Talk Shmutzig To Me

Post-Modern Jukebox: This blog post is going to be about Postmodern Jukebox and their music video of the song Talk Dirty.

Abq Jew is telling you this right up front because two of his loyal readers have informed him that his blog posts are often wild or meandering. Or pointless. Or derailed, as in

Abq Jew's train of thought has been derailed.

Which assumes, of course, that

1. Abq Jew had a train.
2. A kezayit (that's a technical term) of thought had been loaded onto that train.
3. That train of thought had been, for at least a short period, on the rails.

When Abq Jew first began to write this blog post, he was going to start by telling you the latest news about Scarlett Johansson.

Ms Johansson has, of course, nothing to do with the topic of this blog post. But one of Abq Jew's loyal readers was concerned that the redesign of the Abq Jew Blog might mean no more Scarlett Johansson photos.

Let Abq Jew therefore assure all of his loyal readers that the photos and music and mishegas (that's another technical term) will continue until GOK (G-d Only Knows).

But Abq Jew is not going to talk anymore about Ms Johansson in this blog post.

As he announced right from the get-go, this blog post is going to be about Postmodern Jukebox and their music video of the song Talk Dirty.

But wait! Abq Jew hears you cry. We can't listen to music! We just observed Shiva-Asar biTammuz! It's the Three Weeks!

Abq Jew hears your cry, and is going to ignore it. Perhaps it will surprise you (or perhaps not) to learn that there is a range of rabbinic opinion about music and the Three Weeks. There are those who hold, for example, that

1. One cannot listen to any music at all at any time during the year.
2. One cannot listen to any music at all during the Three Weeks.
3. One cannot listen to any music at all during the Nine Days.

And there are always workarounds and exemptions - for recorded vs live music, for background (vs foreground?) music, and (of course) for professional musicians.

Robyn Adele Anderson

And then there is the perpetual issue of kol isha - a woman's [singing] voice, and the prohibition against a man listening to it.

Which of course does not mean that
a man must walk around with a headset.

It means that a woman may not, must not sing in a man's presence. Or even hum where a man may be present.

But Abq Jew is not going to get into that.

As he announced right from the get-go, this blog post is going to be about Postmodern Jukebox and their music video of the song Talk Dirty.

So let's talk about Rap Music in general, and Jason Derulo in particular.

Now, Abq Jew does not know Jason Derulo. At all. But Wikipedia tells us

Jason Joel Desrouleaux (born September 21, 1989), better known by his stage name Jason Derulo (an alternate spelling of his name which shares the same pronunciation), is an American singer, songwriter, and dancer. 

Since the start of his career as a solo recording artist in 2009, Derulo has sold over 50 million singles and has achieved ten career platinum singles, including "Wiggle", "Talk Dirty", "In My Head", and "Whatcha Say".

What was that second song? Ah ...Which brings us to Postmodern Jukebox in general, and Scott Bradlee in particular.

Now, Abq Jew does not know Scott Bradlee. At all. But Wikipedia tells us

Scott Bradlee (born September 19, 1981) is an American musician, pianist, composer, and arranger. He is known for his viral videos on YouTube, including his work under the moniker Postmodern Jukebox.  

Bradlee was born on Long Island, New York, where he fell in love with jazz at the age of 12 after hearing George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue for the first time. 

Abq Jew really considers "Rap Music" to be one of the great oxymorons of our time - right up there with "Jumbo Shrimp", "Military Intelligence", and "Orthodox Judaism".

But that's OK.

Because this is where Postmodern Jukebox steps in. And it's Postmodern Jukebox that Abq Jew really wants to tell you about. 

So let's talk about Postmodern Jukebox in general, and Rachel Weingarten in particular.

Now, Abq Jew does not know Rachel Weingarten. At all. But Wikipedia tells us

Rachel Weingarten is a marketing strategist, author, beauty historian and noted expert on style, marketing and trends. 

She is widely sought for her opinions and predictions and is regularly quoted in The New York Times, CNN.com, The Washington Post and many others, as well as a business and lifestyle writer and weekly columnist for Parade.com and contributing op-ed columnist for amNewYork.

Abq Jew would know nothing about Postmodern Jukebox were it not for Ms Weingarten, who published an article about PMJ in May. In which she said

If you find yourself underwhelmed by the Auto-Tune-heavy pop music that you hear on the radio (I tuned out some years ago), find a different way to enjoy your music. 

For over a million subscribers to the PMJ channel on YouTube, this means a weekly update/blast from the past courtesy of Scott Bradlee, the brains behind Postmodern Jukebox, and a cast of both regular and evolving vocalists, musicians and other performers (tap dancers! tambourine players! a 7-foot-tall clown!). 

In a nutshell, Bradlee creates retro versions of popular radio standards that run the gamut from Iggy Azalea standard “Fancy” reimagined as a flapper-inspired tune, to Kesha’s Timber transformed to a doo-wop confection. Klezmer and 1970s soul make appearances as well.  

The songs are then performed live (initially in Bradlee’s apartment) by an evolving group of musicians and singers, and the videos are posted to YouTube.

OK! Here we go!

One of the songs that Postmodern Jukebox has covered is - surprise! - Jason Derulo's "Talk Dirty". As PMJ explains

This week [March 2014], we decided to find out how Jason Derulo's "Talk Dirty" would sound if it was written as a traditional klezmer tune. 

 [Singer] Robyn [Adele Anderson] even painstakingly translated the rap by 2 Chainz into Yiddish (file that one under: Things You Can Only See on the Internet). 

As he announced right from the get-go, this blog post has been about Postmodern Jukebox and their music video of the song Talk Dirty.

And here it is - PMJ's Klezmer / Yiddish version of Talk Dirty. Enjoy, but not too much. A woman singing during the Three Weeks! Gevalt!