Serving a sobering re-reminder of not only a Noel Gallagher-featured Oasis now being a solely past-tense entity, but also of Lily Allen’s long-hinted-at threats of an early retirement finally making the crossover into reality, you can’t help but be stricken with a double dose heaping of lump-in-throat sadness when hearing Lily’s solid Live Lounge take on the former band’s gorgeous 2008 ballad “I’m Outta Time”.
Throw in the song’s already hauntingly touching, Lennon-inspired songcraft and the nostalgia element found in Liam’s lyrics (“Here’s a song/ It reminds me of when we were young…”), and it’s almost too much “ending of eras” gloom to have to digest in one sitting.
Catch Allen’s live performances of “Time” and her own latest single, the precious friendship-to-romance document “Who’d Have Known”, below.
Loyal site-watchers have probably gotten the hint that we’re big fans of basically whatever Doctor Rosen Rosen does…and who could blame us, seeing that his darkly shaded, synth-based re-imaginings are always ace.
On his latest project, the good Doc ambitiously opted on remixing the entirety of Lily Allen‘s half-year-old sophomore LP It’s Not Me, It’s You, and damn if he hasn’t gotten us to fall in love with the English pop pixie’s set all over again thanks to his efforts, which basically entail replacing the original’s cutesy, upbeat soundscapes with gorgeously brooding electro-pop arrangements that help plant a clearer focus on her always entertaining penmanship game.
Maestro’s favorites include Rosen’s take on It’s Not Me‘s current single “22″, which makes Allen’s washed-up-at-thirty musings feel even more depressing and hopeless when thrust under a moonlit blanket of gloomy synth-strings, and album-closer/ forgiving-Father ode “He Wasn’t There”, which marries an icy drum march with forlorn lullaby melodics.
An excellent collection that lands as a nice compliment to the original, we can’t help but anticipate what pop album Rosen is eyeing next to give the “Bizarro World” treatment to.
You can snatch up our faves below, but head here to DL the entire set for FREE.
It’s feels odd that the powers-that-be would decide on pushing Lily Allen’s politically-minded “Fuck You” as <em>It’s Not Me, It’s You‘s next international single seeing as though the track seemed to carry a lot more weight when it premiered online last summer.
Back then (when it was going under the title of “Guess Who Batman”), it’s main target (ol’ President W.) was still in office, giving the song a hefty controversy buzz, and the kiddie-TV candy-pop beat that formed the cut’s musical foundation felt like an exciting sneak peak to how Allen’s then-still mysterious, ska/ reggae-bypassing sophomore album was going to sound. Twelve months later, both “Fuck You”‘s edge and charm feels lost: Bush is long gone, and the production isn’t as fetching (and now, perhaps a bit too cavity-inducing) now that we’ve had to live with it for a year.
What could Allen possibly do to re-invite some attraction back to a long-tired new single pick? How about align it with a clever enough music video.
Which just so happens to be the case with “Fuck You”‘s accompanying clip: a first-person, day-in-the-life-of concept given a neat twist once “Allen” starts “screwing around” with the universe that surrounds her.
Check out the vid below, then grab Doc Fritz’ “Fossa Nova Remix” of “Fuck You” (from the must-have Lily Allen Remixed free-load collection) afterwards.
**UPDATE: The always noteworthy Doctor Rosen Rosen recently crafted up his own remix to “Fuck You” and, like pretty much all his other creations, it’s a doozy! Grab it below:
On “22″, Lily pierces another cotton candy foundation of cutesy pop with the dark pangs of reality, telling the tale of a woman who, after spending her party-loving twenty-somethings living life without a care in the world, is suddenly slapped across the face with the emptiness of her existence as she edges into age 30.
Stuck with an “alright” job with no true love in sight (“All she wants is a boyfriend/ She gets one-night stands”), the woman teeters on a nervous breakdown, Lily’s mocking hook of “Sad but it’s true/ How society tells her life is already over” echoing within her increasingly distraught brain. Making things even worse, the backing track doesn’t offer any tinge of pity for her, it’s bouncy piano jig nonchalantly rolling along it’s merry way, as if to illustrate all the satisfied same-aged folk around her now nestling into the adult groove they had been working hard to achieve while she was too busy out getting shit-faced on the regular.
Encompassing all that we loved, then briefly grew tired of, then fell in love with all over again about Allen, “22″‘s delicious dose of sugary melody and finely-sharpened songwriting that the every-blogger person can appreciate, perfectly re-asserts why her It’s Not Me, It’s You stands as one of early 2009′s must-have collections.
Britney tunes always makes for the best cover material. Case in point: this rendition of “Womanizer” as handled by none-other-than Lily Allen (and, sssshhh…don’t tell anyone, but this version is a little better than the original).
Allen’s snarky delivery easily trumps Miss Spears’ dead-panned robo-drone as a fitting element within the anti-Lothario tune while the playful piano jaunt placed inside the bustling acoustic arrangement only adds to her taunting.
If there’s one thing to really be happy about concerning Britney’s return (well, besides, the former Mousketeer being in almost-top-form again and being taken off the tabloid press’ suicide watch and everything), it’s that we’re bound to get more of these lovely little remakes in the future.
When Lily Allen announced earlier this year that her new album was leaving the summery ska loops behind for electro-pop terrain, it felt like the beginnings of the end for the near-instantaneous UK pop sensation. What would be the point of her continuing her career if she didn’t at least try to milk the classic reggae-tinged structures of “LDN” and “Smile” a bit longer? But then, over the next few months, new material began to leak, and all seemed right in the world again as the other appealing aspect to her art, that sharp lyricism, was shown to have lost none of it’s plain-sung bite (and, thankfully, felt just as perfect when lain atop the synth be-dazzled arrangements).
On “The Fear”, the first single off sophomore album It’s Not You, It’s Me, Allen plants her tongue firmly in cheek as she serves a mocking of celeb culture obsession and the lame-brained aspirations it brings. Spotlighting a yearn for a “fantastic” life filled with fast cars, bulging wardrobes, a thin body and “fuckloads of diamonds” (a line brilliantly followed with the lackadaisically uttered, “I heard people die while they are trying to find them”), “Fear” matches this “dream existence” with lighter-than-air chops and an ethereal dance-pop beat that floats somewhere above the clouds, superbly illustrating how un-grounded the shallow mindset really is.
Is it as impeccable a pop creation as “Smile”? Not necessarily, but “The Fear”‘s sarcastic exploration of a sadly death-less societal ill (Stand out lyric #2: “I am a weapon of massive consumption/ And it’s not my fault it’s how I’m programmed to function”) coupled with it’s clever, sweet-toothed presentation promises that a major deviation from the winning musical framing of Allen’s breakthrough won’t be the tragic career death-knell it might have initially seemed.
Next Lily Allen. There it’s been said, the requisite line that seemingly must be found in any and every Kate Nash review if only because both are White, English, whimsical and smart-alecky. Now that that’s out of the way, get a load of this new chick while she’s still sort-of under-the-radar.
On “Foundation”, the 19-year-old singer-songwriter displays a well-written back-and-forth war of words between her and her boyfriend that’s relatable and witty, yet resonates with a certain sadness beneath the laughs. Irritated with every bit of eachother’s idiosyncrasies, the duo get a rise out of annoying their partner to no end. “When I’m telling a story and you find it boring/ You’re thinking of something to say/ You’ll go along with it then drop it/ And humiliate me in front of our friends,” Nash sings in a delightful little tone that compliments the sunshiny piano backing. From there, the battle refuses to die as they enjoy plenty of snitty stabs at one another. He calls her so bitter her diet must be solely lemons, she leaves him drunk on the living room floor with no heat cause he threw up on her new shoes, he calls her a bitch, she doesn’t “give a shit”.
Nash is fully aware that their union is crumbling beyond repair (“My finger tips are holding onto the cracks in our foundation/ And I know that I should let go”) and gags at the thought of being with him forever (“Oh dear God/ I hope I’m not stuck with this one”), yet there’s something about him that keeps her by his side. It’s almost like their constant bickering is the pulse that keeps their love beating so strong. She might hate wiping the drunken spewage from her kicks and he wishes her voice was less annoying, but it’s those little things that they would sorely miss if they were to ever part.
Cheeky and honest, “Foundation” previews a cuddly newcomer sure to be the next critics’ darling deemed to be overwhelmingly favorited until someone wittier and younger comes along a few months later.
Since emerging in the summer of 2003, it was almost instantaneous that East Londoner Dizzee Rascal nabbed the title of the UK’s best hip hop export. His versatile beat choices, thick accent and nasal delivery might not have given him much potential as an American crossover success, but his sharp storytelling skills, grim soliloquies and unique take on standard gangsta talk nevertheless made for an impressive rap personality from beyond the States’ borders.
Highly anticipated track “Wanna Be” from his third album, Math and English, finds Dizzee joining Lily Allen in her rainbow-colored universe in this witty attack on wankstas. Since we’ve grown accustomed to hearing Dizzee spit over a wide array of different genres and styles, his hyperactive flow over another lighthearted musical sample (“So You Wanna Be A Boxer” from 1976′s “Bugsy Malone”) is fitting and he and Allen make for a surprisingly, complimenting duo. As he takes on his typical defensive stance (“Ain’t nobody telling me I got no grime”), Allen is as cute as ever on the playful hook in which she dismisses phony gangsta rappers in lovable twee fashion (“Your pockets getting fatter/ But you couldn’t pull the trigger if you need to/ Cause you haven’t got it/ So you might as well quit”). It’s a nice tweak on the Ja Rule/ Ashanti formula (the hard core thug and the sweet sounding chanteuse) that might not stand out as the best from either artist, but a charming sidenote collaboration between new friends.
Those more in tune with his less chart-aiming side would appreciate the bluntly titled “Pussyole”, an early leaked album cut that took the breezy hook of Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock’s “It Takes Two” and bedazzled it’s classic break with venomous keyboards and spitfire verses condemning an untrustworthy associate. In what’s probably his strongest straight-up hip hop offering to date, Rascal’s breakdown of what he expects from his friends is the kind of humorously raw diatribe he excels at. “Why you running with that pussyole!?!/ Leaving with that pussyole!?!”, he infectiously chants, in one of the hookiest unvarnished lines since Apache was looking for his own “Gangsta Bitch”, and Akinyele had groupies begging to “Put It In My Mouth”.
It seems every few months, the UK breeds more and more tough-talking intellectual pop acts doling out observational ramblings of the youth culture over schizoid beat fusions. Two that the UK press constantly bust nuts for, The Streets/ Arctic Monkeys-love child Jamie T and ultra-perky pop tart Lily Allen, join forces on “Rawhide”, the B-side to the re-release of last year’s tragic “Shelia”.
As usual for Jamie and others of his ilk, “Rawhide” is another scatterbrained collection of well-pitched short stories amid random quotables, heavily accented outbursts and kitchen sink production. There’s so much going on and the track flies by extremely quickly, but bits of it will indefinitely stick in your brain and make it a favorite even if you don’t really know why.
Un-trained ears will come away from most of Jamie’s music as they do after watching a David Lynch film, confused and frustrated but begging for more in hopes that you’ll come across what you missed before to make sense of it all. “Rawhide” ranks as one of his weirdest; the only thing that’s really apparent is that there is a post office robbery and some action happening on the “motorway”, the rest is so drowned in consonant-omitting cockney slang it’s hard to follow along. Lily Allen’s appearance is even stranger. She comes out of nowhere, sounding like some ethereal spirit with nothing to do with what’s going on around her. Yet the melodicism that comes with her helps ground “Rawhide” some, blunting the track’s relentlessly wacky indie-garage spirit, and forming a memorable chant out of the title that ends up the song’s main selling point.
A puzzling patchwork of whatever Jamie sees fit, “Rawhide” can best be summed up as being “British”. We’ve heard better from both but there’s a little throwaway magic here that keeps it from being as trashy as it initially appears.
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!)
Serving a sobering re-reminder of not only a Noel Gallagher-featured Oasis now being a solely past-tense entity, but also of Lily Allen’s long-hinted-at threats of an early retirement finally making the crossover into reality, you can’t help but be stricken with a double dose heaping of lump-in-throat sadness when hearing Lily’s solid Live Lounge take on the former band’s gorgeous 2008 ballad “I’m Outta Time”.
Loyal site-watchers have probably gotten the hint that 
It’s feels odd that the powers-that-be would decide on pushing Lily Allen’s politically-minded “Fuck You” as <
On “22″, Lily pierces another cotton candy foundation of cutesy pop with the dark pangs of reality, telling the tale of a woman who, after spending her party-loving twenty-somethings living life without a care in the world, is suddenly slapped across the face with the emptiness of her existence as she edges into age 30.
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