Music

Gaga’s ‘Artpop’ falls short of a masterpiece

Albums of the Week

LADY GAGA
“Artpop”
★½
It’s no surprise that Gaga’s fourth album was being badmouthed before anyone even heard it: Someone is always waiting to pronounce that a pop star is over. But “Artpop” really does try much too hard for its own good, from the “love me, please retweet” lyric of “G.U.Y.” to the intrusive guest spots of T.I., Too $hort and Twista on “Jewels N’ Drugs” to the gross lyrics (”I’m just a pig inside a human body”) and grosser dubstep bass drops of “Swine” — easily the worst song she’s ever recorded. Gaga recently announced she’ll be singing in space, but she needs to come back to Earth.

THE BEATLES
“On Air: Live at the BBC Vol. 2”
★★★
This second collection of live radio sessions (the first was released in 1994) by rock’s greatest band isn’t definitive: Most of these songs were rendered better on their studio albums. But it’s a joy to listen to anyway — big surprise, right? There’s a lot of spoken word here (one-third of “On Air” is either banter or interviews). And that shows John, Paul, George and Ringo were as sharp-witted — John, responding to a question about his book, quips: “I’ve been trying to sell a few ’round the studio here” — as they were hummable. The two songs here you haven’t heard the group do before, Chuck Berry’s “I’m Talking About You” and a rocking “Beautiful Dreamer,” are lo-fi but still churn.

Downloads of the week

DEADMAU5
“Your Ad Here”
★★

Canadian dance producer Joel Zimmermann became a DJ star more for his L.E.D. mouse head than his sleek but uneventful electro-house. This track, from the “We Are Friends Vol. 2” compilation, stands out more for its wide silent gaps — probably what the jokey title refers to — than for the music surrounding them.

CATE LE BON
“Are You with Me Now?”
★★½
The lead single from foggy-voiced Welsh folk-rock singer-songwriter Le Bon’s third album, “Mug Museum,” is crisp and appealing, with uncluttered drums and a spidery guitar line circling around the lyric. But it doesn’t really build beyond its couple of verses and hook line, more a humble sketch than a fleshed-out song.

BRUNO MARS feat. R. KELLY and PHARRELL
“Gorilla G-Mix”
★★
The question with any remix is whether the additions improve or diminish what was already there. In this case, Mars’s mediocre rock ballad gains a phoned-in opening rap from Pharrell — big deal. But while Kelly’s new lyrics are hardly any better than Bruno’s, he does out-sing him. Nothing gained, then, but little lost, either.

MARIAH CAREY
“The Art of Letting Go”
★★
“I no longer live in your dominion,” she announces on this strings-drenched showpiece, a stand-alone single that sounds more like a late-night Tumblr-blog post than a classically written song, a la “Vision of Love.” It’s showy and technically impressive, but too overstated.