British uber-band The Go! Team (two drummers!) sure love their samples. So much so, in fact, that when their first album (2004's Thunder, Lightning, Strike!) was unleashed, they had to do a do-over and release a "legal" version of the record the following year after most of their samples had cleared. Double-dutch rhymes, Black Panther Party chants, Supremes and Lee Hazelwood tracks--they got it all. That sample-happy sound earned them a Mercury Music Prize nomination that year, and after touring the album and getting breaths good and bated for a sophomore release, they've assuaged fans' white knuckles by signing with famed Seattle record label Sub Pop and dropping a single that's about as hot a mess as we've ever encountered.
MP3: The Go! Team - "Grip Like a Vice" Proof of Youth, The Go! Team's second album-to-be, is out on the 11th of September. Guest vocalists include Solex and Marina from Bonde Do Role. You can pick up the "Grip Like a Vice" single on the 2nd of July. B-sides include a cover of Sonic Youth's "Bull in the Heather" and an acapella track of the single's old school rap vocals.
That's legendary female MCs Sha-Rock (of Funky Four + 1 fame) and Lisa Lee--who, along with Debbie Dee, formed the group Us Girls--and that rap is a Cold Crush callback (read: diss) from a 1984 BBC documentary on the history of hip hop (here's a clip). It's all but long-forgotten and that, right there, is the beauty of The Go! Team's archeological style. The final product of their curating hasn't, obviously, just been pulled out of thin air throbbing and alive. The single isn't simply an ape on someone else's genius; it had to have been painstakingly and lovingly pieced together by all six members of the band, and their own backing instrumentation seems not to devour the sample, but to propel it and give it weight. It's not biting; it's resurrection. It's not poaching; it's canonization. That proud proclamation of their loves and influences affords one an appreciation, if one didn't already have it, for The Go! Team's hot hot mess.
A few years ago, while waiting for my new apartment to finally become available (the previous tenants had been taking their time), I went out into the country, two hours into the west, to move in with my grandparents while I waited. Once, during that slow succession of lazy days, I woke up to a morning that felt like most mornings in my early childhood--with all the windows open, with the smell of my grandmother's cooking, light on the back of a morning breeze, carried throughout the entire house. I went out to my car for something, I forget what, and was greeted by my grandfather, up since daybreak, watering the roses. Just then, somewhere around the corner, perfectly and as if on cue, I heard an approaching car being trailed by the familiar strains of a certain freestyle classic, and somehow, with my bare feet caught mid-tiptoe on the cold driveway I used to tiptoe barefoot through as a kid, avoiding the bees on the lawn, my brain did a sort of memory double-take; it processed the sound of that car booming down the street, and the presence of my grandfather behind me with the garden hose in hand, and the bare feet and my grandmother calling us in to eat, and it settled into some long-forgotten and comfortable nook, but the paradox created by the car keys in my hand and the conscious understanding that I'm no longer seven-years-old and this is no longer my summer home and is, in fact, 20 years older than when I remember it, and smaller at that--that paradox created some new form of memory that surfaces every time I hear an 808 beat.
That song, "Silent Morning," was a top 10 hit in 1987, and everyone in town knew it. Including, most importantly, my older cousins and youngest uncles, who spent every single summer day installing huge carpeted boxes of speakers (were those woofers or tweeters?) in the trunks of their cars. Ride-alongs consisted of my younger cousin and I buckling ourselves into the backseat and having our ribs quite literally rattled by the bass as we sped down the main road.
Noel (born Noel Pagan) caused a considerable ripple with that first single, and although it was his second hit, "Like a Child," that made the biggest wave (it peaked at #1 on the dance charts), it's "Silent Morning" that does it for me. (That embedded video up there, by the way? With the new wave girls in the audience hamming it up for the camera while Noel tries his best tortured artist stance? That totally does it for me, too.)
...Pop, that is. It's technically, as we all know, just an umbrella term for music that's, well, popular (and generally, though not always, manufactured with the express intent to be so). Sometimes it catches and sometimes it don't. Sometimes it's good and sometimes it ain't. (Hi, welcome to Earth.) And this track that, despite ourselves, we're about to gush over? Yes, we know it's everywhere. Yes, radio and TV have probably killed it by now and you've probably already got the whole album anyway. Wouldn't be caught dead, you say? Mas Sexi say relax!
After having been turned down by the likes of Mary J. Blige, Akon, and Hilary Duff, "Umbrella"--written by Terius "Dream" Nash and C. "Tricky" Stewart, the same guys who whipped up that Britney Spears single where Madonna plays the hater grandma--eventually trickled down from Karen Kwak at Universal to Island Def Jam's LA Reid and so, finally, to Rihanna and Jay-Z (who makes an opportunistic play at being the male Madonna by reaching with a rap verse over the beginning of the song).
I wonder what that's like, you know? To have passed up a song that went on to debut at #1 on iTunes on the day of its digital release (the biggest debut in iTunes' six-year history), made history in the U.K. by being the first single by a female artist ever to debut at #1 on the Official Singles Chart on download sales alone, and is still topping nearly every other chart imaginable? I wonder if the bigwigs over at Jive Records are lamenting Britney's lost chance (and, admittedly, lost marbles) at snagging a song that's rumored to have been offered, turned down, and may have made for an impressive comeback. Chris Brown realized the potential there and jumped on it in one hot minute with an answer song called "Cinderella"--it's the exact same song with Brown's own auto-tuned lyrics about "looking for the one with the glass slipper" dubbed over the original musical track. There's also a "remix" (really just a hip hop term for "additional guest rap verses inserted at will") featuring Lil Mama, and it's not nearly as good as her own debut single, "Lip Gloss", but it replaces Jay-Z's original verse and that's good enough for me.
And wouldn't you know it? Rihanna's actually singing! We loved playing "S.O.S." at Meatball Magic, not just because of that Soft Cell sample, but also because no one really cares about vocals when the song is that fun. "Umbrella" caught us off guard, though. It's not exactly a floor-filler; not a ballad or anthem either, really, but it's undeniably irresistible. Her 19-year-old voice, even on that cheesy bridge verse, seems to have matured into something that can hold up to the production. And kudos to whoever mixed the track; it sounds awesome. The tail end of that bridge, when it swells back into the chorus in a slightly altered key, is squeaky clean.
The only other track on the album (titled Good Girl Gone Bad, by the way) that Dream and Tricky mutually collaborated on is "Breakin' Dishes," but if you didn't know better (and I didn't, actually, at first), it could just as easily have been done by Timbaland. It's practically a straight rip of "Maneater," but with a meaner "Sunglasses at Night"-on-a-rampage feel that rumbles up from the floorboards. Those "I don't know who you think I am" and "I'ma fight a man" hooks even sound like they were recorded by Nelly Furtado herself, but while "Maneater" is the modern pop song that all new pop songs are inevitably compared to, "Breakin' Dishes" is bound to be a fleeting and brazen pastiche that will no doubt get asses bouncing for a minute or two.
One of three tracks on the album that actually is produced by Timbaland, however, is "Lemme Get That." Ok, two things. First--that fucking backing track! Imagine a high school marching band parading down the streets of Rihanna's native Barbados playing reggaeton covers. It delights me. I'm literally delighted. You've got to hand it to Timbaland: the man is occasionally absolutely brilliant, and tracks like this, when handed to us along with our asses, seem to exist solely to remind us of that fact right when we're about to forget.
Secondly--this robo-diva persona Rihanna seems to be morphing into? I'm in. Whoever decided to slash her hair into that angular Aeon-Flux 'do and squeeze her into some fetish gear knew exactly what they were doing. It suits that icy android voice of hers--and the current pop-friendly hipster-asshole scene--quite nicely. That's something our friends across the pond do really well. It's that cold Euro-pop that's cool enough to fit in anywhere without being soulless, but has you centered in it's red-hot predatory stare. Alison Goldfrapp, we salute you.
So dance, friends! Ain't no shame! Besides, it's a lot cooler than standing there with your arms crossed.
We've been teased with "XR2," been blown away by "Bird Flu," decided that she saved Timbaland's shit, and wondered what "Hit That" was all about--now it's finally official: M.I.A.'s new album is going to be fucking nuts. A new track has leaked and, as usual, we had to listen to it a bajillion times before our brains processed the madness.
"Boyz"--hitting shelves June 11th on XL Recordings--is the first official single from M.I.A.'s forthcoming sophomore album titled Kala. That album's been a long time coming, and with her visa troubles, her break-up with Diplo, and her beef with Timbaland over stolen beats (he gave hers to Snoop Dogg), that there's a whole 'nother story.
As with "Bird Flu," her first fake-out single for Kala, "Boyz" is a huge monster of a track produced by Switch and rife with Indian influences, behemoth tribal beats, and electronic effects that sound more organic than robotic. Coming to us in 12" and USB memory stick format (yes, that's right, USB), the single is accompanied by, among other things, a video intro by M.I.A. which--cunning blogger that I am--is embedded below for your wonder and joy.
Kala is set for a late August release date. Somewhere around the 20th, we're told. We'll keep our eyes and ears peeled for you. M.I.A.'s first album, Arular, is available all over the place.
Unbeknownst to the general music-listening public, we're all sort of experiencing Debbie Deb overkill at this point. Not that that's a bad thing. It's just that whether you know it or not, everyone's been biting her for years. The Black Eyed Peas, Xscape, Pitbull, Janet Jackson, countless Brazilian baile funk bands, and a couple handfuls of other nostalgic artists have honored their freestyle roots by sampling and covering Debbie Deb's two legendary hits.
Deb was only 16 and working in a Miami record store when a chance meeting with musical artist and producer Pretty Tony (member of the freestyle group named, you guessed it, Freestyle) found her recording her first single the very next day. Tony, rumor has it, "just liked her voice." That track, "When I Hear Music," quickly became a club and radio hit, ensuring that Deb would be around for at least one more hit.
Unfortunately, one more hit meant just that. Deb's second single, "Lookout Weekend," while considerably successful (arguably even more so than her first), came on the heels of tensions with her record label. She had struggled with her weight for most of her life, and in a bullshit move that crushed Deb, her label decided to use a slimmer stand-in for her on record sleeves and even in live performances à la Milli Vanilli. Not ever having received any royalty payments from the label for her records, Deb ultimately quit the music business and took up work as a hairdresser.
In the mid-90s, Deb attempted a comeback with She's Back, an album full of modern re-workings of her 80s freestyle hits, and she's been riding that second wave with frequent billings on "Freestyle Explosion"-type concerts. The two songs she performs that are met with the loudest cheers and grandest ovations? It's the same two songs that everyone (including Deb herself) still can't seem to get over. And you know what? With songs like "Lookout Weekend" and "When I Hear Music," which encapsulate the 80s freestyle vibe, defined it, and even did it one better, who can complain?
Mas Sexi promotes responsible downloading. We love music just as much as you do, and that's why we're excited to share, but please show your love for the artists by buying their music after you've sampled those MP3s we've shot your way. Musicians need to eat too, you know.
If, however, we post a track you'd rather we didn't, or you have something you'd like us to share with the world, drop us a line. We'll see what we can do.
