Recently Robyn covered Bjork's "Hyperballad" at the "Polar Music Prize" event in Stockholm. I felt compelled to comment on the video for a few reasons. It showed the courage of Robyn to take on any Bjork song, and in this case a difficult vocal arrangement track like "Hyperballad". When I think of past Bjork covers, I have not heard anyone cover a Bjork song better than Ms. Guðmundsdóttir herself, so credit should be given to Robyn for even having the confidence to tackle Bjork in the first place.
The music in this rendition with live orchestra and synthetic drums/ keyboards was outstanding. Kudos should go to the person who did the arrangement. Lastly, it must have been hard to stand in the shoes of Robyn and perform the song with your personal idol sitting expressionless throughout the performance. The scenario would cause most artists to stop the performance and run hastily off the stage! Though most people are trying to figure out if Bjork liked Robyn's rendition, its a mute point to me as I think Robyn did the song more than justice and Bjork should really be appreciative that someone is still trying to keep her legacy alive.
Kele has made a change-- and large one at that. Beside the visually obvious, his hairstyle and physic, he's put down the guitar in place of an drum machine; departed from the melancholy to embrace the racing bpms of dance-infused electro. With little to no information as the status of Bloc Party, Kele has released his solo debut album, The Boxer [via Universal].
Apparently this [record] was supposed to be Bloc Party's second album; however, it was never confirmed as to why A Weekend In The City wound up being more of the same.
With the rumors abounding and fans awaiting new music, Kele was preparing to get back on the road and do this all over again-- but this time, alone.
SWAY: It's definitely an upbeat record. It's a dance record, an electronic record, right? How hard do you find it to balance the depth of song writing with club beats?
KELE: Yeah, although- although I think there are definitely aspects of, you know, club land... you know, sonic textures that I've taken from maybe dance music. I think that it's a pop record- really it's songs that have verses and choruses. You know, nothing's more than like, four minutes. It's all very concise. To me it's still a pop record. (music plays)
SWAY: How involved were you in the production?
KELE: Well I was very involved in the production. I wrote the songs and I, you know. Then Alex at XXXChange, he knows a lot more about production than I do. He kind of took a lot of the ideas and edited stuff and, you know, got me to re-play stuff and re-sing stuff. We played in places and, you know, he kind of could see what the song was about.
SWAY: What's your process, I mean, in terms of writing...how do you start?
KELE: Well I start with a beat. A beat is the most important thing for me. To start with a beat and then that will trigger off some melodic ideas, and that will trigger off some vocal ideas. Then once you have the vocals, you start to shape the song around the vocal. I think.
SWAY: How do you balance the tones of both bands? Upbeat, happy solo project versus melancholy Bloc Party?
KELE: It would be easy to balance them. It would be more difficult if they were similar, because then like you'd be feeding some songs into the wrong place. If they're different then it's different ways of expression.
I dig this track. It sounds like when Mark Ronson produced the Kaiserchiefs record for some reason. Not sure if that even makes sense as a reference point, but what I will say: this is first time I've ever made it through an entire Matt & Kim song-- willingly that is! I think it's the drums, they just bang so hard.
Upcoming album, Sidewalks due out Nov 2 [via Fader]
Could you imagine kissing yourself? Well, singer Rihanna just found out what that is like.
On Tuesday, popstar Rihanna became one more addition to a long line of life-sized wax statues, such as Barack Obama, Denzel Washington and Rosa Parks, in the Madame Tussauds wax museum in Washington, D.C.
Rihanna personally donated the outfit, draping her body double in a black lace corset, black fitted jacket, black skinny pants and black silk heels.
Apparently the sculptures had their work cut out for them, given Rihanna's ever-changing haircuts and imaging over the span of her last four records. However, with countless photos and meticulous care, I think they got pretty close to her likeness.
I wonder what it takes to have your wax sculpture made? Or if Kanye is mad that he hasn't gotten one yet?
A few weeks ago I post the new single for Tricky's upcoming album Mixed Race, which I think is grimy, gully return for the British electronica producer. This single "Murder Weapon" is a reworking of theEcho Minott's 90's hit with same name, which is was in love with then-- and still am now.
The video was shot in La Salle, France, where Tricky not only has been residing for the past 2 years, but owns the boxing gym that video is shot in. It's full of gun brandishing, money-counting and, of course, some boxing.
Album to be released October 5th, 2010 [via Domino]
Finally, after stretching an album almost 7 singles deep-- a record companies ultimate dream-- looks like Gaga is ready to start trickling out some new material. After rumours of David Bowie collaborations and tons of expectations postThe Fame Monster, last night at the Xcel Energy Center in St Paul, Minnesota, Gaga finessed her piano, unveiling a new track, "Living On The Radio."
Unsure as to whether this is the final song or just an acoustic version, the lyrics are already online for fans to devour.
I'm still waiting for the industry, or rather the world to catch up with Arcade Fire. In my opinion, musically the album could have been better-- a little too sparse as my keyboardist commented-- but visually and artistically, they keep treading new ground.
First it was the Spike Jonze's stop motion video for the NYC performances, and now, a radical new video that incorporates your childhood nostalgia, Google maps and few other cute surprises. I will admit, I was a bit moved to see my house in all of its Google glory.
Don't forget to have your childhood address when you visit http://www.thewildernessdowntown.net/ to try out this new video-- I guarantee you will not be disappointed.
It's exciting to hear one of your favourite artists resurface with new music that instantly grabs your attention. Pete Yorn first came across my radar while working radio promo for Sony Music back in 2001. New music always came to us radio pluggers first, where we would sift through new artists and listen for potential hits. I can remember the head of radio promo putting on Yorn's debut CD, and after the first track both of us smiling at each other loving our first taste of Pete's music via "Life On A Chain" - it was moments like this that made working in music industry feel like the best job in the world. I think we both knew that Canadian radio wasn't going to run out and play Pete's music, but we knew the industry would love his first album "musicforthemorningafter". So began the love affair of every woman in the office with Pete and any female he played in front of on his subsequent Canadian tours.
I have kept my ears attuned to what he has done in the past couple years since. He put our a duet album with Scarlett Johannsan, where he carried the record on his own back. He released 4 studio albums since his debut and a number of live EPs, all of which had moments of brilliance, but never captured the essence of his debut from start to end.
His new single has me excited about the possibilities. The harder edged "Velcro Shoes" was recorded with Frank Black, and sonically puts his balls back at the forefront where they should be. Check it out. Ironically, my favourite song he ever recorded is a folk ballad that is soft, melodically minor and fragile called "EZ". Its cool that Pete can play two sides of the coin so well.
This is not a joke, but rather a new business endeavour. The days of urns, throwing your remains into the sea or simply a classic burial are all being challenged by music culture. For those who "would like to keep the record spinning for eternity", you can have their bodies cremated into the form a vinyl record -- something that your loved ones can play forever.
The company is called And Vinyl and offers, with a deposit of only 500 pounds, several options ranging from tailor-made music to vinyl distribution -- the website alone seems sketchy enough.
I know a countless amount DJs that would love to have their ashes become the soundtrack for future generations, but I'm not so sure I'd want this, much less offer it as a present to my mother or children. What if it gets stolen or warped on a hot sunny day? It just doesn't seem to possess the durability that it implies.
