mixtape maestro (2.0)

Hey readers/ friends!!

You’ve probably noticed that new posts have been popping up less and less these days, but it has little to do with a desire to step away from writing about music (a love that has in no way died); more so to do with my frustrations with THE MAN. It seems Blogger has taken it upon themselves to start deleting several of my posts (without warning) and it’s left me more than bummed and nearly disinterested in continuing Mixtape Maestro or it’s sister site, 90’s R&B Junkie.

Don’t get me wrong. I understand their concern of the posting of MP3’s, but the way they’ve gone about handling things…let’s just say, it’s not fun to see what can sometimes take hours of work suddenly gone without notice.

These past few weeks I’ve seriously contemplated what my next step should be: Opt on going a “streaming”-only route…transfer over to Wordpress.org (an idea that seems far too overwhelming the more I look into it)…or simply bow out of the blogging game (something I can’t truly fathom happening)?

The plan was always to use Mixtape Maestro as a stepping-stone to bigger music journalism aspirations, so maybe Blogger’s recent actions have only dealt me the push I need to really start focusing on taking my career to the next level.

I don’t know…would you mind Mixtape Maestro if it switched over to a “streams”-only deal, or does the lack of MP3’s defeat the purpose of visiting? I’ve come to appreciate all the e-friends and industry contacts I’ve met along the way and would love to hear some feedback.

Whatever the case, however I choose to go forth…expect an announcement soon!!

Fellow music lover,

Mixtape Maestro

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We thought Busta was onto something major once the rowdy “Don’t Touch Me” made it’s premiere way back in Spring. But with the song’s embarrasingly low peak at #83 on the R&B/ Hip Hop charts, it seems the rest of the public didn’t think so much of it. Now, following a sudden switch in label support (from Interscope to Universal Motown), Busta is being forced to re-launch the hype of his oft-pushed back eighth album, now going by the title B.O.M.B. (Back On My Bullshit). Unfortunately, recent leak “World Go Round” isn’t getting us excited as much as it’s left us scratching our heads in wonderment.

We understand a need to ride with urban music’s current obsession with everything dance and “Round” isn’t completely horrid (digging the Eric B & Rakim bite at the beginning) but it’s blatant lean towards the European club floor just doesn’t gel right. Maybe it’s because we’d rather hear Keri Hilson, Danity Kane or Rihanna on it, rather than the Whitest of White anonymous hook girl otherwise featured. Maybe because it’s sad to see one of the most out-there icons of 90’s hip hop continue his sad de-evolution into being like everybody else. Perhaps, most of all, maybe it’s because “Don’t Touch Me” didn’t become the supreme career revitalizer we prayed for it to be and this one’s potential at maybe becoming a big hit has left us a little bitter.

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As the tragic passing of Four Tops’ lead Levi Stubbs led to many re-visits to the Motown group’s superb catalogue (Stubbs’ soulful cries and the urgent stomp of “Reach Out (I’ll Be There)” can still give goosebumps), feelings of depression boiled back to the surface concerning how good R&B was back then and how underwhelming it’s current state is. Thankfully, every once and while, something new arises (usually from some artist outside that typical R&B folk) that gives us a chance to once again grasp that satisfying sensation of the old school. Something like “A Young One” from Oakland singer-songwriter Bart Davenport’s recently released Palaces.

From it’s opening starry-eyed twinkle through it’s harmony-laden chorus, “A Young One” instantly sends you back in time to when the comfortingly lush sounds of Philly soul soundtracked many a teen lovers’ date, the genre’s steady sway and yearning vocals helping ease that awkward move into second and third base.

But while all the other kids’ are busy trying to claw their way into eachother’s underwear throughout the out-of-school season, Davenport hesitates to invest in yet “another summer fling”. Knee-deep in love with some new dame, Bart’s golden croon aches that their union could prove long-lasting, yet he remains all to aware that it’s “so unlikely…(she’ll) do right by me”; by September, she’ll be nothing but a distant memory, a new bruise on his already well-beaten heart.

Awww…Too bad, so sad for him. But for everyone else, this well-studied take on yesteryear’s slow jam R&B lands as one to truly cherish. Long live classic soul. You’ll never be forgotten.

DL: “A Young One” (YFH)

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Currently causing some rumblings in the club/ dance circuit is “She Made It Easy”, the first solo single from Brooklyn producer/ former Epochs drummer Kotchy. Heralded as a genius cross between Prince, Pharrell and Beck, the tune is a understated dazzler, writhing it’s way through a distorted electro-funk simmer (and it’s best musical moment: a kitschy simple synth melody two-thirds of the way in) as Kotchy menacingly whisper-sings his distant admiration towards a dancefloor siren.

(pick up the track here)

It also happens to be the center of a remix contest jointly held by Seclusiasis and blog Palms Out Sounds and we have one of the submissions right here from Bay Area DJ/ production crew, Chubby Fingers Productions.

The CFP team sadly omit the original’s sweet vocoder hook, but their spaced out tweaking’s added arcade game sound effect layers toss in an even more sinister urging to “Easy”’s twisted sonic palette.

DL: “She Made It Easy (Chubby Fingers Remix)” (YFH)

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Beyonce’s back with her first album since being crowned Miss Carter, but sadly, it’s not the country album or a full-on dance release that was rumored earlier. Apparently, those quite exciting and ambitious ideas were scrapped for a comparably less intriguing double album concept that finds one side focusing on mature R&B/ soul, while the other, under Be’s feisty alter-ego “Sasha” (insert eye roll), busts out a slew of upbeat hip hop tracks.

The “Sasha” halve is being kicked off with single “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)”, which, on first listen, lands as a lackluster retread of B’Day boppity tunes “Check On It” and “Get Me Bodied”, incorporating her seemingly undying love for child-like melodic whimsy and energetic production detail as she works overtime to make an ex-lover green with envy.

“You had your turn/ But now you gonna learn/ What it really feels to miss me,” she sasses, wrapped up tight in a sweaty bump n grind with some male club attendee while in full view of her former beau. When it comes to the hyper-rhythmic vocal, few can touch Miss Bey, and she flexes that gift well here, but having to sit through another cantankerous beat swing like this one just feels a bit wearisome, no matter how great it’s hard/ soft bridge or inviting its sure-to-soon-be-anthemized hook (“Cause if you liked it, then you should have put a ring on it!!”) are.

But those initial negative impressions towards the song suddenly deteriorate once eyes are lain on it’s accompanying video.

The ’60’s variety show-themed performance clip for “Single Ladies” plants the singer in the middle of a sexy female triumvirate, shaking her tightened, yet still mouth-wateringly jiggly jelly all throughout a sparse set. Yeah, the vid is an odd one (Up there with the head-scratching “I’ll African dance while lost in the Bayou” scenario of “Deja Vu” as one of Beyonce’s most WTF visual tie-ins) and it definitely leaves many questions when it’s all over (like, what’s up with the bionic glove thing?), but it’s celebration of the thick black female physique as the trio jerk, dip and thrust (Beyonce doesn’t really dance as much as she…well, Beyonce’s) to the song’s otherworldly groove, makes it one you can’t easily tear your corneas from.

To any heterosexual dude most likely left panting alongside her at the video’s close, let’s all shake our heads in unison: Damn, why’d she go and have to let Shawn put a ring on it.

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A year after snatching up buzz with the charming single “Hitten” and an accompanying self-titled EP, all-female Swedish band Those Dancing Days have moved on to their first full-length, In Our Space Hero Suits, which sees the teen-aged act coming up with more whizzing vintage pop morsels aided by Northern Soul, garage-punk and classic girl group influences.

Arriving early on the glee-inducing twelve-track collection is “I Know Where You Live”, a charming teen crush ditty energized by it’s jovial cycling of handclaps, guitar chugs, organ twinkles and speedy drum rumbling. “I would make you the best mixtape in the recorder”, singer Linnea Jonsson promises, that is if she’s able to snag the right material to properly tribute the bullseye of her puppy love. With her assured, husky tone, she provides a comfortingly solid focal point amidst the instrumental’s restless bubblegum swirl.

Here’s hoping this fetching young band’s “dancing days” don’t end anytime soon.

DL: “I Know Where You Live” (YFH)

Catch their cover of Britney Spears’ “Toxic” over at Pretty Much Amazing.

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Catching our attention earlier this year with the goofy disco-funk romp “Seventeen”, L.A.’s awesomely-titled Maroon 5-meets-Sam Sparro-meets-Talking Heads hybrid Casxio continue to trigger our “star of the downtown dancefloor” fantasies on their latest itchy guitar delight, “Roque Baby”.

Loose bass and fretwork flickers light up the atmosphere in mirror ball groove-a-liciousness, but singer Lucas Guerin isn’t in a celebratory mood. Through his slinky in-and-out falsetto vocal, he’s caught straddling a nervous breakdown, wracking his brain trying to figure out how a once-hopeful romance turned so sour. “I wonder what I could have done to make you stay,” he self-tortures on the otherwise gliding hook. But while he’s caught up in his own encircling, party-pooping woes, the band could seemingly care less, too busy finessing a care-free boogie track that demands he get drunk and temporarily get over his long-gone ex.

DL: “Roque Baby” (from RCRD LBL)

As a bonus, and proof that Casxio’s appeal extends beyond the booty-shaker, peep the sleek soul midtempo “Boiling Point” from their free-to-download 4 Songs By Casxio EP.

DL: “Boiling Point” (YFH)

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Sporting a futuro-fashion, urban-pop hybrid sound that recalls latter-day TLC (and to a lesser extent, the “CrazySezyCool” juniors’ Blaque), Atlanta trio/ T-Pain protogees Sophia Fresh feel like the anemic American R&B girl group scene’s next great hope.

Their new single “What It Is” is a blast of electro-fueled hotness, sporting schizophrenic synth work and android-esque vocals that present them as time travellers of tomorrow-land aiming to show today’s club scene how Y3K Southern princesses get down. Approaching “hot-to-def” dudes without breathing a hint of intimidation (“What am I supposed to do?/ Get up and walk to a thiz-ug and act like I’m innocent and cute?/ Naw…”), the ladies spew the titular question, entangling their targets with a seductive whiff of crunk attitude no heterosexual male should be able to deny.

And to make sure “What It Is” gets a speedy bump-up to heavy rotation, the one and only Kanye West is tapped as featured guest, and as expected, Mr. “Love Lockdown” delivers the goods, quickly dismissing non-badonkadonks and Larry King confessions while flipping attention to his favorite topic (HIMSELF) as he hypes his own universal appeal (“You’re little brother love me/ He say ‘Yeezy got some fresh clothes’/ Your grandmother love me cause I always dress in dress clothes”).

If these girls can come up with a few more tunes that involve a fraction of this heat (and with the ubiquitous T-Pain on board, that shouldn’t be so hard), we might not need that oft-rumored Destiny’s Child reunion to fill up any gaping modern urban contemporary holes.

DL: “What It Is” (YFH)

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John Legend as state-of-the-art boogie-man? It made for an interesting look on previous single “Green Light”, but didn’t at all shake the popular notion that ol’ Johnny Boy is best served as a retro-hued gentleman romancer, a role he returns to on the sweet and fluttery A.M.-set slow burner “Good Morning”.

This Stevie Wonder-esque gem from Legend’s upcoming Evolver set acts as a fitting successor to “Light”. Where that record stressed horndog urgency as Legend doggedly pursued his lay for the evening to a breakneck groove, “Morning” sleepily blooms with the post-coital morning after, John halting his one-night love from hopping out of bed in hopes that they can just lay in the midst of their sticky-sheets bliss for a moment.

“Before you get into the shower/ Before you worry about your hair/ Baby give me one more hour/ I want you to stay right there,” he sings atop a comfy bed of sublime soul, where horns subtly emerge like the smallest waves of a calmly rolling sea. It’s the perfect “wake-up alongside a lover” ode, with the mirroring of both the production and Legend’s soft urges enticing enough to get anyone to call the boss and state you’re going to be late for work today (and later pray that you still have a job when you eventually get there).

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Sounding like a cartoon kitty shivering against the winter cold, squiggly-voiced singer Chelsea Morrisey provides an extra slathering of precociousness to the already irresistibly cute sounds of Dirty Mittens, a Portland, Oregon band whose marrying of modern indie pop charm with horn-y tinges of ’60’s supper club soul present a enjoyable niche to experience.

On “The Small Things”, a cut from their recently-released EP Pinky Swear, the Mittens’ adorable vibe is consummated grandly. Led off by an ear-catching guitar and organ-based swing that later builds to majestic mini-peaks with the added bulge of sax and trumpet fanfare, Morrisey struggles to re-ignite a love-sapped romance (“It’s no help/ To talk to you/ On the back porch cause it feels forced/ And the music’s loud/ Will it drown us out?”). Almost completely oblivious to the cheerful orchestrations toiling around her, she remains focused on the crisis at hand, her idiosyncratic baby-coo fretting over her inability to form the “perfect” choice of words in order to set a relationship back on the good foot.

The quirky tune doesn’t stand as the lone highlight on the five-track Swear either. Other tracks of note include the ever-morphing girl group-flavored ballad “Time Forgiver” and “Amelia”, a richly-crafted toe-tapper interestingly told from the POV of Amelia Earhart’s worrisome father (“He swore he heard your plane go by/ Oh my, oh my/ He swore he heard your plane go boom”).

DL: “The Small Things” (YFH)

As an added bonus, peep the band’s cover of Fleet Foxes’ “White Winter Hymnal” below:

DL: “White Winter Hymnal (Fleet Foxes Cover)” (YFH)

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