28 January 2016 - Selena Gomez - Same Old Love

Do you know how hard it is not to type "feat. Charli XCX" on this?

You aren't imagining things.  That's her, on the chorus, uncredited.  It's obvious.  Some critics have even been critical of it, calling it a Sucker outtake (which may or may not be true). 

It's also the rawest song Selena Gomez has ever sung, and it shows real musical maturity.  I, for one, am proud of her growth as an artist.  The song, as performed, isn't catchy because some hip songwriting Brit decided to allow her backing vocal to remain on the final cut.  It's catchy because it's expertly delivered by Selena Gomez.

27 January 2016 - Elle King - Ex's and Oh's & Kocaine Karolina

I assume that, if you are reading this, you are probably not a first-time reader of this blog.  If you are, catch up.  I'll wait.

Now that you are a long-time reader, you cannot be possibly surprised I am going to like a throw-back, big-female-vocal, straight-ahead pop song like this. I'm not saying I like every huge female vocal ever, but Elle King just looks like she's having so much fun with this.

Let's not even get into the fact that she's Rob Schneider's daughter (her mother is model London King).  I could go on for days on that one.



I'd like to add that I am very happy to see a young singer/songwriter who is getting heavy pop radio rotation not afraid to play a guitar. We need to see more of that!



But what I really made you scroll down for was to see her play a banjo. And also to see that she's been around awhile.  Overnight sensations don't always happen overnight.  And yes, this song feels a lot more country (the banjo might have something to do with that), but that's part of the appeal of Elle King - she's a versatile artist with a depth of influence.

11 January 2016 - David Bowie - China Girl

I couldn't NOT pay tribute to the great David Bowie.  And, normally, I would have called for a guilt-free edition, but by not doing so, I can share with you....

This is the first David Bowie song I remember hearing.  The original video and song use imagery that is of another time period.  There's no doubt about that.  And yet, it's still a deep, dark, and compelling song, just like everything else the man did in his career. 

The original video was so borderline offensive, I cannot find it.  But here is the song.

6 November 2015 - The Weeknd - Can't Feel My Face

I know, this may come as a surprise, but I don't think that all music has to be deep and substantive to be good.  There's room for fluff on the radio.

This song doesn't fall into that category.  It's catchy, funky, and has pretty decent imagery.  And Mr. Weeknd (real name: Abel Tesfaye) has a huge voice that this song perfectly showcases. 

Plus, he's on fire at the end of this video.  So there's that.

1 October 2015 - My Chemical Romance - Welcome To The Black Parade

For MONTHS - MONTHS! - my daughter Juliana has begged to take over my blog.  She keeps wanting to post one song.

This is that song.  It's hard-rocking while retaining its goth feel. It wouldn't normally be a song I would post - it's not terrible, mind you, but c'mon, I'm mostly posting pop music here - but I'm glad I did.

Also, it's Juliana's birthday, so if you see her, wish her a happy birthday.

30 September 2015 - Eddie Rabbitt - I Love A Rainy Night

Every once in a while, there's a song that transcends genre.  Eddie Rabbitt released one of these in 1980, with "I Love A Rainy Night".  The song topped both the Billboard Country and Hot 100 (which is pop) charts.

I mean, the song is catchy, even all these years later.  Admit it - you started singing it as soon as you saw the title of this post.

Also, I, too, love a rainy night. 

 

So catchy, even Quagmire loves it!

29 September 2015 - Ty Dolla $ign feat. Charli XCX & Tinashe - Drop That Kitty

Subtle.

I mean, we know what Ty Dolla $ign ACTUALLY means here.  He isn't talking about cats here, despite the prominent feline heads here.  He wants the ladies to drop it like it's hot.  That doesn't mean he didn't perform a very catchy song.  He seems to be competing with T-Pain in the Autotune sweepstakes (and winning).

He's kind of wasting Charli XCX and Tinashe (who both co-wrote the song - Charli was working on it for another artist before Ty came on board), though.  And they STILL manage to steal the show and get you to not notice Wiz Khalifa in the background.  I'd actually like to see what these ladies could do without anyone with a dollar sign in his name. 

But back to this subtle performance.   I mean, the real message kind of sneaks in there.....