Vek is back.
Tom Vek – A ChoreRating: 8.5
Estelle links up with everybody’s fav overweight C.O. on “Break My Heart”. Estelle sounds great. Rozay’s laid back mafioso sound is a winning direction for Ms. Swaray. If there’s more of these gold-plated lush life sort of jams on her upcoming All of Me , Estelle could be in line for a strong return.
Estelle – Break My Heart (Feat. Rick Ross)Rating: 8.1
“I Would Have Never Guessed” is another of the excellent unreleased tracks that will be included on Sade’s upcoming Ultimate Collection package. “I Would Have Never Guessed” is also a really really good torch ballad. The song is sort of in the same lane as Sia’s “Breathe Me” or DHT’s version of “Listen to Your Heart” except performed by someone with the chops to carry such a spare/vocal intensive sort of song. Sade’s performance is quiet, soothing, all that sort of stuff but it’s also powerful; she’s singing from a real place, a very precise point of emotion. Win to Adu.
Sade – I Would Have Never GuessedRating: 8.2
Two of the best MC’s doing it right now on an Exile beat? Over before it even began. Mint.
MED – This Is Your Life (Feat. Blu) (Prod. Exile)MED: (Myspace)
Rating: 8.3
Cage the Elephant leads off tonight with a primo cut from their excellent Thank You, Happy Birthday LP. All the sweet shit you loved about 90’s alternative radio (close your eyes and try not to hear Weezer in that intro) is live on “Aberdeen”, heavy up-in-the-mix bass-driven verses, big distorted guitars, and even bigger melodies. It’s enough to make you wanna strap on some vans and start playing pogs. Your torpedo, our slammer.
Cage the Elephant – AberdeenCage the Elephant: (Official) (Myspace) (Facebook)
Rating: 8.1
Patti Drew’s timely take on the Otis Redding penned top 50 hit. It somehow makes you feel like this tune still has more to offer.
Patti Drew – Hard To HandleBuy It: (Amazon)
As experimental electro, r&b and smooth jazz continue to cross paths, note “Question & Answer”. Collaborations beckoning.
The Pilots – Question and Answer via YYY
The Pilots: (Info)
Rating: 8.1
Just in case you were anticipating something more, Cults are releasing “Abducted” on Record Store Day as a limited edition 7-inch. This is a great record.
Cults – AbductedCults: (Bandcamp) (Purchase Info)
Rating: 8.5
Tribes remind me why I loved music in the mid-90’s, when people in the States actually cared about good guitar bands. Their sound is more reminiscent in music today rather than influential to new bands. Aside, it has a familiarity that all great sounds have. The fact that they are from the UK is even more interesting, boasting a sound that inspired the popularity of brit-pop in the UK and the demise of quality alternative rock around the world. And it still feels genuine. More to come from these guys.
Tribes – We Were Children (Demo)
Tribes: (Myspace) (Facebook) (Twitter)
Rating: 9
It ain’t funky enough in here! We need to make it more funky! Sticky Wicket, make it funky. Make it funky, Icky Ticket. Make it funky, I said.
Wilson Pickett – Get Me Back On Time (Danny Massure Edit)
Danny Massure: (Official) (Myspace) (Facebook)
Rating: 8.2
Contributed by Bruce Rave
Skybombers’ 2008 “Take Me to Town” was one of my favorite albums of the last decade, but the punk/garage influenced record came out when people were far more interested in folk and electronic. Some of the swagger is gone from their new “Black Carousel”, but there’s still plenty of energy and melody as this band aces it hard, medium, or soft. Their “Lies” single is a great choice that’s both hard and soft, and it nicely shows the talent of lead singer Hugh Gurney.
Skybombers – LiesCatch Bruce on Moheak Radio Fridays 1-3pm PST
Skybombers: (Myspace) (Facebook)
Rating: 8.2
Mistajam debuted this Shy FX remix of Skream’s “Where You Should Be” a couple weeks back. The beats, the drum and bass, all that is cool but there’s a definite 90’s urban feel to Shy FX’s mix with the additions of an R&B flavored female vocal and some smoothed out synth stylings. Check it out.
Skream – Where You Should Be (Shy FX Remix)Shy FX: (Myspace) (Facebook) (Twitter)
Rating: 8.3
