Stop Pop

I don’t like to admit when I’m wrong but there is definitely an album that arrived in 2008 that I completely missed in my “Top 20 Albums of 2008,” Ladyhawke’s self-titled debut album. Just reading about Ladyhawke’s one and only member Pip Brown catapults her to #1 of my Living-Musician-I-Want-To-Meet list, sorry Jay Kay. Suffering a battery of illnesses, coma, and autism in her youth, it’s just unbelievable how talented and versatile Pip Bron is as a musician. For her debut album Pip recorded every instrument herself, and while on tour she sang and played guitar. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Pip Brown the person is her choice of only wearing men’s clothes down to the knickers, although she pulls it off in a most stunning way. I don’t know where to start if I ever got an interview.

But enough about the singer and on to the songs. There’s a general 80s feel to the whole album, especially in the synth heavy songs “Dusk Till Dawn” and “Crazy World.” If a modern Breakfast Club were released today Ladyhawke would definitely be one of the soundtrack leaders and that would be perfectly fine with me. Mixed in with the 80s is a bit of 90s grunginess in songs like “Professional Suicide” that almost reminds me of early No Doubt. For the most part the album is electro rock and synth pop with powerful femme vocals that stands out easily as one of the best albums of 2008. In it’s apparent retroness there’s enough modern style to make it not just a New Wave copy, but something new and fantastic. Ladyhawke has definitely succeeded in her goal for the album, to make any listener feel nostalgia, and it just does overwhelmingly. Enjoy.

1. Ladyhawke - Another Runaway

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2. Ladyhawke - Back of the Van

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3. Ladyhawke - Better Than Sunday

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4. Ladyhawke - Crazy World

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5. Ladyhawke - Dusk Till Dawn

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6. Ladyhawke - Magic

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7. Ladyhawke - Morning Dreams

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8. Ladyhawke - My Delirium

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9. Ladyhawke - Paris is Burning

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10. PNAU - Embrace ft. Ladyhawke

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Back from a few weeks of hiding is the Friday Night Out series and this fabulous Valentine’s Day/Friday the 13th is going to be amazing. For today’s release I’ve got a mainstream mixup, all of my favourite mainstream inspired songs for those readers of mine that think I’m a little too extreme and a music snob always putting the big guy down. Well, it’s harder than putting the little guy down and people call you a snob for it, but it has its merits, too. I just wanted to say a little bit about mainstream music first.

The biggest reason I don’t like mainstream music isn’t because of the music, although that is a major part. It’s the people: the artists, the fans, and the labels. What’s wrong with the artists is their lack of spirit and soul. Most don’t write their own music, many don’t sing well or play instruments, some can’t dance, and a few aren’t even good looking. That’s a pretty tall list of short comings for a pop star. Even with a great voice and beautiful body a singer needs words that aren’t rubbish and more importantly a background that entertains and gets the juices flowing. My two votes for worst song of all time not surprisingly are both modern pop songs “If U Seek Amy” by Britney Spears and “Live Your Life” by TI and Rihanna. The first uses grammatical retardation to sound like FUCK, but it comes across like a 6th grader that just learned a new naughty word and I would have thought you couldn’t sell a CD which made you look like a retard out of shame but apparently it can be done and can even be a comeback. The latter is a song about the principles of old school hip-hop or at least a new school redefinition set to the NSync of Romania, O-Zone. What would Quincy Jones think or Dr. Dre for that matter?

What gets me the most of the whole mainstream deal is the fans. It appears to me that many people, whether they listen to pop as old as the Beatles, Barbara Streisand, Rick Astley, Mariah Carey, Kanye West, or Britney Spears have no appreciation for music outside of the era of pop music they like, worst of all being current pop music. It would be okay to say I love pop music and listen to the #1 on the Top 100 Billboards from the 50s till today (I do that and enjoy a lot of it), but most current pop fans listen to no more than 15 artists (total) that are highly publicized and sculpted into a strange world of celebrity idolatry. I feel like modern pop fans have no concept that there is other music out there that is possibly good or better than what they are forced to listen to by the radio, magazines, and television. I had an argument with my friend that ideas have intrinsic power (he argued that ideas are powerless) but the labels are very strict in destroying the idea that there is better music out there out of their control and it seems to be working and turning the pop audience into celeb gossip feeding zombies. If people stopped listening one day to Britney Spears and instead picked up Patti LaBelle or Debbie Harry I’d probably just die because I’d be living in a world devoid of a need for someone like me.

But I want to reiterate that not all pop is bad and much of it can actually be nice to listen to once in a while after you remove the celebrity scandals, fans with no idea what they are listening to, and drink a couple beers. What I especially like after listening to far too many canned pop songs and remixes at sub standard bar/clubs in San Luis Obispo are fresh new takes on the same songs I and everyone else has heard a million times. Just as a I love a good remix or cover for a great song, I love a good remix or cover of a bad song and the fight to make it better is even easier.

I’ve selected then some of my favourite new pop songs that have been redone well, some songs I hate that sound much better, and some songs that are famous that I don’t really know at all that but I have remixed versions that sound amazing. Data’s “Rapture Part II” is an amazing mainstreamized version of a more indie tronic sounding song and somehow it still sounds great. Fergie’s “Glamorous” I legitamately like and I like this remix just as much. And the Britney Spears song “Gimme More” has always been one of my most despised of her songs and somehow is tolerable to dance to after Barlett’s remix. Enjoy the mainstream beat this week.

And lest I forget this weekend in the Bay we’ve got two major parties going on! Blow Up is hosting their Valentine’s Day Massacre tonight Friday the 13th. And on Valentine’s for all you lovers of Mashup is the Bootie SF Valentine’s Party at the DNA Lounge. If you can’t make this week they always play every 2nd and 4th Saturday so check it out. And in LA Friday are the Eye Candy Twins at Foxtail followed tomorrow by Jet Set Society at the Standard Purple Lounge.

1. Ashlee Simpson - LOVE (Felix Cartal Remix)

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2. Britney Spears - Gimme More (DJ Barlett Remix)

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3. Data - Rapture Part II

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4. Erykah Badu - Honey (Captain Planet Remix)

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5. Fergie - Glamorous (Treasure Fingers Remix)

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6. Flo Rida - Get Low (GT Remix)

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7. Jay Z - 99 Problems (Tenderloins Remix)

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8. Lady Gaga - Just Dance (Wild Things Remix)

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9. Rihanna - Don’t Stop the Music (LAZRtag Club Mix)

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10. Sebastian - HAL

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This isn’t so much a featured artists spotlight as it is an homage to that master of music David Bowie. With a career spanning 30+ years, David Bowie transcended practically every genre available in his time - New Wave, Classic Rock/Rock, Folk, Pop, Electronic/Industrial - all brilliant. I have been an avid collector of all his records, from his early Beatle-pop days from 1964 to his New Wave late 80s electro-synth dance songs, classic rock out albums Ziggy and Reality to drum and bass, industrial Earthling. I especially have a thing for his Live albums which I believe are a good bit better than his studio albums - a rare thing for popular artists and a testament to his abilities as a singer and songwriter - my favorite live album must be Bowie at the Beeb which I recommend everyone get their grubby, unworthy hands on. Perhaps my most favorite song is Space Oddity, released the year of the moon landing, the year after 2001: A Space Oddity - released at a time when space was the hope and dream of the whole world (and I’m an avid science fiction fanatic in all the arts). Well enough back-patting!

1. David Bowie - And I Say To Myself

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2. David Bowie - Andy Warhol

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3. David Bowie - Hang On to Yourself (Live)

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4. David Bowie - Space Oddity (Live)

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5. David Bowie - Moonage Daydream (Live)

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6. David Bowie - Fame ‘90 Remix

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7. David Bowie - Golden Years

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8. David Bowie - Little Wonder

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9. David Bowie - Rebel Rebel

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10. David Bowie - Let’s Dance

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