16 December 2024 - Adina Howard - Freak Like Me / Girls On Top - We Don't Give A Damn About Our Friends / Sugababes - Freak Like Me

It's been a while since I did a special post like this.   But when I was reminded of this Adina Howard classic (more on how I was reminded in a second), I remembered how sexy and hot and freaky this song was. Relying heavily on George Clinton and Bootsy Collins samples, the song just slaps.

It was also a HUGE hit in 1995, reaching #2 on the US pop chats and charting similarly worldwide. 

In 2001, producer Richard X put together a bootleg mashup that combined Adina Howard's song with Tubeway Army's "Are Friends Electric".  He released it under an alias, Girls On Top, and called it "We Don't Give A Damn About Our Friends".   It became a huge underground hit. 

Adina Howard was not a fan of releasing this version commercially, which Richard X wanted to do.  

So, he called the Sugababes.  

Who recorded this. 

It was well recieved in the UK, where it was a #1 hit.  

Now, for some reason, the Spotify AI DJ thought I would want to hear this song last week, and boy, was the Spotify DJ.... spot on.  It made a hot and sexy song so much better.

By the way, Sugababes are still together, and performing, and getting a bit of a bump. Here they are performing live this summer at Wembley Stadium. 

 

Adina Howard is also still performing her song live, as she did last summer in Rochester, NY.  Sure, it isn't Wembley, but hey, it's still pretty awesome. 

13 December 2024 - Jenny Owen Youngs - Hot In Herre

On my Spotify Wrapped, this cover of a Nelly classic is #79.

It has, in fact, been in pretty heavy rotation for me for YEARS.

And yet, this was NEVER posted.  On EITHER blog.  

You know my new rules - covers can live here, too.  

I think this song really translates incredibly well to acoustic guitar. 

Here's what I really love about this: Jenny sings it so earnestly.  She's got some respect for the source material.  She doesn't shy away from the curse words, especially live, which is an even livelier version that I love even more. 

By the way, the full band version also works. 

12 December 2024 - Connor Price & Bens - Spinnin'

This was literally the #100 song on my Spotify Wrapped Top 100.   Which makes me happy.  I've been on a bit of a Connor Price kick lately. 

This song is from his 2023 concept EP Spin The Globe.  The concept is that Price would literally spin a globe and put his finger down on the globe, collaborating with an artist from the country he landed on.  In the case of this song, his finger landed on the Netherlands, and he made Bens TikTok famous as a result. 

The song itself is lively and catchy - and does experiment with world beats, as is his style. 

Connor can spit them mad beats live, too!  He started his career as a child actor, but really, I think he found his calling, and he's also good to his fans. 

11 December 2024 - Caroline Polachek - So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings

On my Spotify Wrapped, this song landed at #61, but when I posted a different Caroline Polachek song back in January, this was almost the pick.  Since then, this has been the more listened-to song. 

Released in 2020, the song was not initially a hit song, but did get TikTok famous in 2022 and hit the alternative charts then.  Co-written by Polachek, producer Dan Nigro and singer/songwriter Teddy Geiger (from Rochester, NY!), the song was really kind of an extension of her Chairlift days (that was her former band). 

Also, the song AND video are both very cool. 

Anyone who doubts that Caroline Polachek can sing (and we admit we had doubts - her Jimmy Kimmel performance was too perfect) need not doubt any further - because this stripped-down version is absolutely beautiful. 

We do prefer her performance when she interacts with a live crowd - who react to her and know every word.

10 December 2024 - The Lonely Island ft. T-Pain - I'm On A Boat

This summer jam was my #59 song on my Spotify Wrapped this year.  It was only the fifth song I had not written a post about - and three of them were by Charlotte Cardin and I'm debating the other one right now. 

Anyway, this song started off as a Saturday Night Live skit, a parody of the over-the-top hip hop videos and matching angry-sounding lyrics about flippy-floppies.  The song ended up charting on the Billboard Hot 100 - and in other places, too! - and got a Grammy nomination!

It's also a great jam to crank when you're on a boat.  

If you prefer your songs without curse words - you don't know how hard it was to post this without saying "motherfucker!" repeatedly - check out this performance featuring classroom instruments, Jimmy Fallon and The Roots.

To be fair, they were NOT afraid to curse when they performed the song on The Tonight Show with the Roots. 

9 December 2024 - Charlotte Cardin - Jim Carrey

Last week was the week that the entire world got their Spotify Wrapped.   Shockingly, mine is dominated by songs and artlists I post about on this blog.  

This includes my most listened to artist according to Spotify, Charlotte Cardin.  I dispute that somewhat, and I will angrily discuss that more someday, but going on their word alone, that's it.    But I definitely did listen to a LOT of Charlotte Cardin, without shame.  

I started going down my list of most listened to songs in 2024, and said I would make posts about the ones that have not yet been posted.  I did not think I'd have to go all the way down to 16 (to be fair, one of the top 15 is a scheduled post for 2025, but it is already written).  And it's a great song!

It's also not REALLY about marrying Jim Carrey.  In her words in an interview with the Globe and Mail: 

"I was always a fan of Jim Carrey’s acting, and I was going through a bit of hard time during the summer we were writing this album, so my producer suggested I listen to some of his talks about the ego. I went home that night and watched all his interviews and speeches about how our fears and desires to fit the mould are the main things holding us back from achieving our goals and growing into the person we should be."

The song is about her letting go of her ego.  And, her multiple-Juno-award-winning Celine-comparing ego was probably being fed pretty abundantly.  But instead, she turned it into a fantastic song.  

About marrying Jim Carrey. 

By the way, YES, he knows about the song, and YES, he loves it.  

Of course she performs the song live.  It is performed without a hint of ego.

6 December 2024 - Zoe Ko - DIRT

Zoe Ko is an up-and-coming artist.  Originally a pop artist from NYC, she's added a lot of rock influence to her sound of late.  

She has a heck of a TikTok following as well.  

Anyway, this is one of her newer singles, with the rock influence.  It is absolutely a better sound than her earlier work, and it suits her wel. 

By the way, she's also performed this song live, and, I may like it better this way.  It seems like she's a very genuine person and an engaging performer, and the stage suits her better. 

Of course, then there's the DIRT(ier) version with Sophie Powers (whose name you might have noticed on the drum head in the video above) and Emi Grace - it's just a little grungier and still pretty cool.

5 December 2024 - The Temptations - Ball Of Confusion

I have a lot of respect for the old Motown sound and what they did.  I have never been a fan of the music itself.

As an adult, I have gone back and listened to a lot more of it, and 1) it's a lot deeper than I thought it was and 2) I like it a lot more than I used to.

Take today's artists.  This is a group that has had a LOT of hits, and been around since 1960, and are STILL AROUND, nearly 65 years later.  The group is older than I am, by a LOT.  This classic song, released in 1970 and written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong, was a very big hit, reaching #3 on the US pop charts and hitting similar heights in the UK.

But listen to the lyrics.  It's not some lighthearted song.  It's about racism and war and politics.  It is very much a protest song - anti-war AND anti-racism.  And it's powerful.  

Yes, there have been deaths, and there have been lineup changes.   In fact, Otis Willians is the only surviving original member.

But still, they tour.

4 December 2024 - iskwē ft. Nina Hagen - I Get High

I debated saving this great song for March - iskwē is Canadian - but 1) it's great 2) Nina Hagen is from Germany, which is very much not Canada.

iskwē is not the name on her Canadian birth certificate - that is Meghan Meisters - but it *is* a Cree word, and in fact she is a Cree Métis and a citizen of the Manitoba Métis Federation, which Canada recognizes as a soverign and official government. In Cree, her name is written ᐃᐢᑫᐧᐤ and translates to "blue sky woman", which a lot of media like to reference.

The artists co-wrote this song with Damian Taylor, and it's very very cool.  It appears on iskwē's fourth album, nīna, which is not an overt homage to her collaborator on this song, but rather the Cree word for "me". 

I've been a fan of iskwē for a while, but I've never posted her stuff here, so here is it.  

3 December 2024 - Helium - XXX

Yesterday, I posted about an artist I discovered last week. 

Today, I am posting about an artist I've known about for thirty years, and that's not just Helium.  It's Mary Timony, who has continually made music since the late 1980s.   I rediscovered her music this year, but didn't post that here.  I instead used this opportunity to throw back to an old favorite, by a band that guided a lot of my early taste - a grungy/poppy combination that works.  

And, by the way, Mary Timony STILL performs her Helium catalog solo.

2 December 2024 - Soccer Mommy - Driver

I want this December to be the strongest month we've had this year.  You see, I have discovered a lot of new music this year. It's been one of my goals this year to do this - to listen to music that isn't just the same thing over and over.

And last week, I dove HEAD first into that with a bunch of Coachella posts - a theme I'll be revisiting through April.  But as I was discovering that group of artists, I accidentally discovered a few others I had never heard of.

So, this week, I'm going to be posting songs by artists I have NEVER posted before.  

The first is Soccer Mommy (real name: Sophia Regina Allison), who released her fourth album a couple of months back.   Evergreen is that album, and it is a contender for my favorite of 2024.  This song features heavily on that album - a "light hearted love song", according to her - and is thus far the only one from the album to chart, garnering a lot of adult alternative airplay.

Anyway, she's a revelation and you should check her out now. 

Prior to the album's release, Soccer Mommy performed the songs live in a more intimate setting.  Here's "Driver" in a more stripped down manner. Her performance is accessible and down to earth - which is a trait most of her music shares. 

(Update: 28 March 2025) I took a break from Maple Leaf March to edit this post because she actually did the stripped down version on Jimmy Kimmel Live at the end of February and released it as a single.   And, since I am writing a post for April right now, I need this to be here because I am about to reference it in that post. 

Yep.  That's my process.  

Also, the performance was amazing and I actually watched it when it was broadcast. 

29 November 2024 - d4vd - Feel It

David Anthony Burke is 19.  He is part of a generation that made YouTube videos and then got copyright strikes, so his mom suggested he make his own music.

Well, that worked.  He's made a style of music that is a combination of funk and.... anime?  Yeah.  Let's go with that.  This song was written for the Amazon Prime animated series Invincible, of which he was already a fan.   For a song written for a streaming platform animated series, it is heartfelt and earnest - and makes me want to watch the show. 

It is very much a love song, and a beautiful one at that. 

d4vd will be performing at Coachella next year, and if this performance is any indication, he's going to be great.

28 November 2024 - Japanese Breakfast - The Ballad of the Witches' Road (Pop Version)

Happy Thanksgiving, Americans!

Japanese Breakfast, who will be featured at Coachella, are from Philadelphia.   They are so named because vocalist and primary songwriter (and bestselling author) Michelle Zauner thought a Japanese breakfast would be exotic to Americans.

She probably had a point.

This song was not written by Michelle Zauner. It was written by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Bobby Lopez, probably best known for writing the music for Frozen and Frozen II.  Disney had them write this central song for the television show Agatha All Along, now playing on Disney+ (YOU SHOULD GO WATCH THAT!). 

Did this song make Japanese Breakfast a household name? No.  Did it give them a bigger audience?  Well, they're playing Coachella next year, aren't they?  (They also played it in 2018 and 2022, so, probably a bad example....)

27 November 2024 - horsegiirL - eat, sleep, slay, 🔁

This is definitely the first time we've used an emoji as part of a title.

So, let's talk about horsegiirL, the German DJ and singer who will be appearing on day 2 of Coachella next year - and whose identity is unknown because, and this is real, she hides it behind a horse mask.  She also leans HARD into that horse theme - even going by a "real name" of Stella Stallion.  In this song, she sings about how hay is what she likes.   

This is one of the weirdest songs we've ever posted.   This is from a blog that posted a song about what a fox says.  But still, it's a damned catchy tune. 

26 November 2024 - Moon Boots feat. Cherry Glazerr - Come Back Around

There is a meme going around - to paraphase - "your real age is 70 minus the number of bands in the Coachella lineup you recognize."

I admit it.  It's a challenge.

Most of my friends are in their upper 50s at best.

I'm 41.  And that seemed high for me - I mean, I do this blog. So I wanted to make myself younger, and also do the same for you.

Moon Boots is a DJ - the stage name of Peter Dougherty.  He will be appearing on Day 1 of Coachella next year.  He is the guy in the video.  TECHNICALLY, Cherry Glazerr is a band, but 1) their/her YouTube channel very much refers to "her", not them, which is in contrast to the Wikipedia entry for Cherry Glazerr and 2) that's absolutely Clementine Creevy singing and appearing in this video, so....  yeah, I'm not sure.  I really need to dive deeper into Cherry Glazerr, but for now, I didn't see her/them in the Coachella lineup (but yeah, she/they have been there before).

Anyway, Moon Boots is a great DJ and an awesome producer, and you should know him.  This song is an electronic/garage pop merger that genuinely works. 

25 November 2024 - Vanessa Carlton - A Thousand Miles

You were this close to forgetting this song, weren't you? 

And yet this song was a MONSTROUS Top 5 hit worldwide.  

But it almost didn't happen.  

The song was originally titled "Interlude" - and I've heard the demo.  It's nearly identical to this.  

When it was finally relased in 2001, on the Legally Blonde soundtrack, it was titled "A Thousand Miles (Interlude)". This was not Carlton's choice - it was her record label.  Such is the life of a musician.  

It may have been her only hit, but it's memorable and STILL used in many commercials to this day.  

And the song - about a crush on someone who is apparently now a famous actor - is esquisite. 

By the way, not only does she still perform and has not turned her back on this song, she OPENS her set with it - because she does not like to make people wait.

We applaud this. 

22 November 2024 - LŪN - bitches

Let's talk about LŪN.

LŪN is an artist of unknown origin - I mean, clearly, it's a female artist, but she never shows her face and keeps hiding behind a wolf mask.

Self-described as "gothbounce" music, a label I find quite accurate, I feel like this is an artist I have both heard before and sounds fresh.

It's almost as if we've posted about this artist on this blog 21 times previously - more than any other artist by a fair bit - and yet this is our first LŪN post (not our last).

This is a fan-made video for the song that isn't just audio.  The song already had a dark comic book vibe to it, and this video really takes that to another level. LŪN is practically a comic book character already.

Currently, LŪN is on a Canadian tour, and I really hope to go to a LŪN show stateside.  I'm sorry it's not brighter.  I really wish there were more lights in this video.  

Also, the mask is off here.   

yes i know she's Lights.   That's the joke. 

20 November 2024 - BB Brunes - I'm a Lady

Not gonna lie, but today's Santigold song was inspired by this cover, which I recently discovered and deserves its own post.  

As far as I can tell, no one in BB Brunes is a lady. 

And yes, they did a fantastic studio version as well.

20 November 2024 - Santigold - I'm A Lady

I don't love posting songs without an official video.  Hell, this video is some random art school video (that is really good - I don't want to minimize that, but that's not why we're here). 

This non-single album track has turned into a fan favorite at shows.  From her debut album, Santogold - and yes, I know how confusing that is, but that was her stage name at the time - the song is an absolute gem.  It shows Santigold's restraint and range as a vocalist and a songwriter. 

She continually performs the song.  This performance is from 2019 in Boston.  I think this song is just fantastic.

18 November 2024 - Fairground Attraction - What's Wrong With The World?

Fairground Attraction were a bit of a one hit wonder everywhere in the world in the late 1980s.  That one hit was absolutely perfect, and their debut album was amazing.  

And then they broke up in 1990 while trying to record a follow up, and the world was denied a followup forever.....

Until they reformed in 2024. 

They went 35 years between singles. This was released in February 2024 and it's a delight.  

And yes, Eddi Reader's voice is JUST as magical as it always was. 

18 November 2024 - The Beaches - T-Shirt

I've spoken at length about The Beaches in the past.  

This was their first hit song, from 2018 and their debut album, Late Show.  It very clearly showcased the band in general, and Jordan Miller very specifically, as absolute rock stars.  

I have nothing more to say about this one except that it's my current earworm. 

Also, the Grey Cup was last night.  The Grey Cup, for those not well-versed, is the championship game for the Canadian Football League.  In 2019, that game was held in Calgary - and while I was there at this time, I was not in town for the game, which is a shame because there were absolutely tickets available and I would have gone.   

And I would have been entertained by this performance by The Beaches, a band with which I was not yet familiar.  I could have been enjoying them YEARS earlier. 

(Update: 1 September 2025). This will make more sense in a couple of days.  But the short version of this is that my sister saw The Beaches in Buffalo earlier this year, and yeah, they did this song, which had not been a regular part of their set for awhile.

Anyway, there was no way I wasn't including this video as soon as I could. 

15 November 2024 - JENNIE - Mantra

So, it was not on my 2024 bingo card that Jennie from Blackpink would have one of my favorite singles on 2024.  

Yet, here we are.   

But, in a year where one of the most acclaimed pop albums is called brat, such a compelling, fun, bratty song should come as no surprise.   

Jennie brings her own bravado and pretty girl mantra to a song she co-wrote. 

I think this is one of the most exciting singles to come out of Blackpink members... maybe ever.  This performance from Jimmy Kimmel's show adds to the legend.  

8 November 2024 - Flower Face - Biblical Love

Last Friday, Flower Face released her latest album, Girl Prometheus.  I haven't liestened to the whole thing yet, but I'm getting there and will probably do that today.  

This song was released as a single the day before, on Halloween. Keep listening.  It builds and will be absolutely be on heavy rotation for awhile for me.