I can't help but look for new music all the time. The stuff I know is good, but experienced. Done. I have ridden that ride. I want to hear something new. Perhaps familiar, but different in some way.
I find it shocking when I talk to most people about music and they are still listening to the same 10 albums they've had for the past 10 years. They cannot even remember the last time they got a new one. These people do not actually like music. Or they are the kind of people who eat the exact same thing for breakfast every day. Boring! And disappointing too. Break out of your rut! Today, I have a different flavor for you to try.
Make sure to watch the video too. It is awesome. You Space Invaders out there will love it!
Whatever you do
Whatever you say
Nothing could push the feeling away
It's here in my heart and it's here in my head
I feel like I'm part of a book I've read
And every page and every paper
Seems to be part of human nature
Sending me back down on memory lane
My favorite record is playing again
Somewhere in that space between Madonna and Marilyn Manson lives Lady Gaga. I don't know as though she has the longevity of either, but who knows… she has only just begun it would appear. Her name is all over the place these days and is thus hard to ignore without some investigation by a musical slut such as myself. I wasn't terribly impressed with the first song I heard months ago, "LoveGame", but I am giving her another try. I am far more impressed this time around. I'm not even sure if the song is as good without the extreme visuals of the video. There is something very "The Dope Show" meets "Vogue" about the video for this song, and as it was with those videos, I cannot seem to take my eyes away. Approve or disapprove, original or not, good or bad there is something entertaining and bizarre, appealing and repulsive about Lady Gaga. Advert your eyes if you must, but don't feel bad if you push replay button. I did.
UPDATE 12/1/2009:
A friend and frequent visitor to TSotD.com had this to say, and I had to share…
"YES! I am so repulsively in love. LOVE that song. But, hey, did you happen to catch Poker Face yet?"
"It's great! But then take a look at the acoustic version done by Chris Daughtry. Equally or more stellar!"
Also "she's more bizarre the deeper you look. With one eye."
I heard this on the radio the other day and I must say the radio has truly been delivering lately. I am totally loving the fact that the 1980s are "IN" right now. Erasure is a must from my '80s collection. Teens today are totally eating it up. There are more and more 80s influences showing up in new music and the old music is getting a lot more air time. I have even seem more and more mohawks!
In addition to Cyndi Lauper, I also had the "Electric Boogie" (AKA "Electric Slide") in my head this morning. Yet I have not been to any weddings or anything lately. But I know the moves. Oh yes I do. And no I will not demonstrate them unless the song is playing loud and clear. Do you know them?
The video above is from the 1990 release of the song on her album "Carousel", though the song was first created in 1976. The "Electric Slide" dance was created in 1974, setting the stage for all the other line dances that most people either run to or run away from. See "The Macarena". (And yes, I know that one too. Oh tasty alcoholic beverages, what have you done to me!? Oh who am I kidding… I was sober!)
Here is the "how to" for the "Electric Slide" by the creator of the dance, Ric Silver:
If any artist has a legitimate reason to be political, it is her, Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam. Although she was born in London, she grew up amidst the conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil militancy. Her stage name, M.I.A., is in part a reference to her being "Missing In Action". I have to believe it is a misnomer at this point though because I believe her popularity has fostered more international sympathy for the Sri Lankan Tamil minority than anything else in the past decade.
I totally agree with her on the so called "War on Terror". "You can't separate the world into two parts like that, good and evil. Terrorism is a method, but America has successfully tied all these pockets of independence struggles, revolutions, and extremists into one big notion of terrorism." The world is not so black and white. Are the Sri Lankan Tamil civilians and militants unjustified for wanting equality or independence when the policies and culture of the majority Sinhalese clearly deny them the same rights and opportunities? One of the origins of the Sri Lankan Civil War is "The government of D.S. Senanayake passed legislation stripping the estate Tamils of their citizenship in 1949, leaving them stateless." No rights?! Sounds like fighting words to me!
This album was a party favorite for my friends and I. I think it was the "Shibuya-kei" genre that appealed to us, but we didn't know what to call it. We knew they were fun, pop, and foreign. As I read the Shibuya-kei wikipedia page, I have to laugh because we also played a lot of Serge Gainsbourg, who is listed as a major influence to the genre. Listening to this song I believe it.
Props to the Japanese for really embracing foreign music. They have repeatedly had excellent bands like "Pizzicato Five", or "The 5.6.7.8's". I need to explore more because I feel like I must be missing out on some.
