Original High not so original

I know I will catch hell for this post but - girls...remember...art is subjective and for my pallet this is way too much artificial flavor, sweetner and color with a lot of additives that will leave your ears and your soul starving for some real nourishment.

For those who have not caught on, mainstream corporate music is not about promoting actual art.  In fact it is the exact opposite.  This is why people like Diane Warren, et al are millionaires.  They are paid to put out drek which is then foisted on the masses through terrestrial radio and other broadcast medium to which the people are led to believe is good...dare I say great?   No!  Ok there are a few actual artists that are occasionally given airtime to throw us off the scent.  Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift and Adele come to mind.  But for all his talent as a scout and a producer, even Pharrel kind of comes up short in the actual songwriting/composing category.  He writes a good hook.

So let's look at some more golden children of cookie cutter "music"...Max Martin and Shellback.  Adam Lambert should have known from his experience with them on FYE that they are not unique.  They have a limited repertoire that they just rehash.  Sure "Whadda Ya Want From Me" was a big hit.  RCA promoted the hell out of it as eye and ear wash after the performance of the title track on the American Music Awards.  Was it a great song?  Not at all.  In fact one of the best songs on that record was a bonus track. Thankfully Lambert included "Voodoo" on his Glamnation tour and gave the world a taste of what he and Sam Sparro could do when left alone in a studio.

To date Warner Brothers Records has released four tracks from Original High and for me they all fall flat.  This is cheap, glitzy club stuff with some Dollar Store glitter shaken on it.  The vocal effects are redundant.  The beats are boiler-plate and the melodies simplistic.  After a three year wait, hoping that Lambert would finally hit his stride and put out quality music...NOPE!  He's going for the fast buck on this one and Warner, I am disappointed.  From the label that gave My Chemical Romance it's huge push and now is turning Echosmith into the pop superheroes they should be...this is awful.

"Ghost Town", "Underground", "Another Lonely Night" and "Evil In The Night"?  Well let's start with two titles on the same record that repeat a word?  Now the lyrics?  They all tell the same story...so we're going to get this emo tour about broken hearts and unrequited love?  Adam...so not you!!!  How did you let them take you there? The echo effects, as stated previously, way overused and the cliche finger snaps and whistling?  Cheap parlor tricks.  These are just some child's venture into a goth arcade penny-candy store.  No meat. No potatoes.  Not even real dessert.  Dammit Adam!! Give me a good slice of cheesecake at least or some homemade ice cream with real fruit in it.  I used to say that Adam and his art were like this mysterious Asian meal full of all kinds of exotic flavors...sweet, ,spicy, savory all on the same plate in a restaurant decked out in red silk, brocade and gold leaf.  This?  This is something you'd get at that scary little Chinese kiosk in the mall food court because your broke and/or in a hurry.

I'm not going to lie.  My two favorite Adam Lambert songs will always be "Voodoo" and "Shady".  I have met both Sam and Nile and that trio was perfection, especially when they all finally came together on the stage of the Hammerstein Ballroom.  Sam is a brilliant song writer and arranger.  He doesn't have to overdress the track because its fashion is gorgeous in its natural beauty.  I don't think that he hasn't been signed or spun in the mainstream because he's gay but because he is so good. I had hoped and prayed for more of that.
.
To anyone reading this who does not know me - I am probably too close to the situation to be objective.  I do know things and it breaks my heart to see this outcome.  I had high hopes for Adam.  I wanted to see funky and fresh, dark and mysterious, innovative electronica.  I don't mind dance and club music.  As you can see I am a huge fan of Sam's and Scissor Sisters and Glitch Mob (which my son constantly razzes me for).  I love pop music - William Beckett, Echosmith, We Are The In Crowd, The Ready Set, and even Bruno.  Pop punk - Paramore, Fall Out Boy and Motion City Soundtrack and whatever category you want to put Kill Hannah in.  If Adam had gone down any of these roads - No! He wouldn't be in the Billboard Top 10 for 20 weeks but he would maintain he integrity as a genuine artist and person.  To me, this record is a sellout and I'll only listen to it on Spotify.  This is $12 that will go for something else.  Sorry Adam.

Justin Tranter - high caliber, multi-faceted talen...

The Tribes of Art: Justin Tranter - high caliber, multi-faceted talen...: With the release of the new EP Aviation, lead-in to Semi Precious Weapons' third studio album coming in April, I had the opportunity...

Sam Sparro is spreading holiday love and cheer

Grab a mug or glass of your favorite holiday cheer, put on your dancing shoes and turn up Sam Sparro's addition to this season's collection of new pop songs.  Teaming up with Lexus for their "December To Remember" sales event, Sparro took their signature "music box" jingle and whipped that sucker into something that is pure Sam.  It has funk, synth and that awesome vocal.  But.."Wait!" you say.  "The commercial only gives a tease of the chorus".  'Tis true.  Only those of us who know Sparro's voice and/or saw his previews on Facebook and Twitter of behind-the-scenes stills and links to the ads on YouTube knew it was our favorite Aussie-English-Californian pop star.

Ah.  But on Tuesday 12/10 Lexus released the full music video and the complete track was posted to Sam's Soundcloud.  This morning Spotify added it to their catalog.  And it is another knock out of the park.  Infectious, fun and full of all those holiday sentiments.  This is one I want to hear on all the mall muzaks when I go do my shopping.  It's also a great addition for all those parties we'll be attending.  People will definitely be dancing to it for sure.

Learn more about Sam Sparro:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sam-Sparro/20672524168
http://www.samsparro.com
http://twitter.com/sam_sparro
http://www.youtube.com/artist/sam-sparro

His new EP "QUANTUM PHYSICAL VOLUME ONE OUT NOW AVAILABLE ON iTunes!!!
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/quantum-physical-vol.-1-ep/id715160042

Katy vs Gaga - adding my spin to the heap

Ok so...everybody knows that both Katy Perry and Lady Gaga dropped new singles last week.  Katy teases her new era with a big gold truck and Gaga returns to the spotlight being all "artsy", paint splotched on her face.  Really?  Can we say "cheese" and "desperation" on both sides of this Pop Princess coin?

Probably my biggest problem with both these "artists" was that they both used to actually be artists with some genuine integrity.  Katy cut her teeth on Warped Tour and Stephanie played seedy clubs in the East Village.  Now they are just two desperate women locked into the corporate music game which they are losing.  Today the Lady appeared to be off her meds, taking some very nasty shots across Perez Hilton's bow...who's the bully now Mama Monster?  Katy seems to be laying low hoping to stay out of media and Gaga's crosshairs.

But apparently neither song has been released to the radio as I combed the 8/24 Billboard charts and find no evidence them on any of the charts.  So have the lights been doused on these girls?  Are their three years up?  Along with Beiber's it appears so.  No longer the sweethearts.  Even Bruno seems to be hanging on by a wing and a prayer.  Daft Punk got some much deserved recognition but trust it is not for Nile Rodgers' brilliant funk guitar licks on "Get Lucky" that it is still charting.  Only Pharell's pedigree (and weak ass vocals) got this one spinning.  Will it provide DP with cred they deserve and increase sales of "Random Access Memories"?  Probably not.

Katy and Gaga both made a choice to be either great musicians/artists or take the money and go for the "top".  In my opinion they both made the wrong choice.  Neither of these singles are that great.  Both have succumbed to the cookie-cutter song models.  For Stephanie's talent she should be putting out that cutting edge record, that risk taker by now.  She can write and I believe she can write far better than this song.  I feel like the new album will just be more of the same old same old as will Katy's.  The whole point of continuing in your art is to progress, to push the envelope and to take a risk.  Every band/solo artist I am a strong fan of has taken those risks. Sure some put out albums that tanked.  Some records took fans a while to come around to...to forgive so to speak and then take off the blinders and listen with open ears and hearts.  As for "Roar" based on the number of live-feed performances I've seen of hers, again I'm scared to hear a non-studio version.  I don't think her voice can hold-up to the power this song needs and was given with a lot of electronic assistance.

So it's time to get back to "The Best Pop Music Not Spinning On the Radio".  I'll start with Young London who I got to see live for a second time, this one on Warped Tour and got to interview.  Talk about a passion for writing great pop-dance rock.  In the coming weeks I will get you a review of William Beckett's new album and introduce you to Atomic Tom, Simon Curtis and talk about the returns of the greats from Fueled by Raman...Fallout Boy, Gym Class Heroes and Panic at The Disco.

Peace

Best Pop on on the radio - Jukebox The Ghost

Welcome Summer and rolling down the window to blast music.  I don't know about you but this time of year with more hours of daylight, I like my music brighter too.  I wanna sing along and tap out a beat on the doorframe.  If I was one for taking the time to actually make playlists, I would have a Summer playlist.  But even if I did make that playlist, my car is just a little too old and doesn't have a way to plug in the "pod" so when I switch sweaters and cords out of the closet and dresser to make room for the tank tops and shorts, I do the same with my CDs. All that heavy Winter music gets slotted in the CD case and the Summer discs move into the console and glove box.

I learned about Juke Box the Ghost, a trio from Philly, when they opened for Bare Naked Ladies in November 2011.  Ben, Tommy and Jesse owned the stage and kept it together when Ed gave them their last night of tour present by dancing in nothing but a towel during their slow, romantic ballad.  No only did they perform the song without a hitch, when BNL brought them on stage to perform with them for the encore, all of Jukebox came out in towels.  This guys had some serious street cred.

Since then I've seen Jukebox The Ghost a few times.  I've interviewed Ben and Tommy.  These guys have real chops. Although all have college degrees, only Ben's is in music.   That doesn't matter though.  These guys know how to write, compose, arrange and perform.  Their sound is very signature and today, two years later, I still refer to it as "Raffi for grown ups" but I mean that in an extremely positive way.  Ben's piano combined with lyrics that tend to be tongue in cheek, make you smile separate JTG from the boring stuff on the radio.

Jukebox The Ghost have three great albums in their catalog and every one is as good as the one before it with the first one being really great.  You can buy them here http://jtg.11spot.com/music/cd.html or at their shows this Summer.   They will be touring with their idols Guster and others.  Jukebox The Ghost spends a lot of time on the road so make sure to check their site often.  I guarantee once you hear them, you will have them playing in your car, at the beach or backyard parties all Summer long.  What are you waiting for?  Go listen here!

Great pop that's not on the radio - La Roux

With Coachella coming up, now seems to be a good time to introduce you to La Roux.  The core group is vocalist, keyboardist, co-writer Elly Jackson and co-writer, co-producer Ben Langmaid.  These two do all the studio creations as a total team effort.  On the road Elly fronts a touring band that includes: Michael 'Mikey' Norris (on keyboard), Mickey O'Brien (keyboards and backing vocals) and William Bowerman (on drums).  La Roux hails from Brixton UK.

Elly did find a little time on the U.S. charts with "Bulletproof".  One of those little tastes corporate radio gives people to try to cover the game of convincing listeners that drek is good.  "Bulletproof" is a one of many great dance tracks and so it lent itself well to playing on the car radio while driving or in the clubs.  It's also a great platform for remixing.  So this catchy song hung around for a little while and seems to have caught the interest of some American listeners.  One of the best remixes was actually done by Skrillex.  La Roux also drew enough attention to land a Grammy in 2010.  It was more than well deserved in the Dance Music category.

My live experience with La Roux was at The Webster (Hartford) a few years ago.  First, the demographic of the artists' audience in my area was very  broad.  From 16-30 LGBT and straight 'typical' dance music fans then there was a small group of really jocky frat-boys.  Everyone got along and had a great time.  From the opening drum beat to the closing note everyone was dancing and singing along.  Elly's energy never lost any momentum and that awesome hairstyle was still intact at the end.  The part that impressed me the most is that she sings at the highest end of her range on almost every track and does so live too without a single cracked note and she does sing live-no lip-sync.  She and the band mesh perfectly which makes for a great performance and musical show.

Currently she is back in the studio with Ben and there is word that we will get a new album this year.  One of the collaborators on the record is one of my new favorite people, Nile Rodgers.  For more on La Roux visit http://www.laroux.co.uk/ from there you can link to their Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Blogger, etc.

It's time for a make-over

Not Your Mom's... was born almost six years ago.  It was ignited by the return of music and, subsequently, art into my home.  I picked up a pen again in 2006 after many years of silence due to having the very soul sucked out of me by a situation I walked into voluntarily and stayed in for far too long.  Now art is back and my quill flies across page after page.  I've been introduced to so many wonderful, colorful, courageous people.  Among them are musicians who refuse to be beat down by the monopolies who work hard to silence them, to keep them out of the spotlight.  The Dark machine that chugs on gobbling up media to convince people that mediocre and downright bad is good.

Not Your Mom's is going on a journey.  It will start with pop music.  No, not the drek on the radio or TV.  The really great pop music that is actually thriving under the radar.  Their fanbases aren't gianormous.  They don't play arenas.  But you will definitely get your money's worth to see them perform LIVE.  And yes, it is LIVE, no lip-syncing, auto-tuned bullshit disguising a good looking person as a singer, instrumental musician and/or performance artist.  Nope.  This shit's the real-deal.  I'll introduce you to people like Sam Sparro, Ricky Rebel, Elly Jackson (La Roux) and William Beckett.  Bands like Honor Society, Gossip, and  Atomic Tom.  You'll learn their stories, hear their music and be directed where to buy it and when and where to see them perform.