Half of what a producer does is finding the right vocals. Vocals are what carry a track forward and if they fall short, everything else will crumble. TIP may be onto some next level lovestep, but the vocals he provides are even one step higher.
I first fell for TIP in his remix of Birdy’s ‘People Help The People’ (with a passion) and now I’m struck by ‘Moon Struck.’ It’s just that organic lovestep is so.damn.charming. It really is far beyond where most music is at today. I do wish he would provide where he got the vocals from, though…
Every time I hear a Viceroy production, it always reminds me of how much I gotta get out of the house! As you can imagine, I’m one who dwells in a cellar for weeks on end, but at least I’m starting to realize my foolish ways. And hopefully Viceroy’s latest will break me of this dreaded curse! (though, probably not)
‘Chase Us Around’ is another Viceroy attempt at the Caribbean steel drum style with a wee bit of the dirty bass and highs that’ll make the best of beach jams. And of course we can’t forget the fun loving vocals by Madi Diaz. I can’t say I’m the biggest fan of her sound, she’s almost too fun loving for me, but they fit this Viceroy jam like a glove.
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DLG’s summer 2012 sampler sports all sorts of disco, funk and grimey lazer. Two of the tracks feature classic soulful vocals from… god knows who, since these darn SoundClouders never credit their singers, but they’re lovely as hell nonetheless. Can’t say this is worth the $7.47 price tag, but the amount of funk-filled disco is well worth a single purchase, if not a rockout stream to the whole damn thang.
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Voodoo Farm is my main man for those raunchy dubstep remixes and now we get ’em all packed up neat in his official VOODOO FARM REMIXTAPE. With newly-mastered versions of 15 remixes + 7 unreleased ones, you’d think we have some new shit to romp around to for at least a few weeks, but the only way it falls short is in bringing anything fresh.
Voodoo’s included all the remixes that made him so special to me, but all the new shit is small compared to this behemoth of a mixtape. Still, this is a collection definitely worth keeping.
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Starfucker brings back Josh Hodges’ tribute to the hits, Sexton Blake Plays the Hits, from 2007. It’s very Starfucker demo like – Starfucker without most of the electro frills – which was refreshing at times while seeming to lack at others.
Hodges starts it off right, though, with a cover of Bruce Springteen’s ‘Hungry Heart.’ Of all the songs, I never would’ve thought he could pull off The Boss’s, but somehow he does with that light-hearted, raspy ‘lectro guitar that bleeds well with his voice.
The rest of the tracks, while pleasantly sedating, don’t make the cut worth keeping. Still worth a go around, especially if you’re a fan of this gut punched, electro seducing indie moosic.
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Just one quick comment about the ‘Rock of Ages’ movie that just came out. It’s not the actors, the story and probably not the broadway style’d theme that makes this movie sound horrendous, it’s everything else. Mind you, I’ve only seen previews so far, but going from the previews the quality in directing, editing & cinematography appears contrived & lacking any art. (man, I sound like such a hipster)
But other than my hater hipster ways, this mashup is hella good. Schmolli’s ‘Rock of Ages’ cuts up all the best Rock & Roll, as well as a few others, and stews it all up to sound as whole and fluid as any mash can. Schmolli puts the number of rockers sampled at 23, but I’m not going to get ’em all. I’ll give a few and you fill in the rest.
Artist featured on ‘Rock of Ages’ (mashup) : Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Run D.M.C, Kid Rock, AC/DC, Joan Jett And The Blackhearts, Def Leppard, N.E.R.D, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Beastie Boys & The Doors. What else you got
[audio:Rock-Ages.mp3|titles=Rock of Ages (Super Mashup)]
Usually I’d be praising Tracey Duodu’s vocals right now, but Vindata’s beat is what captivated me here. I love the electro // female vocal combo that’s been gaining attention over the past year, but usually the vocals top the track. This time, however, Vindata remixes 14th’s ‘Hide Yourself’ with such charming breaks that not even Duodu’s vocals comes out on top.
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Ever since I started up Silence, I’ve always wanted to discover the next big thing in R&B, mainly because of my disliking for its mainstream counterpart over the past few decades. The problem with finding this underground soul that’s about to reinvent R&B is that they’re not easy to dig up online, but I managed to do it, eventually.
I got my first taste of neo soul, or so I liked to call it, when I heard the super-group out of Minneapolis, Gayngs, play ‘The Gaudy Side of Town.’ The group gained a decent following, but never enough to start a movement, even in light of all the names behind the project. Six months later, however, a duo out of Toronto created one soulful tune that set the spark for soul & R&B’s reunion, their name was The Weekend […]
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Delicate Steve is apparently not a one man show that finds himself on the softer side of life, but a five piece band that may just as well do the same – though, the guitarist is named Steve and clearly brings out the delicate in ‘Afria Talks to You,’ so I guess we can make assumptions. But more than I’m feeling the delicate, catchy guitar playin, Afria reminds me of two different memories with two different songs, all wrapped up in one.
First ya got the Kanye uplifting, electro-guitar//synth combo, might even be a particular song I’m thinking of, but I’m too lazy to look up (anyone). soon after, though, Afria goes into an even more memorable melodic state, which brings back the nostalgia the most — a good indicator of a good song.
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When I first saw this marked as ‘electro soul,’ I was like noooooo. See, I’m trying to come up with a name for the new style emerging in R&B [ex: The Weeknd, Frank Ocean] because I’m doing an article on ’em all, but there’s no good name for it, yet. So I thought ‘electro soul’ might do it just fine, but I also had a feeling it was already being used in the electro scene.
Well, I guess I’m gonna have to start looking for a better alternative, but in the meantime enjoy this “electro soul” that sports vocals from ‘Evil Ways’ by Santana, a 2Pac verse thrown in there and one smoooooth beat.
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