188 posts tagged with music and pop. (View popular tags)
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What It’s Like When A Label Won’t Release Your Album

What It’s Like When A Label Won’t Release Your Album
posted by reenum on May 19, 2013 - 19 comments

 

A taxonomy of high male voices, both classical and popular

Men Getting High: Falsettists, Countertenors, Pop, Rock, and Opera
posted by rollick on May 19, 2013 - 28 comments

Things that don't really exist until the internet makes them happen

The Numbers One: robopop or real life?: A bizarre and oddly compelling mystery album of incompetent pop covers.
posted by rollick on May 1, 2013 - 8 comments

Say you love me or I’ll kill you!

Jun Togawa is sort of like what you'd get if you crossed Kate Bush and Mike Patton. Togawa, who became known in Japanese culture after appearing in a bidet commercial, was half of the electro-cabaret band Guernica, which sometimes sounded very classical and sometimes sounded very new wave and sometimes much stranger. Somewhat more straightforward is her rock outfit Yapoos, which similarly varies quite a bit in sound and style. Her solo work, unsurprisingly, is quite melodramatic, with some very interesting arrangements, both parodically poppy and funky. I particularly like her covers of All Tomorrow's Parties by the Velvet Underground, Brigitte Fontaine's Comme à la Radio, and – weirdly – Pachelbel's Canon.
posted by Rory Marinich on Apr 21, 2013 - 14 comments

Around the Beatles: a one-off TV variety show from 1964

In 1964, The Beatles put together a one-off variety show, with musical numbers specially pre-recorded for the show, presented in the style of theater-in-the-round. Around the Beatles was aired in the UK and later that same year in the US, but never commercially released. The show includes The Beatles performing a scene from A Midsummer's Night Dream, with Paul McCartney as Pyramus, John Lennon as his lover Thisbe, George Harrison as Moonshine, Starr as Lion, and Trevor Peacock (the only actual actor in the lot) in the role of Quince. A color clip of that was posted previously, but you can watch the entire (almost) hour-long show with The Beatles' segments accompanied by seven other musical acts, on Dailymotion or YouTube, though it's in black and white. [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief on Apr 18, 2013 - 14 comments

"Your dad's a nutter! A skinhead priest!"

Johnny Rotten reviews "Katy Perry: All of Me." [SLYT] Via Dangerous Minds.
posted by Kitty Stardust on Apr 10, 2013 - 40 comments

Laura Marling

Singer-songwriter Laura Marling will release her latest album, Once I Was an Eagle, this May. She's shared a first song off of it, "Where Can I Go?" [more inside]
posted by threeants on Mar 20, 2013 - 11 comments

The 100 Most Influential Singles of the 1960s

The 100 Most Influential Singles of the 1960s. [via mefi projects] [more inside]
posted by item on Mar 18, 2013 - 66 comments

It was happy at the start...

Jon Brion gets around. As a composer, he scored some of the best movies of last decade and change – Punch-Drunk Love, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Synecdoche, New York, and I Huckabees. As a producer, he's worked with Fiona Apple, Kanye West, Aimee Mann, and the excellent bluegrass outfit Punch Brothers. He writes pop music like the best of them – witness Meaningless, Knock Yourself Out, Here We Go, or Didn't Think It Would Turn Out Bad for a nice sampler of his style and range. His live shows are notoriously whimsical and eccentric – he's apt to perform Radiohead's "Creep" in the style of Tom Waits, or cover Stairway to Heaven as a one-man band, recreating all the parts to its climax on the fly.
posted by Rory Marinich on Mar 9, 2013 - 20 comments

I'm gonna bash that...

Mining Boom are a Perth band whose videos for the fuzzed out pop songs Telecom and Craigie (NSFW language) use found footage to invoke and skewer a sense of nostalgic Australiana.
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants on Mar 4, 2013 - 3 comments

Oggi Sono Io

Alex Britti's 'Oggi sono io' covered by Italian pop star Mina, who recorded it in one take. An English translation of the lyrics.
posted by Charlemagne In Sweatpants on Feb 16, 2013 - 20 comments

Shinier, happier people.

Major scaled is a Vimeo user who digitally transposes sad songs into a major key. Here's their cheerful rendition of REM's Losing My Religion. [more inside]
posted by schmod on Jan 17, 2013 - 110 comments

One Nation Under a Brolly

In the 1980s, there were twee bands, and then there was Trixie's Big Red Motorbike. Formed in Shanklin, Isle of Wight in 1981, TBRM were brother and sister Mark & Mel Litten, sometimes assisted by Jim Bycroft on sax and Jane Fish (of The Marine Girls — whose most famous alumna you would have heard if you were alive in the 90s [previously]) on backing vocals. Their sound, lofi, their artwork handmade. Their first single was sent to John Peel [passim], who proclaimed they'd “wipe the floor with the competition” and had them in for two sessions. [more inside]
posted by scruss on Jan 15, 2013 - 13 comments

iTunes Music Festival

For the 2012 iTunes Music Festival, 65 acts (including P!nk, One Direction, David Guetta , Jessie J, OneRepublic, Ellie Goulding, Andrea Bocelli, Matchbox Twenty, Muse and many others) performed at the Roundhouse in London throughout the month of September. 40 performances are available in full online. [more inside]
posted by zarq on Dec 29, 2012 - 9 comments

Truth is just like time; it catches up and it just keeps going

You either know who Dar Williams is or you don't, but chances are that if you know her music, you've got a bit of a story behind that. [more inside]
posted by Navelgazer on Dec 29, 2012 - 62 comments

"Shine Brighter"

DJ Earworm has released his annual "United State of Pop" mashup of the year's 25 most popular songs according to Billboard's charts: Shine Brighter. [more inside]
posted by zarq on Dec 20, 2012 - 39 comments

Skouteris / PopLove

Robin Skouteris is a music and video producer, remixer and DJ based in Athens who creates mashup remixes, (like Deep and Sour and Looking for Sunshine) and a few parodies. His latest remix was released yesterday: "PopLove." [more inside]
posted by zarq on Nov 17, 2012 - 6 comments

Noodles are the smell of denial and you will never grow up

Suburban Kids With Biblical Names write music with a warmth and simplicity that really hits the spot on chilly autumn days. My favorite songs of theirs are Noodles and Trees and Squirrels; their better-known songs include Funeral Face, Rent a Wreck, and Loop Duplicate My Heart.
posted by Rory Marinich on Nov 11, 2012 - 7 comments

Man Machine Music

A brief history of cyborgs, superhumans and robots in pop music
posted by Artw on Oct 15, 2012 - 45 comments

The Proclaimers, a lot more than I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)

They're best known for one song: I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles), as featured in Benny and Joon in 1993, and though the identical twin brothers faded from the public eye in the US, 500 Miles was lovingly parodied by Homer Simpson in 2001, and the brothers appeared on Family Guy in 2006. That song was featured in Comic Relief 2007, and that rendition was the number 1 song in the UK for three weeks. Given this focus on a single song that was first released in 1988, you might want mark The Proclaimers as a one-hit wonder and leave it at that. But David Pollock, writing for The Guardian, wants you to reconsider: The Proclaimers are a lot better than you probably remember. [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief on Sep 25, 2012 - 72 comments

Fiesta Forever.

Singing "All Night Long", all night long. (via)
posted by The Whelk on Sep 22, 2012 - 26 comments

Talking Heads: Live in Rome 1980 full concert

Talking Heads, Live in Rome, 1980 The Talking Heads concert film you haven't seen: the show that would eventually be recorded in the (awesome) concert film Stop Making Sense 3 years later, recorded while it was still a bit weird and uncertain. And therefore, wonderful. [more inside]
posted by BoringPostcards on Sep 15, 2012 - 67 comments

Pining for the moon

In March of 2009, an R.E.M. tribute and benefit concert was held at Carnegie Hall. One of the most interesting covers of that evening was Ingrid Michaelson's take on "Nightswimming." Michaelson used a looping pedal to slowly build the harmonies, so that by the end of the song she was accompanied by a whole choir of her own voice. While the Carnegie performance isn't available online, you can see a pared-down but still extraordinary performance from her appearance at the Sirius XM studios. (YT)
posted by shiu mai baby on Sep 11, 2012 - 25 comments

The group has fully realized a record of astounding ambition and scope.

In 1995, The Mommyheads released the now out-of-print Bingham's Hole. Far and away the Mommyheads' best album, Bingham's Hole also may win the title for "least heard best record of the mid-'90s." [more inside]
posted by Devils Rancher on Sep 3, 2012 - 13 comments

I'll Say A Little Prayer

Legendary lyricist Hal David, most famously partnered with composer Burt Bacharach, and countless pop performers ranging from Dionne Warwick to Tom Jones to The Carpenters and beyond, has died at age 91.
posted by 2N2222 on Sep 1, 2012 - 36 comments

Pop music is never just pop music

The 'About' page of UK music website Popjustice also doubles as a pop fan manifesto.
posted by rollick on Aug 2, 2012 - 26 comments

A Most Tubular Guy

You might have heard Mike Oldfield playing during the Olympic opening and wondered, "What! Why the heck would Danny Boyle want the Exorcist theme playing at the start of such a grand event!" Oldfield's kept a low profile for years, so you may not remember him as the man who literally launched Virgin Records, one of only three artists to ever knock his #1 record off the charts with another #1 record (the other two being Bob Dylan and the Beatles). But those teenage successes were merely the start of an astonishing career, one full of pop music and prog rock, sci-fi and New Age, film scores and classical orchestrations — not to mention a spot at the start of Kanye West's recent album. His magnum opus, Amarok, is an hour of astonishing sounds and shifting genres which must be heard to be believed. Too overwhelming? Well, there're [more inside]
posted by Rory Marinich on Jul 27, 2012 - 62 comments

It doesn't even matter what I'm trying to say, 'cause by this point in the song you're just dancing anyway

Sh*tty Pop Song
posted by Hypnotic Chick on Jul 5, 2012 - 49 comments

International pop

"Euphoria", which won the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest (previously), is a #1 in several countries, including Ireland, Austria, and Switzerland Of course, it's not the only song charting internationally that you might never hear on US radio. It should come as no surprise that one can readily find international hits online. For instance - Sweden, #4: Panetoz - Dansa Pausa Sweden, #9: Mange Makers - Drick Den This doesn't purport to be an exhaustive list, but rather a jumping-off point. [more inside]
posted by LSK on Jun 13, 2012 - 25 comments

and the moon and stars were the gifts you gave

The long and rather surprising history of The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, penned in 1957 by British singer/songwriter Ewan MacColl, has just taken another bold and dramatic turn with Erykah Badu and the Flaming Lips' starkly powerful cover of the song. Oh, and in the accompanying video, they've most certainly upped the ante as far as edgy eroticism in pop music goes, with Badu's sister Nayrok pushing the envelope into the stratosphere. Nota bene: explicit nudity. [NSFW]
posted by flapjax at midnite on Jun 4, 2012 - 82 comments

Dialing Back

Hear how popular music has changed from 1940 to today with the Radio Time Machine. Choose a year and hear samples of songs from the top of the Billboard 100 (or full songs if you're logged in to Rdio).
posted by jocelmeow on May 7, 2012 - 19 comments

Call Me Maybe: Viral? Totally

4 (to 6) easy steps to viral fame through pop music: 1) write and record a catchy pop song, 2) get radio play for your song, and 3) get Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez to hear your song, so 4) they tweet about enjoying your song. Bonus steps to further fame: 5) make a video that has a twist ending, which 6) people (including Bieber and Gomez) cover and remake and share online for further fame and fortune. Thanks to all this, Carly Rae Jepsen's pop dance song has moved beyond Canada, and is charting all over the world. If that's not enough, NPR's Ann Powers has further thoughts on the pop hit and its video. [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief on May 7, 2012 - 48 comments

Response Records: Answers to Hit Songs

Before hip-hop beefs, there were response records, also known as answer songs, usually replies to well-known songs. There are a few key eras: blues and R&B recorded music in the 1930s through 1950s, including a number of responses to "Work With Me, Annie" (1954), recorded by Hank Ballard & the Midnighters, with answers including "Annie had a Baby," and "The Wallflower" by Etta James; and Big Mama Thornton's "Hound Dog" (1953), with a quick response by Louis Innis and Charlie Gore, made a mere week after the original was released, and Rufus Thomas' "Bear Cat" (1953), Sun Records' first hit. Country, rock & roll, doo-wop and pop music picked up where the blues left off, with most activity in the 1950s to 60s. Two examples from this era are "Are You Lonesome To-night" and "Who Put The Bomp," and responses to both. The most well known from the next decade was Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" (1974), a response to Neil Young's "Southern Man" (1970) and "Alabama" (1972). Until the 2000s, no answer songs had charted as high as the original hits. That changed with Frankee's "F.U.R.B. (Fuck You Right Back)" (2004), a response to Eamon's "Fuck It (I Don't Want You Back)" (2003), which was the first answer song to reach number 1 in the UK. Six years later and across the pond, Katy Perry's "California Gurls" was a response to "Empire State of Mind" by Jay-Z. It was the first answer song to reach No. 1 in the Billboard Hot 100. More Responses inside. [more inside]
posted by filthy light thief on Mar 31, 2012 - 53 comments

Rock and roll is here to stay

Alex Chilton (of the band Big Star) died two years ago today. Here's a choir singing Big Star's song "Thirteen."
posted by BoringPostcards on Mar 18, 2012 - 26 comments

Ring Ring

The story of the ABBA sound. 8 minute Swedish documentary. Click the "CC" button for subtitles.
posted by rollick on Mar 16, 2012 - 59 comments

My girlfriend, after listening: "It was worth meeting you just so I could hear that."

Tally Hall is the best new band I've heard in years, hands-down. They're an American rock band best known for the excellent Good Day video and the cult Albino Blacksheep hit Banana Man. They've released two albums, each masterpieces; the first one is exuberant and youthful and, sometimes, utterly cryptic, while the second is stripped down but astonishingly contemplative and even spiritual, easily one of the best-written pop albums I've ever heard. If you're in the mood for something smart and warm and wonderful, there're... [more inside]
posted by Rory Marinich on Mar 11, 2012 - 26 comments

New Musical Express

The NME - 60 years of rock history ... and four front covers that define their eras
posted by Artw on Feb 25, 2012 - 18 comments

"If I Could Fly, You Know That I'd Try"

The Cranberries: NPR Tiny Desk Concert [more inside]
posted by zarq on Feb 23, 2012 - 30 comments

The Misunderstood Power of Michael Jackson's Music

The Atlantic explores whether Michael Jackson's contributions, like those of other black artists, are minimized because of his skin color.
posted by reenum on Feb 13, 2012 - 216 comments

Israeli New Wave

Israeli New Wave? Yes! May I introduce The Clique. Here is their song Incubator. Here is another song called Don't Light A Candle For Me. Here are the lyrics to the second song in Hebrew and English. [more inside]
posted by wittgenstein on Feb 6, 2012 - 7 comments

loading up dream-catchers with wild and beautiful dreams for a lucky trucker

Dengue Fever is an L.A. band that fuses Cambodian pop music with psychedelic rock. They have a youtube channel where you can find highlights such as a live acoustic version of their song Uku as well as a clip from the 2007 documentary Sleepwalking Through The Mekong. NPR has an interview with them in 2008 and a review of their second album Escape From Dragon House. Peter Gabriel is a fan.
posted by mannequito on Jan 26, 2012 - 29 comments

The Annotated Jagger/Bowie "Dancing in the Street"

...there’s some desperation to this junk version of “Dancing in the Street,” with both parties trying to affirm their A-1 celebrity status. One of the more pernicious effects of the whole Live Aid/Farm Aid/Band Aid spectacle was to cement the hierarchy of the “legend” rock acts and a smaller tier of anointed successors from the slightly-younger generation (Tom Petty, Sting, Dire Straits, U2). It was the height of the Boomer Counter-Reformation. The late Eighties would see the over-publicized returns of everyone from Steve Winwood to the Monkees to Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, to a revamped George Harrison to a MOR version of Pink Floyd to Robbie Robertson pretending that he was Peter Gabriel (a version of Gabriel who couldn’t sing) to an all-star Yes and a Zeppelin-sampling Robert Plant, culminating in the return of the “revitalized” Stones in 1989, the touring company now reincorporated into a gleaming multinational. As Marcello Carlin said back when Popular covered this single: “Suddenly we were once again reminded who in pop and rock mattered and who didn’t…With their massacre of “Dancing In The Street,” Bowie and Jagger seemed to relish rubbing it in.“
-The Annotated Jagger/Bowie "Dancing in the Street"
posted by anazgnos on Jan 17, 2012 - 180 comments

Or just ten reasons why Donna Summer is awesome in general

10 Reasons Why Donna Summer Belongs in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
posted by rollick on Dec 14, 2011 - 54 comments

Forever Analytical

Pop song analysis, English teacher style (SLYT)
posted by litnerd on Dec 13, 2011 - 39 comments

American Sabor

American Sabor: Latinos in US Popular Music is a currently traveling Smithsonian exhibition exploring the wide range of Latino artists and influences which have shaped American pop music genres since WWII, from Alice Bag to Flaco Jimenez to Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass to Joan Baez. The website is rich with maps, interviews, videos, and music samples.
posted by Miko on Sep 28, 2011 - 11 comments

Ladies And Gentlemen, The Kronos Quartet

In their 25 year career San Fransisco-based Kronos Quartet might be most famous for creating the go-to dramatic movie trailer music but they've recently courted controversy with their latest album, 9/11, with Steve Reich (NPR First Listen). The album is another in a long line of collaborations with composers such as Phillip Glass, Terry Riley, and Pēteris Vasks. And like any good instrumental ensemble, they've covered Hendrix, Sigur Ros, and Tom Waits. Oh, and they've been on Sesame Street. [more inside]
posted by The Whelk on Sep 17, 2011 - 34 comments

You Don't Own Me

Quincy Jones sat in the Tenafly, New Jersey den of 16-year-old vocal student Lesley Gore, playing demo after demo, looking for the right song to cut for her first record. Out of over 200 tapes, Jones and Gore had moved only one to the "maybe" pile, and so that song, It's My Party, was recorded on March 30, 1963 in a Manhattan studio. After the session Mercury president Irving Green warned Gore not to get her hopes up, but Gore gratefully told him that it had been a great experience anyway, and it was okay if he didn't want to release it. However, later that evening Jones learned that Phil Spector had just recorded "It's My Party" for The Crystals, so Jones rushed back to the studio to press 100 test copies of the single and immediately mailed them to key radio stations across the country. [more inside]
posted by swift on Sep 13, 2011 - 69 comments

Surreal J-pop video

PonPonPon (earworm alert) from Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. [via]
posted by unliteral on Jul 26, 2011 - 58 comments

"The critically acclaimed, best-selling documentary series that lays the axe to the root of the idol of popular culture"

In 1989, Eric Holmberg and The Apologetics Group/Reel to Real Ministries released "Hell's Bells: The Dangers of Rock and Roll" [more inside]
posted by dubold on Jul 11, 2011 - 58 comments

On the Road to Damascus

Bill Drummond, best known as co-founder of the KLF, writes about his slow infatuation with damsons.
posted by rollick on Jul 8, 2011 - 32 comments

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