On this, The Killers’ fourth consecutive Christmas charity single installment, the Vegas boys team up with former touring mates New Hampshire indie-rockers Wild Light and the previously MM-praised The Bronx alter-ego Mariachi El Bronx to spin a beautifully Latin-flavored yarn about a big brown-eyed, “lovely señorita” named “Guadalupe”.
Second in appeal for us behind their 2007 entry “Don’t Shoot Me Santa”, “Happy Birthday Guadalupe” is essentially inspired after Mexican icon Our Lady of Guadalupe, but it sounds just as good when looked at as a holiday-themed, tortured love story between a man and a one-night stand bedmate he struggles to dismiss from his brain, while also suggesting a musical style The Killers should consider tackling on their next album (even if they do end up looking like Mariachi El Bronx style-jackers as a result).
Check out the “Happy Birthday Guadalupe” video below (all proceeds from the single go towards (RED), the Global Fund to fight AIDS in Africa) followed by the newest clip from Bronx’, “Holy”.
After discovering Mariachi El Bronx via their gorgeously festive remake of Prince’s “I Would Die 4 U” from SPIN’s Purplish Rain tribute mixtape a while back, we were surprised to learn, after a couple seconds of Internet sleuthing, that MEB was not only this amazing band with an expert handling of the mariachi musical style (at least, what sounds like “expert handling” from our limited-knowledge-of-the-genre standpoint), but actually the alter-ego of The Bronx, a well-established hardcore punk band out of L.A.
And we thought we had heard it all.
The Bronx recently dropped the first album under this guise (entitled El Bronx) and to further hype the project, they’ve allowed a free downloading of album track “Quinceniera”, an tenderly crooned nugget about a night-creeping mystical Goddess that’s pleasantly built on a romancing sway of jolly Spanish guitars and soothing trumpet and violin contributions.
Pick up that freebie here, then sample the rest of the quite marvelous El Bronx album either through their MySpace or the Amazon widget below.
Of the sort who believe that R&B is dead? Well, that’s only because you’re not getting your soul fix from the right sources…real-deal sources like the Platinum Pied Pipers, the non-R. Kelly-affiliated (you can breathe a sigh of relief, now) teaming of Detroit musician/ production duo Waajeed and Saadiq.
After raising eyebrows and catching eardrums with one-off creations like their fuzzy, slow-funk recreation of Burt Bacharach’s classic “The Look of Love”, PPP unleashed something the soul junkie crowd were desperately in search of with the 2005 full-length Triple P, a core-soothing collection of wondrously crafted aural chocolate that drew heavy praise from various corners of the globe.
Preceding their recently released (and even more acclaimed) sophomore album, Abundance, PPP gave fans a belated Christmas gift with the outtakes and remixes-adorned Abundance Mixtape (which you can download for FREE HERE), highlighted by a revised treatment of their cover of Paul Simon’s oft-re-referenced ‘76 No. 1 “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover”.
Current R&B fave Raheem DeVaughn fronts this stellar new version, his eased croon applying the perfect delicate touch to the Pipers’ cool Latin-jazz soundbed. Those not moved into a snapping frenzy by this tune’s breezy hi-hat sizzle and jammy synthesizer doodling need to check their pulse immediately.
Yeah, I don’t get it either, but hip hop’s version of “The Young & The Restless” and the Latin-pop world’s mole-less wonder became friends somehow and decided on working together on a track. Though Wayne has hooked up with Robin Thicke in the past, Iglesias has never made any inclinations for being a closeted rap fan in the past. I can’t recall even the slightest breakbeat from his previous singles or even a flirtation with reggaeton that would’ve hinted at something like this ever occuring.
Nevertheless, “Push”, a B-side to Iglesias’ ridiculously-titled new single “Do You Know (The Ping Pong Song)” signals an interesting venture into rhythmic terrttory all the major pop artists have become obsessed with doing recently. Like Ricky Martin’s attempt at some sort of hip-pop fusion (remember the Usher-lite “I Don’t Care” collabo with Fat Joe and Amerie a while back?), Iglesias’ doesn’t quite connect with the corny, horndog street posing (“You got to push push back upon me/ Make me believe you wanna”) but the okay production, a sort of B-grade, heavily synthesized Euro-R&B concoction, doesn’t clash too bad with the singer’s disturbing high-pitched whimper.
Kudos do go to Iglesias for finding the top rapper to share wax space with cause he could’ve went the easy route and snagged somebody like Baby Bash for a featured spot. It’s a smart move for the Cash Money prez as well. The only thing really keeping him from de-throning Jay Z is his lack of a commercial presence despite all the great press he’s been receiving lately. Wayne takes advantage of the opportunity with his helium-derived flow unleashing plenty of sharp one-liners (“Baby I can bless you when you ain’t even sneezing/…Mama I can help you get off/ Like the weekend”) and reprising his biggest pop hook to date with a brief throwback to his classic “Back That Azz Up” cameo.
Enlisting Wayne doesn’t really give Enrique any kind of hood credibility (cough-that’ll never happen-cough), but the oddball collabo works as far as an equally beneficial business merging: Both acts bolster their audiences by chipping into eachother’s fanbases. Can’t wait to see who’ll be next in the WTF duet sweepstakes? Maybe Mandy Moore has a new tune Foxy Brown could try to kick it to?
Like a male fantasy come true, Beyonce and Shakira have finally teamed up. But it isn’t the mud wrestling battle us guys were secretly hoping for; instead it’s a musical duet that pairs the two curvaceous singers Brandy and Monica style in a song about them being in love with the same dude.
Found on yet another needless re-release (this time we get the happily re-purchase Beyonce’s double platinum Grammy winner B’Day), “Beautiful Liar” was originally a bilingual solo joint from the Destiny’s favorite Child until she came up with the idea of hooking up with the Colombian goddess with the truthful hips.
As a solo number, “Beautiful Liar” was an interesting, albeit obvious filler cut from the original B’Day tracklisting. With Shakira on board, though, the song experiences a notable upgrade. Over a gentle Latin guitar shuffle accented with exotic Middle Eastern motifs (perfect for the two ladies to moan and sigh all over), the two Maxim beauties realize they’re both getting played by the title character, or what can be dually accepted as either the dumbest guy ever or the top mack of all macks.
Instead of getting all Jerry Springer on the track (in effect, cuing in the aforementioned mud wrestling scenario), the girls opt on bowing out gracefully (“Then we laugh about it/ It’s not worth our time/ We can live without him”). Forming a new found friendship that horny minds would hope to lead to some drunken lesbian experience down the line, the two ladies kick dude to the curb and skip into the sunset holding hands.
It’s a delicious duet somewhat ruined by it’s drama-less conclusion and cheap music video, but “Beautiful Liar” will no doubt notch another smash hit in both artists’ already bulging respective catalogues.
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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Come on, use Amazon or iTunes and help support your favorite artists so they can continue to give us the great sounds we love.
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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!)
On this, The Killers’ fourth consecutive Christmas charity single installment, the Vegas boys team up with former touring mates New Hampshire indie-rockers Wild Light and the previously MM-praised The Bronx alter-ego Mariachi El Bronx to spin a beautifully Latin-flavored yarn about a big brown-eyed, “lovely señorita” named “Guadalupe”.
After discovering Mariachi El Bronx via their gorgeously festive remake of Prince’s “I Would Die 4 U” from 
Of the sort who believe that R&B is dead? Well, that’s only because you’re not getting your soul fix from the right sources…real-deal sources like the 
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