American Pop, Chinese Pop, and Some Feedback
Now is your time to let me know what you want to see in this newsletter next year
As I mentioned last week, you can find all of the new songs that I've recommended here and all of the old songs that I've recommended here. While you're spinning those…
Give Me Some Feedback
This newsletter was supposed to be an interview with someone who curates a Christmas radio station, but that sadly fell through. Because my plans were stymied, I figured I should get some feedback on what you've been enjoying in this newsletter and what you want to see more of. Click the button to take the anonymous survey. It won't take more than 2 minutes.
A New One
"Numb Little Bug" by Em Beihold
2022 - Indie Pop
The other day I was listening The Supremes' classic "Baby Love." If you'd asked me if it were a happy or a sad song, I would have firmly said the former. Between the arrangement and Diana Ross's vocal tone, the recording is oozing with joy. But then I looked at the lyrics. They stand in contrast to the music:
Oh baby love, my baby love
I need you, oh how I need you
But all you do is treat me bad
Break my heart and leave me sad
Tell me, what did I do wrong
To make you stay away so long
Em Beihold's "Numb Little Bug" lives in the same universe as "Baby Love." Though the arrangement is euphoric, the lyrics suggest the opposite: "Do you ever get a little bit tired of life / Like you're not really happy but you don't wanna die / Like you're hanging by a thread but you gotta survive." It's because of this contradiction that both "Baby Love" and "Numb Little Bug" stick with you long after listening.
An Old One
"浮躁" by Faye Wong
1996 - Dream Pop
Chen Tao, a China Radio International DJ, described Faye Wong as the Madonna of the East. That description only captures part of who Faye Wong is. Though singing in both Mandarin and Cantonese made her Madonna-level famous in East Asia, her music sounds nothing like the American provocateur.
"浮躁", often westernized as "Fúzào" and translated to something akin to "Anxiety", is a restless record. That restlessness is buried deep within the dreamy guitars that suggest the best alternative rock of the 1980s and 1990s. That dreaminess is so entrancing that it led to Wong being the second Chinese musician featured on the cover of Time magazine.
Waiting on the world to change,
Chris Dalla Riva
Want to hear the music that I make? Check out my new EP.
Want to listen to more of my recent favorites? Listen to & favorite this playlist.
