The Whistling Winds

We’ve got a new craze on our hands in the music world and, surprisingly, that craze happens to be whistling. Since last year, it has been popping up more and more in charting songs so let’s review how we reached where we are now.

The very beginning of this current whistling era (about four years ago) was led by Peter Bjorn and John‘s Young Folks, a song that was added as background noise in anything from commercials to TV shows and seamlessly embedded into our brains. The first building block.

 

Last year, we were eased into The Black Keys‘ latest work with a whistling intro to Tighten Up. This song would eventually yield a music award for the duo, well, technically for The Black Eyed Peas.

Also about that time the song Let’s Go Surfing materialized and was the only song noticed by relative unknown, 80s-throwback The Drums. Maybe their sound would have gone over better if the entire album featured impressive whistling.

 

So, with little hesitation, Britney jumped on the bandwagon with the release of Femme Fatale in January. Her song I Wanna Go skyrocketed on the pop charts over the summer and, sure, you could write it up to being backed by a platinum princess but come on. The whistling is in the chorus’ lead-in, repeated three times, and did not get on her listeners’ nerves.

After I Wanna Go came the xylophone/whistling mix The Good Life by OneRepublic. Yes, it’s an incessent, repetitive tune used in every movie trailer, TV drama, and inspirational moment of basically anything, I’d put money on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, for three months straight.

Which brings us to now. With Foster The People‘s sudden first class flight to fame and Adam Levine reigniting his music career by way of reality television, both are competing for the top spot. Number one song in the country. Whatever new club body-grind-synth-hip-hop mix feat. DJ Swack-Swack of the moment cannot hold on to that #1. It’s between sunny Pumped Up Kicks and the I-got-swagger Moves Like Jagger. Take your guesses.

The statistics are there when you actually step back, stop whistling along, and examine it. It’s not a normal trend, that’s for sure. Soon artists might just hum their lyrics because singing is evidently way out of fashion.

Mimi

Surfing, Houdini, and Whatever Happened Last Friday Night

The perfect Summer soundtrack must consist of light, happy tunes with a high octave and an infectious beat. Major chords, tamborine, and plenty of guitar hooks. It’s not the season to be deep and brooding, it’s not the time to unload a series of emotional baggage. Save your Black Keys and put away your Adele. It’s summertime.

A glass of lemonade and a beach pop-style album will get you far this summer, whether your preference is The Drums, with infectious songs like Let’s Go Surfing or Foster The People with Pumped Up Kicks, which has already been downloaded 300,000 times on iTunes off their brand-new album. Another good choice would be Everybody Else, a trio of pretty stoner Cali boys with jams like Born To Do and Rich Girls, Poor Girls [ You got the money that I want so bad / I like the rich girls / You got the lovin’ that I never had / I like them poor girls ].

Sticking with the carefree bottom line, some other good choices are relative unkown Jarrod Gorbel‘s song Each Breath and Bruno Mars‘ Runaway Baby, the most eligible future single off his debut Doo-Wops & Hooligans. How can you go wrong with Bruno Mars, honestly?

In my book, reggae music can do no evil. Don’t rule it out; it just may be the quick fix of the destressor you can’t afford. And in a world of artists battling it out with Bob Marley, my personal favorite is Beduoin Soundclash. Listen to Until We Burn In The Sun (The Kids Just Want a Love Song) and you’ll find it difficult to resist this harder side of reggae.

But if these bands’ sounds aren’t sweet enough to fit your summer, turn to those you can trust. Britney Spears has made a comeback of the century with her new album Femme Fatale. Giving off a Black Eyed Peas techno vibe, this album is packed with hits like Till The World Ends, I Wanna Go, and with help from Will.i.am, the provacative Big Fat Bass.

Katy Perry. This trusty wingwoman who would fetch you a margarita and make sure to get you laid by the end of the night, is still managing to keep her sophomore album, Teenage Dream, fresh. With her 80s-inspired, 8-minute-long video to Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F), starring her nerdy teenage alter ego, Kathy Beth Terry, she has worked her magic again. The video features music and TV celebs, like Rebecca Black and my talented/amazing Hanson. Reaching out to thirteen-year-olds and weird, indie kids? Way to go, Kathy.

Mimi