As a jump-off cut for second album Kunst, The Tings Tings could’ve easily simply Xerox’ed the irresistible funk-pop guitar grooves and ridiculously catchy cheerleader-esque hooks of their debut album’s singles/ advertisements for everything (“Great DJ”, “That’s Not My Name”, “Shut Up and Let Me Go”) and been totally fine. But nooooo, the UK duo just had to go and switch up for new single “Hands”, ditching the guitar for a sleek and synth-ed out disco frame, and concocting a chorus that doesn’t instantly jump off as something one will be obsessing over for the next six months.
Repeated listens do eventually unveil the record’s brain-sticking powers: it’s endlessly churning new wave strut (nicely mixed by none other than Calvin Harris) exuding an intriguing air of seedy, 1980′s-era nightclub, and the main hook-”Clap your hands if you’re working too hard”-grasping onto a state of mind that plenty of exhausted 9-to-5 drones can relate to; but here’s to hoping that the rest of Kunst doesn’t see the Tings deviating too far from their previous winning formula, because we could do with a few more doses of those addictive pom-pom chants to amp up the dreary fall and winter seasons.
Hear the cut below, then snatch up another Calvin Harris-enhanced treat of the Summer of ’10.
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.
Shakira’s inner “She-Wolf” gets it’s chop-licking boogie on further via these two recently unleashed club mixes:
The first, helmed by none other than Mr. Calvin Harris, shrouds the singer in back-and-forth dashing synths and spacey sound effects while re-reminding us that you can never go wrong with a lil’ cowbell additive; the other, known as the ‘Deeplick Edit’, bears a catchy, syncopated guitar shuffle and a nice Zapp & Roger-esque vocoder slant to the “S.O.S.” line.
Too bad these things don’t come with videos, cause we’d love to see how Shakira would freakishly contort her groove thang to their beats.
After peeping this live performance of Calvin Harris’ summery-tastic “Ready For The Weekend”, we’re now even more inspired to catch one of his shows in person, just so we can pogo with glee to this (and fully absorb the aftershocks of Mary Pearce’ sirenic wail) while half-sloshed and stuck in a stinky pit crowded with swarms of other tipsy boppers.
Our only gripe: Lip-syncing may be a no-no with the Live Lounge people (understandably) but “RFTW” in this context would have been a lot more satisfying if Harris had allowed in the studio version’s heavily vocal-processed latter verse bits as opposed to his somewhat buzzkilling lower-range (or just chucked off that entire section entirely, since we’d rather have Pearce’s magnificent hook arrive a lot quicker anyway).
Catch a clip of the performance as well as a Mary-led cover of Kasabian’s “Fire” below:
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.
Perhaps sensing that one album was all anyone could take of disco-fuzz party confections with very little to say, Calvin Harris seems to be ready to switch some major gears on his upcoming second album by the sounds of it’s lead single, “I’m Not Alone”.
Somewhat sadly, the new track doesn’t see the Scottish DJ/ producer further indulging in the slow-creeping robo-soul of the I Created Disco highlight “Love Souvenir” (fingers are crossed in the hopes of getting a sequel of sorts to that somewhere down the line), but it does find Harris moving up a decade to celebrate a sound that was wholly “acceptable in the 90′s”: larger-than-life trance-pop anthems fit for a stadium-sized audience.
It takes a couple seconds (to be more precisely, forty-five) for “Alone” to get moving, but once it’s extended build-up of midtempo, guitar-drenched introspection gets out of the way and that base line thump and gigantic, 16-note synth hook enter the picture, the track quickly solidifies it’s position as the rest of the year’s go-to source for the ultimate aural-grasping of utter joy.
Expect this one to be pumping from seemingly everywhere real soon…and expect to not even care because it’s that damn good.
Single drops April 6th.
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.
*
Come on, use Amazon or iTunes and help support your favorite artists so they can continue to give us the great sounds we love.
*
(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!)
As a jump-off cut for second album Kunst, The Tings Tings could’ve easily simply Xerox’ed the irresistible funk-pop guitar grooves and ridiculously catchy cheerleader-esque hooks of their debut album’s singles/ advertisements for everything (“Great DJ”, “That’s Not My Name”, “Shut Up and Let Me Go”) and been totally fine. But nooooo, the UK duo just had to go and switch up for new single “Hands”, ditching the guitar for a sleek and synth-ed out disco frame, and concocting a chorus that doesn’t instantly jump off as something one will be obsessing over for the next six months.
Following up his surprisingly effective flashback to arena-sized ’90′s rave 
Perhaps sensing that one album was all anyone could take of disco-fuzz party confections with very little to say,
Recent Comments