Pop Has Not Yet Eaten Itself: Some Kickass Music For Summer 2010
Janelle Monae, one of the many talented artists we will review in this article. Talent, mind you; it has nothing at all to do with the fact that she is SMOKIN' hot. Damn.
Lincoln and I go through cycles, with pretty much everything. One moment, anime will be the all-encompassing focus of our nerdery; next, it might be video games. A total obsession with the television program Mythbusters might be abruptly curtailed in order to pursue a fascination with handguns.
This is an oversimplification, of course. We have never really been able to stick to a single thing, choosing to pursue multiple lines of what we might as well call "study."
"But," people who know us, such as family members, firearms dealers, and the guy who works at Silver Platters tell us, "surely music is the one constant in your lives, isn't it? You guys are always going on about music."
Well, sure. "Music" can be considered a constant area of study, if only because it's so general. You might as well say that we have an interest in "reading" or "food." Music is such a broad topic, with so many different areas and genres, you can't really get bored with it.
Except that it turns out you can, if you're not careful.
In much the same way that eating the same thing every day would leave you undernourished, or reading the same sort of book might turn you into a simpering poltroon (I'm looking at you, Twilight), listening to the same kind of music all the time would probably, oh, I don't know, create some sort of unspeakable horror.
Exempli gratia.
Recently, however, a couple of events happened that banked us off in yet another musical direction. These events triggered other events that brought more fun, as I will relate later on.
To begin with, for some reason that I can no longer recall, a friend of mine sent me a link to this video, "Tightrope" by Janelle Monae, on my blog, thinking I would like it.
Turns out that YouTube might not allow embedding of that video; you can go here to view it.
And I highly recommend that you do, because this song is outstanding; a blend of hip-hop, soul, and old-school Maceo Parker arrangements that just loads itself into your brain and stays there.
Lincoln and I immediately fired up the Staxmobile and headed to our two favorite record shops, fortunately both located on Queen Anne Hill in Seattle: Silver Platters, located in the old Tower Records building on lower Queen Anne; and Easy Street Records, located in the old Tower Books building a few blocks to the west.
We parked out front and established our strategy.
"Okay," I said, "we're just going inside, buying the one Janelle Monae CD, and getting out."
"Right," said Lincoln.
Which resolve lasted almost a full second after walking into the store.
What's that smell? Oh, it's my Visa card screaming in agony. Curse you, Silver Platters!
I don't listen to a whole lot of radio any more, at least not for music. I generally load up my iPod Nano and plug it into my car stereo, or I stream stuff off Pandora over my iPhone.
So this means I often resort to an old and time-honored method of selecting new music that I developed back when I first started buying my own music as a teenager, a method I like to call "Looking at all the stuff and picking out something based on the cover art."
Thirteen-year-old Me would have bought this album, and ONLY this album. Repeatedly.
Either a great CD cover, or the box that one of my old Atari 2600 games came in. You decide.
Which is why, when I saw the CD cover just to the right of these words, I thought to myself, "Huh. That's either something really cool, or it's another album full of damn hipster stuff."
Fortunately, I no longer have to depend on just the album cover. Not when I have Wikipedia in my pocket:
"VHS or Beta is a band originally from Louisville, Kentucky, that combines elements of rock, French house and dance-punk. Their self-released debut Le Funk found some success on the charts, but the band became better known in the wake of their 2004 release Night on Fire. In early 2007, after two and half years of touring, the band made the trek to Asheville, NC to record 2007's Bring on the Comets. Released in August 2007 Bring On The Comets marked a slight change in direction towards a more straightforward pop sound; all this was achieved without sacrificing the band's trademark dance sensibility."
For some weird reason, the combination of "band" and "Louisville, Kentucky," reminded me of another ground-breaking American group from The Redneck Lands:
Kinda wish these guys would quit dying.
Okay, Big Star was from Memphis, and, even by my standards, it's a long stretch to compare Alex Chilton and Chris Bell to VHS or Beta.
Until I actually listened to the CD, and, dang it, it is pretty reminiscent of Big Star. Not a Big Star rip-off, but they do sound like they've taken a page or two from their playbook. "Love In My Pocket" is an excellent example. Here, have a listen to this totally legal YouTube "video:"
Pretty nice.
The words "Italian Surf Band" produce a fairly limited Google Image Search result.
Then we have this. Again, the image is what first caught my attention, proving that there's not a lot of difference between 14-year-old and 46-year-old Me. Not that that's any great revelation.
A quick Google search revealed that they were an Italian surf band, and really, what else do you need to know? Italian surf band Italian surf band Italian surf band. The words just roll off the tongue.
Just like most Italian things that fascinate me, such as the Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce, the Moto Guzzi V7, Fettuccine con Gamberetti, Olivetti typewriters, Lavazza espresso machines, and Monica Bellucci, there are little imperfections, foibles, eccentricities, and outright failures throughout the album, but I think these things add to the enjoyment, rather than distract from it.
Also: Italian surf music. Come on, doesn't that sound great?
Yesssss.... Come to Butthead.
Finally, we have this:
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, straight out of Brooklyn.
Specifically, Brooklyn circa 1973. The Dap-Kings record everything at their studio in Brooklyn and use only analog recording equipment, to get a really authentic sound, but also master their recordings to sound good on modern playback equipment. Very few people own huge Admiral hi-fi cabinets with tube amps any more. They even filmed this video with vintage TV cameras.
This stuff is, words fail me, good. Jones has a powerful, evocative voice that reminds me of the Soul Queens of the good old days, part Big Mama Thornton, part Aretha, but still unique, capable of belting it out or being silky smooth.
Big Sista is watching you. Best not mess up.
This is by no means all the new stuff we've come across in the past few months. We've picked up new work by Yahzarah, old stuff by Cake, and a whole series of CDs showcasing regional funk from all across America, plus a load of music that I'm forgetting at the moment.
Music is getting fun again, and I for one couldn't be happier. Stay tuned.
Oh, all right: here's a picture of Monica Bellucci.
Print Version
Recommend this site!