Apparently Robyn thinks she’s Sade, what with the way she’s been cruelly holding out on releasing a new album (It may have only been five years since Robyn first hit stores, but that’s like, what, a thousand lifetimes in pop music time). Hopefully, though, the wait may be over sooner rather than later, as a possible early preview of the still-untitled LP has made it’s inevitable way to the Internets recently.
Previously sampled in it’s early stages via a brief YouTube clip back in December, the Diplo-helmed “No Hassle” casts Robyn as a patois-adopting “dancehall queen”, turning heads and garnering various shout-outs with the way she winds her body to the DJ’s hypnotic reggae-pop groove; all that she asks is that you don’t bother her while she’s lost in the rhythm’s “boom boom boom”.
Compared to Robyn’s previous catalogue highlights, “No Hassle” does seem a bit lacking in “wow” moments (Diplo’s production provides a mostly basic exercise of the dubstep/ dancehall sound), but that’s neither here nor there considering it carries a sturdy amount of pop hookiness and, hell, is A…NEW…ROBYN…JAM.
Fresh off Beyonce’s record-breaking six Grammy Award wins Sunday night (and a fiery, weave-tossing, Alanis-covering stage performance that only renewed our wishes for the diva to commit to recording an R&B-and-rock-themed album in the stylistic vein of En Vogue’s “Free Your Mind” or Janet Jackson’s “Black Cat”), Major Lazer and Elephant Man bring this cover of her Best Female Pop Vocal Performance-owning “Halo”, trading in the original lyric’s Hallmark beau praise for Elephant Man’s shower-singing growls about “haters”, “hypocrites” and “bad man”.
Yeah…we don’t get it either, though it does lead one to wondering if it means Beyonce and co-producer Ryan Tedder’s Coldplay-meets-boom-bap arrangement will become the new riddim du jour in 2010.
In other Major Lazer-oriented news, someone else has taken upon themselves to give their endlessly re-tooled “Keep It Goin’ Louder” some brand new flavor. This time around, it’s those crazy Telephoned kids, chopping up and re-pasting together bits of the beloved single with re-sung elements from Whitney Houston’s “Million Dollar Bill”. Grab the results, from Telephoned’s new Off The Hook mixtape, below.
Shake away all lingering traces of doubt and save those “sophomore jinx” giggles for another band’s disastrous second go’ round. Why? Vampire Weekend’s Contra, the much-anticipated follow-up to the 2008 self-titled debut that rocked many a bloggers’ year-end round-up, has finally made it’s Web premiere (it’s currently streaming on the band’s MySpace) and…it’s…awesome.
On the surface, what the boys accomplish here isn’t too deep: they’ve simply taken the charming themes of the first album (the world-pop-focused melodic merriment, the random preppie life gibberish) and polished and expanded on them…a typical sophomore LP course of action. But in the playful and ever-awe-inspiring musical universe of VW, even the tiniest doses of ambition (be it more of a lenience on electronic-based musical textures, surprisingly moving first stabs in true balladry, or the inclusion of Auto-Tune[!?!]) go a long way.
Of the ten cuts (all single-worthy) being served, and excluding previously released delights “Horchata” and “Cousins”, for us, Contra definitely hits home-runs when it comes to “Run” and “Diplomat’s Son”.
On the former, singer Ezra Koenig is suddenly hit with the idea of going off on a romantic getaway for two, somewhere far away from “all the stars in bars” and all the gray-toned humdrum of 9-to-5 living, where he and his boo can enjoy the simple bliss of different surroundings and eachother’s conversation.
We never really learn if the duo actually act on this idea, but all the excitement built around him just putting the notion out there is satisfying enough, from the heartwarming way Ezra describes her eyes lighting up with surprise at his out-of-nowhere proposal, to the rumbling tribal-like percussion, sudden erupting bursts of horn-fare and the song-ending detour into new wave-inspired glee that all seem to illustrate his suggestion being the greatest plan ever.
The plotline to the six-minute long, hodgepodge masterpiece “Diplomat’s Son” also follows some sort of life-altering “a-ha!!” moment (“It’s not right/ But it’s now or never/ And if I wait/ Could I ever forgive myself?”) interspersed with beautifully detailed lyrical imagery (“The sight of dishes sittin’ in the bathtub”; “The moon glow(ing) yellow in the riptide”) and a tinge of nostalgia (“It was ’81″), but that barely registers with importance when you’re being distracted by all the glorious going-ons happening in the backing arrangement.
A mechanized dancehall strut decorated with sampled M.I.A. chants, dreamy doo-wop background vox, frilly strings, Afro-pop bop and piano notes that can’t figure out if they want to portray a doo-wop or ragtime style, the production behind “Son” is a peculiar monster indeed; it’s also the best thing VW has ever put to tape…and that’s saying a lot for a band whose two full length albums so far released both feel like greatest hit comps.
Hear Contra, in it’s entirety here, but don’t forget to pick it up when it officially drops January 11th.
Electrik Red‘s “Top Rankin’” may be an unreleased cut from the girl group’s earlier days (the group actually formed way back in ’05), but even with it’s age, it still serves as a nice companion to the other R&B goodies the ladies have given us so far this year.
The song is an updating of the 1978 Althea & Donna classic “Uptown Ranking”, to which the ladies of ER, as expected, embed a lip-licking, Vanity 6-like edge: “So you say you wanna a girl that can ride?/ Nice lips, thickness that’s nice/ Well I’m looking for a dude that can hang/ While I ride that — to the sun rise”.
Slightly icky references to “punanny pie” aside, like the original it’s based upon, “Top Rankin””s sleepy dancehall thrust is inviting, effectively re-igniting our anticipation for the triple-degree-peaking summer days ahead.
Major Lazer is a side-project collaboration between revered DJ/ producers Diplo and Switch that will supposedly take their love for all things reggae and dancehall and give it a tantalizing digital wash. Unfortunately, the album, Guns Don’t Kill People…Lazers Do, isn’t due until June (lone teardrop), but the boys thankfully delivered an early 4/20-soundtracking gift (Props to Mad Decent!!) with the recent unleashing of dizzying cut “Hold The Line”.
Powered by a sharpened surf guitar loop and giddily decorated with all kinds of random sound effects (including horse cries and cell phone rings), “Hold The Line”‘s modern island shuffle is quite overwhelming on first listen, but once one grows accustomed to it’s rapid-fire rhythm, and the accompanying skittish chants of featured guests Santigold and Mr. Lexx, with repeated listens, the busy bag o’ tricks displayed land as a very intoxicating concoction.
Reason No. 1,025 for why summer needs to be here like YESTERDAY?: The full release of this album. Frustrated sigh.
It’s nice to see newcomer Jazmine Sullivan‘s name in the running for the Best New Artist Grammy prize, even if her chances of winning seem slim at best (her contenders include more widely-known figures Duffy, Adele and the Jonas Brothers). Still, if she at least gets a chance to bless the stage sometime during the ceremony, she’ll be smart to perform her debut album highlight “Lions, Tigers & Bears”, a magnificent gem of a record that’s sure to prove to the so-far uninitiated why she’s the talk of the modern R&B town.
Now “Bears” is one of those great urban finds that would do better without any hip hop interference at all, but to think it would go untouched in this era of everybody jumping on the hottest cut around would be foolish. So while it’s not exactly surprising to have Fabolous committing an introductory sixteen on this remix, it is a bit shocking to see how decent of a “collaboration” it is.
His casual flow delicately bobbing along to “LT&B”‘s operatic tip-toe, Fabolous admits to fully understanding Jazmine’s philophobic caution (“Niggas be lyin’ tigers and bears”), but he alleviates her “ice grills and jealous stares” with the comforting promise that she needn’t ever worry about the love they share (“No need to question love/ I can just tell it’s there/ ‘Cause when it’s meant to be/ You’ll know eventually”).
Far better than anything Ja Rule and Ashanti ever came up with in their “rap thug-meets-R&B PYT” heyday.
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!)
Apparently Robyn thinks she’s Sade, what with the way she’s been cruelly holding out on releasing a new album (It may have only been five years since Robyn first hit stores, but that’s like, what, a thousand lifetimes in pop music time). Hopefully, though, the wait may be over sooner rather than later, as a possible early preview of the still-untitled LP has made it’s inevitable way to the Internets recently.
Shake away all lingering traces of doubt and save those “sophomore jinx” giggles for another band’s disastrous second go’ round. Why? Vampire Weekend’s 
It’s nice to see newcomer
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