Gojengojengojengogogogogo!

To be honest, this simple closed set she's broadcasting out of really creeps me out.

In defense of Justin Bieber, the song Baby, and vocal processing.

If you were to ask me five years ago what my view on pop music was, I'd probably tell you it was god awful crap. That said, my musical taste has evolved over time, and I've come to accept a lot of pop artists (this may be in part due to Katy Perry being hot).

So here I am listening to music in 2010, at the peak of auto-tuning and processing the hell out of anything you can MIDIfy or record with an audio jack. Auto tuning is what double tracking was forty years ago, and I like it. I liked it twelve years ago when Cher did it with Believe, and I loved it two years ago on Kanye West's 808s and Heartbreak. And I like whatever the hell is being done with Justin Bieber's yet-to-ball(s)drop vocals.

Baby is one of those few pop songs that have a vintage pop sound while still sounding relevant in its own time. Granted he says the title word way too many times, but hey, chances are you LOVE The Beatles' She Loves You, with its repetitive lyrics, "She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah" taking up nearly half of the song. And that too was a loud, obnoxious teen anthem in its time.

I'm also going to take this time to point out that She Loves You is a far superior song compared to Baby (or anything on the Billboard Hot 100 [at the moment]).

Now, I expect Biebermania to eventually die down, he will turn 13 one day after all (remember Aaron Carter? Of course you do/don't), and I expect auto-tuning your vocals to eventually be eclipsed by some new technology that wasn't invented to track whales or something (true story, Google it). But hell, you can't resist getting caught up in slightly enjoyable pop music, especially when its being handled by producers who have given us decent music experiences in the past.

No matter how much effort you put into it, they'll always hit next.

Searching through my Google News flip-through-the-news object feature (something so cool they had to put it at the bottom of the page so no/every one could see it), I came across this article from Men's Journal (who tried to woo me into a one-year subscription with pictures of a Mercedes carboat and Viggo Mortensen) on making "an unforgettable summer mixtape:"

"As the president of Rock River Communications, Jeff Daniel helps big brands build an identity through music — in fact, he’s the reason you hum Madonna and Missy Elliott while you shop at the GAP. The guy knows a thing or two about pairing music with life, and he’s put together the perfect playlist for your next summer party."

So this is the guy responsible for possibly irritating you with constant replays of certain songs as you are shopping through various stores. And now he wants to give back:

“'There are two basic rules of thumb,' he explains. 'Always look for timeless sounds and melodies as opposed to being overly concerned about playing the latest and greatest. And don’t be afraid to be eclectic and to mix styles; you can always order the songs to make them flow. A entire mix of electroclash will get boring. All of the tracks on this mix will stand the test of time, even though many of them are brand new.'"

Okay so, really, the one reason I chose to post this was because I made my "Beginning of Summer Mixtape 2010" already. But Gorillaz and Vampire Weekend are nowhere near it (though The Dead Weather's I Cut Like A Buffalo is). Needless to say, I like the track listing here, but let me show you my picks for Summer 2010 after the jump.

Make an Unforgettable Summer Mixtape (via Men's Journal)