Natty - Man Like I (album)

Ok so I'm cheating - this album isn't out yet in the US and I don't actually know a release date but I know that has never stopped a savvy music listener from hearing something great. . .
The first thing that struck me listening to Natty's calmly rasping vocals and reggae rhythms was just how much he sounded like Spearhead (who I love.) But I wasn't satisfied just saying "Oh he sounds like Spearhead," and writing him off - I liked the album a little too much to do that, so I set out to figure out what it was that I liked so much about him that differentiated him from Spearhead.After much contemplation and car time, I've decided that what it all comes down to is the weather; and more specifically, warmth.
Spearhead's music is clearly from California - quirky, colorful, and summery. True, he has some more somber songs, but on all his albums, Michael Franti has perfectly crafted songs that are bright to the point of being celebratory and perfectly suited forthe dreadlocked masses to dance barefoot to before going off to eat something vegetarian.
And it's likely that Natty caters to the same crowd. But coming from a freezing place like London, warmth is something that needs to be contained, and likely indoors. The resulting sound is every as bit as warm, but much more intimate and cozy in a "lets huddle by the fire" kind of way as opposed to a "let's go frolic in the sun."
Keeping that in mind, whole debut Man Like I is a really enjoyable listen both pleasant and mellow in a way not unlike Jack Johnson. And within this good album lie a couple of great songs. Notably, the wistfully charming "Coloured Souls." Chillingly intimate and wistful, there is an earnestness to the song that I think can push it past the hippie world and into the pop realm.
Other highlights include "Badman," which boasts a nice bit of scat, and the slightly more urgent "Cold Town."

Estelle ft. Sean Paul - "Come Over"

I know I tend to write about songs or artists that have less exposure in the public domain, but every so often, a top forty song comes along that is so well deserving of its place that not only do I turn up my speakers when it comes on in my car, I sing along to it, and badly.
I fell in love with Estelle's vocals in her collaboration with Kanye West and his killer (and dare we say Daft Punk-esque production) on "American Boy," enjoyed her collaboration with John Legend, and nearly cheered when she unwittingly did me a massive favor and paired up with one of the few and far between crossovers from reggae into mainstream; none other than party starter Sean Paul.
Naturally, I was drawn to Estelle's accent (I can't be too inconsistent) and silvery voice, but I was also impressed by her versatility. I like to think she has the staying power to make it as an R&B songstress, though its admittedly a genre I know nothing about, and she has enough sass and sex appeal to hold her own against the boys of hip hop. Since all of those qualities in a lady do well over bright reggae rhythms, "Come Over" is an excellent track. On the gentler side, there are definite R&B tones, but the hammock friendly rhythms lend it an air of lovers' rock.
Then, over an already excellent track, and in true reggae MC style, Sean Paul's vocals were laid down after the album version of the track was released, like toasting over a dub original for one of those beach jams perfect in the freakishly warm Los Angeles winter.

Currently, the song is only available on the radio, or on demand at Estelle's Myspace.

Mi Swing Es Tropical (Zeb Reggae Remix feat. Hector "Tempo" Alomar)

This song greeted my ears one cold(ish) morning this week and made me want to take a break from my love of all things gritty and rainy (England) for some pure, unadulterated sunshine. Which is exactly what that track is. I fell in love with the sunny, Puerto Rican flavored sounds of the original when I saw the brilliant, dance inspiring iPod commercial. It was to my delight when I found out that it was by none other than the good folks over at Wonderwheel - Nickodemus and his buddy Quantic, who has a knack for making world beats for white people. The original is stupidly cheerful enough, but the remix, which kicks off a highly enjoyable 10th anniversary CD drove it home for me.
What inevitably happened was that a bunch of talented musicians were listening to music and smoking far too much weed and came up with the brilliant idea of adding some reggae flavor to the already summery beats and somewhere, in a borough in Brooklyn, this solid remix was born. Blissfully ditching the dubby in favor of classic rocksteady reggae beat good enough to stand alone, Zeb manages to make the tune his own, while still maintaining the unfailingly cheerful vibe as well as commercial appeal. The bright horns get muted a bit, and the song takes on a reggae soul vibe with Latin flavor, kind of like what might happen to Fat Freddy's Drop if they went and took a vacation somewhere in Latin America.
I find it's never just about the song - it's about the whole chain reaction of events that lead up to the song and are triggered by the song. In the case of this remix (and with a little help from the release of the new Femi Kuti record), that dormant love of reggae and world music that usually only surfaces when I have the good fortune of traveling and getting away from the city has reawakened. It reminded me that amidst the routine, humdrum and stresses of everyday life there are little things that make you smile and take you away.

In the spirit of passing the cheer (the holidays are upon us after all) I've just published my first iMix with a bunch of reggae tunes to get you through the gloom - enjoy!!


Have a listen to the Zeb remix of "Mi Swing Es Tropical" here.

Slumdog Millionaire - Music from and Inspired by. .

So like a good Danny Boyle fan and like most of the people who saw Slumdog Millionaire I fell in love with this film and its soundtrack. Using A.R. Rahman as a composer was a brilliant move; Rahman got to parody the Bollywood format of music that he's so familiar with, and quite successfully explored the gritty and urban in addition to his classical repertoire.
The other touch of brilliance that some seem to be overlooking however, is the use of M.I.A. The use of her breakthrough single "Paper Planes" caused a knee-jerk reaction to immediately dismiss it as Pineapple Express was released.
And that's fair enough - "Paper Planes" has exploded to a cross genre popularity not heard since Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy." That being said the song was used twice - the original, as well as a chilled out funkafied, 70's style DFA remix, which made me pause and and listen to it with new ears, refreshed by the context. Sure the lyrics talk about weed, but they're just as much about livin' in the streets (which, as a Jewish girl from LA, I'm all about) and a level of materialism that can be found in third world countries and likely among the drug dealing population. If you haven't committed "Paper Planes" to memory, you can read the lyrics for yourself here.
The music from Slumdog Millionaire whet my appetite for more urban India meets London influenced sound that's like a late night drunken kebab with curry sauce. So I started listening to M.I.A. again to try and remember why I liked her in the first place despite the lack of gunshots and registers in her other songs. I found surprising satisfaction in some tracks off of the recent Kala with the boisterous, vaguely garage and old school hip hop influenced "XR2," which makes me want to dig out my gold hoops and wreak havoc on a bus somewhere cold and rainy. The other one that just plain makes me feel just a bit cooler than I actually am is "20 Dollar." It's laid back and rhythmic in a way that nods at the blunt smoking hip hop greats, and is actually a rude-girl interpretation of the Pixies' "Where Is My Mind," which goes to show you just how gangsta I actually am.

If this has inspired you to listen to a lot of MIA, you might also be interested in checking out the weirdly wistful remix of "Boyz" by Brazilian remixers The Twelves.

The sound of November

Ok, so this isn't really one of those official "about one song" blogs. This month, all my writing efforts have been swallowed whole by the monster that is NaNoWrimo. For those who don't know, that's National Novel Writing Month. It's an insane literary journey that saps every bit of creative energy from me in an effort to birth 50,000 words that will eventually be known as genius.

So what does that have to do with music? For me, everything. The entire concept for this novel was born out of two very key songs - the Stanton Warriors remix of Gorillaz "Feel Good, Inc.", and the song "Writer's Block," by Just Jack. "Feel Good, Inc." set the plot, and "Writer's Block," set the tone and main character. I'd go into more detail but I'll likely end up making my novel sound better than it actually is.

I know neither of these are especially new, but there's something that can be said for their inspirational qualities, both lyrically and atmospherically. Rather than trying to write about music, I've been trying to write about the initial impression music makes on me, which is a bit less concrete, and in some ways, a bit more fun.

Regardless, there are a couple songs that have worked their way onto my NaNoWriMo playlists, and thus have been making sneak appearances in the novel so here goes.

Florence and the Machine - "Dog Days are Over"
Florence is from Iceland and is fantastic and weird. Or so I've read, but I personally just think she's fantastic in a non druggy Amy Winehouse meet childlike simplicity of White Stripes kind of way.

Little Boots - "Stuck on Repeat"
Her EP has left me drooling for more. She's currently out on Vice's label in the UK and her EP is being released on IAMSAM recordings - when? Not soon enough. She's sexy and alluring in a Goldfrapp kind of way but with a Madonna-y disco glitz.

And finally, I've been listening to a crapload of (surprise) 80's and 90's UK. So yes, a lot of James and Oasis and New Order. But most importantly, in rediscovering the Gorillaz, I've also rediscovered Blur and gained a new found respect for Damon Albarn. He is the definition of prolific with each of his bands venturing into different genres (Blur - rock genius that was sadly overshadowed with the success of the song that will forever be known as "Woohoo!", the Good, Bad, and the Queen - indie rock, Gorillaz - genre bending trip hop, and now Monkey - Chinese opera??) and each retaining his distinct, vaguely atonal and perpetually angst ridden sound.

Hopefully this should be enough to chew on for the rest of the month until I return fortified, and with more coherent, educated sounding rants in the month of December.

The Knux - Cappuccino

I want to apologize to hip hop. For someone who claims to love all kinds of music, I haven't give the genre the attention it deserves. If it was one of my unborn children, it would probably sue me for negligence and win. That being said, songs that blow me away and leave me at a loss for description, like "Cappuccino," renew my love of the genre and give me faith in the artists. The Knux are totally genre bending and their orgy of dirty guitar riffs, dirty breaks, and (you guessed it) dirty hip hop make a perfect soundtrack for cruising the streets of LA.
This amalgamation of sounds makes them as much hipster and hip hop; their debut Remind Me In Three Days weaves successfully through different genres over the course of the album, as though given carte blanche to club hop up and down Hollywood Blvd. in the same evening.
But it was "Cappuccino" that really grabbed me, and stands out as one of the strongest tracks on an album full of strong tracks.
Just to be clear - the song is actually, not actually about cappuccino. Or, apparently, mocha. I wish I could say I know what they're talking about, but I don't - quite possibly because I'm not cool enough. My guess is that it's about cocaine, or bitches, or both, as these are prevalent motifs throughout the album. Regardless, laid back beats, overtly sensual rhythmic thrusts, and vocals that sound as though the Knux took a break from blow to toke a joint, are the soundtrack for the larger than life but true to reality Los Angeles of Entourage.
So skip three cappuccinos and spend the money on the album instead - it's well worth it.

Sip on some Cappuccino

Stanton Warriors - Making Monday Funday

I have to confess that I've recently been ignoring my youth a bit, accepting adulthood a bit too readily, going to dinners and drinks and watching dance acts come to town and sitting back thinking that perhaps I've grown out of that phase in my life.
But that was until I found out the Stanton Warriors were coming to town. And at Monday Night Social which is the antidote to falling into boring adulthood. I fought off my inner lameness demon (who tried to entice me with Gossip Girl and slippers) and found myself headed to Hollywood and wondering how there was still no parking on a Monday night.
Having heard their FabricLive album I had an idea of what to expect from the London duo, and I tend to find dance acts and DJ sets to be more captivating, simply because the audience can get involved with dancing (not always a guarantee at say, a singer-songwriter gig). Others haunted by the demon of lameness sit there with their arms crossed saying things like "who wants to see two guys with laptops?" and "they're not even playing anything." Which is when I get to patiently explain that all the work is done pre-laptop. That the making of a track, choosing the palette, refining the sounds, selecting and hunting for just the right tracks for a set is an artform in itself, as is working with a continuous set of music, which is like a live animal, and getting it to talk to an audience, get them dancing for hours on end, and giving them an excuse to get absolutely mashed on their drug of choice on a Monday. . .Well, to me, that's an art form cleverly disguised as a good time. Sorry there are no guitars.
In addition to killing it playing to a packed house and quilting together a truly awesome set that pulled from early 90s hip hop, to the Gorillaz, to Booka Shade to their own originals, Stanton Warriors happen to be some of my favorite dance artists. The Stanton Warriors weren't my first introduction into the breakbeat world, but they were the ones who taught me that I loved the genre. Putting aside the, minimalism of their house music cousins, the Stanton Warriors are all about glitter and grime keeping things sexy in a dirty, urban style. Favoring booty beats and standards from early 90's hip hop, the boys touch it up with a healthy mix of breaks, crunching percussion, heightened rhythms and duuurty MCs saying all kinds of shameful things.

Their album Stanton Sessions Vol. 3 streets on November 11th in the US.

In the meantime, check them out on MySpace of hear some of their unreleased remixes on Hype Machine.

Catch up on Stanton Sessions Vol. 1 and 2