8 July 2021 - Metric - Black Sheep

In 2010, the movie Scott Pilgrim vs. The World was released.  With it came a pretty epic soundtrack.  At the center of the film was a song called was "Black Sheep", by Toronto band Metric.  This wasn't a new song of theirs - they had performed it live for years.  The song, belted by Metric lead vocalist Emily Haines, was included on the soundtrack.

Here is the original version from the soundtrack.  It's a great song in its own right.

This live performance of what is possibly their best known song from 2015 is absolutely amazing.  Right?

If you have seen the movie, you know where this post is about to go.  

You see, Emily Haines didn't sing the song in the movie.  The song in the movie was performed by fictional band Clash at Demonhead - who were admittedly based on Metric - fronted by Envy Adams, who was played by real-life actress who can sing and future Captain Marvel, Brie Larson.

In 2010, Metric insisted that the original version, with Haines on vocal, be included on the soundtrack.  As they should.  It's their song.  However, this made a lot of fans of the movie - and the Brie Larson vocal - very unhappy.  

Fast forward to December 24, 2020.  After much fan encouragement, Brie Larson released this video on her YouTube channel...  I won't make you sit through the first 6 1/2 minutes....

Also, yes, those are sheep on her sweater..

Finally, in June 2021, Metric released the song as a single, accompanying an extended version of the film's soundtrack.  There was much rejoicing and something of a resurgence in interest in the movie.... and it's still on the US Rock charts as I write this.  

7 July 2021 - Big Pig - Breakaway

This song has a lot of percussion.

And no guitars.  Some synth.  But mostly percussion.

Just like every other Big Pig song.

In 1988, this song became the band's biggest hit worldwide, reaching the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time and doing significantly better elsewhere in the world.  

6 July 2021 - Smashing Pumpkins - Rhinoceros

A lot of people like to request Smashing Pumpkins as posts on this blog.

What they don't know is that I was a fan from the very beginning.  This song, one of the few the band still performs live from their debut album, Gish, was their second single - although the "single" was really the EP Lull.  It remains to this day one of my favorite songs.  It starts slow and quiet and builds to a frenzied wall of noise.  

By the way, D'arcy isn't really throwing the ball backwards, people.  It was filmed in slow motion and run backwards.   

I did not choose a modern performance of the song for the live showcase.  I *did* choose one from 1991, which highlights just how important D'Arcy's bass was to the band's sound. The song is more subdued than the original for a longer time, but eventually builds to the noise.   

5 July 2021 - Cardi B ft. Megan Thee Stallion - WAP

The most infamous song of 2020 is finally here on Wicked Guilty Pleasures.  

The song itself was a huge hit worldwide, both commercially and critically, but let's look at it a little closer.

It is a collaboration between two women who rap, a field largely dominated by men.  It is, in fact, arguably the biggest hit by two collaborating rap artists.

It is a very explicit song, almost to the point of absurdity.  And, it is unapologetically so - neither of these women care if you're offended.

And the song is a true collaboration.  As much as their music demands a bit of bravado, neither upstages the other.  

Plus, the use of tigers in the video sparked a feud with Carole Baskin.... so, there's that.  

I have to admit something.

I wasn't a huge fan of this song until I heard this mashup with "We Appreciate Power" by Grimes.  Completely different song. Brilliant choice both titular (look at what that title spells) and musically.

2 July 2021 - Lorde - Solar Power

Fiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeee.

Here's the new Lorde song.  

I'm really glad we have new Lorde LITERALLY THE SAME WEEK I POSTED THE LAST ONE.

Couldn't have pushed that up a little for me, Ella?

Well, people are already talking about it being the Song of the Summer.  While it's still a bit early for that, the song is really cool and mellow.  While it does bear a resemblance to the Primal Scream song "Loaded" (which yeah, we posted earlier this week), Primal Scream is surprisingly OK with it.  

Enjoy.

1 July 2021 - Cœur de Pirate - Perséides (The Whole Album)

This is something we have never done before here.   

Ever.   

We are posting an album in its entirety.

We may never do this again.  It's a rare album that is worthy of such a focus and such praise.  This is that rare album.  

And, on this Canada Day, I chose an album that thoroughly celebrates a part of Canada.

At the beginning of June, I mentioned in a blog post an all-piano album that I could not stop listening to.  I still can't.  I first heard the album on its day of release, thanks to Spotify, and in fact listened to it more than once that day. I was on vacation and sitting in a hotel room, and... it hit me just right.  

The artist is Cœur de Pirate, and the album is Perséides. It is, thus far, my favorite album I've heard this year.   Clocking in at just over a half hour, it is 100% piano.  There is no vocal. There is no other instrument I can hear.  

This is a woman who, because of surgery, could (temporarily) not talk, let alone sing, and yet she found a way to compose, perform and release these deeply personal songs about places in Quebec that mean so much to her.  It's truly magic.

   

If you are not able to hear the album using the Spotify link, here it is on YouTube.  It is a playlist that starts from the first track:

30 June 2021 - Iggy Azalea ft. T.I. - Murda Bizness

Before she was all "Fancy", Iggy Azalea was establishing herself as pretty hard-edged.   We have featured Iggy Azalea on this blog several times - before AND after "Fancy".  

This song, her first collaboration with T.I., is one that we've missed, mostly because we never found a great spot to slot her in that flowed with the feeling we were going with - either in genre, or theme.  I've had this song sitting in my drafts for a couple of years.  

The song appears on her 2012 EP Glory and would serve as her debut single (although "Beat Down" came a few months earlier, that was Steve Aoki and Angger Dimas's single, not hers). For those not familiar with Steve Aoki, seeing a long-haired blonde Australian girl coming with an in-your-face style of hip hop was a bit of a shock.... but in a good way.  

Here she is performing the song live in 2013.  It is one of the first times she had ever performed live, and she absolutely brought the house DOWN.