Believe you me, a lot of chair-dancing goes on 'round these parts, primarily because the PLAY braintrust is dance deficient. With all this music at our disposal, there is nary an arena for us to unleash all this rhythmic potential energy. But right now, we are gonna wax kinetic and actually get up out of our rolly chairs (or at least inspire you to do so) and shake it, pop, lock and drop it, sweep it, twerk it and probably receive a summons from the HR department. Right now, we're all about the dance to grime/dubstep producer/rapper Wiley's "Rolex Sweep" (see above clip) -- part Macarena, part blinding migraine, part two-snaps-and-around-the-world don/diva swirl. After the jump, we recall some recent dance crazes and a few others that make us ponder the days of dancing in the courtyard during recess, Yo! MTV Raps, and where all the years have gone -- along with the fluid that once lubricated our cubicle-worn joints.
In 2007, it was easy to group Rich Boy with the so-called “ringtone rappers” who ruled the hip-hop and pop airwaves, given his ubiquitous ode to Cadillacs and wheels “Throw Some D's.” However, the fact that Rich Boy was partnered by one of music’s hottest producers, Polow Da Don (responsible for Fergie’s “London Bridge,” Ciara’s “Promise” and Usher’s “Love In This Club”), should have made it plain that the Alabama MC was no flash in the pan. Any further skepticism was put to rest with “Let’s Get This Paper,” a passionate diatribe against police brutality and the injustices of the legal system, the video of which he funded with his own money. Building on that momentum, Rich Boy recently released the mixtape of mostly new material Bigger Than the Mayor, featuring Shawty Lo and Rocko. While his protégé was busy shutting-up critics, Polow has also had an eventful year: there’s been the hits, an attempted robbery, and accusations that he’s been borrowing melodies and sounds (for “Love in the Club”) from Apple’s Garage Band software. Polow and Rich Boy both seemed to be in excellent spirits when Rhapsody got them on the phone to discuss the dos and don’ts of their creative process, as well as who they will and won’t work with.
Here are the Raconteurs (which I’m gonna conjecture, in this case, mainly translates as “Jack White”) in a press release that went out to journalists when the band sneak-released Consolers of the Lonely on March 25: “We wanted to explore the idea of releasing an album everywhere at once and then marketing and promoting it thereafter. The Raconteurs would rather this release not be defined by first week’s sales, pre-release promotion, or by somebody defining it for you before you get it.” Good for them, I guess. And strangely enough, the move got them plenty of press, right off the bat.
Today, a French model bringing a dash of the Velvet Underground to a Motown and Ike & Tina-style rocker would make a big impact on the American indie-rock circuit. But back in 1992, the college kids were too busy drooling over their grungy flannels to give this a shot. Vanessa Paradis is still making good music, but her fine collaborator here, Lenny Kravitz, has long since learned just to give the people what they want (and not a dash more).
More than two decades after the initial sasquatch-like stirrings of Green River and Skin Yard, 17 years after Eddie Vedder updated David-Clayton Thomas’ constipated bellow for the modern world, it was inevitable that country music would eventually absorb the vocal lessons of corporate grunge. There have been hints this would happen: so-called “red dirt” country-rockers like Cross Canadian Ragweed and Renegade Rail have long flaunted Candleboxing moments; Travis Tritt and Jack Ingram have somehow respectively managed to salvage songs by Nickelback and Hinder; post-Vedder-esque ‘90s grunt-soulster Darius Rucker now has an amiable hit called “Don't Think I Don't Think About It” on the country chart. The latest bellwether, to my ears, is a fast-rising co-ed Georgia country-pop trio whose name explicitly if incongruously pays tribute to the slavery-era South.
When you hear "Crosby Loggins," your initial reaction is probably a lot like mine: "Oh! It looks as if the fallen angel Lucifer has sent a satantic musical torture device across the river Styx, taking the form of a duo comprised by Kenny Loggins and David Crosby! Now we will all claw our ear drums out of our heads to avoid hearing the inevitable apocalyptic medley of 'Marrakesh Express' and 'I'm Alright' from the Caddyshack soundtrack. Awesome!" Apparently this is the wrong assumption to be operating heavy machinery under. No, Crosby Loggins is merely the son of Kenny Loggins, and he is the winner of MTV's Rock the Cradle reality show/competition.
Lightspeed Champion is the new musical project from former Test Icicles frontman Devonte Hynes. Where the Icicles were a kinda pleasantly juvenile thrash-rock party, Champion is a pleasingly ecclectic take on the solo-DIY singer-songwriter thing. Hynes recorded his first album with the Saddle Creek Records crew (members of the Faint and Bright Eyes taking on session-cat duties), and the resulting Falling Off LavenderBridge wouldn't sound out of place in that label's catalog. Check out an acoustic performance of the song "Dry Lips" (from ... Bridge) above, via the good folks at Yahoo Music.
These guys made a career of massaging African pop, American soul and Cuban son into an organic whole throughout the '70s. Now they're back, and they sound, in our modest opinion, like heaven. Youssou N'Dour guests on this track.
It could be months before I get to the bottom of the new Ashlee Simpson album, at least if in-depth Internetanalysesofitlikethese are any indication. What seems indisputable so far is the following: Bittersweet World is Ashlee’s third really good long-player, and it’s still not as good (and nowhere near as emotionally intense) as her previous one. I’m not positive yet that its three best songs are the three that have already been singles (or single-like entities), but I’m leaning in that direction.
What’s new? What’s good? What will you find here that you won't hear anywhere else this week? Sit back, relax and click through to the premieres, the originals and the exclusives available only on Rhapsody! This week:
Lawson Rollins, Infinita(Rhapsody Exclusives) Lawson Rollins is a guitar virtuoso best known for his work in the duo Young & Rollins. His solo debut features Latin and Middle Eastern sounds, along with vocals from Brazilian legend Flora Purim.
Blackstrap, Steal My Horses and Run (Rhapsody Exclusives) Ultra-cool, ultra-dark Swedish garage rock. Blackstrap conjures up the rebel without a cause attitude of Jesus and Mary Chain and Primal Scream.
This is a match made in heaven -- or at least in Orange County. With their heads in the clouds and their toes in the sand, sandy-voiced It-girl Colbie Caillat and perennially fresh-faced pop kid Jason Mraz sing about being lucky to have each other. It's highly polished yacht rock for a new generation of would-be long-boarders.
In the newest installment of "John Norris Interviews ..." John sits down with No Age, a Los Angeles duo dead-set on dragging indie rock back to its DIY-ing, fannel-flying, lo-fidelity glory days. He talks to drummer/vocalist Dean Spunt and guitarist/vocalist Randy Randall about the intersection of noise and pop, the all-ages L.A. performance space The Smell (which gave the band its start) and the joys of being vegan.
A show of photographer Peter Beste’s Norwegian Black Metal prints at New York City's Steven Kasher Gallery is a porthole into this under-documented sector of extreme music. Bogged down by violence and crime in the media, black metal has been the topic of much debate and scorn over the last two decades. But through the lens of documentary photographer Beste, members of Gorgoroth, Immortal, 1349,Dimmu Borgir and many other notorious bands are shown in and out of their satanic context, vulnerably and intensely depicted behind the scenes.
Inspired by the turmoil of Hurricane Katrina, doom-metal supergroup Down wrote a groove oriented, slow-chugging, Southern-fried hit -- replete with hometown pride -- in honor of the Crescent City’s perseverance and the almighty Saints.
