#3 Lady Gaga - Aura/Burqa (demo version)
I must have a thing for Lady Gaga. Yes, I've heard the complaints. "She's ripping off Madonna" / "she's trying to hard to be provocative" / "it's just pop music." Gaga's pretty much guilty on all three counts, but it doesn't matter because even though the music may just be gussied up pop music, it's interesting gussied up pop music. Take the demo that leaked earlier this year for the song that would end up being simply called "Aura". I prefer this version to the more polished final cut we got on the album ARTPOP. I like how the song sounds like it's all over the place. It begins with twangy guitars out of some Robert Rodriguez mock B-movie, then moves into some modern dubstep thing with lots of stutters and breaks. By this time you may be thinking "what the heck am I listening to?" and just then the song bursts into a delectably sugary sweet chorus that would even make ol' Madonna smile. I love it.
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#2 Benny Mardones - Into the Night
And here's my requisite retro pick of the year. I'd never heard this song until Little Earl posted an entry about it this past summer. At first I liked the song ironically, mainly for the dated music video. But after a while the song clawed its way into my head and now I unabashedly adore it. It begins almost lazily, but slowly builds in intensity so that by the end of the song you've got the full on "slowly dipping his toes into a vat of acid" screams as Little Earl so eloquently described. Here's to you and your pedophilic ways Mr. Mardones, earning you my number 2 spot for 2013.
Damn Zrbo, you're practically giving me a little winter blogging break. I could kind of get used to this! Nevertheless, loyal readers should probably expect another installment of Yuppie Rock as soon as tomorrow night? Enjoy your ride at the top while it lasts.
ReplyDeleteAs for "Into the Night," glad to be of service. I admire your open-ended criteria for "Songs of the Year." And it's funny but I almost didn't do a post on this song. There's something so irrevocably stirring about that out-tro and the way that Mardones sounds as though his spleen is being pulled through his urethra.