T. Pop

Unable to leave a-pop alone, I've got another chunk for you to chew on. This time, we're snacking on Taiwan. New Yorker is a new pop band that just put out an album in 2007 called Make You Happy. The title track:



The lead singer, Mei, actually works at the music shop where I used to practice and take drum lessons. Pretty nice girl. Unfortunately, the album suffers a little from being too pop. I guess it's a so-so-ness in the songwriting. One thing that kind of sticks out is that the vocals tend to try to carry the music. It works on some tracks: "Let It Be" and "Make You Happy", but sort of falls flat for others: "Kiss Kiss" and "Oh! My God!"

But still, this is a decent album. Not really standard Taiwanese pop, but belonging more to a new kind of independent pop status. It's a little rough around the edges, but it's not bad. I'm looking forward to future albums.

New Yorker - Make You Happy
New Yorker - Let It Be

P. Amiyumi

How much music do you have to like from a certain genre in order to be considered a fan of that genre? What if it's only a couple artists? Can I still sign up? No? Oh well.

Anyway, while I may not be a big fan of the genre as a whole, the J-Pop group known as Puffy Amiyumi in the west (and simply "Puffy" here in Asia), is one of my favorite groups. In fact, after Jamiroquai, Puffy holds the most real estate on my CD shelf. I guess that has to do with three things, mainly: the largely US-based (at the time) P2P community that significantly hindered attempts to grab tracks for free, a trip to Taiwan in the summer of 2002 (blowing new taiwan dollars on CDs), and the wonder that is the SF Amoeba.

Puffy is Ami Onuki and Yumi Yoshimura. 2006 marks their 10th anniversary. Here in Taiwan, they've long since been marked with one-hit wonder status and relegated to a forgotten decade (the 90s). In its (Taiwan's collective subconscious) defense, it is pretty hard to keep track of all the Taiwanese, HK, Japanese, and Korean - Pop acts arriving and departing from the shelves of the local record stores. You'd have to be super oldschool (like Teresa Teng) or super white (Rod Stewart) to really have staying power.

The two thirty-something j-pop stars have been doing a pretty decent job of putting out music that's fresh and different from album to album. I guess it could be the clever shenanigans of some behind-the-scenes producer to breath new life into a Puffy that is loosing steam in their native Japan... But it's also cool to give the two women the benefit of the doubt and speculate that they are maturing and evolving as a group. The past couple albums (Nice from 2002, and the new Splurge) have done a nice job keeping off the saccharine synth/midi drum loops in favor of some tasty guitars and drumkit. And while the 2004 album, 59, slipped under my radar, I'll be getting that soon.

Off of Splurge:
"Tokyo I'm On My Way" (music and words by Dexter Holland of The Offspring)
"Basket Case" (the bonus track on the asian release of the album is this Green Day cover)

Akin to Searching for the Holy Grail

What is the greatest pop song ever written? Today, I try to tackle this question by first providing a context which supports the answer I've already come up with while I was driving home from work earlier today.

Pop music, in the broadest sense of the phrase, was born in the 1950's as a way for teenagers to differentiate themselves from their blues- and jazz-lovin' parents, but not from each other, mind you, because that would make them outcasts, and thus, prone to ridicule and ostracization from their peers. Today, pop encompasses pretty much everything you hear on the top 40, soft rock, alternative/hard rock, R&B, oldies, and hip hop radio stations, among others I may have forgotten. Let's just say that if one is cashing checks from Sony Music and/or have shot a music video, then homey's pop.

So how does one separate the weak from the strong? A decent pop song usually includes the following components:

1. A catchy hook that more or less identifies the song. Think the opening riff to "Seven Nation Army," or Master P slurring, "Uhh... na-na na-na."
2. Lyrical content including one of the following:
• Summer loving, in which the artist had a blast.
• Sunshine, lollipops, or anything else of equal value in asininity.
• Any other kind of love that probably didn't fare as well because it took place during a less loving time of the year.
3. Most importantly, the best songs are timeless and relatable for the listener. Take it for what it's worth.

There have been a lot of "greatest" lists lately, many of which with diluted criteria, including some world-changing requisite or letting Q Magazine's retarded readers determine the results. How is this any different? The fact that I'm writing independently and for limited readership allows me to make wilder claims with much less liability. So without further ado, the epitome of the last 50 years:

Big Star - Thirteen

Every element of the song is stripped and so simple that it's impossible not to relate to the innocence of teenage love. The Ronettes' "Be My Baby" came really close, but the Big Star line, "Would you be an outlaw for my love?" just blows it out of the water every time. Sorry, ladies.

Some good cover versions:
Garbage - Thirteen
Elliott Smith - Thirteen

And just to prove that I did put some thought into this thing, here are some other songs I considered:
Beach Boys - God Only Knows
The Beatles - In My Life
Michael Jackson - Billie Jean
The Turtles - So Happy Together
... and a few others. I should really write these things down.

"I, Like, Cry, When I Listen to It, It's So Good."

That quote, of course, comes from the ubiquitous entity you and I know as Paris Hilton, regarding her own CD, which was released about three weeks ago.

Mayhaps you've also heard of the great prank pulled in record stores throughout the UK. It's now confirmed that the guy who did the mix on the fake CD is none other than Danger Mouse, of Gnarls Barkley, Gorillaz & Grey Album fame. Word is, fake CD's are going for bank on eBay as a collector's item. While I couldn't get my hands on one of the doctored CD's, I can offer the following, in addition to the photo set linked above, to help you make your own bootleg of a bootleg:

1. A video of the prank, for instructional purposes:


2. The Danger Mouse mix, upon request, to burn onto CD yourself (sorry, it's too big to upload directly)

3. And finally, the motivation. While I don't deny that Paris' first single, "Stars Are Blind," is a nice, catchy pop tune, I do have beef with the degree to which she plays off its originality. She totally ripped off the beat from Blondie's "The Tide is High," and that part when she sings, "Why shouldn't we be with the one we really love?" is just an amped up version of Debbie Harry beginning, "I'm not the kind of girl..." Listen to the songs! Tell me I'm wrong!

Exhibit A - Paris' song.

Exhibit B - Blondie's song.