When people send videos my way, I tend to watch them, even dutifully following Tig’s 6 listen rule. Recently, that’s had me drawing my sorry lugs through obscure tracks by the Stranglers, the Smithereens, Be Bop Deluxe, to which I couldn’t muster much more than a ho-hum response, marginally improved on repeat play.
Then I played ‘New Rules’, and I instantly got it. It was delightful, confident, playful, clever and immediately appealing. No wonder it seems to have gathered more than 2 billion plays on YouTube. That was earlier today. Since then I’ve played most of her discography – all catchy as hell and fun.
I’m so far behind the curve I’m practically stationery. But even paper goods can have an impression made on them. I checked the site archives and there are a grand total of 3 mentions of her – so maybe she isn’t natural AW territory. But does anyone else like what they hear?
And, are there any other songs/artists that had instant appeal for you?
This is one of her later songs, and I think it’s banging
Glad to see pop music getting a look in. New Rules is a cracker.
Dagny here was on the Skavlan chat show on Friday. Her shiny, glamorous pop with a glint in its eye hit the spot.
Five years old now, but this hit the spot at once.
Stormzy hit the spot at once for me with this song.
He sung it when my son and I saw him on Wednesday evening. We were left speechless.
Thanks, KFD. Quite an extraordinary triplet of posting, which I guess I should expect from you! A lot of positive expressions of female desire, which is no bad thing, especially from someone who looks like Sally Phillips, and then something completely different from Stormzy. Is that typical of him? I’ve never listened to him before, but it was powerful stuff.
That song was at the end of his set last week and for me, rather unknowledgeable as am, it is his finest hour. Basically his set consisted of a few slower, more gospel-tinged songs which I enjoyed most, and his rowdier material which my son was really getting into.
Despite being almost alone on the stage, he put on an amazing show.
To counterbalance all these female artists here is Neil Hannon, who can still produce top notch pop songs.
One that springs to mind is when the missus and daughter had the Christmas Top of the Pops on a few years ago. I was muttering about how rubbish it all was, and then Christine and the Queens came on and performed Tilted. And what a performance. I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen and watched it over. She is brilliant. I’m now a committed fan, have both her albums and saw her in Manchester on her last tour. I don’t think there’s anyone quite like her. Her live shows are part music, part modern theatre, part motivational speaking (in a nice way!).
Sadly, the Top of the Pops performance isn’t on YouTube, but here’s an appearance on the Graham Norton Show around the same time.
Absolutely agree, Paul. Mrs Type isn’t easily impressed, but even she was riveted when she first saw C&TQ on TV.
I’ve found recently that I’m leaning more and more towards enjoying smart pop made by females – Taylor, Billie, Dua, Chris, Robyn – much more than sad old guitar rock. Mid-life crisis or revealing my actual self at last? You decide…
*Mind you, I’m also seeing Nick Cave and Pet Shop Boys in the next few months…but they aren’t remotely ‘rock’.
This didn’t grab me immediately, apart from being dead impressed by the dancing – these artists who can sing and dance make such great performances – one of the things I liked about Dua Lipa – the idiosyncratric dance moves – as on display here.
But it got under my skin, particularly with the mix of languages. The ‘Christine’ version is good too – I played them together and they are in perfect sync – even to the French chorus in both.
And this clip below seems to express that combination of song and movement, even in the stillness. Plus, the growing suit is a nice reference to David Byrne, with whom she seems to share a geeky, gawky confidence.
I saw her/their performance at Glastonbury (on TV, I wasn’t there) a couple of years ago and I thought they were brilliant and became an instant convert.
Oh, yes. I’m so pleased you’ve mentioned her, Sal. I’ve just taken a dive into the deep end and have bought tickets to see Dua in June…I’m inordinately excited! She entered my radar around the ‘One Kiss’ collaboration with Calvin Harris and I’ve been quietly impressed since, without actually buying anything – but now I’m having a major feast, with concert tickets and the ‘Complete Edition’ of her first album snapped up, and the forthcoming album pre-ordered. I certainly don’t fear the Lipa (sorry…).
This is one of many bangers (so to speak).
Ms Lipa has been my workout music of choice at the gym for some time know, so I’m putting my hand up to liking her too.
The bpm is good for the gym and her videos keep me going on the running machine when i’m at the stage of breathing out of my arse! Partial to a bit of Stefflon Don and Cardi B at the gym too.
Having watched a few Stefflon Don and Cardi B videos on YouTube, I admire your stamina that you can take them in while running in the gym.
You are speaking my language. I find myself eschewing guitar rock more often these days for some banging female pop of the Lipa variety. Don’t Start Now in particular. See also Robyn, Christine, and more. You can’t beat a bit of throbbing electronic groove coupled with catchy pop tunes. It’s such a feel good form of music and it’s as good as any other genre you care to mention. Roisin Murphy’s Rumble is another recent banger of note with a nod to Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick.
Sounds like you lot all need to acquaint yourselves with the music of Ms Ellis-Bextor!
Her enunciation in this really is spot on.
She managed to take a song from the 70s that I wasn’t particularly bothered about and turn it into my absolute favourite track. The version she recorded is better, as you get the vocoder effects in the chorus, but here she is singing it live.
Sophie with the Hackney Colliery Band. That must have been a treat.
Mmm, I don’t really think that one works to be honest. Then again, I think some of the songs she did with the orchestra fell a bit flat. I’m glad she did the orchestra album though, cos most of it was great. I see she’s sporting a baby bump on this video (her 5th baby boy!).
But, wait a minute, the Hackney ‘Colliery’ Band?!? I used to work in Hackney and I don’t think I ever noticed a coal mine. And even if there once was one, the young chaps in the band don’t look old enough to have ever been down it. Up here we have proper colliery bands…although the same amount of pits as Hackney nowadays. Bloody Thatcher!
The Weeknd is not the first star to have some issues around him, but on his second album he produced two certificable bangers. Does contain some Daft Punk but hey collabs are how it happens now.
A few years ago, whilst trying to listen to almost 40 years worth of hip hop in one year, he kept popping up on tracks, and I was always impressed with his parts, so I bought his first few CDs. I was telling my daughter about him and how good he was, thinking he was quite obscure. She then had to break it to me that he’s actually one of the biggest stars in modern music! He’s brill though, I really like him.
Even more DPy
And this is the first bona fide classic of 2020 I venture to gain, the return of Caribou. Brilliantly simple, have on constant repeat. 2:20-2:30 is sheer brilliance, but do listen to the whole song.
This was the first song that came to mind when I considered adding to the list. It’s terrific.
I love this one, also from the new album.
Caribou – You and I
What’s this? A guitar? How charmingly old-fashioned! Even so, Jenny Lewis is a real modern princess of pop in my opinion. We’ve all heard She’s not me, so let’s go for another recent toetapper.
Feat. E. Costello!
That was brill!
ps who is Feat E Costello?
I thought New Rules applied to the rewriting of our justified and ancient code of practice here at the Honourable Guild of Afternerds….
You might think that – I couldn’t possibly comment.
(I’m too busy driving my ice cream van).
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Oh, go on then… I was also slightly alluding to the Tig rule and how Dua Lipa was so accessible it didn’t apply.
Again, three years old now but I think under the dictionary definition of banger there’s just this…
Time a for a few non-Anglophone songs with instant appeal.. Variety is the spice of AW life!
Brunori Sas
Deolnda
Laleh
Adila
LaBrassBanda
Laleh and Indila, I will accept into the canon of (quiet) bangers. particularly the French one. The last one, I might watch the film it was a trailer for on a Sunday evening on Bayerischer Rundfunk. The first two – please dispose of in a sealed container – the first one was particularly horrid.
Having a large record collection means I’m not really bothered with “sounds-like” things. Coldplay? No thanks, I already have Echo & the Bunnymen. And so on.
Tape Runs Out, however, are only the second band I’ve ever seen to feature hammered dulcimer. Their songs also have wonky structures and/or time signatures. Here’s a track from their most recent EP:
Who was the first? The Barely Works? Great band, long long gone.
Yep, and much more ‘of the folk idiom’ than TRO.
Weren’t they? This was my favourite song, with dulcimer present, as well as gentle moshing:
If had to guess, I would have said Dead Can Dance, for whom the dulcimer was often front and centre, like here:
Both songs I loved instantly
Of course, I forgot Orbital’s The Box:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCeFdL72CDE
I tried it and found it just a bit too….meh, didnt grab me at all. Mind you, having grown up in the `70`s I do like a bit of guitar in my pop tunes…. and possibly a bit of exuberant bollocks as well.
Ms Wildes ouvre usually hits the spot for me
Zara deserves a mention here, Bangerisimo!
No Kiwi or Aussie bangers yet? Come on Black Celebration!
Two combos who know a hit when they write one.
The Bamboos
Hilltop Hoods
Thing about the Hilltop Hoods is that skits on rap albums are rubbish anyway, but when they are in an Aussie accent it just doesn’t sound right!
It’s not just the skits that are rubbish…
Every country develops its own variation on rap music, some poppier than others.
I certainly wouldn’t label Hilltop Hoods as a skit on rap music, but I can understand that fans of the genuine US article might see them as such. The Aussie accents are a plus in my book.
There are as many different variations of rap as there are languages and accents.
Goldie Lookin’ Chain are a skit band. But none the worse for that…
And they are as sexy as Dua Lipa in their rugged Newport way. They know about life on the streets.
No, what I mean is that the skits (the ‘humorous’ or ‘gangsta’ little sketches in between the tracks) on rap albums in general are rubbish. I think we had a discussion about this a few weeks ago on one of the threads. Of course, the skits on Hilltop Hoods albums, or a 1200 Techniques album I have, are in Aussie accents and it completely throws me, cos when they are rapping they tend to assume American accents, in much the same way as 95% of rock singers from outside USA sing like they’re American.
Good point , Paul. I have only listened to them on the Tube so that has passed me by. I had never heard of 1200 Techniques who I read were the first Australian urban act to break through.
With all these international urban variations, what tends to happen is artists start in their teens copying their US idols and then find their own voice and their own subject matter.
Swedish artists Petter and Timbuktu are excellent examples of this,
Sorry about the language barrier! Hopefully you can understand that it is Petter’s mum driving him and his crew to their gig as she has done in many years. A touch of gentle humour that works very well.
Bangin’ enough for me. Roll Over Beethoven, there’s a new OAP in town!
https://www.npr.org/2020/03/02/809860805/bob-weir-and-wolf-bros-tiny-desk-concert?t=1583230989657&jwsource=cl
I enjoyed that Bob Weir set. Don Was on Bass!
Now there’s a man with a few bangers to his name…
And this! The lyrics are wonderful
Here’s another one
Angelica Garcia – Guadalupe
What an amazing, joyful, exuberant performer! I love it! Lovely rich voice, captivating visuals, and music that’ll reward repeat plays to explore the detail. A bit like a happy, Mexican American PJ Harvey. Thanks for posting this. Here’s more where that came from:
Standard modern computer generated/enhanced pop track. That is, of course, a bad thing. Not remotely for me.
Each to their own. Would I be right in thinking you’re more into Be Bop Deluxe?
Whatever gave you that idea…..?
Your posts – there seems to be a running theme.
As you don’t like this, or rap (from an earlier comment in this thread), I wondered what you do like. So I looked.
Mods – Stalker!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Can you send me a selfie – for my man cave?
Have you no Teutonic bangers to treat us to, Salwarpe?
And what about New Zealand, Black Celebration?
I do like the Babysitter Circus. But those kids probably don’t need sitters any more!!
I wasn’t aware it was compulsory, KFD. I don’t follow the German* popscene. The last song that really moved me was from over a decade ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1aSGRd0hg0
But, just to please you, I did a quick trawl of more modern German music and found this, which I like:
*or indeed any popscene
@kaisfatdad
I do apologise. I did intend to post something from world-famous-in-NZ chart toppers Six60 but I haven’t found anything worthy of the “banger” epithet so far.
They are a big act here and (for now) nowhere else. Massive sold out stadium gig here in Auckland (my 16 year old daughter went).
Thanks Black, Just read their biog. I see what you mean.
Here’s a song so that the rest of us can get an idea..
Yes to Dua Lipa.
My kids are now 11, 10 & 8 and so in the last 1-2 years pop music has reappeared in my life and it’s interesting to see how they interact and consume music. Dua Lipa is great, Ann-Marie, Ava Max, Sigrid, Ms Swift, and more. I’ve been to gigs by the latter two and they were fantastic. The youngest has inherited the Mojo-gene and likes modern pop but is also into Elton John and Billy Joel. Everything is new to him. He asked me recently if I’d heard a brilliant song he’d come across. It was Losing My Religion.
The new Lady Gaga is tops too.
Time to mention the new sensation sweeping the Western Isles: it’s Peatlemania, with album 2 just “dropped”
Gaga made me think of Janelle Monae, who knows how to put on a stupendous show, not to mention make a memorable video.
I can forgive you for all the bobbins you’ve posted on this thread just for this one track. She’s wrenched Prince’s mantle and taken his crown, hasn’t she?
Glorious!
Janelle is the real deal. And quite astonishing live.
If Cecil B De Mille had been a flamboyant, funky, Paisley Park lesbian, his films might have been something like this.
But hey, what’s all this about me posting bobbins? What heresy!
I really have enjoyed your comments about your likes and dislikes enormously.
Here is a New Rules playlist. It will keep me ut of mischief for a short while
It’s Cab Calloway, surely?
Hardly ‘wrenched’ from a dead man!
All right, then. Gently and lovingly eased off his shoulders.
And now some artists that are very popular on the Tube,I am going to leave them here quietly and then leg it.
Hopefully people will think they are DuCool’s suggestions
Krept and Konan
Ed Sheeran
Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee
Pharrell Williams
You’ve really made this thread your own, haven’t you? 😉
Shit! Me and my hijacking tendencies. A large truck, full of heavily.-armed AW Admins, has just rolled up outside my door to have a friendly chat. Looks like I have some explaining to do.
I did like Rosenstolz. The singer went to form this combo, Gleis 8, who sound rather promising.
You are what you are, KFD – a keen farrower of ditties.
AnNa R has a lovely voice, full of longing and barely-contained passion, but this is plodding, ponderous, Coldplay gubbins that doesn’t give her enough contrast. She needs the rhythms and layered melodies of Peter Plate to set her off to her best.
This was posted on the AW Facebook page and really deserves a mention here. Iceland’s Eurovision entry is a cracker!
Crikey! Is this ESC gem 12 years old?
Those magnificent Icelanders made all my Stockholm hipster pals think of this very groovy Finnish chap, Jaako Eino Kalevi. And very good he is too!
If Bowie had been Finnish, he might have sounded like this.
This lot were mentioned on a Facebook post the other day. Young guitar band that seem to be having some success in their native Manchester.
Narrow Margin: Oxford Street
The alter ego of guitarist Shirley Tetteh is Nardeydey.
Ok, Sal. Do you want to know what the Swedish suburban kids are listening to?
I did some rapid research here and this is what was suggested.
The iconography is very similar. Cash, weapons and expensive care.
Easy to understand why this track goes down well with the suburban kids.
No. No, I don’t. I could care less about what they are listening to, but not much to be honest.
The Awave rapper has a melodic voice, I’ll say that much, but even when I was a teenager, the associated bravado of all three would never have impressed me.
This fabulous track by Jessie Ware got posted on the AW Facebook page in honour of International Women Day…
Wonderful!
I think it’s just you and me left, KFD. So here’s a little puzzle that’s been teasing me since I started browsing Dua Lipa videos. I soon came across this one – a duet with St Vincent:
Interesting, I thought. That reminds me of another duet between two women that I’ve recently seen – also clad in revealing black clothing and making provocative moves. But I couldn’t remember who it was. I knew it was someone leftfield, but I found no way of successfully googling it. Was it Amanda Palmer, Jessie J, Katy Perry – you name it, I tried to google it. In the end it just appeared in my YouTube suggestion list.
–
Drumroll
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It’s only Christine and the Queens with Charli XCX:
The question is – how do they compare? Which is the better performance – which do you prefer and why? #Kaisfatdad
Now that was a very difficult question! I’m a big fan of St Vincent and Christine and both are superb here.
At a pinch I will choose Gone because I think it would be more of a floorfiller , But Dua and Vince give it some some serious welly
Is this a new sub-genre of pop? Seductive, sexy, Sapphic duets where the girls are not only flirting madly with the audience but also making it very clear that they fancy each other to bits?
Here is another example.
I feel a right Charlie!
After all that slinky sensuality, I need a banger that is slightly more down to earth.
While I think about that, you can enjoy this.
Daði Daði Cool!
I didn’t want to, but I did quite enjoy that. What I mean is – I wouldn’t choose to listen to that, or their Eurovision song, as their style is a bit dull and relentless, and his voice is rather flat. But the humour and sincerity do rather grab a hold and make me pleased for them that they are getting recognition for the muted joy they bring to the world.
Now let me get back to the full throttle expressive sounds of Dua Lipa.
I’m listening to Dua Lipa most mornings to wake me up and give me a bit of a energy boost with the hooks, soaring vocals and fat bass lines – which this does superbly.
It’s only after the nth time of listening that I really watched it and realized how clever it is at subverting the male gaze. Completely changed how I experienced the narrative of the video.
She scarcely takes her eyes off the camera.
Charismatic to the max.
Yeah, but those eyes are telling you that the song is directed at you, the viewer. Are you feeling accused yet, @Kaisfatdad?
Thanks for starting a thread in my honour, btw. I guess I will just have to wear the label of lech you have given me. It’s not a narrative I’m particularly interested in, but you run with it, if you want.
Label of Lech? Aren’t they a metal band?
I’m very sorry if I made you feel labelled @Salwarpe. Not at all my intention. I was laughing at my own rather excited reaction to the clips.
St Vincent and Christine are totally out lesbians which probably coloured my reaction. Modern pop music seems to be full of this kind of Girls just want to have fun with each other.
Being gay was something female artists used to keep rather quiet about. Not any more.
Thanks, KFD. Good of you.
Alorra Lorra choons here, but oddly no place for one of the poppermost feelgood singles of 2020 so far*:
(Caroline Rose – Feel The Way I Want)
(*even if the album is a bit of a let down..)
How have we neglected Mabel?
A stonking good tune that needs no Tigger Test. I think this tune may have been written about her!
Wonderful! Dua must be delighted to go to the dogs in this way.
Just a Dua update: the new album is a BLIMMIN’ POPTASTIC HUMDINGER!
As you were. Back to Dylan…
The one that uses the same sample as White Town’s “Your Woman” is particularly ace..
None of this cheek Mr Type. The Bobster has his finger firmly on the pulse and is singing songs about topics that are important to young people everywhere.
Eeeerm. He’s not really, is he?
Oh well,.Fair dos. He goes his own way.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Bob as much as the next guy but right now Dua is young, hip, hot (in every sense) and an absolute joy. Her album is the soundtrack to our isolation zeitgeist…or summat.
Because of this thread, I’ve bought the album!
Thanks, sal.
Pleased to hear it, Tig*
Well you be doing a review?
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*In both senses of the word. I haven’t listened to it yet.
If I can find the time.