Fifteen years before swing music hit mainstream pop culture through bands such as the Brian Setzer Orchestra, Squirrel Nut Zippers and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Joe Jackson put out his own album of swing covers called Jumpin’ Jive.
Jumpin’ Jive was Jackson’s fourth album and it was released just three years after his debut. It was followed a year later (in 1982) by Night and Day, his most successful record (which featured ‘Steppin’ Out’ and ‘Breaking Us in Two’).
Today’s track is one of my favorites from U2’s mostly forgettable 1997 album, Pop. It has a sleek, sexy groove, courtesy of Larry Mullen, Jr., and Adam Clayton’s subliminal rhythm section that kicks in about a minute and a half into the song.
I’ve always thought that this song is mixed too quiet for general consumption. If you listen to it on anything other than good headphones in an empty room, you’re going to miss half of it. And I think I mean that more as a compliment than a complaint.
Top Songs of 2012 – #6
One of my happiest musical memories of 2012 was the reunion of Ben Folds Five thirteen years after their last album together. Their new record, The Sound of the Life of the Mind, sounded exactly like a Ben Folds Five record should sound a decade later — it wasn’t a flashback so much as an evolution.
It’s funny how the addition of a drummer and bassist who rarely contribute to the songwriting can change a band’s sound. The difference between the four Ben Folds Five albums and Folds’ solo work is really just the men behind the instruments. But Darren Jesse and Robert Sledge combine with Folds to form a musical alchemy that elevates the whole package.
Top Songs of 2012 – #7
Anyone familiar with Aimee Mann’s discography would be unlikely to cite her sense of humor as a standout attribute. She writes melancholy songs about people at the end of their ropes. That’s what she’s always done and probably what she’ll always do.
Sometimes she wraps that sadness in a pretty pop sheen, as she did on her most recent release, Charmer. This album is poppier than anything Mann has released in years, and it’s a refreshing change of pace. The album features slick production, bright instrumentation and catchy melodies, all in the service of the same Aimee Mann worldview.
Top Songs of 2012 – #8
I’ve gotten used to the high quality of Bob Dylan’s recent albums. Unlike the 80s and 90s, there is no longer a fear in the back of my head that his next release might be a real head-scratcher.
This is probably where some of you will chime in and bring up his recent Christmas album (appropriate given the date), to which I’d reply that I actually enjoy that novelty release quite a bit. I’ll take Dylan’s gravelly ‘Little Drummer Boy‘ over most versions, thank you very much.
