Lead singer of The Gossip, Beth Ditto, temporarily pulled away from the group to focus on her solo projects. Her solo EP released under Deconstruction Records and produced entirely by Simian Mobile Disco was released last month. The 4-track EP has a strict electro sound, very similar sounding to Róisín Murphy. The first track to be released from the EP, “I Wrote The Book,” is a definite winner; so electro yet organic sounding. Oh yea, this song sounds so crisp.
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View the video after the jump which pays homage to Madonna’s “Justify My Love.” (more…)
Bruno Mars’ The Grenade Sessions-EP was released yesterday and on it is a sparkling remix done by Indie group, Passion Pit.
The group’s signature use of synthesizers turn this song from dark to bright and cheery. Extended in length, this remix is a nice addition to all the a brilliant remixes that Passion pit have tackled thus far.
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Theophilus London, the Hip-Hop lyricist out of Brooklyn, is part of the new wave of artists within the past few years that strip down genre walls to create musical gems. Today, London released a new track from his EP, A Lovers Holiday, which is due out on February 8.
“Why Even Try” features Sara Quin. Now let’s see what’s going on here. This song is Hip-Hop, of course, but it’s also has some old school 80′s R&B influences and a little soul. This song is just a well blended mix
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The next song is one that’s been out for a few months. The song is titled “Flying Overseas” and features Devonté Hynes & Solange Knowles. The in-studio footage surfaced early last year but we lost track after that. We were too happy to see it released. As London tweeted back in November, “Man this version of flying overseas sound like some biggie meets oasis meets blackstreet Damn.” That’s just what this song sounds like. View the music video after…
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So whilst we’ve been “absent” Kanye West is making sure the atmosphere stays saturated with his music, for at least until the end of the year. Here’s how he’s doing this:
Every Friday until Christmas a new song from the G.O.O.D. fam will be released: G.O.O.D. Friday
Kanye West and Jay-Z will release a 5 song EP entitled Watch the Throne
The first song from “G.O.O.D. Friday” is the second track from Watch the Throne. The massive track is simply titled “Monster” and it describes the song perfectly. Kanye West, Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Bon Iver and Nicki Minaj all hold their own making for a pretty damn solid tune.
Let’s put the spotlight on Nicki Minaj for a little while. West stated earlier that Minaj had the potential to be the second greatest rapper, EVER. Well it is way too early to even think of a statement like that but we cannot help but agree with the popular opinion that Nicki Minaj absolutely took this song to a whole new level. Her rhymes were insane, her voices were entertaining rather than annoying and she turned the hype UP.
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Speaking of Ms. Minaj, a song leaked of hers feat. Will.I.Am entitled “Check It Out.” The song samples the popular late 70′s hit “Video Killed the Radio Star” by the Buggles. The song is another “Your Love”; it’s mindless radio fodder but it is still so damn addictive. Listen to “Check It Out” after…
Back in the earlier part of February the rough cut of “Sound of Siren” featuring M.I.A. and Busy Signal hit the net. The minute that gulping bassline kicked in we were sold. We knew it was to be on an upcoming Major Lazer EP and this past week Lazers Never Die was released.
Lazers Never Die features one new song, “Sound of Siren,” and the remaining four tracks are new mixes of previous songs. The EP makes for a good listen, a crazy good listen, but back to “Sound Of Siren.” If only Dancehall would take a step back in this direction then you’d see more of it on this site. This new era of “Jamaican” music is just foolishness, with a few exceptions.
Oh, we were jumping through different sites and came upon this “Daggering” video in Jamaica. “Daggering” is a slang Jamaican term for very ROUGH sex so the dance involves partners looking like savage animals having sex. Oh as you will see in the video, after the jump, it is also quite the dangerous dance. It’s all fun and good entertainment and even makes for great jokes but in all serious behavior, it is just a DAMN mess. Watch the video after…
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Way back in 2004 when Jamaican Dancehall music was at a generational peak, a set of very pretty twins who go by the name of Nina Sky secured a place with their hit single, “Move Ya Body.” Since that moment of shine in the musical scene the duo has failed to recapture that mainstream success, underwent an image change but most importantly kept the music movin’.
The girls have released buzz tracks here and there hoping to take off again but they’re taking another shot. The other day the girls released a new track entitled “You Ain’t Got It (Funk Dat)” which will appear on their upcoming EP, The Otherside.
“You Ain’t Got It (Funk That)” samples Sagat’s 90′s tune, “Funk Dat” and is produced by DJ Yonny. The song goes full circle as we hear a change from their last few Pop/Dance tunes and a return to their original sound. Below is the duo’s five cents on the song and upcoming EP:
We’ve been tweeting for months about our new project and now we make it official! Here’s “You Ain’t Got It” a new track we collaborated on w/ DJ Yonny from our upcoming EP The Otherside which drops this Summer!! We sampled one of our favorite dance joints from the 90′s, “Funk That” by Sagat and flipped it w/ some Na**Sky melodies.
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Bruno Mars is about to release his EP of 4 songs in a few days under the title It’s Better If You Don’t Understand. The biggest song ofthe EP leaked, the Cee-Lo and B.o.B assisted “The other Side.”
The song is pretty much what you would expect from three eclectic artists. It’s a bit alternative but still friendly enough for the radio. Mars has those signature vocals in full force over the funky beat and of course B.o.B gets together with the guy who made his single #1. Bruno Mars may not be another Matthew Santos afterall.
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It’s September and that means it’s a new season of your Primetime regular television shows. Depending on which shows we watch across NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, etc… we can stumble across some great music. Fortunately, the television shows do not play the same old tired Top 40 radio station tunes but rather the undiscovered and highly talented indie artists.
An artist by the name of Joy Williams had her song, “Speaking a Dead Language”, featured on the season premiere of Grey’s Anatomy. Very mellow, Williams’ voice sounds like harmonious angel whispers. The song is just great and is taken from her EP, Songs From That, which you can purchase HERE.
Singer,songwriter and model Steph Jones has a new song entitled “All Kinda Sprung” off of his upcoming EP, As Long as It’s Funky.
Steph was signed to Def Jam’s DTP Records a few years back but left and has been working since on landing a new deal. His music is very eclectic; a mix of retro, pop and soul. His latest effort “All Kinda Sprung”, in our opinion, is his most consistent song to date. The whole entire song has it high points and is instantly catchy. It really is a good song so give it a listen.
For the past few months Passion Pit has been acclaimed by critics and a large crowd of people that have since become their fans. Who or what is Passion Pit you ask? Passion Pit is an American Electro band that formed in 2007 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The five gents that make up the group are Michael Angelakos (lead vocals/keyboards), Ian Hultquist (keyboards), Ayad Al Adhamy (synth/samples), Jeff Apruzzese (bass) and Nate Donmoyer (drums). It’s funny how people who do not have an understanding of this group always tend to say oh they’re trying to be Coldplay. Looks of disbelief form in milliseconds because the person’s limited knowledge of music outside a few genres really makes an appearance of a fool. That’s similar to saying Whoopi Goldberg is Oprah Winfrey, Kobe Bryant is LeBron James or Matt Lauer is Anderson Cooper. Um, I don’t think so.
Their debut was an EP entitled Chunk of Change which was released last September. It’s an unexpected story for them as the EP was written for Michael Angelakos’ girlfriend for Valentine’s Day but instead received the public treatment. The six song tracklist is filled with raw energy combined with the countless synths and falsettos that elevates it to a level of 110. Each and every song delivers and eargasmic experience to the listener.
Then it’s time for the debut full album, Manners, to arrive and usually when the quality is so high the first time around the second helping in no way lives up to the first. A surprising thing happened, the album was on par with the EP. After the first play it has you hooked, there was no need to loop it over to persuade your opinion to yay or nay. You see Chunks of Change is like the design process of a car; all the enthusiasm you put into the shapes and lines of the exterior and details of the interior waiting for the rest of the world to share your happiness. Then Manners skips a few steps and is the finished product driving on highways being admired by every on-looker who wishes to have a chance with it.
Most bands have a signature quality about them, with Passion Pit its Michael’s falsettos and their pop/electro synths. Some may feel that Michael’s falsettos sound like a chipmunk, may even ruin the music to some but it’s all a matter of taste.
Overall Passion Pit is a great band to listen to if you want to expand your musical horizon, if you want to confine yourself to just a few genres that’s fine as well. Do check their debut Manners when it hits stores on May 18, 2009. We’ll have the links up for them for a short while.
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CHUNK OF CHANGE (EP):
1. I’ve Got Your Number
2. Smile Upon Me
3. Cuddle Fuddle
4. Live to Tell the Tale
5. Better Things 6. Sleepyhead
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MANNERS:
1. Make Light
2. Little Secrets
3. Moth’s Wings
4. The Reeling
5. Eyes as Candles
6. Swimming in the Flood
7. Folds in Your Hands
8. To Kingdom Come
9. Sleepyhead
10. Let Your Love Grow Tall
11. Seaweed Song
