Tuesday, October 28, 2003
For your listening pleasure, new downloads, a couple days later than usual. My mind's going pop, pop, pop, pop this week...
Believe it or not, one of the year's best pure pop singles has been made by an ex-Spice Girl - in this case, Emma Bunton, the artist formerly known as Baby Spice. Currently without a record deal anywhere, her manager started his own label for the express purpose of getting her music out in the market. Credited just to Emma, "Maybe" is a breezy, truly sunny delight, a spun-sugar confection utilizing bossa nova and some cleverly simple lyrics ("but now I definitely see/that maybe I'm in love"). This is what pop for adults (as opposed to, say, Hillary Duff for the kiddies) should sound like.
Sony didn't exactly go all-out on their reissues of the Michael Jackson catalog earlier this year (and who can blame them, really, considering Jacko's very ugly, very public feud with the hand feeding him), but they did grant us with at least one absolute diamond on the redone Thriller: it's a 1981 home demo version of "Billie Jean," and it's a revelation. An all-too-rare glimpse into the creative process, let alone from such a (former? then-?) giant as MJ, this is a very basic Casio-sounding synth-and-drum track topped by lyrics which were still in progress at the time - and that unmistakable, sterling, clarion call of a voice. Fascinating listening which further cements Michael as a genius in his own right (and for all his madness these days, let's not allow ourselves to forget his utter brilliance as a pop king).
Believe it or not, one of the year's best pure pop singles has been made by an ex-Spice Girl - in this case, Emma Bunton, the artist formerly known as Baby Spice. Currently without a record deal anywhere, her manager started his own label for the express purpose of getting her music out in the market. Credited just to Emma, "Maybe" is a breezy, truly sunny delight, a spun-sugar confection utilizing bossa nova and some cleverly simple lyrics ("but now I definitely see/that maybe I'm in love"). This is what pop for adults (as opposed to, say, Hillary Duff for the kiddies) should sound like.
Sony didn't exactly go all-out on their reissues of the Michael Jackson catalog earlier this year (and who can blame them, really, considering Jacko's very ugly, very public feud with the hand feeding him), but they did grant us with at least one absolute diamond on the redone Thriller: it's a 1981 home demo version of "Billie Jean," and it's a revelation. An all-too-rare glimpse into the creative process, let alone from such a (former? then-?) giant as MJ, this is a very basic Casio-sounding synth-and-drum track topped by lyrics which were still in progress at the time - and that unmistakable, sterling, clarion call of a voice. Fascinating listening which further cements Michael as a genius in his own right (and for all his madness these days, let's not allow ourselves to forget his utter brilliance as a pop king).
# posted by Thomas : 7:25 PM
