The Not-Pop Jukebox

In case you wondered, there never was a "Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 1" album from the Beastie Boys. Well, there was one planned but a little bout of cancer put the kibosh on that in 2009 and instead there was a reissue of "Check Your Head" with a (not-well-produced) demo track instead. But finally, in 2011 with remission and recommitment to their intentions, the Beastie Boys finally released "Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 2" in 2011.

The demo track, Lee Majors Come Again, was released as the first single and I'm sure any fans have already heard it. Personally, I love it. But I wanted to share something from the album, so Here's a Little Something for Ya. I really do recommend Lee Majors and Funky Donkey if you like this one. The Beastie Boys have done great things with this album and, though the reason for the wait was awful, "Hot Sauce Committee" was well worth it.

I'm not altogether sure what to call Balkan Beat Box. Israeli Gypsy Reggae? Bah, who cares. All you need to know is that they just released a new album on March 5th and that Move It isn't on it. Well, that and they rock.

If you click over to their web site above you can watch the video for Part of the Glory of the new album, "Give", but for now I'm going to share a song from the album "Blue Eyed Black Boy" from 2010. You may find it interesting that Ori Kaplan from Firewater is one of the three members.

If you like this one half as much as I do, have a listen to Digital Monkey and Cha Cha. I'm still miffed that none of you told me about Balkan Beat Box but I'll forgive you if you tell me what you think of them.

I’ve gushed about Florence + the Machine here before but I wanted to post yet another example of the huge sound that keeps me coming back to them. Shake It Out starts out quietly and then builds and builds until you’re leaping about in sheer joy.

“It’s hard to dance with the devil on your back,” Ms. Florence sings, “so shake him out.” I don’t know about you, but by the end of the song I want to be spinning in wild, looping circles around some huge space echoing with the song. Florence + the Machine has that effect on me.

It’s not that they’re such a huge band. I can’t imagine how they’d achieve this sound live because Shake It Out, like much of their catalog, seems to be built of layers, a pile of the same people rather than a pool of different folks. I'd love to be proven wrong, however.

Few things make time together more romantic than playing hooky from your obligations. That goes double when it’s your partner’s idea and he or she surprises you. Today, let’s match up two songs that take different approaches to this idea and you can pick the winner.

Jack Johnson sound like just the guy you want to hang out with eating Banana Pancakes and, uh, whatever else you like of a lazy Wednesday morning. He’s got a slow groove going and I don’t know about you but he could convince me to call in sick with an argument like that.

Keb’ Mo’, on the other hand, is not relying on my weakness. He’s taken matters into his own hands and locked the world out for the night. He may be in a Dangerous Mood but the only thing threatened is your virtue. After a build-up like this I can’t help but think you’re going to give in so you might as well enjoy it.

I’m posting Banana Pancakes and Dangerous Mood because I love both songs. Give me some feedback: which song would sway you to drop your everyday cares for some quality time? Go on, pick the winner!

I thought I’d post again about Zak Smith as my recent blathering about Cynthia was mostly about my strange mental associations and not much about Mr. Smith or his music (except the part about his voice. That still holds true.)

As I truly am enjoying his self-titled album (for which there’s a release show on April 28th that you might consider if you happen to live near New York) it seems only right that I focus on the music and not lots of other people. So here’s my review and my favorite song on the album, at least so far.

Zak Smith is my favorite kind of musician: the kind who proves that appearances are deceiving. You see that determined expression and you think, “Here comes some cheesy metal or some sloppy grunge.” You’re a game sort so you press play anyway. Instead of painfully-self-indulgent anger or a doubly-painful Nirvana imitation you get a fully-developed suite of interesting, well-produced songs that are wholly-original rock and roll.

You now do a happy dance, because getting new, good music does that to you. Then you settle down and listen because Zak (you’re starting to feel like you can call him that, now) wrote actual, meaningful lyrics and you’re missing them. Those ladies kick in on back-up and you think, “Oh, yeah!” And that’s just the first song, which is pretty mellow.

Now, the official single pre-released is Brand New Party and if you click you can watch a video about Occupy Wall Street. It’s most definitely worth your time but it’s not quite the best the album offers.

Keep listening to the album and you’ll bump into Crawling. From start to finish this one keeps your toes tapping while you groove on the imagery. “You be the ark and I’ll be the flood,” he croons roughly and you picture it, a strange sort of love song for a relationship that could use a little lifting over the rocky parts.

That’s pretty apt for a lot of the album. You can let it wash over you, enjoying the melody and the catchy chorus, or you can dig into the lyrics and get a glimpse of Zak Smith himself. For the record, I still think he sounds like a cross between Jim Bianco—but without the sly wink around which most of Bianco’s music seems to be built—and Martin Sexton. Lyrically he’s more Jackson Browne. I like Jackson Browne.

I came into possession of an album of jazz and swing standards from The Tony Giulizia Trio. When I first heard him sing I thought it was intended to be a spoof of bad lounge singers and I kept waiting for a punch line. It never came.

Now, I hesitated to post this because he and his family are respected jazz musicians and teachers thereof in Vail, Colorado. The ski resort is hardly known as a hotbed of world-class jazz musicians but honestly I hope his students don’t take vocal advice from Tony.

Was that too mean? I just get frustrated when I hear someone record music I love with all of the feeling that most people bring to washing the dishes. If you don’t love the song then sing something else! But don’t put out an album of standards that don’t move you just because you think it’s expected of you.

To be fair, the album opens with a passable instrumental. In fact, if there were no vocals this would be a decent record. Alas, it was not to be. Not only does Mr. Gulizia offer a soulless version of The Frim Fram Sauce (one of my favorite songs, by the way), he leers at a Satin Doll and mangles Fly Me to the Moon so badly it could be subtitled “In Udder Murds”. It is clear that he fancies himself Frank Sinatra reincarnated. He is not.

It’s not that he has a horrible voice. He does a nice job of covering Al Jarreau's We’re in This Love Together, after all. It’s that he tries too hard on so many of the songs to throw embellishments where they don’t belong. He adds “scat” so stiff and rehearsed that it’s almost embarrassing to hear.

He should stick with straightforward singing and leave the vocal gymnastics to people who can stick the landing. And if he doesn’t have a Brooklyn accent he shouldn’t try to imitate one to sound like someone he isn’t.

With the advent of lovely weather comes bicycling, in this case a very long ride with the entire family. As we pedaled our way across quiet byways and down forested paths (and across the highway and under a busy bridge) the bicycle chase scene from The Triplets of Belleville played in my mind. And what's a bicycle chase without the appropriate music?

Thus I bring you a lovely jazz tune written to accompany one of the most inventive chase scenes in modern film, composed by the talented Benoit Charest and performed by some fabulous people. I'm too flipping tired to look up proper spellings. Just enjoy the song and have a lovely evening.

Happy March, darlings, and Happy Mashup Day! For this gorgeous start to spring, this glorious vernal equinox, I bring you a mash of celebration. Literally. Celebration.

I defy you all not to shake your booties to this combination of cheesy hip hop song (from the Ying Yang Twins with Pitbull, if that tells you anything) and some Kool & the Gang-ian goodness. Celeshake makes you want to throw your hands in the air, shake your thang, and generally whoop it up like they do in the chorus. Well, it does me.

And so enjoy Celeshake from the ever-so-talented A Plus D. Naturally, you can download the track for free from their bootie mashup site, where a ton and a half of wonderful is just laying around waiting for you. Now that’s something to Celebrate.

Do you know what's awesome? When one of your favorite people covers one of your favorite bands. And what is less awesome? When the cover is so depressing (in tone, not that it's bad) that you almost never listen to it.

For clarification, please have a listen to Jim Bianco's cover of Life During Wartime and then the Talking Heads original. This happens to be a favorite song of mine (the Talking Heads version) and I adore Jim Bianco, as you may know. But I just can't listen to him cover this song! I keep thinking, "Pick it up, Bianco!"

Try both, in particular if you don't already know the Talking Heads song by heart, and let me know what you think of the cover.

Let's have something Irish for the drunken debauchery people pretend is about celebrating the supposed accomplishments of St. Patrick. Flogging Molly offers a bit more than traditional Irish drinking songs and Devil's Dance Floor in particular showcases their more-punk sensibilities while still keeping to their traditional roots. If you like this one (and, really, how could you not?) have a listen to Kiss My Irish Ass and a whole angry pile of Flogging Molly at Grooveshark. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I'd intended only to post Goyte and the Somebody That I Used to Know duet with Kimbra but, when I went to get it for you, I uncovered Elliot Smith's song of the same name. The Isley Brothers had one without the "that" but it was dreadful so I'll spare you.

At any rate, I thought I'd share both with you: two different takes on rough break-ups and the pain of no longer being in love. I know, it's a little depressing for my usual style. Suck it up, princesses. If you get too down, stop listening to this Goyte fellow immediately. He'll only bring you down further.

For tomorrow I promise something more upbeat. In the meantime, have a listen and let me know whether you think Goyte or Elliot Smith do a better job capturing the subject.

Here's a bit of a nonsense song for you on a lovely Wednesday, Spring evening: Shoobie Oobie from Rosco Gordon. It's a great little Motown-blues sort of ditty, fun for sing-a-longs and just for grooving in your chair. It surprised me that I didn't find any covers out there. You'd have thought all kinds of folks would want to have a good time recording or performing this one. If they have I don't know about it. If you do, drop me a note!

Many, many months ago (about three and a half years' worth) I posted a little history of the song I Fought the Law with nary an embedded player to be seen. Then I wrote a little article about it, including videos, lyrics, and more and forgot all about it.

But it seems high time I gave you all a way to actually enjoy the song right here on The NPJ. For a song coming up on its sixtieth birthday I Fought the Law is still remarkably fresh-sounding to my ears. It's certainly been updated and re-imagined enough times over the passing decades.

Thus I've added for your listening pleasure everyone from Johnny Cash and Hank Williams, Jr, to The Pogues and The Grateful Dead. Naturally, I've included the Bobby Fuller Four version that is so well-known and The Clash who, for me, recorded the iconic cover thereof. In all you'll find fifteen versions of the song here, though no Green Day and no Bruce Springsteen, thank you very much.

Don't miss the 80s rockabilly goodness of the Stray Cats or the barely-understandable version from Mano Negra. The Beatsteaks recorded an oddly affecting cover of the song, very gritty and a little downbeat. And Die Toten Hosen, not quite a German Clash cover band but close, naturally recorded a great version, as well. Let me know which one you like best!

I know it's not time for the Mashup of the Month yet but I just had to share this one with you. I haven't posted A-Punk from Vampire Weekend but, next to Oxford Comma it's my favorite Vampire Weekend song. Imagine how tickled I was, thus, to find it mixed with TI and Rihanna's Live Your Life.

I'm on another mashup tear but this one really begged me to share it. Naturally, you can download it for free from the Party Ben web site but have a listen, here. You know I like you to try before you buy, even if it is really a no-money-down proposition. I've also included the original for A-Punk because I discovered I'd never posted it before. There's been enough written about Vampire Weekend that I didn't think you needed yet another bunch of blather about them in a separate post.

As a side note, one of these days I'm going to put together a playlist of all of the Imperial March mashups I've found. Star Wars seems to be as big with DJs as it is with the rest of us geeks, or perhaps it's just that it's such an iconic bit of music. Whatever the case, Party Ben made the list for that, too.

I tend to make associations between musicians, sometimes with little reason. In the case of Zak Smith, however, my immediate thought was of E. In part that stems from the similarity in their voices, not so much in sound but in feel.

For me, this slightly raspy, honeyed wool sort of voice seems cozy, more intimate than screamers or smooth crooners. It's a piece of why I like Jim Bianco so much. And Zak Smith has it, too.

As a bonus you get lyrics that actually interest you and a polished sound unlike a lot of first-album musicians who end up sounding like they've recorded in a culvert and the suppressed the vocals.

I've chosen to share Cynthia with you because of a complete tangent on which I will go right now. Every time I hear Zak ask, "Where's your head at, Cynthia?" The Alcoskalics pop into my head yelling, "Richard, where's your cranium?"

I was going to include both songs but, as wondrous as the the musical bounty of the Internet may be, I could find no way to share Richard Cranium with you. It doesn't pop up on YouTube anywhere and I couldn't find it anywhere I could embed from except a sketchy-looking site that was mostly in Russian and it didn't seem to work anyway.

Whatever the case, I still want to share Zak Smith and Cynthia with you all. Do let me know what you think and click over to Soundcloud via the player to hear more.

I mentioned the other day that I thought Foster the People had a shoe fetish. What I didn’t add was that Collarbone from Fujiya & Miyagi comes to mind every time I listen to them.

Now, at first glance...err, hearing you likely don’t see a connection between Collarbone and shoes. You’ve got to give it a listen, my dears. Once through and “go to get a new pair of shoes” will explain all. And even if it doesn’t you’ll get to hear a great Fujiya & Miyagi song so you win either way.

People send me terrific music and I post it. That’s pretty much a given for a music blog, right? But after a time I have some of these songs in my regular playlist (all 1,200 songs of it) and they become just one more song that I love.

They become familiar and cozy, like your favorite hoodie that you habitually throw on when you’re chilly. It may be dark and a little geeky, but it’s a part of your life. And then, one day, someone will say something about the graphic or the logo you’d all but forgotten was on it and you suddenly appreciate it with new eyes.

Or ears, in this case. I’ve been listening to Anya Marina for a good, long time now. Two Left Feet has played in the background at least a dozen times and I groove to it, chair dancing and sometimes singing along if no one’s around, without really thinking about it. Today someone asked me who it was.

Suddenly, I really listened to the song again as I hadn’t for months. And, do you know what? Two Left Feet is a great song! I knew that, of course, or it wouldn’t pop up so often on my computer. But I thought I’d share it with you so you could know it, too.

It's Your Thing has really been around the block. I've known of the Isley Brothers original for decades and have always loved the song. But you know that's not good enough. I had to have more!

You'll be pleased to know that I subjected myself to covers and mislabeled songs enough to create this list of six versions, naturally including the Isley Brothers and, less naturally, a Milli Vanilli version. Just be glad I took out a couple of lackluster whine-fests and Kris Kross.

I did keep a curiously-mellow Aretha Franklin version, though the lack of attitude surprised me, and a nice Jackson 5 cover. Naturally, The Temptations did a great job with it and Booker T and the MGs put their own stamp on it as well.

If you have a favorite cover of It's Your Thing, whether because it's so good or because it stinks to high heaven, please let me know. And if you like the Milli Vanilli version get the hell off my blog. Just kidding. Mostly.

In case you missed it, NPR offered a huge pile of free downloads for some of this year's SXSW bands. You know I (digitally) ran right over to snag the lot.

Of them, The Front Bottoms grabbed my attention the hardest. The song posted was Maps, which means you can head over there and get your own copy for free, and between the lyrics and the music it brought me back for a second listen, a pretty good trick when among dozens of indie tracks.

Thus I'm offering you a listen today as well as the link to a lot more. And the next time you say you don't care about politics remember these are the people whose funding Congress wanted to eliminate. Look what they do and then realize that those people in Washington really can have an every-day effect on your lives. Now have a listen to Maps while I put this soapbox away until next time.

I've never particularly been a Fiona Apple fan, though I don't actively dislike her music. It's just never really been my thing. But, as with anything, not listening means missing something. In this case, it was Criminal that I missed.

Criminal tells the story of a woman who didn't know what she had until it was gone, but does so in a clever metaphor. It's also a Mass Effect Song for me, but that's pretty off-topic for The NPJ. If you're a fan, you can read a short explanation for each song at Just a BioWare Fan.

At any rate, the remix version on "Tidal" has enough meat on it to carry the solid lyrics and the attitude is a sauce with enough tang to really make you want more. Dangit! Can you tell I had barbeque for lunch? At any rate, what I meant to point out was that, the first time I heard Criminal I thought it was a Florence + the Machine song I'd missed.

THat means I'd like to hear more. If you've a Fiona Apple song you think I'll like, do post it. I think I've been missing out, perhaps, and don't really know where to start.