I love Coldplay more than lots of people like to admit. This cover of the Beastie Boys’ “FFYRTP” is in true Coldplay mellow-rock form and is a beautiful tribute to Adam Yauch and the BBoys themselves. Definitely give it a listen.
“Intergalactic” came on at the club last night and everyone went cray cray. Here’s to a resurge of Beastie Boys music in the world’s clubs, because those songs are bamboo bangas.
The Beastie Boys star outside of legendary club First Avenue in Minneapolis.
ABBA. What an iconic, amazing and legendary band. I listen to ABBA’s album GOLD: Greatest Hits at least once a week. I love pop and disco, and ABBA is the quintessential representation of those two genres.
Their music is so good that it has been on Broadway in the musical Mamma Mia, a fictional tale sculpted from ABBA’s music. IT began in 1999 in London’s West End at the Prince Edward Theatre and still runs to this day. It’s definitely a show I and all ABBA lovers MUST see. The Meryl Streep movie is awesome, but live theater is the fucking shit, especially if there is song and dance.
I actually discovered ABBA through the A-Teens, a Swedish pop group formed in the late 90s that paid tribute to ABBA. Their first album titled The ABBA Generation consisted purely of ABBA covers. Their version of “Mamma Mia” was pretty huge for being a cover, but it’s such a good song that you’d have to be a complete idiot to fuck its cover up.
I can’t pick a favorite ABBA song, because it has changed so many times over the years. At first it was “Take a Chance on Me”, then it went to “Lay All Your Love on Me”. Next was the fight between “Money, Money, Money” for it’s theatrical, dramatic production and “Gimme, Gimme, Gimme (A Man After Midnight)” for it’s relatable subject. Right now, I’m jammin’ on “Fernando” and “One of Us”.
Their songs encapsulate an often cryptic tale of struggling relationships. The four members of the group, Agnetha Fältskog, Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Anni-Frid Lyngstad comprised of two couples: Ulvaeus-Fältskog and Andersson-Lynstad. The couples eventually both divorced and now claim to never reunite again. You can tell in the lyrics of their songs that even at the height of their fame, the relationships were ripe with disconnect and pain.
It’s also good to know that ABBA was not your modern day pop group. Benny and Björn played live instruments while the women sang live (what a shocker!). They worked on all of their songs obsessively until they sounded exactly right. The ladies, Anni-Frid and Agnetha would come in a make suggestions on the songs and ultimately had final say when it came to lyrics and lyrical melody.
I’ve come to realize that it’s pretty progressive to have a pop group with both men and women. They were all sexualized I’m sure, but it was the 70s so who wasn’t?! I like that the men and women are both showing skin, as opposed to just the women being made into sexual objects. Back then, everyone and everything was an equal sexual object. The only modern male-female pop group I can think of is the Black Eyed Peas, but I wouldn’t exactly call them progressive since I never see any of those men taking their clothes off with Fergie-ferg. Prudes!
Anyways, if you haven’t ever listened to much ABBA besides their karoake favorite “Dancing Queen”, you’re in for the treat of your life. Here are some videos of “Fernando” and a seriously awesome live clip of “Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight)” from Wembley in 1979. Welcome to the best collective 8 minutes of your life.
Check out this awesome 99%-esque song by Icelandic artists Toggi. Their country got totally fucked over by rich jerks too (samesies!), and they turned their frustrations into a nice little rock song.
If you dig, you can get a free download of the song here as well as read about their inspiration and general rich-jerk hating attitude. Woo!!!
This song is fucking beautiful.
Remember when the rap part of 90s smash TLC hit “Waterfalls” used to get cut out of the radio edit?! Blasphemous! Also, remember when rap was edgy? Now it’s a shitty haircut away from being synthy euro trash. This decade is fun!
Yesterday marked the ten year anniversary of Left Eye’s untimely death. She died in a car crash in Honduras, where she was staying at the time on a spiritual and physical pilgrimage. The VH1 documentary shows the last days of her life, and even the crash itself as her friend in the passenger seat was filming at the time of the accident. It’s a really interesting doc, because during her stay in Honduras, she believed a spirit was following her and trying to kill her. It’s a good watch.
RIP Lisa. It does not feel like she died 10 years ago. On her casket, some lyrics from her part of “Waterfalls” were engraved: “Dreams are hopeless aspirations, in hopes of coming true, believe in yourself, the rest is up to me and you.” Damn right, girl.
Remixes are so fucking hot. They have the ability to open up songs to new dimensions. They change the energy, the feeling, the mood, the everything of the song. If you’re a Little Boots fan, check out these remixes of her song “Every Night I Say a Prayer” here. I don’t know if it’s the lyrics, the melody or the combination, but this is very reminiscent of early Madonna.
An ode to black girls, by Chester French.
“This ain’t no fetish, ain’t objectifying no one
I reject your deconstruction of my taste
But ignoramus always look in my direction
They’re so frustrated I don’t keep it in the race
Like they’ve never seen this before
Like it’s 1954
But the whole world’s turning brown and who cares
I’ve got a thing for black girls
La, la la la la, la la, la la la la la
Yeah, my mom says
I’ve got a thing for black girls
La, la la la la, la la, la la la la la
You know I got some love for black girls
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Well I have tried to taste the rainbow in my life
I’ve sampled many different flavors I enjoy
It’s not to say I wouldn’t settle down with Sally
Dilly dally with her heart like it’s my toy
I’ve been to England a few times
And it’s common over there
Plus the whole world’s turning brown and who cares
[Hook x2]
(I’m ? so what)
(And I need to know, where’s all the love for black girls)
(No the girl don’t need no tan)
(I keep on ballin’ hard for black girls)”
If you dig like I dig, get the song for free at their website.
Boy bands are officially back, per the 20poorandfabulous request. I see the dolls that are very NSYNC circa No Strings Attached, but all that is missing is the choreographed routines. Come on, One Direction. Don’t you wanna be cool as fuck? Doesn’t one of you want to be the Justin Timberlake? Because you’re all kind of being huge Kevins right now, and it’s a total bore. Even Justin Bieber knows he has to dance to really get the teens/ladies/old moms and gay men hot and heavy. Plus, choreography distracts from your weird lyrics and the future reality that at least four of you will end up like O-Town unless you get them moves-a-bustin’. This is not a boyband drill.
“This is a pop song.” Love them.
2PF 