” that finds Combs teasing with, “I hate you girl, you know I lie.”
Rapper T.I. is a perfect fit for the bone-jarring bass and propulsive, cosmic energy of “Hello,” and Lil Wayne is key to helping Combs harness the Kraftwerk-on-crack “Strobe Lights.” However, the ultimate track on “Last Train to Paris” is “Coming Home,” produced by Jay-Z and Alex Da Kid and featuring song co-writer Skylar Grey on vocals. It’s a chunky, yet poignant, song that finds Combs solidly at the center of attention for a change.
He ought to put himself there more often.
New Year’s noise
Happy New Year to you, whoever you are, whenever this is.
“Count Down to the New Year” aims to be a companion album to a New Year’s Eve party, but apart from the Beach Boys’ version of “Auld Lang Syne,” it’s a generic compilation that flits from generation to generation, genre to genre.
You know you’re in trouble when the release kicks off with Poison’s version of “Rock and Roll All Nite” — it isn’t even the KISS original, for crying out loud.
But the songs get better, even if they never fit together, as the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s all blur into a vagary.
Despite its incongruent blend, this isn’t a lost mix tape. The liner notes actually give instructions on how to use it at a New Year’s Eve party: Start playing it at 11:30 p.m., pause it after Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” (the seventh track) and count down to midnight, then resume playing with “Auld Lang Syne.”
That might work as edge-less music for a corporate party that assembles folks of all ages and all walks of life. But who wants to spend New Year’s Eve at that kind of gathering?
Of course the mix can function as safe music for any party, and there is a kitschy appeal to hearing a compilation stretch from one improbable song to another — like from Duran Duran’s “The Reflex” to MC Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This” and from Billy Squier’s “Everybody Wants You” to Simple Minds’ “Don’t You (Forget About Me).” Plus there are greats on here for those who want to snag oldies like The Knack’s “My Sharona,” The Go-Go’s “We Got the Beat,” George Clinton’s “Atomic Dog” and the Human League’s “(Keep Feeling) Fascination.”
Besides, in the drunken confusion that often is New Year’s Eve parties, this release could play harmlessly in the background without disrupting the fun.
Just don’t expect it to add much to it, either.
