The Not-Pop Jukebox

If anyone can give Sean Kingston some flavor, can prove that the man would sound the same in front of a frenetic set of fiddles as he does a drum machine, it’s Fissunix. That’s precisely what the DJ has done with this Mashup of the Month: taken the R&B idol and backed him with the country-fried electro madness of Rednex and their take on Cotton-Eyed Joe.

If anyone happens to have a picture of Mr. Kingston sporting a beat-up cowboy hat and a pair of boots, I’d love to have it. This song practically demands one, particularly if it somehow gives the impression of his being at a hoedown.

As always, you can download the Mashup of the Month for free, this time from the official Fissunix web site. Here you can see a mockup of the picture I'm picturing, if that isn't too redundant. I think all of this Rednex is shrinking my vocat...uh, vocan...er, vocaz...my words. I'm off to read a dictionary. Let me know what you think!

The neo-soul Duffy hit Mercy always struck me as a fantastic song that deserved a post here at The NPJ, though it would have to be of the True Confession variety considering its deserved popularity. As so often happens, however, a mashup has arisen that gives me an excuse to praise the song without dedicating a post to it alone.

DJ Y Alias JY took the sultry little songstress and ran her right into Robin Thicke, the masher, to create Blurred Mercy. Hey, hey, hey indeed! Naturally, you can download the Mashup of the Month for free from Official FM but be warned that the background is a screen shot from that full-of-himself Mr. Thicke and features a topless woman.

Have a listen and let me know if you think Mr. Thicke sounds like he’s leering at the comparatively demure Duffy while she begs for Mercy or if it it’s just my imagination. I somehow get the feeling he'd leer at pretty much any woman but I'm still jamming to Blurred Mercy.

As we get over Humpday, let's enjoy some wondrous proto-rock, some foot-tapping soul from the fantastic Big Maybelle. It's got some classic 50s saxophone and that twangy rock guitar that used to be all the rage, but it's also got Maybelle tinkling the ivories and her voice just made for what used to be called R&B before that turned into smooth jazz for the Top 40 crowd.

Enjoy Big Maybelle singing her Ring Dang Dilly off and hearken back to a more innocent time...at least as far as radio play went...and the hey day for Okeh Records. Let me know if it doesn't make you want to hunt down some bobby socks and dance the Jitterbug, because it sure does me.

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!

After all of the offensive references to gold-digging women in music, I thought it fitting that we hear from some money-hungry men looking to be kept. Thus I offer you six versions of First I Look at the Purse.

Now, you won't be surprised by Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials or The Countours. You may, however, find yourself enjoyable taken with Rod Stewart's soulful take or the serious bluesy jam from the J. Geils Band. If you want an angry, growling take on it, try Nashville Pussy.

Have a listen to the whole set and let me know which you like best. I'm leaning toward J. Geils but there's so much jamming going on here that I can't quite decide.

It's Friday, and you know what that means: a short post basically saying, "Hey, guys, here's a great song!" While, as a rule, I'm not a fan of Theophilus London and his misogynistic bull, I have to give him credit for All Around the World. It's a dance jam that, like so many songs these days, should have ended about 2:15 or at least skipped about 30 seconds there in the middle. Seriously, people, if you're going to get people dancing don't stop and noodle around long enough for them to decide they really need a trip to the facilities or another drink. Keep them on the floor!

This public service announcement brought to you by The Not-Pop Jukebox. Let's all just hope musicians take it to heart.

Today is one of those days when, in the pursuit of one thing, I find myself distracted by something entirely...ooh, shiny! Wait, where was I?

In truth I can't even remember where I started when I found myself confronted with a song titled Bim Bam Boom from four different artists, one of them the Oingo Boingo song from the Forbidden Zone soundtrack. Naturally I got to wondering if that song had been a cover, as Violent Love was.

Happily, I can say that that particular bit of bizarre is, in fact, not a cover. However, we're left with The El Dorados with their doo-wop song, Roger Klug with his neo-swing song, and Surferosa with their synth-heavy 80s surf-punk shouter. Yet all of them are named Bim Bam Boom.

I blame Percy Faith for this. He recorded a raucous, swingin', late-60s ruckus of a track that made everyone want to use that name for their own. They don't have that one on Groovshark so I've included a static video so that you can hear the whole thing. I'm not generally a fan of his but, dang, this one really moves.

I’ve posted sets of mashes before, notably the ever-popular smelly Nirvana hit and the perpetually geeky music of Star Wars, but I can’t resist building a little pile of such combinations. It tickles me to find different takes on the same song from various mashup artists.

It seems most of them have taken a swing at House of Pain’s Jump Around. For today I’m offering eight mashups, from such luminaries as FAROFF (three times), DJ Schmolli (twice), Party Ben, MashMike, and The Bootleague. As usual, those links take you to their respective sites where you can download each mashup for free.

Apparently House of Pain brings out the creative in DJs. We’ve got a klezmer band, AC/DC, Beethoven’s Fifth, Queen, Kriss Kross, Mick Jaggar, and Cee-Lo Green’s cover of Kung Fu Fighting. FAROFF even combined Jump Around with Cab Calloway. And then there are the massive Mash Together with Joan Jett, Cypress Hill, Rage Against the Machine, and The Beatles, as well as Super Bowl Anthem, which pits them against Tag Team, Madonna, LFMAO, Queen (again), the White Stripes, and Metallica. I was only able to find seven on Grooveshark so you'll have to have Jump on the Fifth via Soundcloud.

Note: In my infinite attention to detail, I missed Mashup of the Month day this month. The mega-post is my apology.

It came to my attention recently that I had a number of songs with the same name, namely Oh No. Naturally, I had to make a playlist and find more. Thus it is that I can bring you Nada Surf, Gogol Bordello, Dr. Dog, and Frank Zappa all on one post.

Note that not all of these songs are great. They are all, however, not bad enough to make you say, "Oh, no!" If you stick with it that far, you can enjoy Chico DeBarge and Camper Van Beethoven mixed with Haypenny, Zeds Dead, and Mooney Suzuki. I think I got them all, but have a look at the list below if you want to make sure. I left off Andrew Bird's Oh No as I've already posted it but if you're still hungry for more after these ten do click over and have a listen.

The Prickly Purple One celebrates his birthday and you know what that means: Prince for all! Today, enjoy the funky, wacky title track off the "Musicology" album released in 2004. Say what you will about the strange little man, he can put together a groovy song when he puts his mind to it.

As so often happens with self-indulgent musicians, this one goes off the rails a bit and could have been trimmed back to 3:50, right after "don't you ever touch my stereo". He'd already fit in "we're jukebox soldiers", which I would take to mean that they love The NPJ except, well, technically it didn't exist then. Pft, details.

At any rate, Happy Birthday, Prince! May you keep getting funky and bringing the old school for many years to come. And, for what it's worth, I still think you and Robert Randolph should play together.

I've been looking backward a lot in my posts of late. Let's look forward...by looking back some more with Loo & Placdio who have compiled one of the most massive mixtape mashes I've heard and then covered it in awesome sauce for extra wonderful. I can't even begin to tell you the track list for Retro Future Shock but you can see the whole thing by clicking over to the SoundCloud page, where you can download the whole, hour-long, gorgeous thing for free.

Be warned: the track is an hour and nine minutes long and includes a bit of foul language when it switches from Queen vocals to The Beatles early on. You might want to keep your headphones on or watch the volume button when you're listening to it driving around in the convertible with the kids in the back. Not that I've had that problem. Ahem. But the rest of it makes such tiny issues worth it.

Did you notice that the end of the track name is Volume 1? And are you as geekily excited to hear the Volume 2 implied? No? Listen to Retro Future Shock and imagine it twice as long. I'm going to be exhausted from chair dancing but I'm pretty sure I can make it through two hours and every time they switch songs it's like an Easter Egg hunt. This is the future of mashes and great taste of what shocks big record companies about them. Thanks, Loo & Placido!

Not all songs of wanting are sad. Today let’s have a playlist filled with fun songs, all with the word “want” in the title. Everyone wants something so let’s try some Spekulation, some Cat Power, some Etta James, and some David Bowie…and that’s just for starters. I've already posted a slew of versions of I Want to Take You Higher but you'll find three different songs titled I Want My Baby Back.

You’ll find Sly & the Family Stone in here, too, cheek and jowl with Queen, Bow Wow Wow, and Blind Boy Fuller. Heck, you’ll even bump into They Might Be Giants. As neither the proper, Taj Mahal version of Give Your Woman What She Wants nor Spekulation's I Want It All appear on Grooveshark I've included separate ways to listen to each.

Have a meander and let me know if you find that wanting can be much more enjoyable than sappy love songs would have you believe. Well, okay, the David Bowie song is pretty drippy and Queen's I Want to Break Free is a solid break-up song. But I Want Some of Your Pie works as a pretty good antidote. If you’ve a favorite song of wanting that doesn’t appear on this list, share it with me!

Did you know that Janelle Monáe could be even better? I know, Tightrope seems darned near perfect as it was released. But Party Ben found a way to improve it just that tiniest bit by marrying the lovely Ms. Monáe to Nancy Sinatra’s iconic These Boots Are Made for Walking.

And so I bring you today This Tightrope’s Made for Walking, a song guaranteed to get you out on the dance floor doing your best high wire act (or at least to subjecting your chair to some serious getting down). As with all Mashups of the Month, this one is available for free download from the Party Ben web site. Go get it and a whole lot more.

On a more-serious note, I feel like I have to be missing a lot of great bootie talent out there. If you know of some fantastic mashers I’ve missed—or if you are one—I would love to hear from you. It’s not that I don’t get enough mashup in my life, it’s that there’s no such thing. There has to be a legion of you out there I’m overlooking. Share!

I've been swooning to Janelle Monae all night but when I came across Call the Law I knew I had to share it with you. She wields her amazing talent deftly with fantastic creativity but this one has serious boogie-down potential with bonus creepiness thrown in as a bonus.

Have a listen to Call the Law and a whole great whack of her fantastic Metropolis albums (the first, "Metropolis" and the second, "Archandroid" are both a lengthy and inventive rock/jazz/hip hop opera about an android that falls in love and is pursued by the authorities for it. It's part Blade Runner and part musical genius.

Call the Law, however, has nothing to do with the story. It's love gone very, very wrong, though how wrong you don't realize until near the end. "Call the law and hold the applause", indeed.

In hearing Wanda Jackson you are immediately transported back to the 50s and the tie when rockabilly, soul, and blues were turning into some great amalgam of rock and roll. Thus I presumed that she had recorded Rip It Up back then. I was mistaken. Now the song does date back to 1956 but Bill Haley and His Comets released the song then. Well, so did Little Richard. You may be unsurprised, in listening to both versions, that Little Richard's Rip It Up was a much bigger hit. Bill Haley sounds a bit bored, truth be told. But the Wanda Jackson version came out in...wait for it...2011. So I decided to find covers from the decades between the two. Here I've got The Zombies, Chuck Berry, Los Lobos, and T. Rex sounding like a refugee from the Rocky Horror Picture Show. I also found Elvis Presley, Brian Setzer, The Queers, and Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen. Oh, and The Everly Brothers to round out the full dozen. Let me know which you like best. And if you've got one that doesn't appear hear, let me know. It seems like there must be more than a round dozen--and, no, the Nazareth and Razorlight songs are not the same tune. I kinda liked the Nazareth one, though.

Normally I focus on a single song but today I've got a whole album for you all and you can listen to it right here. Spekulation is what I call jazz hop: a fusion group that brings you a wild mix of a beat poetry-style jazz combo overlaid with a hip hop, sing-song, rap thing that I've really enjoyed. Jason Parker and Matt Watson, two of the musicians I follow on Google+ happen to be in the band. Imagine if social media weren't around how much new music we'd all miss! I wanted you all to hear what some creative musicians can do in a little club without autotune, seventeen tracks for the engineer to loop, and with a fair chunk of talent. They've got a bunch of stuff on BandCamp.com, including a free download of the Depression Era EP, so if you like what you hear go and pick up some more. I have no disclaimer on this one: I know these guys only as much as you know anyone on social media and I'm not any sort of affiliate for BandCamp. I just want you all to have nice things.

I was all set to post something else that I've put off until tomorrow because you, my dears, need a grrl power mashup. I know, you probably didn't realize it until just now. I certainly didn't. But I've got one for you, from the ever-creative Marc Johnce. This one takes Beyoncé, Madonna, and Kat Graham and squeezes in a little Christina Aguilera and Dev with The Cataracs around the edges.

Don't be shocked but I had never heard any of these songs before in my life. But if you've been a long-time reader you may remember my disdain for women who sing about a man paying for everything or taking his credit cards to the mall. I love Shemekia Copeland, for example, but Ka-Ching makes me want to kick her in the ankle. So Kat Graham's I Want It All made me jump up and down in my chair with glee. I have to say, though, that whoever choreographs Beyoncé freaks me out. She and her back-up dancers tend to look more spastic than talented.

As proof, I offer you the video for I Want All Girls (Who Run the World) and a link to Marc Johnce's official web site where you can download it for free with some bonus material from Katy Perry that isn't in the video cut below. Go get 'em, girls!

By the way, I want that flaming hat for Halloween. Seriously.

I'm not a huge fan of Raphael Saadiq, as he does a lot more of the "smooth R-n-B" sound than I generally like. Stone Rollin', however, is one of the few of his songs that really breaks type, in a great way. It's a part of my "men like curves" collection with things like Taj Mahal's Big Legged Mamas Are Back in Style but beyond the subject matter it's just a fun little song. Get your groove on and roll with it!

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.