You wanna leave me here, leave me out of sight

I think at one point I had some supposedly deep analysis of the following song that I was going to post up, but that was months ago, so of course I've lost it since then--which is just as well, because thinking back on it, I'm pretty sure it was a lot less good than I thought it was. And yes, this does make the third time I've written about Danish singer Mukupa--apparently this is the week of reoccurring characters on this blog. Oh well. Anyhow, for more information, check any of my earlier posts on her, though it's probably worth noting here that, very sadly, Natasja, her long-time friend and who she'd formed a pretty boundaries-breaking duo with back in the early '90's, passed away in a car crash fairly recently; Mukupa was in the same car. Today's song has also been sung by Swedish artist Ann Winsborn and by former Eurovision contestant Xandee, but since I don't have Xandee's version and Ann is enough of a pop blog favorite already (deservedly so--if you don't know her and have any interest in pop with some dance beats and maybe a bit of disco, run and seek out her two albums Everything I Am and Pink Collar Crime right now, because she's fantastic fantastic fantastic) and Mukupa, who co-wrote the song, isn't nearly well-known enough, that I thought I'd go with Mukupa's original version (from back in 2001, as opposed to the 2004 album releases of both the aforementioned artists) instead.

Edit: or it's really late and I've already posted this before! Well, I'll keep the description since it's longer than last time, but I'll throw in another song as well.

I Need You--this is one of Mukupa's more dance-pop and less hip-pop songs (as you might guess, given who's covered it), though it's a slick sort of far-from-joyous dance-pop that there surely must be a better name for. There are still vestiges of Mukupa in Ann's version--the little half-raps are definitely more in keeping with her style than Ann's. Ann's version (which I love as well) is surely more of a complete, well-produced sounding song that fits in solidly with her album and is probably the better song, but for some reason, I have such a soft spot for Mukupa's version--maybe because it's one of the few songs that finds her showing vulnerability, as opposed to the more "strong woman with some attitude" feeling you get from so many of her songs, and as a result it just hurts that little bit more to hear her being hurt--near the end, where she starts to sing over top of the chorus, just sort of...works, without ever having to move beyond its light pop sound. The more sparse feel of Mukupa's version may make it sound less lush than Ann's, more demo-like and maybe more of its era, but it adds a musical clarity I love. The keyboard line running throughout is worthy of special note as well.

Something About The Boy--the chorus reminds me of something else, but I can't place it. Anyhow, this is more on the bouncey pop side, with a chorus that sounds solidly out of the year its from but that still holds up today.

Sigh...I think I'm losing it, I really do!

To buy Mukupa's album 2nd Base, go here (physical) or here (digital). At the very least, if you didn't get it when I posted it earlier, pick up the Fu Tourists Remix of "Stop Stop," which is swooshy dancey fabulousness. You can visit her MySpace here.

Next up: I'm not really sure--maybe that American group finally?