Say what you want but Mr. Hudson has some Chris Martin-like pipes, and he can put on a decent live show too. Check out the clip from him his promotional event downtown on West Broadway at the Canal Room. It was a short six-song set, including his new single “Supernova.” Not surprisingly, Kanye West didn’t show up to support his new protoge. However, it was rumored Rihanna attended the event, but I didn’t see her.
–Jett Wells, Editor-in-Chief
Filed under: Releases of the Week | Tags: Kidz In The Hall, Lupe Fiasco, Matthew Santos, Naledge
Provoking lyrics and a decent beat round out Lupe's latest single
“Shining Down” feat. Matthew Santos – Lupe Fiasco
Melting hip-hop and rock with a hint of soul, Chicago hip-hop artist Lupe Fiasco’s newest single “Shining Down” reiterates the point that Lupe is one of the more underrated lyricists of our time.
The beat is composed mostly of a piercing electric guitar, keyboard and a tight bass line. Matthew Santos, a familiar voice on Lupe tracks, does a great job mellowing out the beat while increasing the intensity with his unique, soulful voice. A string section breaks the monotony for a brief moment late in the track and underscores Lupe’s words. Although the beat can get fairly monotonous, it does give listeners the context to understand everything he is trying to say.
Fiasco’s words are the highlight of this track and should be the focus of all of his songs. He has an incredible knack for telling stories through rap, and unlike most other artists, he rarely curses except to make a point.
Overall, this track has gotten me excited: Lupe Fiasco is back to being Lupe and using his new-school style to break the mold. Hopefully, people will listen to what he has to say.
Naledge's latest album needs refinement
Chicago Picasso – Naledge
One of the reasons why Naledge (from hip-hop group Kidz in the Hall) has never reached stardom could be his unfortunate name. However, his latest album, Chicago Picasso, shows promise more than anything. Naledge’s reason for this album was to take “all aspects of Chicago” and put it all in one album. The mixtape represents “never doing anything straightforward and never doing the same thing twice.”
Naledge has a cool flow when he’s not trying to be Lil’ Wayne. Unfortunately, the album bounces all over the place when it comes to production, never staying on one scene. Some of the tracks, such as “Standing On Sofas,” sound like southern beats while “Blessed By God” is West Coast relax rap.
The album is supposed to be a mixtape and I have to say it’s a convincing facsimile of one. But if it’s a mixtape, why am I paying money to buy it off of iTunes?
Overall, this album needs some major surgery. The promising concept is there, but Naledge needs to hone his raw sound and nature, and possibly his name, to become great. I think it may be time to sit down and figure out a style and sound, because even Picasso had a style.
Best Track: “Blessed By God” featuring a Pinks
– Zach Goldstein
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: concert photos, Ed Droste, Feist, live music, Wilco, Yo La Tengo
Wilco confirmed their reputation as America's best live band
At what was probably one of the best shows I’ve ever been to, Wilco and Yo La Tengo both tore up Brooklyn’s Keyspan Park throughout a fun and lengthy set that went from 7 p.m to almost 11 p.m. Wilco played 18 songs (19 if you count the crowd’s rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”), then played another eight combined in the first and second encore, for a grand total of 27.
Among the encore guests were Feist, Grizzly Bear’s Ed Droste and Yo La Tengo in its entirety. As ridiculous as it may seem, I was actually holding out for a Wilco rendition of “Two Weeks” for a couple minutes, but it never came to be. (more…)
Reading Rainbow's first single is an awesome, lo-fi stupor of a song
PREVIEW: Download Reading Rainbow’s “The Sun Is Out” MP3
Once you’re done with the obligatory, and necessary, chuckle that accompanies seeing the words Reading Rainbow as a band name, you get to hear what ends up being a pretty good band. The unsigned Philadelphia duo specialize in noisy, dreamy pop that sounds like a trippier Radio Dept. Lo-fi has become the word of the day of late, yet Reading Rainbow pulls off a brand of it that works– creating a hypnotic, ambient stupor of a song that should grab them some label attention in a hurry. (more…)
Filed under: Editor Picks | Tags: 1980s, guilty pleasures, Jessie's Girl, Rick Springfield
Despite all reports to the contrary, "Jessie's Girl" never gets old
My friends will mock me endlessly. My co-workers here at 20 Watts will question my taste. My parents will question my sanity. And even the geeks in their A-Team T-shirts watching their “BJ And The Bear” reruns on VHS will probably look at me sideways. But I don’t care. Because Rick Springfield’s “Jessie’s Girl” is a fantastic song.
Technically I may be a a child of the 80s, but using that phrase is akin to saying that I’m a Olympic-level swimmer because I tripped and fell into a puddle once when I was in middle school (OK fine, last week).
I can’t remember a single thing between the years of 1987-1989, mainly because I hadn’t figured out how to cry without drooling on myself yet. So seeing people my age, in their “Little Miss Perfect” shirts and espousing how much they want a Devo hat is ironic to say the least — it’s a callback to an era we feel like we’ve been through before, but we don’t remember anything about.
Filed under: Features | Tags: ambient, anthony gonzalez, concert review, free music, janet biggs, live music, M83, New York City, river to river
More photos from Anthony Gonzalez's ambient set under the jump
PREVIOUS RIVER TO RIVER COVERAGE: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart at South Street Seaport
M83 mastermind Anthony Gonzalez was about 20 minutes into his Tuesday set at the WFC Winter Gardens when a (rather misplaced) middle-aged woman tapped me on the shoulder and asked me what instruments “the band” was playing.
In her defense, Gonzalez’s haunting, hovering compositions had a layered quality that could only be termed “orchestral.” And as he cued swell upon swell of icy, ethereal synth — sustained, hollow ringings, low-register humming, mechanical buzzes — he did indeed give the impression that an entire band was on stage.
But no — if you could get past the vastness of the Winter Gardens and the utter lack of stage lights, you would see only a dude and a couple of laptops. Not smiling. Not speaking. Just plugging away at an eerily-lit synthesizer as images of horses, wrestlers and super-saturated swimmers drifted into each other behind him.
It may have been the cavernous interior of the Winter Gardens, or the gorgeous, haunting footage from video artist Janet Biggs, but either way, Gonzalez’s work has never seemed so vast.
– Caitlin Dewey
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: ABBA, Bass, Dance, Familjen, Meatballs, Sweden
Familjen, a.k.a. John T. Karlsson, mixes crazy synth squeels and dance floor rhythms
I’ll preface my first entry onto this lovely site with an admission of my true guilty pleasure: Swedish Dance-pop. I love the stuff. The country shouldn’t need another excuse to be loved (it already has socialized healthcare, Volvos, IKEA, and who can forget those meatballs?), but the birthplace of ABBA seems to have an unending ability to know exactly what makes me happy.
The music has this certain artistic and ethereal beauty lacking in most other club music scenes, paralleled only by its ability to take absolutely cheesy over-production and oftentimes downright strangeness, and turn it into a total booty-shaker. As a result, every Wednesday I’ll share with you, the reader, a bit of Goethenburg, a bit of Stockholm, a bit of Sweden, a bit of true greatness.
To start, I’d like to share one of my all-time favorite Swedes, Familjen. Born John T. Karlsson, he possesses an unbelievable knack for taking crazy synth squeals and mixing them with great dance floor rhythms. However, the money-maker for me has never been his music (although it could be for many), it’s his voice. Karlsson has the voice of an angel, smooth and silky with just a trace of femininity that makes it almost laughable, until the bass hits and you can’t help but shake your head in amazement. Listen to his single “Det Snurrar I Min Skalle,” which was my introduction to his work. The song has some of the most silly noises in it that I’ve ever heard and his voice sounds like a 17-year-old boy’s, but when that chorus bit drops, it’s a little slice of heaven. Thanks Sweden.
Here’s a link to his MySpace — listen to the track “Det Snurrar I Min Skalle,” it’s a total knockout.
– Dan CreahanEA
Filed under: Industry News | Tags: Beck The Velvet Underground & Nico Covers, Devendra Banhart, MGMT
Beck's Record Club Project is uninspiring thus far
Last month, Beck announced on his Web site that he would be starting a new Internet project. The collaborative project, entitled The Record Club, planned to pair artists such as MGMT and Devendra Banhart to re-record classic albums in one day without practicing beforehand. Once the Web site was ready, The Record Club would release one track a week beginning with The Velvet Underground & Nico album. Cool plan, right?
Not so much. The idea is interesting in theory, but it doesn’t really work in practice. The Record Club is already four tracks into the Underground album — you can see some cuts on Vimeo — and so far, it’s just uninspiring.
To quote Juno MacGuff: “It’s just noise.”
The point of re-recording a song is to add something, or make it better than the original. That’s not happening and on top of that, the production quality is very low. The music sounds choppy and it’s hard to understand what’s going on.
Then again Beck is known for his revolutionary approach to music. Perhaps his intent in covering these albums will become apparent with more listening — and Beck does know how to cover a song. It will be interesting to see which album he chooses next.
—Ashley Collman
Filed under: Music Videos | Tags: Ghostface Killah, RZA, Method Man, Raekwon, The Alchemist, MoeRoc, Mad Linx, Luis Vuitton
The New Wu feat. Ghostface Killah & Method Man – Raekwon
Ghostface Killah, Method Man and Raekwon. What’s not to like about this line-up from three members of the Wu-Tang Clan?
This video takes place in two different settings: on the streets and in the club. On the streets Raekwon is being spied on by the cops. He captures one of them and threatens to kill him (that’s the extent of the plot). In the club, it’s a big party with many special guests — like RZA, The Alchemist, MoeRoc and Mad Linx, to name a few.
Of course, no video would be complete without a few product placements, too. The most notable occurs around 1:30 on the bottom right of the screen — there’s a guy wearing a Louis Vuitton jacket and hat, which is worth well over $2,000.
– Zach Goldstein
Somehow, people translated Michael Jackson’s untimely death as an excuse to get away with horribly covering his beautiful, perfect songs. Chris Martin is apparently the latest offender — he covered one of the most untouchable hits of the last century, “Billie Jean” at the Belgian music festival, Rock Werchter. And if Youtube is telling the truth, this routine has actually become standard in Coldplay’s recent concerts. But admittedly, this video is worth a listen for one reason, and one reason only: the faint, yet obvious communal “ugh” uttered throughout the crowd as Martin plays the first notes. Surely there are better ways to pay homage, Chris, and I think the crowd would agree.
– Carly Wolkoff
