I'm back!

Forgive me Father, for I have slacked.
It has been 17 days since my last blog post.

Henceforth is dedicated to a boy by whom I am reluctantly inspired. (Rest assured, he knows who he is.)

Shakira- "She Wolf"

Bet you didn't see this coming.
I can already hear your collective yawps of "a Shakira album? Really?!" Calm yo'selves, 'cause this album is 40 glorious minutes of Wyclef-rendered, Latin-accented, ass-shaking madness. When Shakira made her US debut in the early 2000s-- at the height of the top-40 "Latin Explosion" (you might remember J. Ho, Enrique Iglesias... Marc Anthony... was there anyone else?)-- she seemed less like an "artist" and more like a peroxided Columbian skank whose gyration-inducing beats were little more than a halfassed coverup for awkwardly-translated lyrics. However, "Laundry Service," (buttressed by its colossal single, "Whenever, Wherever;" ten points for you if it's out of your head yet) in spite of itself, was a halfway decent album, save for aforementioned McSingle and the godawful Jewel-soundalike "Underneath Your Clothes." And after a second US-released album that didn't generate much attention (except for the also-godawful "Hips Don't Lie"), she's back-- more experimental than ever and just as provocative.
"Experimental" is a word that is used to describe pop artists seldom if ever... OK, probably never. At least never correctly. But her sporadic octave-jumping, literal howling on the title track, international flavor (most delicious on the Bollywoodish "Why Wait"), a flight-attendant monologue on "Mon Amour," and nearly-poetic lyrics throughout make for pop music that is refreshingly complex, inspiringly weird and even mildly cerebral, while still doing its primary job: getting those asses shakin', for real yo.
Song Pick: "Spy." A weirdly instrumental-sounding vocal hook and a good dose of Wyclef Jean? Sign me up. "Columbian with the swagger?/ Yes I am!" Say no more.