28 January 2016

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

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

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.