mixtape maestro (2.0)

So far, Brandon Flowers‘ (sudden) solo career has launched with a couple of whimpers rather than the bang we assumed it would. Yeah, Flamingo previews “Crossfire” and “Swallow It” bear a certain broody, low-key charm (especially the latter, with it’s mesmerizing prancing melodies and nudging inspirational lyric), but we anticipated something far more…well, lively (read: hooky and heavily synth-adorned) as kick-off for The Killers frontman’s detour away from his bandmates.

Thankfully newest album leakage “Was It Something I Said?” has arrived to assuage our concerns over this whole solo project a bit, as it finally finds Brandon bringing some energy (and hooks-Yay!) to the table.

Putting on his best Elvis impersonator quiver, Flowers rides a perky ’80′s keyboard bop to invite us in on the exhilaration of he and his “honey love” Valentina hitting the Vegas streets in search of a chapel so they can take their union to the next level. Too bad his bliss is short-lived; after catching something off in his future bride’s eyes, he’s horrified to learn she’s already put plans in motion to desert him, forcing him down on his knees in a restaurant’s parking lot, begging to make right whatever he did wrong.

“Was it something I said or did?/ Was it something that I should have kept hid?”, he pleads on the chorus, capping off both lines in desperation-pierced falsetto shrieks, “If you leave me hanging I don’t know what I’ll do”.

Despite the backing arrangement’s on-going sunniness hinting that things are about to turn for the better, Brandon’s appeals fail to bring her back around, and he’s left alone to be tortured for the rest of his life by the sound of chiming bells echoing around in his head, forever taunting him of the happiness he came so close to achieving, while Valentina ends up hooking up with a dealer and having the new beau’s baby.

It’s a sad story, but a great pop song with tons of replay value, which is all we were asking for in the first place Brandon.

Peep an Australian radio rip of the cut below (courtesy of Some Kind of Awesome); Flamingo drops September 14th.

Brandon Flowers – “Was It Something I Said” (Radio Rip)

On The Drums‘ gorgeous (and potential modern classic) “Down By The Water”, one of two songs to hold residency on both the band’s fantastic 2009 EP Summertime! and their even more fantastic 2010 self-titled full length, the Brooklyn four-piece, for once, avoid trying to hide their emotions behind a veneer of perky, surf-pop.

The song, with it’s spacious, doo-wop prom ballad sway, still keeps them on the sand circa 1960′s, but here, the sun has long since left and most of the beach party have vacated the scene, leaving only frontman Jonathan Pierce and his girl on the moon-lit oceanside to gaze longingly into each other’s eyes as he professes his eternal devotion to her. “If they stop loving you/ I won’t stop loving you/ If they stop needing you/ I’ll still need you, my dear,” he promises in a piercing, edge-of-range wail, as if he’s straining for the entire world to hear his words.

Sure, the “forever” he vows could very well end in a week’s time, but as an earnest moment captured in time (and future “cell phones in the air” standard), “Down By The Water”‘s retro-pop-infused romanticism resonates beautifully.

The Drums – Down By The Water

BONUS DL: The Drums “Down By The Water (The Soundmen Remix)” (alt)

Five years after bursting onto the music scene earning all kinds of critical fanfare for their self-titled debut‘s boy/girl harmony-sweetened stabs at happy-go-lucky (at least on the surface) ’60′s folk-pop, and four years after losing much of that breakthrough momentum on a hastily released sophomore album (2006′s Those The Brokes) bogged down by over-long track lengths, English indie pop quartet The Magic Numbers have returned, armed with third project The Runaway and, likely, the hope that it will have the power to restore them to their debut heights.

So far the outlook isn’t looking so bright, but even if Runaway isn’t bringing in much praise as a whole, the set still manages to delight on individual moments.

Early album offering “Why Did You Call?” is one of those moments, nicely seeping its way into the ears with a driving, ’80′s MOR groove and the ghostly whisper-coos of female members Angela Gannon and Michele Stodart triggering an inviting late-night ambiance (while also recalling the melody of Womack & Womack’s oft-covered “Teardrops”).

Caught off guard by an ex’s phone call late one evening, Gannon and Stodart’s mesmerizing encircling vocals share the role of a woman reduced to a pile of weak-kneed mush by the sound of her former love’s voice at the other end of the line, all the headway she had achieved in getting over him dissipated in mere seconds as she regretfully finds herself unable to resist sharing one more “dance with the sinners tonight”.

This one NEEDS to be a single.

The Magic Numbers – Why Did You Call

BONUS DL: The Magic Numbers “Crazy In Love (Beyonce Cover)” (alt)

After scoring some major blog world love with his early Summer joint “You Are Not A Robot” (probably far more than he imagined), New York up-and-comer Hoodie Allen has switched his game plan up a little, scrapping the (admittedly enticing) idea of his forthcoming mixtape (now titled Pep Rally) being based around nothing but Marina & The Diamonds samples for the far less ambitious task of him rapping over a variety of different acts’ tracks.

Latest pre-release teaser “Words of Wisdom” utilizes Two Door Cinema Club’s “Undercover Martyn” to great effect, achieving a nicely chilled summery vibe through it’s looping of the buzzy indie pop number’s ballad-y hook, while Allen seems to go after the world record for Most Punchlines In A Verse with all the simile-enhanced doses of wit he stuffs into his sixteens.

Interesting though that “Wisdom” hits it’s peak moment when Allen stops trying to impress with his rhymes and just lets his inner pop instincts take charge: the bridge, boasting a cool drum machine riddim and pleasant half-sung vocal melodies, proves quite lovely. More of that please, Hoodie.

Words Of Wisdom (feat. Two Door Cinema Club) by HoodieAllen

BONUS DL: Two Door Cinema Club “Undercover Martyn (Passion Pit Remix)” (alt)

Alt-country-tinged indie-pop singer-songwriter Lissie has received plenty of acclaim within the past year, winning over critics with last year’s Why You Runnin’ EP, then sending the blogosphere all gaga over her rustic renditions of Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance”, Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” and Kid Cudi’s “Pursuit of Happiness”. That adoration should only continue as more ears become enamored over the Fleetwood Mac-evocation and heartland charm found within her newly dropped major label debut Catching A Tiger, a surefire bet for Best New Artist attention come next year’s Grammy’s.

On stand-out album track “Stranger”, Lissie nicely blends her classic C&W influences with the dense ’60′s girl group shimmer of Phil Spector “Wall of Sound” pop, but she manages to avoid the doe-eyed girlishness that typified most of those acts, her whiskey-soaked delivery presenting her as no dainty pushover as she dismisses the advances of a wannabe suitor.

Instantly turned off when she notices the ring on his finger (“I thought you said/ That you were single,” she dryly growls), Liss does her best to make him feel as silly and small as possible over the next three minutes, hitting him with a series of turn-downs that build from the simple and direct (“You’re not the kind of man that I wanna give my love”) to menacing threats (“This thing goes, you’ll just be rubble”) as he continually refuses to acknowledge her non-interest in him.

As salty as her lyrics get, though, the arrangement’s twinkling gallop and churn coasts along nicely, ending on an anthemic high of twangy bliss that only heightens the independent woman pride (“I’m not yours, I am mine”) she fades out with.

Lissie – Stranger

BONUS DL: Lissie “Bad Romance (Lady Gaga Cover)” (alt)

Here’s the video to current Catching A Tiger single, “When I’m Alone”:

“Dear Dictator”, the dark ‘n glammy first single from the justifiably buzzed-about L.A. indie pop outfit Saint Motel‘s 2009 introductory EP ForPlay (also featuring the very excellent “Butch”) was totally fine as it was, but we can’t help but be a tad bit more in love with this Sam Sparro-helmed remix, which recasts the tune into a sultry new wave-meets-electro-funk affair.

Suddenly we’ve developed an undying desire to have Mr. “Black & Gold” drop another album like now.

DL: “Dear Dictator (Sam Sparro Remix)” (alt)

Built off a merged inspiration of yester-year pop icons Brian Wilson, Sergio Mendes and Phil Spector, with bits of Broadway and bossa nova influence thrown in the mix, “Summer”, a breathtakingly gorgeous new cut by Memphis indie pop outfit Magic Kids, sublimely nails the mood of a lazy summer afternoon in it’s lush orchestral-pop sway, the added touch of frontman Bennett Foster’s nasally croon drifting the song’s cinematic grandeur into wistful territory.

What’s got Foster so down? He’s back at home for summer break watching all his friends “disappear in the arms of college girls set free”, but he’s unable to join along in their promiscuous festivities because his heart weighs heavy for the sweetheart he left behind, and he’s highly distracted by the bubbling internal fears that their union won’t be able to survive the three months long separation.

“Now I’m scared that I’m losing/ Touch with you, is it true?”, he panics aloud, later on attempting to convince himself that maybe he should just relax and let whatever happens concerning their romance just happen: “There’s no use in fearing what tomorrow brings”. The heart-melting yearn heard in his song-ending falsetto cries of “Missin’ you”, however, succinctly expresses that he’s far from resolving his inner woes.

It’s going to be a long summer break.

Magic Kids’ Memphis drops August 24th on True Panther.

DL: “Summer” (alt)

A London indie four-piece who re-located to Louisiana to help give their self-described “swamp pop” sound some authentic Southern swagger, the Scoundrels pull this musical feat off well on “Just Can’t See It Through”, an energetic rocker built on catchy vocal hooks and swinging, blues-guitar spark.

“You’ve got your suitcase packed and you’re gonna use it/ As you scream your goodbyes on the telephone,” belts frontman Ned Wyndham with a tinge of soul grit embedded in his pipes. But no tears will be shed on his axe at the arrival of this long-distance announcement, as the singer simply shrugs off her dumping (“I can’t settle down for long,” he explains, “So I’m not gonna play with you no more”), opting to continue down his “road to ruin” instead.

Hey, if this partner-less “road” includes more excellent jams like these, we say to Hell with her then.

Look for the band’s self titled debut, to be produced by Steve Albini (Nirvana, Pixies, The Breeders), later this Summer; first single “Hangman’s Lament” (stream-able here) drops July 19th on One Fifteen Records.

DL: “Just Can’t See It Through” (alt)

Forget James Brown, George Clinton and disco.

These days, if you’re a new rapper looking to stand-out amongst an ever-growing crowd of up-and-comers, the trick to quickly make your way to the top of the heap is to pick a indie favorite to rhyme over. Past blogosphere successes of this practice have included Drake, Kid Cudi, Thelophilus London and Chiddy Bang, though in recent days, much attention has been placed upon Long Island newcomer Hoodie Allen and his flip on Marina & The Diamonds‘ self-encouragement anthem “I Am Not A Robot”.

Chopping, dicing and “chipmunk-ing” Marina’s voice to fit the re-imagining’s light upbeat shuffle, Hoodie’s “Robot” (from the upcoming, all-Marina-sampling mixtape, The Diamond Cuts) doesn’t really offer anything too profound lyrically, but it’s a likable enough “let me introduce myself”-type-of ditty that not only nails the “fun rap” niche acts like B.o.B and the aforementioned Chiddy are currently winning with, but ultimately accomplishes it’s duty in piquing interest into what else Allen will be dishing out down the road.

Catch the track below or here, then peep Hoodie’s excellent updating of the Pharcyde classic “Passin’ Me By” (from last year’s Making Waves release).

You Are Not A Robot (feat. Marina & The Diamonds) by HoodieAllen

BONUS DL: Hoodie Allen featuring Illustrate “Passin’ Me By In ’09 (Pharcyde Cover)” (alt)

BONUS DL: Marina & The Diamonds “I Am Not A Robot (Passion Pit Remix)” (alt)

Never Shout Never is 19-year-old mop-topped singer-songwriter Christofer Drew Ingle, a sort-of emo-coustic alternative to Justin Bieber, and for whatever reason, the mostly “M”-free MTV has been pushing the guy hard in their early-morning block of music video programming AMTV; so hard, that after catching multiple peepings of the video to his super-sugary, super-sincere single “Can’t Stand It”, we’ve kinda come around to liking the ditty (Um, blame insomnia…?).

A puppy love sing-along featuring a couple curse words tossed in the lyrics to try to convince the listener that the person behind the prepubescent vocals is of age (“Everything you do is super fucking cute”, Ingle giggles at one point), “Can’t Stand It” can best be described as what happens when a Hot Topic-obsessed teen comes across his parents’ Beatles collection…which may sound either slightly intriguing to you, or just plain Hell-ish.

Since we haven’t been able to get it’s happy-go-lucky melody out of our heads, we’ve learned to just embrace it as our newest guilty pleasure.

From NSN’s newest release, What Is Love?.