I really thought there was no point in posting this for the longest time. It’s Drake, everyone knows that dude. But when I hear as music as good as this, I can’t make this a popularity contest (or the opposite of one).
I’ve never liked a single Drake original, really not a fan of his rap, but like Gambino before him, I’ve finally discovered his soul voice is much better than his rap one. ‘Hold On, We’re Going Home’ seems clearly influenced from his protege, The Weeknd and I like where he’s going with it. Drake has completely turned me to the much more pleasant side of his sound.
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Like the electro funk song I just posted, ‘The Way You Move’ sounds so familiar. The vocals either sound like some one hit wonder from the 90’s or I’ve stumbled on a chorus so good it’s already stuck up in my long-term memory. Either way, this is a polished 90’s hit with soulful vocals provided by Chuck New. He’s really what brings it all together, as vocals always tend to.
One thing I wasn’t feeling on Padrul’s latest is that vinyl-like scratching. I don’t mind it when used right, but when I think my speakers have gone to hell I know it’s not the right fit for this one.
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‘Above the Middle’ by Odesza starts off grand but gets progressively worse until just over a minute in. What makes it so bad is a progressive crackling and off beat sound that becomes almost unbearable to the point of a trip gone bad: nothing made sense. But what I’m realizing more and more over these working so closely with music is, vocals really do carry the piece. And just when the true feel of ‘Above the Middle’ kicks in at 1:18, all the nonsense fades away… well, the the vocals do a good job of covering it up.
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Starfucker (STRFKR) was one of my first obsessions on the blog just four years back (happy birthday to us!), but of course it took a fairly experimental remix to wet our appetite again. We actually fell off this Wet Paint remix for a while, it was posted 3 months back, but Starfucker’s video for ‘While I’m Alive’ creeped into our life and got us obsessed it once again.
This ‘While I’m Alive’ remix may take its sorry ass time to kick in the vocals, but once the whole thing gets going it reminds me of why I was obsessed with Starfucker in the first place. Such distinct and memorable vocals.
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Funkerman’s Can You Feel It Records hit me up with three remixes of ‘Wine & Roll’ a couple days back. I pretty much fell in love with ’em straight from the start, but was a little misinformed at the time. See, I thought the ‘Wine & Roll’ original was a much more popular hit simply because I-Candy’s lines sounded so familiar. But after trying to google her lyrics and Shazam that shiz (I don’t really talk like this), I finally just figured it out through Funkerman’s record label. And apparently this is not the pop hit I once thought it to be.
So either this ‘Wine & Roll’ sounds like a hit I’ve heard before or this is sure to be one soon enough. So listen in and let me know if this sounds like anything you’ve heard before. We’re either finding this mystery out or getting this to the pop status it deserves.
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As far as the remixes go, the Peter Horrevorts version is my favorite, although it starts out slow. I actually like the beat better than I-Candy’s vocals – she may deserve mainstream pop status, but pop still isn’t my thing.
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Thicke has been getting some flack for his sexually crude undertones, but ‘Blurred Lines’ is still soulful as fuck. And if you pair that voice up with one of my favorite dilated soul producers and Sammy Bananas makes one hell of a Thicke bootleg. Thankfully it’s not of ‘Blurred Lines.’
Bananas slows down everything in this ‘Feel Good’ remix, repitching Thicke with a much deeper sense of what soul is.
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Outside Lands is held inside Golden Gate Park in San Fran and just hit its sixth year running. This was my second go around and both years have held a similar mystique.
The days consist of haze filled skies with a backdrop of what appears to be a misty rainforest, when in fact we’re right smack dab in SF. Each taste of San Francisco subculture is scattered about with accompanying styles of food (love the food). Nights seem to hit sometime around the last act and a certain strange mood fills the air – which in part is brought on by the sunny hazed days mixed with alcohol and the aroma of drugs around you.
I may not experience a festival like this in its pure happiness form that many try for, but I do get a lot out of it. Best described, it’s an unfiltered experience of today’s San Francisco lifestyles all bottled up in one big city park.
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Doja Cat’s style in ‘Nunchucks’ reminds me of Erykah Badu’s ‘Rimshot.’ It’s how she twists her words and ‘Nunchucks’ is all twisted up. Not only does she have style, but the lyrical prowess to back it.
The beat from ‘Nunchucks’ takes from MNDSGN’s ‘Legwarmrs’ – and even though it needs a bit more fit for Doja’s voice, I like how the two clash. Doja clearly has somethin goin with this.
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The Oliver duo, consisting of U-Tern & Oligee, just did a remix of Mayer Hawthorne’s ‘Her Favorite Song’ and man is it on the funky side. Hawthorne has one of my favorite voices of this past decade, but Oliver takes his sound to my neck of the woods in music right now, electro funk.
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I may have been more of a Michael fan back in the day, but Janet is the one making a comeback in this untraditional style, via the remix. She’s got a handful of my favorite disco, soul & funk producers remixing her right and I’ve been waiting far too long to present it to you. Now some of them have been so chopped & fucked with that it doesn’t even sound like Janet anymore, but I assure you it’s all in good taste. Guarantee you’ll find some gem to obsess over for sometime.
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