mixtape maestro (2.0)

With pop music growing more and more gimmicky by the minute (Will the Age of Auto-Tune ever be over?) and brand new sub-genres popping up on the daily (making it damn near impossible to keep up with them all), it can oh-so-refreshing when something new comes along with the power to blow you away while also toying the line with being “traditional”. “Painkillers”, from Tennessee-born/ London-based singer-songwriter-actress Lauren Pritchard, is one of those type of tunes, proving that the classic recipe of great vocals, striking lyricism and classy production can still be an intoxicating brew in the crazy music landscape of 2010.

Here, supported by the impeccable rock & soul-fusing arrangement skills of acclaimed producer Eg White (Adele, Duffy, James Morrison) and the always stellar drum work of The Roots’ ?uestlove, Pritchard captivates with her amazingly earthen and bluesy tone offering an inside glimpse into her post-breakup blues and the suicidal urges it brings forth.

Yeah, her lyrics edge into the disturbing as she moans over how even if she were to overdose on the bottle of pills she’s gripping while speeding down the freeway, it likely wouldn’t make her heartache go away, but with those three great aforementioned songcraft elements in place, this downer of a situation is hard to resist not revisiting over and over again.

If the rest of Pritchard’s forthcoming full length debut, Wasted In Jackson, ends up just as good as “Painkillers” hints it will be, we urge the newcomer to start making room on her mantle right this minute, because it’s bound to get filled with a ton of awards in the coming years.

After checking out the “Painkillers” video, and a remix of the tune handled by drum & bass icon Roni Size, head on over to Pritchard’s website for info on where to cop the Painkillers EP.

Lauren Pritchard – Painkillers (Roni Size Remix) (feat. Talib Kweli)

What if, after the breakout success of The Slim Shady LP, Eminem completely switched gears on the follow-up and released a soul record that was bathed in the glorious sounds of heyday Motown (or Amy Winehouse-as-produced-by-Mark Ronson), and heavily downplayed his rapping skills for some surprisingly sturdy Smokey-smoove singing chops? Sounds insane, right?

Well it just so happens to describe the heretofore career path of British rapper Plan B, who snatched up both critical acclaim and controversy with his 2006 debut album Who Needs Actions When You Got Words‘s uncomfortably raw and violence-obsessed “Straight Outta East London” tales, only to return four years later with a sophomore project (The Defamation of Strickland Banks) that re-paints him as a retro soul crooner.

It’s a ballsy transformation that works far better than one might think, with B’s rich singing voice (a talent only hinted at in his previous rap-based works) and the disc’s finely-tuned exercises in the honey-and-velvet-toned arrangements of soul’s yesteryear completely negating the fact that this “let’s recreate the vibe of our parents’ old vinyl collection” shtick has been a bit over-played in recent years. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that Banks‘ central concept (following B’s titular character from the celebratory highs of the stage spotlight to the spirit-shattering lows of a years-long prison bid after being falsely accused of rape by a groupie), while cliched at points, would make for a nice lil’ big screen musical.

On stand-out cut (and third single) “Prayin’”, Plan B is found broken down to his knees feverishly praying for aid from a Higher Power after being involved in a prison brawl that ends with someone’s death. And while he didn’t necessarily commit the murder himself (it was a “lifer”, with “the devil in his eyes, but God is in heart”, stepping to his rescue), this fact doesn’t at all lessen the guilt that now clouds him.

A depressing tune yeah, but having his inner despair pleads caged inside a foggy billow of distant choir wails and a ringing Holland-Dozier-Holland-esque throb neatly steers it away from being a complete downer.

Catch the video below, then, as a bonus, enjoy a pairing of Plan B’s Actions single “Mama Loves A Crackhead” with Hall & Oates’ deathless jam “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)” (from his 2007 mixtape Paint It Blacker).

BONUS DL: Plan B (feat. Hall & Oates) “Mama Loves A Crackhead (‘Paint It Blacker’ Version)” (alt)

2010 Band You Need To Know and Love Quadron keep the sublime, blue-eyed soul preciousness coming with “Slippin’”, the much-praised highlight from the Danish duo’s self-titled debut that’s finally been given the official video treatment.

On par with its winning preceding single “Pressure”, “Slippin’” offers another tranquil ride back in time to the coy, hand clap-laden charms of 60′s girl group soul, with singer Coco’s cutie-pie coos oozing tender ache all throughout Robin Hannibal’s finely-oiled “tribute to Motown” production.

The musical equivalent to finally achieving that cool glass of water after baking alive under the hot summer sun for hours.

Sheryl Crow and Justin Timberlake semi-duetting?…On a cover of Terence Trent D’Arby’s sexy 1988 smash “Sign Your Name”?…That’s done in the style of ’70′s-era Al Green? No doubt we’re sold, if only because the younger generation deserve to know about the artist formerly known as D’Arby (now Sananda Maitreya), a late-80′s breakout superstar who at one-time was showered with straight-faced praise of being the “new Prince” and “next Michael Jackson”.

Beyond that though, this tune (found on Crow’s new album, the vintage soul-themed 100 Miles from Memphis) is a sheer delight from start to finish, with Sheryl and a background vox-supporting Timberlake proving to be a far better-than-imagined white soul team-up, and its production work handling a spot-on re-creation of the lush Memphis R&B magic Al Green and producer Willie Mitchell reigned with throughout the 1970′s.

Wouldn’t mind if Justin opted to wrap his trademark falsetto on this old-school sound as well for his next project (Hint, hint).

100 Miles from Memphis, also featuring a cover of The Jackson 5′s “I Want You Back”, drops July 20th.

Sheryl Crow (feat. Justin Timberlake) – Sign Your Name (Terence Trent D’Arby Cover)

Holding tight to their “if it ain’t broke…” mode of hit-making, Maroon 5, one of a handful of contemporary bands who could own the title of being Modern-Day Hall & Oates, simply re-assemble their signature radio-ready recipe of pop and funk-bridging musicality, falsetto-peaking hooks and slightly dark ruminations on a romance’s last days for new single “Misery”…and triumphantly succeed at crafting another satisfying toe-tapper you’ll be gleefully singing to yourself in the shower and car for months to come (The “Girl, you really got me bad/ You really got me bad” section of the chorus being the one part we can’t wrestle away from our brains).

And just in case you’re still struggling with trying to distinguish it from previous smashes “This Love” and “Makes Me Wonder”, Maroon 5 have made sure “Misery” stands out by accompanying it with a cartoonishly violent, revenge fantasy-themed video that’ll have you wishing MTV still did “Making The Video”.

Maroon 5′s fourth album Hands All Over drops September 21st.

Aside from it being a well-crafted fusion of pop, soul and funk, most of the appeal in “For Days”, a new cut by NYC indie act Francis and the Lights, undoubtedly lies in the “Spot the 80′s Influence” game you’ll no doubt be absorbed with when listening to the hypnotic tune.

First off there’s frontman Francis Farewell Starlite’s voice, a soothing hybrid of Peter Gabriel’s, Phil Collins’ and Steve Winwood’s respective blue-eyed soul tones; then you have the funky guitar licks in the fade-out bringing to mind Prince’s “Kiss” and a striking bass and keyboard groove that recalls early Madonna (or, to be more obscure, Bernard Wright’s 1985 R&B Top 10 “Who Do You Love?”). Even the lyrics feel rooted in decades-old scripts, as Francis’ spooky stalker antics (in which he admits to following a woman around for days, in the hopes that an “airstrike” or “natural disaster” could occur and somehow force them together) seem ripped from The Police’s similarly creepy “Every Breath You Take”.

After hearing this much-appreciated retro trip (found on their latest album, It’ll Be Better), we’re now super-intrigued by what these cats plan to bring to the table on their so-far not-yet-leaked Drake/ Thank Me Later collaboration, “Karoake”.

DL: “For Days” (alt)

Contrary to what the Billboard charts print every week, Robin Thicke isn’t the only white boy these days who can convincingly pull off silky slow jams; as proof, just check “She Needs Me”, a woozy, bedroom funk concoction from music crit-beloved English soul man (and Beck BFF) Jamie Lidell‘s latest album, Compass.

Bringing to mind the rich and sultry R&B blueprints of Prince and Mint Condition at their most romantic mood-setting, “She Needs Me” is the kind of tune a guy pulls out when he wants to let his main lady know that it’s about to really go down this evening, it’s densely-layered and steadily-paced groove basically demanding the accompaniment of a candle-lit chamber decorated with rose petals and glass bowls of chocolate-dipped strawberries as Lidell’s nether-region-charging pipes fill the room, giving spectacular multi-tracked voice to his inner-most thoughts (“I wanted this so much from the moment I met you/…You’re the sweetest thing I’ve ever known”).

Definite panty-dropper, this one right here.

DL: “She Needs Me” (alt)

Erykah Badu psyched many when she launched the era of 2008′s New Amerykah Part One (4th World War) with “lead single” “Honey”, a flirtatious throwback-baked R&B gem that ultimately had little tie-in with the set’s highly-praised psychedelic freak-funk soundscapes and socio-political dialogue (no wonder it ended up being stripped onto the album as a “hidden track”).

The track would, however, make a perfect fit on the High Priestess of Headwraps second New Amerykah installment Return of The Ankh, a sort of yang to World War‘s yin that presents Badu making a return trip to the less experimental neo-soul sleekness of her breakthrough Baduizm days with a focus on more traditional matters-of-the-heart themes. Mid-album track “Gone Baby, Don’t Be Long” stands out as one of the better displays of this more streamlined approach to songcrafting.

Based around a seducing sampled loop from Paul McCartney & Wing’s mostly forgotten 1979 dip into slinky blue-eyed-soul territory (their minor Back To The Egg hit, “Arrow Through Me”), “Baby” employs Erykah’s always welcome girlish coo to capture the role of a girl with such “a fiendish crush” for a hustling chap, she barely knows what to do with herself whenever he leaves her side to start his “workday” on the streets.

“I know you got to get your hustle on,” she casts him off (while simultaneously winking to her early-career tune “Other Side of The Game”, which featured the same exact line), but while she’s projecting understanding on the surface, internally she’s bubbling with anxiety for his quick return so they can take their relationship to the next level (“I can’t wait to see how you move/…So gone baby, gone baby, don’t be long”).

Stream the song below, followed by Erykah’s thought-provoking, Matt & Kim-inspired clip for the enchanting “Window Seat”, and a MP3 offerings of “Gone Baby”‘s sample source and a “Honey” live performance.

New Amerykah Part Two (Return of The Ankh) drops March 30th.

“Gone Baby, Don’t Be Long”:

“Window Seat”:

BONUS DL: Paul McCartney & Wings “Arrow Through Me (‘Gone Baby, Don’t Be Long’ Sample Source)” (alt)

BONUS DL: Erykah Badu “Honey (Live Performance)” (alt)

Vintage-obsessed blue-eyed-soul crooner Mayer Hawthorne may not have anywhere near the same radio-ready presence as The-Dream, but we would imagine this ‘G-Mix’ take on Snoop Dogg‘s 2009 semi-hit, featuring the much-buzzed-about indie soul man on the lushed-out hook substituting “shawty” with the more suave “darlin’”, being the version that gets the most play in the Broadus household.

Give the remix a sample and you’ll just as immediately envision the Doggfather getting his two-step (and, of course, puff) on to the track’s horn-spiked, grown-and-sexy strut too.

DL: “Gangsta Luv (Mayer Hawthorne G-Mix)” (alt)

Since catching our interest months ago with his highly addicting singles “Hurtful” and “Don’t Bring Flowers”, ginger-domed singer-songwriter Erik Hassle has become big stuff in his native Sweden, collecting not only a Top 10 album and two Top 40 singles, but the Swedish equivalent to a Best New Artist Grammy Award as well.

This year, the much-buzzed-about pop-soul-ster will finally steer his focus towards puncturing the US and UK markets with a re-packaging of his debut, now entitled Pieces; but for those not quite sold on why this guy is being touted amongst blog circles as one of music’s next breakthrough star, check the impressiveness that comes forth once Hassle’s silky blue-eyed-soul pipes are attached to pop faves both old and new:

“I Walk The Line” (Johnny Cash Cover)”

“Someday (The Strokes Cover)”

“Russian Roulette (Rihanna Cover)”

Good stuff, no?

Hassle’s Pieces drops in the UK/ USA in March. Here’s the newest music clip take (his fourth!!) for future smash “Hurtful”:

DL: “Russian Roulette (Rihanna Cover)” (alt)