10 January 2024 - Caroline Polachek - Welcome To My Island

Caroline Polachek is a rising star that has taken a long path to that rise.  Originally a founder of Chairlift, she has had a lot of irons in the fire, including a stint where she released music under the name Ramona Lisa.

She finally claimed her own name in 2017, and it's been a rise of electro-pop-rock since.  She's made innovative music, both by herself and with other artists.

This, the fourth single from her album Desire, I Want To Turn Into You, (which is a great album and you should listen to it.  Top 5 of mine in 2023), is described by Polachek - who also co-wrote the song - as "bratty".  I don't get that - but I do get a dreamy feeling (she spent a lot of her youth listening to Enya - no joke).  

This song opened her set on tour in 2023.

Here she is performing the song on the Tonight Show in 2023.  Most of the performance is dark and clearly played with a backing track (and clearly sung by her), but at 3:20, she pulls out a guitar and plays...

At Glastonbury, she was backed by a full band and the performance was dynamic.

8 January 2024 - Tesla - Modern Day Cowboy

There.  Let's pull out some 80's glam rock to get us back on track.

This song, from December 1986, was the debut single by California band Tesla.  Written by the band, the song ties old-time villians like Billy the Kid and Al Capone to the at-the-time current-but-dying Cold War.  Lyrically, it's kind of brilliant.  Musically, it held up to the hair metal of its day, rocking just hard enough to make an impression.

This song is what made me a fan of Tesla.  It just hit right.  The video, featuring Nikola Tesla playing old movies in a mostly abandoned theater, got me interested in the scientist as well.  

All these years later, Tesla is still together and still touring. Here they are at the Clearfield County (Pennsylvania) Fair in August of 2023. Voices may be slightly faded, but the song still rocks.  

I totally chose the Clearfield County Fair at random, and not becaue it's where I obtained half of my family's pet rabbits.  Totally random.  

5 January 2024 - Ashlee + Evan - I Do

Today is this little blog's 12th birthday.

My God, I've been doing this for 12 years.   

So, I figured it was a good time to go back to where it all started.

Kind of.

You see, when we first started, Ashlee Simpson was a pop star who was married to Pete Wentz, and legally going by Ashlee Simpson-Wentz (although keeping the "-Wentz" off the professional name), but had recently divorced him.

Two years latter, she married Evan Ross-Næss (whose mom is Diana Ross, by the way) - he was Evan Ross at the time - and became Ashlee Ross (later Ross-Næss).  (Don't worry, she's still professionally Ashlee Simpson).

Anyway, they make music togehter now.  Here's a single from 2018 that they released.  It's sweet and cute and not quite pop - more adult contemporary, I suppose.  

4 January 2024 - That Poppy - Lowlife

A lot of you saw the artist in this title and were wondering if it's an artist named That Poppy or if it's actually that Poppy.

Yes.

Moriah Rose Pereira was 20 when she released her debut EP, bubblebath - and this, its lead single, was out for almost a year before that.  Written by the artist, Simon Wilcox and Sir Nolan (who also produced), this song is less the electronic/metal sound people know Poppy for today.  No, That Poppy was a ska/reggae/pop artist.

And she was good.  This song is catchy - and although the video is as weird as a lot of Poppy's videos, the performance shines through.

I know what people think.  Pop music is just vapid, autotuned garbage.  

No.

Good music is being made, even in pop music.  And Poppy can sing.  Island Records released an acousitc version of this single as well - which highlights that. In fact, despite the weird guys behind her, this video isn't all the weird.  It's a vulnerable young singer/songwriter who is performing her heart out.  

We can do one better.  Here she is performing it acapella in Brussels.  And we think it's super cool.

2 January 2024 - Suzanne Vega - Marlene On The Wall

It's gonna be that type of year where we struggle to get posts out on time.  

That's OK.  It's late, but here is Suzanne Vega with oue of her early singles, exhibiting her pop-folk sensibiliites from her very first album, her self-titled debut in 1985.  We love how fast she sings at parts in this song.

Written by Vega, the song was her first top 40 hit in the UK and remains her biggest hit there.  The "Marlene" in the title is actress Marlene Dietrich.  An obscure reference for a pop song? Maybe, but it still works.

Nearly 40 years later, she still performs this very upbeat song, as she did at the Glastonbury Fedtival in 2022.  She still sounds as brilliant as she did in the 1980s.

1 January 2024 - BRATS - 決まりごと (Kimarigoto)

Happy New Year!  Rather than regaling you with more Mariah Carey, we thought you might appreciate some Japanese hard rock music.

BRATS were formed in 2011 by sisters Rei Kuromiya and Aya Kuromiya.  They were 10 and 12.  Rei is the vocalist here, in this song and video released in 2018.  They rock way harder than you might expect them to.  

They are part of a generation who are actually influenced by Japanese rock bands, and not international ones.  It is a great day for Japanese music when that is a claim that can be made.   

The title of this song literally translates to "The Rules", which, well, doesn't seem like something a rock band would support.  

And yes, they can do it live.  They are, after all, a band and not manufactured.

31 December 2023 - Olivia Rodrigo - get him back!

If you thought I'd be ending the year with anyone other than Olivia Rodrigo, you haven't been paying attention.  

Olivia Rodrigo released, in my opinion, the best album of 2023 - GUTS - and, unlike other years for me, it wasn't close.  It's incredible, and, if you like pop music, especially power pop, you need to check it out.  

This is my 4th post about Olivia this year - the most of any artist.  This is mostly because every song she releases nowadays ia a straight-up banger.

I rarely swear on this blog.  And, in two of my previous posts about her, I used the big one.  The F-dash-dash-dash.  I didn't say 'fudge'.

Anyway, this song contiunes the teen angst themes from GUTS, and it's deeper than you think.  The phrase "get him back" could mean that she wants the relationship to resume, or it could mean that she wants revenge.  She address both in her lyrics.

The video was filmed entirely on an iPhone 15 Pro Max - before its announcement - and released soon after that device was available for public purchase.

There are a lot of live performances of this song, but I am partial to this acoustic version  It's practically acapella, with her voice shining through very strongly.