Thoughts on Top 40's current hits and hit makers

Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" has been taking the planet by storm for a bit now, but I just heard it for the first time the other day. During a segment on NPR's "All Things Considered." Like there's a nerdier way to be introduced to the most popular song in the world, right? As much as I love music, I'm basically Amish when it comes to exposure to current Top 40 tunes. That's not to say I eschew popular music. As an OCD music fanatic, I consider listening to commercial radio a lazy and passive way to hear stuff. I am too antsy and opinionated to let somebody else call the musical shots in my life. I even hate Pandora.


But my current "Call Me Maybe" obsession got me thinking: I wonder if there are other pop gems on the Billboard Hot 100 that I'm missing out on? Through the beauty of Spotify, I found a playlist of the current crop of hot tunes and listened to them. Though I didn't find anything as great as Ms. Jepsen's song (in fact I couldn't even get through one full listen of many of the songs), I did learn a few things. Here are my observations.

• I hope a friend or therapist has gently suggested to Gotye that, due to his erratic and overly dramatic post-break up behavior, cutting him off was, rather than a mean choice, perhaps a prudent and necessary decision on the part of whoever this song is about.

• Train still exists?

• Even the most upbeat contemporary country hit is, even if loosely or subliminally, musical propaganda for the Tea Party agenda.

• Rihanna's "Birthday Cake" should simply be avoided by anybody who smokes weed. There's not much that can get a stoner off the couch and whip them into a violent frenzy, but even sober listening to her sing, "... cake, cake, cake, cake, cake, cake, cake, cake..." made me want to smash the front window of a bakery in the middle of the night.

• I cannot hear LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem" and not immediately think of North Korea. This is a prime example of why, despite our many problems, America is a truly great nation.

• I do not have the stomach for the uber-sexified lyrics of today's popular rap songs. I couldn't get through the first 45 seconds of many of them without feeling embarrassed and turning it off.

Now excuse me as I listen to "Call Me Maybe" for the billionth time in two days... I might take a break to watch this again though:

The History of Pan!c - Fight! Fight! Fight!

The History of Pan!c - Fight! Fight! Fight!

Have you heard this record yet? No? That's dumb. Correct this immediately. 

Let's do the Spotify

"The Spotify" should be a new dance craze, though I don't know how exactly how it would look - as long as the moves conveyed a message of, "I'm still just learning how to use Spotify and I am already in love with it and also you should get it if you haven't already oh my god let's share music all the time" I'm guessing you'd be doing it right. Maybe put a little more hip into it though. There you go. You got it.

So Spotify! I remember reading about how "streaming was the future of music" a few years ago and I certainly did not believe. But that was also when streaming meant being tethered to your computer staring at a little streaming player that would probably stop working or need to reload several times and would also not allow you to skip ahead or around.

I am not an "early adopter" type when it comes to technology. But I didn't even wait for my free invite - I just went ahead and purchased the "Unlimited" plan for $4.99 a month. Totally worth it. I've already put together two playlists that I think you, dear reader, would highly enjoy.

My favorite records of 2011 so far. This list is pretty self explanatory, but it's such a great way to keep track of what's come out this year that I've really liked and Spotify has allowed me to check out scores of 2011 releases that I had on my "need to hear" list. But so far there's a dozen or so records that I've added...

My favorite records of the early 90's. This massive playlist has over 60 of my favorite records - most of which came out between 1990 and -94. These were my musical formative years as it were. You'll find everything from the obvious-but-essential (Pavement, Nirvana, Pixies) to the super-obscure-and-forgotten (Drop Nineteens, Pale Saints, Bark Psychosis). I'm proud of it.

When I get around to it, you can be sure I'll be posting some kick ass Bollywood playlists too.