Loyal site-watchers have probably gotten the hint that we’re big fans of basically whatever Doctor Rosen Rosen does…and who could blame us, seeing that his darkly shaded, synth-based re-imaginings are always ace.
On his latest project, the good Doc ambitiously opted on remixing the entirety of Lily Allen‘s half-year-old sophomore LP It’s Not Me, It’s You, and damn if he hasn’t gotten us to fall in love with the English pop pixie’s set all over again thanks to his efforts, which basically entail replacing the original’s cutesy, upbeat soundscapes with gorgeously brooding electro-pop arrangements that help plant a clearer focus on her always entertaining penmanship game.
Maestro’s favorites include Rosen’s take on It’s Not Me‘s current single “22″, which makes Allen’s washed-up-at-thirty musings feel even more depressing and hopeless when thrust under a moonlit blanket of gloomy synth-strings, and album-closer/ forgiving-Father ode “He Wasn’t There”, which marries an icy drum march with forlorn lullaby melodics.
An excellent collection that lands as a nice compliment to the original, we can’t help but anticipate what pop album Rosen is eyeing next to give the “Bizarro World” treatment to.
You can snatch up our faves below, but head here to DL the entire set for FREE.
Could Jordin Sparks’ power pop ballad “Battlefield” have the potential of becoming the next “Umbrella”, spawning countless “ironic” cover versions all across the Inter-Webs over the next year? We’re not entirely sure, but we could dig that reality if the rest end up as nicely as this subdued take from London indie alt-rockers Fightstar.
Their version isn’t completely perfect (that “you better go and get your armor” line really demands some sort of dramatic spike), yet overall, hearing the song’s lyrical relationship drama dipped in Fightstar’s moody, rainy day reading makes for quite a pleasant listen.
Fightstar’s highly acclaimed third LPBe Humanis available now.
In which Jamie Foxx takes the perfectly fine as-is Intuition highlight “Digital Girl” and gives it a needless re-scrubbing, bringing in an entirely different beat, brand new lyrics and a ho-hum guest appearance from Drake.
Dubbed the “West Coast Remix” (or, in some corners of the Web, the “MJ Remix”), we can appreciate it’s BBQ-in-the-park ’90′s R&B Cali groove and Jamie’s R-rated King of Pop shout-out (“I wanna ‘beat it’/ (Like Michael)/ Cause you ‘Bad’ (Like Michael)/ ‘Billie Jean’ it (Like Michael)/ Make you ‘Scream’ It (Like Michael)”), but ultimately this “Digital Girl” 2.0 pales in comparison to the spaced-out digi-soul of the album version.
To Foxx’ people: it’s completely understandable why you might want to rush deliver this one to the necessary outlets first (Drake + MJ tribute + slight summer jam appeal = major urban airwave spins for the moment), but if we don’t get a video and a proper radio push of the far superior original (followed by a single release of Intuition‘s other solid jam, the Timbaland-blessed “I Don’t Need It”), we’re gonna have a problem.
The past decade-and-a-half has seen so many classic pop and rock favorites sampled, interpolated or chopped up for some brand new pop, hip hop or R&B creation that we probably shouldn’t be too stirred that someone would think of messing with Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”. But when we heard London-born R&B tart Cherri V‘s “Til The Sun Comes Up” and instantly recognized it’s utilization of both the ’90′s grunge-pop behemoth’s vocal and guitar melodies, we must admit we were floored: on one hand intrigued by such a ballsy move; on the other, ready to cry out “blasphemy” over someone actually daring to go through with the idea.
To it’s credit, “Til The Sun Comes Up” isn’t a complete nightmare: the combination of it’s “borrowed” rock “edge” and bubbly percussive jubilance generates a lively urban-pop kick that wouldn’t sound out of place supporting a manic Amerie wail or epic-sized Beyonce yowl. But thanks to flat lyrical boasts (“I’ll break you off/ You’ll never find another star shine like me”) and Cherri V’s underwhelmingly mixed vocals, which kind of simmer within the groove when they should be exploding like fireworks atop it, “Sun” lacks the over-the-top fire you would expect from a record made up of a such bold musical foundation, ultimately rendering it this anti-climactic letdown.
Surely the track’s Nirvana bite will attract some major attention Cherri V’s way (precisely the effect her and her handlers are banking on), but it’ll be interesting to see whether the response will ultimately skew positive (and make her pop’s hot new thing) or negative (and force her back to the drawing board to come up with an alternate introductory gimmick) as more and more ears catch whiff of it.
Cherri’s debut, Fast Cars, Silk Sheets and Favourite Guys, is slated for a late ’09 release.
Following up his surprisingly effective flashback to arena-sized ’90′s rave “I’m Not Alone”, Calvin Harris unleashes yet another irresistable foot-mover with “Ready For The Weekend”, a feel-good dance-pop entry focused on the anticipated thrills of a post-work week break.
“So if you’re waiting, jump out your skin/ To find a cure for whatever state your in”, advises the robo-nerd voiced-Harris as prancey keyboard hits surround him with their giddy, child-like tone. But all of his thinnish singing efforts bear little importance once UK singer Mary Pearce enters the picture for the chorus, bringing to light this euphoric high of big diva wailings and contagious house delirium as she prepares herself for the good times around the corner.
Catch the babe-heavy video below, then proceed to set your Friday afternoon off right by snatching up the High Contrast Remix afterward.
Harris’ much-anticipated sophomore release,Ready For The Weekend, arrives August 17th.
How much of a bummer is it to know that Summer has already reached it’s mid-way point? We know, we know, we shouldn’t even dare speak of such depressing things, but HEY!!, at least we got the new single from psych-pop British band The Clientele to help perfectly soundtrack the month and change that’s left of this warm season.
Drifting along a breezy sea of dreamy jazz and bossa nova flourishes and “bah-bah-bah”‘s that pierce the air with such sweetness they threaten to give our ears cavities, the group’s latest ’60′s-hugging nugget “I Wonder Who We Are” is so sunny, it’s virtually impossible not to have a smile draped across your face when immersed in it’s aural pleasantries.
It’s the first single from their upcoming fifth long-player Bonfires on the Heath, due in October.
It’s nice to see Keri Hilson finally realizing some real success in recent months after spending so many years being touted as R&B’s “next big thing”, but with the rise of her status to a ubiqutious level (thanks to seemingly every half hour spins of her “Turnin’ Me On” and “Knock You Down” singles on pop and urban radio), has anyone else been moved to the conclusion that she’s not the most engaging vocalist?
Yeah, she’s a good songwriter and deserves props for being able to keep up with (and actually shine on) some of Timbaland’s most claustrophobic kitchen-sink productions, but when judged on her singing talents alone, Miss Hilson rarely ever registers beyond anonymous hook girl, her records often sounding like demo recordings for a much stronger singer to later adopt. The fact that her biggest hits cast her as more of a supporting entity than lead artist doesn’t really help much, either.
That being said though, she does a respectable job on her recent live performances for the Pepsi Music site, including a guest-less take on “Knock You Down” that makes us wish we could hear it on the radio sometimes as opposed to the somewhat crowded Kanye and Ne-Yo-blessed version, and the umpteenth cover of Gnarls Barkley’s “Cover” that, despite arriving a few years too late to truly matter, still manages to emit a certain appeal in all of it’s playing-it-safe basic-ness.
Usually we can expect R&B remix kings R. Kelly or Trey Songz to answer back “kick him to the curb” ladies anthems, but on this neat flip-side perspective of Chrisette Michele’s sublime “Epiphany”, we get a refreshing new entry in the oft-entertaining “battle of the sexes” mixtape game via newcomer Canadian emcee Erik Flowchild who’s found here pointing the finger back Michele’s way as the true blame for their romance’s deterioration.
“Every time I’m home you be steadily accusing me/ Verbally abusing me/ But you don’t even know the half,” Flowchild opens, kicking off a slightly Auto-Tuned annoyed rant about how he’s up to here with all of her on-going paranoia concerning what he’s up to when he’s not around (“It’s not necessary for you to be on my cell phone/ Baby what the hell for…?”).
And while it’s not easy to completely take Erik’s side when his best defense is that she should stop listening to the “lies” of a not-so-best friend who’s only jealous because she can’t have him for herself, the cold-ish way he threatens to send her back to single-dom (“So don’t be my girl then,” he simply shrugs) definitely has us hoping that Michele is hitting the studio right this minute to cook up a sassy-classy response.
From Flowchild’s forthcoming mixtape, Delivery Boy.
It will forever be a head-scratcher why Melanie Fiona‘s introductory soul-pop gem “Give It To Me Right” never quite became the chart-topping uber-smash it seemed destined to be, but even with that single’s surprisingly modest success, we still get the feeling that as more and more ears become acquainted with the Canadian-born singer’s amazing pipes, she’ll be ranking high amongst today’s R&B greats soon enough.
Aiding in establishing further proof why Mel is all that and a tube of Pringles is her newly released pre-debut album teaser mixtape WQST Radio Presents Melanie Fiona Meets The Illadelphonics (A Live Remix Jam Session of The Bridge), an unsurprisingly solid collaboration between her and much-respected tastemaker ?uestlove that slaps her previously-heard original material and a couple killer covers against some skillfully-constructed organic arrangements.
Hands down, our favorite moment is Fiona’s taking on of the Sam Cooke classic “Cupid”. Yeah the song has been covered so many times over the decades that the idea of yet another artist re-doing it feels instantly tiresome, but once you hear the sound of Fiona’s crystal-clear chops yearning after the title character’s help against nothing but a single guitar backing, it’s like being stung by the record’s doe-eyed poetics and simplistic melodic charms for the very first time.
Download the entire set here (if only to hear her reggae-tastic tackling of Kanye West’s “Heartless”); Fiona’s official debut, The Bridge, arrives later this Summer.
This remix to Fabolous & The-Dream‘s excellent collabo “Throw It In The Bag” may not carry the same overwhelming sense of ideal summertime material as the original, but it still has a lot going for it:
1: The beat’s sped-up sampling of The-Dream’s “Fancy” is downright mesmerizing.
2: Featured guest Drake pulls off another solid verse, cleverly flipping Fab’s sugar daddy concept to narrate the benefits of romancing a woman who’s wealthy off a divorce settlement and “probably old enough to be my momma’s friend”. All he asks is that he never comes face-to-face with her 26-year-old son, cause he saw a pic of him and “that nigga look cra-a-a-zy”.
And 3: Fab makes us giggle oh-so-hard every damn time with this winning third verse line: “So money ain’t a thing/ Jay-Z, JD/ Like Jay-Z lady, it’s Beyonceing”. Get it? “Beyond saying”? Oh, you witty rapper you.
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!)
Loyal site-watchers have probably gotten the hint that we’re big fans of basically whatever Doctor Rosen Rosen does…and who could blame us, seeing that his darkly shaded, synth-based re-imaginings are always ace.
Could Jordin Sparks’ power pop ballad 
In which Jamie Foxx takes the perfectly fine as-is 
The past decade-and-a-half has seen so many classic pop and rock favorites sampled, interpolated or chopped up for some brand new pop, hip hop or R&B creation that we probably shouldn’t be too stirred that someone would think of messing with Nirvana’s 
Following up his surprisingly effective flashback to arena-sized ’90′s rave 
How much of a bummer is it to know that Summer has already reached it’s mid-way point? We know, we know, we shouldn’t even dare speak of such depressing things, but HEY!!, at least we got the new single from psych-pop British band 
It’s nice to see 
Usually we can expect R&B remix kings R. Kelly or Trey Songz to answer back “kick him to the curb” ladies anthems, but on this neat flip-side perspective of Chrisette Michele’s sublime 
It will forever be a head-scratcher why 
This remix to
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