When word first got out that Jack White and Alicia Keys were gonna duet the latest James Bond theme song, just the idea of the two music industry darlings pairing up promised it to be far more exciting than the last 007 flick entry (Sorry Chris, your “You Know My Name” was decent, though hardly memorable), even if it ended up being a train wreck of an event that both artists would spend their entire careers trying to forget.
Intriguingly, while the song’s lyrics feel lacking, White and Keys don’t sound all that terrible together, especially when it comes to her honey-toned voice being lain atop his suspenseful blues-rock symphony. Hearing Keys sound all steely-eyed and fierce diva-like as she wades through White’s ominous bassline crawl and giddily over-the-top, orchestral-meets-riffs freak-out only reminds us that when it comes to rock, nothing compliments the form as well as some strong black female chops (Props to Tina Turner and En Vogue for helping prove that theory).
Now all we got to do is convince Alicia how cool it would be to snap up Jack’s services on her next album.
Aside from a couple of repeated ad-lib clips, this remix of Wayne’s seducing Carter III track “Mrs. Officer” might not feature a lot of the rapping Martian on it, but Sweden’s UMYO still manages to come up with something quite arresting even with it’s star component basically reduced to a series of hype-man chants.
Adding sirens and some juke-y drum machine work and spotlighting Bobby Valentino’s addicting “wee-oo-wee” hook (which has been endlessly echoing in our brain since we first heard the original), this energetic jigsaw puzzle of a remix will surely get anyone in a instant nightclub frame of mind no matter what time of day it’s played.
From the sound of The Killers’ new single “Human”, it would be easy to think that the whole mustaches and Springsteen phase that dominated Sam’s Town has officially ended, but let’s not forget that that same album birthed the synth-tastic beauty “Read My Mind”, so the notion that Brandon & Co. are backtrack-ing a bit sound-wise doesn’t necessarily hold up as they’ve never shunned their new wave-y ways completely (Besides, for all we know, this could be the lone song of this style on an album full of Afrobeat numbers).
But I digress. The first taste of the band’s impending third album, the Stuart Price-produced Day & Age, “Human” focuses on epiphanic life inquiries (“Are we human or are we dancer?”, it’s awkward chorus ponders) to a backing track that melds a shiny coat of synth-pop dreaminess with urgent, drum machine chugging. Featuring Flowers’ polarizing quiver sandpapered down a few notches (thanks, Bran), the song nurses a nice coasting feel that’s pleasant on the ears, but it ultimately comes across a tad underwhelming on first listen.
Whatever. When it comes to the Killers, we’re never really satisfied initially anyway. Remember the critical trashing “When You Were Young” received when it first dropped only to earn kudos later on for being so damn brilliant?. Odds are, after living with “Human” a little, we’ll more than likely shower it with the same sort of belated praise.
The understated “Spotlight” was an ultimately satisfying lead-off for Jennifer Hudson’s long-awaited debut solo project, but with this being 2008, an entire album of mid-tempo adult-soul pieces felt highly unlikely, even if it was the style her bombastic vocal seemed the fit the most comfortably.
For the Timbaland-produced/ Ludacris-featured “Pocketbook”, Hudson shows that she can work something with a little more edge without sounding overtly silly. Against a minimalist urban playground of beat-boxed mouth tricks occasionally sweetened by bits of vocal harmony, Hud plays the sassy soul mama, joyously teasing male oglers with her “stride like a model” and “curves like a bottle”, but when approached by one of the slobbers, dishes out a stern warning that she’s not to be easily played.
Un-swayed by his big baller boasts, she quickly puts him in his place (“Take a number baby/ You ain’t the only brother/ Trying to get up under my skirt now”), threatening that if he opts to persist in bothering her any further, a swift slap to the face with her pocketbook would surely follow. With that, she flips her pony tail and proceeds on her path, leaving him flabbergasted as the visual of her sashaying backside disappears down the pavement.
A spicy track that delivers a strong contemporary kick without reducing her to an ill-fitted, Auto-Tuned Ciara/ Cassie knock-off, and flirts with retro oomph without resorting to played-out Motown-mirroring, “Pocketbook” ends up a great listen, allowing room for Hudson’s natural charisma and over-sized pipes to breathe. Looks like her album won’t entirely be the simply serviceable (read: mildly boring) release it seemed destined to be.
A year after striking up edge-of-mainstream praise for the ridiculously catchy “Pro Nails”, Chicago-based rapper Kid Sister is finally set to drop her debut album this November (entitled Dream Date) and our hopes are high that it’ll dish out more servings of goofy guilty pleasures to keep us somewhat distracted from thinking too much about the depressing state of today’s anemic female emcee movement.
For first single “Family Reunion”, Sister does a respectable job in satisfying our wishes, cooking up a fun tribute to the titular kinfolk event that attaches her animated, sing-songy flow to fond references to double dutch, annoying uncles and grannies in need of assistance while producer Diplo paints a chipper mood with an “cha cha slide”-friendly, disco-based instrumental.
To keep it from sounding a little too “Saturday morning television”, insert David Banner, who, usually, can be counted on for tossing in some level of depth to the most mindless of tunes (“We all together like blacks on the back of the bus/ Ten minutes before Rosa Parks stood up”).
It’s now expected that with each major single release or beloved album track, tens of hundreds of amateur acoustic cover versions (sometimes better than the original) will quickly hit the viral video circuit. Los Angeles singer/ songwriter/ musician John Kappas has tapped into this reality-TV-byproduct phenomenon in hopes that public interest will eventually spread to his own original material. A click over to his YouTube channel and you’ll catch moody, piano ballad revamps of songs from Rihanna, Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry.
His formula might follow the same sort of pattern, but the results usually fall on the impressive side (and judging by the high level of amorous, “You are amazing”/ “You are awesome”/ “Get me pregnant” groupie commentary that accompany these clips, he already has established a built-in fanbase of screaming…er, CAPS-FRIENDLY teen girls). To bridge that appeal to his own music, John has padded an upcoming EP with this Kappas-ized remake of Britney Spears’ “Gimme More”.
Trading the dark electro-pop pulse for a solemn keys and strings backdrop, Kappas’ “Gimme More” nicely highlights the song’s innate melodicism (an element mostly hidden behind the original’s dance thump). The lyrics’ anti-press lament does lose some of it’s edge outside of the “struggling, edge-of-crazy pop star trying to re-spark a tattered career” context, but Kappas’ vocal (especially on the desolate echoing of the chorus) makes this such a mesmerizing listen, that factor barely registers.
To sample the rest of Kappas’ upcoming release, head on over to his Facebook page. His premiere EP is set for an October release.
Singer/ songwriter Matt Wertz (a recent major-label signee after about eight years working the independent circuit) taps into the place in our hearts that will always appreciate the unapologetically cheesy, yet still lovable R&B-lite entries of Hall & Oates or The Bee Gees on “Summer Sun”, a recall of sunny seasons past smothered in ’70′s-era soft-rock warm-and-fuzziness.
Sounding like the theme song of some old sitcom, Wertz’ tenderly-sung chronicle of a couple immersed in the pleasures of their young love while on the beach sands holds firm a PG-friendly stance (it never ventures past descriptions of tight body grasps and soft kisses “sweeter than lemonade”), but in an era in which relations are continually fleshed out in pornographic detail, it’s inoffensive lyricism is welcomed. Especially when paired with a blissed out musical frame that carefully straddles restrained disco-boogie and MOR adult-pop.
Is it corny? Hell yeah. But so were the theme songs to “Family Ties” and “Golden Girls”, and we still (secretly) admire those, don’t we?
If Lupe must continue to depress us with the unwavering threats of retirement after his next album, than he better bring us nothing but the goods until that sad day comes. And by goods, we mean more cherishable material like this great remix to The Cool album highlight, “Paris, Tokyo”.
Brought on board this second incarnation are guests Q Tip and (a singing) Pharrell, who lace the chill and jazzy groove with contributions that, while a bit awkwardly mixed, will only re-kindle wishes for some sort of Native Tongues renaissance in the rap game. Surprisingly, who really ends up stealing the spotlight here is the relatively unknown vocalist and Fiasco protogee Sarah Green and her powerfully-piped soul serving. When is her album coming out?
Back in 2001, Nikka Costa had plenty of ears tuned her way thanks to the arresting (and Tommy Hilfiger TV ad-boosted) single “Like A Feather”. Sounding like a lost soul record recently unearthed, the track’s funky tip-toe groove and fuzz-rock bits teamed with Costa’s sassy yowl hit the masses with an exciting electric crackle, leading to early hype-tags casting her as the generation’s version of Janis Joplin or Chaka Khan. While she embodied elements of both iconic women, she failed to make much of a mark sales-wise, and after two well-reviewed but commercially disappointing albums, her at-once promising career seemed to stall.
With so many soul-obsessed White girls earning rave critiques since, it seems to be the perfect time for Frank Sinatra’s goddaughter to re-launch things. This October, she’s set to drop her third album, Pebble To A Pearl, via a conjunction deal with her own Go Funk Yourself label and Stax Records, and first taste “Stuck To You” provides an instant reminder of what all the praise what about before.
Costa picks things up right where she left off, making simple songwriter-101 couplets like “If you the town/ I’ll be the talk/ If you the talk/ Baby I’ll be the walk” ooze a crotch-wetting spiciness against a ’60′s soul-inspired, organ-based jig. Later promises to be the “Kong” to his “King” keeps a certain smirkiness afloat (while the accompanying clip exudes low-budget cheese), but that doesn’t take away from the fact that once Costa’s snarling voice touches the mic, nothing but serious soul bid’ness is in creation.
To the Joss Wine-Duffy’s of the world, we might not need your services any longer.
As a bonus, peep a clip from a live Nikka & Prince duet, “Push & Pull”:
Add a couple more high-profile fans to Robin Thicke’s endlessly adored “Magic”.
For this remix to a remix, Thicke and Blige’s soulful duet gets touched-up via the Mark Ronson treatment, switching it’s Barry White-reminiscent, “grown n sexy” backdrop for a loose and live horn-funk extravaganza. And for the heads, multi-blog-approved mixtape kingpin Wale is brought in the mix to drop a few lyrical tricks.
As nice as it is to get free music, think of how much better your soul would feel if you purchased it the old-fashioned way.
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(MP3 posts are for promotional and/ or previewing purposes only; if any artist or their representation wish to have the links removed, contact me and I will happily comply!)
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