"Chop Suey": A Musical Adobo

This week I was fortunate enough to be contacted by Michael Sutton, a producer, songwriter, and head of his own record label (Sutton Records, oddly enough), all of which I believe makes him an “impresario”. But even if it didn’t, he should still use that title, because it’s just a cool thing to call oneself.

Anyway, Mr. Sutton promised to send me some of his label’s releases, and the first one I received was the one I was most interested in: Chop Suey by Prettier Than Pink. Based on their song samples at CDBaby, it sounded like PTP was going to be another solid retro-Pop girl band, and indeed, the full album did not disappoint.

As an aside, I would just like to point out, once again, what an astoundingly good 12 months it's been for Indie Pop fans. Just look through some of the previous entries in this blog to learn about some of the fantastic artists I've come across in the past year. There hasn't been such a flood of good pop since that Coca-Cola factory got blown-up in The Killing Fields. (See what I did there? Flood of...good...pop? *ahem*)

Prettier Than Pink was originally formed in the Philippines by lead vocalist/guitarist Lei Bautista. They had a smash hit in 1995 with "Cool Ka Lang" ("Just Stay Cool" -- which inspired a Filipino film of the same name, if I'm not mistaken) and released two albums, the first of which went gold. After that, Bautista emigrated to the USA, where she reformed Prettier Than Pink a few years later.

The result is Chop Suey, a very fun collection of Pop tunes displaying a variety of influences. The band lineup consists of three Filipina expats -- the now-married Lei Bautista-Sutton, lead guitarist/vocalist Pamela Aquino, and bassist/vocalist Melody del Mundo -- along with drummer Ann Connolly, representin' for Ireland.

Ostensibly, PTP is an 80's Pop/New Wave-style band, but in fact their influences run much wider and deeper. Sure, there are a few tracks in which they display that classic Go-Go's sound, and there's nothing wrong with that. But there are plenty of surprises, too: Some tracks, such as "Hair" and "Baby", have a 60's Bubblegum tinge to them, sounds that were made famous by bands like The Ronettes or The Archies. I even detected a bit of Supremes-style Motown in there.

Meanwhile, the song "Kryptonite" is a full-on blast from the 80's, but it also features a brilliant little guitar riff by Ms Aquino, which results in a Bangles/Beatles mashup sound. I wish such a band actually existed, because then they could call themselves "The Beagles" (go ahead, you can use that idea for free).

And the unexpected doesn't end there: "Johnny Blaze" is a classic torch song in the vein of...Peggy Lee?! Well, that's what it sounded like to me, but then I am a bit rusty on my Cold War-era American torch singers. Finally, the album closer "Irish Rose" is a solid U2 tribute, with Ms Connolly going at the drums with an enthusiasm that would make her countryman Larry Mullen proud. And through it all, Mrs. Bautista-Sutton keeps the vocals simple, but knowing; evoking the source material without ever parodying it.

It turns out that Chop Suey is a rather appropriate title for a simple album that combines many different elements to make an appealing platter. Why not pick up a copy -- just in time for Chinese New Year!

It's No Bother At All

Going with a different font here, just to see if it works better. The "small" Arial that I was using looked a little too small, but Blogger's "Normal Size" is too freaking huge, in any font. This small Verdana looks to do the trick.

Fascinating stuff, isn't it? Maybe I'll do "Font Talk" every Monday!

OK, just one more bit of housekeeping: Mrs. Arhythmius and I have found a suitable apartment. Thus, we will transition from the stress of apartment-hunting to the stress of moving. *Sigh*. Moving is the only type of major trauma that is not directly covered by health insurance. See, I really hate the act of moving. I hate it. Do you get me? I am using the word "hate" here. About moving.

So, please forgive me if I seem more edged-out over the next few weeks. It's just me, quietly developing an ulcer.

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Fortunately, I've got new music to distract me. Last week, another phenomenal Indie Pop artist sent me her album, and once again I am at a loss to explain how commercial radio hasn't latched onto this thing like a corporate Remora.

Dina Gathe is her name, and she's been rocking L.A.'s classic venues for so long, it's kinda strange I haven't run into her before. I mean, even considering that I don't go out anymore. Well, no matter -- I've got her new album Bother Me now, and if you want my copy, then you'll have to have Chuck Heston pry it out of my cold, dead hands.

Bother Me is a huge album, both in content and ambition. There are 15 tracks, and each song is a work of high quality. While listening to the album, I got the distinct impression that Chrissie Hynde was there in spirit. Then I read Ms Gathe's bio, and sure enough, Ms Hynde was listed as a major influence. But I also heard echoes of everyone from U2 to Faith Hill. Ms Gathe is a strong enough songwriter that she can ease into different genres without sounding like she's stretching.

I'd also like to point out that the album was produced by Gilli Moon, an Indie Pop artist in her own right (also heard on Estrogenius), as well as a producer, promoter, and motivator extraordinaire. Ms Moon runs her own label, Warrior Girl Music, and a publishing company, with the mission of providing exposure to deserving female artists. In other words, it's exactly like what I'M trying to do, but fortunately Ms Moon also has talent.

I've added three tracks from Bother Me to the playlist of Estrogenius: "Solid Ground", a crackerjack album opener with a cool rock riff; "Story", a ballad with a beautiful melody and vocal arrangement; and "Is My Everything Enough?", another rocker, but with some odd synth breaks that make it sound like a cross between Duran Duran, Billy Idol and... Dina Gathe, of course.

The expert songwriting and production on Bother Me also reminded me of my favorite Pop artist of last year, Ana Lovelis. Honestly, these women are making my job very easy, and they're making terrestrial radio programmers look really dumb. Well... more dumb.

Dominating the Competition

I will be posting about new music very soon. In fact, as soon as I can take time out from my day job, and apartment-hunting.

But for now, I just wanted to mention something I heard on a local radio advertisement. The Power Automotive Group, a collection of car dealers in Southern California, is running a promotion to get people to trade in their used cars for new ones at Power dealerships.

The name of the promotion? "Power Exchange".

From the sound of it, somebody at Power or their ad agency is into BDSM. If only they'd had the nerve to call it "Total Power Exchange"!

OK, for those of you who don't get it, here's why it's funny.

Come to think of it, that pretty much describes the relationship between any car salesman and a customer.

Blogging for Bloggers

Well, it's nice to be back after a busy Festivus season. Not that I was "away" during the last couple of weeks, but I certainly have been preoccupied. Here are just a few of the things that have been taking up my time lately:

• December 22nd, the day before my wife's birthday, I picked her up at work as usual for our evening carpool. While I was stopped at the curb waiting for her to reach the car -- she was already walking towards it when I arrived -- a fascist Sheriff's Deputy swooped in on a motorcycle and gave me a ticket for "parking in a bus loading zone". The amount? TWO HUNDRED FIFTY-FIVE DOLLARS. As my stepdad would say, "Ho-Ho-fucking-Ho." Better believe I'm fighting this one. Possible downside: I think the MTA traffic court is in Compton. The bastards put it there on purpose!
• On the Thursday before New Year's weekend, the faucet in my bathroom started spewing hot water, and wouldn't stop -- even after I turned off the valve under the sink. It's a Festivus miracle! Unfortunately, the sink eventually began filling up faster than it could drain, so I had to jury-rig a hose from the faucet into the bathtub to prevent (more) flooding. Naturally, it being the beginning of a long holiday weekend, I could forget about seeing a plumber until...this past Wednesday, when it finally got fixed.
• We've started apartment-hunting again (this decision was made before the Fountain of Death incident). Hey, if you're a landlord who's trying to rent-out an apartment, here's a useful tip that will help you close the deal quickly and easily: Answer the goddamn phone. And when someone leaves you a message, return their goddamn call! Holy Cleopatra, what's wrong with you people?!

"And now we come to the airing of grievances!"

There, I feel better now. As you can see, it wasn't the smoothest Festivus, but it could've been a lot worse.

And now, we interrupt this blog to tell you about another blog. Let's face it, if you can get this far into any of my posts without wanting to ram a railroad spike into both eyes, then you must be a dedicated blog reader. You've proven that you have an inordinately high tolerance for fluff, filler and nonsense. Yes, I try very hard to put actual information into Minor Notes, but as you can see by the decreasing frequency of my posts, that involves actual work. Feh. Anyway, my point is, if you like this blog, then you should like this other blog that I like. Like, it's written by Bean, of the venerable Los Angeles morning radio team Kevin & Bean of KROQ-FM.

In case you haven't read-up on my internet radio station Estrogenius, you should know that it was KROQ that inspired its creation in the first place: When KROQ stopped playing female artists, I decided to provide another outlet for them, in the process capturing .000001% of KROQ's market share. Pretty good for an amateur. And yet, I kept listening to KROQ, at least in the morning. Why? Bean.

Well, Bean and Ralph Garman, to be strictly accurate. But Bean is my favorite radio DJ, and for about 15 years he's been a part of the most successful radio show never syndicated. I share his interests in trivia, minutiae, Bjork, and the out-of-the-way places of the world. I think the only thing on which we're at odds is the state of Texas: I rightfully can't stand the place or its people, but Bean has a soft spot for slow folks (after all, look at how long he's worked with Kevin).

Thus, I present for your enjoyment or despair, Bean's Blog. (And if you don't know who Clyde Tombaugh is, you'll learn soon enough.)

The KROQ morning show members. In reality, Bean hasn't had a haircut that good since the Carter administration.