mixtape maestro (2.0)

It’s difficult seeing the greatness in Gorillaz‘ Plastic Beach on first complete listen: the album lacks focus, kind-of drags, bears no immediate “Clint Eastwood”/ “Feel Good Inc”-type confections and is based around a environment-friendly concept that, while commendable in theory, initially comes across lame as theme. Give it a few more spins, though, and you’ll eventually be sold on it’s efforts, especially when it comes down to the album’s well-crafted handful of lazily drifting, haze & fuzz-cloaked midtempo fare (expect plenty of crit shout-outs for “Rhinestone Eyes”, “On Melancholy Hill”, “Broken” and the two Little Dragon-assisted pieces “To Binge” and “Empire Ant” when all is said and done).

Being such fans of the oddly mesmerizing jump-off that was “Stylo”, with featured guest Bobby Womack’s crazed soul-man beltings, the cut we most anticipated upon Beach’s release was Womack’s second contribution to the project, as we were swept away with intrigue on how else the Gorillaz could fancifully utilize the R&B veteran’s talents.

Tucked near the end of the album, that record, “Cloud of Unknowing”, ultimately ends up the rewarding experience we hoped it to be.

Bookended by the soothing sounds of cawing seagulls and crashing waves, the track beautifully captures a pensive moment of one man sitting beachside, his toes digging into the sand and his gaze fixed upward into the sky’s starry abyss, trying to figure out it all.

“On the cloud of unknowing/ My world seems open/ Every satellite up here is wanting/ But I was here from the very start,” Womack muses, his funereal moan tinged with an aching twang. What he’s going on about, you feel like you need a half-drunken bottle of wine and a bruised heart to completely understand, but there’s no mistaking the piercing his vocals do your emotional core, especially when accompanied by Damon Albarn and the East Midlands-based sinfonia ViVa’s spaced-out, classical composition.

Peep the standout below, than enjoy two of our favorite B. Wo tracks ever: his 1976 single “Daylight” (the ideal theme song for anyone who can’t let the night life go so easily) and his soul-tastic take on the Neil Diamond karaoke staple, “Sweet Caroline” (“bah, bah, bah…”).

“Cloud of Unknowing”:

DL: “Cloud of Unknowing” (alt)

Bonus DL: Bobby Womack “Daylight” (alt)

Bonus DL: Bobby Womack “Sweet Caroline (Neil Diamond Cover)” (alt)

Uncategorized 70's, bobby womack, cover song, gorillaz, grown folks R&B, neil diamond, plastic beach, sinfonia viva

In which Lady Gaga reminds us of the old days when a “World Premiere Music Video Short Film Event” (as well as corded land-lines) really meant something.

We can’t help but think (or hope) that somewhere Missy Elliott has just finished watching this awesomely WTF!!-to-the-infinite-power  (and obviously Quentin Tarantino-influenced) smorgasbord of mass murder, girl-on-girl kissing (and prison fights!!!), bizarro fashion sense (where does one buy still-lit, half-smoked cigarette butt shades?), early Madonna eyebrows, purposefully flat acting, shared Honey Bun snacking, vogueing boy dancer chefs, future Twitter-hyped one-liners (“Once you kill a cow, you gotta make a burger“) and…erm, Tyrese, and has immediately got her record label on the phone, demanding that they get her a music video budget big enough to include James Cameron as director and the actual Moon as a set location, just so she can end up besting GaGa’s “Telephone” as the owner of 2010’s best clip.

BONUS DL: As An Aquarius (Myspace) featuring Bryan Zimmerman “Telephone (Lady Gaga/ Beyonce Cover)” (alt)

Uncategorized as an aquarius, beyonce, bryan zimmerman, cover song, dance pop, diva pop, lady gaga

On paper, having one of our top guilty pleasure jams of 2009, the Vistoso Bosses‘ unfortunate non-hit “Delirious”, be completely sapped it of it’s appealingly Crayola-hued, “Legend of Zelda”-meets-four-square wispiness for darker electro textures doesn’t seem like it would fly.

Yet, consistently impressive remixer/ producer Doctor Rosen Rosen ultimately makes this revision work, his heavy slabs of spooky synth gloom and typewriter drum machine ticks bringing a sinister heft to lines like “When you look in my eyes/ You make me delirious”, instantly transforming what was once this cutesy (and fairly harmless), teenybop crush ode into the beginnings of an exciting “Fatal Attraction”-for-the-high-school-set big screen thriller.

DL: “Delirious (Doctor Rosen Rosen Remix)” (alt)

Uncategorized doctor rosen rosen, electro-R&B, remix, soulja boy, teen rap, vistoso bosses

Say what you will about Grey’s Anatomy not really being the “must-see” event it once was (we wouldn’t necessarily argue with you), but you got to admit, they still know how to alert viewers to great under-the-radar pop finds. “Die Young”, from (previously MM-approved) Swedish indie duo The Sweet Serenades, is one of the prime-time soap’s latest compelling scene-soundtrackers.

Effectively pairing the rustic tenor of Serenades’ singer/ rhythmic guitarist Martin Nordvall with the sighing, featherweight coo of Club 8 vocalist Karolina Komstedt atop a melancholy recipe of wistful guitar, synth squiggles, cracking drums and rumbling bongos, midtempo ballad “Die Young” hones in on the all-too-familiar awkward scenario of a couple waking up from a one night stand with differing reactions.

“It’s a lie, we knew it all along”, emotes Nordvall on the hook, yet despite being fully aware of the “rules”, he’s still hesitant to budge from bed, wanting to milk every single second out of his post-lay state of bliss (“Oh I don’t wanna leave/ I just wanna lay here and watch you breathe”). Too bad Komstedt doesn’t share that same sense of euphoria, all she wants is for him to quickly depart before he falls for her any deeper: “I’m not looking for love/ I told you that I just wanna dance,” she pointedly reminds him, her words bathed in a weighted remorse.

Peep the MP3/ video below, followed by a dark n’ dubby “Die Young” remix put together by the Artymove gang.

From Sweet Serenades’ latest, Balcony Cigarettes.

DL: “Die Young” (alt)

DL: “Die Young (Artymove Remix)” (alt)

Uncategorized artymove, club 8, duet, grey's anatomy, indie pop, karolina komstedt, sweden, the sweet serenades

After bringing about more than a few scratched heads over recent track “I Just Love You More”’s polarizing attempt at a punk chick makeover, Kate Nash makes the world right again with the welcomed return-to-(snarky/ perky)form that is new single, “Do Wah Doo”.

Helmed by producer, and former Suede guitarist, Bernard Butler (Duffy, Black Kids), “Do Wah Doo” buzzes with a playful jumbling of familiar ’60’s pop conventions (radiant girl group harmonies, handclaps, zinging surf guitar, blaring horns) all congealed into a thickened Wall of Sound.

Beneath the happy-go-lucky framing, however, things aren’t as sunny, as Kate is heard spewing all type of “hateration” towards a girl hogging the secret object of her affection’s eye. “Everybody thinks that girl’s a lady/ But I don’t, I think that girl’s shady,” Nash pouts on the sidelines, even going so far as to tag the crush-stealing cow a “bitch”.

Interestingly enough, just when you think she’s about to fight for her man “Jerry Springer”-style and get this fizzy pop confection the happy ending conclusion the upbeat arrangement all but demands, Nash opts to give him up, resigning to “read a book instead” because “I can hang out with myself”.

Hmmm…it’s not the most sassiest way to go out, but whatever, jerk’s loss; we’re just happy to have the undeniably catchy nugget-crafting Kate Nash we love back.

From her April-set second LP, My Best Friend Is You.

Uncategorized 60's, bernard butler, girl group, kate nash, my best friend is you, singer-songwriter, UK, uk pop

If Mariah had really wanted to boost sales and some chart longevity from the mostly public-ignored Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel (rather than quickly move on to it’s guest-laden, all-remixes sequel Angels Advocate), she would have been smart to unleash set highlight “Ribbon” as an official single: it’s seducing, slow-motion flow and chopped-n-screwed hook saw Carey and co-album collaborators The-Dream and Chris “Tricky” Stewart at the peak of their combined powers, and felt like a serious R&B smash waiting to happen.

Alas, she didn’t…but all is not lost, as the diva has only upgraded the track’s future hit potential greatly under this new Advocate revision.

It’s addictive hook sadly doesn’t make it’s first appearance until the track is half-way done, but it’s hard to fuss about that too much when the remix’ front-end is loaded with great turns at the mic from Ludacris (who, curiously, makes much more of an impact littering uzi-fire rhymes and animated vocal tricks atop “Ribbon”’s crawling midnight groove, than he does on his own oh-so-paint-by-numbers recent material) and Dream (who, as on “My Love” and the “Touch My Body (Remix)”, continues to prove to be one of Carey’s better duet partners [especially on the fade-out here], despite the huge gap in vocal ranges between the two).

Angels Advocate arrives, exclusively through Target & iTunes, March 30th.

DL: “Ribbon (Remix)” (alt)

Uncategorized angels advocate, ludacris, mariah carey, sex-rap, the-dream, tricky stewart

Just when our adoration for Gucci Mane’s The State vs. Radric Davis-housed tribute to all things yellow (bling, rims, booty), “Lemonade”, is at an all time high (surely, we’ll have another “best Gucci Mane track ever!!” next month, but right now we can’t get enough of the track’s manic piano tinkering and chorus of children awesomely chiming “Lemon pepper wangs and a freeze cup”), Fabolous swoops down on the Bangladesh beat to give it a different excellent flip.

The track, entitled “For The Money”, is one of the immediate highlights from Fab’s newly dropped mixtape There is No Competition – Part 2: The Funeral Service and could honestly be a hit single all on it’s own, thanks to the Brooklyn emcee changing it’s lyrical focus from singular hue obsessions to one of his own favorite radio banger topics (“shawtys” with dollar signs in their eyes) while humorously revising the hook with squeaky-voiced anony-chicks begging him to “write another song for the money” to keep their high-priced lifestyle on point.

“When the money gone/ She gon’ be the fuck gone with it,” Fab preaches, sounding not as much annoyed as mildly amused by his girl’s gold-digging obviousness: “I say ‘How many pair?’/ She say ‘Who’s countin?’”. Of course, though, it’s featured guest Nicki Minaj who ends up stealing the entire track with this LOL-worthy verse capper: “I told Fab ‘Get that Michael Knight KITT Coupe/ Before I put this pussy on your chipped tooth’”.

Grab the MP3 below, than (YOU MUST!!!) peep the song that started it all: “Lemonade”/ “For The Money”’s sample source, “Keep It Warm”, a hilarious gem by ’70’s duo Flo & Eddie (in the words of Drake, after hearing this one, you’ll definitely want to ‘thank us later’).

DL: “For The Money” (alt)

Flo & Eddie “Keep It Warm”:

DL: “Keep It Warm” (alt)

Uncategorized 70's, bangladesh, fabolous, flo & eddie, gucci mane, mixtape, nicki minaj

With all the grand strides Drake made as THE breakout hip-hop artist of 2009 (both on-line and off-), the idea of the lead single off his first official LP Thank Me Later being nothing short of brilliant felt like such a given, most of us had basically already engraved a BANGER OF (at least the first half of) THE YEAR award in it’s honor. The track was just bound to be greater than anything Drake had ever recorded (as well as have the power to part seas and put an end to world hunger), right?

Well, after finally getting to hear the much-anticipated “Over”…let’s just say our loftier-than-lofty expectations have been grounded some.

To put it simply, “Over”, while a perfectly serviceable street single/ album opener, is far from the “Successful” or “Best I Ever Had”-bester we prematurely predestined it to be, it’s verses finding Drizzy and co-producer Boi-1da basically recycling the breathless, top-of-the-mountain boasts (“Making sure the Young Money ship is never sinking/ Bout to set it off in this bitch–Jada Pinkett”) and militaristic drum-laced, dark epic knock of “Forever” to a lesser, larger-than-life effect.

Yeah, a couple lyrical winners do emerge (Our favorite: “Can you see me, can you see me?/ Get your Visine on”), but as a whole, the braggadocio-focused verses leave us cold, wishing that Drake would’ve taken the time to better flesh out his current place in the game with the intimate, “Behind The Music”-like personal depth he’s previously drawn so much acclaim for. If not that, at least flavor the sections with those silken, melodic vocal turns he handles so mesmerizingly.

Drake crams both of these practices into “Over”’s hook, and because of that, it easily ends up the track’s “saving grace” moment. Here, with ’70’s soul-sampled strings building to a gloriously dramatic peak behind him, Drake dons his semi-crooner hat and hits the “Pause” button on his sudden superstar life mid-celebration to briefly ruminate on his position.

“I know way too many people here right now/ That I didn’t know last year/ Who the fuck are y’all?”, he sing-growls, “I swear it feels like the last few nights we been everywhere and back/ But, I just can’t remember it all/ What am I doing?”. Then, in only a half-a-breath’s time, he uncovers the answer (“Oh yeah, that’s right, I’m doing me”), hits the “Play” button and proceeds with living the dream.

Now that’s the magic we’re talking about, Drake; too bad you couldn’t have figured out a way to stretch it’s luster across the entire track.

We’ll be saving that award for when you truly deserve it, thank you.

DL: “Over” (alt)

Uncategorized boi-1da, drake, thank me later

We fully understand that when it’s all said and done, just as with that other song, the amazing new clip for OK Go’s “This Too Shall Pass” single will far surpass the actual record in terms of public appreciation (especially for anyone that grew up playing Mouse Trap), but let’s give the Chicago act some credit: beyond being masters at making killer, on-the-cheap music videos, OK Go can also do brain-sticking pop (whether of the power-, alternative-, psychedelic-, or Prince-influenced variety) very well.

In the nanosecond it took to re-play the “Pass” vid for the hundredth time, we were just as excited to peep the complex, two-story Rube Goldberg contraption featured in the clip as we were to have our ears swallowed in the song’s densely layered, sunny triumphance.

Featuring tender piano plinks, soaring harmonies mixed slightly off in the distance, singer Damian Kulash’s pinched falsetto yelps spewing a spirit-raising message of positivity, and drummer Dan Konopka having a raucous good time underneath it all, the record carries a fetching jollity that’s just impossible to easily dismiss.

From OK Go’s latest album, Of The Blue Colour of The Sky.

BONUS DL: OK Go “This Too Shall Pass (Passion Pit Remix)” (alt)

BONUS DL: OK Go “The Lovecats (The Cure Cover)” (alt)

Uncategorized alternative, chicago, cover song, ok go, passion pit, power pop, the cure

Eve kicked 2010 off with the announcement that she was parting ways with long-time label Interscope and re-entering the studio to start piecing together a new new incarnation of her long-delayed fourth LP; in response, we couldn’t even muster up the mildest of shrugs.

Why, you may ask? Let’s just say it’s hard getting excited anymore over the potential release of an album that has been promised to drop every year for the past three years now (let’s not forget that the project’s one-time lead single, the still-amazing “Tambourine”, arrived waaaay back in 2007).

If the set (now entitled Lip Lock) does manage to make it’s way to stores sometime before we have to start shopping for 2011 calendars though, we hope it follows through on the somewhat intriguing idea of her going after atypical soundscapes (like the Salaam Remi/ Benga dubstep beat she pasted her vocals on on the ‘09 leak “Me N My”), rather than feature ho-hum repeatings of the tried-and-true, a category in which the newly leaked “Fire” falls.

Don’t get us wrong, as far as re-igniting the interest of faded-away audiences, “Fire” does a decent job: Its backing beat gives a sleek, Southern(-rap)-fried spin to White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” instrumental; the hook (“All y’all can spell my name/ E-V-E, ain’t nothing changed”) carries a certain double-dutch chant charm; and, in Eve’s rhymes, there’s a flicker of that old “pitbull in a skirt” we first fell in love with over ten years ago as she coolly dismisses grapevine gab of her retiring from the rap game (“What, you thought I gave it up?/ Like I was done and over?/ Guess I done fucked up your luck/ Better throw out your four leaf clover…”).

It’s just that, in our heads, we’d much rather have this street buzz-ish banger be the jump-off for a comeback-themed mixtape collection, where it could help build excitement for an official LP full of true game-changing efforts in a similar vein as aforementioned delights “Tambourine” and “Me N My”.

DL: “Fire” (alt)

Bonus DL: Eve featuring Missy Elliott, Fabolous & Swizz Beatz “Tambourine (Remix)” (alt)

Uncategorized eve, fabolous, female rap, missy elliott, swizz beatz, white stripes