POP/TECHNO/HIPHOP

(the recent popular stuff)

This tribute page does not happen to include the empty pop crap that I used to listen to like Mariah Carey or Paula Abdul, but the things I would recommend that are popular these days in the techno, top ten, and hip-hop categories. There are a few out there if you let yourself be led by the nose by the radio and MTV once in a while.

Coldplay

When they first came out with the song "Yellow" I was dubious, thinking they would be one of those whiny college radio bands. It took them until their second album, but they convinced me there was more to them than comparing lovers to colors. They snagged me by surprise with the song "Clocks" which thrust them into top 40 radio. I hope people heard the rest of what they had to offer, it's better than what is portrayed by the radio and MTV.

Recommended tracks: "Clocks", "Trouble", "God Put a Smile Upon Your Face", "Amsterdam"

Maroon 5

Okay, so they only made one album so far, but it kicks butt. The music is good and the lyrics are biting and helpless in turn. The radio has actually been doing a great job of representing them, playing two of the best tracks off the album so far. Watch out for these guys, they could go either way.

Recommended tracks: "Harder to Breathe", "This Love", "Must Get Out", "Sunday Morning"

N.E.R.D.

This is a somewhat hip-hop, somewhat dance trio whose members have appeared sporadically in other peoples' hip-hop music or have done solo work. They seem to know what they're doing and what their audiences like.

Recommended tracks: "Frontin'", "Loser", "Don't Worry About It"

Fatboy Slim

This is an innovative techno guy who manages to sample music and make it into something a little better (in most cases) than it was before. Some of his remixes I don't know why they ever got popular, but he had to catch my ear sometime with something.

Recommended tracks: "Praise You", "Demons", "Psyche Rock", "Weapon of Choice", "Because I Got it Like That"

Peter Gabriel

He's just on this side of weird and original with frank love songs with a twist, political statement, and stories to make your skin crawl. Adding African and Indian musicians into the mix was very tastefully done. His last album "Up" had a very sarcastic title due to the "down" nature of the material.

Recommended tracks: "Biko", "Shaking the Tree", "Steam", "Digging in the Dirt", "Growing Up", "Games Without Frontiers"

The White Stripes

This should-have-been-alternative band surprised everyone by hitting it big on their third album with a song called "Fell in Love With a Girl" with lyrics you could not understand without reading the liner notes. They have another excellent album most have not heard about called "De Stijl". Check it out.

Recommended tracks: "Seven Nation Army", "Now Mary", "Hotel Yorba", "Apple Blossom", "This Protector"

Janet Jackson

Okay, I haven't liked anything she's put out lately and I do not care if she flashed her breast at the superbowl halftime show, being that it isn't even half as disturbing as people smashing up against each other hard enough to have to be taken off the field on a stretcher. I was even less interested after the media coverage that ensued. Regardless of all of this, she used to make some kick-ass music in the eighties and nineties.

Recommended tracks: "Black Cat", "Nasty", "Runaway", "If", "Miss You Much", "Anytime, Anyplace", "You Want This"

The Indigo Girls

This folk rock duo is pretty much the only gay-friendly music I ever really got into. They do sing about lesbian things once in a while but they also are political and somewhat weird in some places. My favorite song ever is by them and even though they are not quite alternative and not quite pop, they have had some radio songs. The non-radio songs are, of course, deeper and better.

Recommended tracks: "Least Complicated", "Joking", "Shame on You", "Gone Again", "Touch Me Fall", "Blood and Fire"

Alanis Morrisette

I don't care what anyone says. You don't have to like her. I do. Her sarcastic and biting wit is buried beneath the wailing voice, but it's worth checking out the first album.

Recommended tracks: "Hands Clean", "Unsent", "All I Really Want", "Thank U", "That Particular Time", "Uninvited"

Face the rest of the music