The Not-Pop Jukebox

It's been a snow day here and I've wounded myself shoveling frozen slush so I'd rather not think about the weather. Thus I've turned to Persephone's Bees and their pop-like Nice Day to help me pretend that it was, indeed, not so bad. This particular version is the "Chris Cox Radio Mix" and was, indeed, the version I heard on the radio.

Persephone's Bees is based out of Oakland, California, but Angelina Moysov grew up in Russia and the accent still clearly shows. They're a pop band, pure and simple, but under the radar enough that they still qualify as something I'd like to share with more people.

I bring you today another earworm, one that’s been plaguing me for a week. It seems any time some asks anything about circles or if something will go Billy Preston leaps into my head asking, “Will it go ‘round in circles?” Repeatedly. With horns.

But I really like the song, so I’m going to inflict it on you all. I had finally gotten it out of my head for a couple of days but we dared to venture out of the house yesterday afternoon and there it was playing on the muzac at the store. Honestly, I think Mr. Preston is haunting me (presuming he is, in fact, deceased). The kids and I got a little quality public dancing done but now it’s been circling my brain for 24 hours and I’m hoping that this will pass it on to you.

But when I went to get the original Will It Go 'Round in Circles I found a whole pile of versions from such sources as Phish, Dave Matthews, Martin Sexton, and The String Cheese Incident. Naturally you get to enjoy the whole bunch. Now you know I love you.

I find music news in the strangest places. Wired Magazine alerted me to the fact that Beck, with members of Os Mutantes and Liars, remade the INXS album "Kick" last year. And you know what that means: I ran straight to Grooveshark and listened to both.

Most of the songs were mutated but recognizable. A few, however, managed to keep the flavor of the INXS original while still doing something interesting with it. And so I present to you all the snarky Guns in the Sky and the slinky Need You Tonight as presented both by INXS and by Beck & Friends. Now I quite liked what they did with the former but, for me, the female vocals on the latter don't work. That may be because of a lingering, heroin-hero crush from the 80s. I just think the song was far sexier in the original. The new version might work pretty well in a slinky club scene for a movie, though. It's definitely more modern that the 1987 version.

So, what say you, darlings? Do you like the new takes on the old greats or do you prefer the original 80s wonders?

Every so often I line up song titles that tell a little story. In this case, I’ve got three songs that sum up the whole of religious sentiment: Too Much Heaven, Heaven Can Wait, and No Heaven. Indeed the three also work together to trace musical development from the 70s to the 2000s: a falsetto-filled symphonic love song from the Bee Gees, a more bass-heavy beauty from Michael Jackson, and a traditional song turned into an electro dance number by Champion.

So my question to you isn’t particularly clear, even in my own mind. Certainly, I’d love to know which song you like the best of the three but do you think they work together as a set? When I listened to them in that order it seemed a heavenly progression but sometimes I fear I get too entertained by my own cleverness to be objective. Do tell, my dears.

A rare night on the town yesterday has combined with an absolute orgy of rich food at work today to leave me feeling bloated and slightly nauseous. I sought, thus, to find a song that embodied my indulgence this week: too much of everything. I considered Jason Mraz's Too Much Food but ultimately Chuck Berry simply offered too much fun to pass up Too Much Monkey Business. And the exercise gave me a great idea for a round of You Pick the winner that I'll share with you tomorrow. Until then, pass the Pepto and don't turn the song up too much. I'll be taking a nap.