It's better not to talk about certain things
2025 Mix 16: Oops! All Golden Beats II
Another Golden Beatology week — as a reminder, Golden Beatology is my special process for determining which songs will particularly appeal to the electorate of the People’s Pop Polls as a Golden Beat (a song you love that is new to you).
I ignored my Golden Beatology instincts in my nomination in the Poppelgangers poll (where you nominate two different tracks with the same name), going instead for my favorite pair — The Jive Bombers’ “Bad Boy” from 1956 and Marwa Loud’s “Bad Boy” from 2018 — rather than either of the two pairs that passed my Golden Beatology test. Those were:
Princess Nokia (2020) / Angélica Garcia (2024): Gemini
OR
Vanessinha (2001) / KayGee DaKing, Bizizi, & DJ Taptobetsa (2020): Pikachu
“Gemini” was my initial strategic choice—my third- or fourth-favorite choice among my picks and relevant to the theme. “Pikachu” hits two favorite genres (baile funk and amapiano) and would probably do pretty well on players’ Golden Beat nominations. But alas, the heart wants what the heart wants, and the heart in this case wanted a “Bad Boy” (or two).
If you need some potential Golden Beats yourself in addition to the ones you’ll find on today’s mix, here’s a YouTube playlist Tom Ewing put together of Golden Beats nominated specially by poll participants who could nominate anything from 5 years of polls. You can also check out every song that made it to the Golden Beat finals over the years.1
And now, on to Golden Beatology II: Here We Gold Again [working title].
1. Florence Adooni: Vocalize My Luv
Ghana
Starting with a recommendation from Kel, who last year pointed me toward “Deep Shit Times” (a song that might have made my Top 20 if I bothered to rank everything, and it still has under 40 views on YouTube!). This is the polar opposite of that vibe—a Ghanaian highlife artist with a single released in November for her 2025 album, worth listening to in full.
2. Amina: Niemand Zijn
Netherlands
This Amina was born in 2001, and has no relation to the French pop star Amina of controversial Eurovision silver medal fame and also of “Scheherezade” fame, the lead track from my 1985 mix. But Amina (2001) is good, too, some straight-ahead lite disco pop.
3. Marilina Bertoldi: Autoestima
Argentina
Crackerjack song, crackerjack-er video. Addison Rae continues to be the living embodiment of Roger Ebert’s complaint about the movie 200 Cigarettes—i.e., that no one knows how to smoke on film anymore—in her new video for “Headphones On,” so watching someone who looks genuinely desperate for a cigarette try to get one lit is a breath of fresh air. (So to speak.) The song is also notable for sampling Argentine post-punk group Sumo from 1985, source of today’s title and a song that might have gone on that ‘85 mix if I’d heard it at the time.
4. Tábata Lemonte: Menina-Mulher
Brazil
Brazilian pop with a generalist Latin pop template (and maybe a hint of Afrobeats?), with lyrics that might be empowering or ironic if I could judge the tone (which I can’t):
Dedicates herself to therapy, meditates and goes to the gym. Her faith guides her. Body, mind and soul are in order. She pays the bills each month, lives her time sensibly. Money can’t buy your peace, being grateful is worth much more! This Girl-Woman knows what she wants, knows who she is!
My kid informs me that this song is catchy, but that doesn’t mean it’s good. I agree that it is catchier than it is good, but I feel it earned its rounded-up 6.5 slot.
5. Tayna: Thana
Kosovo/Albania
A Kosovo-born Albanian artist who captures a faint echo of Rihanna’s decade-long absence and who should by all rights be a lock for Albania in Eurovision next year if she’s into that sort of thing (I like their entry this year, though — Shkodra Elektronike’s “Zjerm” might be an underdog).
6. Charif Megarbane: Dreams of an Insomniac
Beirut
Second lifetime mix appearance from a name I see frequently in my big lists — a Beirut producer on Habibi Funk who makes the sort of music you’d expect to hear on some recently restored Middle Eastern film soundtrack of the 1970s. (Habibi Funk has also restored the work of actual composers of this period, like Algeria’s answer to Ennio Morricone, Ahmed Malek.)
7. Cumbiasound: En Estos Tiempos Peligroso…
Sweden
Cumbiasound describe themselves as the “best kept secret of the internationalist cumbia scene,” but it may just be that people aren’t looking very hard in Sweden? What’s the Scandinavian cumbia scene like?
8. Penza Penza: Summer Bats
Estonia
Misha Panfilov is one of those artists who shows up so frequently on my mixes without me realizing I’ve featured them before that they’ve become a favorite artist purely through data analysis. Here’s some pitch-perfect surf rock from his garage group.
9. Web Web, JJ Whitefield, Roberto Di Gioia: Apotheosis
Germany
German psych with all the right effects pedals and synth settings. JJ Whitfield, featured on guitar, was last seen on these mixes in 2023, from a pandemic-era project with Madlib.
10. KIWI: Zamknięta w szkle
Poland
11. Mert Tunçmakas, Sera Savaş: Yine Başa Sardık
Turkey
Brooding alt-pop in two flavors: Armenian-Polish artist Wiktoria Nazarian is trip-hoppy, has a whole album of this sorta stuff, while Turkish producer Mert Tunçmakas offers a disco downer with appropriately impassive anti-diva Sera Savaş.
12. The Lijadu Sisters: Araiye Mojuba [1974]
Nigeria
A lovely Numero Group re-release of Nigerian twin act Lijadu Sisters, known for sunny Afropop in the ‘70s and early ‘80s, their paired vocals providing an Althea & Donna-esque sweetness. But some of their early work had a more traditionalist bent, like on this spare, hypnotic drums-and-vocals song from ‘74.
13. Hyphen Dash: Matsuura
Ukraine
Propulsive, if proggish, avant-rock from Ukrainian group Hyphen Dash does eventually find a groove to go with its pulse.
14. Genevieve Artadi, Norrbotten Big Band
US/Sweden
Cool project from Genevieve Artadi, who was composer in residence with a Swedish jazz band who play on arrangements of some of her older material and also offer orchestral muscle for a few new ones, including “Life Exploder.”
15. Yzoula, Louis Fontaine: La promenade de la jeune sorcière
France
Hazy minor-key psych-pop from the former singer/keyboardist of French group La Femme.
16. Clary Costa, Yamandu Costa: Tango para Tereza
Brazil
Lively tango from Brazil, from guitarist/composer Yamandu Costa with his mother, Clary Costa, singing.
17. Cuco: Phases
US
Have kept light tabs on Cuco since his 2019 album Para Mi. This is bigger and less bedroom-y than I remember him sounding, so perhaps he’s moving up in the world. (But he is not yet big enough to graduate from “light tabs.”)
18. Cida Airam, Maíra Shalém: Sharit
Brazil
Seem to have a few things from my non-funk Brazilian lists this week—I’m not complaining, it all sounds great, but I do find myself at a loss for what to write about it beyond “gee, that sounded nice.” (Forget it, Jake, it’s Goldenbeatologytown.) I suppose you should go elsewhere for your fix. I recommend the (sadly finished or at least hiatus’d as of 2025) Brazil Beat to get some tips on music of the past few years. There is a playlist to poke around in if you’re so inclined, as I am.
19. Gregory Uhlmann, Josh Johnson, Sam Wilkes: Frica
US
L.A. jazz group with a spidery sax-guitar-bass(-and-sometimes-loops) piece that I had a hell of a time trying to keep a rhythmic bead on, not least because they didn’t bother to hire a drummer.
20. Almas, gelba: Sadma
Egypt
Ending things with an Egyptian song that sounds like it wanted to launch a big shiny pop number but then got shot with a tranquilizer dart before hitting the stage and is now fighting like hell against the inevitable collapse. Sounds great.
***
That’s it! Until next time, fight like hell against the inevitable collapse in your life, too.
—Dave Moore (the other one)
Title translated from Marilina Bertoldi: Autoestima, via Sumo: Mejor No Hablar de Ciertas Cosas (1985)
You’ll need to look at the full playlist to see the songs not available on Spotify, which are grayed out.
My third episode of "Radio Not Radio" is out: https://www.mixcloud.com/callinamagician/42025-radio-not-radio/. It features several songs I learned about here. (The playlist's available at the link.)