The Not-Pop Jukebox

I can't help it, I love MIA. Technically she's not a chart-topper, at least here in the US, but this video does have well over 8 million views. It's over four years, but still that's pretty popular. That plus a SuperBowl performance with Madonna pretty much makes her pop music.

I don't care. I listen to a song like Buckly Done Gun and three beats in I've forgotten all about music snobbery and self-imposed rules. I'm too busy dancing. For a full-on Friday, add a little MIA. If you can take another after this one, have a listen to Galang or Bad Girls.

As I was jamming all over the living room I was thinking about her sound and thought, "What if MIA did a song with Die Antwoord?" Then my head exploded so I had to stop thinking about it. You go right ahead, though, and tell me if this is an idea for which the musical world is not ready or if it's another of my psychotic collaboration ideas that would never work.

If you've been to The NPJ in the last long while, you might have noticed my adoration of Janelle Monae. Thus I squealed like a little girl getting a pony when +Caren Kelleher pointed me at the video for Q.U.E.E.N., uploaded a whole two days ago.

Why, you may be wondering, am I calling this a True Confession post? Well, with two and a half million views in two days I'm pretty sure she can now be considered popular. But the best part? The song made me dance my booty off, drool over her coat, groove to the horns, and then raise my fist. Keep in mind the message: the booty don't lie.

Sorry, I'm too interested in watching this again to be coherent. Watch, love, and share. Happy Friday!

Once upon a time, Nelly Furtado was pop. Thankfully, that day has passed so that I can post Parking Lot, a song that it stuns me didn't top charts the world over. Of course, it stuns me that an awful lot of what I post didn't chart anywhere at all.

In this case, it's a song that's fluffy enough, with a massive beat behind it, that it ought to be played in clubs for people to enjoy. Since apparently that hasn't happened, I want to bring it to your attention, my dears. I haven't even listened to the rest of "The Spirit Indestructible" yet (though it's on my plate for today). The song was brought to my attention via the antics of David Gaider and the Dragon Age writers.

Have a listen and let me know, my dears, if you can fathom why the former Number One Nelly Furtado has disappeared from the pop charts. For the life of my I can't understand.

If you ever need to know the reason MTV took so long to come into being, a perusal of the people making the fantastic (and other) music back in the day will explain it clearly. Perhaps no one except Mick Jaggar typifies the reason no one wanted to watch them for three and a half minutes more than Matthew Wilder.

In a "wait for it" attempt, I've included his picture at the end of this post. But when you didn't see people gyrating and lip-synching their song every six minutes all you had to go on was the local radio stations and whatever your scraped-together allowances would buy at the record store. And so I confess that I've loved Break My Stride for almost thirty years, since I first heard it as a kid.

Now, I had no idea what the man looked like. Indeed, until I decided to post this, I had never seen him. The moment I did every nostalgic thing I was going to say about the wonderful times in my life when this earworm accompanied me flew right out of my head. Seriously, do you want to see this guy dancing to the song?
If that hasn't utterly ruined the song before you hear it, do give it a listen. It really is a happy, bouncy, dance-inspiring song. I hope you enjoy it and can get this abomination of a man-perm out of your head.

I know Put Your Records On was wildly popular a couple of years ago, more so in Corrinne Bailey Rae's UK home than here in the States but still it qualifies as a pop song. I don't care. I freaking love this song.

The sad thing is how long it took me to find it. I don't listen to commercial radio and the one time I heard it I misremembered the lyrics. Thus, by the time I got around to looking it up, I was looking for the phrase "girl, put your red dress on". There are a lot of great songs out there about red dresses (and, no, Lady in Red is not one of them) but none of them is Put Your Records On.

At long last, I bumped into the song again and finally got it straight. It's lovely to hear someone that sings instead of letting some computer do all of the work for her, and to hear someone celebrating playing records and favorite songs.

While I generally find Corinne Bailey Rae described as a "Northern Soul singer", for some reason Capitol Records has her listed as Hip Hop, I presume only in the US. Now that I've finally tracked down Put Your Records On I wanted to share it with you in case you, too, missed it. If you like this one, try Steady As She Goes from the same album.

Normally I wouldn't post something as wildly popular as Van Halen and their new single Tattoo, even on the day they release their new album (which they did today), even if David Lee Roth had rejoined the band (which he has). But their press release contained one bit of information that made me sit up and take notice: Kool & the Gang will open for them on some tour dates.

Now, picture yourself in 1982. If you were more than, say, nine years old would you have ever said to yourself, "In 30 years I bet Van Halen and Kool & the Gang will be touring together"? Hell, no! (Don't lie, you would not.)

And yet here we are, with yet another sign of the apocalypse come to pass. Or something like that. On top of the absolute adoration of the idea of watching these two bands perform back to back I have to admit to actually liking Tattoo, though I couldn't help but keep thinking they should have titled it The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Then again, maybe that's copyrighted.

Whatever the case, watch the video. I'm not in love with the song but I am a Diamond Dave fan so it's fun to watch him in his no-longer-skin-tight fake snakeskin pants and short hair doing the same old moves. And if anyone wants to fly me to one of the tour stops where I just know he'll be leaping on stage for a chorus of Funky Stuff, I'll gladly accept.

I was contemplating posting a "true confession" post about liking Adele and the wildly-popular Rolling in the Deep when I realized that I didn't have to. It's been mashed six ways to Sunday and all I have to do is admit to adoring one of them. And so I have for you the fastest and most furious of the mixes I've found: Dan Mei's Rolling in the Fire and Flames, in which the ever-so-calm Adele has had her RPMs boosted, big time, by Dragonforce.

Naturally you can download the mash for free, in this case at Mashup Industries Did I mention I have a new article about mashups where you can share your support (or disdain) for the DJs that create them? I didn't? Well, I do.

I'm not generally an R&B fan. My brother loves the stuff so I've heard my fair share of what I call "Ooh, Baby, Baby" music. But when I heard Marsha Ambrosious's I Hope She Cheats (with a Basketball Player) my reaction went something like this:
[snort] That's not funny.
[snicker] Cheating is wrong.
[chuckle] Bitter, indeed!

It helped that I heard said song during an interview with Ms. Ambrosious on NPR this evening. She was refreshingly unpretentious and pointed out that, while the exact words may not occur to all of us, the sentiment certainly has in that awkward, my-heart-is-still-broken-and-yours-isn't period after a break-up. It's not nice, it's not particularly healthy, but it's the sort of unkind thought many people have, even just fleetingly, when they see an ex with someone new.

As an added bonus, she has a very nice voice, and she's lovely.

While their self-produced first album has been out for a couple of years, Friendly Fires is still pop music. Indeed, that's what they do and they make no apologies for it. Neither should they, in truth. They bring enough energy to their songs to make anyone get up and dance, one at a time. As a whole album they're a little...relentless for me but I have to admit that I quite like White Diamonds. And so I'm willing to admit it to you, lest you somehow managed to miss them at the height of their indie popularity (though they're still touring and apparently were working on another album months ago, according to the rarely-updated Friendly Fires web site). Okay, I admit it: I just wanted to listen to it again. I can't help it. It's fun.

That's right, it's NSFW, people. I'm completely breaking the rules today because this song came to my attention in a quite not-pop way, despite its apparent popularity and the fact that the performer did the cheesy cover of Kung Fu Fighting at the end of Kung Fu Panda. You may or may not be familiar with the fact that I am easily amused by grown men pretending to cry in song. And so I came to this song as a modern example of the classic Albert Collins tradition.

So not only do we have a song with a swear word in the title but it's a pop song, as well. I don't care: it's been stuck in my head for four days. I can't take it any more. I also realized that the widget I had stuck in for ...But I Was Cool has gone to meet its maker. You get a two-for-one, fake crying extravaganza today, people. You're welcome.

Okay, people, I admit it: I like Billionaire. Who can't sympathize with the lyrics, with the actions in the video, and with the cute guy who looks like a skinnier, younger, tattooed version of Will Smith? Every once in a while a pop song will sneak under the radar of my not-pop snobbery and lodge itself in my ear. Travis McCoy and Bruno Mars have done just that. I promise I'll get back to the weird and wonderful next week. For Sunday, just enjoy a popular little tune and feel free to confess any current hits you actually like.