Ch-ch-ch-ch-chaff chaff

1. Thanks to everyone's continuing interest in this blog. My hit counter has been through the roof lately, and I know that it's solely because of my dedication and insight. (Unrelated: The Hold Steady's blistering blustering blooztering "Righteous and Awesome" catching up to batshit batshit batshit "Batshit" in the Hype Machine popularity polls. Still accepting entries for the WORST LYRIC by the Hold Steady, who will win the same crap everyone else wins! Post 'em here there anywhere, I'll figure it out.) Unfortunately blogging might be a bit sporadic for the next few weeks so as to avoid getting my legs broke.

2. Styjuke up earlier today, can't say my blurbs were any good. Lotsa contributors this week! Diversity is good. Column comin' soon fer serious. It will be diverse and not-that-good. But next month (I think) is the INDIE TEENPOP AWARDS if THE MAN lets it happen. Just in time for the Colette Trudeau album!

3. Hoku on the horizon:

As for the music...we are anticipating a launch date around the start of the new year. We are waiting to put up the newly designed myspace page and other web content until then, but I have seen it and I have to say that it all looks pretty cool! We have a lot of exciting things planned for this page as well as the official web page...all coming soon.

In a short nine days, my co-producer gets back in town and we get back to rocking. I am still writing a ton of new material...hopefully we can get a few more songs done than we had originally planned by the new year.

Who is this co-producer? None other than Jim Roach of This World Fair. [googles] Oh, that This World Fair, of course. If it's the same as THIS Jim Roach, he's done work with Kelis and Nelly Furtado. Except it's actually this Jim Roach.

4. Hey look, Brie Larson has a Myspace page. Weird.

Mislabeled Monday III

Welcome to another installment of Mislabeled Monday, brought back after a kind of astonishingly high level of demand (I'm flattered that people really seem to like this feature, I think it's quite fun myself!). Today's prize is a SPECIAL SUGASHOCK GIVEAWAY, a copy of each n' all of the albums mentioned in the upcoming feature on Shelved Teenpop, including bonus B-side comps. Since one of these has already been given away (Leftonian classic Melicious), I'll replace it with the soundtrack to On the Line, starring the one and only Lance Bass!

As usual, first commenter to correctly identify ALL of the following three songs winz. They're a cinch this week, so I expect a winner before I wake up!

EDIT: We have a winner, so I will now open the floor to RUNNERS UP. Today's secondary prize will go to whoever can come up with the WORST imaginary Hold Steady line. So it has to be (1) distinctively Hold Steadyish but (2) distinctively terrible.

The Hold Steady - Righteous and Awesome

Craig Finn is back in lapsed-Catholic mode on this B-side from Boys and Girls in America, alternately exorciating and sentimentalizing his religious roots. Here, our blitzed protagonists decide on a whim to really examine the etymological foundations of their slang, and find that the Good Book still has a thing or two to teach them. The song culminates in the adenoidal, acerbic chorus:

She said "Righteous" and I said "Awesome"/ Just like it says in that place in the Bible/ I said, "y'know I haven't read it in ages," so we flipped through a couple of pages/ and thought, "Jesus oughta sue us all for libel!"

At which point the band vamps on "You Shook Me All Night Long" for three glorious minutes.

Gwen Stefani - Batshit

Apt title, this track (which may or may not be appearing on the upcoming album...my money's on, uh, NOT) is hands-down the most CRAZY SHIT I've heard this year. Maybe any year. It's like BAG LADY weird. I won't bother to transcribe any of it...I'm not sure I heard any of the words right, if it's even in English, good luck finding reliable lyrics -- plus her delivery is warp-speed PLUS they sped up her voice Chipmunk style (except when she yells BATSHIT! which is like a multi-tracked banshee wail). The production is...not even a mess, just APOCALYPSE. The beat starts somewhere between reggaeton and J-pop and ends up...I dunno, falling off a cliff and landing on a bunch of pots and pans. Plus gothic choir, digeridoo, accordion, theremin, airhorn, music box, kazoo, a hippy dippy 60s sunshine pop break (they go into "Kumbaya" for a split second), some angst-guitars, cowbell, mellotron, gargling, and I swear there's a sample of "My Name Is Larry" in there but maybe I'm just hearing things, it could be Gwen-biting-Fischer-biting-Gwen (like if he actually bit her). After seven minutes you might need to take a break.

The Shins - Fry That Chicken

I don't know who sent me this (name didn't ring a bell), but I must say I'm very conflicted. The Shins just put on a supersecret show in Oregon City for a small audience (or so this guy claims...I'm not totally convinced it's legit, but it definitely sounds like James Mercer, so kudos if it's a phony because you had me fooled) and apparently their encore was a raucous cover of Ms. Peachez "Fry That Chicken," which has come under fire for perpetuating stereotypes, like the idea that African-Americans frequently eat their dinners outdoors. Don't get me wrong, I'm just as anti-PC as the next guy, like maybe we need to FIX PROBLEMS and not just RENAME THINGS. I think people in general are definitely way too sensitive about jokes. If intentions are clearly humorous, I don't see what the problem is. People rip on me all the time, even if I am a white male, and I take it with a good sense of humor almost all of the time. But still, I think that Mercer (or whoever) is definitely crossing a line here.

Good luck! All answers must be in the form of comments and vice versa and I'll know if you googled because of TECHNOLOGY so don't even try it.

ChaffPost - Daylight Savings Edition

EDIT: 1. (New #1 'cuz of the theme day, up to '95 in the Jop polls.)

Yikes, '95 not so hot compared to '94. Reluctant ticks, and I might go back and re-tick "Waterfalls" now that I've unticked it (but I like "Creep" better and don't think the other one really needs the help...for some reason I thought "Waterfalls" was bigger in '96 but I might be remembering that wrong).

SBD '95: None to speak of, really. Maybe one of the Portishead songs or something, never really cared about them, though.

HSR '95: Edwyn Collins, Method Man/Mary J. Blige (ages since I heard this one), Filter, Garbage.

Not much to say for '95, changed schools, made new friends. Very much liked Alanis Morissette, Oasis, Skee-Lo, Smashing Pumpkins. Kind of a middle of the road year in most respects. (If "Violet" had been included I'd point out a sort of proto-confessional trifecta, Courtney-Alanis-Garbage. But it wasn't so I won't.)

2. K-Fed's new album streaming at AOL here. So far VERY BORING and pretty safe, guy's a mediocre rapper, nothing like the audacious lameness of "Lose Control" (which doesn't sound as lame as it looked). Fed to fans: "I got 50 mil, I can do whatever I want. I don't need a record deal, I can do whatever I want." C'mon, K-Fed, stop being so insecurr. I'm rich and I don't even care what you say about me! Seriously! No, really, I mean it, doesn't get to me at all! I just laugh! Ha! See, it's funny, because you thought I cared what y'all think...see, 'cuz I don't. Did I mention I'm rich, which means I don't need to care about what people think of me? Because that's also true, if I didn't mention it. Aaaaaaaaaaand I have a lot of money. This guy gets THIRTY THOUSAND A WORD. I quit.

3. Fall Out Boy makes it onto Radio Disney by a very slim margin with kinda cute Nightmare Before Christmas cover "What's This?" Don't expect it to do very well. Other RD news, Tiffany Giardina in the incubator, a lighter (lite-r) take on Hilary New Wave.

4. Amy Winehouse has piqued my curiosity with "Rehab," more later. Now to prepare for MISLABELED MONDAY III.

Brandon Flowers ♥s Nancy Reagan

BRANDON FLOWERS HAS A GURLFRIEND (Note: Skye Sweetnam not pictured)

Preparing some mislabeling mischief and further procrastinating on that covers post (next week, next week, everything will be done next week), and now I've gotta talk about friggin' BRANDON FLOWERS on Skye Friday. Not cool.

Anywho, this is the second time I've seen reference to Flowers' "conservatism," at Huffington Post via Fluxblog.

Here's my take: Brandon Flowers' so-called coservatism (which really amounts to being confused and frustrated, if we're going to go by what he says in public, or confusing, judging from lyrics on Sam's Town) is not particularly conservative. I don't think that people are bothering to define this word before pointing fingers. Which is to say that the continued dumbing down of an "adult" political discourse is much more dangerous than anything Brandon Flowers has to say.

But beyond that, I don't actually disagree with anything that he's being attacked for here, though I'm lacking context re: the "American Idiot" quote. (Long story short, Green Day filmed an "American Idiot" video in England, Flowers claimed people might "take it the wrong way" there and "not how [Armstrong] meant it" and then said that there are "some of the nicest people" living in the good ol' US of A.) It seems like he's saying that a British person might understand the lyrics to "American Idiot" differently than an American, i.e. "all Americans are idiots." I think the original is dumb enough, but if Flowers is saying that this interpretation would be even dumber, I don't think he's wrong. Whether or not that was Armstrong's intent is debatable, and Flowers' argument here is confusing (and kinda dumb). But is it "conservative"?

This idea of a "rising tide of conservatism" in pop, as it was labeled on Fluxblog, needs to be backed up very carefully. I'll take an articulate conservative argument that I can disagree or argue with (whether it's in a song or elsewhere) before I'll accept self-righteous indignation directed at vague and easy (and usually phony) targets -- it has nothing to do with political ideology (even though this particular brand of indignation might be labeled "liberal" in the Huffpost's case) and everything to do with NOT THINKING, or reading a damn lyrics sheet (her interpretation of "Uncle Johnny" is even more paranoid than my interpretation of "I Am One of Them"!) before you publish a scathing attack of alleged politics.

(One final note: the only person making a politically conservative argument here is the writer of that post, who basically assumes the PMRC's logic and replaces sex with "conservatism." And anyway she's a sucker to assume that logic at all, since this "impressionable children" bullshit is often a front for policy having little to do with the "safety" of American children, e.g. the blank tape tax (omg I sound like Frank Zappa). Next you'll tell me that the MPAA ratings system is actually a front for its activities as a transnational lobbying group trying to loosen import restrictions on Hollywood films and protect their business interests at home and abroad! But what about the NC-17 KISS OF DEATH, and why isn't it being applied to CONSERVATIVE films, too?)

"Wild Night" makes me wanna THROW UP

SBD '94: Prolly Craig Mack

HSR '94: Surprisingly few I didn't know, of the Hole choices, I sort of remember "Doll Parts" from around that time but don't think I remember "Miss World" so much, hard to say. I didn't click with Hole until "Violet." Also Veruca Salt, Ini Kamoze, Des'Ree, Crystal Waters.

I remember this summer very distinctly because we went to the beach. Soundtrack was Babyface, Coolio, and Wild Night" cover by John Mellencamp and Meshell Ndegeocello [OMG THE NEW MUPPETS!] which was the song they played on the GRAVITRON machine, probably drove the operator (stationed in the middle watching everyone spin around) nuts. There was also a big big big big Boyz II Men song at the time, "I'll Make Love to You." And everybody loved Lisa Loeb because she was so great and you figured she must be smart AND sexy because of the glasses. Oh and Bruce Springsteen looked cold in the "Streets of Philadelphia" video (hey, I can see my house from there!).

Most important/best songs for me at the time roughly in order:

Warren G - "Regulate" (completely unstoppable), Offspring - "Come Out and Play" (first album I ever bought myself was Smash, shouting "Drivers are rude/ Such attitude...etc. was always fun), Snoop - "Gin and Juice," Coolio - "Fantastic Voyage." Oh, and "Black Hole Sun" has a special place here somewhere. Not much else to say about '94 except that it was the beginning of my WEIRD AL phase, and also the beginning of my OFFSPRING phase. And the beginning and end of my G-FUNK PHASE, which meant I listened to "Regulate" a lot and wore a baseball cap backwards.

Very tough choices this round, '94 might be the most important/memorable year (musically) of pre/early adolescence, i.e. before high school.

Lazy Metacritics

In part one of the series, I will use my BULLOMETER to test individual Metacritic ratings (without reading the full reviews) for Fergie's The Dutchess. I don't know who wrote these and I'm not particularly interested in the expressed opinion, won't discount a rating I disagree with. The meter has three readings: PASS, FAIL, and ERROR (for times when it's too tough to call).

FERGIE: THE DUTCHESS
METACRITIC RATING: 52
USER RATING: 38

♥ 83, Entertainment Weekly: Though not every track is a gem, The Dutchess reaches further than most albums by contemporary divas.

PASS. Sort of. Although the context might clarify who these "contemporary divas" are. Better than P!nk? Jojo? Beyonce? And anyway I don't think she "reaches further" than any of those artists even if this album might be better. Though I'm not even sure of that.

♥ 75, The Phoenix: An eclectic, danceable collection of hip-hop, R&B, and pop confections.

PASS. (Barely.) Bland capsule but couldn't be sure if that's Phoenix or Metacritic's doing.

♥ 70, Rolling Stone: A shameless solo debut full of Eighties-style electro bangers.

FAIL. The album is neither shameless (there's plenty of shame if you keep listening to the second half!) nor full of "Eighties-style electro bangers." I'm not even sure what that's supposed to mean.

♥ 70, Dot Music: Where the likes of [Gwen] Stefani and co manage to tie eclectic albums together with the strength of their personality, Fergie never actually comes close to showing what she really sounds like, leaving "The Dutchess" as an exceptionally random R&B mixtape.

ERROR. She comes very close to showing what she really sounds like. I'm not sure if she had another option. The Dutchess is both exceptional and random, but this person makes it sound derogatory. Besides which, Fergie "eclectic" 2006 > Gwen "eclectic" 2006.

♥ 60, NOW Magazine: Basically, if London Bridge doesn't make you want to rip your ears off, you'll enjoy almost 80 per cent of the album.

FAIL. Nothing on this album sounds anything at all like "London Bridge." Ripping one's ears off is no indication of enjoying anything else on the album, let alone 80% of it. Making up random percentages to aid sarcastic dismissals is 98% lame.

♥ 60, Prefix Mag: Fergie is talented enough to compete with the likes of Gwen Stefani and Christina Aguilera, but the material on The Dutchess won't take her to those heights.

PASS. But I disagree. They will all come to Fergie (Gwen down, Xtina to go).

♥ 58, E! Online: Exactly as gratingly infectious as you might expect.

FAIL. This album is not what you'd expect if you've followed Fergie's music up to "London Bridge." Some of it is infectious, but none of it is particularly grating. Bottom line here (as with a few other FAILs) is that the author has projected his/her perception of "London Bridge" onto the entire album, fatal mistake.

♥ 50, Slant Magazine: The album too often seems to be striving to display diversity at the expense of artistry.

FAIL. Why is "diversity" a trade-off for "artistry"? And anyway, the album displays both traits just fine. All tracks co-written by Ms. Ferguson, artiste.

♥ 50, LA Times: The problem is the Duchess herself. Fergie exudes earthy charm, but can't keep up with the breakneck music. She forces emotion on the slower show-stoppers, and she's all cartoon kitten on the come-ons. [17 Sep 2006]

ERROR. omg don't they have copyeditors its DUTCHESS helloooo... Her earthy charm (?) is too slow for the breakneck pace (?), but the forced emotion (?), apparently devoid of earthy charm, kills the slow pace, too. Which must be why those songs stop the show; it's just inertia...Fergie could have cheated and said she was going so slow that she was going backwards. She's also a cartoon kitten that wants to have sex with you on the midtempo numbers.

♥ 50, Blender: She keeps the tone light and playful, but her shopaholic-hottie raps seem written for someone with less emotional baggage. [Nov 2006, p.145]

FAIL. Totally clueless. 1) SHE WROTE most of the raps. Or co-wrote. 2) That "emotional baggage" is what gives her that earthy charm...er...it's what makes a lot of the songs work, at least the ones that aren't like the first three songs on the album (wait, what does "emotional baggage" mean? Sung with emotion or something in the tabloids that I'm unaware of?) 3) shopaholic-hottie raps?

♥ 50, Vibe: When [Fergie] nails it--as she does about half the time on her genre-jumbling solo debut--the result is strange pop that successfully blurs the thin line between annoying and alluring. [Nov 2006, p.160]

PASS. With flying colors, this is dead on! Not sure how that blurb merits a 50 score, though (maybe because it happens on half the songs? But 50% success on an album isn't necessarily a 50 score).

♥ 40, New York Times: It’s essentially a Black Eyed Peas album with two fewer rappers. That’s an improvement: two down, two to go. [18 Sep 2006]

FAIL. Sounds nothing at all like a Black Eyed Peas album with two fewer rappers. Flimsy and stupid set-up for the (flimsy and stupid) punchline. Reminds me of a "Simpsons" episode: Sideshow Bob: "Sounds like Congressman Les Weinan needs to do more thinkin' and less whinin'!" Lisa: "There's no congressman Les Weinan..."

♥ 40, All Music: Mildly entertaining but tremendously taxing.

ERROR. I've listened to this album three times today and boy are my ears tired.

♥ 20, Popmatters: Fergie prances, preens, moans, talks and raps, but the result is canned and sterile.

ERROR. She sure is working hard for that 20. Anyway, "canned" and "sterile" do not compute. What do these words actually mean? Perhaps my English not so good.

And finally, here's my blurb for Metacritic:

♥ 80s ("electrobangin'"), Cure for Bedbugs: Fergie preens and moans tremendously while her emotional earthenware baggage is inspected with exceptional randomness, like two diverse cartoon kittens (minus two = the same number as no Black Eyed Peas) drunk on 80% shopahol and 20% canned eclecticity. Successfully blurs the line between annoying and alluring!

Fergie/Ferg Listening Reports

I am the first person on the internet to make this astute comparison.

Fergie - The Dutchess

I owe Fergie a big fat apology, I was wrong to say that she has an "inexplicable lack of charisma" on "London Bridge" in an old song review (I do tend to flip-flop on those). On each half of the album she actually has a very distinct personality, part 1 she's funny and the album is pretty consistently delightful, eclectic production running the gamut from bleepy hip-hop to lite R&B to heavy-duty soul samplin', and then there's an unexpected transition into to Pink angst-ballad mode (starts at "Pedestal," a Pink R&B number with Gwennishness in the chorus), where she returns for the album's underrated ballads.

"London Bridge" has grown on me, but it isn't nearly as good as some of hte songs on here (I did underrate it before, though). Also, in "Pedestal" she reveals that she's been reading what people write about her on the Internet! HI FERGIE!!!!! (Is the "T" in the title intentional or did they not run it by a copy editor? It could be a buffer letter to help distinguish between one Fergie-Ferg and the other one.) Might be a top ten contender.

MCR - The Black Parade

Wow, I'm really liking this. Tim Burton emo with the deep-on-the-outside feel that Fall Out Boys and Disco Panickers sort of reference without really achieving, all glitz and gaud and pomp (jeez I think even AOL uses that word) and at least one GN'R guitar solo rip-off (from "November Rain," forget which song, but sounds great) and The Wall vibes on whichever track he's pleading to "mama." Not paying much attention to the lyrics [EDIT: This Youtube video of "Teenagers" brings to light, er, interesting lyrics, the Voice refers to 'em as "trenchcoat mafia" lyrics, but I'm not totally willing to accept that, since the song seems to be as much about a fear of teenagers as it is about the fear teenagers might actually induce], but the life & death stuff seems fairly tongue in cheek. The Voice review questions why they haven't "moved on," but it seems to me that they don't take the vampires or the Big Questions or anything else on the album all that seriously; if it's what they need to orchestrate an adorable monstrosity like this, I'm not complaining.

LCD Soundsystem - 45:33

Lots of hand-wringing or, in some cases, excitement about the corporate-sponsored nature of this project. I don't think it's unreasonable not to cheerlead for corporate sponsorship, and I think the reserved shrug that most people have given the project-as-concept is a little odd. Where's all the self-righteous anger that characterized the reception of Paris? Nike is actually bad! This isn't like a Paris Hilton thing where despicable practices/ideas are projected onto a vague symbol for everyone's convenience -- this (excellent) mix REALLY DOES directly fund brutal international exploitation, just like we all secretly feared about Paris bin Laden!

Hold Steady - Boys and Girls in America

Undecided. Not liking it nearly as much as Separation Sunday (I should go further back to Lifter Puller, not too familiar with them), but still processing. Took me a while to come around to the last one, might take longer for this one, should probably find it on CD since the listening party I'd been using might have expired by now.

Killers - Sam's Town

Um, ditto. Sorry this isn't more informative. Gotta say, the teenpopers do the OLD Killers better than they possibly could. They're screwed! Kind of like the album, tho.

Jojo - The High Road

Haven't listened to all of it yet, first half is great.

Gwen Stefani - "Wind It Up"

Yikes. Jimmy Draper sez: "Sounds like Fergie doing Gwen!" which is more accurate than anything else I could probably say about it. The "Lonely Goatherd" sample is a cute idea but the song doesn't really do much with it. Meanders with no clear structure...sounds kind of like a stop-gap, which it is. [EDIT: Actually, this is the lead single from her new album! But the album isn't a "proper" album, sort of a glorified B-sides comp as I understand it?] Interesting: Fergie seems to have (in a way) outdone Gwen and Pink this year. [EDIT: OK, maybe not P!nk.]

Robyn feat. Teddybears Sthlm - "Girlie-Style" "Cobrastyle" (credited as both, but pretty sure the latter is correct)

Nice Robyn melodic rap, sort of a dancehall flow(?), against a light plink-synth and poopy-bass backdrop. Her style is da bomb-di-di-bomb-di-dang-di-dang-diggy-diggy. Anticipating this EP, esp. for the "Jack U Off" cover.

Further comment in comments, if ya know what I mean.

(Oh and apologies to Kelefa Sanneh, whose name I've been spelling wrong a lot lately. Won't happen again.)

Prunge and Gop

SBD '93: Probably Tony Toni Tone, but I think instead I'll count the grunge hangover tie between Juliana Hatfield and Urge Overkill (not derogatory, I like the grunge-hangover better than most grunge as I understand it, even had the Gin Blossoms ticked initially, along with almost everything else. Not that any of this necessarily has to do with "grunge," at the time it was "alternative" and I was (soon to be -- or maybe, at the time, vicariously through friends/siblings) listening to "alternative rock radio"...it's funny, I only listened to "alternative" after it was no longer pretending to be an alternative for anything, when it was basically just grungy chart-pop. [EDIT: Koganbot sez: "There's a school of thought (don't know if I'm part of it, as I've not really gone back to listen in the intervening years) that says alternative got way BETTER - briefly - when it broke onto the charts in the early '90s because then all these wannabes and pretenders came along and turned it into pop music." I don't have much of a personal frame of reference here, because the "alternative story" (e.g. the lead-up to Nirvana in Our Band Could Be Your Life or the retroactive canonization of better-than-(or-at-least-as-good-or-"important"-as-)Beatles Nirvana in VH1 polls, etc.) had been so puffed up and mythologized by the time I actually went back to the music that predated mainstream alternative that it's hard to listen "fresh," as if I'd been paying attention as it was happening. Another major benefit of hanging out around Poptimists during these polls. Listening now, though, I'd probably rather listen to a given song by Juliana Hatfield or the Gin Blossoms than, say, Mudhoney or the Melvins.]

HSR '93: Digable Planets, Robyn S, Shaggy, Ice Cube, US3 (I dunno, I hear this pretty frequently still, but not the whole song.)

Still don't really understand the appeal of Pet Shop Boys. Does that get me kicked out?

For some reason the '93 entries seem "older" to me than the '92 memories. Maybe "older" amounts to something like "more familiar" (initially ticked something like sixteen songs!), meaning I associated with these songs strongly when they came out, with fewer discoveries a year or so too late...RD staples thrive on the trickle-down younger sibling effect, too. If it were a different "Show Me Love" by a different Robyn I'd be even more excited...proto-Britney! (This version isn't bad neither but didn't tick.)

Remember less of '93 than '92...we moved and my dad got remarried toward the end of the year, so the '94-'95 school year was my first at a new school. But I was living away from most of my friends and still going to my old school, so it was a strange year personally. And yet I remember most of this music, my memories of the songs persist when personal memories fade. Probably because I've had repeated exposure to (most of) them...but no, I remember watching Jim Carrey's parody of Snow, I remember both Janet Jackson videos playing non-stop (didn't tick either, a lot of my first choices had to go). I remember liking "Creep" (whose performer I wouldn't have been able to identify along with everyone else) and "Cantaloop," being CREEPED THE HELL OUT by the "Heart Shaped Box" video (this might be the first Nirvana song I sort of embraced as a Nirvana song, if that makes sense. This or "Lithium," but I actually heard them both for the first time this year (8-9 y/o). Next summer marks the beginning my Weird Al phase, which will take me through to '96 and "Amish Paradise." Lots of mixtapes called "FUNNY STUFF #1, etc" that are like Weird Al/Adam Sandler split EPs.

My step-brother was a huge Metallica fan and had every record, so most of my musical experiences from this time revolve around sitting in front of the speakers in the basement listening to METALLICA and imagining things that COOL PEOPLE who LISTENED TO METALLICA and were INVINCIBLE KILLING MACHINES did for fun, like posing and making menacing grimaces to themselves in the mirror and pretending to fight inexhaustible ninja monsters a la Power Rangers. This began toward the end of '93, obsession in '94, by '95 there is documented footage of me (w/ shroom-cut) lip-syncing to "Seek and Destroy" in jeans with holes torn in the knees. I was also forced to choreograph a dance routine to "Daisy Dukes" ("come on baby kick them daisies") with my sisters but I think I was spared video documentation.

The roller rink is as good a place as any to do some tween anthropology, and if I remember correctly, Tag Team dominated in '93. Skater-pop (er, "rollerskater-pop") was a good lead-up to teenpop-as-genre (post-Spice Girls/Hanson), I guess. Lotsa Mariah.

On MTV I was listening to Dr. Dre little by little, but I was into Dre/Snoop more when Snoop started his solo career and "Gin and Juice" came out. I think at one point in '94 I became a "rap guy" for about five minutes, which for me meant wearing a baseball cap backwards and listening to the radio and trying to learn the words to "Regulate." At the time, I remember there being very distinct social categories...there was skater and prep (not sure if it was called "prep," it was whatever you'd call the style I resisted when my sisters tried to dress me nicely) and for a while, although it went out of style by the time I was in fifth grade or so when everyone became a skater, you could join the Whig party. (I really loathe that word, and it got me into a lot of trouble a year or two later because I didn't understand where it came from, but that's what it was called at the time.)

Other memories...my friend Jimmmy loved the Spin Doctors around that time (don't know why I remember that, since I definitely don't remember the music). Judging from the Billboard results for '93, Mariah, Boyz II Men ('93 wasn't their year), and Whitney Houston are all conspicuously absent. "Dream Lover" was a (roller)skate-pop staple (my sister was probably into this when it came out, don't remember). And pretending to ignore "I Will Always Love You" is admirable but impossible.

Skye Friday: Bahhaggah Edition

The Simlish version of "Boyhunter" is available at Clouded Senses. It's a poor quality audio rip from an earlier video rip (to be expected, straight from the game), and it's also in Simlish, so somewhat difficult to judge. Big lumbering retro rap-rock beat [EDIT: found a much better rip, and the beat isn't really big or lumbering, moreso on the chorus. Still not sure what I think of this one], Skye stomps n' struts and has a nice Courtney-lite moment toward the end there. But it would help to know what she's saying (even though I'm assuming the lyrics are silly in English, too). This is one that she wrote with the Matrix, so at least they aren't trying to unload another boring slacker-anthem in the Ashley Parker Angel stylee. (Not on this one, anyway.)

Teenpop covers feature has been postponed until next week.

Simlish vs. Spanish vs. Portuguese

"Boyhunter/Bahhaggah" vs. "Quien es Feliz" vs. "Beijos, Blues, e Poesia"?

Boyz II Men changed my life (and I didn't even notice)

1. SBD '92: I feel like I must have heard this before, but I think that my SBD actually goes to TLC this year. I just can't find this song anywhere in the recesses of my brain, so "AIN'T 2 PROUD 2 BEG" wins. Runner up is Das Efx, which reminds me of Fu-Schnickens (please tell me this is eligible in two years...nope. "Black Hole Sun" bringin up the rear at 20, Aly and AJ should revise, improve, and cover it). Third place "TROY"? Who are the Utah Saints (tie for third)? [EDIT: Wiki sez they eventually did the Mortal Kombat Theme, wow...Utah Saints taught the Kids Who Never Played Outside to dance!]

HSR '92: Sophie B Hawkins, L7 (I haven't heard this song in years...powerful unconscious recognition, but not enough to tick it); kd Lang (it feels like I still hear this song pretty often, following me into elevators and post offices. Actually, the closest post office seems to play a lot of Dionne Warwick, or maybe I just noticed more than one Dionne Warwick song playing there?). Also a special head-smack award for Ministry, if I'd been like two or three years older this might have been the Greatest Song Ever for a Ten Year-Old to Stomp Around To (I think my equivalent was probably "Three Little Pigs" by Green Jelly).

1992: My mother died of cancer in January, but we'd been prepared for it much longer. I thought I'd go into this installment not recognizing a lot of music from this point in my life, but I actually knew much more from this poll (at the time) than from any of the previous ones. In fact, I think Kris Kross is my first important real-life overlap, in the sense that I can claim to have "discovered" them myself. The only other concurrent musical influences so far (Paula Abdul, GN'R) came from my sister and her friends. "Jump" aired on Nickelodeon and Saturday morning TV constantly, also a roller rink staple along with follow-up "I Missed the Bus." Kris Kross established a sort of nascent cross-promotional scheme for future teenpop of the Disney/Hollywood era to follow, "bumpers" etc...I don't remember them showing many other music videos during children's programming.

My sister was probably listening to RHCP by now (she was ten), and "Under the Bridge" is one of those songs that's such an inextricable part of my childhood that choosing not to tick it simply because I CAN'T STAND IT would just feel wrong. "Lithium" is the first song I ever learned all the words to (no wait, that was "I Can't Dance" by Genesis, but I do remember learning Lithium by heart)...I thought the song was funny at eight or nine, this weird guy with friends in his head who was still so clearly cool. It also gave me the excuse to sneer and say "HORNY" and yell "yeeeeeeeah!" and my voice cracked just like Kurt's, except I was prepubescent.

I'm also realizing the impact "In Living Color" had on me as a kid around this time, maybe a year earlier...it was one of those shows I had to watch secretly when no one was around, like "Married...with Children" (which was the only flat-out FORBIDDEN show in the house, it drove my parents crazy just to hear even a second of it). My first memories of Vanilla Ice and "Rumpshaker" and "Baby Got Back" (pretty much any rap or hip-hop I can remember from the time...Digital Underground, too) come from that show. An enduring love of rumps and humps etc. etc. etc. (they'd have a field day with Fergie).

(Also, see post title. There's a scene in Last Days where "Kurt" just sits and watches the ENTIRE video to "On Bended Knee" and I had something like a religious experience, a profound Pavolvian response. Hate the movie for reasons I've still never articulated and won't start now, but that scene was incredibly powerful for some reason. "End of the Road" in '92 is where Boyz II Men got me first, even though "Motown Philly" was on "Full House" once. But I think I saw that episode after B2M were enormous and unstoppable.)

2. Skye boardies are currently figuring out how to extract Simlish "Boyhunter" from the new Sims game. Comments:

1. It has a hiphop/electronic/rock sound
2. Sounds like nothing Skye has ever done before
3. Skye even does a little playful rap a bit in the pre-chorus
4. By the sounds of the simlish the start of the chorus goes "Cause I'm a boyhunter, a boyhunter, a boyhunter"
5. This song is effing hot as hell

It'll probably be available by the end of the day, just in time for a very special SKYE FRIDAY "Boymuzzer" edition.

3. From Tommy2, HSM alum-pop continues with Lucas Grabeel, who's featured on some Disney soundtrack. When oh when will Zac Efron start his rap career? Aly and AJ on a daytime talk show tomorrow, might be able to watch this thing.

4. Great technical discussion of confessional rock over on the teenpop thread. Influences have obviously been discussed, but no harm in revisiting some of the conversation...Eppy tracks the rockfessional trend like this:

American teenpop is sort of the natural continuation of pop-metal if it hadn't gone industrial, right, and I think how it works is this: 80s pop-metal's big tracks were all metal sonics welded onto 70s rock ballad structures and maybe melodies. This stuff seems to be melding punk onto 60s/70s pop/soul-ballads, Bacharach/David sorta stuff. Lots of passing notes. Except in melding the two they've flattened the rhythmic structure, so chords and root notes change right on the 1 or 3 (beginning or middle of the bar) instead of changing right before or after beats as they did in Bacharach and, I dunno, I guess I've been listening to "Gone Away" way too much lately so that's in my mind. But yeah, I think it takes that sorta variagated chordal structure and chains it to the Ramones chug-chug-chug. I think the verses are almost 70s orchestral pop done with rock instruments and the choruses are 90s power pop, yeah? Sorta kinda? Pop-grunge?

Pop-grunge is an interesting way of putting it...Smashing Pumpkins have come up before (Ross links "1979" to "Everything I'm Not"...it's like the Martin/Gottwald formula without a sufficient climax, although Billy Corgan instinctively hops up an octave like something is supposed to happen there, like he's groping at a soarus in the dark), and I guess I hear something in the way that they try to find something like triumphalism, or maybe just theatricality and bombast (or maybe I'm just thinking of "Tonight"?) in gloom (but Corgan's voice is always gloomy, unlike Aly or AJ or...Linday? Is scorched grunge-girl innately empowering/triumphant?).

So one technical feature of a lot of rock confessional is that it's modal music where major/minor is in flux. That means that the use of thirds is crucial. "Rush" (pretending it's in C for now): "Don't let nobody tell you" gravitates around the fifth in the minor scale (in C minor it's G) and the major third in the major scale (in Eb major it's G). But when they come down to what should be the root (essentially V-I, traditional harmonic resolution), that Eb makes the resolution minor (V-i), because they hit the minor third.

"I Live for the Day" does something unexpected by setting the chorus in an indirectly related key, from B minor to E minor/G maj and carrying over the vocal melody. In the chorus, the vocal rhythmic pattern (and to some extent the melodic pattern, it's a third below Kelly C.) is "Since U Been Gone," "I-live-for-the-da-ay," with the second "syllable" in the extended "day" resolving in a similar way. Imagine what "Since U Been Gone" would sound like if, instead of blasting GOOOOONE, Kelly had patterned it like this: "Since U Been Gone! Since U Been Gone! I can breathe..." (she does do this with a double track at some point, but it's not the primary melody). It would be a bit more desperate, more frantic, less immediately cathartic. That's what Lindsay's doing here. And -- didn't notice this until yesterday -- there's an almost imperceptible key change at the end, up a whole step to F#min/A maj, so that the intensity has been increased considerably (it's the classic climactic modulation that takes the song over the top) but covertly.

Plus Lindsay KICKS ASS. Now where's "Boymuzzer"?

My very last Idolator post

This is ridiculous. This is officially my final word on Idolator, just can't read it, a constant disappointment. Also, "La La" becomes my #0 song of 2005 to compensate (I went with "Boyfriend" at #2). While we're at it, Come and Get It is #0 album of that year, just listened to it tonight and it's pretty much flawless.

Someone cheer me up by ripping that song from the damn Sims game already, I ask for so little.

Smells Like Jop

1. SBD '91: Geto Boys - Mind's Playing Tricks (second place in this category but no tick for Dream Warriors - My Definition of a Boombastic Jazz Style).

HSR '91: PM Dawn - Set Adrift on Memory Bliss (known to me as the dreamy "dah dah-dah daaaaah dahh" song); Crystal Waters - Gypsy Woman (known to me as the "la da dee, la da dow" song); Prince - Gett Off (known to me as the first and possibly only Prince song I ever heard as a kid); 3RD Bass - Pop Goes the Weasel (known to me as "Pop goes the weasel and the weasel goes POP" song, which I could recite in grade school without to my knowledge ever hearing the song. Very much not liking it.)

I lied big time...the answer to any question of most important or biggest or bestest or whatever else is NIRVANA and I didn't pick it because...I didn't feel like it (I went with LL because that's what I wanted to listen to this morning). Semi-contrarian move on my part...I haven't listened to any other song more often on that list (maybe "Enter Sandman"). I said Pavement for "most important" because their influence on indie seems to loom much larger than Nirvana's. (Anyway, I remember the "grunge divide" being between Nirvana and Pearl Jam -- are they next year or something? -- with PJ winning out in terms of influence by the mid-90s.)

Hard to remember a lot from this period of of my life (~6-9 or so), not many memories of current pop music. I remember watching the premiere of the "Black or White" video and thinking the car-smashing was some weird joke or a mistake; watching Victor Borge (a lot) in my parents' room (not sure if this qualifies as "pop," but it coincides in this video with the Muppets, who are definitely pop); more MTV-sneaking, where I would get my first exposure to LL Cool J and Nirvana and Prince (I think...the melodic hook from "Gett Off" goes way back).

2. Uh, wish I had something else to say today. Teenpop Covers feature will be 00's-only to make it a little more manageable.

3. Oh yeah, Post 2 of 2 on Paris over at Mincetapes. More on this later, maybe? Or in the comments section.

4. Oh yeah (again), didn't get a chance Friday but the first Skye song from the Sound Soldier sessions surfacesssssssssssssss....er, it's by Belinda, "Quien es Feliz," originally "Remember Me." By Skye and Shakira collaborator Lester Mendez. You can stream it at Belinda's Myspace...wasn't hugely into it at first but coming around to it now, I can imagine a bigger voice on the chorus. Also check out the video to Belinda's "Angel."

Toodaloo, Myspace

Went down under for about ten minutes, didn't find anything all that interesting, but findings (such as they are) posted below. But first a detour.

DISNEYLAND


Sara Paxton

I think I've already done a Myspace post about her, but I was in the mood for "Take a Walk" again. I'm going to do a Best Teenpop Covers feature pretty soon (maybe next week), start providing some candidates! "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" probably won't make it (even though I like it, much prefer it to Elton John's version)...Skye's "Part of Your World" probably will, though. Shortlist: Mandy Moore - "Senses Working Overtime"; Girl Authority - "Hollaback Girl"; Kidz Bop - "Crazy Frog (Axel F)."


AUSTRALIA


Young Divas

S Club vibes, nothing to write home from Australia about. 4 "personalities" put together = 0 personality. But then you could sort of say the same of Girls Aloud, so maybe they just need better tunes [EDIT: for the record I'm aware there are actually FIVE Girls Aloud, same idea].


Rogue Traders

Very dull dance music with slight rock inclination (i.e., there's a guitar on it) on single "Voodoo Child," so far Australia's teenybopper population is a major let-down.


The Living End

Best of the batch, Australia's answer to Green Day, I guess. Still underwhelming, though. C'mon, surely an entire CONTINENT can offer one excellent youth phenom? I guess Kylie makes up for all deficiencies.


Melanie Horsnell

Hey lookit, Australia's got a thriving Myspace indie underground, too. Except this is on Rounder in Europe and MGM in Australia, so its "indie" status is questionable. Playful singer-songwriter with minor Wurlitzer dependency, like a lightweight Aimee Mann with a more pronounced Beatles fetish or something. Anyway, I like it OK.

ELSEWHERE


The Aquabats

The voice(s) of Yo Gabba Gabba, sounds like Spongebob power-pop. They call it "nerdcore," but any -core would be generous, probably wishful thinking on their part. Better off with "Party in My Tummy" (available on the YGG page).


Tiny Masters of Today

Got a text message from my friend Matt: "Fuck Smoosh, TINY MASTERS OF TODAY!" Is there a network for kid-fronted Brooklyn-based hipster bands or something? These guys are friends with Eyeball Skeleton and Smoosh. And all three of them are not very good.


Maya Bond

At least Maya Bond isn't trying to sound jaded (well, fake hipster jaded. Amy Diamond is undoubtedly a "grimly competent" professional and sounds great. And Grak beats all of 'em, anyway). She's six (I think), and she sounds...four. Great video.


Deviln Murphy

Only listened to one song, featured on Dorm Antics 6 or some such Nat'l Lampoon college movie. Musically notable for a pretty direct rip-off of the "Saved By the Bell" theme song, lyrically notable because of Devlin's 31 Flavors racial rainbow.

Japanese girl running a little late
laughin' with a denim smile
Hair like cherry grape
At the very same time
Black beauty waiting in line
To see a picture show
Looking so fine you know

One atomic wedgie, coming up.


Nicollette

Not bad, like the non-tabloid version of "Rumors," sub-Lindsay. Like Lindsay, she finds no need to make easy rhymes: "If you want him you can have him/ He's a loser anyway/ I don't need him I don't need you/ How d'you like that?" Not as good as "rhyming" "gotta paint it colorful" with "just believe in yourself." She's quick to respond to commenters...one person claimed she sounded like Hilary and Nicolette seemed a little upset that Christina didn't come to mind first. Word of advice: you're better off sounding like Hilary! No chance of Xtina and closer to H-Duff, anyway.


Rachel Ham

"What I Mo Give U" should probably be "What I'ma Give U." Anyway, she's wayyy too stiff to pull it off...like she studied slang with a dialect coach. Shout-outs from New York to Cali to Mississippi, D.C. to Georgia to Philly...is she just listing places at random? Not bad, Britnonymous, also a shout-out to Brit and Alex on her page. B&A and Paramore have been popping up a lot in influences/profiles.


Yoshida Brothers

Shamisen-rock?


Cali

One of the bigger names on the Camplified tour IIRC, Christian teenpop with bubblegospel leanings ("Get Up"). And there's also "TOODALOO EARTH," which is much better if you interpret to be about waiting for the Rapture (not the band).

(Verse 1)

Days go by so slow
Cause you know I want to be there with you
Be there with you

When Im happy in my soul
Dont you know I want to be there with you
Be there with you

And when you roll back the clouds
My heart will shout it out loud

(Chorus)

Hello sky, toodaloo earth
Ill say it again
Waiting for your love to take me
Hello sky, toodaloo earth
Ill say it again
Waiting for your love to take me away

(Verse 2)

I know heaven fills my dreams
Cause you know I want to be there with you
Be there with you

I got belief for everything
And you know I want to be there with you
Be there with you

And when you roll back the clouds
My heart will shout it out loud

(Chorus)

I don't put it out of the realm of possiblity that I'm wrong. (Ian: "I think it's about flying." Me: "NO!" Ian: "Could be a guy." Me: "NO!") And at any rate it's way better than the theme to Left Behind.

OK, enough for now, toodaloo.

Get repentant

1. Now that I've worked through my own issues with Aly and AJ and have allowed them into my acoustic heart, I've decided that my initial resistance was the work of Satan. To repent, I've begun a rigorous program of scourging, purging, and cleansing, followed by twenty minutes of cardio and some moderate weight-lifting (and then herbal tea, or some earl grey with milk if I'm particularly exhausted).

2. Post 1 of 2 over at Mincetapes on Paris and the "pop canon." I get the feeling that I've missed out on countless good pop albums from Europe, mostly because there doesn't seem to be a community for long-playing pop in the states. Robyn and Annie crossed the Atlantic, but Marie Serneholt and Bertine Zetlitz didn't (the former two are better than the latter two, but I'm referring simply to acknowledgement of their existence). I think the "rise" of the pop/dance-pop album post-teenboom, or maybe post-Fever to mark a semi-arbitrary starting point (call it 00's), has a lot to do with a larger niche audience for Europop surfacing in the US (the type of pop described has entered indie rock and other hipster-type networks), at least partially through conversing with British/European fans thru the internets.

But there are certainly precedents for fully satisfying album-and-single-oriented pop acts, like ABBA, who have several great albums from all periods of their career. I don't think they have a single bad album, though some are certainly better than others. I think it's kind of a shame that ABBA Gold was the chosen ABBA representative in the 33 1/3 series (I haven't read it so I won't comment on the book itself), since it reinforces this idea that they're a "singles group," when in fact they're simply a GOOD group (a great group) that also happened to have lots of great singles (on their great albums). Hard for me to choose among songs on ABBA and Voulez-Vous, too, not unlike Ross's Robyn predicament.

Anyway. I think that there is a unique category of Euro-originating pop/dance-pop that (1) has crossover appeal to channels of US discussion (if not always distribution) and (2) is "album-oriented." But I couldn't say that it's any more rare than a well-constructed indie rock or hip-hop or whatever else album, because the artists making so-called AOP albums don't tend to be discussed at all in the sort of groups I usually hang around, though lately there have been exceptions (all British or European). So maybe this phenomenon/category of the "complete pop album" needs to be seen (to some extent) as a social construction that results from an American music press (print and online) that simply doesn't recognize pop/dance-pop most of the time, at least in the vein of Kylie/Annie/Rachel Stevens. (And one American to look out for is Hilary Duff, who may or may not put out her first dance-pop album when she's finished in the studio...and if the first single is any indication, she won't find much US support).

3. Interesting new incubatee this week, Nuttin' but Stringz. According to their website, their new album is called STRUGLE FROM THE SUBWAY TO THE CHARTS. (Clearly a typo, that should be Strudel from the Subway to the Charts.) Myspace here, where you can listen to, uh, chamber-rap(?) single "Dance with My Father"...wait, are these guys sure they aren't a Canadian indie rock collective?

4. Nominees at the 2006 Nickelodeon Australian Kids Choice Awards:

Fave Aussie
Guy Sebastian
Ian Thorpe
Nicole Kidman
Anthony Callea

Fave Australian Artist
Shannon Noll
Ricki-Lee Coulter
Lee Harding
Guy Sebastian

Fave Australian
Young Divas
The Living End
The Veronicas
Rogue Traders

Group Fave Book
Harry Potter Series
The Chronicles of Narnia
Lemony Snicket – A Series of Unfortunate Events
Anthony Callea: The Official Story

Fave Celeb Duo
Kath & Kim
James & Dave
Bec & Lleyton
The Veronicas

Fave Console Game
Console: PSP - Roco Loco
Console: PS2 – Buzz: The Big Quizz
Console: PS2 – Tony Hawk’s American Wasteland
Nintendo DS: Nintendogs

Funniest Person
James Kerley
Dave Lawson
James Mathison
Rove McManus

Fave Hottie – Female
Stephanie McIntosh
Lara Bingle
Isabel Lucas
Natalie Bassingthwaighte

Fave Hottie – Male
Lee Harding
Adam Saunders
Dan O’Connor
Chris Hemsworth

Fave International Artist
Chris Brown
Nick Lachey
Hilary Duff
Rihanna

Fave International Group
Green Day
Black Eyed Peas
Simple Plan
Good Charlotte

Fave Movie
Harry Potter and the Goblet of fire
She’s the Man
High School Musical
Ice Age 2: The Meltdown

Fave Movie Star Male
Daniel Radcliffe
Hugh Jackman
Jack Black
Rupert Grint

Fave Movie Star Female
Hilary Duff
Emma Watson
Lindsay Lohan
Amanda Bynes

Fave Old Fart
Dicko (Ian Dickson)
Daryl Somers
Kochie (David Koch, "the guy from Sunset on 7")
Bert Newton

Fave Podcast
Camp Orange Maudecast
Bus Stop Sarvo
MuggleCast
Hamish and Andy

So Hot Right Now
Australian Idol
The Socceroos
Young Divas
WWE This Time I Know

Fave Song
When it all Falls Apart – The Veronicas
Forever Young – Youth Group
Voodoo Child - Rogue Traders
It’s For Real – Young Divas


Fave Sports Star – Female
Libby Lenton
Alicia Molik
Leisel Jones
Liz Ellis

Fave Sports Star – Male
Grant Hackett
Lucas Neill
Brett Lee
Lleyton Hewitt

Fave Toon
SpongeBob SquarePants
The Simpsons
Fairly OddParents
Kim Possible

Fave TV Show
Blue Water
Home and Away
Drake & Josh
Neighbours

Fave TV Star
High Kate Ritchie
Stephanie McIntosh
Chris Hemsworth
Grant Denyer

(WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE? The only Australian nominees I know are the Veronicas and Nicole Kidman...more on some of these nonexistent people later, maybe.)

Get righteous

1. Lots of Head-Smack Rediscoveries (a few bordering on Shamefully Belated) in this installment of History of Jop, Lisa Stansfield, Black Box (is it the original or the Le Freak mix?), Bel Biv Devoe, Tom's Diner. Not many SBD's to speak of, I suppose Iggy Pop "Candy" counts (familiar, don't really like it), and "Monie in the Middle" (which I like but didn't tick) but it goes to BDP "Love's Gonna Getcha" which is the only SBD I ticked. (Can't find "Hippychick," wondering if I've ever heard it...what the hell is "Put the Message in the Box"? Gah, no.) I was hearing most of these songs on the radio or during my first exposure to MTV at an after-school babysitter's house (which would get shut off forever around the time of RHCP "Give It Away" dominance when she decided there was too much obscenity for impressionable young eyes n' ears).

Now's the point where I can start writing a bit more about my experiences with music, a project I've wanted to undertake (informally) for a while now, because while I was training myself to listen to music the way I was supposed to (starting in high school), I also somehow convinced myself that there was NO MUSIC before that point. But no, in 1990 (age 6) I've heard a lot of these, I have very early memories of "Free Fallin'" and B52's "Roam" (almost ticked) and "Love Shack" and MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice and some of the Head-Smack Rediscoveries and GN'R and everything my sister listened to (she reminds me that I forgot to mention Debbie Gibson and Milli Vanilli and Tiffany -- Tiffany and Kylie "Locomotion" both from a kid's compilation that also included "Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini" among others).

At this point I'm in first grade, learning curse words I don't understand and listening to the older kids' (couldn't be over 10) tape of Metallica's "One," waiting for the machine-gun drum/guitar part when they would sorta-headbang, nobody really comfortable enough to do much more than vigorous head-nodding. (I "discovered" Metallica around age 9, but at 6 I didn't really understand it and couldn't imagine how anyone could sit through the whole song...in fact I think they fast-forwarded to the good part...chuggada-chuggada-CHUG chuggada-chuggada-CHUG CHUG. This may have been '91.)

This was the year Jordan Kitt's piano store at the mall was holding an event where local children performed pieces on Horowitz's Steinway, recorded for a local NPR station. I was chosen randomly after trying a few pianos at the store, mall staple while the girls were shopping. (By the time I was about 13 some snooty clerk at the Jordan Kitt's mall store would complain that I was "playing too fast" and usher me out...unaccompanied by parent/guardian, y'see, no $$$.) Other more peripheral musical influences include Nintendo soundtracks, worn down New Kids video tapes, golden oldies radio...lots of Beach Boys, early Beatles, probably some stuff from the Hard to Find 45s CDs. I might have heard Mose Allison by now, and I think I went to an Marcus Roberts concert with my dad this year, fell asleep halfway through.

2. Saw Xgau speak last night, weird combination of exciting (he read his EMP paper and his unpublished Idlewild CG review among other things) and dispiriting. I (kind of stupidly) asked the burning question WHAT ABOUT PAZZ N' JOP! Which got a frustrated "ah, don't ask me about the Voice..." before a pretty heartfelt explanation of how much hard work went into it and what a shame it is that it (probably) won't be around any longer. I've always associated the poll with him more than the paper, which I hope came through -- not "tell me about what your old employer is up to these days." I wonder if a half-dozen or so unpaid obsessives could organize an online Pazz and Jop? But even if it was feasible, the question is whether or not people would contribute to it.

3. Aly and AJ, "Not This Year." I can't stop thinking about this, even though I think my assumptions are unfair...I wonder whether or not their particular brand of angst is aligned with or opposed to some of the values that seem to emerge in interviews. It could be a combination of both -- they're mad and confused about the world not working on their terms, and they're also mad and confused about "their terms." That's something that comes through a little in "Chemicals React"...what we have is wrong, but it feels so right. In "Not This Year" they decry the schmaltzifying of a holiday they probably take very seriously (I mean, they seem to take everything seriously)...but there's something else happening, there's "the rain," it just keeps coming down and there seems to be nothing they can do about it. I see them on a fence between righteousness and an abyss (futility, failure, not knowing?), occasionally using the former to help alleviate the reality of the latter. Which is to say that they haven't yet provided many easy answers to the conflicts they write and sing about, but they have plenty of easy answers to choose from. AmberWatches are an easy answer to the easy (and false) problem "I Am One of Them" identifies, but Aly and AJ don't provide the answer, don't personally endorse AmberWatches, in the song -- only in real life. I think I'm nervous about what happens if they decide they do have the answers, what happens if they get righteous.

4. Thanks to Tom at Freaky Trigger for linking the P-Hilt column. Still not sure how well the piece does what I wanted it to do (because I'm still not sure what I wanted it to do, awaiting Ross' discussion of the album), but the encouragement is...encouraging.

Leftonia

New to the blogroll is Tip Top Pop, just featured a great Melissa Lefton post. And then an anonymous commenter did the (very easy) googling work that for whatever reason didn't work the first time 'round and found her new band HELLO, still self-conscious but not so teenpop, getting closer to...maybe Jon Brion territory, sunny sophisto-pop.

Here's Melissa's individual page.

And of course the ONLY COMMENTER EVER on Hello's blogs is JENA KRAUS.

Well. Just in time for SCREWED: The Neglected World of Shelved Teenpop (probably for next month, I think I'm going to go ahead with the INDIE TEENPOP AWARDS for this month...but maybe I'll go ahead and do the other feature and save ITA for November, more of a year-end thing?).

Skye Friday...Now on Fridays!

Well, we've got a confirmed (read: tentative) date for Sound Soldier:

Friday, October 06, 2006


Turkeys, Bunnies and Kittens!

Hey bunny kitten munchers!

Skizzle pop herrre! Just wanted to drop in and tell you that the tentative date for the record is April 4th! So mark your calenders! (in pencil) hahaha!

I think the CD track listing is so close to being final so I'll post it when I know 4 sure!

Thanks to everyone for the continued support! I'll my Canadian turkeys have a jolly merry Thanksgiving!

oxox Skye

See, I think she does this on purpose to make sure I post about her on Fridays. She is SO SELFISH, I have some serious reading/television-watching to do today.

EDIT: More news via Clouded Senses, four new confirmed songs:

Creep!
Remember Me
Kiss A Girl
Ain't Givin' It Up

*Creep! was written by Skye Sweetnam, Jimmy Harry (Tangled Up In Me), and Stefy Rae from the band "Stefy"
*Remember Me was written by Skye Sweetnam & Lester Mendez (Shakira's "Underneath Your Clothes/Objection")
*Kiss A Girl & Ain't Givin' It Up were produced by Soulshock & Karlin (JoJo's "Leave (Get Out)")

Hmmmmmmm...

Pocket Rocker

1. SBD '89: Soul II Soul - "Keep On Movin'" [wait, it was "Back to Life" I liked], special award to Young MC, which is technically a Head-Smack Rediscovery, not quite the same thing. Hard to pick eight this round, I like "Me Myself and I" and "Funky Cold Medina" and Soul II Soul and even XTC and "Monkey Gone to Heaven" (but not as singles on this list). Didn't get around to Neneh until about a year and a half ago (lots of Neneh on sale in Europe, along with Agnetha Faltskog).

Of personal importance at the time was Paula Abdul, listened to "Straight Up" on this old specialty cassette player my sister had that you could buy at the toy store. NKOTB + Paula (I think)...she got "Hangin' Tough" (VHS) and I got a Nintendo around Xmas '88. Our lives were never the same.

2. Jonas Bros. dropped from Columbia, who I assume don't recognize Disney Money (R)(TM) as legit currency. Tommy2 sez: "With a hit like Year 3000, we’re sure someone will pick them up." Beg to differ, but OK.

3. Crazy Pandora sequence yesterday, wish I'd written it down. But it seemed to be doing what I actually wanted the station to do, Kelly/Ashlee/Veronicas into some unknown (to me) angsty singer-songwriter (not bad!) into boyband into R&B with relatively few dips into Indie Affirmative Action (one sequence, not bad really but vetoed). The link btw Ashlee-rock and BSB was a track from an album called Worship Jamz, which I kind of liked, could imagine the Secular Edit doing OK on Radio Disney five years ago.

4. Via Gorilla vs. the Bear and Riff Market (mocking the schoolmarmish "proper concert behavior" section in the same post. There are even commenters who think there should be MORE rules!), really enjoying Maya Bond's "Cute Papa." Reminds me of a public access show in Ithaca, forget the name...a hyperactive 12-yo girl free associates over (kind of impressively) complex video motages. Apparently I was the first caller ever! Anyway, I think it's on Tuesdays at 8 or 10 (or both) for anyone in the Ithaca area.

5. FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!

6. SKYE FRIDAY on Thursday: Fisting Janet covers "Tangeld Up in Me," entry fee for the 2006 Worst Band Name Awards waived. Skye does it much better on this old (recently Youtubed) "Tonight Show" performance.

Paris Hilton does the chicken noodle soup, Hilary ensues

1. Brushing up on my Hilary B-sides. Nothing revelatory to report (I had a bunch of these already, but some kind person has compiled them in one place. Hilary seems to have removed most of the stutters from "My Generation." (Wait, might have heard one.) I've dubbed this collection Also Somewhat Wanted. It's got nuthin on Noise from the B-Sides, coming soon.

2. Typos abound in the latest Jukebox (well, one, in the Mika blurb, lots of arrangements goin on). Weak week. Yummy Bingham: not yummy; Shana Tesh: pleasantly bonkers; Hellogoodbye: see THIS is what happens when you process someone's vocals a bunch, and I think the song suffers from the processing (pretty melodies are kind of dead w/robo-voice); MCR: highest personal rating of the week!; Jarvis Cocker: kind of a jerk.

3. Grargh so many little editing gripes in so many places (most my own fault), I think I'm just going to start ignoring everything I write that isn't published here.

4. So minstrelsy keeps getting mentioned in connection to Jibbs, Young B, and Ms. Peachez, all of whom have some connection to teenpop (Young, Young, and young [chorus]). I'm having a flashback to Bamboozled, where a connection to the present, i.e. "modern-day minstrelsy," steps aside so that everyone can stare at historical minstrelsy with mouths agape and shake their heads. Most distressing casualty in this way easy thought-piece meme is the Chicken Noodle Soup dance, which seems to count as "modern minstrelsy" because it's silly and you have to move your legs to do it. (Surely there must be a prototype for the CNS dance in "U Can't Touch This" or something? [EDIT: Or maybe this?])

5. Shamefully Belated History of Jop discovery '88 covered in the previous comment post, very pretty, excellent soundtrack to a loverly Yom Kippur dinner, except we listened to Chuck Berry. I'm just about up my dad's dozen or so tapes of Dr. Demento radio shows. Little did he know that 4-year-olds + novelty songs = extended car ride nightmare (probably why we just listened to 'em in the car). HEAD CHEEEEEEEEZE I LIKE HEAD CHEEEEEEEEEEEZE IT'S GOT EYES N' EARS' N' NOSE N' MOUTH AND EVERYTHING I LIKE EXCEPT THE TOOOOOOOONGUE!