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!

Best pop...Daft Punk sets off chain reaction

Let's start with Daft Punk as pop.  Really?  Well yeah.  The first thing I think of when I think pop is the dance music. The next thing is a whole lot of strong hooks.  Daft Punk draws from the very heart and roots of disco.  In the 70's Donna Summer, George McCrae, The Village People, and Gloria Gaynor were blaring out of our car radios all the time.  4-on-the-floor was the beat of the day.  Daft Punk builds on those models then replaces old Moogs with all manner of current electronic manipulation.

It was no stretch for the French duo to call on geniuses Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers to work with them on "Get Lucky", the first single from the new album "Random Access Memories" which drops next week.  Now this is a track that will see radio play because Pharell is one of corporate radio's latest sweethearts.  But will it get more people listening to Daft Punk?  Will future tracks from the record see any attention?  That remains to be seen.  One thing I will project is that the album does make the Billboard Top5 in its first week due to the size of Daft Punk's fanbase.

But back to "Get Lucky".  On the surface I kind of wanted to hate it because it is just more of the same thing that is currently on terrestrial radio.  The lyrics have no meat or potatoes, just a lot of sexual fluff.  But then I realized when I'm dancing in a club I don't want some deep human condition message coming through the speakers.  I want to dance and "Get Lucky" will get people doing just that.  My other disappointment is Pharell's vocals.  Very thin.  I love all the signature DP elements and Nile's guitar line shines through bringing funk with a real pedigree.  But again, the vocal just gets lost.

Then..........

Other artists started covering the song before it even hit the terrestrial airwaves.  Heck, it's an easy enough track to play with.  Thankfully it wasn't long before one of my favorite artists who already has Nile Rodgers collab cred grabbed this song by the hair at the back of its neck and dragged it kicking and screaming into his studio, beat the shit out of it and came out with THIS:




YES!! Sam Sparro needs to do a lot more of this.

So this week's recommendations for "best pop not on the radio"?  The entire Daft Punk catalog and Sam Sparro once again (and always).

Also watch Nile's episode of the "Random Access Memories" Collaborators Series here:
http://www.randomaccessmemories.com/

He states exactly what I started this post with "They went back to go forward". Nile is also working with La Roux on her new record. I adore this man.

Don't forget to order Daft Punk's new album next week or buy a digital download.  The robots will not disappoint.

www.daftpunk.com
www.samsparro.com
www.nilerodgers.com

The best pop music not on the radio - Cobra Starship

Yeah, I know...another band that actually did do some time on the Top40.  However, one that has disappeared as quickly.  Gabe and his new dance pop band came out of the gate with the theme song for Snakes On A Plane.  He also got some help from old friends The Academy Is..., Gym Class Heroes and The Sounds. Well, step back into the way-back machine here.  Gabe Saporta had fronted pop-punk band, Midtown, from 1998-2005.  Members of Cobra Starship all had 6-degrees of separation to Midtown.

The video for Snakes On A Plane (Bring It) also included cameos by Pete Wentz (Fallout Boy) and Sam Jackson himself.  These things help propel Cobra into the spotlight.  Combined with Gabe's great, if not quirky marketing of "his vision" the resulted in their first album and a whole lot of support from the Fueled By Ramen bunch, things took off.  Cobra Starship did their first tour as the opener for Gym Class.  They would later be added to one of TAI's headlining tour after spending the summer of 2007 with FOB on the Honda Civic Tour.

Today they have four albums to their credit and most of those tracks are great, if not a little cheesy, pop dance music and Cobra Starship owns every one of those songs and their sound.  In 2011 they worked with two of the biggest names in pop songwriting, Ryan Tedder and Kara DioGuardi.  Recorded or live, this band is a lot of fun and doesn't tend to take itself seriously while still loving what they are doing.

Although they're not super busy right now-college shows and remixes released last year, they still keep their blog and social networks up to date.  Hopefully we'll get some new music in the future.  But for now, there's plenty in the current catalog so check out their site, http://www.cobrastarship.com/ and their Facebook and or listen on Spotify.

Next week I go across the pond to introduce you to Miss Lilly Allen.  Moving through Spring and into the summer you will learn about Jukebox The Ghost, Atomic Tom and Young London.  So keep checking back. Happy Free Comic Book and Star Wars Day. May the 4th be with you.

Record Store Day - Best pop music not on the radio

With all my hipster friends and family getting in on all the vinyl deals today and all the hip folks buying limited edition CDs at their LOCAL RECORD STORE today I decided to wax a bit nostalgic.  My vinyl collection lives in two places...albums in the attic-I KNOW NOT GOOD!! Sorry.  And 45s...Yep still got 'em in my snazzy little carrying case purchased in the '70's, live in my bedroom.

Let's take a look at my library.  LPs I'm pretty progressive; Queen, Zeppelin, Ambrosia, The Beatles, Yes and Rick Wakeman, Cream, Chick Corea and Robin Trower.  The last two, all discs are imports.  I used to make regular runs to Merle's Record rack and dig through all the European releases.  Ok, so I guess I was a bit of hipster back then.  But then there's the 45s.  This stuff is all over the map.  The Carpenters, The Osmonds (don't judge), The Bee Gees, Carol King, Sir Elton John (but he wasn't a knight then), Blues Image (open Google for that one), The Beatles, Prelude (oh did I trip you up again?), Captain and Tennille, Richard Harris's version on "MacArthur Park", Michael Jackson, Chicago (of course everybody's prom song of the 70's), Guess Who, Simon & Garfunkel, Paul McCartney & Wings (Yep! more Sir Paul after the Beatles),  Patti Labelle (that song came out LONG before Moulin Rouge), Harry Chapin (kinda indie acoustic version of Nickelback-same melody just different lyrics) and Gunhill Road.  Gunhill Road.  Who the fuck are they you ask?  Ok, pretty much one-hit-wonders but we all should have at least one of those in our collections.

The other thing that I noticed as I was going through my stack was the number of labels and not imprints just single companies.  RCA was RCA and not a division of Sony. Epic also got swallowed by the Sony beheemoth.  Atlantic and Reprise were not part of Warner Music adn Island, A&M and Atco were not divisisions of Universal Music Group.  RCA absorbed Chelsea and then shelved it.   Rocket Records is now a completely different company.  Mercury moved from Chicago to the UK and became an imprint of Virgin.  RSO, MCA, and United Artists are now just memories.  Motown lost its identity when it moved to L.A. and today is just another major label juggernaut.

And what about 45s?  Do you even buy singles any more?  Ok, maybe on iTunes.  But what about hard-copy singles?  Although the cost of living has gone up, the cost of recorded music is still running about the same when you compare it to the wages (minimum) of the people who buy it.  The largest percentage of music purchased's demographic is still 14-25.  I started my record collection with babysitting money.  Then I made a buck an hour before midnight and $2 an hour after plus tips.  Albums cost $8.  A single was only a dollar and you got two songs.  Ok, most "B" sides sucked but sometimes they did make you really consider saving your money for the whole LP.  Today you still pay $1.29 for a single on iTunes but that's what you get...a single.  No more "B" sides.  I must say I do like the trend to EPs that at least get a little more music into circulation at a very reasonable price.

Finally, it seems that Record Store Day is something targeted to and participated in by the people who don't even turn on the radio any more.  There are no limited editions today from Beiber, Katy Perry, or Rhianna.  About the closest you're gonna get to mainstream is The Black Keys, Bon Jovi and Lincoln Park.  In other words, what little notice huge monopoly labels gave to RSD was still mainly to their alternative and indie listeners.  Sony, UMG and Warner are only interested in the kids that are buying at Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy, FYE and digitally.  But they don't really do much to entice them to pay for anything so the prices of tickets to pop concerts just go higher to fill in the revenue gaps.

So today was Record Store Day.  I hope you went and found your local store and supported it. I hope you continue to.  I don't want to see you whining or stomping your feet if they close their doors and you're stuck with censored versions at Wally-World or having to mail order everything.  Let's see if we can put "the man" out of business.  You know...even if you shop on-line, find a mom & pop.  See how often you can avoid the big guys.  Help people create jobs for themselves and for you.  If hard-copies of music become popular again, more distribution companies will be needed, small marketing firms.  Or maybe everything does go digital.  It's still going to need to be managed, distributed.  Buy a subscription to your favorite internet radio station.  Get involved in crowdfunding for competition to labels, radio stations and promoters.  Let's all figure this out together.

HAPPY RECORD STORE DAY 2013

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.