The Not-Pop Jukebox

Many moons ago, when the Del McCoury Band and the Perservation Hall Jazz Band released their album "American Legacies", I posted the only song I could find on-line at the time, Jambalaya. Mullensburg Joys, however, was the song that I desperately wanted to share with you.

Even if you're a fan of neither bluegrass nor Dixieland jazz, you have to be amazed at how the two styles merge into one fantastic, enormous band of awesome. Now, it just so happens that part of the reason I wanted to share this song was the whole reason that they recorded it in the first place: it's known by nearly identical names in either genre and is a standard in both. That's your daily dose of music education and horns, all in one post. Happy Tuesday!

I came upon a pair of songs today that have identical beginnings and then veer off in wildly different directions. One was Los Fabulosos Cadillacs with El Matador and the other Paul Simon's The Obvious Child. Now, "Rhythm of the Saints" was released in 1990 and "Vasos Vacíos" in 1993 so I think it's safe to guess that the former influenced the latter rather than the other way around. Given Paul Simon's searching out of global music influences, however, and the fact that Los Fabulosos Cadillacs has been around since 1985, however, I don't know that the two didn't cross-pollinate at some point.

Whether they did or not, have a listen to both songs and let me know which one you like better. Personally, The Obvious Child has long been a favorite of mine but I've enjoyed El Matador a whole lot in the short time I've known about it. Cast your vote and, if you have some insider knowledge, let me know if Paul Simon spent some time in Argentina in the late 80s.

Be thankful I left off the subtitle, my dears, as The Legend of the Last of the Outlaw Truckers is already vying for "longest post title ever". You should, however, know that this song is The Ballad of Sheriff Shorty. That's not why I'm posting it, however.

The Dandy Warhols do a bunch of dreamy, wandering, syth-heavy pop but, at least once on every album, they nail me with their ability to force me to dance. On their Vonnegut-themed album, it was I Am a Scientist and on "...Earth to the Dandy Warhols..." it's Last of the Outlaw Truckers.

Actually, they scored two in a row on this album, with Mis Amigos actually getting me moving before Sheriff Shorty got me out of my seat. As with a lot of Dandy Warhols songs, this one doesn't make a lot of sense if you just read the lyrics. You need the energy of the song (and their great storytelling) to get the real feel of it. Have a listen to The Legend of the Last of the Outlaw Truckers a.k.a The Ballad of Sheriff Shorty and, if you like the way it hearkens back to the trucker/country songs of old while still being a total jam, do let me know.

I'm not sure why I waited so long to post Freak Out after my last Tapes n' Tapes post. Happily, I'm told that #fridayfreakout is a thing so I have an excuse to share it with you today. As spring has finally arrived, complete with flood, it seems a fitting song filled with rock riffs and and eminently dance-able beat...and freaking out, of course.

On this Merry Go Round you get freaky carnival music with catchy lyrics, like the line that gave The Lolligags's album its name: “Out of perversity we join hands.” I’m not sure in what way they find themselves perverse but it definitely gives you something to ponder while you’re enjoying the song. (No, not perverts, silly, perverse. They’re different—look it up.)

I do rather want to take a ride on the Zipper now, though Merry Go Round seems a bit tame for this great mood-setter. Indeed, they rather remind me of the 80s Siouxsie and the Banshees. You can’t help but tap those toes and do some quality chair dancing while The Lolligags tell you how much they want to go to the spooky-sounding carnival. Let me know if it makes you wish for fried food on a stick and creepy carnies, too.

Here's a delightful song from one of Putomayo's great compilation albums (this would be the Calypso record, natch). This one is Calypso Mama coming up with several creative ways to use yes as a euphemism for...hindquarters. Sorry for the brief post but I'd hate to spoil the song for you all. Have a listen and I'll be blabbier tomorrow, I promise.

I promised you all more Gin Wigmore and today I intend to deliver. Kill of the Night gives you a perfect taste of her: part rockabilly, part Eartha Kitt, part Amy Winehouse, all attitude. In addition, the song gives new meaning to the term "maneater". Have a listen and let me know if you're ready for more!

From time to time it amuses me to realize that there are pop songs out there that I know thought I’ve never heard the original. When I think of Adele, for instance, I think of her as re-imagined by Marc Johnce (with all sorts of pop music) and DJs from Mars (with Robin S). I’ve heard her over thrash metal and slowed down to a lady Barry White. I have no idea how the song is “supposed” to sound.

Daft Beatles mashed Rolling in the Deep with Sweet Dreams. DJ Maya Jakobson added some classical and some Britney Spears to make ‘Til the Swan Lose Deep Control. Dan Mei chose to lay Adele over Fire and Flames to give her that 200-bpm, flame-broiled bite. ShyBoy slowed her and rolled her with Underworld to make Born in the Deep (Rolling Slippy).

Then there's Ryan Nellis, who rolled Adele through the Eye of the Tiger and the one that slew me, the piece de resistance, Wick-it the Instigator's Rolling in the Fire, which takes Rolling in the Deep and gives it some deep funk.

Naturally, you can download all of these for free. Just click the links above. I've got a set at SoundCloud so that you can hear them but Dan Mei's track isn't there so you get that one on a separate player. Have a listen and let me know which you like best, or if you're true to the original.

Sh-Boom is one of those songs that I've known since I was a kid, though I haven't the faintest idea from where. It's long been an earworm and I've spent more than my fair share of time trying to emulate the "yaddadadadadadadada" part at speed. Just so you know, I still can't do it as well as The Crew Cuts.

Imagine my delight at hearing the song when watching Cars with my kids. I was sad it was so short but I've made up for it by making them listening to it fully many times since then. I'd like to think some day they'll have it stuck in their heads and will play it for their little ones, too. Until then, I want to share it with you.

I need some cheering up, what with all the stupid snow this week, so I turned to the utterly cheerful pop sensibilities of The Peekers. I defy you not to be perked up by Hey Little Kitty and to avoid having it stuck in your head for days.

The song is pretty much the perfect introduction to The Peekers, as well. It's this perky pile of pop of yesteryear (because, really, pop today is more about bass and computer-enhanced voices) that turns into a couple of different songs along the way to its abrupt conclusion. It also gives you a healthy dose of their sweet harmony, something else you don't much find in pop these days but should.

Should you be able to tear yourself away from Hey Little Kitty, do have a listen to Sweet Potato. You can't beat an opening line like "My words are like potatoes flying through the window." I think The Peekers would have been an enormous hit in the Sixties, but happily we're around to hear whatever they finally come up with next, if they ever do. It's been four years, Peekers. How's that next album coming?

Clearly, I'm feeling funky this weekend. I blame the snow that was promised and which keeps threatening but not happening. Either way, I'd like to go upside the head of Mother Nature and remind her that it's the middle of April.

In that mood, I'm jamming to The Gap Band and dancing to Oops Upside Your Head. The song has a lengthy subtitle: I Don't Believe You Want to Get Up and Dance. The Gap Band certainly does, however. Have a listen! Don't make me to upside your head...or make you listen to what Snoop Dogg did to the song.

I got an e-mail that Cuñao had released a new album but, as I'd never listened before, I got sidetracked by the one before it. Once I listened to it, I knew I had to bring you all a taste, just to get you interested.

Now, if you don't speak Spanish (as I do not) you can still settle into the grooves. As a bonus, El Hambre starts in English to give you a sense of the song. The it grabs a hold of your hips and starts to move you. Someday soon I'll have a listen to the new album but, for how, I'm enjoying "Trabajo y Ron". I hope you do, too!

"

I'm hungry, and there's only one thing that will do: funk so thick you can eat it with a spoon. To that end, find out what makes The Bar-Kays Too Hot to Stop. It's a full meal of funk, with a side of love song and a big helping of horns to make you drool.

Dang, I really am hungry now. Get your groove on to work up your own appetites, my darlings, and let me know if you think there's a funkier Bar-Kays song that Too Hot to Stop.

A few months ago I whined about how Sweden gets pop like Mando Diao. Since then, I've listened to a fair number of their songs and I really can't believe where they went over a mere decade, musically.

To demonstrate, I've selected three songs. Sweet Ride comes from their 2002 full debut album. Then Mexican Hardcore, in which the grungy and the garage has been taken out of their sound, from 2007. Last, I've included Go out Tonight, which I actually love but which sounds like an entirely different band. That one was released in 2009. I've chosen to spare you the dragging, depressing "Infruset" from 2012. Suffice it to say I shan't be seeking out any new albums from the band.

Have a listen to their transformation and let me know what you think. Do you like them better at their roots or in full flower? If you're a fan and you think I'm off the mark with my opinion of their latest, I'm happy to be proven wrong. Point me at the good stuff!

While Trout Fishing in America has more in common with Flight of the Conchords than they do Simon and Garfunkel, they did improve upon a wonderfully fun song that I thought I ought to share with you all. It's one of the few coffee songs I haven't posted.

I like this version better than the album version because they're not trying to get the audience to sing along. I would like them to keep going faster and faster at the end until they trip over their own tongues, though. That would be wildly entertaining.

At any rate, have a Proper Cup of Coffee with Trout Fishing in America. Whatever you do don't listen to the Andrews Sisters version of the song. It's dreadful. One would have thought they didn't have a copper pot between them!

What's more high-energy than disco funk? An All Hazards remix thereof, of course. I can't imagine a song more likely to get me out on the floor than Party Down. It takes serious boogie and cranks it up to eleven, which is pretty much what All Hazards does to everything.

Party Down is one of those songs that I've been enjoying for ages and thought I'd long posted for you all. Luckily for you I think to check, from time to time, and realize when I've deprived you of yet another San Francisco treat. The duo has a lot of dancing just waiting for you. Head on over to SoundCloud for lots more.

It's been a while since I brought you any Sleeper Agent. What more perfect time than early Saturday morning for some high-energy, grubby, scrubby rock that keeps changing tempo to mess with your coffee-deprived brain? None, I say, and that's why I'm listening to Get It Daddy and you should too.

If that's not enough, you get a catchy chorus and a great, hard rock bridge where one of the guys takes the lead. It turns out Sleeper agent has been around the block. They appear to be relatively well known and somewhat popular. Part of me is glad to hear it and part thinks, "Am I going to have to start listening to commercial radio again?" Then I shake it off, laugh at my foolishness, and continue finding great music through unconventional means. It's not like I missed a great, fun band like Sleeper Agent entirely, right? And now, neither have you.

It's not everyone who can sing a charming song about a woman who's afraid of the number thirteen. Perhaps you should have expected that Jimmy Sutton's Four Charms would combine their powers to do so. Perhaps not. Whatever the case, have an old song that could never have been a hit because no one can spell Triskaidekaphobia. If you know of any other number phobia songs I'd love to hear them, though I'll be mighty surprised if you do.

As a tidbit, this is the same Four Charms that performed Hit That Jive, Jack so long ago (or sound like it, as "Flatland Boogie" was released in 2000). Triskaidekaphobia is the title track from their 2005 album. I've tagged this as "oldies" for the sound, not the actual age of the song.

It's flood time again, which means volunteer work for me and short posts for you. I couldn't let you get away without giving you the wonderful Koop and their sample-made big band sound. I chose Come to Me as the introductory post here on The NPJ because I love Yukimi Nagano's voice and the swing is so strong. Enjoy and do look for more Koop here in the future and all over the web in the meantime.