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New Music Catch-Up (with DJ John Michael)
113 Plays14 days ago
Summer’s buzzing, and so are we! DJ John Michael and I are back with a brand new episode of HOMOPHONIC, catching up on all things summer and music. He fills me in on his epic Rufus Du Sol concert experience, and I share the story of how I managed to fracture my finger (oops!). We then dive into the power of Britney’s “Lucky” and how it entrances the gays before sharing our thoughts on new releases from Madonna, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Kesha, Kiesza, J.Lo, Jade, FKA Twigs, Jessica Simpson, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, and Sam Smith. And of course, we gush over our excitement for Chappell Roan’s upcoming single, “The Subway.”
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Transcript
Concert Experience at Sports Illustrated Arena
00:00:08
Speaker
You were at Rufus DeSoul last night, right? Let me tell you. Was it amazing? Okay, first of all, the show was incredible. show was incredible and I love them so much. um But it was at a venue that I had never heard of before. Apparently was at one point called the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey. It's a soccer stadium, I believe, normally. Okay.
00:00:29
Speaker
It's now called the Sports Illustrated Arena or whatever. i think I saw your story. but Like, yeah, you were like, I heard about this. but Right. I was like, is this the right? I've never heard of this venue ever in my life. Okay, whatever.
00:00:40
Speaker
So we got there super early because especially in a new venue, I feel like I need to be there early because I don't know what it's going to be like. And if there's going to be any tomfoolery, I'm not here for it. Exactly. Plus, I want to get a t-shirt and all that. so Right.
00:00:52
Speaker
get there probably like around 7-ish. First band doesn't go on until like I think 8, 15, 8, 30. Okay. ah Get in there. Get ourselves situated. Get a t-shirt. The merch line was long. Get where we were in GA on the floor. So we were just going to get our spot, whatever.
00:01:06
Speaker
Yep. And we did that and it was fine. And at first I was like, oh, this venue is really, really cool, whatever. Now, also, it is 9 million degrees in New York City right now. And the humidity, the dew point is like 112. Gross. Gross.
00:01:19
Speaker
gross Beyond. So no matter what you do, i have my fan and I'm fanning myself, but I'm just blowing hot air at myself. yeah So it was not even, it was a desperate attempt. Potentially making it worse because you're using energy to do that. So you're making yourself sweat more. Right. And so, and then we're all, once, once the show begins and everybody's there and now the place is completely packed, everybody's doing it with their fans. So we're all doing the same thing. And I'm like, this is...
00:01:43
Speaker
Something. so the show was great. Show is absolutely fantastic. What I didn't know was happening outside was that there were so many people and there was, I don't know what, what the problem was or why they couldn't get people in. But one of my friends didn't even make it into the venue. It took her three hours to try to even get close to the gates. There were so many people and they were like,
00:02:04
Speaker
pushing them from gate to gate and telling people to go here one of my friends showed up like within the first like 10 minutes of rufus being on because of the whole thing and it was like so poorly managed weird exiting it literally was like you've never and again i don't i i have no idea what the crowd or venue is normally like and how this all sort of pans out but Whatever it was that went on last night, however they had traffic diverted, it was so so much chaos that I just could not get over it.
00:02:34
Speaker
And I did not get home until I want to say a quarter after 2 a.m. m Oh, my God. Right. What a journey. And you said you got there at 7? Got there at 7. The show was over around 11.30.
00:02:47
Speaker
Wow. Right. So it took about two hours to get home. How long was the train ride? um So from there, from New Jersey, where we had to get the train, we took what's known as the PATH train and we had to get it all the way to World Trade Center because that's where that train line goes. And then from World Trade Center, we had to go back uptown to Penn Station, which is where we pick up the train to get to our apartment.
00:03:09
Speaker
Okay. So it was just like all over the place. All over. And I'm all right, now that I know I can do better next time, don't know that I would go see a show there again. Sure. But let me tell you something, though. Rufus...
00:03:23
Speaker
They really are amazing. I mean, it's you know it's three guys playing in a band and they're you know doing their thing on stage as much as they can. and they I want to give a shout out actually to the person who was doing the live video for the screens. Yeah.
00:03:34
Speaker
I have never seen someone, it was just one, I think it might have been a girl, was just running around with this handheld camera, getting all these shots while they were singing the and entire show. Wow. And it looked so good on the screens. i'm like, that is such an art to be able to do that.
00:03:49
Speaker
It is. Yeah. It really is. 100%. Yeah. Props to whoever that was because it really, it adds a lot to the show. So if you are going to see Rufus, if ah really, it's a good time.
00:04:00
Speaker
That's amazing. I'm so glad that you had a fun time, even though it took a million years to get out of there.
Adventures and Events in New York and Beyond
00:04:05
Speaker
Well, know. And then today we're actually going to go see, they're doing in a park in Queens um kind of music. The DJs from Germany are going to be there. And I think they're on from like 5 to 10 PM. So it's nice early.
00:04:16
Speaker
Early. Early little moment. We love that. Early moment. Get home at a respectable time. Yes. Because then on top of all of this, you're going to, is it Croatia for two weeks? On tomorrow. Oh, my God. I haven't packed a thing.
00:04:29
Speaker
Wow. i like to think And you know
Injuries and Health Concerns
00:04:32
Speaker
what? Good for you. Good for you flying by the seat of your pants. Just roll with it at this point. he's rolling with it. Yeah. I mean, why plan? Because things are happening left and right.
00:04:41
Speaker
Right. And, you know, one minute you are living your best life. The next minute you've got a fractured finger. lie don't st What happened? So i joined so i joined this gay sports league, right?
00:04:54
Speaker
And um we finished up our kickball at the end of June. And then there was like a two-week break. And then ah we started volleyball. Oh, wow. And so two weeks ago was our first game.
00:05:07
Speaker
I've never played volleyball in my life. and And other than like, i I know I've like hit the ball around a little bit, but I don't think I've ever played a real game of volleyball ever. I definitely have not.
00:05:17
Speaker
And um so sure enough, we're ah playing. I'm surprisingly really good at ah serving. Which like, I mean, like I mean, you know, you know, you know, you know. And so, um but I, ah anyway, I was like playing, I was like in the front line by the net, whatever. iphon do I don't know what the positions are called, whatever.
00:05:37
Speaker
But anyway, the ball came to me and I went to hit it and it hit my finger. And a immediately, like, it was very painful. I was like, fuck, like, I jammed my finger, like, that hurt really bad.
00:05:48
Speaker
And next day was black and blue. And I was like, oh, yeah, like, I definitely sprained my finger. But, and it definitely hurt. But it, you know, I've never broken anything, knock on wood. Mm-hmm.
00:06:01
Speaker
But you would think that you would know if something broke, right? there's this you're At least in my head, I'm thinking like there's going to be a pain difference in, you know.
00:06:12
Speaker
And so anyway, I went two weeks without it getting checked, but it was the tip of my finger. was crooked so it was kind of like i can't even do it but like it was it like looked like a witch finger and and i was like okay so after about two it was it was this past like tuesday i sent photos to my physician because i was like should i get this looked at because i'm just sitting there thinking like yeah like i can live with a crooked finger but is it going Is this going cause like other issues like through, you know, in my arm or my hand or whatever?
00:06:46
Speaker
And they were like, yeah, you probably should get that looked at. And so I went to that an orthopedic urgent care and they did x-rays. And sure enough, I had fractured my finger. And so I was like, so thankfully, like it was just like a tiny, it was more, I forget what kind of fracture they called it, but it was basically like the tendons were Tendoning?
00:07:06
Speaker
Tendoning in the wrong ways. And so I was just like, okay. So um anyway, they like made a little splint for me. I've got it all splinted up. I have to keep this on for six weeks. Oh, wow. Is that the hand write with?
00:07:19
Speaker
It's the hand I write with. It's the hand I type with. It's the hand right I make all my memes with. It's like a finger that's like, yeah, it's everything. so you guy So if there's typos in the upcoming memes, give Zach a little grace. Exactly. No, I literally in my like work email signature right now, I so i said just that was like, please excuse any typos. i am dealing with a fractured finger. Right. Who's Celine Dijon? Exactly.
00:07:46
Speaker
Exactly. So yeah, it's been, it's been a journey. And then on top of that, I'm falling apart. I turned 40 and I'm falling apart. So all of a sudden yesterday I'm working from home. I get up out of my chair and all of a sudden I'm like walking and all of a sudden I feel this sharp pain in my hip.
00:08:05
Speaker
Okay. And I was like, strange. I was like weird, but then it kind of went away. And I was like, whatever weird aches and pains happen all the time don't don't tell exactly right so then i was like you know what i'm gonna go down to the street there's a cute little coffee shop near me that makes really good chai tea and i was like that sounds really good right now gonna just walk down really quick and grab one so i'm walking out of my apartment i'm like maybe like two minutes down the road and then all of a sudden i take a step and i had to stop walking because that pain came back and i was like holy shit what is this And then I start walking in and then I was fine.
00:08:38
Speaker
But it was really weird. I was like, what is going on? Then I get back to my apartment and then it came back and it began to linger. And I like got then got up out of my chair for a third time and I could not walk without limping.
00:08:54
Speaker
I was like, what the fuck is happening right now? Oh my God. So I'm just like – I'm like trying to just feel because it's right literally where like my my torso and my thigh meet. So it's like right in my groin area. Right, right.
00:09:10
Speaker
And I'm like feeling it with while also like terrified that like if I touch it it's going to hurt. And I'm like, what's going on? I'm like trying to do different movements, like certain movements. Right.
00:09:21
Speaker
her And then I do them again. They don't. And I'm like, what is going on? I don't know. I still don't know what it was. But I like immediately went to, I was like of course, doing WebMD, Google, blah, blah, blah, blah. You're like, oh, obviously I have cancer. I have. I was like it's clearly cancer and bacterial infection. And I'm dying.
00:09:40
Speaker
I'm dying. I'm losing my limbs and like everything. Right. So what really it seemed like was potentially a pulled groin. Oh, a pulled groin or like a labral tear.
00:09:51
Speaker
Not to be confused with labia. Right. And I was like, interesting. So long story short, i went to Walgreens, grabbed like a cold pack, ibuprofen, Icy Ha, like doing all of these things. Right.
00:10:05
Speaker
And then the after work, I'm just like laying in bed and I'm just kind of like pressing on it because because quite literally I just could not pinpoint what was triggering the pain. Right.
00:10:16
Speaker
and ah And where it was exactly. I mean, I could kind of feel where it was coming from, but I was like, what is causing this? So I'm like pressing on it, pressing out And then all of a sudden it stopped. All of a sudden, I could walk fine. All of a sudden, it's whatever.
00:10:31
Speaker
And I was like, strange. Okay. But then as I'm going to bed last night, it kind of came back in a weird way. Then I wake up this morning. I'm fine.
00:10:42
Speaker
So I'm like, I'm going to go to the gym and like see like right see, like maybe I can do some movements, whatever, whatever. Did a cycling class. I was fine. Did a an arm class. I was fine.
00:10:56
Speaker
But then ah someone pulled the fire alarm, so I'm i'm leaving the premises, and then it comes back. And I'm like, what the fuck is happening? But I don't i have not limped since yesterday afternoon, so it hasn't been like so severe.
00:11:08
Speaker
So I asked people online what they think it could be, and of course, you know I'm like asking medical professionals. My friend, Jose, who's a personal trainer, he just messaged me, and he was like, it could be a plethora of things, but...
00:11:22
Speaker
Based on what he said and based like as I'm thinking about like what did I do differently? what is What's going on? I think it potentially be an IT related issue. And I've had IT band related issues in the past where like the IT band itself is tight and therefore is creating. Pulling.
00:11:39
Speaker
It's pulling and creating other issues. Right, right. This is this is my IT bands are trash. And so anyway, long story short, I'm falling apart. I might look great, but I am. We're like, how many red flags do you need, Zach? God is telling you. Here, first the finger, now the hip. Give it up. Literally. It's like, ah wow. I just feel like death becomes her, like just falling apart.
00:12:03
Speaker
Anyway. ah Gosh. Well, first of all, welcome back to Homophonic, everybody. we are we've We've been taking the summer to kind of be a little bit more liberal with recording and freer. And the world is crazy. Beyond.
00:12:20
Speaker
And beyond like you know the things outside of us. So we are taking every moment we can to really enjoy life.
Summer Reflections and Unpredictable Weather
00:12:27
Speaker
here And because you know time is precious, right? Amen. that's It's the only commodity we have. It's...
00:12:33
Speaker
it's the only commodity we have. And yeah and yet we blink and time said, I'm going to be in July, end of July. Girl, it's August almost. What is happening?
00:12:44
Speaker
It's crazy. see Like, I don't know who gave her permission, but I'm just kind of like all the year long, I've been saying this. I've just been like, wow, time is really flying. But truly, I cannot believe we are basically entering August at this point.
00:12:57
Speaker
It really does feel insane. but It's nuts. Yeah. I know. I'm like, the time that I don't want it to to go by so quickly is in summer. what is it Do you guys have like bad humidity in Michigan where you to? Oh, yeah. Oh, you do? I will say this summer has been a little bit on, I don't know. it Michigan weather is always very sporadic, regardless of the time of year.
00:13:17
Speaker
um Kind of the joke, especially like in the spring and the fall, is that you can have a sunny, warm morning weather. And then it can rain and storm in the afternoon. And then it can be beautiful in the evening. Or you can have, like, warmth and then snow or vice versa. I mean, it can be all place. You can have all of them in one day.
00:13:34
Speaker
i get to Right, right, right. Like, i will I have asked, you know, my weather app before. I'm like, hey, is it going to rain right now? And she's like, no. and then i leave my house and it begins to not only just rain, but it will hail.
00:13:47
Speaker
And I'm like, okay. So we had we made some choices. We made some decisions since I left the house. Right, right, right. I'm just like, okay. So um this summer has been, think, a little bit more on the milder side. We've definitely had some warm days and we've definitely had some humidity. Yeah. But like the the whole early part, like right up and before up until my birthday, was like really kind of cool.
00:14:09
Speaker
for And then also – So last week we went to Saugatuck, Michigan, which is like the gay. I was going to ask you about that because it looked like fun. It was a lot of fun. And I'll get to that in a second. um But we we the first day that I had gotten there it was Thursday and it was like high of 68 degrees.
00:14:27
Speaker
And I was like, great. OK, we are. I was like, I loved it. But although i will say. Now that like I've said, I've shed some body fat, like even like warmer temperatures, I now understand those skinny bitches who are like, I'm cold. And i'm like, it's 75 degrees outside. Now I got it. I'm like, um I do this with the girls at work. And I'm like, go eat burger.
00:14:49
Speaker
Yeah, I was trying to.
Saugatuck Trip: A Memorable Weekend
00:14:52
Speaker
um But no, the Saga Talk weekend was really fun. we it was It was such a magical weekend. One of those, I've said it ad nauseum at this point, but I've said to my friends, I was like, we're going to look back at this weekend in like 10 years and remember this. Like every single part. We got kicked out of our Airbnb.
00:15:09
Speaker
Okay, now. so and So here's the thing. So here's the thing. The Airbnb people... So first of all, I keep saying Airbnb. I think my friend Michael rented this place through their like property management. like It wasn't through Airbnb.
00:15:23
Speaker
um But he found a super cute home. It was like three bedrooms, but it was beautiful, very spacious. Each room could easily fit six or ah two people. um There was also a living room area. The basement had a day bed and a pullout bed as well.
00:15:38
Speaker
the how The home itself, I would say you could have easily slept with 10 to 12 people comfortably. And then, and you know how that goes. Right. Right. Right. more right right Well, apparently since the moment he got there, the property owner was texting him being like, now remember, this is not a party house. You need to be respectful of our neighbors.
00:16:00
Speaker
They apparently were watching us through the cameras outside, saw that they were bringing in a slushy machine. So what, which prompted them to send the reminders. and There were like six people maximum at all times. And,
00:16:12
Speaker
And just kept throughout the weekend, kept sending text messages, kept talking, kept watching. It was really weird. It was really, really weird. So then we play on Friday night, we played traders. We did have more than six people. I think there was 12 people total in the house. But again, we were playing traders. We were like the TV show. And for those that don't that don't know what traders is,
00:16:32
Speaker
Long story short, people three people are selected at random to be the traitors and or murderers, if you will, and everyone else is the faithful. And the whole game is that you're trying to figure out who the traitors are and who and and whatnot. And you're trying to get the traitors all out. right Very fun. I have to brag. Top three. I was top three.
00:16:51
Speaker
And my friend Michael said I made great television. And I was like, thank you. That's what I was going for. I wanted to make you proud. And surprise no one. My friend Adam won, bitch. um but uh no it was a blast but that said it was either that or the day after we had the same people over again to like just kind of pre-game before so because this okay so this house the location was literally around the corner from the dunes resort the dunes resort in sagatuck is like the gay resort to go to in west michigan it's like the gay capital of michigan essentially um super gay area and um so i'm like
00:17:28
Speaker
It's a 10-minute walk there, three-minute drive. I'm like, anyone that's renting this house, the idea is to have a gay weekend away. i mean, right. Yeah. And so...
00:17:40
Speaker
I'm just kind of like trying to make it make sense of the fact. I'm like, how is this property owner being so meticulous and so whatever, whatever. Anyway, long story short, she must have seen us leave the house at one of those times because all of a sudden on Sunday we get a text message from her saying, you guys broke our rules. You need to vacate the premise by two o'clock. She gave us two hours to leave.
00:18:04
Speaker
Wow. It was crazy. And so I felt really bad for my friend Michael, but at the same time, I was like, you know as shitty as this is, a we live in Grand Rapids, which is only 45 minutes away. So it's not like we have to like travel elsewhere or find lodging elsewhere. I was like, it sucks, but like, we are going to laugh about this. Oh, absolutely. Moving forward. Like this is a story. And yeah.
00:18:27
Speaker
So it was just, but other than the property manager being silly, Had a wonderful time. But is Saugatuck, like, is there, like, gay bars and, like, different things like that? Is it like, a Provincetown-type area? It's not, like, a Provincetown. It's, like, a Provincetown very light.
00:18:43
Speaker
But, I mean, it is it is a predominantly gay area. So there's Saugatuck and Douglas. so And they they're, like, sister-neighboring towns. So technically we were in Douglas and Douglas has where the, um the dunes resort is, but literally you go a mile down and that's where Saugatuck is.
00:18:58
Speaker
So, so there are both these cute little beach towns, the rainbow sidewalks everywhere. Right. um And it just is this, the, a magical little area. And, you know, so we, we went to the dunes every single day for like the pool. And then we went out there at night and we saw a drag show cabaret um They have are notorious. We did karaoke. they They have this very notorious backwoods area where, right you know, the... You can appreciate nature.
00:19:27
Speaker
You can appreciate nature. And fauna comes out to play. Right, right. Yeah. I wouldn't know anything about that. Obviously, that's a different podcast. That is a different podcast. I wouldn't know anything about the creatures that come out at night.
00:19:43
Speaker
ah um No, it was a blast. And so, yeah. Yeah. It was just magical. Magical little time. I love. Yeah. yeah And um they did play. it like it gave me It was really interesting because the music that they play there, especially at night, is almost predominantly like circuit music. I knew it. I knew I had a feeling.
00:20:04
Speaker
And I'm kind of like, listen, I can appreciate circuit set. I am. It's great. If done well. If done well. Right. um But I also have to say, and now mama I'm trying to think about that. and Like, honestly, like real talk, I'm sober.
00:20:19
Speaker
Right. So like I'm probably a little bit more coherent and aware than more than most. But um I'm like, we can't do anything else. Right. for four hours like it's like we we we could do different journeys it feels almost like it's i don't even know how to describe it because like i don't i don't have a problem necessarily like we' we're saying with circuit music because i've heard it done really well yeah but it's i don't know the the the unwillingness to sort of deviate is just crazy to me because i'm like it just
00:20:56
Speaker
I don't know. i don't know. Yeah. I don't know. It's been like this forever. Right. Yeah. And I'm kind of like, I under, i again, I respect tradition. Sure. Now I will say T-dance. Tradition. Now we're talking about circuit music as tradition. That's where gay culture has gone.
00:21:11
Speaker
good Like traditionally Tony Moran. Traditionally. Exactly. Who used to DJ at the Dunes Resort. Oh, works. She's someone who I like went went when she throws down a little circuit set because it's usually got vocals in and it's cute.
00:21:24
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, I haven't seen her in years. but Right. And so I'm just kind of like, I would love if I like looked at their schedule because I was like, i would love i would I would be so there. I'm like, I would make my friends go. I'm like, we're going to see this. yeah um But did not see them on the schedule. But um no, T-Dance is a little bit different. It's definitely a little bit more, like we we mentioned on the last episode, Moto Blanco. Right, right. Lighter.
00:21:50
Speaker
Lighter, a little bit lighter. So that T-Dance is a little bit more lighter as it starts. And then towards the end, that's where they get a little bit more circuit-y. um So that's a nice change of pace. And I will say the pool music, when they're at the pool, they play – it's definitely dance music, but it's definitely more – it's a lighter tone.
00:22:06
Speaker
Work. um And sometimes like on the slower days, they'll play you know just like your typical pop girly top 40 type of stuff, which is fun. Right, right. I don't know if I should. i have That's fine. um My friend Andrew, one of these past weekends, ah somehow like hacked into their playlist. oh And so he was like, does anyone have any requests? And so we were like, we were like put the play the remix, the Jack D. Elliot remix of Lucky.
00:22:30
Speaker
Kardashian jam. Literally. And so you he did it, and and we were like, yeah. ah um My friend Michael loves the song Lucky by Britney. Oh, really? Yeah. And so it's actually funny because- That's another one I never go for.
00:22:45
Speaker
Well, it's funny because it's interesting because I usually don't go for it either. So the the whole thing with Lucky with him is, i don't know where his love, I think he's just always loved it. But what was interesting on our kickball like end of the season tournament um it was the last two teams playing lavender which was under who were undefeated and they were playing the pink team and so we were out there god that's gay so fucking gay it's so gay i wish you could have seen it it's so fun um but lavender they're very good um but we were we were all out there and we were like playing music and kind of cheering everyone on and yada yada yada
00:23:26
Speaker
And my friend Michael was like, play lucky. People are going to love it. And when I was like, okay, like random choice, but sure. Sure enough, it came on and everyone like stopped and started dancing and singing. It was such a cute moment. I loved it. It was it was so good.
00:23:43
Speaker
And then, so like when we've been going out, we've been requesting Lucky like everywhere we go. In fact, when we sang karaoke, we he and I do edit Lucky together. Not you with the Lucky Renaissance. I know, the Lucky-sance.
00:23:57
Speaker
And so, but um there's a DJ here, Digimark. Oh, love her. Do you? Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, he will DJ at the apartment lounge one time sometimes. and And he was doing tea dance one day at the dunes.
00:24:13
Speaker
And when he saw us walk in, sure enough, the next song he played was lucky. Come on now. We love a who's paying attention. Right. Yeah. Because I'm always sending him like a list.
00:24:24
Speaker
I'm sure. Of stuff. I'm like, Janet Jackson, come on, get up. Many more in my pocket. You walk in and she's like, oh she's here. I'm like, play the digital dog remix of Pussycat Dolls Buttons.
00:24:36
Speaker
And then go into I hate this part.
00:24:41
Speaker
Exactly. i cannot. so yeah. it's it's been It was a blast. So, yeah, I've just been having fun this summer. and I love it. i love it. Yeah. it's been ah It's been a blast.
00:24:51
Speaker
Yeah, I think this this getting getting out of here for a little bit and going on this trip is going to be really, really nice. I'm going to go to the Defected ah Records Festival in Croatia, which is the main reason why we're going. Ooh, Defected Records Festival. Yeah, so I think that's going to be really fun. There's a lot of good DJs that are going to be there. So that's from the Wednesday, next Wednesday through, i think, that Monday.
00:25:13
Speaker
So we get in, we have like two days to just sort of hang out, do one of the national parks, do the festival. And then we have like a week after that to sort of make our way down from the country is very long. It's not a big country, but it's very long and it's coastal on the on the Adriatic.
00:25:26
Speaker
So like we fly into this city split and which is more further north. And then we have to sort of make our way three hours down to Dubrovnik. And then that's where we'll fly out of. of events Oh, that'll be so much fun. Yeah, I mean, it looks a lot like Italy, like everything that I look at. So I'm like, oh, I think this is going to be great. A lot of the food is also Italian. So I'm like, all right, whatever. Okay. Yeah. because It used to used to be a Roman country, I guess, back in the day, like way back in the day.
00:25:50
Speaker
Okay. Influences. But yeah, so super excited. And I'm going to hear good music. um Yes. yeah Oh, my gosh. That'll be so good. Speaking of good music. Speaking of good music, get it to me. I love the Mariah Carey. I do too. love it. It's so cute. It's so cute. I think I like it better than Type Dangerous. Yeah, i think so too.
00:26:08
Speaker
I think it has better replay value than Type Dangerous. For sure. um i so i I kind of went into it. My friend Daniel loves Mariah. I mean, i we love Mariah. Right, right, right. We love her. We love her. Right.
00:26:19
Speaker
i When he was like ah excited for the new Mariah and i was like, I don't know. I was like, I'm not sure if I'm excited for it. I was like, the features didn't really do much for me um ah when it was announced. It's real.
00:26:30
Speaker
Yeah. And so I was just kind of like, yeah, we'll see. and I love it. It is summer. It is like you put this on at the pool. Right. loun Right. I want it at the beach. I want it outdoors just wherever. Yes. Yes.
00:26:44
Speaker
I'm gonna give it nice. I'm gonna give it sweet. Right. give it sugar. Like, it's so cute. Yeah. Kalani sounds great on it. They both do. I love them both. And is it Shensia? That's how you say it? Okay, Shensia. either Shensia or Shensia. I think it's Shensia, though.
00:26:59
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Also great. Like... yeah and And you and I had She came by Peloton I want to say like a year ago maybe like play new music at the time And she was like again so super sweet Love that Yeah yeah yeah really nice So was going to say her name was sounding familiar to me And I was like why is this sticking out I was like oh who who has collaborated with her And you know who I realized Had collaborated with her years ago Who?
00:27:23
Speaker
Christina Aguilera Right On the Liberation album Yes yeah But that's not why I knew her though Wait Keep going I was, well, I was going to say, I was like, okay, say what you want about Christina Aguilera.
00:27:35
Speaker
Definitely it has her finger on the pulse. So if people, cause I also remember, I don't think this was before Mariah, but it was right around the same as time as Mariah has collaborated with her as well. They both collaborated with with Nicki Minaj around the same time. um And I'm going to be honest. That's how I figured, that's how I found out who Nicki Minaj was.
00:27:53
Speaker
Same. I didn't, I like, I knew, I knew her as a feature on woohoo, but then i think when I heard monster, Then I put the two and two together that was just like, where have I heard this before? And I've heard her voice. And I was god, I've actually heard.
00:28:05
Speaker
her the Christina song. Yeah. So I was like, k Christina Aguilera, if she're going to collaborate with k Christina Aguilera, I'll know that you'll probably blow up in the next couple of years. I'm saying. she's She's got her finger on the pulse, that one. She really does. I'm like looking through Shinzi's Spotify to see if I can figure this out. I think that she did a song with Sean Paul and Gwen Stefani.
00:28:24
Speaker
That sounds right. Right. And, um, but yeah, mean, maybe it's one of these naughty boy songs. Cause I like naughty boy. I feel like, okay, this is maybe where I've heard her from, but bringing that Jamaican dance hall.
00:28:37
Speaker
Yeah. But so good though. It really is. Yeah. So I'm really excited for the Mariah and I think it's going to be really cute. And you know what? I love that like I saw, I don't know if it's real, but I saw somebody put up like a supposed track listing or at least like the credits for all the album.
00:28:51
Speaker
Yes. And I saw it and I'm like, you know what? It's New People, hu which I love for her. And yeah like Type Dangerous is that like, look, is it my favorite song? No. Do I like it? Is cute? Sure. I think it's cute.
00:29:01
Speaker
But... so far these two tracks, I'm like, this is, this sounds like where Mariah should be for me. Yeah. You know, like it's, it's a little bit more than caution. You know, it's a little bit slightly more upbeat, but it's, I don't know. I'm excited for it.
00:29:15
Speaker
Yeah, I am too. and And you had mentioned too, when we were texting that, like the songs are in her range that her voice is in now. Right. So she's not trying to like do something that she's not going to be able to do live. Right. um Yeah. I'm really here for it. She looks great. I'm loving the cover art. Yeah.
00:29:30
Speaker
Same. Um, I wanted a little bit more from the Type Dangerous remixes, but that's okay. Same. We can't win them all. No, when i but I agree. I absolutely agree. yeah It's true, but we'll see. I don't know. I don't know if the days of Mariah ah coming back to the studio to record remixes are ever going to happen again, but...
00:29:47
Speaker
Right. And that's okay. yeah I can imagine it's somewhat much. I mean, it's so much thinking about it when you're thinking about the studio time to come in to not only record the original, but then you're going come back in and do a dance remix plus two different R&B hip hop remixes. Like that's a lot of time and energy.
00:30:04
Speaker
Well, a lot of time and I'm sure it's probably a lot of money now too. Yeah. You know, to like get all these other people involved. Yeah. So. And when you had mentioned um the, you know, the track listing, at least the the production credits and whatnot, um allegedly she's doing a cover of a Paul McCartney song.
00:30:22
Speaker
Paul McCartney and Linda McCartney's song, but yeah which is interesting. Was that Wings? Is that what they were? That was their band, yeah. But I think that they've written, want to say they wrote songs together that were not just Wings. But yeah, I don't know. I'm hoping that it's like Silly Little Love Songs because that's a that's a song I think they're both known for. But we'll see.
00:30:41
Speaker
I'm excited. Yeah. Well, there's also, it looks like there's a sample on one of the songs from the Clark sisters too. Cause I saw that. Interesting. a lot of people now are more familiar with the Clark sisters cause they were sampled in Beyonce's church girl on Renaissance.
00:30:53
Speaker
Yeah. And so now people are like, Oh my God. And I'm like, first of all, I don't think we're going to get church girl out of Mariah Carey. was like, I don't think we're going to get that type of song out of her. Cause it's probably going to be more like a straight up gospel, you know? Right. Yeah. But But I think that's really cool, too. So I wish there were more songs, but you know what? We'll see if there's a deluxe.
00:31:11
Speaker
Hopefully. We'll see. We'll see. I mean, fingers crossed. I mean, you know, there are rumors circulating about a Gaga deluxe. We'll see if that materializes. Fingers crossed. Fingers crossed. um they You know who released an album and deluxe since our last episode is Kesha.
00:31:29
Speaker
Let me tell you, she just came through New York and I'm really mad I didn't go to the show. There was just too much going on in the timing of it all. But there were so many people at my job that went and everyone had the best time. And the videos, she sounds incredible.
00:31:44
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. i my So my coworker, she was just here in Detroit, um and my coworker went and said that she had the best time. Like ah just the openers, the Scissor Sisters, like it just, it it looked, I'm jealous.
00:31:57
Speaker
Yeah. And I have to say, I'm not a huge Kesha fan. I would say I've always been a casual Kesha fan. Same. enjoyed her music. I've never been one to dive so dive deep into her deep cuts or anything like that, but I've always enjoyed her singles and, you know, always wanted the best for her.
00:32:12
Speaker
um I have to say, based on what I've heard from this album, I'd say I've listened to the whole thing. I think it might be one of her best records. I would kind of agree.
00:32:23
Speaker
I love it. Specifically, the song the song that shockingly grabbed me by the throat and said, you're going to listen to me until whatever else. I don't know. Right. But um is The One her? I don't know all the songs by name yet. there So it was the last ah promotional single that she had put out before the album. Oh, yes, yes, yes.
00:32:43
Speaker
And um it's kind of like this... i don't Ballad might... i But yeah, I guess it is kind of ballad. It's kind of like a... kind of like a Ryan Tutter-esque power ballad where it's not like a, you know, like, not like a mere Mariah piano ballad, but, you know, it's got like a beat to it and you can like belt out to it.
00:33:03
Speaker
But that song I listened to on my drive home from 4th of July weekend. And I had a really fun weekend that weekend. And it was just one of those things where I was just like a magical like moment, like I was feeling emotional, like having a great weekend. And that's I don't know. Anyway, i was just like, wow.
00:33:22
Speaker
Yeah, Kasia really did that. Yeah, I'm really, really excited for her. You know, she seems so much more like at ease and in her own skin and just sort of like comfortable. So I'm just I'm super excited for her.
00:33:32
Speaker
Have you listened to her song with ah Rose Gray and and Slater? Attention. Can I have your attention? That has been Taking the Gaze Here in West Michigan by Chokehold. Oh, yeah.
00:33:43
Speaker
Like, we've listened to it at our kickball games, at our volleyball games. We've listened to it. I've heard it a million times at the Dunes Resort. and yeah like and I've been hearing Boy Crazy a lot, but ah specifically the one with Jade.
00:33:57
Speaker
Yes. Yeah. And I have to say, so Kesha just released a remix EP for that. I was really impressed with the remixes. What was the one that I liked? Was it Robots with Ray Guns? or i don't i love which one I love the Robots with Ray Guns. And then there's one called Cute Boys Remix that samples like the grinder noise. Yep.
00:34:17
Speaker
An incredible remix. Yeah. for Because, listen, y'all. We've been getting a lot of shitty, sloppy remixes lately from people. No shade.
00:34:27
Speaker
but here's some shade. Here's some shade. We'll talk about Veronica Electronica in a minute. and
00:34:34
Speaker
Oh, my God. but so So when I saw these you know these remixes for Boy Crazy, I was like, I'm going to listen. I will give them a listen. Mm-hmm. And I was pleasantly surprised.
00:34:46
Speaker
I was like, good job. Like, yeah, all these people robots with Raygrons are the only people that I was familiar with. Everyone else is new to me. Same. But I was very impressed with everything.
00:34:59
Speaker
ah Yeah. Everything was very well done. And please more of that more quality remixes. Right. Well, you know what? She's got her own label now. So she's doing the thing. Yeah. I love this for her. Yeah. um Veronica Electronica.
00:35:13
Speaker
Well, what? 27 years later? Yeah. Is that what it is? 27 years later? mean... twenty seven years later yeah that what it is twenty seven years later i mean You know, like, look, it's a collection of remixes that are, you know, have existed in the world pretty much.
00:35:30
Speaker
I don't think there's none of them are new, new, like just like slightly new edits have been done for some of them. But, you know, ah the the the hero on the thing is the the demo of God going, going, gone, good, good, gone. What is it? I can't remember. Gone, gone, gone, gone, gone. That's it. Whatever. Yeah.
00:35:45
Speaker
Which also is good and it sounds like it's so of the time. Yeah. Like when I listen to it, I'm like, oh my God, I'm like, this really sounds like 90s electronica, like full on. Yeah. yeah But I just don't like, i would i would really like to know what the thought process was here.
00:36:02
Speaker
I think the thought process was let's do a cash grab. Right. and that's I don't know if Madonna was involved with this at all. Right. Because it feels like this was something that was sort of dreamed up as a way to sell physical merch.
00:36:14
Speaker
Yeah. This feels less about the streaming. Yeah. Because now it's like there's a clear CD. There's ah this CD. there's a There's three different vinyl variants. there's And I'm like, see, that's that's that's how I feel like I know that this is not. This is not something that Madonna was like, hey, you know what we should give to the fans? No, this doesn't feel like that.
00:36:30
Speaker
No, this is very clear. They took an idea that was talked about that has been part of her lore with this, with the Raylight album since it dropped Veronica electronica and took that seed and decided to turn it into something very different from the original conceptualized project that was once discussed.
00:36:50
Speaker
And yeah, the edits, the edits are poorly done. Yeah. I would say maybe maybe, maybe, I would say maybe the best one is either the, the Ray of light Twilo remix or the Drowned World, but like,
00:37:07
Speaker
I was so, ah oh my God. i like listening to it i was like, what the fuck is happening? So I will say i i will appreciate the fact that they tried to do kind of like a mashup of two mixes for frozen.
00:37:20
Speaker
So for frozen, they did a month, like a Frankenstein mix of the widescreen mix and William Orbit's drum mix, which was like a drama Pella type of thing.
00:37:32
Speaker
They merged the two together. At first, it sounded good. At first, like the first kind of transition, I was like, okay, cool. Like, good job. But then when it went back into the widescreen mix, I was like, okay.
00:37:47
Speaker
Like, this, if you're going to do this, do it well. But here's the thing, too, is that For the new edits that were done, yeah everything is still timing out over five minutes.
00:38:01
Speaker
So if your goal was to shorten this for maximum impact for streaming purposes, right what I don't understand is that there are ways that you could have made even shorter edits that would have been so much more impactful. Yeah. Yeah.
00:38:19
Speaker
And it's like, but also, if you're going to do this, why would you do just edited versions? Why wouldn't you put the actual... like original remixes out too, like officially.
00:38:32
Speaker
Yeah, because I was going say, like put out, like you know especially for streaming, do a second disc, if you will, right is the extended the original versions, which are all available. right Minus min is the only quote-unquote new remix was the skin remix, um which the full-length version still isn't officially on streaming.
00:38:51
Speaker
um But all the other mixes are on streaming as part of their respective remix EPs. Like you could easily put one of those. I mean, and then, and then Sky Fits Heaven, you know, the extended mixes are not out on streaming. So like you could have added, those could have, that would have been a gem, right? Yeah. Right. Like, I don't know what they were thinking. I, it, it's,
00:39:13
Speaker
And then it's also really weird is that like on Stan Twitter, a lot of Madonna Stan accounts are like they're now sharing photos from this era being like, Madonna photographed as Veronica Electronica. And I was like, okay, wait a minute, you guys. was like, you're spinning a narrative now that that's like like, yes, Madonna talked about Veronica Electronica being like her pseudonym like alter ego quote unquote during this era but she never put on like a persona no or anything like that like like don't put that on here because that's not what happened no and then too a lot of them were also acting like they were like oh these brand new remixes i'm like y'all are stan accounts and you've never heard any of these remixes before right
00:40:03
Speaker
Right. Shame on you. Right, right. I mean, this is this is why like I really do, and I don't i mean i don't know how to how to fix it really because it's like there's so many companies now that are either acquiring artist catalogs or buying you know publishing rights or whatever it is. and When these companies do that, they are then tasked, obviously, with merchandising this material that they own because how are they going to make money off of spending?
00:40:29
Speaker
you know If they bought Justin Timberlake's catalog for $2 million, dollars they've got to recoup $2 million. dollars So what are they going to do? They're going to try to put it in commercials. They're going to do physical vinyl sales. They're going to do reissues and represses and whatever and just whatever they can kind sort of come up with to merchandise their catalog.
00:40:45
Speaker
And I'm concerned... as some of these artists get older that I'm like, what is going to happen? Because if this is happening to Madonna's catalog while she's alive, yeah that, but that concerns me. Right. Yeah. It just makes me wonder. I'm and just, it does it does make me wonder like, okay, she's got all of these, you know, demos and, and remixes and things like that.
00:41:09
Speaker
and And a lot of these remixes from this era too were officially commissioned or or released in some capacity, just not on streaming. Again, the aforementioned Sky Fits Heaven like extended extended mix by Victor Calderon. There was actually a second mix that he did right of the song that has not been put out on streaming. right um There is the full extended version of Skin. there's ah There's a longer version of the Vikram remix for Nothing Really Matters.
00:41:36
Speaker
I'm sure that there's probably some unreleased stuff that we've never heard. Oh, beyond. Junior did a mix of Power of Goodbye. Yeah. Yeah. And um I just, I'm like, I'm like, why not bring these out? Are you not aware that these exist? Like, but you and I had a conversation once where you were like, I don't know if people know that these even exist.
00:41:57
Speaker
I honestly, like, I feel like it, it, it, What it seems like in all of my years, like being involved in the scene and and and sort of knowing these people and now seeing how the industry works and everything is that it really was such a small group of people who were sort of shepherding this. Like you had A&R men like Hosh Garelli, who was doing a lot of these big remixes, the Deborah Cox, the Whitney Houston, all of that sort of stuff.
00:42:21
Speaker
And it was done where they were just like, okay, we're going to do this. The DJs are going to break it in the clubs. Then it's going to be on radio, yada, yada, yada. And there was like a plan and a strategy. there is no longer a plan or a strategy for most of this.
00:42:34
Speaker
And so it's just sort of like the people of that era that were working there that know about all of this stuff or have access to all of these remixes or whatever are either not in the business anymore or,
00:42:46
Speaker
are just not, I don't know, just like you, I know that you lose your connections or that, you know, the music industry just moves on and it's like it to try to get somebody to understand why they should do this and why this would be good for fans, et cetera, et cetera, and explain the value of this. It's like, it's, and it's an uphill battle. So a lot of people just don't do it.
00:43:06
Speaker
So without shepherds of who care about the music and care about the artist, I just don't know. And that's how I think these things fall to the wayside, you know? Right. Because even like, my example is always when we did our Dolly Parton thing years ago and they had asked us to play the mix as a peace train. And I'm like, these don't exist on streaming.
00:43:27
Speaker
I'm like, is there a way to get that? And they didn't even know who to, how to find it, where it was going to be, whatever, whatever. And it was like, Like, you know enough to request this as a thing that exists in the world, but like you don't, you're not aware that it doesn't exist on streaming or anything or like what, it's just like that sort of, i don't want to say lack of knowledge, I guess, but it's just weird to me.
00:43:50
Speaker
Put me in the music industry. If i if there are any connections out there, put me in. Hire me as your archival like remix specialist. right I will fucking crush it. Well, because I keep talking to all these labels and they keep talking about, oh, the tape library, the tape library. But what's the address?
00:44:08
Speaker
But be where is it? like you just I will knock on the door. Please let me in. Right. Yeah. because i'm not like i want to see what this is like and i want to see what exactly we're talking about and it's yeah i mean i'm sure it's highly confidential but yeah i don't know it's just crazy to me because i'm like how do you not have somebody whose job it is is to go back and preserve because another thing too like tapes don't last forever Right.
00:44:31
Speaker
Yeah. those are Those are tangible things that will degrade over time. So it's like you need someone to digitize those things while they are while they are there. yeah Otherwise, you're really fucked. then Right.
00:44:43
Speaker
So that's why some like I just don't know. like It just is very concerning to me. So we'll see. We'll see. But i really i I will still forever say Mariah is the one. She's the example as far as I can tell. She's the one who does it right.
00:44:57
Speaker
She does for like doing back catalog the back catalog reissues and things like that. 100%. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know who. Yeah. And part of me wonders if Madonna is, but you know, Madonna doesn't like to look back.
00:45:10
Speaker
So I think that she, I think that she wants to remain relevant. Right. So she's doing it, but I don't think, that I think that she's half-assing it. well or or and Or thinking, i you know, these people will take care of it, you know, and now I'll just sign off on it, right? But that's what, like, I i feel like it's that. I wonder, i'm I'm always curious to know how much she actually knows at this point. I think there was a time in Madonna's career where she was extremely involved in every single thing and the the type A personality that she sort of was her whole life.
00:45:43
Speaker
Yeah, kind of would have led that. But now I feel like she's not only she got her family and she's much more involved in that, but it's like when she goes on to a project, she's so focused solely on that project, which is why I think looking back is weird for her.
00:45:57
Speaker
Yeah, because it's just like, you know, people are just like, oh, well, the Madame X, blah, blah. And I'm like, whatever you may think about that, the album, the tour, whatever. It was a project that she was focused on solely and was yeah like, this is what I'm going to do. It's this, this, this and this.
00:46:11
Speaker
yeah It wasn't a look back. It wasn't a whatever. And it was just like, this is what I'm working on. So I feel like it's almost like it feels like, again, I have no reason to believe this as truth, but what it seems to me is that When she went back to Warner, it's sort of like, okay, we'll fund whatever your future projects want to be and the tour and we'll do all of that stuff and make sure that that's taken care of.
00:46:37
Speaker
But we're also going to merchandise the fuck out of your back catalog. Just know that. Yes. And I feel like that's what's been going on because it's like the amount of picture discs, the amount of represses. And it's like, put it on blue wax, put it on yellow wax, put it on red wax. And I'm like, okay.
00:46:53
Speaker
Yeah. You know, the silver collection where we're going to press all of Madonna's ah vinyl in silver. And I'm like, what is that? Right. Like, like, that's not. And, you know, I am less of a collector nowadays in terms of physical merch than I was when I was younger.
00:47:10
Speaker
So I have to ask, like, do people actually care? I think that there are some like serious Madonna stands that absolutely will for, for a completion purpose. And at one time I would have been like that, but like now I, I just, I can't anymore. Like it's, it's, I already have certain albums that I have so many copies of on different color vinyl that I'm like, what will I actually ever do with this? Yeah.
00:47:29
Speaker
Because I'm like, cause I'm like, if you put a bonus track, like maybe an unreleased track, that thing like, like then, then I'm interested. Cause I'm like, Oh yeah. Like I would love to hear that. Right. right That's what got me multiple copies of mayhem.
00:47:41
Speaker
Yeah, right. Exactly. Same here. You're going to put this on the vinyl? Sure. I'm going to put i'm goingnna buy that because it's only on this version. That's worth it to me then. Exactly. Yeah. Whereas now, you know, I don't care if the album is coming in three different vinyl colors. Like, what does that but does that matter to me? Like, it's, I don't know.
00:47:59
Speaker
but and Also, I just want to be like, how like what are the there's got to be a knowing what I know about the industry, there's got to be a strategy meeting where people from Madonna's team sit down with people at the record label and say, okay, what do we have on the on the on the on the plate?
00:48:13
Speaker
what's What's next? There's got to be some sort of plan. And it's like, Who are those people? That's what I want to know. Who is making this decision? Because it's it's you need a fan in there when it comes to this type of an artist.
00:48:25
Speaker
And I feel that way about a lot of artists. Yeah, you really do. And I was going to say, they were for a minute doing a good job of like putting her singles and like EPs on streaming. yeah they you know like i think it was last year and the year prior, like every couple of months they were putting new ones up.
00:48:41
Speaker
but there are still a few that are missing and that seems like they've just stopped doing that. Like I keep waiting for the die another day remix EP to come out and that's not on streaming. I literally remember going into work late and telling them that I had a flat tire on the way to work so that way I could go to the mall in New Jersey be where that was close to where my job was and buy the CD single the day that it came out. I love that. And took to work and was like obsessively listening to the remixes on my headphones on my lunch break.
00:49:10
Speaker
Oh my God. That's so crazy. yeah Yes. That black and white photo of her with like the squiggly light that I think was like pink, white and black lines. yeah Oh my God. Yep. The Thunderpuss mix, I was like, this is iconic. this Yeah. And like one of their last mixes, I think.
00:49:25
Speaker
Yeah. It was so good. i think the final one was the Hilary Duff So Yesterday. i think you're right. Yeah. which Crazy. What a way to go out. Right. Literally like what a way to go out. They're like our final mix before they reunited for the Winnie.
00:49:41
Speaker
Right. But um ah yeah, like I would love the Diana. I'd love the Deep Sky remix. um Oh, yeah. I love that one. Yeah. Big fan. um But yeah, like, you know, Madonna deserves better. Yeah. And we need to make sure that her legacy, we will make sure that her legacy ah is held up the way we need it to.
00:50:04
Speaker
i mean ah I mean, you just got to get the gays in there. Yeah. It's really what it is. Just let us in there. Have you heard J-Lo's new song? I have not. She has a new song called Birthday. oh wait. Yes. No, I'm lying.
00:50:16
Speaker
Yeah. I'm lying. I didn't hear the whole thing, but i heard i just heard the clip online. Yeah, I personally like it. i I know JLo's getting a lot of hate lately and her and Katy Perry, I think enough. Yeah, like not here.
00:50:28
Speaker
Like the the world has enough problems and enough real shit happening. Like your weird obsession with hating on these two pop stars needs to stop. Like truly. um This song, Birthday, is it the best J-Lo song in the entire world? No, but I think it's a lot of fun. I think it lives in the same universe as, let's see, like Beyonce by um Beyonce or Sleazy by Kesha. Totally. It has like a sonic tone production style similar to those songs. I don't know any of the people on this track.
00:50:59
Speaker
Yeah. I don't either. I didn't either. i was like, okay, new team. And this is random too, because i'm I'm curious because it doesn't look like it's coming through a major record label either. Oh, interesting.
00:51:09
Speaker
It says New Yorican Productions in partnership with 100 Days Records. Okay. don't know what that means. Independent artist, maybe? i mean, it's possible. I mean, she's performing. I think that she's performing like six or seven new songs on this tour that she's on.
00:51:24
Speaker
Oh, really? um Yeah. So i feel like she has an album in the works because she she has a song with David Guetta called Save Me Tonight. Let's do it. Let's go. um There is, i think, a song called Freedom, not to be confused with George Michael's Freedom.
00:51:37
Speaker
um There is, i think, a song called Up All Night. there There are several. i Yeah, want to say there's like six or seven new songs that she's been performing on this tour. I'm doing my sleuthing right now.
00:51:48
Speaker
Right? I'm like, let's do let's go, J-Lo. like it's so it's It's overdue. It is. It's overdue. Yeah. And i think it's you know I think given the hate train and how poorly the last album did,
00:52:02
Speaker
Yeah, like give give your fans something fun to dance to. Absolutely. And let the haters fucking hate. Like it's crazy. It's going to be so silly years from now and when people look back and see how like they were treated for no reason whatsoever.
00:52:17
Speaker
Right. Yeah. That's what always happens because of it's what we did with Britney and everybody was just like, I can't believe. And I'm like, can't you? Yeah. And it's the same. It's like in the same breath when people are like, we need to treat each other with love and respect. It's like, okay, well then where is this? Good. Start with Katy Perry. Start with, yeah. Like, like is Katy Perry the best human being in the world?
00:52:38
Speaker
no, she's a celebrity, right? like They're all going to be egotistical narcissists. And that's fine. Whatever. And that's fine. But like, do we need to just because, I don't know. It's weird. It's weird to me. I, I can't understand why people are being so no crazy about it.
00:52:54
Speaker
no Um, another new song that came out was freak it by Kim Petras. Yeah. i John Michael is the biggest fan of the song.
00:53:07
Speaker
You know what? I just want... I want something so good for her. Yeah. I really, really do. And it's like, you know, i I don't know. I don't i see why this song works for you, but i just it's not my favorite. yeah it's It's funny because I hated Polo.
00:53:24
Speaker
didn't love that either. I didn't love it. I listened to it once and I was like, well, we we'll not be but revisiting this. um Freak It, I heard the snippet online and I was like, I will reserve my judgment until I hear it.
00:53:36
Speaker
When I heard the full song, surprisingly love it. As I mentioned on a group chat with Z Machine, I was like, hear me out. This is a great song to work out to.
00:53:47
Speaker
Right. it's It's giving you BPM. It's giving you high energy. It's giving you like this like complexro borderline dubstep-ish moment. And um I was like, this is really great for like working out. And I i personally really liked it. is it my am We'll see how replay value goes. Right. i You know what? I think it will go off in a live show.
00:54:10
Speaker
Yeah. It'll have so much energy that you'll just enjoy it, I think, when she does it live. But it's like, I don't know. all over the place. It is all over the place. And it's a bit too much for me it's It's a lot. Yeah, it's a lot.
00:54:21
Speaker
The other one that came out this week that may be a bit too much for me, and I don't, I have a hard time seeing the vision here, and Lord knows I love this group so much, is Sophie Tucker did a take on Drowning Pools' ah Let the Bodies Hit the Floor. Oh, I have not heard this.
00:54:39
Speaker
It's... It's something. Your body hit the floor. it's You know what? My body hit something. Something hit the floor. My my my body hit the wall. I was just like, I don't i don't know. I think it's, i the track is great.
00:54:52
Speaker
I will say, like, if there was an instrumental of it, I'm totally down. We'll support. But I think it's, sometimes his vocal just feels ah very out of place, especially with the subject matter there. Interesting. So I'm not sure how we arrived here at this point where we're doing this sort of remix. but um Right, yeah. here for it, but it's it's a little strange.
00:55:09
Speaker
You know what? Remix surprised me What? That came out. ah A New Day by um Sebastian and Grosso featuring Celine Dion. I did not know how I was going to feel about this, but you know what?
00:55:21
Speaker
Bring Celine Dion back. Bring her back and make a dance album. Yes. Yes. Celine. Oh my God. I know you're listening. Please let us just do a remix album. Do do a remix album.
00:55:32
Speaker
but to we're Here's what we're going to do. We're going to do a dance album or a remix album. One of the two. And to celebrate, we're putting all our remixes on streaming. Yes. and we're going to call Tony Moran and he's going to do the Celine Dion hit mix. Oh my God.
00:55:47
Speaker
The 15-minute moment medley. Please don't tease me with a good time. Like, yeah. Because i was i was really impressed with what this mix. i I liked it. I liked it a lot.
00:55:58
Speaker
Yeah. And I'm glad that this is the one that that everybody's going rally around for a minute. Yeah. You know, because it's usually I feel like she always gets I'm Alive is always the one that people kind of reach for, which is fun. Yep. But I like this one.
00:56:10
Speaker
Yeah, I do too. Because a new a new day has come. i remember when that album came out. i I loved that album. Loved. So good. Yeah. Rain tax. It's inevitable.
00:56:20
Speaker
It's inevitable. It's inevitable. It's inevitable. Little swedish ah Swedish robots in the background there. Right. Exactly. um um Wait. Yeah. Another song that I've been loving, which I think we talked about too, is Miss Kaiza, Miss Hideaway Kaiza coming back with Ruin My Life. Have you listened to this EP? I have not listened to it yet. Who was about? Oh, think talking about it with my friend Jimmy. That's what it was. Okay.
00:56:43
Speaker
It's called Dancing and Crying, Volume 2. ah You will love this. Okay. So Ruin My Life just came out this week. um I think all the other songs have been released. Oh, mean no, maybe she put out a handful of them. Two songs have been released. There was a track called So Erotic with Peaches, which you f if you have not heard that, you have to hear it too. Okay, I cannot wait. It's good. I mean, I love her just in general. She's phenomenal. She's a great live performer if you ever get a chance to see her go.
00:57:07
Speaker
But she's giving you like the dance music you want. Oh, I'm so excited. I know that she just joined Bonnie McKee on a remix of Electric Heaven from Bonnie McKee's Ooh, I didn't hear that. yeah And I think that they went on tour together or going on tour, something like that. Yeah.
00:57:21
Speaker
So I'm glad that she- such good tour. Why? Was she like, she was like in a car accident or something, right? Years years It was like a real, real crazy and like- and And that's why she had taken so much time away because she needed to like heal and stuff. But she was in a car accident. She had like a traumatic, I think, major brain injury that she had to like- to relearn how to speak, I think.
00:57:41
Speaker
like Yeah. she Because we went to go see her. It was like one of her first shows back after COVID, after all this happened. And it was like a small, like intimate, when I tell you that if there were 75 people in the room, it's like such a small venue. And she was just up there with like an acoustic guitar and like two other people playing instruments and just phenomenal. Her voice is unbelievable. But she talked about it then. And I was like, I had no idea that that even happened.
00:58:05
Speaker
Yeah. Insane, but I love her. Love her. I'm glad that she's back and I will definitely listen to this because I'm, yeah. The other surprise this week was, which is a song I didn't know, a Confidence Man and ah again our girl Jade with Gossip.
00:58:18
Speaker
Yes. It's so good. It's so good. it just i love The way that the guitar and the song is it reminds me of like early 2000s, like the way that they would use guitar and in dance tracks. Yes.
00:58:31
Speaker
I love it. No, I love it. And the video is great too. Yeah. Yeah. i Oh, I haven't seen the video yet. Oh, yeah. ah She looks great. I am very pro-female pop star with dark hair.
00:58:42
Speaker
Yeah. Because I feel like the inclination is always to go blonde. And I'm like, yeah I get it. But like, and she's got like a black wig on in this one. And I'm so here for it. And let me tell you what, there's nothing that gets me more horny than when a pop girl goes dark. Yes. When a when a pop girl goes du does their dark hair a moment, when and Madonna did it, when Hilary Duff did it, when Britney did it, Christina, I live for dark hair moment. It's so good.
00:59:07
Speaker
Blonde is fun, but dark haired girls have something to say. Yeah, they so they certainly do. Yeah. Blonde is fun, but dark haired girls have something to say. That might be the title of the episode. And another dark haired girl that I love, Across the Pond, um Miss Sophie Ellis Baxter just dropped Dolce Vita.
00:59:26
Speaker
Have you heard that? No. Okay. Our release radars are very different. ah Very different. Because I was like, I have not heard this. I need to get – is this the new album? ah Yes. Or is it a new – okay. Yeah, yeah.
00:59:37
Speaker
This is new album. I loved Vertigo, which was, I think, the one before Yes, I've heard Vertigo. Yeah. Dolce Vita, it literally sounds like you're on a beach somewhere in Italy just, like, hanging out. Fuck. Hell yeah. Yeah, disco-y, super fun.
00:59:48
Speaker
Love, love, love. Okay, I can't wait to listen because, yeah, it's funny. I would say our release radars are very different because none of that showed up on mine. I will say ah another song that had come out recently was perfectly from FKA twigs. is Oh yeah. Deluxe version of you, sexual, which I'm living for. I'm very, very obsessed. She debuted this song in her tour, which she started it earlier this year.
01:00:13
Speaker
and I was like, okay, so it sounds like we will be getting a deluxe and sure
Music Releases and Artist Highlights
01:00:16
Speaker
enough we are. Yeah. um And I'm excited for the deluxe. It sounds like there's going to be a lot of new songs on the deluxe. So she seems like somebody who just doesn't stop creating.
01:00:26
Speaker
Right. You know? Yeah. And I feel like her being on tour probably has so much to do with that too. Yeah. Her, the music video for this song, it's very simple. I haven't watched it It's her and just a bunch of dancers just dancing in front of, in like a white room.
01:00:39
Speaker
Very simple, but it's giving me kind of like 90s, early 2000s vibe. In fact, the even though the songs are very different, And then videos are still very different. Conceptually, the video reminded me of Robin's Show Me Love music video. Remember how it was just like, yeah, i' with a bunch of random people. yeah yeah it' It's giving me that. Okay.
01:00:59
Speaker
Yeah. I'm into it. Yeah. It's, it's a very crisp, sleek video. i love it. Um, yeah, lots of new music that to catch up on. The other one that I'm going to rally around to, and I love her and I feel like she she deserves the flowers and the credit, um Miss Jessica Simpson put out another country song.
01:01:18
Speaker
ah good for her. I loved the first EP that she just released. She's got a second part coming. This is the first single from the second part. I think it's called Nashville Canyon or something. Yeah. Yeah. I saw her talking about it on Good Morning America.
01:01:30
Speaker
It's really, really cute. Good. like it. Like I really do. And it says that it's also co-written by, I don't know if it's true, but Teresa LaBarbera. Who's that? Which is ah very iconic. Like, I don't know if she was A&R, but she worked at Columbia. If you look at Teresa La but she's like an industry exec.
01:01:50
Speaker
Oh, really? American A&R, music executive, talent scout, executive producer who is best known for discovering Destiny's Child and Jessica Simpson. There it is. And now songwriter. Apparently.
01:02:03
Speaker
Love it. yeah Love that. But it's really, really good and she looks great and I'm just like, I'm really, really excited for her because she seems really happy and I feel like she's been through hell and back, so. oh Truly. Right. Truly. And she looks amazing. Like when I saw her in her interview, I was like, oh my God, she like looks like she hasn't aged a day. So it's crazy to think that like all of our pop girls from that time are like now in their mid forties. It is nuts. But you know what though? I feel like this is when we're going to get some of the best music from them.
01:02:29
Speaker
Yeah. You know, 100%. Absolutely. But and the other one, if you didn't see was a a very weird and random, but I love that they're doing this. Nikki and Donna put out a new track.
01:02:39
Speaker
Did they? Yeah, they did a cover Chaka Khan's I Know You, I Live You. Okay. Really good. And for those listening, Nikki and Donna are Madonna's former backup singers from like the Who's That Girl tour through Reinvention. Yeah. No. Drown World.
01:02:55
Speaker
Drown World. Drown World would make appearances here and there on like random things. Yep, they did background vocals on Nothing Really Matters. um they Yeah, they did a bunch of stuff with Madonna during that time.
01:03:07
Speaker
Donna was still on tour with her for Reinvention and Confessions, I believe as well. ah But Nikki's from my hometown. Did I ever tell you that? Oh, no. Yeah, Benton Harbor, Michigan, baby! Yeah.
01:03:19
Speaker
Let's celebrate that. I love her. Yeah. She's wonderful. ah and love that. yeah I love that they've been doing music together because they've done they've done a couple songs together now, right? Well, and they sound so good. And I'm just like, you know what?
01:03:31
Speaker
Girls, please give us a disco album. I don't care if they're all covers. like Just do it. like I'm here for that. Yeah. ah That'd be great. Nikki and Donna, if you want to come on the pod. ah that would be oh my god i'd be so excited and so nervous that would be so oh my god i have such a list of questions and i promise they're not all about madonna right i know i could that's it i wonder if they get i mean here's the thing with them whenever i do see them on a show they do milk the madonna of it all i which part of me wonders like do they enjoy that or do they know that they probably won't get on a show unless they get those questions I feel like there's there's a point where you you realize that that's the reason why people probably want to talk to you the most and you kind of make peace with it. I'm sure it had to have been annoying for quite some time.
01:04:14
Speaker
Right. But it's like I feel like I've followed them separately or their solo stuff enough to want to ask questions. And like I have questions for – Donna and like how did you meet up with Matt Quayle and do the hurting how did that happen like because that's such a randomly iconic track that I feel like not many people know about how did your song on and on land in the lap of Junior Vasquez for him to do remixes you know like were you involved in that I i feel like she was because I think that she re-recorded vocals ah if I'm correct but Nikki like Nikki did a cover of um
01:04:47
Speaker
ah was it the Broadway melody song that was the intro for the movie noises off? How did that happen? I would love to know. Like I have like such random questions about their careers that I feel like nobody ever asked them. Right. Right. Right. Yeah.
01:04:59
Speaker
Yeah. So I say all that to say Nikki and Donna, please come on the pod. Come on the pod. We would love to have a little chit chat with you. um One more song that will be coming, ah allegedly coming out next week has not been confirmed just yet, but allegedly, according to posters found around New York City, it is coming out next week.
01:05:18
Speaker
We're finally getting Chapel Roan's The Subway. And when I saw it, I was like, no one is more excited than Zach right now. I have been standing this song since she has been performing it live last summer.
01:05:36
Speaker
And so I was telling my friend. So my friend Michael came out as a ballad lover. Oh, I mean, you know, it's a journey. It's a journey. You have to hold your hands. That's right. That's right. um No, but he he was like talking about how much he loves like ballads whatever. And so I was like, oh, my God. I was like, since you love ballads so much, I was like, you're probably going to love Chapel Rhone's new song.
01:05:55
Speaker
the subway and he was like what and i was like yeah she's been performing it live since last summer um didn't been teasing it been teasing it and i think it's finally coming out she's was spotted allegedly filming a music video which were overdue for a chapel run music video i don't know what her last official music video was but she did not do music videos for the giver or good luck babe which is crazy crazy Yeah.
01:06:17
Speaker
So we are over long overdue for a chapel round music video. Um, but this song is, i here's what I said. I was like, if they cut anything off of that outro, if they do a cross fit or a fade out, I will have, I will personally see to the downfall chapel row.
01:06:44
Speaker
I personally... When I saw the announcement in my mind, I was like, wouldn't it be funny and make him really crazy if they just put out a completely different version of the song? Oh my God. Because what makes the song for... I think what makes the song for everyone is that outro.
01:06:59
Speaker
Right. That outro, the inner... How do I say it? the it's it She starts with... she's got, she's got away. And then it goes to, she got, she got away.
01:07:12
Speaker
And they go back and forth just for the end of it. And it's just so beautiful. It kind of reminds me of, remember we talked about it on the last show, ah like last summer when she first started performing it live, we were like, it sounds kind of like maybe Alanis Morissette or Celine Dion.
01:07:29
Speaker
And my brother, he was like, it sounds like that one song, it's like, But it could have been love. But it's all for now. Roxette. Sorry. but Yeah, Roxette. Sorry.
01:07:39
Speaker
my voice is sucked My voice is trash right now. Also fractured. Also fractured. from and I'm still recovering from last weekend from the voice, that the karaoke. We'll just say that.
01:07:51
Speaker
The karaoke. ah um And so, yeah, trash. But I'm glad that you got that out of that vocal. Yeah.
01:08:00
Speaker
There is a thing, wait, so one of the girls on my team at work, um so have you ever heard a Spottle? No. The game? Okay, so it's like a website, like you go in once a day that they do this and it's, you know what Wordle is?
01:08:12
Speaker
Yes. I think it's sort of like that. I've never played Wordle, but I guess it's sort of the similar. but So they have a thousand artists, musicians, that you can type in and there's like six different things that will tell you it's like their popularity, what year their debut was, if it's a guy or a a man or a woman. what country they come from. And like, just you're trying to match all of these six things to get it right. So like you'll type in Drake and then you'll see if any of the things turn around and they'll get you a little bit closer. and then you're like, okay, it's not Drake because it's not this.
01:08:40
Speaker
Bad Bunny. Oh, it's not that. Okay, so it's it's maybe it's this. And you keep you get 10 guesses to get it right based on these context clues. That sounds fun. Yeah, and I think that you would really, really like that.
01:08:51
Speaker
Yeah, okay. It's fun. I need to get in there. And then there's another one where they where or we do this how we start our weekly meetings like this, and we just do this first with the team. And then it's like there's one where they play like one second of a song, and then know if you get it, then you can type it in. Or if they'll play, you can skip ahead for two seconds of the song and see if you get it in that time.
01:09:10
Speaker
it's It's really, it's a good time. Okay. I love that. Random. Wow. Random. Also, new music and new residency coming. Sam Smith. Oh, really? Have you heard it? To Be Free just came out on Friday. I i didn't hear. I saw that he ah that they were releasing it. I did not listen. i mean, it's very, very Sam Smith. It's a ballad.
01:09:29
Speaker
Okay. Yeah. And, but I didn't know that there was a residency. Where's the residency? in New York is doing like 10 days, I think at Madison Square Garden or something. Something crazy like that. really? Go off Sam Smith. Yeah. I got to tell you that concert, I saw the Gloria tour. It was phenomenal.
01:09:46
Speaker
Yeah. Like, I really, like, I didn't know what a Sam Smith show was going to be like, because I didn't know if it was going to be like, you know, croony ballads and like that sort of thing because they don't have like a ton of up-tempo stuff, but right right it was just, it was all over the place. It was great. Like to see somebody, especially someone who is male presenting non-binary, just be so comfortable in their skin and like yeah wear pasties and high heels and do like, you know, whatever. i was just like, bitch, yes. Yes. Go off, yeah. so now that I feel like the shock of that, and that sort of came at came out with the Gloria album, maybe this is like,
01:10:27
Speaker
I'm curious to see where this all lands as the dust from all that has settled.
Discovering Music and Listener Engagement
01:10:30
Speaker
So, right. Yeah, absolutely. I wonder if this is going to usher in a new album for them. I hope so. I really hope so because I miss Sam's voice a lot.
01:10:38
Speaker
Yeah. I'm big fan. Okay. I'll have to check this out. I need think I need to get up ah with it because I'm like, Spotify is weird though. Well, I'm, you know, ah well, I mean, I'm an Apple music girl. Oh, right, right, right.
01:10:49
Speaker
So I, do they do the same thing where it's like every week? the So here's the thing. I actually – I invest in both, and I love the way that Spotify does like the release radar um and the New Music Friday playlist.
01:11:04
Speaker
They do a really good job of marketing that and promoting that. Their algorithms work really well there. yeah But because I use Apple Music more, the the release radar doesn't always work the way it probably should because I use my music more on Apple Music. Right.
01:11:18
Speaker
So, and I'm sure, and and Apple does, but I just don't use their features as much. I don't know. I just, yeah. Yeah. And I think it's more just because I'm more in tune with what i already know and I like so that I go, I will, I will go and seek it out versus, versus letting someone tell me when it's coming out. Totally.
01:11:35
Speaker
If that makes sense. No, it does. It absolutely does. It's like most of my Spotify stuff is dance music. Like it's mostly like DJs and stuff, but I feel like if you, yeah you have to actively make sure that you're going in there and like following artists, otherwise they will never show up in this.
01:11:49
Speaker
Right, yeah, because like, hold on, let me let me see what I did laugh because it always tells me something really funny in my release radar. Let me see, let me see, release radar And so so, okay, so again it's it's it's a mix, it's a mixed bag. So like it gave me like Madonna, um like you know, The Power of Goodbye, one of the remixes from Veronica Electronica, gave me Mariah's new song, Gossip, um J-Lo's Birthday.
01:12:15
Speaker
So it, it, um, it goes there, but then it also will give me stuff like, where is it? ah
01:12:25
Speaker
Okay, maybe it's not so much. It was giving me, okay, shit like this. It'll be like Like a Prayer by like Guy Scheiman. Oh, yeah. It'll give me a lot of stuff by, it'll give me a lot of like, you know, that style of music. Kind of like, got i kind of like circuit music that I'm, you know, sitting here like bitching about earlier. But I'm like, I hate it. And then it's all it's giving me. You're like, we know who you are.
01:12:48
Speaker
yeah Like, it'll give me a lot of DJs, remixes and things like that. So, um so I do use both, but yeah. you Hey everyone, it's Zach from Homophonic Podcast. Thank you so much for tuning into this episode. John, Michael, and I, as we mentioned earlier in the episode, have been having a very busy summer. So we actually did a two-part episode where we were just trucking through all sorts of topics.
01:13:13
Speaker
So we didn't do a songs we don't talk about enough for this particular episode, but we do have a really fun one for the following episode that will be coming out next week. So more to come. Thanks so much for listening and we'll catch you next week.
01:13:25
Speaker
Bye.