The Not-Pop Jukebox

Voodoo is, hands down, the slinkiest, sexiest thing I've heard this month. I consider a capella to be a guilty pleasure because, so often, it's creative arrangements of songs done by a hundred other people. I admire their talent and their teamwork but it's so rare for me to find really great original a capella song (hence my adoration for Throat Culture).

Right into the middle of my preconceptions came Street Corner Symphony with and entire album of original work. They picked Voodoo as the first single and in about twelve seconds you can hear why. As a bonus, you get a lot of slinky, burlesque moves and old-school suits. You don't need them, however, unless you want to see the guys and gals who are making all of that hip-swinging music just with their mouths. Even in context, did that sound dirty?

Cedar Walton died today (though it may well be yesterday for some of you by now). While I know a great many people think of him as a pianist, when I hear his name I think if the sadly short "Mobius" album. He played the synthesizer, with a great many talented folks, and covered Blue Trane with an original arrangement of his own.

Now, songs like this explain why I love jazz. Not only do you get wildly talented musicians making things up as they go along, you generally get horns and when you find a song you love it often goes on for ten minutes. (In case you couldn't tell, that was a hint that this song lasts ten funky, jazzy, brassy minutes.) Enjoy, and do let me know if you have a favorite Cedar Walton song.

By now I've likely raved enough about Salsa Celtica that you've been chomping at the bit for more--if you haven't already gone out and bought a couple of albums. Today I'm doing a double post of the Scottish salsa band. Here you can listen to the exuberant Yo Me Voy which, given the verve with which they toss it into the song, means less "I'm leaving" and more "I'm outta here!"

The other song I've posted on my Google+ NPJ page. That one is El Agua de la Vida and has the added benefit of combining the bagpipes and horns with fiddle all at the same time.

Regardless of the specific instrumentation, you get the salsa music hot enough to make you want to wear one of those awesome loose skirts and really shake your hips with interludes of pipes just spicy enough to make you wonder if haggis could possibly be all bad. Let me know if it is, would you? I love Salsa Celtica but not quite enough to actually try it.

The whole purpose of mashups is to bend genres, to blend decades into wholly new music that a wide audience can appreciate…in the form of getting down to songs that all but demand you dance. Forme has taken this to a new level by combining a nonsense song that personifies the 60s surf scene and mashing it with Skrillex.

Now, everybody’s heard about the bird if they’re over the age of 25 or so but I’d bet a good portion of those folks who know the word are unfamiliar with the Bangarang. Here we have a mashup to bring generations together, a real wedding-dance winner guaranteed to fill the floor. Okay, it does in my living room, where the kids and I pretty much take up the available dancing space.

Give it a shot yourself and see if it doesn’t get you moving. Whether you come to is as a fan of The Trashman or of Skrillex, Surfin’ Bird Bangarang gives you a lot to enjoy. Naturally, you can download this Mashup of the Month for free via the link on Forme's SoundCloud upload.

I often feel like I don't get Coeur de Pirate's videos. It's like the songs go one direction and the videos another...and then an abrupt ending. Take, as a case in point, Ensemble. You get the great instrumentation, the little-girl voice, the lovely Beatrice Martin, and overall a wonderful tune. And then you watch the video and you wonder, "Have I gotten this whole song wrong?"

So you check the lyrics, just to make sure. You were right: the song has nothing to do with an evil twin or high school. One presumes the man in the song is the yo-yo dribbling guy making out with some woman but what about him? And then it's over.

Do yourself a favor: watch the video once, just to see what it's like, and then listen to Ensemble without it. Coeur de Pirate has a gift for making perky songs about painful topics, of which this is a great example. Let me know if you think the video fits better that I do.

http://not-pop-jukebox.blogspot.com/2012/11/golden-baby-coeur-de-pirate.html

Yet again, I'm bringing you an odd introduction to a band via a song that really doesn't well-represent their sound. No-One Will Believe Me When I'm Dead has a country vibe, enhanced by the mouth harp and the slight twang. It's a conspiracy-theory sort of tune, but for all that it really does give you the idea that The Phoenix Foundation has something to say.

And so I'm sharing a romping, stomping number from what's mostly a solid indie band because if anything will induce you to find more from The Phoenix Foundation it's No-One Will Believe Me When I'm Dead. Don't believe me? Have a listen!

No one better embodies the wonderful trend of neo-soul than the so-smooth Ryan Shaw. You would swear, in listening to him, that he stepped straight out of the 50s or 60s but with much better recording capabilities. Perhaps, rather than being reincarnated, he is a soul remastered.

For proof of my assertion, I offer you Do the 45, a cover of the Sharpees original so faithful that I did not at first realize it was one. Lest you fear it's a karaoke tune and not a serious piece of soul, rest assured that I did not select this one lightly. I jammed hard and then listened to the original, the ultimate test. Yes, they were equally dance-worthy, my darlings. Have a listen and find out for yourself. Do let me know if you disagree, or if you've a better example from Mr. Shaw.

While in general I find Babyshambles to be, well, a bit of a shambles, I thought in honor of Left Hander Day I'd share Deft Left Hand. I'd say this is my favorite of their songs. As so often happens to me, I keep coming back to the band because I'm such a sucker for a great name and you have to admit they've got that going for them. If only more of their songs were like Deft Left Hand and less like Baddie's Boogie (which isn't), I'd have posted them long ago.

Whatever the case, celebrate Lefty Day by raising your Deft Left Hand in salute. If you think I've been unfair to Babyshambles, give me some song recommendations that prove me wrong. I'm always willing to eat a little crow.

When was the last time you listened to Jungle Boogie? If you're anything like me, it's been a long time since you let Kool & the Gang shake your booty with their...uh...dulcet tones.

Bah, who am I kidding? If you want hot, grunting funk then this is your groove. If you think that sounded filthy, have a listen to the song. There's not an objectionable word in it but darned if it doesn't get you all hot and bothered, so much so that you cannot keep your seat but are forced to jump up and dance around with great vigor. If you find otherwise, I would love to hear what moves you.

Lest you have the idea that only male people can be the black sheep of their families, I bring you today three amazing songs titled Black Sheep from three fantastic ladies. You'll find the saucy, sparking thump of Gin Wigmore, the rockin' drive of The Barettas, and the smooth, guitar-rippled, stringed groove of Oi Va Voi. These women show you that there's more than one way to be a Black Sheep. If you have to be a sheep, be a black one! Let them show you how.

For a Friday flash post, let me share with you the sort of thing I love for a band to do. Let's Get Funky and Blanc Garcon go in two utterly different directions. For someone familiar with the scrungy, filthy grunts of the former the latter was a total zydeco surprise. I listen to full albums for new bands whenever possible because I never know when one of them will pull just this sort of switcheroo. Enjoy!

I wanted to let you all know that I've begun a page for The NPJ on Google+ where I'm posting some random videos with a little commentary and highlighting posts from the blog. If you're a member over there do let me know so I can get you circled!

As a reward for reading that self-promotion, please enjoy my favorite cover song, at least for the moment. It makes me smile every time, in part because it sounds like they're having so much fun and in part because it's a music-snob guilt-free way to listen to Wake Me Up Before You Go Go. Wham! never had it so good as Shawn Mullins makes it.

Let us consider, today, the problem of being a narc. It’s an unhealthy and, essentially, untenable position. Thankfully, you can consider both perspectives by comparing Julie’s Been Working for the Drug Squad, in which The Clash tells you about a so-called friend who got a little too involved in her job, and Working Undercover for the Man. The latter comes from the ever-inventive They Might Be Giants and details what may have been Julie’s thoughts…though somehow I find that unlikely.

Whether you’re a fan of police dramas or just of great music, have a listen to Julie’s Been Working and Working Undercover. Let me know which you like better or if you think this would have made a better Perfect Pair post than letting You Pick the Winner.

At the intersection of neo-soul and plain old rock and roll you'll find The Rumble Strips. As an introduction to the band, My Oh My leaves out most of the former but it offers the latter in spades to make up for it. It's also a great song about unrequited love, complete with wrong numbers and talking sheep. Toss in the driving drums and wild horns and you've got a guaranteed winner. Have a listen and let me know if you don't agree!

John Brown's Body is known for mixing other genres into their music, blurring genre lines and broadening what one might consider reggae. To me, that's all to the good. Take, for instance, This Is Drum and Bass. The song is clearly a response to the genre so named but it's also a sparse instrumental with naught but ephemeral vocal flourishes and a smattering of horns. It is, however, undeniably a reggae tune.

The reason I chose to post John Brown's Body today was not just to draw the band to your attention, in case you've missed them, but because I've been listening to "Kings & Queens", their latest album. You can listen to Shine Bright on The NPJ's Google+ Page. In the meantime, tell me if this isn't a great refutation that Drum and Bass can fit only into a simple genre definition.

I tend to think of Booker T Jones as I know him with the MGs: bluesy soul, heavy on the organ. His solo work, however, tends to be heavier (though, naturally, still chock full of the ol' Hammond). As a perfect example, have a listen to the funky instrumental groove called Potato Hole from the album of the same name. Technically "Potato Hole" isn't a solo album at all as Booker T fronts Drive By Truckers instead of The MGs, but that's just semantics, right?

Whatever the case, I know you can't resist a song title like Potato Hole, my darlings. Go ahead, click it. Have a listen. You know you want to.