I'm looking for music that has "pop" mass appeal and lyrics that are ironic/post-modern. In other words, intelligent, but not intelligent at first glance. Some acts that I've found which fit this criteria are: Steely Dan, Scritti Politti, and Beck. Any other recommendations?
posted on Jul 16, 2008 - 46 answers

Let's say you're putting together a mix of your favorite obscure 1990s pop/rock music. What are the top couple of tracks you'd be sure to include? [more inside]
posted on Jul 2, 2008 - 72 answers

I'm looking for songs with the Catholic sound - like Enigma: Sadness. [more inside]
posted on Jun 23, 2008 - 16 answers

Hi. The geniuses on here have helped before with a seemingly impossible question. About 10 years ago, I downloaded an African song (I cannot remember what country the artist was from or even what particular "style" it was in) that was called something like "T'wala bimsu". Somehow I lost the song and I would be very gratified to find out the artist's name and the song's true name so that I could buy the CD if it exists somewhere. The song is upbeat with a lyrical hook floating over a percussive "bassline" for lack of a better word. I vaguely remember another song by the artist concerning a yellow bus. Does this ring a bell with anyone? Thanks!!
posted on Feb 20, 2008 - 5 answers

SongFilter: What is this song? [more inside]
posted on Jan 6, 2008 - 5 answers

Where can I find covers of popular songs done in the style of c64/amiga/mod/xm etc? [more inside]
posted on Jan 5, 2008 - 9 answers

How can I find the right bass player for my band in the Philadelphia area? [more inside]
posted on Dec 30, 2007 - 20 answers

Help me identify the LAST unknown songs on my Itunes. Mostly jazz, some blues and one or two pop songs. [more inside]
posted on Dec 11, 2007 - 18 answers

I want to hear songs that are ironic reimaginings of other, more popular songs. This is hard to explain; examples inside. [more inside]
posted on Dec 7, 2007 - 77 answers

Babe-in-the-wood-music-biz-filter: just suppose I come across an utterly winsome and amazing and yet unknown pop-ensemble from Eastern Europe: [more inside]
posted on Nov 5, 2007 - 10 answers

Help me find other artists who combine poetry and music in interesting ways? [more inside]
posted on Oct 11, 2007 - 31 answers

Looking to find pop music that was big in Ghana in 1996. [more inside]
posted on Oct 10, 2007 - 9 answers

What kinds of music are hip French 19 year-olds (or any hip people for that matter) listening to? Who are some popular artists? [more inside]
posted on Oct 4, 2007 - 19 answers

Jack Endino famously traced back the roots of yarling in the manner of Creed's Scott Stapp. Have the origins of other popular music singing styles been established? Two examples of distinctive styles are the floaty west coast folk style of the 60's (e.g.) and the back-of-the-throat 80's singing sweeping the internets in the form of Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up (other non-rickroll examples). I'm looking for the history of other pop music singing styles, not just the above-mentioned two, but these were the ones that got me thinking. Ideal would be essays on the subject. [more inside]
posted on Sep 5, 2007 - 4 answers

I can't believe I'm going to blow a question this, but here goes: I keep hearing this really lame hip pop track that features the artist calling out: Whooooooooooooooooo? Yoooooooooooooooooou! and then some references to superman. It's stuck in my head. I can't seem to google it. I've listened to everything on the charts. Help me go to sleep.
posted on Sep 2, 2007 - 5 answers

I'm in Buenos Aires for a week, what Argentine rock and pop (not Tango) CDs should I buy? [more inside]
posted on Aug 11, 2007 - 8 answers

I would like to make a mix of "post grunge" modern rock type music. Gin Blossoms, Toad the Wet Sprocket etc. [more inside]
posted on Jul 26, 2007 - 71 answers

Do recommend me music like Aïcha by Khaled. [more inside]
posted on Jul 24, 2007 - 6 answers

I'm looking for mid-century pop songs with sexist lyrics. Think Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin singing about how nice it is to have a "girl" cooking dinner at home. Or about all the pretty "girls" out on the street. The lounge feel is what I'm after, though anything jazzy ought to work. Please help me annoy my wife! [more inside]
posted on May 10, 2007 - 73 answers

What is the best song by the worst band? [more inside]
posted on Apr 14, 2007 - 146 answers

What is the name of the band that was popular in the mid-1990's with a few hit singles. I think they were from California.... [more inside]
posted on Mar 15, 2007 - 5 answers

I keep hearing this song when I'm out and about in Australia. What is it? Humming included. [more inside]
posted on Feb 25, 2007 - 12 answers

I have a strange affection for the syrupy, slightly outdated, epic-sounding vocal pop of female singers like Eleni Vitali (Greece), Selda Bagcan (Turkey), Lata Mangeshkar (India), and the like. Who else would you recommend in this line? [more inside]
posted on Feb 11, 2007 - 7 answers

I recently admitted to myself and to the world that I really, really love ABBA's Dancing Queen! Are there any interesting indie / rock covers of it to be found online? [more inside]
posted on Jan 27, 2007 - 28 answers

Help me discover some great orchestrated pop music. [more inside]
posted on Jan 15, 2007 - 55 answers

I just watched the Scorsese-directed, 17-minute video for Michael Jackson's Bad, released on 1987, and I'm trying to figure out which subway station it was shot in. Most stations looked different back then, of course - there's been a lot of fixing up and adding of art since then. It looks like maybe it could be the 2nd Ave F stop, but it could also be the Broadway/Roosevelt/74th St multi-train express stop in Jackson Heights, Queens. Or.... where? Does anyone know? I haven't been successful finding anything about it via web searching.
posted on Nov 13, 2006 - 7 answers

What percent of US citizens have never heard of the Beatles? [more inside]
posted on Sep 6, 2006 - 37 answers

Popmusic filter, I really like the gospel choir singers singing along to rock music, ala The Killers "All these things I have done", or Marilyn Manson's "I Don't like the drugs but the drugs like me". Any ideas for songs like this?
posted on Jul 1, 2006 - 37 answers

Where can I get indie rock gigs outside of (but nearby to) Pittsburgh, PA? [more inside]
posted on Jun 28, 2006 - 21 answers

songfilter: I am trying to compile a CD of pop/rock tunes that uses the bagpipes or its assorted cousins including keyboard fakery to achieve a celestial set of tones that only squeezing a bladder with a mouthpiece can provide. [more inside]
posted on Jun 25, 2006 - 33 answers

Where should I try to get (indie-pop) bookings in London? [more inside]
posted on Jan 9, 2006 - 15 answers

Songfilter: This one is kind of a long shot, but can someone tell me the name of this rock song based on my sloppy transcription of its notes? [more inside]
posted on Nov 4, 2005 - 10 answers

Why is CD playback on my Win2K machine plagued by "popping"? [more inside]
posted on Nov 1, 2005 - 7 answers

Creepiest / most double - entendre laden Rock n' Roll era love songs? I've been listening to a lot of XM radio lately, and it's re-ignited my love for 50's and early 60's pop, especially the significant minority of songs that are hauntingly creepy or surprisingly explicit... [more inside]
posted on Oct 29, 2005 - 35 answers

MusicFilter: I enjoy Figurine. What else would I like? [more inside]
posted on Oct 20, 2005 - 12 answers

What are some of the most overtly religious modern pop/rock/mainstream songs that sound great, and more importantly believable, in their devotion rather than jusy cringeworthy or preachy? Preachy titles also welcomed for comparison.
posted on Oct 17, 2005 - 70 answers

I have an embarrassing confession: I love the music on The Price is Right. Help me find more like it. [more inside]
posted on Jun 16, 2005 - 13 answers

There was a single released in mid 2004 by a young white pop-act rapper, who we were told was going to be the next new female eminem. She may have sung about being a serial killer, but that didn't suit here, more like MC Britney S, then she disappeared without trace. Who was she?
posted on Apr 20, 2005 - 13 answers

When I was a kid, I remember hearing on the news about a study that had determined that there were a few specific life-cycles for the way a hypothetical person's might react to any new pop-song. One type of song would get more popular the more times it had been heard and then would plummet in popularity when a person had heard it around fifteen times. Others took longer to get popular but would stay at the top longer. These studies were used to help radio networks determine what to play - how to make songs into hits and how often to play them once they had become hits. Does anyone know anything about these studies and where I might be able to find them?
posted on Apr 4, 2005 - 3 answers

Thanks to this, I'm trying to find out what the top-selling single was when I was born (Dec. 4th 1982).
posted on Mar 23, 2005 - 48 answers

I am a fan of radio music documentaries, like the BBC's 6 Music Plays it Again or The Edge's The Ongoing History of New Music. Is there any place online where I can listen to such things? Some sort of archive is preferred so I can listen at the odd hours I keep rather than tuning in at a certain time. [more inside]
posted on Feb 27, 2005 - 4 answers

Inspired by this question , any suggestions for great "3 minute pop song" bands, in the vein of The Lemonheads, Teenage Fanclub, and the like?
posted on Dec 21, 2004 - 43 answers

I'd like to put together a collection of new (i.e., unfamiliar) music for a friend who gravitates toward the more wistful moments of Belle and Sebastian, James, et al - Brit indie pop that often falls under the dubious label "twee." Any recommendations?
posted on Dec 21, 2004 - 37 answers

SongLyricFilter : I heard a song on a local semi-indie radio show, and would like to know who it was. I remember precious few details, however. Sparse arrangement, just a singer and a guitar at first. I remember the phrase "space and time" coming up a lot, and something like "I could write a long letter."

Sorry to be so vague. Any ideas?
posted on Aug 28, 2004 - 8 answers

Following up this question, I want to expand my music collection beyond classical & jazz. I don't know much about music from the 1950s to the present, but I know what I like. Melody is really importand to me. I prefer happy, sad and thoughtful to angry (I don't like "screaming" rock at all). I don't like drum-beat heavy dance music. I prefer the 60's/70's sound (or stuff influenced by it) to really contemporary stuff. Here are some examples of what I like: most Beatles, Simon and Garfunkle, ELO's "Mister Blue Sky", a lot of They Might Be Giants, some Billy Joel ("Piano Man", "Moving Out", "Uptown Girl"), some of The Mommas and the Pappa's, some Aimee Mann, some Carol King, The Beach Boys, and The Roches.

What else would I like?
posted on Aug 17, 2004 - 48 answers

What's the difference between Pop and Rock? [More Inside.]
posted on Aug 15, 2004 - 38 answers

Metafilter braintrust: Is there a site I can go to and enter an artist/group of artists and get recommendations based on my listening preferences? Something a little less retail oriented (ahem: Amazon). Thanks!
posted on Aug 12, 2004 - 11 answers

Touring guitarist with Sarah McLachlan. Vic Something? I caught the pick, but not his last name when introductions rolled around. No info on her site detailing band members, a friend says they rotate depending on the tour. I'd love to know if the guy has any of his own work out. Any suggestions?
posted on Jul 31, 2004 - 6 answers