Yeah, totally didn’t expect this. Teddy Pain goes in on the Wiz Billboard #29 and pretty much murders it. Hate on Pain, dude may be retarded on the mic but if we’re talking hooks, melodies, all that, Pain can pretty much go jam for jam with just about anybody in the game right now.
T-Pain – Black and Yellow (T-MIX)Rating: 8.3
Yeah, so we’re prob the 3000th blog in the blog universe to jump on this but the track’s just too good to not b3sci-i-fy. Middle-aged Albarn’s at his best in the role of crooner and here he coos all over the The xx track breathing a sense of upper middle class loathing that only the cheeky Colchester bloke could.
Gorillaz – Crystalised (The xx Cover)Rating: 8.5
New shit from The Kid Daytona. “Take Aim… Bang!” comes to us from TKD’s Interlude LP. We were psyched on Daytona’s ’09 Come Fly With Me LP, so much so we named it one of our Top Records of 2009. Somehow, this jam lacks a bit of the heat that made songs like “The Engine” and “Lately” great but “Take Aim” is still gets the head nodding; Freddie Gibbs adds a pretty sick verse.
The Kid Daytona – Take Aim… Bang! (Feat. Freddie Gibbs and Alex of the Kickdrums)Rating: 7.9
A touch different sound here on this new track from Chapel Club. “Telluride” sounds a bit like it was recorded in that place. The song has space, it feels icy, a bit more isolated, less tensive, but still pop comfortable. “Telluride” was tracked during the sessions for the band’s upcoming debut. Will this be more what the record will sound like? Less “All the Eastern Girls” and “Pictures of You”? Stay tuned.
Chapel Club – TellurideRating: 8.0
Summer Fiction is both everything and nothing you’ve heard before. We wish more music fell into our inboxes like this. It’s Baroque Pop, it’s torch songs, it’s freewheelin’ Folk, it’s reminiscent of the golden days… but most of all it’s the roots and sound that’s Rock and Roll. It’s why Rock and Roll will never die.
Every now and then we are graced with a songwriter that can make even the simplest sounds heard before, still well worth hearing. With all of today’s media bombardment, I hear these songs and I listen. All I want to do is sit and listen. Bill Ricchini is one of those songwriters, and “Throw Your Arms Around Me” is one of those songs. Take a listen to “To: Alone”, when was the last time you heard a pop song this slow… this good? It’s a sound that reminisces where Richard Swift could have gone and what Elliot Smith had in his bones.
The Summer Fiction LP drops November 30th. True songwriters always have something good to say.
Summer Fiction – Throw Your Arms Around Me Summer Fiction – To: AloneSummer Fiction – Chandeliers [FREE DOWNLOAD]
Rating: 9.0
The mashup journeyman DJ Topcat crafts a smooth blend here with this Cee-Lo Green/Four Tops Mix. What’s crazy about “Fuck You”, and maybe it’s a testament to just how fucking good a song it is… like we’ve heard it everywhere, just about everyday and mixed up every which way and the song still sounds really really great. Like we can’t help but go falsetto on that “I pity the FOOOOOOOOOOL” line every time we hear it. See if you can stop yourself from humming along to Stubbs and Co. and The Ladykiller himself. Yep, like we thought, we can hear you! It’s OK, we’re humming along too.
Cee-Lo Green vs. The Four Tops – The Same Old Fuck YouRating: 8.0
Here goes the Nero re-touch of the Daft Punk produced N.E.R.D. jam. Another strong showing here from UK producer Nero; this sick mix comes on the heels of some killer remix work for Plan B, Chase & Status, and The Streets. Nero does well enough to flip the oft-played jam into something fresh. Get familiar below.
N.E.R.D. – Hypnotize U (Nero Remix) (Prod. Daft Punk)Rating: 8.0
Bobby Ray is back at you with “Beast Mode”. “I guess 2010’s the first year you gave a shit.” Maybe. But B. o. B., with 3 top 10 singles and a number 1 album to his credit, can make legit claim to his beast modey-ness. Dude has had a massive year and, and if anything, “Beast Mode” serves as something of a valediction to his 2010.
B. o. B. – Beast ModeRating: 8.2
A favorite remix of a favorite song by a favorite artist. Grifta’s rework of the seminal Deadmau5 tune is five and a half minutes of expansiveness, hope, wonder, beauty, the future on tape. What that sounds like.
Deadmau5 – Faxing Berlin (Grifta Remix)Rating: 8.6
Top shelf beat here from the Megatron Don; The seemingly perpetually addled with label problems Saigon pitching in with some choice rhymes. The feel Just Blaze has for the rhythm, cadence, & diction in the flows of the rappers he works with (particularly Saigon) really sets his production work apart.
Saigon – Strength (Prod. Just Blaze)Rating: 8.2
The Swedish bodytalker paused her worldbeating tour of nonstop jams just long enough to cut this cover of the classic Prince track for the UK’s Channel 4 TV.
Robyn – When Doves CryRating: 8.1
A big step up here from the Kentucky-based band. “Shake Me Down” is the sound of a band at a defining point of creative realization. The band’s second LP Thank You, Happy Birthday is due Jan. 11.
Cage the Elephant – Shake Me DownRating: 8.5
