Ben Westbeech is a welcome digression from the current dance pop infestation. “Falling” is meant for the club, but it comes free of vocal effects, bubblegum synths, and Dr. Luke. Ben’s album There’s More To Life Than This comes out later this year.
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“Why Even Try” reeks of the 80s, but it falls short of being just a hokey 80s throwback because Theophilus London injects cutting edge gaspy relationship raps, the kind of stuff Kid Cudi might rap about if he still bothered to rap. But if you can tolerate a song that’s two parts 80s pop, one part rap, you might really enjoy this. Diplo on the cuts.
And if the tweet to download thing is a hassle, direct link here.
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I’ve been craving more MNDR since I heard her and Q-Tip make magic on “Bang Bang Bang.” Actually, I really caught the bug when I saw her on Letterman. Regardless, homegirl hits the electropop sweet spot. “Cut Me Out” is rhythmic, melodic and buzzing without all the cheese. Can’t wait for more.
Watch the making of and find tour dates after the break.
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Prematurely announcing your retirement is almost a rite of passage for artists. Lupe Fiasco, Game, and Kid Cudi have all announced their retirement from music at one point, probably after a lousy day or something. On Sunday, Jazmine Sullivan wrote on Twitter, “i’m making an official announcement that i am taking a break from music. i’m trying to figure out who i am… w/out a mike, paper or pen. i promised myself when it wasn’t fun anymore i wouldn’t do it. and here i am..” But then she quickly deleted the tweets.
The good news is Salaam Remi leaked this unreleased/new song to cheer her up. Jazmine just needed to be reminded that she’s not a robot and she has one of the best producers around in her corner.
@SaLaAMReMi i love u for this. thanks for reminding me. i couldna said it better myself;)
Jazmine Sullivan
jsullivanmusic
I got in touch with producer Mark Ronson (Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, Daniel Merriweather, Duran Duran) three weeks ago to talk about his favorite beats of the year. After he thoroughly educated me (I’ve listened to “Katy on a Mission” 40+ times), Mark was nice enough to field some questions. I was surprised to find out the Grammy winning, actress dating musician is just as disillusioned with pop music and celebrity antics as us normal people.
I have a really hard time with celebrities or famous musicians sending each other tweets across the thing when they could just get each other’s phone number. I always accuse Wale of being guilty of that. Like ‘Yo Diddy, what are we doing tonight?’ which I just think is like, ‘OK, you have his phone number, you could text him.’
Sphere: Related ContentI would listen to [Trunk Muzik: 0-60] over the new Eminem album fucking any day of the week and I’m not comparing [Yelawolf and Eminem] because they’re white. It’s got the same rebel spirit and a lot of the same pain and passion, all that thing, but it’s got such a better– it’s light and he’s got a sense of humor about things and he has clever lines and stuff like that. Eminem’s just become this moan-y, whiny like, ‘me, me, me’ thing. It’s like, ‘dude, you’ve fucking got 50 million in the bank, what is still so horribly wrong?’ But anyway, that’s not for me to say.
How’s this for the last post of 2010?
Every artist has a vault of unreleased material; rarities, remixes, and alternate versions that never saw the light of day for one reason or another. This week, Mark Ronson used the holidays as an excuse to excavate some music from his hard drive and post it on Facebook. So what did the super-producer/Beat Drop contributor have in his vault?
I actually asked Mark about this track two weeks ago (full Q&A coming soon) and he told me he had no plans to release it. I guess Boxing Day changed his mind.
Here is an unfinished cover version of “Let’s Ride” by Q-Tip that Mark and Daniel Merriweather recorded during the Version sessions. “Stop Me” remains Daniel Merriweather’s best work. And last but not least,
Says Mark,
here’s a reversion that i did of one of my favourite late-era MJ songs, “Happy Birthday, Lisa”. me, victor axelrod, nick movshon, homer steinweiss and thomas brenneck were in the studio working on “Record Collection” when we got sidetracked and made this….
Mark Ronson has three DJ sets tonight in England. Set times, locations, and a flyer after the jump. If you’re stuck in NY like me, go see Q-Tip at the Ace Hotel. Happy new year, fam!
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So what’s an Amy Winehouse/Mark Ronson song doing on a Quincy Jones album? Q Soul Bossa Nostra consists of reinterpretations of Quincy Jones songs. Quincy explained his role in the project in a recent interview,
These weren’t like sessions where I’m there producing the records. I’m just observing, really. I was just there for them if they needed me. I’m never in my life going to do a record that’s a tribute to myself. I don’t need it. A lot of people have misunderstood that. This is not a tribute to myself.
Of Amy’s track, Quincy said that she was originally going to cover “You Don’t Own Me,” but she settled on “It’s My Party” — both are Lesley Gore songs. “It’s My Party” works, but I think the slightly darker “You Don’t Own Me” would have made more sense for Amy.
Listen at AWO
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Today marks the kickoff of the Voodoo Experience in the heart of New Orleans. ML is taking this year off, but we have had documented an amazing time in years past. Even though we aren’t going it doesn’t mean we can’t recommend some acts, amiright?! Ticket’s are still available, trust me this will be wayyy better than Halloween house party.
Here are some picks from ML (but don’t forget that discovering new artists is a clutch aspect of any music festival):
Muse; Ozzy Osbourne (that guy from MTV!!); MGMT (be sure to see mostly KIDS, if they do it lawls); Drake (Please report on his knee.);Metric; Hot Chip (sleeper pick of the festival!); Deadmau5 (biggest buzz on the festival scene this year?; Street Sweeper Social Club (Tom Morello+Boots Riley from The Coup=Win.); Paul Oakenfold; Florence and the Machine; Raphael Saadiq; Janelle Monae (one the best live acts of the year); Afrojack; Kelis; the Crystal Method; Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue; Crookers; Preservation Hall Jazz Band; Boys Noize.
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The CMJ Music Marathon is upon us next week. New Yorkers have an endless supply of shows (“showcases,” they call them) to chose from, so ML filtered out the interesting ones. If you know about something we don’t, let us know. Check back because we’ll be updating this post as more comes to our attention.
Sphere: Related ContentI might be trying to wife MNDR. She and Q-Tip get down like long lost siblings on the Late Show stage. Neither acknowledges the awkwardness of their pairing, but the song is so dope that it almost never occurred to me that the guy who produced “One Love” is on David Letterman with an electro-dance-pop Brooklynite who looks like she could be a Charlie’s Angel. Like I said, I might be trying to wife MNDR.
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