I try not to overwhelm you all with awesome, Danny-Elfman-filled goodness but some days I just have to share. While Everybody Needs finishes out the theoretically solo 1984 album, "So Lo", we all know it was a record contract dodge and the rest of Oingo Boingo is backing him.The real question about this album is, "What is it that Everybody Needs?" As with so much Boingo, this album as well, the answer is usually, "A release." It's often, "A way to escape my life," and sometimes, "To know that I'm not the only one." Considering the depth and breadth of bad behavior Elfman and Co. explored over the years, you'd be hard pressed to find something you know better than to do that you keep finding yourself doing that isn't shared by plenty of others.
Of course, now we have the Internet and need Oingo Boingo much less. We can get that reassurance via a simple Google search that will bring us thousands of results to soothe our sense of deviance. Personally, I still like to go back to the old-school way and let Danny Elfman tell me I'm okay.
Today's songs all started with one that isn't even on it. I've not mentioned my love for spy music for some time but it's still there and a song like Undercover Agent for the Blues is right up that alley. Once I started down it, though, I thought I'd find more undercover songs.
Find them I did! While you get the Billy Joe White version of the original song (as I've never really been a fan of Tina Turner's voice), you can also listen to that ubiquitous 70s hit Undercover Angel as well as Snoop Dogg and Bootsy Collins going undercover for funk. Technically, Agent 13 doesn't have undercover as the first word in the title but I really wanted to include Undercover Ska and the song seemed to fit beautifully.
I've also included some rockin' Monster Truck, a little Two Door Cinema, and some badly-mastered Silver Bullet (are you still rapping back there? I can't hear you!) If that's not enough, I threw in OPM and their surprisingly enjoyable Undercover Freak. Have a listen to all nine and let me know if you've got a favorite undercover song that I missed.
Find them I did! While you get the Billy Joe White version of the original song (as I've never really been a fan of Tina Turner's voice), you can also listen to that ubiquitous 70s hit Undercover Angel as well as Snoop Dogg and Bootsy Collins going undercover for funk. Technically, Agent 13 doesn't have undercover as the first word in the title but I really wanted to include Undercover Ska and the song seemed to fit beautifully.
I've also included some rockin' Monster Truck, a little Two Door Cinema, and some badly-mastered Silver Bullet (are you still rapping back there? I can't hear you!) If that's not enough, I threw in OPM and their surprisingly enjoyable Undercover Freak. Have a listen to all nine and let me know if you've got a favorite undercover song that I missed.
I defy you, my darlings, to scowl through this song. I double dog dare you to resist the urge to pop your hips with Michael Jackson at the brilliance of the Prado Perez track that is the backing music to Lou Bega's Mambo No. 5. Beat It No. 5 shows you all precisely why I love mashups: Mambo Jackson that somehow still works, though you'd likely never have thought to yourself, "I wonder if the King of Pop ever did the mambo?"
This wondrous piece of smile-inducing mashup gold is, as are all my Mashups of the Month, available free of charge from it's sharp-witted creator, DJ Rozroz. Should you wander over to his profile you will see that he's a wizard with the oldies as well as a fan of the 80s.
This wondrous piece of smile-inducing mashup gold is, as are all my Mashups of the Month, available free of charge from it's sharp-witted creator, DJ Rozroz. Should you wander over to his profile you will see that he's a wizard with the oldies as well as a fan of the 80s.
You can't really classify David Stephenson because you never know what his next song will sound like. He does some lovely acoustic guitar numbers, some punk-y rock tunes, and then--out of the blue--you get Back That Booty Up. It's playful disco with the least deep lyrics you can imagine, which is pretty darned shallow if you your imagination is colored by pop songs.
Nonetheless, the song has cracked me up this morning while making me do some quality chair dancing. Thus I've brought it to you, my darlings. Have a listen and then head over to SoundCloud to hear more from this musical chameleon.
Nonetheless, the song has cracked me up this morning while making me do some quality chair dancing. Thus I've brought it to you, my darlings. Have a listen and then head over to SoundCloud to hear more from this musical chameleon.
I discovered today the next step in the the evolutionary arc of my favorite music. We've gone from Eilen Jewell's tasty rockabilly to Gin Wigmore's neo-soul update of the sound and now I bring you Ivy Levan. I don't know where this girl is going but, if she continues to knock this swingin' soul sound out of the park I can't wait until she gets there.
I don't know if she's a fan of Janelle Monae but her look has a lot in common with yet another of my favorite songstresses. Her thematic EP does as well, though she's chosen a completely different story. Watch Hot Damn and see if you don't fall in love with that sultry beat and those retro dresses--and Ivy Levan's great voice.
If you want more, I've posted Money on my G+ page. I welcome your thoughts on either site!
I don't know if she's a fan of Janelle Monae but her look has a lot in common with yet another of my favorite songstresses. Her thematic EP does as well, though she's chosen a completely different story. Watch Hot Damn and see if you don't fall in love with that sultry beat and those retro dresses--and Ivy Levan's great voice.
If you want more, I've posted Money on my G+ page. I welcome your thoughts on either site!
I'm trying out the new embed feature from G+ so apologies if this cross-post doesn't work as intended. I liked this Korean ska band so much that I didn't feel any need to find another awesome song to post tonight!
For today let's enjoy the pop-y Apples and Oranges from Suite 709, a nice song about opposites attracting. For contrast, add The Phoenix Foundation and their slightly more out-there pairing of Apples and Tangerines. This, my dears, is pop versus indie drawn starkly with just song titles. The music just makes the point more sharply.
Suite 709 is sweet and predictable, a "you and me against the world" song that could have come from any of the past four decades. It's a good song, it's just not great. The Phoenix Foundation takes the same concept and skews it, moving the point of comparison just far enough to take away that anticipated theme and make you pay a bit more attention. That doesn't make it a great song, by default, it just makes it more engaging.
But that's my own prejudice writing there. I ask you, my darlings, to listen to both songs and let me know who you think does a better job with the concept of incomparables coming together. In other words, you pick the winner.
Suite 709 is sweet and predictable, a "you and me against the world" song that could have come from any of the past four decades. It's a good song, it's just not great. The Phoenix Foundation takes the same concept and skews it, moving the point of comparison just far enough to take away that anticipated theme and make you pay a bit more attention. That doesn't make it a great song, by default, it just makes it more engaging.
But that's my own prejudice writing there. I ask you, my darlings, to listen to both songs and let me know who you think does a better job with the concept of incomparables coming together. In other words, you pick the winner.
A few months back I panned the development of the Swedish band Mando Diao but I'd not yet checked out the side project Caligola that two of the members have been pursuing for a couple of years. I finally got around to it and I'm here to report that they've gotten over the mopey turn the band has taken.
Take, for instance, the disco-fueled Forgive Forget, just indie enough to be modern while tweaking my 70s sensibilities. This is more a return to the energy of Long Before Rock 'n' Roll and much more to my liking. I'll be following them with interest but for now just enjoy this taste of their sound.
Take, for instance, the disco-fueled Forgive Forget, just indie enough to be modern while tweaking my 70s sensibilities. This is more a return to the energy of Long Before Rock 'n' Roll and much more to my liking. I'll be following them with interest but for now just enjoy this taste of their sound.
Despite their vintage-y, 80s sound on No You Didn't, No You Don't, The Courteeners are a strictly modern band. Sure, they might sound like a cross between The Housemartins and Vampire Weekend from time to time but that's really all to the good. Real life's been kicking me in the rear of late but I haven't forgotten you all. Please consider this rollicking good time of a song my peace offering and a promise that I'll be back more in the near future.
