The Not-Pop Jukebox

I heard Don't Touch My Bikini for the first time today, despite its having been around for fifteen years. As soon as it started I thought, "That's today's song!" If you've been similarly out of the loop, let me want you that, whether or not you enjoy seeing females in bikinis, The Halo Benders is not comprised of a bunch of women. That just makes the song all the better, to me. Let me know what you think.

I finally gave in and picked up "Suitcase" from Keb' Mo'. I knew I was going to buy it eventually, because I love his music, but it's been pretty low on the priority list for me. I've had new music coming out of my ears, and that's all to the good as far as I'm concerned. Yesterday, I finally picked it up while killing time at a big-box department store. What can I say, except that it's classic Keb' Mo'? Life Is Beautiful and Still There for Me are beautiful, Remain Silent has some real "ouch" moments, and I'll Be Your Water moves you and still makes you tap your toes.

My favorite song on the album, though, has to be Whole 'Notha Thang, spelling issues aside. It reminds me of Taj Mahal (particularly Ain't Nobody's Business mixed with the recently-posted Big-Legged Mamas Are Back in Style Again). It's a bit naughtier than most of Mr. Moore's other music, excepting You Can Love Yourself, which is more silly that risque. I'd like to see this side of Keb' Mo', in truth, he does it so well.

I can't help it, Cowboy Ska gives me the giggles every time. I think it's rhyming chores with horse that gets me. I'll have something a little more substantial for you all tomorrow, but for now, have a good time with this dance tune that isn't ska, except for when it is.

I share a certain twistedness to my sense of humor with the folks of Cake. As a case in point, consider Sheep Go to Heaven. It's one of their more musical songs, more singing than speaking (although none of their tunes requires perfect pitch by any means). The song could just as well be called The Grasshopper Responds to the Ant, considering the theme. If you take nothing else from the song, take the puzzle of why they claim that "sheep go to heaven, goats go to hell" and what the heck a gravedigger is doing with those forceps.

While Sir Mixalot was touting the joys of much back, Taj Mahal was signing his own ode to the big booty, in a bluesier but still rollicking style designed to get you jumping, regardless of the amount of your own endowment. Kids, this one's not really for you, although there isn't anything too explicit herein. The subject matter is for grown-ups, though. My particular favorite part? It could be the WD-40 reference, but shortly thereafter Taj calls for "hammer time", introducing a piano hammmering. I'm pretty certain he's not about to do the "Hammer Dance", but you just never know with people. Whatever the case, enjoy this gun tune and let me know whether you think Sir Mixalot did a better job convincing you that a big behind is beautiful.

In honor of the autumnal equinox today, I thought I'd find a nice Fall song to share with you all. Unfortunately, most people find autumn a sad, slow time of year, when the pretty flowers die and the tweety birds leave for warmer climes. That means a lot of depressing, dragging songs. "Forget that!", I say. I still love you all, in the fall or even the dead of winter. Have a nice equinox, regardless of whether it's your autumnal or vernal today.

For my 300th post, I thought I'd throw in a nice song. It's nothing spectacular, not from one of my favorite bands, and probably not worth more than the $.98 you'd spend to download it. Nonetheless, The Rabbit, the Bat, and the Reindeer is a nice little ditty to enjoy on a grey and rainy afternoon. If you feel that's not much for a three hundredth post, consider that someone wandered by my blog in search of the answer to, "Who made balloon pants popular?" I doubt that I helped him or her in the least, but I choose to believe that at least there was some good music to ease the disappointment. If you do know the answer (MC Hammer, perhaps?) then let me know so that I can increase the value of this blog to music fashion seekers as well as listeners.

Of all of the types of songs I collect (and, yes, there are many), coffee songs speak to me the most. It could be my pot-and-a-half-a-day habit, my experiences with caffeine withdrawal, or simply the fact that there are so many of them, in every tempo and genre, that I can always find one that suits my mood. Today, I'm sharing a steaming cup full with you, from Bobby Darin to The Descendants.

A fair number of coffee songs are about, not coffee itself, but relationship problems and drinking coffee alone. I'm sad that the Henry Rollins solo version of Black Coffee that I have was rejected by Grooveshark for its poor quality, as the Black Flag version they have sounds like crap. I included it anyway, as it's a good, high-energy song when it doesn't give you the impression that your speakers are in a tunnel with a pillow stuffed in the end. Beware of a truly dreadful moment of failed harmony in Squeeze's Black Coffee in Bed, while you're listening as well.

I was, however, pleased to find Stan Ridgeway's delightfully strange The Coffee Song (though not Sinatra's cover), which is not about love gone wrong but about there being too much coffee in Brazil. I've slipped Ella Fitzgerald, kd lang, and Peggy Lee covering the same version of Black Coffee into the list, for you, and a live version of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones' Cowboy Coffee in which Dicky Barrett sounds like he's been gargling Drano more than usual. To find out what else lurks in the caffeinated darkness below, you'll have to take a look for yourself. But don't miss The Arrogant Worms.

You've got to admire Leroy Carr's subtle wit. Listening to the lyrics of Papa Wants a Cookie, you can picture him waggling his eyebrows suggestively. Yeah, a cookie. That's what Papa wants, heh heh. Substituting food for more explicit content has worked for centuries, letting folks get away with naughty topics in song and on stage without giving those easily offended a way to reasonably object. If you suggested a song like Papa Wants a Cookie was about things Mama and Papa ought did in the privacy of their own home, Mr. Carr could pretend innocence and shock at your dirty little mind. You've got to love a good euphemism and a good song. Here, you've got both. I thought Carr's version a bit slow for a Saturday, so I've included John Hammond, Jr instead.

I'm not generally a big Yo La Tengo fan, so when I heard Periodically Double or Triple from their new album, "Popular Songs", I was pleasantly surprised. When I saw this video, I was delighted. I'm addicted to music and fresh fruit, you see. Enjoy!

It seems that, of late, every time I find a great act that's new to me I find that it was at the South by Southwest festival, more affectionately known as SXSW. My jealousy of you lucky folks who get to attend that musical extravaganza has been cemented this week by yesterday's post on Phil and the Osophers and by my choice for today, Black Joe Lewis & the Honey Bears. My first exposure to this fabulous blues band came via the slightly-naughty funk-boogie, Sugarfoot, and it remains my favorite of their songs.

If you want to hear more, try the World Cafe session that I somehow missed back in August. If you doubt the comparisons to James Brown, the first half of Sugarfoot will convince you.

A catchy band name will get me to listen to you once, but a fresh sound will convince me to keep listening. Thus Phil and the Osophers grabbed my attention, and kept it with their jangly, discordant sound that I still somehow like. I couldn't tell you why I like Phil (or the Osophers, for that matter). With jumpy vocals, repetitive music, and a lo-fi sound they aren't my type of sound. For some reason, though, I quite enjoy them. Have a listen and see if you agree. International Introvert was their only song on Grooveshark, but you can hear more on The Hype Machine.

In the midst of updating my page about the great crossover standard Rock Me Baby, I was reminded of the Jimi Hendrix version of the song. While the late Mr. Hendrix definitely qualifies as popular, this particular song does not. That's a shame, because it captures the sort of flair that made him not only a great guitar player but one of the best-known musicians of this century.

In case you're tired of cover songs, today I bring to two songs that share the title Shake Your Pants and nothing else. The first is a rockabilly tune from The Meligrove Band, off their 2000 release "Stars and Guitars", and the second is a funk disco song from Cameo. Why, pray tell, have I posted them both? Because, my darlings, they're very strange back-to-back like this. I was surprised to find that no other bands had picked up on the shake-your-pants theme, especially with shake your groove thing, shake your money maker, shake your booty, and other "shake it" phrases being so rife. Enjoy how far apart two bands can take one phrase and share your favorite shake-it song with me.

I apologize for being a total dork. I've been trying to upload Watch Your Mouth for days, unable to understand why it simply would not appear on Grooveshark. Finally, tonight, I remembered that my computer insists on putting a block on all songs that I buy until I go into them manually and remove it. That means that I can neither upload it nor add it to my mp3 player until I remember it. Wouldn't you think I'd remember that?

At any rate, Hoots & Hellmouth have been getting a fair amount of music-blogger press of late with Rattle These Bones, which I quite like, but I think Watch Your Mouth still ranks as their best tune. Enjoy!

I included this fun little ditty, with some piano jazz and some nice bass, in one of my very first posts. What I neglected to do was to include the actual track so that you, too, could enjoy Chick a Boom Boom Boom. If you're looking for some more from Mocean Worker, try Sis Boom Bah! with Rahsaan Roland Kirk or the ever-so-jazzy Changes with Herb Alpert, both to be found at Grooveshark, thank heavens.

When I decided to continue the creole theme today, I was stunned to realize that I've never posted any Buckwheat Zydeco for you, the fine folks who keep me dedicated to The NPJ. I'm rectifying that oversight today, with a live jam from twenty years ago. This particular video includes him playing Ya Ya with the Neville Brothers, a song that I enjoy no matter the performer, but this version is particularly zippy and fun. I wanted to use the Buckwheat Zydeco version of Hey, Good Lookin', but we're due for another video and the only one available has been blocked by the ever-helpful folks at Universal, who are apparently more interested in copyright protection than gaining new listeners for their artists. Enjoy this cover version of Ya Ya while I go and put my soapbox away.

Some songs just make you feel good. Louis Armstrong's Hellzapoppin' happens to be one of them - a great little Dixieland number about partying all night long. The song was the opener for a risque Broadway musical in the late 1930s and a movie of the same name released in 1941, neither of which involved Louis Armstrong as far as I can tell, but if the song is any indication of how much fun the full production was to watch I can understand why it ran for so long. I know that some of the lyrics for that show were written by Oscar Hammerstein, but I couldn't find any specific information on whether Hellzapoppin' was one of them.

None of that really matters, though, if you just like a good song. If you're a fan of Louis Armstrong or Dixieland, I hope you'll like this one as much as I do.

I like Howlin' Wolf, who first recorded Willie Dixon's I Ain't Superstitious in 1961, but Jeff Beck's guitar and (surprisingly, to me) Rod Stewart's voice really rock the song. Even though the widget below claims that the song came from The Beck Group's "Beckology" album, I got it on a fabulous two-disc collection called "The Story of the Blues", the second disc of which includes this song right after a great Taj Mahal version of She Caught the Katy (And Left Me a Mule to Ride.

I love songs that wear the sounds of other bands on their musical sleeves. When I first heard Erasers, I thought of a few bands. Lyrically, the song reminded me of Oingo Boingo. For a time, the vocals made me think of Bellybutton, specifically their song Bedspring Kiss. The music of the song lives squarely in the indie camp, calling to mind several bands from the past twenty years. But The States have put together a sound all their own, regardless of how many other groups the pieces may resemble. Erasers comes from their EP due out September 22, 2009.

Of all of the songs that I like, a few stand out as being worth not just repeated listens on occasion but searching out to hear for a particular mood or just for sheer enjoyment. Apply Some Pressure tops out on my Last.FM list of most-heard songs for this very reason—I like to listen to it. Not only does Maximo Park have a chair-dance classic in the song but the lyrics make me think. What does happen when you lose everything? Have I applied some pressure, and how is it turning out? Why wouldn’t he be alive next year? What is this song really about? I may not like all of my songs to engage my mind, but I’ve come up with some pretty entertaining stories about what I consider the lead character of the song and the woman to whom he’s singing. (Then again, in some stories, he telling a man he’d love to see him in that dress.) For me, that can be a mark of a great song: I want to know more of the story and I’m willing to make it up if I have to do so.