17 December 2014 - Charli XCX - Breaking Up

You knew this post had to happen.   You just thought it would happen on Monday, the day when Sucker was released.

Nope.  I was too busy listening to Sucker. Highly recommended.  It isn't True Romance - few albums in the last 20 years are THAT good (and we had three in 2013 that were that good, in my opinion) - but it is a solid record.

And this song... Some of the comments online about it have not been kind.   It continues the fuzzed-up sound of "Break The Rules", but this is a much angrier song. 

It's not like this is a new song.  It was around at least in March, when Charli was at SxSW..... Lyrically, it's a little different, but not significantly, and it is clearly the same song.


Oh, in case you were wondering....  Night Time, My Time, by Sky Ferreira, and Pure Heroine, by Lorde. With True Romance, the three best albums of 2013. 

11 Dec 2014 - Mr. Probz - Waves

By now, you've all heard this song on the radio.  Seemingly out of nowhere comes this somewhat slow jam. It's cool, acoustic while still being a little bit EDM....

....but, as is the case with most songs that are hits elsewhere first - in this case, The Netherlands - it only became popular in the US a year after its release, after a significant remix.  Here it is, as it was originally intended.  It's no longer EDM, but a much slower jam.  And it remains cool.

28 November 2014 - Iggy Azalea ft. Rita Ora - Black Widow

If a single one of you is surprised that I am posting this, then you have not been paying attention for the last year.....
 
Two great talents, making one great song.  You cannot ask for more out of music, people!

26 November 2014 - Tove Lo - Habits (Stay High)

Look, the message of this song isn't the greatest.  I get it.

But the song itself - it's really cool.  Tove Lo - real name Ebba Tove Elsa Nilsson - has a really powerful voice, and brings a lot of passion to this song.  I don't think we're dealing with a one-hit wonder.

But, maybe for her next song, she can not promote substance abuse as an answer for depression, mmmmkay?


(Update! 18 June 2015) So since I posted this today.....  I just wanted you all to know that I still think this is a better song.... but since I've listened to Queen of the Clouds all the way through - by chance, really.  I was bored and had time to kill - I love it so much more.  And I no longer have the problems with the message, in context.

I also heard this bonus track, which, on the surface, is just a remix of this song.  However, it is a lot more than that.  In some countries (the UK comes to mind) this version was a bigger hit.  It's a sparser version, and in my opinion a completely different song, but it's still a valid good song - and a lot more nihilistic.

24 November 2014 - Nicki Minaj - Anaconda

She sampled the song and back beat of "Baby Got Back", a classic.  She even lifted the title right from that song.  So why the hell is this a pleasure?

Because Onika got this one right.  She took a great hook and added something great, making it her own. Even Sir Mix-A-Lot had to shout.... well, OK, he didn't shout, but he does love the song. (And the video - he is a documented ass-man, after all).

And I like it, too.  It's hummable, and let's face it, Nicki Minaj has got skills.  She understands hip-hop, both musically and culturally, like few other artists, male or female, do, and it shows.  I hope you enjoy this as much as I do.

21 November 2014 - Snap! - Rhythm Is A Dancer

Sure, I've been taking a break from this blog for awhile.  I've been listening to a lot of new pop music, and I want to share it all with you.  But, today, I want to talk about a different epidemic.

Yeah, I'm talking about THAT SONG.  That stupid, atonal song by Jeremih - "Don't Tell 'Em" - that just sounds whiny and out of tune.  First line of his song is "Rhythm is a dancer", but there's no energy behind it.  There's no.... passion.

And there's certainly no soul companion.  There's no soul at all.  I can't feel it, no.

Compare that to the power of the 1992 single by German dance group Snap!  It's passionate, it's powerful.  Thea Austin on the lead female vocal has a huge voice, and doesn't let the power of the words or the synthpop overcome her.  It's a song that is still remembered more than 20 years later, and not just because Jeremih lifted a couple of lines from it.

To be fair, Snap! did get a songwriting credit on "Don't Tell 'Em".....  And, as you will see next week, it's not always a bad thing to lift pieces of other people's songs.

15 October 2014 - Zedd (feat. Foxes) - Clarity / Foxes (feat. Matthew Koma) - Clarity

I waited an awfully long time to post this.  Mostly because I got really sick of it when it was overplayed.  I mean, it's a well-written song, and Zedd is a pretty good DJ, and Foxes has a pretty solid voice, and was able to own this very emotional yet heavily electronic song despite being so young and untested.

Then I heard this.  And I heard the ache and longing.  I heard the power of Foxes's voice - who really makes this song hers with a simple piano accompaniment - and I heard the power of Matthew Koma's (who wrote the song and is an excellent performer in his own right) (and who still couldn't stand up to Foxes) and suddenly I wasn't sick of it anymore.