Every Saturday, I post a 15-20 minute podcast featuring some tracks I’ve been jamming the previous week, as well as some commentary and random musings from yours truly. Enjoy!
Tracklist:
The Rapture – How Deep Is Your Love?
Iyaz feat. Travis McCoy – Pretty Girls
Charli XCX – Stay Away
The Joy Formidable – Whirring (Innerpartysystem Remix)
Occasionally I browse the pop music world/charts/blogs and see what the kids are listening to. Sometimes I am pleased with what I find, most of the time I am not. This is a journal of my discoveries.
In the late 90’s, when grunge, alternative, and gangsta rap were the genres of relevance and, thanks to superstars like Garth Brooks, country was crossing over like never before, the pop world was struggling for identity. Â Take a look at charts from the decade and you’ll find a diverse, albeit inconsistent string of hits from an array of forgotten artists. Divas, R&B crooners, softcore rappers, watered-down post-grungers, and Lilith Fair types all battled for airplay and notoriety while the majority of the music listening public had their ears elsewhere. Â One genre stuck around for the vast majority of the decade, from the time the kids turned to Nirvana to the resurgence of the “boy band” in 1998. Â That genre was “dance pop,” a club-ready sound from Europe that peaked (and almost abruptly disappeared) with the release of A Night At the Roxbury. Â We all remember groups like No Mercy, Real McCoy, Aqua, Haddaway, and La Bouche dominating our local Top 40 station.
As I do on most trips away from home, while traveling, I reacquainted myself with the current playlist of conventional pop radio, and it seems, increasingly, this “dance pop” style has resurfaced, not because pop music is having another identity crisis, but because, this time around, it seems the kids really do enjoy this stuff. Â While 90’s dance pop had female belters crooning about passion and devotion alongside growling male “rapping,” the new tracks don’t have a trying-too-hard vibe. Â In fact, quite the opposite; the beats are loud, the production is slick, the composition is lazy, and the theme? Partying. Â Hard. All the fucking time.
Sure, there’s still plenty of hip hop and Avril-types, and a few crossover country tracks, as well as some harder rock tracks from mainstays like Seether and My Chemical Romance. Â But the focus is thumping bass, getting wasted, hooking up, and throwing glitter. Â Even pop stars from other eras, like Jennifer Lopez and Britney Spears, have adopted the new sound in their recent singles. Â Pop radio has always been about mindless, simple escapism, but it seems the past decade it wasn’t as fun….glad to see there’s a change in the tides.
Anyone who’s followed the blog/my life knows I’m a big fan of lists/countdowns/theme mixes, so it should come as no shock to most that I’m in love with the list mashup phenom Girl Talk (aka Greg Gillis) has shared in celebration of the beginning of summer 2011. Â Speaking with Vulture (where you can find the entire list and accompanying YouTube videos), Gillis explains the overall feel of the mix and its rise-and-chill vibe, an argument I’m inclined to agree with:
“Over half of these songs you would like to party to, and the other half are songs you relax to. That’s the essence of summertime– you can be sitting around drinking beer outside or you can be up celebrating.”
Peep the list here. Â Let the summer begin.
Music, Movies, Television, etc. Pop culture reviews for the short-attention-span Internet age.
Battles – Gloss Drop
While not nearly as interesting overall as the breakthrough Mirrored, the follow-up is a solid, energetic, easy progression from Battles’ previous work. Â Now without their standout member Tyondai Braxton, the group has started from scratch, rising to the challenge of delivering a strong follow-up to one of the most acclaimed albums of the past ten years, and without the guy who was considered the bread and butter. Â Battles have created a more accessible album, albeit not without a bit of filler here and there, but one that pairs up nicely, incorporating older Battles sounds with the driving punch of their breakout material.
Rating: 7
A longtime well-known name on Ed Banger Records and in the French house circuit, SebastiAn has finally dropped his first proper LP Total after years of touring with big names like Daft Punk, remixing stars like Cut Copy, and releasing some stellar EPs. While we patiently wait for Justice to put out their sophomore effort, perhaps we’ve been anticipating the wrong French dance release over here in the States.
I’ve casually kept up with SebastiAn ever since I saw him open for The Rapture and Daft Punk at Red Rocks back in 2007 – he wowed the crowd with a raucous remix of Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing In the Name.” While overseas in London, I happened upon this new album playing over the PA at Rough Trade East. The artist is just as banging as ever; the entire album is a party, from the synth-laden interludes to the chopped up noise of “Embody” to the MIA collab “C.T.F.O.”
Surely this will whet the appetite for those of us eager for the clipped beats and club ready mish-mashing French DJs have mastered so well. It’s doubtful Daft Punk give us anything anytime soon, and I don’t see how Justice could top this fun, fun disc. We’ll find out soon enough, but it’s always fun to boogie while you’re playing the waiting game.
Every Saturday, I post a 15-20 minute podcast featuring some tracks I’ve been jamming the previous week, as well as some commentary and random musings from yours truly. Enjoy!
Tracklist:
Swizz Beatz feat. Eve – Everyday (Coolin’)
Blood Orange – Dinner
Shabazz Places – Swerve… The reeping of all that is worthwhile (Noir not withstanding)
Diplo & Douster – ON!
With the exception of tomorrow’s podcast and Sunday Night Videos, this will be my last post for awhile, as I am traveling abroad to Europe for the majority of June. Â I will return with new posts on the 20th, but until then, here are some music videos about traveling, Europe, etc.
Occasionally I browse the pop music world/charts/blogs and see what the kids are listening to. Sometimes I am pleased with what I find, most of the time I am not. This is a journal of my discoveries.
Catching Up On: Wacka Flocka Flame
Although Pitchfork gave the album an 8.0, I really don’t understand the appeal. Â This guy’s lyrics are unintelligible, and frankly, when I can understand them, they’re pretty simple. Â And while that’s not necessarily a dealbreaker for me (I did give Wiz Khalifa a thumbs up several days ago), the melody and production don’t really add any plus signs for me. Â This radio hit, which I’ve been unable to avoid lately, is jawdroppingly atrocious.
Catching Up On: Big Time Rush
Apparently this is a tween sensation that’s been around for years on Nickelodeon, but this is the hit that will cross them over to the pop radio masses, Bieber style. Â The tune itself is pretty catchy, it’s good for a Friday night club run, though I could do without the continuing destruction of the legacy of Snoop Dogg.
Catching Up On: Mindless Behavior
Another R&B-based boy band, they all look 14 years old and are produced pretty slickly and whathaveyou. Â Watch the video, and you can tell they all think they’re Usher, but it doesn’t hide the fact the melody is straight-up Disney. Â And the lyrics, a romantic homage to texting your honey, are just pretty damn hilarious.
Catching Up On: Fabolous
Now to the good stuff: while I’m not necessarily “catching up on” Fabolous, who has been awesome for years, this new single is banging. Â This is what the rap radio game needs right now, an elder statesmen showing everybody how it’s done.
Catching Up On: Swizz Beatz
Hardest beat on the charts right now, and it needs to be on the radio more. Â In the same vein as his collaboration with Jay Z in “On To the Next One” (even the video is similar), Swizz keeps it simple and LOUD. And remember Eve? Yeah, she’s on here too.
Partisan Records has one hell of a supergroup; John McCauley of Deer Tick, Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes, and Matt Vasquez of Delta Spirit have formed Middle Brother and released a stellar debut self-titled album (pictured above). The crew is one on the list of bands I wished I had caught at SXSW; hopefully they’ll embark on a tour and stop in the ATX soon-ish. The boys all deliver their unique brands of folk-rock on originals and a pretty sweet Paul Westerberg cover, “Portland.” It all comes together nicely and solidly for one of the chillest and funnest albums of the year.
