Good pop bad pop

Just listening to Yeah Yeah Yeahs new 'un It's Blitz. OMG it's awwwwesome. Totally the way pop should be. Guitar-y, synth-y, beat-y, fiesty, dynamic, catchy. I'm only halfway through and I adore this record already.

I'm learning that if there's a widespread buzz about some music … it's generally on the money. viz. Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, Sigur Ros, MGMT, Ladyhawke, YYYs..

If the buzz lasts a while, then it's not just record company funded hype and it's worth investigating. MGMT took me a while, then suddenly I got it, and now I can access a whole raft of this new shit...

And I'm impressed-with-reservations with the occasional nous of the A&R folk in general… maybe, they just sign a bunch of good-ish stuff, some of it bubbles gradually to the top, they see the trend and help it along and steal the credit retrospectively for being geniuses. But I'd like to think sometimes they could see the potential, and the impending shift in popular taste (non-ironic 80's revival - who knew?!?) from the start.

Also got a gift from Amazon yesterday of newly alternative-cool french pop band Phoenix, after being excited by the Word review. See the You Tube vids, quality. Another slice of brilliant summer-craving pop.