“I’m so West Coast.” Don’t be surprised if this refrain gets stuck in your head after listening to The Neighbourhood‘s new single, “West Coast”. With a beat that spins a little twist on old school CA hip hop, the song is a throbbing ode to the Golden State, full of lyrics that remind me why it will always be the place I call home. I LOVE IT.
The single is a limited release that the band is doing as part of their national tour this summer. They will be releasing three songs in total, each as a single packaged with another song from one of their supporting acts. This first one is paired with Lovelife‘s “Every Minute”, which is a juicy piece of dark pop. Check out both songs below and keep an eye out for the next round of singles.
Howdy do! Wolfiewitz here. Just wanted to let you know that if you haven’t heard Fitz and The Tantrums‘ newest album, More Than Just A Dream, released today, you’re probably a soulless meat puppet sent here by aliens to observe human behavior. That, or like not in to music or something. I don’t know your life.
This LA band kind of genre-hops between funk, soul, pop, and some indie sounds, meaning you tend to hear a lot of really strong vocals, a good dollop of some synths, a lot of good back up singers, and, occasionally, whistling. It’s a real trip, and it’s a great way to start your morning today. I’d strongly recommend “Spark” and “The Walker,” “Fool’s Gold,” and “The End” for starters, but the entire album is strong, beginning to end. Give it a listen, meat puppet!
Leave it to Janelle Monae to take a music video to the next level. Her Erykah Badufeaturing single, “Q.U.E.E.N.” just got a visual accompaniment, and it’s a full scale assault of gorgeous style and sound (thanks go to LadyLobo for the heads up on this one). We wrote about the wonderful song already, so today we’ll just focus on the video. Done mostly in black and white (with well placed highlights of color here and there), Janelle shows off her moves, her figure, and her voice with each carefully crafted shot. Every outfit is perfectly chosen, with bold patterns and exciting hairstyles, reflecting the fun, rebellious vibe that makes this song so unique. Erykah Badu (or “Badoula Oblongata” as she’s referred to here) makes a brief but, as always, prominent appearance here, with big beautiful hair, gold arm bands and a poodle. Though she only takes the bridge in the song, she’s such a powerful musical personality at this point that any Badu is better than no Badu. I can only hope this means we’ll be seeing more collaborative work between these two fantastic ladies, because they make one unbeatable pair.
Monae’s next album, The Electric Lady, is on the horizon, so keep an eye out for more soon. Enough talking. More watching! Get to it, and enjoy the weekend!
Sometimes you hear a cover and you think, “My god. This song was destined to be redone like this from the beginning!” That’s how I felt aboutEmeli Sande‘s cover of Beyonce‘s“Crazy In Love” for The Great Gatsby Soundtrack. For this version, The Bryan Ferry Orchestra provide the instrumentals, turning the early 00’s styled pop gem into a ’20’s style ragtime jam. Trumpets abound with a toe tapping high hat beat, creating the perfect backing for Sande’s mid range vocals. The song keeps up a tight and fast pace, changing the feel of it from big and booty shaking to a musical frenzy, primed and ready for flapper jazz hands and fringed dresses. In other words, it’s a whole lot of fun.
This song just adds to what’s looking to be the absolutely must have soundtrack of the season. So far the only thing I haven’t been sold on from the album is the Andre 3000 and Beyonce Amy Winehouse “Back to Black” cover (it’s pretty atrocious actually. The beat is good, but neither artist plays to their strengths whatsoever). I’m posting it underneath the Sande cover just for sheer interest factor, but I would advise listening to Sande again after the Andre/Beyonce song to cleanse your ears. But even with this one minor misstep, I’m still extremely excited to hear the rest of the album. Just six more days!
About two weeks ago, we got wind of a new Meg Myers’ song, “Heart Heart Head”, and now we have visuals to accompany it. As always, Meg ups the ante with the video version of the song, taking an already intense track that packs a raw, emotional punch and making it even more in your face and wrenching. The video is, in a word, INTENSE. Certainly, this isn’t a surprise – as many of Meg’s visuals lean towards intensity (see “Monster” for a great example). But as the video unfolds for this one, it almost feels like you are witnessing Meg be possessed. She pulls it off without a hitch, feeding her own frustrations into the music and video. It’s quite the addition to the song, bringing new dimensions and depth to the music.
A quick spotlight on a young Asian-American South Bay Area (Cupertino!) talent that I was super fortunate to have stumbled upon: Jeni Suk. So, I love this orgy of a genre that is electro-pop/soul/hip-hop/R&B. SBTRKT’s “Wildfire” with vocals from Little Dragon’s Yukimi Nagano is a sultry yet electrifying track, so hearing Jeni’s silky understated take on the song was a fantastic surprise. Made me wish YouTube had an automatic replay button. She spits her own verses, produces her own instrumentals, and is whaaat? 22? Will be fun and interesting to see where she goes with her talent (check out her tumblr for other covers). Enjoy, my Wolfpack friends!
My favorite track off of Two Door Cinema Club‘s Beacon just got a fresh new face. “Sun” originally was an emotion driven mid tempo jam that reminds me of something you might find on an indie film trailer. Now swedish producer Lissvik has swooped in and flipped it on it’s head. The remix doesn’t take away from the bouncy, sun-drenched feel of it, but it adds a major splash of funk with a heavy dose of bass. On first listen, I was immediately bouncing in my seat, and I’ll wager you will do the same. A perfect song for a hot late night party or an ocean side bike ride alike, it’ll surely work as a versatile jam for the summer.
Check out both the remix and original (with it’s fun boat themed video) below.
Literally three days ago a relative unknown white Jewish rapper out of Philadelphia who goes by the name of Lil Dicky dropped a video on Youtube that pretty much exploded the internet. “Ex-Boyfriend” already has well over a million views and is an absolutely perfect party sensation. So why are people going crazy for this? For many, very good reasons. The song and video is hysterical – a humor filled look at how one feels when they meet a current significant other’s ex and they are absolutely stunningly perfect. And Lil Dicky is self deprecating in the most perfect kind of way – he’s goofy and totally unashamed of it. But is he more than just a one internet wonder? I think so, and I’ll get into why. But first – if you haven’t seen the video yet, do yourself a favor and watch it right now below.
It’s really nice to see this kind of talent get this kind of response from the masses. And though he might draw comparisons with another white jewish rapper out of Philly (Asher Roth, anyone?), he maintains a certain unkempt originality that will help him stand out as an artist. It’ll be really interesting to see what comes next, as he’s announced he’ll be releasing new videos on Youtube every Wednesday.
In addition to “Ex-Boyfriend”, Lil Dicky has released a mixtape, So Hard(with a cover shot of him surrounded by a star of David in flames, naturally). The mixtape is well put together, with nice beats, and funny jams (like my already personal favorite “Club Night”). And the mixtape showcases Lil Dicky’s RIDICULOUS flow. He goes double time, like basically all the time. Check out the last song on the album, “Bars” for a good example. When the heck does he breathe?! Pretty much every song is a blend of quick, clever and silly, and it’s a thoroughly enjoyable album (though I should warn you that he does talk a strangely large amount about penis…). Stream the entire mixtape below.
I feel like all I’ve been doing is writing about the upcoming soundtrack forThe Great Gatsby(which is looking to be one of the best compilation albums of the year, easily). But as they leak each song, they just get better and better. Moody and boozy could best describe the latest track, “Together” by the xx. Echoing pops roll over waves of guitar, creating a musical seascape that is easy to get lost in. The breathy vocals cut through the mesmerizing earscape right to your core, where they simultaneously make you want to strip off your clothes with that special someone, or curl up in a ball and think wistfully about them. It’s a powerful trip of a song that I can already imagine for the dramatic climax in the movie, that moment where everyone will look tortured and epically crushed, dissapointed, or enraged. Especially towards the end, when a slew of strings erupts, merging the modern pop with emotional classical at it’s finest.
May 10th really isn’t that far away. Even with the excruciating teasing with the slow release of the songs. I swear.
Now this is what I call a lady wolfpack anthem. The immensely wonderful Janelle Monaehas released a new song with the legendary Erykah Baduand it’s every bit as soulful and delicious as you would hope. “Q.U.E.E.N.” was said to be inspired by a conversation between the two vocalists, and after listening, I can only say I wish my conversations were this funky! The track has a delightfully groovy backbeat that keeps the pace, and some funky futuristic strings running throughout. This perfectly sets up some back and forth and harmonizing between the two ladies – leading to a groovy sound that is both vintage and modern.
Paired with Janelle’s last release (“Do My Thing” with Estelle), this song shows an awesome direction for Ms. Monae. She’s running full speed ahead with awesome feminine power anthems, and while I sure no lady is complaining, I’d bet the guys aren’t either because these songs are too darn fresh to ignore.
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