Stop in Pop
Björk
Björk is a strange pop star. She’s very mainstream, Iceland’s most succesful artist, very barbaric in her lyrics and ways of doing music, like some sort of exotic woodland creature, but also incredibly catchy. Facing the fact that her latest album, Vulnicura, was leaked early in January she decided to step right on it and release it without any publicity or previous preparation. She decided that it was best to “pull a Beyoncé”, probably the best new way of making album releases in the leak era; only downside is that also means that we will have to wait a bit for any amazing video to surface. The album is a chronological documentation of her distress while separating from artist Matthew Barney; and the heartache of losing love and breaking her family is captured in a very powerful way.
Venezuelan producer Alejandro Ghersi a.k.a. Arca and Bobby Krlic a.k.a. The Haxan Cloak contributed producing and mixing songs and the album, which also features goddess Antony in one song. Being a personal record and not a “conceptual” one, Vulnicura is the first Björk album that’s ment to be felt and not “experienced”; not only is her best and most inspired work in a long time, it also feels like a return to Homogenic or Vespertin; electronic and progressive like Homogenic and also subtle and romantic like Vespertin, two projects that were meant to be conceptual but also easy to digest. This is the Björk album we were all waiting for.
Mark Ronson
We could all agree that the funk revival of the post Random Access Memory era is a great thing. Bands like Chromeo, who’ve been doing it for longer than Daft Punk are riding the wave of mainstream exposure thanks to that, and at the end of the day funk is a great thing.
After the Bruno Mars collaboration last year for the song “Uptown Funk” Mark Ronson was immediately on my radar. Uptown Special is a tribute to old funk in a very fantastic way, and what surprised me the most was Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker bringing experimentation and psychedelia to Mark Ronson amazing ability to impress with unexpected collaborators.From hip hop to funk, Mark Ronson is one of the truly great pop acts that we’ll have in 2015.
Charli XCX
Since her EP debut with “Nuclear Season” Charli has been growing stronger making chart hit after chart hit. Her Sucker Album has been teasing songs since last year. She crowned The Fault In Out Stars soundtrack, she made a summer hit with Iggy Azalea but her sophomore album Sucker proves more than a fan girl album. It has a rebel rocker edge with incredible pop aesthetic. She worked alongside indie respectful artists like Rivers Cuomo (from Weezer) and Ariel Pink and the pop punk and 80’s rebel attitude of the record proves an improvement from her previous release.
Sucker sounds more focused and cohesive, I’m still on the fence to say that it can be a great album but one thing we could all agree is that it has some pretty catchy songs. In the same line of bands like Haim or Taylor Swift’s new album, these are the sort of sounds pop music should be gravitating towards, and that’s fantastic.
Amason
Amason is a blend between Belleand Sebastian, Jenny Lewis and even a little bit of Mr. Twin Sister. The Swedish band’s debut album is called Sky City and it’s one of those incredibly sunny, positive, happy albums with just the right amount of mature instrumentation. Not boring as “adult” pop, but warm enough to be transcendental.
Pop Zeus & Wyatt Blair
On December 18 Michael Hodges a.k.a. Pop Zeus died on a motorcycle accident in downtown L.A., he was 29.
By the time of his death he was working in a group of power pop songs that sound straight out of the 70’s pop scene, very lo-fi recordings with great guitars and amazingly good vibes. Pop Zeus just had one album and one EP out and this is the first showcase of what he was working on. It’s a real shame to lose an artist just when he was starting to accomplish great things but, just like the song “I’ve never been more alive”. Godspeed Mikey!
Belle and Sebastian
If you’re a regular reader or you know me then I don’t have to explain my love for Belle and Sebastian and Stuart Murdoc. Last year they teased their new album with “The Party Line”, an electronic dance attempt on their regular pop sound. The song was good but not great, a sort of middle ground between ABBA and Los Amigos Invisibles, a mixture of sixties funk and disco though lacking the sass and the attitude. It was ok, but not mind-blowing.
Then the second single, “Nobody’s Empire”, returns to a more classic Belle and Sebastian sound. The coommon ground of twee tunes are a much better fit, but in the album, Murdoc struggles with the line between dance music and transcendental music about youth and coming of age. I might be a purist when it comes to Belle and Sebastian but if the quality of something different can reach out to ABBA proportions I believe everybody would jump in the game. “The Party Line”? Not a big fan, but “Nobody’s Empire” or “The Cat With The Cream” give us the perspective of that classic Belle and Sebastian we all know and love. I like my Belle and Sebastian in my Sunday mornings more than in my Saturday nights.
Ibeyi
Twin sisters Lisa-Kaindé and Naomi Díaz are of a linage of royal Latin musician Anga Díaz, late percussionist of Buena Vista Social Club; they’re 19 years old and their ready to release their debut self-titled Feb. 17. Their sound is a mixture of African and Cuban music with the right amount of pop. Subtle and catchy, with great vocal harmonies and the sensibility of their royal blood.
Madonna
The Queen of Pop’s Rebel Heart, her forthcoming LP, was leaked before she could even announce it; this opened up a discussion about “artistic rape” and a “form of terrorism” that the hack culture can imply, a very interesting topic in which I won’t dive right now. But beyond that, only sticking with the artistic merit, Madonna is coming back with probably her strongest single and sound since the wonderful Confessions on a Dance Floor. For starters, Kanye West demonstrates his amazing pop sensibility, his knowledge of 90’s inspired electronic music and the team with Diplo takes some songs to amazing latin flavored jams.
After her “Between the Bars” cover and her video for the #SecretProjectRevolution I was convinced that Madonna was going to go back to Ray Of Light and make a mature album. Instead she’s moving towards the electronic dance route in a post Disclosure era. Kanye was really impressive producing the first single “Living For Love”. Madonna takes on Kiezsa, Moko, Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Hudson and every lesser diva out there attempting the Disclosure dance production and teaches them how is done, after all, bitch, she’s Madonna, and this single puts her back in the top of the game.
Cher was 52 years old when “Believe” reinvented her career and put her back on the dance floor. Madonna is 56 and she can still kick some serious ass with “Living For Love” and some other strong singles from the record, what worries me is that the singles she released early on sound like great hits but don’t make a great album. Let’s hope she can pull out a Cher for this one. I’m pro-madonna here and I’ll be waiting.
Charlie Belle
Two 14 year olds and one 16-year-old teenagers make the fantastic pop trio Charlie Belle. Get To Know is the amazing EP that introduces this young musicians. The songs are easy-going and breezy, but what’s refreshing is to listen to a band that makes this classic pop music without a bit of cynicism. They are a friendly reminder of great recent pop acts like Best Coast or Haim. Charlie Belle are the least threatening pop act coming out in January, but in a world of hyper sexual and out there pop music a non threatening act is that much more revolutionary, surprising, refreshing and necessary.
Sophia Grace
This pre-teen girl made her way singing Nicki Minaj on Youtube. Then she became an Ellen Superstar. Then she became like really famous. Yes, she’s a cutie, but wait until you hear her song “Best Friends”! The song has deep bass, is sexy, is catchy, well produced…The perfect party jam! The fact that Sophia is 11 years old makes the “hot track” something a bit funny, also tha lyric “We don’t want dem boys right here”…True feminist right there haha! The viral sensation is both the blessing and the curse of the song, because viral will mean that it will be scrutinized, made fun of, dissected and used as a joke; but if you can get past the viral nature of the song and just enjoy it, irony aside, I’m sure you’ll agree that Sophia Grace is QUEEN!
Subwaywalk 