5 May 2014 - MNDR - Feed Me Diamonds

She doesn't appear prominently in her own video.  Amanda Warner's huge voice, however, shines through in this amazing, aching song.

Notice how I didn't just call her MNDR.   Sure, she goes by that name on stage, but, technically, this song is by the duo, which means Peter Wade is the mastermind behind the music. They certainly act as a duo, even if she acts solo under the same moniker.

Confused yet?  Don't be.  Just enjoy the music!

28 April 2014 - Marina and the Diamonds - Hollywood / Are You Satisfied?

I know, I know, we've been terrible about posting!  So let me bring you up to speed.

I am currently completely and totally obsessed with Marina and the Diamonds.  So why not post a song, from her 1st album (which has more of a singer/songwriter feel) about her being completely and totally obsessed with America?

Because 'Merica.

And because Marina is freaking brilliant in her imagery and song construction.  



Really, I have had THIS song stuck in my head for WEEKS!  It's a song about believing in yourself, specifically when pursuing your dream of getting a record deal.  This is a quiet version of the song, from the KCRW studios.  And it's my current favorite song.

7 April 2014 - Toto - Rosanna

This song, a Grammy-award winner for Record of the Year - yes, this song.  Not "Africa" - was NOT about Rosanna Arquette, but the band really wanted you to think it was.  She was dating a member of the band at the time, but the song wasn't really about her, but about a lot of ex-girlfriends.  She just had a nice, melodic name.

The song, like a lot of Toto's work, is heavily jazz influenced, using a lot of structure and meters from that genre not usually seen in pop/rock music.  Horns and keyboards sit right alongside guitars, basses, and drums. 

By the way, if you look closely, you'll see Patrick Swayze is one of the backup dancers.  No joke!

2 April 2014 - Cameo - Word Up

Cameo had been around for well over a decade - making good, funky music - when "Word Up" hit the radio airwaves in 1986.  For some reason, this is the song that made them huge - a crossover sensation to mainstream radio.  Maybe it was the non-stop old-school funk, which was gaining in prominence with the rise of hip-hop.  Maybe it was the timely horn sound.  Maybe it was the red codpiece that Larry Blackmon wore throughout the video, which also got heavy MTV airplay. 

I encourage you to listen to this twice.  See if you can catch the speed-enhanced sample from the theme song for The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.  Also, see if you can catch LeVar Burton, at the time best known for his part in Roots and as the host of Reading Rainbow, as the funkiest cop alive.

1 April 2014 - Journey - Don't Stop Believin'

Nope.

Never gonna happen.

April Fools!!

26 March 2014 - Lorde - Team

Sure, everyone loved "Royals".  I loved "Royals".  I still do love "Royals". 

"Team" is not "Royals", but it's still a really good song, cut from the same working-class New Zealand cloth lyrically.  Musically, this is a far more upbeat tune, clearly showing Lorde's American hip-hop influence. This is a dense song, with an a capella portion at the beginning. 



However, in this live performance, you can see it's just keyboard and drums backing Lorde.  In other words, in all this density, the song and the sound are still sparse, carried almost completely by Lorde's voice.

I think this is what fascinates me about Lorde the most - her sound is, at its core, so sparse, and yet she finds a way to bring a lot of depth to it, without a lot of instruments or guitar solos. 

25 March 2014 - Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights

Sports-related depression is a real, but mostly stupid thing. In that same respect, I'm a real, but mostly stupid person. I can relate. Not to go into the brutal details of Saturday night (suffice to say if you know me, you know what game tore my heart out) I found myself drinking beers and watching old alternative music videos on YouTube to cheer me up. Music saves.

After a steady stream of Belly and Velocity Girl videos I somehow ended up watching a bunch of Kate Bush videos. Let me start by saying I adore Kate Bush. Such a unique singer and songwriter. BUUUUUUUT (that'd be a big but), her videos are so unintentionally funny. I sent Tony a message the moment my eyes peeped the over-dramatic interpretive dancing for the Wuthering Heights video (always one of my favorite songs by her) which read: "Kinda drunk so it's up to you to remind me to post Kate Bush Wuthering Heights video on WGP. LMAO. Great song, the video . . ." To which he replied: "The video is epic." I knew I was on to something.

He never did remind me so I guess I was in better shape than I thought. Anyway, something tells me this won't be the last epic interpretive dance-laden Kate Bush video that I post here (there are some doozies out there). But for now let's enjoy the video for her first single from 1978.