mixtape maestro (2.0)

Whether Lauryn Hill‘s newly unleashed “Repercussions” is something new or old doesn’t really matter. It’s L-BOOGIE DAMMIT, and hell, we would go nuts over it if all it featured was her simply breathing atop a lone drum loop.

Thankfully, “Repercussions” actually involves lyrics and some production, with Hill’s much-missed husky alto wading through a shimmering sea of spacey neo-soul groove, reflecting on her own mortality (“Time has moved on/ And death has grown a little closer”) and offering a few pearls of wisdom along the way.

There’s, sadly, no rapping, and in the grand scheme of things, “Repercussions” likely won’t land as an essential part of the Lauryn Hill catalog (at least as is, this might just be a demo), but whatever, between the song’s unearthing and the earlier-this-summer announcement of Hill headlining next month’s 2010 Rock The Bells festival, we’re just happy to have a couple new reasons to keep celebrating our girl.

Grab “Repercussions” below, alongside a live performance of Hill taking on the 1970 Curtis Mayfield soul classic, “The Makings of You”.

DL: “Repercussions” (alt)

BONUS DL: Lauryn Hill “The Makings of You (Live – Curtis Mayfield Cover)” (alt)

The first single off Kid Cudi‘s upcoming sophomore album Man On The Moon II: Legend Of Mr. Rager, “REVOFEV”, short for “Revolution of Evolution”, offers a repeat dishing of the “lonely stoner”‘s signature contemplative sing-rap style, with Cudi gifting “the kids” standard words-of-wisdom preachings (“Wake up/ Things might get rough/ No need to stress/ Keeps you down too much”) and bland semi-rebel musings (“Where will you be for the revolution?”) that, well, only an overly-blunted guy like himself would think of as “deep” when they’re holed up alone in a studio at whatever-a.m. in the morning, surrounding (and similarly brain-muddled) entourage/ “yes”-men cheering him along outside the vocal booth via silent “Chuuuch!!” nods.

That “REVOFEV” is filled with such underwhelming lyrical scribblings as the aforementioned lands as extremely frustrating when its backing track (handled by Plain Pat) is as striking as it is: A sinister vintage (soul? prog-rock?) loop plod heightened with sharp string stabs, ached “whoa-oh-oh” ad-libs and marching band drums mimicking battle noise, the arrangement tinges with dark-ish feelings of paranoia and chaos, while at times sounding as if the entire world is about to succumb to some sort of Armageddon at any moment.

So how is it, after no doubt being bombarded with this amazing beat on repeated loop, was Cudi not inspired enough to color it with stronger songwriting than the demo-like placeholder lines it otherwise features? Couldn’t we have maybe received a lil’ glimpse of this forthcoming “revolution”, lyrics-wise?

Double sigh Cudi. We’ll accept this for now (and just assume it’ll sound better in the context of the album), but we’re definitely expecting far better variations of your druggy emo-rap craft when the full-length drops.

Snatch it up below, then peep a fantastic live cover of Cudi’s “Pursuit of Happiness” (props to We All Want Someone To Shout For) by on-the-rise sensation Lissie.

DL: “REVOFEV” (alt)

DL: “Pursuit of Happiness (Kid Cudi Cover)” (alt)

Robyn knows out to deliver a strong electro-pop ballad (As proof, just check previous entries/ massively acclaimed career highlights “Be Mine!” and “With Every Heartbeat”, or her latest excellent take on heartache-on-the-dancefloor emotional devastation in current single “Dancing On My Own”), so having the Swedish pop tart helm an 8-bit-stylized makeover of Alicia Keys’ ’09 tearjerker epic “Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart” seems like it would be a near-magical aural experience.

Unfortunately, we’re left wishing that we would of had the chance to hear her version first, because despite Robyn pulling off a likable enough vocal performance (even her giggle-assisted flubs come off charming), it’s kinda difficult fully getting into this Live Lounge-birthed rendition when its chintzy, DIY-pop instrumentation can’t quite compete with the high-stakes ’80′s R&B dramatics masterfully brought forth in the original (arguably one of Keys’ Top 5 best ever creations).

Catch it, and her beautiful Live Lounge performance of “Dancing On My Own”, below.

Stream Robyn’s new album, Body Talk Pt. 1, here.

DL: “Try Sleeping With A Broken Heart (‘Live Lounge’ Alicia Keys Cover)” (alt)

DL: “Dancing On My Own (‘Live Lounge’ Performance)” (alt)

Just as we’re continuing to find new reasons to be in love with all the wildly diverse eclecticism found on B.o.B‘s variety-show-like spectacle of a debut The Adventures of Bobby Ray, the Southern mixtape-turned-pop sensation would go and find a new way to wildly impress us all over again.

B.o.B strapped on his guitar during a recent trip to BBC’s Live Lounge and pulled off this lovely cover of MGMT’s oft-covered favorite “Kids”, lifting the 2008 indie synth-pop jam to new levels of irresistible infectiousness with the addition of his charismatic exuberance and considerable, soul-stewed singing chops.

“Kids (MGMT Cover)”:

DL: “Kids (MGMT Cover)” (alt)

After experiencing heartache at the hands of a compulsive liar on her infectious debut “My Baby Left Me”, London-born soul newcomer Rox opts to keep that whole “can’t find a good man” shtick alive on the equally likable follow-up “I Don’t Believe”.

Set to a sunny, acoustic guitar and handclaps soul-pop shuffle that lead one to nearly mistake the track for being another happy-in-love R&B number, “Believe” finds Rox relating the inner frustrations in still carrying a flame for a lame former partner. Yeah, she knows he’s a dog, but damn if even thinking about his “dangerous smile” doesn’t leave her all aflutter.

“I better get a grip on myself”, she internalizes, before launching into an irresistibly upbeat chorus of self-lambasting (“I don’t believe that you did it to me once again”) that brings to mind the best of The Noisettes’ last album.

Check out the “I Don’t Believe” video below, followed by a live clip of Rox pulling off an amazing reggae-fied rendition of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams”.

Rox’ debut, Memoirs, drops in June.

BONUS DL: Rox “I Don’t Believe (Don Diablo Remix)” (alt)

BONUS DL: Rox “My Baby Left Me (Terror Danjah Mix)” (alt)

Shattering the (admittedly, foolish) notion that having one female pop star known for having great hair cover another female pop star known for having great hair would result in something mind-blowingly amazing (yeah sometimes we don’t understand how our mind works either), Kelis becomes the third artist in the past year to take on La Roux’s “In For The Kill” in the BBC Live Lounge studios and the performance ends up being…only decent, greatly paling in comparison to Miike Snow’s trance-y rendition and Daniel Merriweather’s soul-baked re-imagining.

Sigh. Our disappointment is only assuaged by the fact that the release of the new Kelis album, Flesh Tone, is right around the corner (at least in the UK, where it drops May 17th; American and Canadians, unfortunately, have to wait until June).

Grab the “decent” performance below, then afterwards, enjoy a little Kelis/ Neptunes throwback treat: “Cross The Border”, their catchy (and very under-appreciated) 2001 collaboration with short-lived rap duo Philly’s Most Wanted (whatever happened to them?).

DL: “In For The Kill (La Roux Cover)” (alt)

BONUS DL: Philly’s Most Wanted featuring Kelis “Cross The Border” (alt)

Multi-part harmonies and other vocal interplay tricks have always been one of the more appealing aspects of Sunderland, England-raised four-piece The Futureheads‘ post-punk sound (alongside the band’s love for lightning-quick tempos), so it’s nice to see them putting those talents to such great use on this Live Lounge-premiered rendition of Kelis’ comeback dance hit “Acapella”.

Cleverly done in a vocals-only style (heh-heh, “Acapella” done a capella) that recalls the corner-set doo-wop rounds of pop days past, The Futureheads’ reading provides an infectious listen that may even be best the original, if only because their stripped-down treatment gives the song’s lovely lyric (centered on the wondrous bliss newfound love, through either a new child or romance partner, can bring to one’s life) the centric attention it didn’t necessarily have when tucked within the original’s Ibiza-baiting electro pulses.

“Acapella (Live Lounge)“:

DL: “Acapella (Kelis Cover)” (alt)

We’ve never really been all that moved by “Young Forever”. Jay’s hip-hop-ization of the Alphaville ’80′s pop standard “Forever Young” mostly comes across as bland and unnecessary, unless you’re a high school senior searching for a theme song for this year’s prom that is.

Seeing that same record brought to life on the Coachella 2010 stage with a tired-sounding Jay and surprise guest Beyonce subbing in for Mr. Hudson on hook duties though, completely changes our tune.

Mrs. Carter doing her soul-pop diva thing on the intro is amazing unto itself, her dramatic trills, no matter how annoying they might be on her own records, bringing about chills when wrapped around lyrics like “Are you gonna drop the bomb or not?”. But even more special is peeping the usually walled-off superstar couple interacting on the stage, with Be swaying and miming along to her man’s lyrics and Jay shooting giggles back in her direction.

Yeah, we’ll still probably immediately flip the station the second “Young Forever” pops up on the radio, but this performance is one we’ll surely be re-visiting again and again.

DL: “Young Forever (Coachella 2010)” (alt)

The last time 30 Seconds To Mars hit the BBC’s Live Lounge, we surprised even ourselves by having nothing but good things to say about their awesomely moody re-interpretation of Kanye West’s “Stronger”.

We can’t dole out the same high praise on their newest LL cover, a somewhat too-serious rendition of Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” that siphons out all of the original’s hooky Euro-pop kookiness for some glacial modern rock pacing. But we do dig Jared Leto’s disturbing yelped re-writes (“I want your love/ I want your disease/ I want you open-mouthed and on your knees”) and guitarist Tomo Milicevic’s mirroring of the “rah-rah ah-ah-ah” lines, so we’ll refrain from filing it in the “FAIL” column, and just give it an “errm…interesting” rating.

DL: “Bad Romance (Live Lounge Lady Gaga Cover)” (alt)

Erykah Badu psyched many when she launched the era of 2008′s New Amerykah Part One (4th World War) with “lead single” “Honey”, a flirtatious throwback-baked R&B gem that ultimately had little tie-in with the set’s highly-praised psychedelic freak-funk soundscapes and socio-political dialogue (no wonder it ended up being stripped onto the album as a “hidden track”).

The track would, however, make a perfect fit on the High Priestess of Headwraps second New Amerykah installment Return of The Ankh, a sort of yang to World War‘s yin that presents Badu making a return trip to the less experimental neo-soul sleekness of her breakthrough Baduizm days with a focus on more traditional matters-of-the-heart themes. Mid-album track “Gone Baby, Don’t Be Long” stands out as one of the better displays of this more streamlined approach to songcrafting.

Based around a seducing sampled loop from Paul McCartney & Wing’s mostly forgotten 1979 dip into slinky blue-eyed-soul territory (their minor Back To The Egg hit, “Arrow Through Me”), “Baby” employs Erykah’s always welcome girlish coo to capture the role of a girl with such “a fiendish crush” for a hustling chap, she barely knows what to do with herself whenever he leaves her side to start his “workday” on the streets.

“I know you got to get your hustle on,” she casts him off (while simultaneously winking to her early-career tune “Other Side of The Game”, which featured the same exact line), but while she’s projecting understanding on the surface, internally she’s bubbling with anxiety for his quick return so they can take their relationship to the next level (“I can’t wait to see how you move/…So gone baby, gone baby, don’t be long”).

Stream the song below, followed by Erykah’s thought-provoking, Matt & Kim-inspired clip for the enchanting “Window Seat”, and a MP3 offerings of “Gone Baby”‘s sample source and a “Honey” live performance.

New Amerykah Part Two (Return of The Ankh) drops March 30th.

“Gone Baby, Don’t Be Long”:

“Window Seat”:

BONUS DL: Paul McCartney & Wings “Arrow Through Me (‘Gone Baby, Don’t Be Long’ Sample Source)” (alt)

BONUS DL: Erykah Badu “Honey (Live Performance)” (alt)