The Not-Pop Jukebox

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.

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 other day I spent some quality time listening to versions of Tu Vuo Fa' L' Americano but somehow none of them quite clicked for posting. That's because I forgot Tango Conspiracy. One wouldn't think a sort of electro-Tango group focused on Argentinian music would tackle a WWII Italian song, but clearly one would be wrong. You don't get much farther from the song's swing roots, either.

That's all to the good, though. This is a wholly new take on Tu Vuo Fa' L' Americano, more conversational than flashy but still packed with groove and attitude. Have a listen and let me know if you think it's a great read on the concept--and if you're a Tango Conspiracy fan let me know what your favorite song is.

When last I posted Lila Downs I mentioned that "Shake Away" contained what I consider the best cover of La Bamba ever recorded. Today I'd like to back that up with the pudding in which lies the proof.

This one starts slow and lovely. Then it gets bigger. Then, just when you're settling into it at :45 it turns into another song. I'm telling you, you have to hear what Lila Downs does with La Bamba to really appreciate her sound. Conveniently, you can do that right...about...now.

Having left you all without the Scottish goodness of Salsa Celtica, I thought it was high time I brought you more. My utter weakness for horns made Vampiras the perfect choice for a Saturday evening groove.

After a day's hard labor, that's about all the energy I have. Read the earlier post for a bit more about the band and enjoy Vampiras. Perhaps tomorrow I'll be half as peppy as this song.

I'd like to change the lyrics for _My Favorite Things_ to include a song that kicks me in the face on first listen and makes me run over here to share it with you. That's what happened with Lila Downs this morning. I was considering posting what I think is the best cover of La Bamba ever when I tripped over Shake Away. Since I was already chair dancing, I thought I'd keep going and the song gave me plenty to keep my shakin' it.

Then there was the theme, which brought Florence + the Machine to mind, with the bonus image of shaking it off like a rattlesnake. And then...then...well, then, my dears Lila Downs nailed me to my chair, open-mouthed, while she pulled off the same thing Bobby Darin did in Blue Skies, maybe even better. That note, that power, that strength!

Have a listen, my darlings, and see if you're as pleasantly stunned with Shake Away as I have been.

A few years ago I posted a song from Bob Schneider and then left you hanging, waiting for more. That wasn't very nice of me, but I bring you a song guaranteed to earn your forgiveness: Bombanaza. It's Latin but Austin white-boy Latin.

Considering Bob Schneider's folky, sometimes-country style on many of his albums, you may not be expecting the boogie-down horns and big sound of Bombanaza. The song is, however, a great deal of fun. If you find yourself looking for something a little more on the acoustic side, I recommend Funky Weather, which will still get your toes tapping and your booty shaking. And if you want something even wilder try Boombox.

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.

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!

"

For Friday, let's have the answer to yet another (not) oft-asked question: what do you get if you cross Cajun and Latin music? Naturally, the answer is The Iguanas. I'm not entirely sure who took the wheels off of Benny's Cadillac, but apparently he's not getting them back. Have a listen and see if you can enlighten me, once you've stopped dancing.

Do you know what's cool? Famous musicians finding obscure bands and recording with them. And so I bring to you more Forro in the Dark with David Byrne because I think it's cool.

I Wish is typical Byrne fare: a straight-forward yearning for love in unexpected language. Mr. Byrne himself is the titular Bundle of Contradictions wishing for someone to love him.

And then you get forró in the background, a talented bunch of Brazilian ex-patriots that play great music on their own. Add the two together and you get an album I can't stop playing, in part because of I Wish (Bundle of Contradictions). Lest you think it's all David Byrne, Bebel Gilberto and Miho Hatori appear on the album as well.

I don't know how many of you remember Safri Duo, the Danish drumming wonders who hit the scene big and then more or less disappeared. I do know that you'd likely never peg them as the movers behind Ritmo de la Noche. You'll be happy to know that I've brought you this Latin-flavored happy song for your jamming pleasure, today, just to fill that little gap in your musical knowledge...and you make you dance. So get to it.

I absolutely cannot resist the energy and cross-genre flailing that Dusty inspires with Loco para la Pista. Should you be wondering, my rudimentary Spanish skills translate that into "Crazy for the Track", which pretty well fits my attitude about as well.

There are no lyrics to give you a hint, however. It's just relentless beat beat beat, and then horns, and then beat beat beat. Then horns. Then...you know. Loco para la Pista is just my kind of song: it's fast, furious, and fun. I thought it high time I share it with you, my dears. Enjoy the carnival flavor and Latin rhythms, and do let me know if you liked it.

I know, I know, I promised to find you this three years ago. Well, I'm slow. In any case, have a listen to the song that drew my attention to Mexican Institute of Sound 'way back then. Carnaval switches ever thirty seconds or so to something just different enough that, as you're jamming to the current beat, you're looking forward to hearing what comes next. Have a listen and let me know what you think!

It's time for the ultimate elevator music, the all-pervasive Bossa Nova standard, The Girl from Ipanema. I've been holding it back, trying to resist forcing you to listen to sixteen versions of the song, but the dam had to break sometime. It just did.

And so I present to you everything from a very lobotomized Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass version to Fatboy Slim's remix of The Girl from Ipanema. (Note: I believe this last to be the future of elevator music. All sci-fi filmmakers take note!) I've got not one but two different Gilbertos, naturally with the original Portuguese lyrics as well as the English. And then there's the Antonio Carlos Jobim version with just the music he wrote and no lyrics at all.

You'll also find Stan Getz, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and Louis Armstrong. You'd expect each of those, so I tossed in The Peeping Toms (unexpectedly mellow), Sammy Davis Jr., and something called The Liberation Jumpsuit. Don't miss Lou Rawls while you're at it, and Amy Winehouse, as well. Stick that in your elevator and listen to it!

Here's some electronic blooping, bleeping, squidging, and other looped nonsense to make you groove in your seat this lovely mid-week day. Mexican Institute of Sound does some great things (and some less-successful ones, as well) and I still can't find Carnaval anywhere on-line that I can share with you so I thought I'd give you something a little wacky and a lot fun instead. Behold: Ok! If you like this one, give Cha Cha Cha a try.

When last I posted about Mexican Institute of Sound it was to share a great song and to note that there would be more coming. That was almost a year ago and I have yet to actually fulfill that promise. So for this gorgeous, sunny day I wanted to give you something ridiculously happy. Thus, I've selected La La La with its semi-electro flavor, its rockin', bouncin', horn-saturated, relentless cheer. Listen to the end for a bit of Mario, as well. That'd be the Italian plumber, not some guy named Mario playing an instrument or singing or anything. All in all, La La La is a terrific bit of goofy fun, just right for springing you out of your winter doldrums. (And, for those of you in the Southern Hemisphere, it's a great little ditty for a lovely late Spring day.) And no, the song I wanted to post a year ago still hasn't popped up on Grooveshark. But I'll keep watch and if I see it somewhere I do promise to share. In the meantime, do let me know what you think of them, darlings.

Of late I've been picking up some vintage vinyl from the 70s and 80s. Among the records I ended up with one from KGB, one of a dozen or more acts that has used that name over the decades since the Cold War began. This particular KGB was a Spanish punk band that recorded and performed in the 80s. Their history is conflated with so many other acts that I'm having a tough time nailing down dates or subsequent projects.

But that doesn't matter right now. What does it that I've got this little piece of punk history for you, a song that entertains the heck out of me. I'm not too sure to whom Maroto refers in this song and I'm not fluent enough in Spanish to explain they lyrics but some of the words are self-explanatory to speakers of romance languages. And the energy and pure punk-iness of the song are enough to make me come back to it for one more listen.

In the search for a song to say, "Hello!" to my new template I ran into the downfall of all music snobs: no commercial radio means you miss the occasional great music that everyone at whom you look down your snooty nose already heard. And so I come ten years late to the party that is The Cat Empire. Seriously, I rely on you people to tell me about a band that combines ska, salsa, and straight-forward rock into something wildly wonderful.

Of course, I really only have myself to blame, though how I missed Strong Coffee in my fascination with songs with the topic I may never understand. But I intended to write about my new template. I have one. It's colorful and I finally got my jukebox. I'll be tweaking it further, naturally (particularly as it's eaten my post tags) but I'd love some feedback whether you love or hate it. Have a look while The Cat Empire says Hello.

You know you've found something with a true world beat sound when you see a name like Salsa Celtica. True to their name, the band uses Celtic fiddles and a banjo as the foundation for some pounding salsa music, horns and Spanish lyrics and all. It's like an Scottish-Mexican mashup of massive proportions.

And, yes, it's as much fun as it sounds. And, lest you presume these are Spaniards who have adopted the Celtic side of their sound, the 11-piece band hails from Edinburgh, Scotland. I selected Cumbia Celtica for today because, well, the band sounds like they're having a great time and the banjo and fiddle are so prominent in it. If you like this one try Ya Llego for sheer dance-ability and Fuerte for some great horns.