mixtape maestro (2.0)

Coming off what many considered 2009’s top R&B release (Love Vs. Money), it’s hard not to be left a little underwhelmed by “Love King”, the first single and title track to The-Dream’s next (and possibly last) album.

Built atop a floaty, snap-laden midtempo groove perked with candied piano plinks and punctuating “Ey”’s, the song is nothing more than a cut-and-paste patchwork of the singer/ songwriter/ producer/ “ey”-er’s usual bag o’ musical quirks, this time tied together by a thin concept (The-Dream has tons and tons of chicks at his beck and call) that’s in dire need of much stronger goofball lyricism than “Got girls with weaves/…Girls without it” and “Got girls on my Sprint/ My AT&T/ Got girls on T-Mobile/ Metro if it’s local”.

Yeah, it’s “Shawty Is The Shit”-meets-”Rockin’ That Thing” soundbed is perfect riding-to material, but if The-Dream really wants to finally nab some Grammy nods this time around (we, the people, can only endure so many Twitter rants), he’s going to have to conclude his solo album trilogy on the high note it demands with far better offerings than watered-down regurgitations from the same stylistic template.

Love King drops in May.

DL: “Love King” (alt)

If it’s any consolation though Dream, we’re definitely digging you’re rap verse on this all-star “How Low (Remix)”:

BONUS DL: Ludacris featuring Rick Ross, Twista, The-Dream, Ciara & Pitbull “How Low (Remix)” (alt)

Uncategorized ciara, love king, ludacris, pitbull, posse cut, R&B, rick ross, southern rap, the-dream, twista

While best known for their wildly inventive exercises in hard rock, metal, prog and pop-rock sounds (as well as a seemingly glue-stuck “like Foo Fighters” tag) that have slowly helped push them further and further into the UK mainstream view, Scottish alt-rockers Biffy Clyro have also proved over the years to be reliable in delivering some really fascinating cover songs.

From Rihanna’s “Umbrella” to Weezer’s “Buddy Holly” to Franz Ferdinand’s “Take Me Out” and The Killers’ “When You Were Young”, Clyro’s re-imaginings haven’t always bettered the originals, but in their (sometimes polarizing) attempts to recast these familiar nuggets, the results were never un-interesting either. So when the news dropped that the Biffy boys were gonna hit the Live Lounge studios, we were excited beyond imagination to hear what cover song they would try out next. When we found out it was going to be the slinky Ciara/ Justin Timberlake duet “Love Sex Magic” though, that excitement was multiplied times ten. Their last venture into American R&B (the aforementioned “Umbrella”) managed to be a winner…but what in the hell were they gonna do with this under-performing FutureSex/ LoveSounds leftover? Answer: Fill our hearts with glee!!

Rather than give it an extreme “rawk” makeover as they had sometimes handled their covers in the past, Biffy (thankfully) opt to go a more straightforward route this time, reinterpreting the original’s funk groove via some surprisingly groove-able singular guitar picking, and providing vocal performances that, while definitely awkward in that square-ish “non-soulful European white boys” kind of way, pull out some charmingly goofball, falsetto-aided male harmonies.

If you dug the Klaxons doing “No Diggity” or Hot Chip taking on Snoop or giving us their best R. Kelly imitation, you’ll likely admire this.

DL: “Love Sex Magic (‘Live Lounge’ Ciara Cover)” (alt)

Uncategorized acoustic, alternative, biffy clyro, ciara, cover song, live performance, scotland

Missy Elliott and producer Danja help guide Ciara back to her electro-crunk & b roots on (the somewhat under-performing) Fantasy Ride’s second international single “Work”, an overtime-working futuro-runway strut built on club-aimed inspiri-chants (“You better shake that thang like a donkey/ And go hard for it bitch, you better work…”) and one of those manic galactic grooves any normal, non-Ciara person would probably find difficult to keep up with on the dancefloor.

But while it provides a much better artist-to-track fit than Ride’s previous singles, the slightly limp midtempo ballad “Never Ever” and the underwhelming FutureSex leftover “Love Sex Magic”, “Work” has a little too much going on, never really quite gelling as a comfortable whole.

The out-of-breath 4/4 hook slams and there’s a certain charm in Ciara’s sassy, L’Trimm B-girl-isms, but that’s about all to note that’s completely positive here.

Firstly, the lacking of a second sung verse only makes us wish that Ci-Ci would’ve omitted the opening verse altogether and just spent the whole time doling out double-dutch raps as the differing vocal performances on the verses presented here feel odd and disjointed.

Secondly, Missy (sporting a wacky Mad Max mullet in the accompanying video) unfortunately re-reminds us that her best creative days might really be behind her after contributing another one of those pedestrian, hype-woman guest turns she’s been fancying for over a year now here (Lines as elementary as “hee-hee-how” or “Beep Beep/ Who got the keeps to the jeep?” feel like Bob Dylan penmanship in comparison to the uninspired drivel she’s recently been dishing).

And thirdly, Danja’s ever-mutating production annoyingly teeters between genius, mad scientist studio wizardry and an over-the-top, overwhelming mess the track’s entire length, never once allowing us the breathing room to decide whether it’s the former or latter.

Yeah, it’s nice to hear Ciara attempting to return to a sound where she excels and, again, “Work” is perhaps the most instantly gratifying single released from Fantasy so far, but the overall lack of focus presented is hard to easily ignore, and that nagging sense of disappointment ultimately dulls the whole listening experience.

Ciara ft. Missy Elliot- Work It from LowKey on Vimeo.

Uncategorized ciara, crunk & b, danja, electro-R&B, fantasy ride, female rap, missy elliott

Even though “Love Sex Magic” has enjoyed time in the Hot 100 Top 10, making it Ciara’s first single to peak that high since 2006’s “Oh”, the original track doesn’t seem like it will have the legs to become the monster summer go-to it was most likely designed to be.

Now, an extended after-life in the remix realm? That just may be the record’s saving grace as it seems like every week some re-tweaked version of the tune is making it’s Web premiere.

The latest remix to get our bums a-wigglin’ comes via Canada’s Skratch Bastid, who matches Ciara & JT’s sexcapades up perfectly with the sketelal White-boy funk of Laid Back’s club staple “White Horse” and Art of Noise’s bump & grind anthem “Moments of Love”.

DL: “Love Sex Magic (Skratch Bastid Remix)” (alt)

Uncategorized 80's, art of noise, Canada, ciara, fantasy ride, justin timberlake, laid back, remix, skratch bastid

Would it be asking too much for Justin Timberlake to consider a full-time gig on “Saturday Night Love”? Whether he’s hosting the show or simply popping up randomly in a single sketch (the “Single Ladies” parody; his blink and you missed it cameo in the “Jizz In My Pants” video), Justin (alongside the show’s over-used star Kristen Wiig) guarantees endless laughter, and with it being another three-and-a-half years until the next presidential elections (always the show’s biggest attention-grabber), SNL could really use his usually excellent comedic chops in the interim.

Last night, JT took on hosting duties for the third time, and while not every single minute was a LOL home-run (we thinks the “Target Lady” has worn out her welcome, and the live performance of Ciara’s “Love Sex Magic” felt like the record itself: promising, but ultimately underwhelming), it was definitely the show’s strongest full episode in months.

Of course, the sketch that will gather the most attention will be the latest “Digital Short”, which saw Timberlake and Andy Samberg reprising their Color Me Badd-esque “Dick In The Box” duo for sequel effort, “Motherlover”, another humorous mocking of 90’s R&B, this time based around the group’s brilliant idea to take “special care” of each other’s lonely moms for Mother’s Day (“Cause every Mother’s Day needs a Mother’s Night/ If doing it is wrong, I don’t wanna be right/ I’m callin’ on you ’cause I can’t do it myself/ To me you’re like a brother, so be my mother lover”).

We would have to agree about it being the “second best idea (they’ve) ever had”, cause the Emmy-winning (!!) “Dick In A Box” was major, but damn if we’ll ever think about the Mother’s Day holiday the same way ever again.

Catch the hilarious clip below, followed by the SNL performance of “Love Sex Magic”:

Uncategorized andy samberg, ciara, justin timberlake, lol, sex jam, snl

For those that are still not quite feeling “Prom Queen” or wish that Ciara and JT’s “Love Sex Magic” didn’t feel so FutureSex-like, producer/ remixer Russ Castella has come to your rescue, tinkering with both records in interesting enough ways they might reverse some listeners’ initial underwhelmed reception.

Of the two, “Prom Queen” is obviously in need of the most help, so it’s not surprising it gets the more drastic makeover. This involves Castella completely stripping away it’s “rock”-y sonic terrain, then orchestrating an entirely new backing arrangement based in moody piano dramatics.

Surprisingly, casting the song in this Evanescence AC ballad-like form ends up sounding far better than one might at first assume; but a delicate sprinkling of keys can’t really solve the major problem that is Wayne’s choked robo-vocal. The man still sounds horrid.

DL: “Prom Queen (Russ Castella Piano Remix)” (alt)

For “Love Sex Magic”, Castella simply colors within the lines of it’s taut funk strut a lil’ melodic synth groove. It’s a minor updating, but damn if it doesn’t wiggle the song out of it’s re-heated feel and elevate it to a whole new plateau of post-disco sexiness.

DL: “Love Sex Magic (Russ Castella Remix)” (alt)

Uncategorized ciara, fantasy ride, justin timberlake, lil' wayne, remix, russ castella

Just when it looked like Ciara’s Fantasy Ride wasn’t going to be that great of a commute, she hooks up with the great Timba-lake team and scores herself a sure-shot chart climber.

“Love & Sex & Magic” was first heard as a Justin-starring demo (then simply called “Magic”) that was somehow leaked to the masses last year. A lean Timbaland-sculpted funk-pop jam, the track definitely feels like a FutureSex knock-off, but who ever said that was a bad thing?

“Imagine if there was a million me’s talkin’ sexy to you like that/
You think you can handle boy, if I give you my squeeze/ I’m-a need you to push it right back,” Ciara flirts, preparing her nastiest lap dance routine. Justin’s response? Simply sit back and enjoy: “Just do what I taught you”. Then, out of nowhere, a fluttery ballad-leaning bridge cuts through all the hanky-panky foreplay so the duo can get a little mushy: “Let’s slow it down so we fall in love…”.

Miss Ciara, you can rest with all the album push-backs now, ’cause with this sexy groover, you’ve finally grasped that jump-off mega-hit you’ve been searching for.

Uncategorized ciara, duet, fantasy ride, justin timberlake, sex jam, timbaland

After her last single, the underwhelming T-Pain assist “Go Girl”, failed to really go anywhere, Ciara pretty much understood that a re-launch of her Fantasy Ride era was needed. Unfortunately, rather than drop a club-shattering crunk & b ditty that plays to her floor-working strengths, replacement jump-off “Never Ever” opts to venture down a more mid-tempo ballad route; a major mistake since, save for the kitty-kat slink-fest that was “Promise”, Ciara really doesn’t do slow jams much justice.

Coming across like a less flashy “Love In This Club”, “Never Ever” plants Ciara in a predictable unrequited love situation, with her coming to grips with the fact that her man will never quite love her the way she wants so it’s best for her to move on. Her vocal contribution ends up just as stale as the thematic set-up reads, her lack of a broad range unable to give the flat lyrics the overblown spice that a Mariah or Keyshia could’ve offered. Even the all-too-important hook ends up feeling deflated, at first raising hopes with an interesting melody jack from “If You Don’t Know Be My Now”, than quickly snatching those same hopes away by senselessly dismissing the throwback reference only a short line later.

Some rescue does come forth with the far more exciting happenings that exist on the track’s bookends (Polow Da Don’s now-familiar hypeman seasonings and it’s later echoing in the hard-thumping bridge; a nice, breeze-by cameo from Jeezy) and “Great legs and elastic choreography”-showcasing video, but not even those bits can ultimately save “Never Ever” from being Fantasy Ride’s second consecutive forgettable first single.

Bets are on that yet another official single will drop before the already pushed-back Ride makes it to it’s April release.

Uncategorized ciara, polow da don, young jeezy

Okay, so I was a little harsh on the “Umbrella” review a few weeks back. I’m biting my tongue now, cause it’s currently one of my favorite videos and songs (“Ella-Ella-Oh-Oh!”). Before that uber-jam has even managed to take over the world as it inevitably will, the second single from Good Girl Gone Bad has already been getting heavy buzz, thanks to the leaked info that it would take on another huge ’80’s sample a la “SOS (Rescue Me)”.

With “Shut Up and Drive”, Rihanna deserves recognition for being deemed the next “next Janet Jackson”. Unlike previous honor Ciara, Rihanna has proved to be able to mash up bit elements of several genres (rock, reggae/ dancehall, R&B) has effortless as Michael’s lil’ sis in her heyday and always comes up with something ultra-sleek and domination-ready. Thanks to a neat riff off of the indestructible new wave/ industrial charge and melody of “Blue Monday”, “Drive” shows signs of keeping Rihanna’s presence strong well into the summer.

Rocking an ultra modern, less-dirty CBGB flair with sharp guitars and electro swirls percolating around her sweet island accent, the track brings the “Bad Girl” to the table with naughty car-as-sex metaphors that would make R. Kelly proud. “Got a ride that’s smoother than a limousine/ Can you handle the curves?/ Can you run all the lights?” she inquires before demanding that he “step inside/ and ride, ride, drive, drive”. What’s so cool is that the track is so kinetic that it doesn’t even need to rely on it’s inner nastiness to be good. Like most of her material, Rihanna makes this look easy, meeting the challenge of whatever producers hand her head-on and unleashing pure pop candy as a result. She’s the perfect pop package all rolled into one waifer-thin supermodel frame and we can’t wait to see what goodies she doles out next.

Download: “Shut Up and Drive”

Uncategorized 80's, ciara, dance pop, diva pop, good girl gone bad, janet jackson, new order, rihanna

Workaholic Lil’ Wayne pumps out so much new material on a monthly basis that by the time you’ve finally come around to hearing that new Weezy freestyle getting so much attention in forums, he’s already dropped another whole mixtape and been asked to appear on around twenty remixes. And what’s even more remarkable is that he continues to top his best work with new stuff that’s even more wacked out and mindlessly fly.

Take his stab at Ciara’s industrial-kitty ballad “Promise” to which he takes the time out to write some uncomfortable obsessed fan letter on how in his mind he and C could be the younger Hov and B. Lost in blunt smoke and watching Ciara grind against mic stands and chairs on the telly, Wayne delivers on this odd tribute (“Like a pair of wet and sticky Vicky’s girl/ I’m on you”), getting all creepy serious as he nurses sexual fantasies (“What you know ’bout having syrup poured on that pancake?”) and reveals inquiries like “I just want to see if you’re taller than me”. It’s delivered with a surreal, stream-of-consciousness flow that’s strangely paced and almost too embarrassing to swallow. Reduced to a slobbering fanboy while he peeps her every choreographed step, Lil’ Wayne chucks out one of his most insane beat-cops to date on this so-silly-it’s-kinda-scary number.

Uncategorized ciara, cover song, lil' wayne, mixtape, sex-rap, southern rap