Pop Life

My road-trip mix tape

On and On by Janet Jackson

It's literally a song about cruising down the road with the top down.

Dolphin by Prince

It's about reincarnating as a dolphin, which is what I do on the road.

Rock Star by N.E.R.D.

I remember when I first got this album, visiting my parents and going to pick up my then-girlfriend, now-wife at the airport so she could meet the folks for the first time, and being excited and a little nervous and just rocking out with this song blasting out of the windows of the rental car.

On Vox: OBEY AUTOTUNE

There is, of course, no such thing as a good mashup. They exist because they must, because instrumental tracks and acapellas float freely across the web, because Acid and Garage Band are ubiquitous.

Yet. Sometimes we find one that says something important. Thanks to the ostensible generosity of folks like Jeff Atwood, I get tipped off to works like the one I'm about to embed. Perhaps Jeff could start a site called "Music Production Horror".

17 - A Plus D - Believe In Sexual Eruption

A Plus D

There are some distinct upsides to having become irrevocably associated with the ubiquity of autotune abuse in pop music. This is just one of them.

Originally posted on anil.vox.com

On Vox: A Change Gon' Come

Thanks to a nice reminder from Ginevra, and a motivational post by Ta-Nehisi Coates, I got around to gathering up some videos I've been meaning to share. Obviously, Barack Obama's made some fairly explicit references to Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come", so I should share a few pleasing renditions of the song with you.

Seal

Seal turns in a fairly rote, but still worth-the-listen version of the old chestnut. There's something about Seal's voice that makes me wish he had a little bit more Terence Trent D'Arby in him when he sings soul songs. From surprisingly short of soul we switch rapidly to surprisingly soulful, with Wayne Brady's (yes, Wayne Brady's) competent version of "Change"

Wayne Brady

Not bad, Wayne! A sudden contender for Best Recent Cover of the song comes in the form of Anthony Hamilton, whose version I actually hadn't ever heard before Coates linked to it.

Anthony Hamilton

And then, for my money, the best recent (albeit using "recent" as a relative term, since it's 14 years old at this point) cover of "A Change Is Gonna Come" is by the wildly underrated R&B group (and Jam & Lewis project) Solo:

Solo

Solo had such pure soulful voices that they were able to make even material as regrettably titled as "Where Do You Want Me To Put It?" seem charming and fun. Well worth the listen, and it stands up well even today.

Originally posted on anil.vox.com

I'm just Mary, I'm just Mary, I'm just Mary

We saw Mary J. Blige. It was like a 2-hour motivation speech interrupted by some fantastic ass-shaking songs. I laughed, I cried, I want to see it again.

On Vox: Word Up.

There are a million reasons to post the video for Cameo's "Word Up", but today I am sharing this with you because it features LeVar Burton Gettin' Funky!

Cameo - Word Up

LeVar is looking like a long-lost member of the Time, and you don't need a VISOR to know that's a sharp look! YES I DID JUST MAKE A VISOR JOKE.

If you want to undo the extreme funkiness of this clip (Larry's sportin' the big red codpiece!) then you can inflict the KoЯn cover of this song upon yourself. It's of the same quality you've come to expect from everything that KoЯn does! That's a nice way of saying they suck! Even Limp Bizkit is the fault of KoЯn, right down to the deliberate spelling error! That's dumber than the heavy metal umlaut! There's a film about heavy metal umlaut's wikipedia entry! I can't stop shouting about this awful band! I wish I were a wolf so I could gnaw off my own paw!

Originally posted on anil.vox.com

On Vox: NO ONE WANTS TO BE DEFEATED

People always be messin' with me, and just keep pushing and pushing and not taking it seriously that I will mess you up! Well, now you've done it. Ladies and gentlemen, please witness BEAT IT 2008 WITH FERGIE.

That's the name of this song! BEAT IT 2008 WITH FERGIE. It's not "Beat It (2008 Remix featuring Fergie)" or "Beat It (Completely Beaten Mix with Fergie)". It's all right there, 2008 With Fergie.And my hope for the new year had been 2008 With No Fergie.

I had mentioned that they were doing a 25-anniversary re-release of the album in my last post on the subject, and sure, one expects the requisite Kanye West remix of Billie Jean, but who knew that things would get this dire? I did. I knew. And now I have to share my pain with you.

I will spare you all the reasons Fergie is horrible. It's not just the man-hands or the meth problem or the (admitted!) incontinence on stage or the fact that she turned what had formerly been at least a semi-credible hip hop group into a laughing stock. It's not merely her stint in Wild Orchid. There are so many things wrong with Fergie. But the latest indignity is that she's completely excised any trace of Eddie Van Halen from Beat It, and for what. For what?

It doesn't matter who's wrong or right.

Originally posted on anil.vox.com

On Vox: Meanwhile...

...over on MetaFilter, they have never heard of New Jack Swing, and think Living Colour was an R&B group. Now I can understand why they flamed the shit out of me for suggesting the site should have a white background. It would have been too redundant. (In the interim, that thread on MetaTalk has officially become an in-joke.)

Here, then, a list of things that are indistinguishable:

Poison

Stain

No Diggity: The Very Best of Blackstreet

The Best of Parliament: Give Up the Funk

Originally posted on anil.vox.com

On Vox: QotD: My Musical Horoscope

What's your musical horoscope?  (Put your music player on shuffle and write down the first 10 songs that come up.)  Inspired by Stephanie.

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On Vox: I'm Invincible!

1. Avoided Destiny offers MP3s of most Mario Bros themes, including the Starman/Invincibility theme. I'd been looking for this for some time, and The Mushroom Kingdom was surprisingly bereft.2. Alaina has an Nike + iPod Nano Sport Kit, which I've...

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On Vox: Excel-lent.

Lisey's post about geeking out in Excel had the world's most perfectly-targeted banner ads:

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