Florence Welch and Calvin Harris team up on club perfect “Sweet Nothing”

Taking a lady of the moment and turning her into a club scene staple seems to be Calvin Harris’ m.o., and his latest is no exception. He’s teamed up with the great Florence Welch (of Florence and the Machine) for the clubtastic “Sweet Nothing”. It’s got a thumping pace and anticipatory build up bridge right before an electronic breakdown just like the Rihanna featuring “We Found Love”, but where that song took the breakdown as an explosion of urgency, it’s more of a long sprint here than a burst. Which works out okay, because Welch’s voice lends better to the simmering and mounting fervor heard here anyway.

Here’s to letting this dance jam lead you out of the office and into the long weekend.

Lupe Fiasco addresses cultural “Battle Scars” in new video (featuring Guy Sebastian)

Wow! Two videos in as many weeks from the clearly busy Lupe Fiasco. After last week’s “Bitch Bad” video, in which Lupe tackles derogatory slang towards women, he’s spouting about a different topic in “Battle Scars”, the fourth single from his upcoming (September 25th) album, Food and Liquor II: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1. “Battle Scars” seems at first to be a song reflecting on love and the emotional scarring of love lost, with a lot of cupid references and a swooping chorus by Guy Sebastian. But when it’s paired with the video, a different sort of reflection is implied, and in typical Lupe fashion, it’s more political in nature. Shots of different kinds of people mix with the verses, and about half way through the song they start holding signs up with things like “Abandoned”, “bullied” and “fatherless” written on them. So as always, Lupe is taking his thoughts global, addressing societal oppression, personal demons, and cultural issues while expressing himself in a uniquely personal manner. I’d expect no less.

ANTHM’s “Life Imitates Art” video paints a freaky picture in stark color contrasts

ANTHM is one impressive young man. A Duke University grad who worked on Wall St, he left the finance world behind to pursue a career as a rapper. As if that’s not ambitious and crazy enough, he took his finance partner with him, and they started their own independent label. The team continue to work together on ANTHM’s own hip hop, and have two albums now to show for it. Today I ran across his newest music video for the song “Life Imitates Art”, which comes from his most recent EP, Joy & Pain. The jam caught my eye for a couple of reasons. First, it has an absolutely killer beat, with this dark, surreal rhythm that is somehow simultaneously bubbly and infectious. Second, ANTHM’s quick rhymes are so damn smooth they practically float over the top of the instrumentals.

Now if those two reasons weren’t enough, then he goes and puts together a killer video for the song. Dressed in a straight jacket for the whole thing, he stumbles into a weird white walled world of women (I think I’m on an illiteration kick.. see yesterday’s post) who are all examining him and miming dismembering him. It’s freaky, but also pretty awesome, as the color contrasts in the video pop gorgeously against the all white background. Check it out below.

A big shout out for the awesome dudes at Pigeons & Planes for putting this up today and who said it best, “If the title is true, ANTHM’s life is crazy.”

Looks like a storm’s a’comin’ in Sleigh Bells’ “End of the Line” video

Sleigh Bells have always done well at capturing the emotion of their song with visuals. In their latest video for the slower paced “End of the Line”, they bring everything down a notch, and by that I mean Alexis Krauss and Derek Miller ride dirt bikes in slow motion around a quiet neighborhood (and no explosions or high kicks happen). Their melancholy joy ride alternates with two dark shots of Alexis in a virginal white dress – one in the middle of a windy field with a sky full of storm brewing above her, and one surrounded by candles on a red flower bedspread. The culmination of the visuals leaves you feeling like you have just witnessed both the sorrowful commencement of something and the anticipation of what may lay beyond the horizon.

Recently discovered “vintage” Lanie Lane – B-side “My Man”

A nice little rock pick up to start the week. Late last week I wonderfully stumbled on some new(ish) Lanie Lane. Her single “Ain’t Hungry” from 2011, to be exact, which I blogged about back then, but failed to notice the great B-side, “My Man”! Considering how much I enjoy the lovely Southern blues style artist, I am seriously amazed that this slipped by me before. “My Man” is a great little blues offering, a slow and sultry simmering song with serious sexy guitar. Her big smile and excitement is hard to resist, so don’t. Check out a live perforamnce of it below.

Friday fun video: An children’s ode to after school snacks in “Hot Cheetos and Takis”

These kids from Minnesota know just how to perk up your day. This viral video, “Hot Cheetos and Takis” is about the cutest thing I’ve seen in a long time (big thanks to LadyLobo for pointing me to it), and shows that not all kids these days have grown up so fast. These kids put together an entire rap song/video about their favorite after school snacks. Seriously. It’s adorable, wonderful, and just restores my general faith in the ability of humanity to enjoy itself. Happy Friday – let this help put a smile on your face as you head off into the weekend.

Lupe Fiasco fights against derogatory slang terms in “Bitch Bad” video

Lupe Fiasco has long been an advocate for more respectful representations of women in media. He’s made several songs with strong messages towards women to encourage them to not fall into stereotypes, especially those seen/heard often in the hip hop world. His recent release “Bitch Bad” (from his upcoming Food and Liqour 2: The Great American Rap Album Pt. 1) is perhaps his most obvious plea to the community yet. To illustrate his point, he uses the storyline of two children, one boy and one girl, and their perceptions of the meaning of the word “bitch” as they grow up. His just released video accompaniment for the song follows suit through reenactments of his storyline.

Lupe’s take home message in making a song like this is basically that the casual use of the word “bitch” has wider cultural implications for how women evaluate their self worth, and how men see them. It’s a strong point that is often overlooked in the hip hop world. So many rappers use the term “bitch” often to refer to women, and women not only don’t get upset about it, but also frequently refer to themselves by the same term. And it’s not just women who are putting themselves down, as one could look at the similarly frequent use of the n-word in hip hop to examine how the largely African-American culture continually belittles itself. Although some might argue that these terms are a reflection and expression of society, they equally act as vehicles of destruction, and don’t help to propel anyone towards success. It’s refreshing to see someone like Lupe, who has remained true to his values even with success and speaks out against this kind of self depreciation.

Check out the video below:

Childish Gambino is Leona Lewis’ surprising feature on her new single “Trouble”

Leona Lewis just released a new single from her upcoming album, Glassheart, and it features none other than everyone’s favorite comedian turned rapper Childish Gambino. It may seem to be a bit of an odd team up at first, but it’s a surprisingly sweet blend. It’s clearly a Leona Lewis song – a dramatic uptempo ballad with lots of  piano and bass, and it probably would have been just fine without the Gambino feature, but I think it was a wise choice to include him. Gambino takes the chance to stretch his range a bit, with a verse that is more sensitive and emotional (and less full of bravado) than anything we saw on Royalty, and it reminds me a bit of his more touching songs on CAMP. So though it was no doubt a surprising feature, I would say it’s a lovely cherry on top of Leona’s vocal sundae.

Muse releases OFFICIAL first single, “Madness”, from The 2nd Law

And now time for some more new Muse. Monday they released the first “official” single (so forget those other two songs we’ve already heard from them) from their new album, The 2nd Law. It looks like this album is shaping up to have a great deal more electronic influence than perhaps we all expected. But in typcal Muse fashion, that just means electronic style like we haven’t heard it before. After the live instrument dubstep of “Unsustainable”, “Madness” steps up the style – a minimal synth heavy beat takes up the majority of the song, leaving the real magic to lead singer Matthew Bellamy to gorgeously warble out slow burning love proclamations. Around 2 minutes into the song, things start shaking up – including some great harmonizing, a little keyboard melody and a funky well timed guitar riff. It’s a nice mix of rock and electronics that works because it’s not overpowering on either end. A very nice opener.

The Dean’s List gears up for new album and tour with single release “Hennessy and Cookouts”

Boston trio and HotW favorite The Dean’s List are back with a new single from their upcoming free album Jerusalem. The title “Hennessy at Cookouts” might sound like a summertime throwaway playlist jam, but it is anything but. The song is full of quick timed, pensive and prolific lyrics from lyricist Alexander Mendoza rapped smoothly over haunting chants on a bass beat in the background provided by groupmates Sonny Shotz and Mik Beatz. It’s a great intro to the next segment of this young band. Released on their new distribution label, The Kings Dead, it kicks up the anticipation for Jerusalem (September 17th drop date) and their upcoming tour of the same name. Listen/download below!