After being embraced wholeheartedly by the music blog community with his 2008 pop twist on Kanye West’s “Flashing Lights” (re-dubbed “I Want Those Flashing Lights”), it was looking like Canadian singer-songwriter-producer Colin Munroe was on the fast-track to doing big things. Following the release of the equally-adored mixtape, Colin Munroe is the Unsung Hero, later that year however, Munroe-as-solo-act faded from the scene, only popping up on occasion via guest spot gigs in the time since (including collabos with Black Milk, Slum Village, Travie McCoy and Kidz In The Hall) with little word on when his official debut project was to arrive.
This week, Munroe contacted us via e-mail to explain what the bleeping deal was: “There were some things that needed dealing with and that dealing is almost done.” A bit cryptic, but, hey, at least we know that the album is still on the way (hopefully sooner rather than later)…and look at that, he’s even opted to bring his solo hiatus to an end with an offering of a brand new cover. Of Prince’s “I Would Die 4 U”, no less.
Admittedly, it’s not as amazing as the Kanye re-do nor as dynamic as the Purple Rain original (it’s impossible to beat Prince), but Munroe’s thumping, electro-shimmered production against his plaintive, Auto-tune-tweaked croon creates a fairly pleasant ethereal allure, making it an easy-to-appreciate re-introduction to the man’s appeal.
Nothing more but a bunch of cover songs that have been bubbling around in recent weeks. Enjoy!!
Tanya Morgan “Breakadawn”/ Skillz & Colin Munroe “Baby Phat” (De La Soul Covers)
Two highlight entries pulled from Mick Boogie & Terry Urban’s latest mixtape collabo, a multi-artist tribute compilation to De La Soul’s twenty-year strong legacy entitled Le Da Soul (download the full set here): the MJ-sampling groover “Breakadawn” see the unmistakably DLS-influenced Tanya Morgan cleverly weaving in their own spin to Pos and Trugoy’s script, while Skillz (assisted by longtime MM fave Colin Munroe) gives the curvalicious female sect a nice shout-out (“I like chicks thicker/ Imagine me dating a lil’ stick figure”) in a revamp of “Baby Phat”.
Ellie Goulding & Erik Hassle “Be Mine (Robyn Cover)”
In which two current blog-pop phenoms take a break from their respective on-the-rise careers for an acoustic guitar-backed duet rendition of Robyn’s 2005 single (best known for it’s drama-tastic spoken word bridge and one of the most heartwrenching opening lines ever put to pad-”It’s a good thing, tears never show in the pouring rain/ As if a good thing ever could make up for all the pain”).
Of course, for those who have heard Robyn’s own stripped-down take, Goulding and Hassle‘s re-read won’t be that much of a mind-blower, but oh does their vocals meld beautifully when harmony time comes around.
True, the folk-y swing that Irish alt-rockers Snow Patrol build to on the hook of this Top 5 Madonna smash kind of feels pathetic when compared to the explosive epiphany Maddie brought to the table, but we must be honest with at least this much: hearing “Light”‘s heavy verses under the band’s earnestly melancholy arrangement catches a pleasant lullaby-like mood we wouldn’t mind being soothed with at the end of a long and hard work-day.
Though England-born indie pop-punk/ soul-ster VV Brown was given a major hype push earlier this year when she was recognized as a Top Ten finalist in the BBC’s “One To Watch” poll, Sounds of 2009, she has so far struggled in earning much pop chart love (Out of four singles released, only one has managed to chart in the UK Top 40).
Still, we say keep following her. Not only because her critically-acclaimed debut album, Travelling Like The Light, has plenty of quirked-out, retro-pop/ rock/ soul goodies to offer (contrary to radio support), but also because she’s proven to be a hoot with her on-the-fly YouTube cover creations (check out her renditions of “Crazy In Love”, “Day N Nite” and “Best I Ever Had”).
There’s nothing silly about her take on the Rolling Stones’ 1978 classic “Miss You” though, which trades in the original’s bluesy-disco strut for a despair-drenched Southern-fried soul vibe.
Mumford & Sons “I’m Not Alone (Calvin Harris Cover)”
Part of the same London folk scene that has birthed the likes of Noah and The Whale and Laura Marling, the four-piece Mumford & Sons caught plenty of ears with their debut single, “Little Lion Man”, an enrapturing cut seething with self-loathing (“I really fucked it up this time/ Didn’t I my dear?”) and an edge-of-apocalypse hoedown rattle.
That same pluck-heavy furor is called upon for their surprisingly decent Live Lounge rendition of Calvin Harris’ ’90′s-dance tribute “I’m Not Alone”, their woodsy slant working wonders in an impressive mimicking of the same soft vocals/ loud music dichotomy that made the original so enticing.
Toronto-based indie label Paper Bag Records turned seven this month (Happy birthday PB!!), and to help celebrate this event, they’ve unleashed the covers compilation, The Seven Year Itch, for free from their site.
Amongst it’s twelve-song tracklisting, plenty of fascinating grabs can be found (including Josh Reichmann’s rustic campfire take on Bat For Lashes’ “Daniel” and CFCF’s ’80′s new wave & vocoder-baked treatment of OMC’s quirky international fave “How Bizarre”), but the one perched atop our highlight picks would have to be a cover of Andre 3000′s The Love Below-housed tribute to the classy female, “Behold A Lady”, as handled by Canadian-born noise-art eccentric Slim Twig.
Sludging up the original’s lean digi-funk with a dense garage stomp and kooky, vampiric vocals that sound like they’re being emitted from a broken-down loudspeaker, Twig charmingly re-brands the song with a brush of his own unique “ice cold” cool, providing belated props to an oft-overlooked Below gem.
Pixie Lott “When Love Takes Over (David Guetta/ Kelly Rowland Cover)”
Where David & Kelly’s original aimed to split open the heavens from it’s opening moments with all of it’s big dance diva grandeur, this Live Lounge version by English singer-songwriter Lott goes for a more organic lift-off.
Opening on a slow and meditative tip that plants a pleasant spotlight on the grainy squiggles of soul embedded in Pix’ pipes, the remake makes a better play at illustrating love taking over, growing more and more bold with each added layer of (mostly Coldplay-nicked) instrumentation and upgraded tempo notch until it explodes in a fireworks-like display of romantic euphoria.
Submitted for, and apparently denied entrance on, MSTRKRFT‘s newest release, Fist of God, this alternate version of “So Deep” sees the Candian electro unit hooked up with our favorite on-the-rise pop star of the past year, Colin Munroe, and while we admit to being fans of the album version‘s featured guest Jahmal (and all of his Terence Trent D’Arby/ Lenny Kravitz-soundalike-isms), we’re equally digging the way Mr. Munroe has managed to weave in his solid pop smarts amongst KRFT’s dizzying dancefloor rave-up.
On Colin Munroe‘s Unsung Hero mixtape highlight “Last Cause”, the promising singer/ songwriter/ producer found himself immersed in the uncomfortable void of a pointless twenty-something existence. Soullessly making his way through the day-to-day mundane, only to score temporary satisfaction from the brief highs of coffee, films and books (“…but then I’ll wake up feeling the same”), Munroe placed his lone shot at achieving some life meaning in the hopes that a “special girl” would hear his lyrical despair and run to his rescue.
For this more urban-leaning “Cause N Effect” remix, Long Island producer/ rapper 88 Keys (Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Musiq) strips away the original’s summer-baked guitar breeziness, better sculpting Colin’s suffocating sorrow and melancholy permanence with the un-resolved looping of a crate-dug soul sample. Keys co-signs Munroe’s longing for that ideal Valentine with a couple (literally by the sounds of it) phoned-in lines: “I can’t…afford to let you slip right through these cracks/ I betchu iChat would let me get you/ Log on!”. Mmm…okay.
Overall, it’s Reason No. 113 why Munroe deserves to have a major pop breakthrough this year.
Now, those sunny guitar lines that provide the track’s winning musical hook have been tricked out with synthesized elfin-voice embellishments, while Munroe has gained a sympathizing bud in wordplay wiz Wale, who’s busy trapped within his own relationship paradox (“She don’t really love me and I feel the same/ A love-less relationship but we scared to say/ And this game we play/ Is a lot like spades/ A heart means nothing with two jokers in the way”).
Set for inclusion on Munroe’s new mixtape, Colin Munroe is the Unsung Hero (due December 1st), “Will I Stay (Remix)” provides yet another reason why this multi-talent deserves your (legal) copping consideration when his official debut full-length drops in the new year.
Remember Colin Munroe, the Canadian cat who released an impressive semi-cover of Kanye’s “Flashing Lights” that sent the blog world into a frenzy earlier this year? Well, it seems turning hip hop gold into chart-worthy pop isn’t the only thing he’s good at by the sounds of his equally note-worthy all-original single, “Will I Stay”.
The first release off his upcoming 2009 LP Don’t Think Less of Me, the Maroon 5-esque “Will I Stay” sees the singer/ songwriter/ producer frustrated with indecision. He admits that the girl he has floods his heart with joy, but at the same time he can’t shake the void he feels when with her. As fuzzed, stop/ start guitar riffs illustrate his back-and-forth internal struggle, he circles the same conundrum over and over in his brain: “Will I stay or will I go?/ I don’t know/ I can’t make up my mind”.
By song’s end, he still hasn’t come up with an answer, but one thing is made ultimately clear with this sweet confection of a entry: 2009 is going to be a good year for this future pop sensation. Look out for a Wale-assisted remix to emerge soon.
Just as the official remix to Kanye’s “Flashing Lights” featuring R. Kelly has begun making it’s blog rounds (alongside noted bootleg revamps from Raheem DeVaughn, Wale and Black Buddafly), a new cat out of Canada threatens to steal the Louis Vuitton Don’s thunder with his own melodic pop re-working of the single.
Tagged a “one man pop band”, 26-year-old Colin Munroe not only writes and produces his own material, he also plays all the instruments for it as well (reportedly, he plays multiple instruments simultaneously during his live stage show). Already credited on recordings from urban Canadian acts like Glenn Lewis and Saukrates, he’s now set to drop his own self-created solo album, Don’t Think Less of Me, featuring label support from US hitmaker Dallas Austin (TLC, Madonna, Monica). Look for his buzz to increase a thousand-fold, thanks to his impressive Kanye rip-off “I Want Those Flashing Lights”.
Where others basically laid new vocal over the stunning instrumental, Munroe opts for a more original path, splicing together samples of the record then thickening it out with added musical elements; from there he laces it with masterfully-penned meta-styled lyrics. Singing from the perspective of a struggling artist who is jealous over the more successful ones he yearns to share the spotlight with, Munroe mocks his own pitiful (non-)existence (“You got your name in lights and they can’t seem to spell my name right”), but rather than give up, finds continued strength in his unwavering ambition to make his dreams come true (“If I could get paid/ I’d survive another day/ Maybe if I could get played/ They’d know my name”).
Throwing in witty moans about his lack of groupies (“I only wanted one but I’m no one so I get nothing”) and restyling the hook to correspond with his own goals (“When I’m alone and the lights go off/ I’m never sure if I can make it that far/ All that I know/ I want those flashing lights”), Munroe’s intriguing balance of the self-deprecating and inspiring adds an intoxicating layer of insight that makes the burgeoning hit original suddenly seem insignificant in comparison (Sorry, Kanye!).
Hopefully, instead of throwing a temper tantrum over someone else greatly improving his own song, Mr. West will jump on the track himself and make it an even bigger event.
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!)
After being embraced wholeheartedly by the music blog community with his 2008 pop twist on Kanye West’s “Flashing Lights” (re-dubbed “I Want Those Flashing Lights”), it was looking like Canadian singer-songwriter-producer Colin Munroe was on the fast-track to doing big things. Following the release of the equally-adored mixtape, Colin Munroe is the Unsung Hero, later that year however, Munroe-as-solo-act faded from the scene, only popping up on occasion via guest spot gigs in the time since (including collabos with Black Milk, Slum Village, Travie McCoy and Kidz In The Hall) with little word on when his official debut project was to arrive.
Submitted for, and apparently denied entrance on, 
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