mixtape maestro (2.0)

After bringing about more than a few scratched heads over recent track “I Just Love You More”’s polarizing attempt at a punk chick makeover, Kate Nash makes the world right again with the welcomed return-to-(snarky/ perky)form that is new single, “Do Wah Doo”.

Helmed by producer, and former Suede guitarist, Bernard Butler (Duffy, Black Kids), “Do Wah Doo” buzzes with a playful jumbling of familiar ’60’s pop conventions (radiant girl group harmonies, handclaps, zinging surf guitar, blaring horns) all congealed into a thickened Wall of Sound.

Beneath the happy-go-lucky framing, however, things aren’t as sunny, as Kate is heard spewing all type of “hateration” towards a girl hogging the secret object of her affection’s eye. “Everybody thinks that girl’s a lady/ But I don’t, I think that girl’s shady,” Nash pouts on the sidelines, even going so far as to tag the crush-stealing cow a “bitch”.

Interestingly enough, just when you think she’s about to fight for her man “Jerry Springer”-style and get this fizzy pop confection the happy ending conclusion the upbeat arrangement all but demands, Nash opts to give him up, resigning to “read a book instead” because “I can hang out with myself”.

Hmmm…it’s not the most sassiest way to go out, but whatever, jerk’s loss; we’re just happy to have the undeniably catchy nugget-crafting Kate Nash we love back.

From her April-set second LP, My Best Friend Is You.

Uncategorized 60's, bernard butler, girl group, kate nash, my best friend is you, singer-songwriter, UK, uk pop

With most of the appeal of Ellie Goulding’s current UK smash “Starry Eyed” lying in the sonic dramatics of producer Starsmith’s slathering of dance-tronica sparkle, we didn’t think there would be anything remotely interesting about a stripped-down version of the tune that completely does away with his toilings…that is, until we heard this acoustic take Ellie brought to the BBC Live Lounge studios last week.

Aiding in quieting critical murmurs that she’s somewhat of an inconsequential vocalist, Goulding takes hostage of your full attention from the first moment she opens her mouth here and never lets go, exposing striking, quiver-and-rasp nuances in her child-like coo that could be barely heard underneath all of the studio version’s production pizazz.

We get why her industry backers would want to push Ellie as the “new La Roux” for the moment (with electro-pop being all hot and whatever right now), but hearing her in folksy singer-songwriter mode here as us thinking it’s a style she should be relying on more for future albums.

Lights, Goulding’s debut, drops in March.

DL: “Starry Eyed (Acoustic ‘Live Lounge’ Performance)” (alt)

Uncategorized acoustic, ellie goulding, live performance, singer-songwriter, UK

After dwelling in the dark and moody on the 80’s sci-fi-meets-’70’s soul curiosity “Stylo”, cartoon collective Gorillaz offer a much-welcomed return trip to the lighthearted pop end of their stylistic spectrum for newest Plastic Beach tease “Superfast Jellyfish”.

Goofily sculpted as a three minute long advert of a microwavable breakfast dish that we’re sure is meant to be a metaphor for something deep (sans helpful lyric sheet, we won’t even try to figure out what it’s really going on about), “Jellyfish” is definitely a strange lil’ concoction; at the same time, it’s also one that won’t easily be escaping your brain anytime soon, thanks to convivial cameos from De La Soul and Super Furry Animals frontman Gruff Rhys and an irresistible schoolyard funk groove that’s just begging for a third guest spot turn from that other great animated band, Fat Albert & The Junkyard Gang.

Snatch up a radio rip of the track (shouts) below; pre-order Plastic Beach here for the single CD version or here, for the CD/ DVD combo.

DL: “Superfast Jellyfish (Radio Rip)” (alt)

Uncategorized alt-hip hop, de la soul, gorillaz, gruff rhys, indie pop, plastic beach, super furry animals, UK

Previously heralded for sunny, handclap-laden singles that worked a Motown-influenced, ’60’s girl group pop bop angle with bliss-inducing results (“Add Your Light To Mine, Baby”, “Woah Billy”, “White Russian Doll”), Lucky Soul venture a bit darker sonically on new track “A Coming of Age”, the title cut from the British six-piece’s upcoming second set featuring lead singer Ali Howard’s coquettish coos housed within a dramatic display of waltz swing patterns and Bond-esque guitar figures.

The reason for all this grandiose hullabaloo? Some man done done Ali wrong, shattering her young heart and leaving her “cling(ing) to the floor”, fingering the still warm footprints that trace his pathway out of her life. “I thought a friend meant someone to depend on/ Call it a coming of age…come too late,” she sings, the brief pause before those last three words bulging with all kinds of unstated ache and confusion.

Awww. Makes you wanna pull her into a tight embrace and let her know that everything’s gonna be alright.

Pick it up below or as a free download from their website, then proceed to lift your spirits back up with a viewing of their peppy “White Russian Doll” clip.

A Coming of Age, the album, arrives April 19th through Ruffa Lane Records.

DL: “A Coming of Age” (alt)

Uncategorized 60's, girl group, indie pop, lucky soul, retro, UK

On her critically acclaimed 2007 debut Made of Bricks, indie-pop singer-songwriter Kate Nash got plenty of mileage out of her winning, Lily Allen-esque mix of the sweet and the sour (the sweet being her cutesy, sing-talk delivery and the album’s surplus of perky, piano-pop melodies; the sour being colorful lyrics anchored in titles like “Dickhead” and “Shit Song” that called out sucky boyfriends).

For “I Just Love You More” though, an early taste of her forthcoming sophomore effort My Best Friend Is You (and an obvious by-product of her days playing bass and singing in the punk-based side project The Receeders), there’s little traces of sugary sweetness found in it’s initially shocking riot grrl assault of thrashing guitar and screaming yelps.

As feedback-clouded axe work paint a dark and Hell-ish ambiance around her, Nash spews “I just love you more/ I just love you more…than anything” over and over, her vocals growing more and more intense in each repeating until she reaches an orgasmic peak of furor, her obsessive adoration far too powerful a force to keep bottled in any longer.

A bit creepy? Yes. A little too unrefined? Sure (it registers more as a sketch of a tune than an actual full-bodied song). But if judged without taking into consideration the far different sound of Nash’s previous album (as difficult as that may be), it actually works, sufficiently handling the riotous, Karen O-inspired mood it’s obviously going for. We just don’t know if we could handle an entire full length of such an extreme about-face, if that’s indeed what Kate has planned.

We’ll see when the rest of My Best Friend Is You arrives in April.

DL: “I Just Love You More” (alt)

Bonus DL: Kate Nash “I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You (Black Kids Cover)” (alt)

Uncategorized female rock, kate nash, singer-songwriter, UK

British electro-pop singer/ songwriter/ producer Dan Black shook up the music blog scene back in 2008 with his mash-up-to-the-next-level “HYPNTZ”, a half-sung cover of Notorious BIG’s “Hypnotize” backed by an entrancing beat that merged bits of Rihanna’s “Umbrella” with parts of the soundtrack to John Carpenter’s 1984 sci-fi flick Starman. In short, the aural patchwork was utterly brilliant, the kind of stop-you-in-your-tracks introductory record that instantly had you eager to hear more of what this genre-blurring newbie (a sort of modern-day Beck) had to offer in the future.

Two years later, on the eve of the U.S. premiere of his all-originals debut UN (due February 16th, and featuring the Kid Cudi-featured remix of his non-Biggie-”borrowing” “HYPNTZ” rewrite “Symphonies”), Black has put together six more of these dope mix-and-match creations for his new (and free!!) mixtape Weird Science.

You can fnd the entire set here, but check out a couple of our highlights, the Madonna & Kate Bush-fusing “Gimme Into The Cloudbusting” and “Slave To Paper” (a gorgeous synthesis of some hazy 80’s pop number, Dizzee Rascal’s “Stand Up Tall” and a teeny-weeny drum snippet of Missy Elliott’s “Beep Me 911″) below:

DL: “Gimme Into The Cloudbusting” (alt)

DL: “Slave To Paper” (alt)

…And for your viewing pleasure, here’s the video to the “Symphonies (Remix)”:

Uncategorized cover song, dan black, dizzee rascal, kate bush, madonna, mash-up, missy elliott, mixtape, UK

If there was any one track on Hot Chip’s grower of a fourth set One Life Stand that perfectly expressed the UK four-piece’s current obsession with marrying dancefloor euphoria with romantic yearning and could justify all on it’s own why the band’s hot streak will remain afire throughout the rest of the year, hands down it would be “I Feel Better”.

So soaked in ’90’s dance-pop theatrics that you expect some anonymous house diva (or an old incarnation of Madonna) to start wailing over it’s insistent house pulse at any given moment, “I Feel Better” bursts with an anthemic appeal from the get-go, it’s main hook, an icy string loop that’s later mirrored with the saddest steel drum sounds you’ll ever hear, drawing this mesmerizing rave prison you’ll never want to break out of.

In betwixt it’s four-on-the-floor clubby throb, singer Alexis Taylor injects his best T-Pain/ Kanye West-as-sad-robot imitation, with Auto-Tuned whimpers documenting a couple at a crossroads (“She said ‘How did we get ourselves so lost’”) followed by longings of having “one night/ together in our arms”, pitched as if it’s the sole way things can get back at track.

“I Feel Better”:

Uncategorized '90's, electro-pop, hot chip, one life stand, UK

Gorillaz, the world’s biggest animated band (and recently announced Coachella 2010 headliners), are set to drop their third LP, Plastic Beach, this March, but they’ve gifted fans today with the streaming premiere of the album’s first single “Stylo”, featuring legendary soul great Bobby Womack and Mos Def.

“Stylo” may lack the immediate quirk-pop hookiness of previous singles “Clint Eastwood” and “Feel Good Inc.”, but it’s nevertheless one of the band’s most endlessly intriguing creations.

Driven by heavily synthesized production-work that conjures up an eerie ’80’s sci-fi ambiance (it’s dominant musical figure, a dot-and-dash electro bass line, will definitely be echoing in your brain for the next week), the song takes on more of a trippy edge as it goes on, especially once the grainy-voiced Womack enters the picture, wailing his heart out about his “electric love” for the cut’s curious attempt at a chorus.

Expect another (likely equally as fascinating) Womack appearance, alongside guest spots from Snoop Dogg, Lou Reed, De La Soul and The Clash’s Mick Jones & Paul Simmons, when Plastic Beach leaks probably weeks before drops March 9th.

Stylo (Feat. Mos Def and Bobby Womack)

Gorillaz | MySpace Music Videos

Uncategorized alt-hip hop, alternative, bobby womack, gorillaz, mos def, UK

One of London alt-synth-pop quintet Hot Chip’s main selling points has always been there off-kilter way of balancing geeky, urban-posturing with a sweet-toned bedroom-pop melancholia: check the R. Kelly/ WWE-inspired “Wrestlers” or their cover of Snoop Dogg’s “Sensual Seduction” or songs like Coming On Strong’s kazoo-highlighted “Keep Falling” or The Warning’s title track, which amusingly boast lines like “Give up all you suckers we the tightest muthafuckas/ And you never seen this type of shit before now” and “Hot Chip will break your legs/ Snap off your head” in the most non-threatening way ever.

That same endearing juxtaposition can be found on future addiction “One Life Stand”, the first single and title track from the Londoners’ forthcoming fourth album.

The cut jerks to life in it’s opening seconds with a thumping crunk-club strut that brings to mind Jacki-O’s 2004 raunch jam “Pussy (Real Good)” while, for a split-second, evoking the awesomely awkward image of these eternal wallflowers “making it rain” at the local strip joint. Lyrically though, Chip avoid any detours into goofy gangsta rapper braggadoccio, keeping things oh-so-smoove (or oh-so-creepy, depending on your P.O.V.) by latching onto a touching plea for eternal monogamy: “I only want to be your one life stand”, warmly croons Alexis Taylor on a hook that suddenly transforms the song into some lost, John Hughes-ian prom ballad.

A great first taste to one of the most anticipated new releases of the 2010 first quarter.

One Life Stand arrives in February. Check their site for current touring info, including the April-set US dates with supporting act The xx

Hot Chip – One Life Stand (MySpace Exclusive)

Hot Chip | MySpace Music Videos

BONUS DL: “Wrestlers (Sticky Dirty Pop Mix)” (alt)

Uncategorized electro-pop, hot chip, one life stand, UK

On “Marlene”, the first single off of Devonte Hynes aka Lightspeed Champion’s forthcoming sophomore LP Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You, the Texas-born/ England-raised singer-songwriter is heard lunging all kinds of cold jabs at the object of his frustrated affection: “Stick a spoon into your heart/ And eat away all your deutsche marks/ You’re money don’t mean a damn thing/ I’m wearing everything I own”; “Stop being cool”; “You’re in my room and still won’t leave”.

Yeah…we won’t even try to figure out if this is really some kind of weird ode to Marlene Dietrich or not, but we will admit to completely digging LC’s latest wacky stab at romance woe, it’s kitchen sink production recipe of a crunchy rock groove, masterful guitar solo and a grand, strings-enhanced chorus making for quite the excellent musical frame to his heartache-fueled lyrical stings.

Single drops January 25th (pre-order here); Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You arrives February 1st.

Bonus DL: Lightspeed Champion “Back To Black (Amy Winehouse Cover)” (alt)

Uncategorized lightspeed champion, singer-songwriter, UK