radio

安室奈美恵 (Namie Amuro) – 「Golden Touch」

This is a must-see – and must interact with – music video! Just press play and get ready for fun.

(Word to the wise: if you’re viewing this on the YouTube iPhone app, tapping might pause your video. That’s okay – just pantomime it without touching your screen.)

I’m thoroughly impressed by the style, whimsy and insane level of creativity in this video. In the past thirty-ish years, there have been many innovative music videos, but I’m just going to say it: this is the most original and modern music video since Peter Gabriel’s iconic “Sledgehammer” music video.

“Golden Touch” matches the unpredictability of “Sledgehammer”, but is a good deal less unsettling. (Am I the only one who was scared by that video as a child?)

If there’s an award for excellence in music videos (do the MTV Music Video Awards still count?), this should win, hands down. It handily beats – need I say it again? – “Bad Blood”.

I’m no J-Pop expert, but it’s hard not to notice Japanese pop music’s obsession with youth (or at least novelty) is stronger than in the U.S., where thirty, forty and even fifty-something artists on the pop charts are hardly a rarity.

In spite of Japanese pop music’s insatiable thirst for newness, Amuro’s career has spanned twenty years.

Of course, the fact that she doesn't look nearly 37 doesn't hurt.

The fact that she doesn’t look nearly 37 doesn’t hurt.

But it’s also easy to hear why Queen Namie is still on top. With its dance-pop beat and bright-and-shiny synth hook, “Golden Touch” is the perfect soundtrack to the magic happening in its music video.

Namie Amuro’s new album, _genic, is set for release on June 10th. _genic is described as having 80s dance and 90s R&B influences, but the teaser tracks available on the album’s official website seem totally modern and radio-ready. The teaser music videos suggest themes of high fashion, the art of photography and dance, dance, dance.

Try the teaser for “Stranger” on for size:

The people behind _genic are a worldwide who’s who of songwriters and producers: Zedd (Russia/Germany), David Guetta (France), Diplo (U.S.), Hook N Sling (Australia), Erik Lidbom (Sweden), Joacim “TWIN” Persson (Sweden) and SeventyEight (Sweden again) and SOPHIE (UK).

As a bonus for all of you reading this page in English (as opposed to through Google Translate) the lyrics of the songs on this album seem to be about half in English, half in Japanese.

You know, maybe Namie’s taken a page out of the Robyn playbook. Like Namie, Robyn was a pop star in the 90s – you probably remember “Show Me Love” or “Do You Know (What It Takes)”. You may not have realized they were different songs until now.

Then, at least in the U.S., Robyn disappeared in a sea of blonde pop stars…

…Only to re-emerge, years later, as THIS:

BOOM! Girlfriend totally came into her own. It ruled, she ruled and she continues to rule.

Somehow I can’t see Namie wearing Robyn’s dance outfit, but I get the feeling that like Robyn, she’s blazing her own trail and loving it, and listeners are going to love it too.

11324951_1446051999043454_365946151_n

Bottom line: Namie Amuro’s “Golden Touch” will make you want to press that button, and then press the “repeat” button.

Want some more?

Galantis – Peanut Butter Jelly

Just kidding. It’s not THAT “Peanut Butter Jelly” song. 😉

Last Sunday, I caught the premiere of Taylor Swift’s new video for “Bad Blood (feat. Kendrick Lamar)“. I dig T-Swizzle and dig K-dot even harder, and actually think the remix is an improvement on the original. But that video…

Yes, it’s stylish, action-packed, chock full of cameos and even features Taylor as a redhead, but somehow…meh. It strikes me as the sort of video that was a lot more fun to make than it is to watch.

Then, this morning, I had a horrifying thought…what if “Bad Blood” becomes the song of the summer?

NO. This cannot be. And it’s not too late to change it!

Without further ado, I’d like to nominate my candidate for song of the summer:

“Peanut Butter Jelly”.

As you listen to the joyous, melodic stylings of Sweden’s own Galantis, comprised of Christian “Bloodshy” Karlsson of Miike Snow and Bloodshy & Avant and Linus Eklöw, a.k.a. Style of Eye, allow me to explain.

The song of the summer should be upbeat, happy, and lighthearted. The most recent examples are Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy” (Summer 2014), a fun little slice of braggadocio with a Clueless-themed video, Robin Thicke’s flirty-verging-on-seductive “Blurred Lines” (2013), Carly Rae Jepsen’s irresistibly peppy puppy love song “Call Me Maybe” (2012) and LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem”, which is, well, THE party anthem. The list goes on.

I bet you recall most of these tunes fondly, even if you got totally sick of them at the time. They were the soundtrack to your summertime fun. Driving around with all the windows down, lounging at the shore, laughing with your friends in your shorts and flip-flops, maybe with a summery cocktail in hand…these songs are just right for these occasions.

Imagine, if you will, any of the above scenarios. Feel that fresh air and sunshine on your face, the aroma of fresh-cut grass, the ocean, or the lively scent of summer in the city. Oh yes, a whole season that’s a holiday is here, and the good times have arrived!

AND BABY NOW WE’VE GOT BAAAAAD BLOOD. YOU KNOW IT USED TO BE MAAAAAD LOVE. SO TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT YOU’VE DOOOONE.

How+About+No

Yeah, just no, amirite?

Now this song. THIS SONG.

Galantis_PBJ_scvisual_041315

From those first crazy little electro sounds at second ONE, it grabs you. The lyrics make no sense other than being maybe vaguely suggestive (although the song would not be inappropriate at a five-year-old’s birthday party), but they’re so much FUN! Mostly, it’s that house beat and those retro string samples that won’t quit, and don’t quit, the entire way through.

Stereogum tells me that the guys who make up Galantis are the masterminds behind Icona Pop’s “I Love It’ (which would have been a better SotS 2014 if it didn’t peak so early, imo) and Britney’s “Toxic”. This song has the same bright, shimmery, energetic vibe.

A song called “Peanut Butter Jelly” pretty much has to be quirky, and it is. I wonder if it’ll be too quirky for pop radio, but fervently hope that it’ll be that oddball track that catches on bigtime, like Lorde’s “Royals” or Foster the People’s “Pumped Up Kicks”.

You can sing along to it after one listen. It’ll make you smile, and it’ll make you dance. It’s even got one of those air horns. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s got what it takes to be song of the summer! Let’s make it happen!

IT’S PEANUT BUTTER JELLY TIME!!!!

Bottom line: “Peanut Butter Jelly” will make you want to spread your peanut butter jelly all over the dance floor this summer. Whatever that means.

(Who Is) Fancy – Goodbye

It’s a completely novel concept.  A new artist comes onto the popular music scene, but nobody knows for sure who he* is.  In the age of smartphones, social media and internet sleuths, it’s nothing short of impressive that he’s managed to pull it off.

Who Is Fancy (or just Fancy) came seemingly out of nowhere a few months ago.  The buzz is that he’s co-signed by music talent impresario Scooter Braun and Scott Borchetta, best known for discovering a young female singer you may have heard of, Ms. Taylor Swift.

The song “Goodbye” is heartfelt and honest, with a compelling beat, flawless vocals and just the right amount of unique lyrics to keep it interesting.  Fancy just might be the voice pop radio needs right now.

There was a bit of speculation that Fancy might not be a completely new presence on the music scene, but perhaps a side project of an existing popular artist.  At times, his voice sounds a little like Adam Levine of Maroon 5 or Ne-Yo, but not enough to convince me that he’s an existing star’s alter ego.

In February, Fancy released not one but THREE music videos for “Goodbye”. Each follows the same sequence of events, but with different actors in the lead role and different twists.  Let’s take a look:

I love her attitude.  She’s rocking the bun and gray hoodie.  Fancy, whoever he may be, sings with the amount of feeling she shows on her face while lip-syncing.  I could almost believe she’s the real Who Is Fancy.  And she does look pretty fancy by the end of the video.  Hmmm… 🙂

I watched this one next:

At the outset, I thought, “okay, now they’re doing the same video with a slim, conventionally attractive woman.”  Not so simple!  I like how they play with gender in this version.  Yes indeed, beauty and sass come in all shapes, sizes and genders.  The change from edgy urban beauty queen to male country star by the end is amazing!

Lastly:

This one could catch you thinking, “maybe this one is the real Fancy!”  He’s arguably the most convincing lip-syncer of the three, for one.  He comes in looking like Justin Bieber, tattoos and all, but by the end of the video, he’s Bruno Mars‘ style twin.

These videos clearly present themes of image and transformation.  The fact that there are three different videos with different “singers” shows image’s mutability, and in doing so, suggests that maybe image isn’t so important.  It is, after all, the same song, no matter who’s singing it.

But who is Fancy?  As of the date of this post, only a handful of people know for sure.  In this exclusive exposé below, ten insiders reveal important details about Fancy, such as:

  • “I thought it was really good.  No bad words in [his song]!”
  • “Without a whole band and only playing the guitar, it sounded like, really big to me for some reason!”
  • “He has fancy pants.”
  • “I thought he looked like Adam Levine!”

Here’s their assessment:

Supposedly, Who Is Fancy will be revealed on the Tonight Show on April 7th! But if you would like to see a possible spoiler, check out Time Magazine’s investigation.

Personally, I’ll be tickled if the performance adds more mystery than it dispels.  Fancy’s anonymity may be a gimmick, but this day and age, I rather like it.

 

Want more Fancy?  

Official web page (apparently, something is happening in a few days!)

Interview with the Elvis Duran Show (4/2/2015)

Twitter

*For now, I’m proceeding on the assumption that Fancy is male, judging by his vocals alone.  Of course, the videos above hint at other possibilities, and I suppose it’s possible that Fancy could be a Tracy Chapman, Alison Moyet or Marla Glen kind of singer!

Years & Years – King

After hearing just a snippet of “Kings,” I took a chance on Years & Years’ Y & Y EP.  And it was worth so, so much more than $3 and change.

If Years & Years was a perfume, I’d describe it as a heady electropop scent with notes of R&B, soul and 90s house music.  And I’d wear it all the damn time.

Come for the trio’s unique danceable but never dumb electropop sound, stay for lead singer Olly Alexander’s soulful, heartfelt vocals, which at times make me wonder if he’s the second coming of Michael Jackson.

Though there’s not a dud on the EP, “Kings” is the standout candidate for first single.

Recently, I contemplated if this track was too “weird” on make it to American pop radio, since mainstream U.S. radio can be very restricting of anything that sounds even a little different.  Or could it rise to the top like other oddball singles of recent years, such as Foster the People’s “Pumped Up Kicks” or Lorde’s “Royals”?

Out of curiosity, I checked the UK charts, which tend to celebrate the fresh, new and unusual.  Sure enough, number one!

Years & Years are causing quite a stir in their native England.  Most recently, they topped the BBC Music Sound of 2015 poll, which has previously been awarded to such international household names as Ellie Goulding, Sam Smith, Adele and Jessie J.

And if the fact that they’re basically the audio equivalent of salted caramel ice cream wasn’t enough, Years & Years are easy on the eyes, too.  In the first few seconds of the video above, I had a bit of a Maroon 5 “She Will Be Loved” experience, in that I wondered, “is that actually the singer, or an actor?”

As it turns out, the answer is yes, and yes – Olly Alexander is an actor, having appeared in “Skins” as well as other TV series and movies.  Mr. Alexander says he “fell into” acting, yet I find myself baffled by how one becomes an actor when he sings that well.

Let’s talk choreography for a moment!  The video above was choreographed by the talented Ryan Heffington, who is best known for a video you’ve definitely seen (and if not, it’s worth the click): Sia’s “Chandelier”!

In their own words, Years & Years said of this video, “As a band we’ve always wanted to use choreography in a video – something that was a bit more unusual and I knew Ryan would be the guy to work with. The initial idea came from the meaning of the song, feeling controlled by somebody and wanting them to let you go.”  That idea comes across in a strange, beautiful and definitely memorable way.

On a final note, I must recommend the EP’s final song “Memo”, a stunning, gorgeous little shard of heartbreak.  Just listen to it.  But consider having a person or pet on hand to give you a hug afterwards.

My verdict: Years & Years are going to be around for just that long, and their star is only going to rise.

Craving more Years & Years?

Mark Ronson – Uptown Funk (ft. Bruno Mars)

It’s Thanksgiving weekend here in the U.S., and I am thankful for FUNK!

From the moment I heard this song on November 17th on Z100 (New York’s #1 hit music station) I was hooked!

I’ve loved Bruno Mars since It’s Better If You Don’t Understand, and his halftime show at the last Super Bowl rocketed him right into the top 5 artists I most want to see in concert.

For my non-U.S. readers: the Super Bowl is like the World Cup of American football.  In the middle of every game (“halftime”), a superstar musician performs (recent examples include Madonna and Beyonce).  It’s a really big deal to be asked to do the halftime show, and the performers usually bring exciting surprise guests, such as Madonna’s collaborators on the underrated “Gimme All Your Luvin’” and a reunited Destiny’s Child.

Now please don’t ask me to explain American football.

But seriously, if you’re not convinced that Bruno is an absolute rock star, I’m giving you one more chance to click that link.  What a talent.  What a performer!

And then there’s Mark Ronson.  Superstar DJ/guitarist/producer and pretty much the rule of cool.  If think you don’t know him, I must politely insist that you do – you’ve likely heard “Valerie” (with Amy Winehouse),”Oh My God” (with Lily Allen) and/or “Stop Me” with Daniel Merriweather.  Also, just look at this f*#$ing discography – it’s like a who’s who list of incredible artists of the past decade!

Mark Ronson has a history of collaborating with Bruno Mars, including producing his 2012 Unorthdox Jukebox, which won the Best Pop Vocal Album Grammy in 2012.

This video.  My god, are they the funkiest bunch of dudes ever.  That style.  That swagger.  Those moves!  They absolutely nail it.

Watch them kill it live on SNL last week:

All indications so far are that Mark Ronson’s upcoming album will be chock full of funkiness.  If you’re digging this, don’t miss “Feel Right” with Mystikal and “Daffodils” featuring Kevin Parker of Tame Impala.

If you like this, and want more of this “funk” stuff, whatever it is – start here!

I for one certainly have no desire to stick anything in Bruno’s got-damn esophagus.

Naeto C – 5 & 6

I was never one for love ballads. Not a Celine Dion fan. “I Will Always Love You” is a lovely song, masterfully sung, but not one I’d put on my iPod. Nor do I adore Madonna’s ballads, or any boy band hits you can’t dance to. You get the picture.

Give me the classics – Etta James’ “At Last”, Nina Simone’s “I Got It Bad”, or even some Jackson 5.

But I digress.

“5 & 6”, performed by Nigerian artist Naeto C, is a re-creation of the romantic ballad. It’s “Eternal Flame” made as danceable and happy as “Walk Like an Egyptian”. It captures plenty of African flavor, but sounds as modern as anything you’d hear on Top 40 radio today. It’s thoroughly romantic, but you wouldn’t hesitate for a moment to dance to it.

I wish I knew the meaning of the non-English lyrics – they sound beautiful, and add flair to a song already resplendent with energy and happiness.

A confession: this song has me, the polar opposite of a girl who sighs at the sight of a bridal magazine, fantasizing about dancing to it at my wedding reception.

You’ll dance and daydream to this one.

Check Naeto C out on: facebook    twitter   myspace    truspot    last.fm

Carly Rae Jepsen – Call Me Maybe

I refuse to post this video. Nope. I’ve definitely been rockin’ out (“poppin’ out” just doesn’t sound right) to this track for a few months now. But I have no way of proving it, so one would probably assume I heard about it from the Biebs. Dammit. Should have posted weeks ago.

For those unfamiliar with Canada’s airwaves, Canadian radio has these content requirements that require stations to play a certain percentage of music from Canadian artists. (Lots of other countries have these requirements, but because U.S.-originating music is so dominant worldwide, the U.S. does not.) One might imagine that these requirements could allow otherwise subpar music to get airplay. Surely, this is true sometimes, though I can’t think of a good example off the top of my head. But it offers Canadian artists a greater opportunity for exposure in their country – and sometimes, even across the border.

“Call Me Maybe” could be easily dismissed as one of those songs, but I think it deserves to do some traveling abroad. As Bieber and friends demonstrate, it’s a fun little song, good for dancing around one’s apartment and such.

I also love that Ms. Jepsen is bringing being ghostly pale back; on the single cover, her white socks practically blend into her legs.

The lyrical content is a bit bubblegum – throwing wishes in a well and the like – not to mention contradictory  (really, you weren’t looking for this? But you just said you’d trade your soul for a wish, pennies and dimes for a kiss!). Yet I’m in love with the shy, blushing hesitation implied by the word “maybe”. I know that feel, Carly Rae. Of course, I’m assuming it’s more than just a placeholder word used to rhyme with “baby”. But another line in the chorus supports my interpretation: “It’s hard to look right at you baby”. Yeah Carly, I get you.

Oh, and Ms. Jepsen’s an alumna of Canadian Idol! I don’t know a face on that panel, but I think they’re right on the money about her! Girl’s got potential. Watch out.

Rihanna (feat. Calvin Harris) – We Found Love

As a regular reader of international charts, I know that global hits usually take a while to spread.  They’ll catch on more quickly in some countries than others, and, of course, some countries don’t catch them at all.  Foster the People’s “Pumped Up Kicks” comes to mind – this song, a longtime indie darling, not long ago broke onto the U.S. mainstream charts, and is in the iTunes top 10 of 19 – count ’em, 19 – countries.  In any event, this took place over the course of months.

Not so with this track.  A couple weeks ago, it seemingly appeared out of nowhere, toward the top of not one but several charts.

My first thought was, brilliant!  European listeners have known and loved Calvin Harris since 2009, but he hasn’t made it across the vast expanse of the Atlantic ocean, musically speaking.  But add Rihanna, and voila!  Instant airplay.  It’s almost too easy!

Since the U.S. seems to be cautiously embracing a bit of European-style house/dance music – see the recent success of Alexandra Stan’s “Mr. Saxobeat”, Afrojack feat. Eva Simons’ “Take Over Control” and, well, basically David Guetta’s whole album – the time seems ripe for Calvin Harris to enter the U.S. music scene.  But some critics haven’t known quite what to make of this song: Rolling Stone opined, “It’s the worst single of Rihanna’s career. It will probably top the Hot 100 anyway.”  NME stated, “Instead of re-inventing the pop wheel . . . this has a whiff of treading-water about it”  Grantland described it as “a straight-up techno-as-all-hell Euro-pop song”.  And Popjustice said only, “It sounds exactly like you’d expect a Rihanna and Calvin Harris song to sound.”

Perhaps there’s a grain of truth to all the reviews, divergent as they are.  But I can’t help but think that those puzzled over the song’s simple lyrics, repetition and/or structure are overlooking the fact that it’s not a freaking pop song.  Although one could argue that today, pop and dance music are mingling to the point that they’ve become interwoven (“I Wanna Go”, anyone?), I think that “We Found Love” is best understood as a dance song.

Put it this way: upon first listen, I was under the mistaken impression that was a Calvin Harris track featuring Rihanna, as opposed to the other way around.  If you like “We Found Love”, I wouldn’t put my money on that you’d love the rest of Rihanna’s catalogue – that you’d enjoy other Calvin Harris tracks seems a safer bet.

That said, Rihanna’s vocals are lovely – she ably sings in a higher range (total 180 from “Cheers (I’ll Drink to That)”).  Unlike singers on some dance/house tracks, Rihanna totally avoids blending into the background; not only does she sing prettily, but her voice is imbued with personality.

I’ve got to admit: the first time I heard this song, I kind of got swept up in the romance of those seven little words: “we found love in a hopeless place”.  Ah!  Isn’t that just every love story?  It’s Wuthering Heights!  It’s Gone With the Wind!  Heck, it’s even Twilight!  But this is only part of why the lyrics are genius.

I wondered what finding love in a hopeless place might look like.  It might be finding the love of one’s life in a seedy bar.  It might be high school sweethearts bound for geographically distant colleges.  It might be living in poverty in a run-down part of town, yet finding something so special that makes your world look like it’s lit up by the bright lights of Times Square.

But the “hopeless place” might be more universal; it could apply to any two (or more) people in love.  We are each different people from different circumstances and different places, with different obligations and different goals.  As such, loving anyone could seem “hopeless”.  Maybe that’s what makes love such a one-in-a-million, magical thing.  It’s like if a beautiful butterfly were to land on your hand – a completely unlikely and unexpected occurrence.  You’d stop what you were doing and stay still.  You wouldn’t shoo it away.

Upon further listening, I considered a second interpretation, one with the emphasis on “hopeless”.  Perhaps “We Found Love” is about a relationship in which the “place” the couple is in, geographically or metaphorically, prevents things from working out.  Somewhere like, say, Hollywood, where the media hounds you and cameras flash at you constantly, where someone wants a piece of you virtually every minute of every day, and it’s not unheard of to get caught up it all.  For example.  And perhaps these seven words are actually about the quiet tragedy of lost love coupled with knowledge that in a different place, this just might have worked out.  Someone wise once said, the saddest phrase in existence must be “if only”.

The verses, full of pretty imagery – yellow diamonds in the light, shadows crossing – don’t give much of a clue as to the song’s meaning.  Remember how I said before that the lyrics were genius?  This is exactly why: you can interpret the song either way.  It’s a bright light illuminating a dark place, and it’s a light being extinguished by shadows.  And who among us cannot relate to either of those?  At any given time, who wouldn’t want to listen to either Etta James’ “At Last” or “Love Stinks” by J. Geils Band (in substance, not style)?  It’s universal.

But don’t get me wrong; “We Found Love” isn’t going to change the world, much less the face of popular music.  A week from now, overplay might make me cringe at its first chord.  But right now, I’m getting a huge kick out of watching this electro-dance-pop collaboration go global.

MIKA – Elle Me Dit

Mika is back, this time en français!

I’ve loved Mika dearly since his 2007 hit “Grace Kelly“, still a staple on every “happy” or “upbeat” themed playlist I have.   The album on which that song appears, Life in Cartoon Motion, also contains the infectious “Love Today“, the is-it-or-isn’t-it-a-double-entendre “Lollipop“, the tale of “Billy Brown“, the gorgeous “Any Other World” and, of course, his ode to curvaceous ladies, “Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)“.

And we didn’t have to wait long for Mika’s return – in 2009, “We Are Golden” made clear that this man and his joyful songs were here to stay, and were only getting better.  No sophomore slump for this guy; just about every track on The Boy Who Knew Too Much left an indelible impression on me, most notably “I See You“, “By the Time” (featuring the lovely Imogen Heap), “Blame it on the Girls“, “Blue Eyes” and “Toy Boy“.

I knew of Mika’s bilingual abilities, and figured it was only a matter of time until he released some French language songs.  Here in the U.S. of A., non-English songs tend to chart lower or not at all compared to songs in English.  Shakira figured that one out.  Heck, even an accent can hurt one’s chances of topping the charts (that’s the only reason I can come up with for why “Pass Out” didn’t chart in the U.S., which I’m still mad about).  Of course, you have your exceptions – Romanian novelty hit “Dragostea din Tei” comes to mind, and more recently, “We No Speak Americano” by Australian pop duo Yolanda Be Cool, which samples an Italian song.

While Mika may not fit neatly into the narrow constraints of U.S. pop radio, his new single is absolutely worth a listen.

In fact, “Elle Me Dit” prompted my move back to Grooveshark; I lost patience with waiting for this song to come to Spotify.  It’s on Grooveshark.  Spotify: so much more organized, such a better interface.  Grooveshark: such better selection.  Moving on…

“Elle Me Dit” is, in a word, joyful.  If you’re like me and ne parlent pas français, you may not be able to sing along immediately, but Mika’s characteristic playfulness, which is all over this song, more than makes up for it.  And dancing around your bedroom like a kid from Yo! Gabba Gabba knows no language.

Google Translate tells me that “Elle Me Dit” means “she said to me” or “she told me”.

And here are the lyrics (from lyricsnotes.com) alongside their English translation (in 3 JPG images)!  Check it out!

     

So, that was pretty much a long way to go about saying that the song has a great theme as well – receiving some carpe diem-ish life advice from an older female figure, perhaps a mother or grandmother.

I’ll take this moment to descendre de l’Internet, as per the wise woman’s advice.  Then I may just play this song and danse danse danse.

It’s Our Birthday!

(Actually, I’m a few days late – fortunately, blogs don’t take offense at such things.)

In the past year, we’ve gone to six continents and through many genres of new international music.  Our goal here at Tuneiverse has always been to expose readers to songs that, while awesome, don’t always travel much outside their country, region or continent of origin.  Given our track record so far, we like to think we’ve succeeded.

But no!  We will not rest on our laurels!  We are succeedING.  There, that’s better.

It probably all started when I was a kid, and my local radio station of choice aired a music program from England late on Sunday nights.  After stumbling upon it, I quickly made it a habit to diligently stay awake to listen.  That’s how I came to realize that a lot of great music didn’t make it over to the U.S. airwaves.

Definitely had this clock-radio.

Probably not long after the rise of Napster – ah, those days when I’d leave my computer on overnight in hopes that I’d wake up to find that my thirty or so songs had downloaded via my 28.8k modem – I began following international charts online.  Some years later, I was following personal charts, radio stations, blogs, you name it.

At the ripe old age of twenty-something, I came to the realization that though many fantastic, widely read music blogs had popped up like mushrooms, there still wasn’t a one-stop shop for my music needs and wants.  There were charts, but there wasn’t even a blog that focused on contemporary music from all over the world.  Sure, this made music-hunting harder, but it never felt like a chore – even when I tried to navigate foreign-language websites using free translation services.

Then it occurred to me: I could create a blog like that.

Coming up with a name proved to be the most difficult part; that probably delayed the creation of this blog for a couple months.  I was in no rush, so I decided I’d let it come to me; you can’t always force inspiration.

Just think: in a generation or two, kids won't know what this is.

Then, it came to me.  And here we are!

That’s enough ramblin’ out of me for now.  Onto the music!

As some of you may know, I’m based out of New York City, and we’re expecting a lil’ hurricane this evening.  So, I’ve got a little something special prepared.  Stay tuned!