Fascinating story in the New York Times about experiments locating the portion of the brain that fires up when music is heard. This kind of stuff is truly amazing to me - how the human brain works and how music fires up different brains in different ways. I actually had a thought this morning in the shower that kind of ties into this article, about whether or not the data nerds at Pandora have been able to identify the perfect attributes of a song for the commercial audience. I bet they could use people's likes and dislikes, analyze that data, and figure out the right key or the right BPM to dominate the world. And if they have, has anyone used that to dominate the airwaves without our knowledge? My first thought was that band called Big Data.
5 Seconds of Summer - Sounds Good Feels Good. Well hell. I cracked this album with the full expectation to hate it. I just read a cover story about the band in Rolling Stone that made them out to be party boy Aussie kids with a deep and abiding love for Good Charlotte. Which is confusing because I had been expecting that this would be a One Direction-type thing, in light of the insane love these dudes get from the teen girl crowd. And then I find myself singing along and enjoying myself after a few listens. I'm not going to sell you on this being life-changing material or anything, but if you ever liked the pop-punk movement, then you are likely going to enjoy this stuff. The hit from the album is "She's Kinda Hot."
QUICK ASIDE: They played this track at my kid's elementary school dance the other day, leading me to feel very old and frumpy by disapproving of the DJ's music choices. Although, to be fair, I was more in old-person disapproval about "I'm Sexy and I Know It" and "I'm a Barbie Girl" than this song, but none of those are winning points from me at this stage in life.
Anyway, you've got 45 million listens on Spotify and 28 million plays on YouTube, so this track is well-known.
QUICK ASIDE: They played this track at my kid's elementary school dance the other day, leading me to feel very old and frumpy by disapproving of the DJ's music choices. Although, to be fair, I was more in old-person disapproval about "I'm Sexy and I Know It" and "I'm a Barbie Girl" than this song, but none of those are winning points from me at this stage in life.
Anyway, you've got 45 million listens on Spotify and 28 million plays on YouTube, so this track is well-known.
Guitar-based pop - I think calling it punk is generous - that has enough harmony and boyishness to seem very much like a boy band. The track that I liked the most is called "Fly Away."
By the way, searching for these dudes on YouTube is crazy stuff. There are piles of videos out there of people covering this song, but there are also a bunch of videos of people "reacting" to this song. I know I'm one to talk, as I just write out my reactions to songs, but this is a whole new level of weird. The one I just watched it literally a girl crying and hyperventilating while listening to "Fly Away." God, I hope my kids never use the Internet. Anyway, surprisingly good album that I enjoyed. I will now hang my head in shame and listen to "Hey Everybody!" one more time.
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Through the Cracks. A B-Sides and rarities collection that was apparently only available before if you bought an old box set. I think my favorite is the demo for "The Apartment Song." Overall, this is a little more bluesy and loose, and the demo versions are just a bit less polished than the final versions of these songs. Probably only a necessary listen if you are a total Tom Petty obsessive. Nothing else on here is that interesting.
Erykah Badu - But You Caint Use My Phone. Back when I lived in Dallas, my roommate and I would frequently sing lines from Badu's "Tyrone," which includes the line for the title of this album. I honestly have no clue why we would tell each other "You betta cawwll Tyroyeone!" But thats what we did anyway.
So here, you've got a mixtape from Badu with songs that almost all involve the telephone, including Drake's "Hotline Bling" and Usher's "You Don't Have to Call." She's also got some rap with Drake (so nasal!) {EDIT: that apparently is not really Drake, but somebody called ItsRoutine who sounds just like Drake} and her baby daddy Andre 3000 on there. It is a weird group of tracks, and she keeps it weirder by saying "squirrel" repeatedly on the tracks (best example, in Usher's tune, instead of "You don't have to call, its OK, girl," she goes with "You don't have to call, its OK squirrel."), but it still works and I found myself enjoying it. I think my favorite is "Phone Down."
So here, you've got a mixtape from Badu with songs that almost all involve the telephone, including Drake's "Hotline Bling" and Usher's "You Don't Have to Call." She's also got some rap with Drake (so nasal!) {EDIT: that apparently is not really Drake, but somebody called ItsRoutine who sounds just like Drake} and her baby daddy Andre 3000 on there. It is a weird group of tracks, and she keeps it weirder by saying "squirrel" repeatedly on the tracks (best example, in Usher's tune, instead of "You don't have to call, its OK, girl," she goes with "You don't have to call, its OK squirrel."), but it still works and I found myself enjoying it. I think my favorite is "Phone Down."
Such a great lyric for a sexy ass song. Nice groove, and let's all put our phones down and get it on. Right now! She samples "Hotline Bling" frequently on here, and its kind of awesome. That jenky little Casio beat just works for me. Cool mixtape that I've enjoyed for a few weeks.
Steve Martin & Edie Brickell - So Familiar. Steve Martin has always gotten this interesting fascination from the world by virtue of being a world class banjo player. After he conquered stand up and Hollywood, he's come back to it and started seriously putting out bluegrass music. This is the second of their collaborations, and it is really well done. Brickell handles the vocals (If only they could have brought Edie's husband out to add some vocals!), sounding no older than the classic days from Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars, while Martin plays the crap out of the banjo. Is there a happier instrument? I don't think so. The title track is the most listened-to on Spotify, with just over 75k streams. Here is "So Familiar."
Martin isn't blazing a new path of extreme banjo sheddage or anything, but that is a fun little melody and solid playing. Not entirely sure about the robot voice echoing Edie later on in the song, but it doesn't ruin the entire tune for me. This is comfort music. Feels like I should listen to it while vacationing in Maine this summer. Maybe I just will.
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