It’s hard to disagree with the classy and polished R&B diva route Mary J Blige has ventured into the past decade of her career: she’s more beautiful than ever, her voice is stronger, her personal growth is inspiring. At the same time though, there’s only so many re-writes of “Be Without You” one can take.
Are we saying we yearn for Blige to revert back to the always-wronged girlfriend/ wife role she seemed glued to in the opening phases of her career? No, not necessarily. But we do miss the sheer glee that arose once her church-grown vocal gymnastics were paired with the sounds of urban music’s past via old R&B and rap samples. Let us not forget, she is the Queen of Hip Hop-Soul.
Apparently, iconic rapper/ producer Marley Marl shares that same sentiment, as he’s taken it upon himself to give Blige’s latest single “I Am” some of that What’s The 411? flavor for this old school house party-approved remix.
Stapling the song’s “Ain’t nobody gonna love you better than I am” theme to the beat of T Ski Valley’s 1981 hip hop classic “Catch The Beat” (itself, one of the billion or so tunes to reference Taana Gardner’s “Heartbeat”), while adding a lil’ golden age braggadocio mic flair (“Who’s the king of the nineties? (I am)/ Who’s the king of the grind, B? (I am)/ Since you slept on a legend, step behind me…”), Marl swiftly resuscitates a track we would have probably forgotten all about in a couple months time, while simultaneously giving the kids a lil’ taste of why we fell in love with MJB in the first place oh so long ago.
Can this throwback sound please be the overall theme for Mary’s next album?
Ellie Goulding’s lightweight wisp of a voice may adhere well to her “Starry Eyed” single’s tender, child-like perspective on first love euphoria, but it’s in NY singer-songwriter Samuel (previously hyped here for his acoustic remake of The-Dream’s “Shawty Is The Shit”) and production team The Knocks‘ cover of the track that a far better song is crafted.
While The Knocks bring a much-needed heft to the tune’s fine, but slightly underwhelming, twee-tronica shimmer in their application of atmospheric synth washes and a toe-tapping downtown strut, Samuel’s breathy tenor acts as the perfect compliment to Ellie’s bird-like chirp, the combined power of their married vocals nicely illustrating (and making far less corny) the giddy lyrical visual of a newbie couple feeling like they’re being struck with lightning from eachother’s caressing touch.
Catch the original’s video below, followed by an MP3 of the Samuel/ Knocks remix.
Goulding’s debutLightsarrives in the UK in March; Samuel’s recently completed LP Trains To Wanderland is set for a later 2010 release.
Now, compared to the Beast’s re-interpretation and Example’s previous “re-fixes” of pop tart smashes (his must-have 2006 mixtape, We Didn’t Invent The Remix, featured memorable swipes at Lily Allen’s “Smile” and Britney Spears “Toxic”), the rapper’s “Tik Tok” falls a bit short on the yuk-yuks, but his version is still miles more entertaining than the Ke$ha original, if only because it doesn’t leave you feeling dirty for liking it when it’s over.
Kicking off with a teasing instrumental lick of Cameo’s “Word Up”, Ex spends the rest of the performance narrating his own day o’ debauchery, waking up in the A.M. feeling like “Queen Lizzie” and trading in Kee$h’s beloved Jack Daniels toothpaste for the dental hygiene aid of rum (especially love the Max Martin-ized pop-”rock” crunch brought forth on the chorus).
Catch the gig below, followed by a quietly compelling live go at single “Won’t Go Quietly”:
Remember Collie Buddz? The white Bermudian had trunks rattling all across the globe waaaay back in 2007 with the release of his breakout single “Come Around”, a tokers’ anthem steeped in an old-fashioned reggae slow churn, but seemed to drop off the face of the Earth after his self-titled debut was met with less fanfare.
Well, after a few years toiling away in the more obscure corners of the mixtape scene, the singjay seems prepped for a minor comeback of sorts in 2010 with the recent unleashing of new single “Phonecall”, a Beatnick & K. Salaam-produced late-night booty call ode draped in the sensual allure of ’90’s-era slow jam R&B/ reggae.
And just as with “Come Around”, it’s “Phonecall”’s throwback-ish touch that lands as it’s greatest asset: it’s busy, albeit smoove, backing groove pleasingly triggering memories of the genre’s “Flex”/ “Mr. Lover Man” heyday as Collie croons through every steamy detail of the late-night sex session (“Said she wanna start with massage…”, “She wanna ride from side-to-side and on top…”).
Whether you smoke or not, promises you’ll be craving the comfort of a cigarette once this seductive jam has left your speakers.
Under Rosen’s helm, the bright and shiny crackle and pop that made “Telephone”’s original incarnation veer a little too Britney-esque and chaotic at times, is slightly downplayed for a darker electro-pop pulse, excitingly heightened by quirky, voice-affected breakdowns, fuzzed-out basslines, and a far-too-brief soul clap section around the three-minute mark (plus, it also doesn’t hurt that Beyonce’s portions are more successfully woven in here).
If only we had the power to sway label-heads (which, sigh, we don’t), we’d encourage them to use this version to accompany the forthcoming “Telephone” music video rather than the original.
It seems like only yesterday when Ludacris could be found consistently dropping dimes on hungry banger cravers, his seemingly endless supply of varied cartoonish flow inflections and XXX-soaked comedic rap banter pulling out some of the greatest hooks and sixteens throughout the ’00’s urban music landscape. Hell, to grant him a guest spot on your own record basically guaranteed you to be forgotten once he entered the frame.
For “How Low” though, the curiously basic first single from Luda’s upcoming seventh studio album Battle of the Sexes, he’s the one being upstaged…and it’s by a chipmunk-ed chant hook no less.
On paper, “How Low”’s chorus doesn’t read all that interesting. A helium voice set to a double-time beat inquiring how close ladies can gyrate their ass to the floor without falling over? What is this, a late-’80’s/ early-90’s 2 Live Crew record? Yet every time it emerges, promising an instant break-out in good-time debauchery in it’s every repeat, it kills; it’s novel concept so ridiculously catchy, you’re anticipation for it’s return completely overrides the overall flatness of the verses’ horndog lyrical display (sounds like somebody’s in need of some re-inspiration) or how unnecessary it’s succeeding b-hook is.
The fact that a Ludacris record is in existence in which we actually wish it had less Ludacris does ring a tad alarming (triggering some worry of how the rest of the so far un-leaked Battles will fare), but with a hook as addicting as the one “How Low”’s got, we’re more than happy to give the emcee a passing grade…this time.
Gorillaz, the world’s biggest animated band (and recently announced Coachella 2010 headliners), are set to drop their third LP, Plastic Beach, this March, but they’ve gifted fans today with the streaming premiere of the album’s first single “Stylo”, featuring legendary soul great Bobby Womack and Mos Def.
“Stylo” may lack the immediate quirk-pop hookiness of previous singles “Clint Eastwood” and “Feel Good Inc.”, but it’s nevertheless one of the band’s most endlessly intriguing creations.
Driven by heavily synthesized production-work that conjures up an eerie ’80’s sci-fi ambiance (it’s dominant musical figure, a dot-and-dash electro bass line, will definitely be echoing in your brain for the next week), the song takes on more of a trippy edge as it goes on, especially once the grainy-voiced Womack enters the picture, wailing his heart out about his “electric love” for the cut’s curious attempt at a chorus.
Expect another (likely equally as fascinating) Womack appearance, alongside guest spots from Snoop Dogg, Lou Reed, De La Soul and The Clash’s Mick Jones & Paul Simmons, when Plastic Beach leaks probably weeks before drops March 9th.
By now you’ve probably heard the Major Lazer/ Nina Sky/ Ricky Blaze ‘09 delight “Keep It Goin’ Louder” re-spun a number of wildly different ways, but have you ever considered how good it might sound when re-fashioned with a ’50’s pop Phil Spector/ girl group twist?
That’s the vibe Vancouver remixer DJ Kutcorners goes for, and awesomely nails, on this ‘Surfs Up’ revamp, which marries Blaze and Sky’s already blissed out vocals with a clap-happy and twinkling chimes-adorned Wall of Sound groove that’ll have you wishing you had some kind of sock-hop-themed event to attend.
Summer may be months away in reality, but it definitely doesn’t seem that way when the feel-good buoyancy of First Rate People’s “Girls’ Night” is spilling through your speakers.
Here, the Ontario-based seven-piece piece together a fetching swirl of indie rock, R&B and bedroom-pop style stamps, the song’s encircling male and female leads at times feeling like two different songs being mashed together in perfect harmony.
We’re not particularly clear what the two singers are going on about (something about sending postcards and crashing an all-female outing), but honestly we could care less, because what is fully understood, is that by the time this two-and-a-half minute tune has faded out on a sunny high of chirpy guitars and that crunchy, hip hop-esque drum track, we’re immediately hit with the uncontrollable need to hit “replay” so that we could be immersed in it’s catchy goodness all over again.
Expect a full-length debut from FRP sometime later this year.
As enticing as it might be to have Usher move away from the boring “grown-man” vibe of 2008’s Here I Stand for a second go ’round at the tabloid-baiting drama that themed it’s multi-platinum predecessor Confessions, ultimately all we really ask from the forthcoming Raymond v. Raymond is that it feature a sureshot club banger on the level of that album’s mega-jump-off “Yeah!”.
“Oh My Gosh”, one of many recently leaked Usher entries that may or may not end up on the official set, definitely sounds like that request being granted.
Helmed by Will.I.Am, “Gosh” can essentially be summed up as an extension to the stylistic efforts of Black Eyed Peas’ The E.N.D., but don’t let that simple description scare you off because like “Boom Boom Pow”, it will eventually (if not instantly) draw you into it’s guilty pleasure vortex thanks to a punchy, electro-glossed pizazz that never loses it’s exciting edge, an infectious flurry of giddily chopped and distorted vocals explaining some random chick’s hotness, and the recurring whoops of a hyphied-out crowd.
Of course, silly stabs at songwriting are included (sample: “Honey got a booty like pow, pow, pow/ Honey got some boobies like wow, oh wow”), but when you’re half-way sloshed and grinding up against some hot babe you’ve just met only seconds before in the middle of a crowded nightclub dance floor, those same lyrics feel less dumbed-down than they do that moment’s irresistible truth.
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!)
It’s hard to disagree with the classy and polished R&B diva route Mary J Blige has ventured into the past decade of her career: she’s more beautiful than ever, her voice is stronger, her personal growth is inspiring. At the same time though, there’s only so many re-writes of “Be Without You” one can take. 
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