Jailer :: Asa

I'm rather surprised at how awesome some of the music is at Starbucks. Every once in a while, I catch myself jamming out to their playlist. And then the barista fucks up my shit when they ask for my order--"welcome to Starbucks, how can I help you today?" I mean, you can help me by letting me finish out my last step ball change, for real...

But in seriousness, I was pleasantly surprised a few weeks ago when Starbucks gave me Asa's "Jailer" as a promotional gift (yay recession!) The song has a really good political message, but it doesn't make me want to sob in the way that Tracy Chapman does.

Check out her live performance below or the offical music video:



Lyrics:
Am in chains you’re in chains too I wear uniforms, you wear uniforms too Am a prisoner, you’re a prisoner too Mr Jailer

I have fears you have fear too I will die, you sef go die too Life is beautiful don’t you think so too Mr Jailer

Am talking to you jailer Stop calling me a prisoner Let he who is without sin- Be the first to cast the stone Mr Jailer

You suppress all my strategy You oppress every part of me What you don’t know, you’re a victim too Mr Jailer

You don’t care about my point of view If I die another will work for you So you threat me like a modern slave Mr Jailer

You don’t care about my point of view If I die another will work for you So you threat me like a modern slave Mr Jailer

If you walking in a market place Don’t throw stones Even if you do you just might hit One of your own Life is not about your policies All the time So you better rearrange your Philosophies and be good to your fellow man jailer

I hear my baby say I wan be president I wan chop money From my government What he don’t know Be say Mr Jailer

Don't Know Why (You Stay) :: Essex Green

Essex Green is an indie-pop band based in Vermont. This song, "Don't Know Why (You Stay)" played on Pandora and caught my ear.

It's got catchy lyrics, some rhythmic syncopation, and I love the subtle harmony on the chorus. Happy Wednesday!

Jonté :: Bitch You Betta

AND GENDERFUCKING?

A friend sent me this song, and I immediately knew I had to blog about it. He needs no introduction, however. You know Jonté through his choreography in Beyonce's Freakum Dress.

The only accurate description I can give Jonté is fierce. There's all sorts of gender-transgressive work being done here in both dance and dress. His HX magazine interview in late March 09 described him and his choreography as unapologetically fem. Nigel Lythgoe, famed for his homophobic, transphobic, and sexist comments as a judge on So You Think You Can Dance, would explode if he ever saw Jonté's artistry.

Now after watching the music video 28 times, I realize there's nothing particularly spectacular about the song, or his vocal skills. Full disclosure: I haven't heard his other songs, but the excerpt of Candy Sweets on his Myspace page sounds promising.

What I love about it is the shameless genderfucking throughout the video. The only time he presents as male is in the 16 seconds at 1:00 through 1:16. That clip shows male dancers, wearing "dude clothes," moving in what is traditionally recognized as masculine dance. But even those precious 16 seconds is queered in the way he says:

back up cuz i'm black and i'll give your ass an attack bitch, you try and come on crack your face can make you look wack cuz you really up to that i am really cute in that i am in high heels you're in flats

I mean, yes, he really did just say, "I'm in high heels, you're in flats." And come on, he's in bright blue skinny jeans! My favorite example of his gender-transgressions is at 1:56, where he's donned a pink, nearly bottomless, 1-piece, thing (I don't even know how to describe it!), doing the infamous Beyonce booty-bounce, talking about how he's going to "make your pussy pop." At 1:56, he has two women in flower-print bathing suits drumming on Jonté's crotch, heralding an orgasmic (CGI) explosion.

What's interesting is that Jonte has appropriated this hyperbolically feminine gender expression, which is no barrier to his song and dance servicing the sexual needs of his female partners. To me, it reads as a clever critique of representations of girl-on-girl love. That despite the theatrics, costumes, and the flying cats, the final thing the clip cuts to is the orgasmic CGI explosion--marking sex as the focal point for your attention, not the caricatures of femininity and lesbian sexuality.

To some degree, however, I have to also believe that not all is queered. Jonté, in fact, protects part of his hetero or homo normative identity at 1:00 - 1:16 by presenting (in both dance and dress) masculinely. When he says, "back up cuz i'm black, and i'll give your ass an attack." I mean, butt sex? or is it vagina sex? With a nebulous audience, Jonté can enjoy an unidentifiable sexual identity, which demonstrates the limits to which he participates as a genderfucker. Secondly, his appropriation of feminine gender expressions can be read as an affront to female identities. But more importantly, in the pussy-pop clip, Jonté is still a male bodied individual providing sexual pleasure (i.e., "i'm gon' make yo pussy tickle") as opposed to approaching sex as a mutual experience.

And I've not even thought about how "bitch" is used in the song, or how Jonté is racialized in the video. Nonetheless, the song is fun even past its layers.

Caroline Smith and The Good Night Sleeps :: Closing the Doors

Caroline Smith and The Good Night Sleeps :: Closing the Doors

For those of you who enjoy good female vocal leads and instrumentals that make you wanna dance with someone, this is your group. I have been hearing Caroline Smith and The Good Night Sleeps on 89.3 The Current for quite sometime now, but I always confused them with the musical stylings of Ingrid Michaelson. However, this morning, I was paying attention and learned the real name of the group who has been signing a song I can't get out of my head as of late. I also learned that they're based in Minneapolis - which means I am so going to see them when they're next in town :)

Thus begins our summer music circuit. I hope you all enjoy this new group as much as I do!

Happy Thursday!
The end.
Love,
Meggo

The Major Lift :: Years

"The Major Lift" is purely instrumental track that just reeks of optimism. This song had me from the first brass fanfare. I'm a french horn player on a year long sabbatical, so I'm a complete sucker for a great brass line.

"Years" is a project by Ohad Benchetrit of Broken Social Scene and Do Make Say Think. I'm not sure the best way to describe the music. Words like orchestral-avant-indie-rock come to mind.

Here's "The Major Lift," the next embedded player down has all the tracks of the self-titled album "Years" in it.

Enjoy!!

The Major Lift - Years

Years

Animal Collective :: My Girls

Animal Collective :: My Girls

This isn't the first time we've blogged about Animal Collective, but it's been a while, so hopefully you'll enjoy this particular jam. I have heard this song a couple of times now on The Current, 89.3 and today it has brought me out of my blogging hiatus. This song is really great for a variety of reasons, which I will list now!

1. It is incredibly simple - from the repetitive lyrics (which only have 3 versus), to the uncomplicated melody, to the basic background beat, to the texturing of the background keyboards.

2. This video is weird and that is why I enjoy it, plain and simple :)

3. The genre of music they create has been labeled as "freak folk" and "noise pop".

4. Instead of saying "wife" or "husband", they say "spouse" and I like that. It also rhymes with "house", which is probably why they used it...or is it???

So, please enjoy this song - and add it to your list of summer jams '09!

The end.
Love,
Meggo
---

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Animal Collective :: My Girls

Is it much to admit I need
A solid soul and the blood I bleed
With a little girl, and by my spouse
I only want a proper house

I don't care for fancy things
Or to take part in a precious race
And children cry for the one who has
A real big heart and a father's grace

I don't mean to seem like I care about material things like a social status
I just want four walls and adobe slabs for my girls

Pretty Wings :: Maxwell

It's true, I'm a recent Maxwell convert, thanks in no small part to my dear colleague and friend, Paula-Raye. My god, this man just has the sweetest voice.

After an 8 year break, Maxwell dropped "Pretty Wings" in late April 2009 in preparation for his July 4th album release: BLACKsummer'snight (pre-Order here).

The song "sings"--if you will--for itself, telling the story of the purest form of innocent love in spite of life's reality. It's refreshing against today's pop, auto-tuned contrivances a la T-Pain. And even more so, the lyrics carry a narrative in the way only a neo-soul artist can tell. Maxwell reminds me of the time when talent mattered. Not to mention the fact that the music video was so well-done.

The man has me hooked. Hope you enjoy it!



Lyrics:
Time will bring the real end of our trial
One day there'll be no remnants
No trace no residual feelings within ya
one day you won't remember me

Your face will be the reason I smile
But I will not see what I can not have forever
I'll always love ya I hope u feel the same

Oh you played me dirty your game was so bad
You toyed with my affliction had to fill out my prescription
Found the remedy I had to set u free

Away from me
To see clearly the way that love can be
When you are not with me
I had to leave, I have to live
I had to lead, I had to live

Chorus
If I cant have you let love set you free
To fly your pretty wings around
pretty wings your pretty wings
your pretty wings your pretty wings around

I came wrong You were right
Transformed your love into a lie
Baby believe me I'm sorry I told you lies
I turned day into night
Sleepless, I died a thousand times
I should've chose you
Better nights Better times Better Days
I miss you more and more

Repeat Chorus

Pretty Wings Pretty Wings
Pretty Wings Pretty Wings
Pretty Wings Pretty Wings
Pretty Wings Pretty Wings