Blog Archives

"You Should Hear This": Ashlee Simpson

4/30/2011

"You Should Hear This" Week: profiling great and underrated albums April 26-30. Suggestion for a future "hear this" week? Click the contact tab and email us :)

Bittersweet World Deluxe
Favorites: Boys, Little Miss Obsessive, Rule Breaker, Follow You Wherever You Go

After a little bit of controversy surrounding her pregnancy status with her first child, Ashlee Simpson stepped away from the public media eye and stopped promoting this 2008 album. The halt in promotion could’ve been the reason why the record debuted at #4 on the U.S. Billboard Top 200 Albums chart, but ultimately did not certify gold or platinum, which is unfortunate because it was a solid record. A departure from her contemporary-pop 1st album “Autobiography,” “Bittersweet World” took an unorthodox cue from 70’s and 80’s pop-rock with a tinge of punk. Funky, fun and full of attitude, “World” discusses relationship issues between lighter-hearted tunes. An album sampler is below.

0 Comments

"You Should Hear This" Week: N.E.R.D.

4/30/2011

0 Comments

"You Should Hear This" Week: profiling great and underrated albums April 26-30. Suggestions for a future "hear this" week? Click the contact tab and email us :)

Favorites: Love Bomb, Sooner or Later

N.E.R.D.’s “Seeing Sounds” is an energetic, eclectic, innovative and intriguing funk, hip-hop and rock album. On the surface, the lyrics are hard to make sense of, but eventually, it comes together. What makes immediate sense is why Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo are one of the best production teams of their time, looking at the versatile and creative power put into their project. It's definitely underrated. Hear the album sampler below.

0 Comments

"You Should Hear This" Week: Sam Sparro

4/29/2011

0 Comments

"You Should Hear This" week: profiling great and underrated albums April 26-30. Suggestions for a future "hear this" week? Click the contact tab and email us :)

Favorites: Pocket, Clingwrap, Sally, Still Hungry, Too Many Questions

Australian singer-songwriter Sam Sparro is the business, but hardly anyone knows who he is. His single
“Black and Gold” got some shine, but that was only a small, appetizing taste of what his self-titled debut album has to offer. The record is an attractive and creative mixture of today’s mainstream electro-techno sound, funk, R&B and pop. This combined with his deep, soulful voice; he could easily be deemed a modern-day Prince. I think anyone looking for something artistic, fun and refreshing will enjoy this record. Check out the album sampler below.

0 Comments

"You Should Hear This" Week: Adele

4/28/2011

1 Comment

"You Should Hear This" Week: profiling great and underrated albums April 26-30. Have a suggestion for a future "hear this" week? Hit the contact tab and email us :)

Likes: He Won’t Go, Take it All, Someone Like You

Like a few artists over the last year, Adele tells the sophomore jinx to suck it with her 2nd effort, “21.” Adele is fighting the war of love and “21” is a delightfully somber, desperate battle cry. The material could be accused of being monotonous in sound and quite depressing (especially in comparison to her mid-tempo previous album, “19”), but each song gives the impression that it was carefully orchestrated, with powerful and stirring vocals and beautiful live instrumentation. Also in regard to the sound, Adele pulls from past, as many of the tracks have an updated 60’s rock & soul feel. It’s worth the listen. Below is an album sampler. Enjoy:)

1 Comment

"You Should Hear This" Week: Jessie J

4/26/2011

2 Comments

"You Should Hear This" Week: celebrating and profiling great and underrated albums April 26-April 30, 2011. Have a suggestion for a future "Hear This" week? See the contact tab and email us :)

Likes: Casualty of Love, Big White Room, Price Tag
Dislikes: Do It Like a Dude, Who’s Laughing Now

“Who You Are” by English singer-songwriter Jessie J is one the best pop/R&B albums of this year, but it’s hardly gotten the attention it deserves. Unlike a lot of mainstream albums, the record is eclectic (being an energetic and interesting blend of pop, R&B and hip-hop), the vocals are superb and soulful (listen to “Big White Room” below), and the material has a real point to it (no songs about being up in the club or screwing someone here- it’s all about self-reflection, inner strength, spreading love and living life to the fullest). The only major downside to this album is that it’s too short (with only 13 tracks)! Below is an album sampler, which doesn’t do the album much justice, so go check it out today! :)

2 Comments

Beyonce`: Run The World (Girls)

4/22/2011

1 Comment

Brief Single Review.
Beyonce’s 1st single from her currently untitled fourth solo album is finally here (see video below to hear the song). It was produced by Switch and co-written by Terius Nash, AKA “The Dream.” The concept is fantastic, but the lyrics are overall very weak. I was surprised by how ill-written the song was; Beyonce` usually nails girl-power anthems. The production, although semi-infectious and aggressive, is just a recycling of Major Lazer’s “Pon De Floor” (also produced by Switch; see my blog post about lazy production:http://jsays.weebly.com/2/post/2011/03/divas-copying-divas.html). Although I was relieved that Beyonce` didn’t conveniently follow the techno-dance pop mold of today, “World” has the same problem musically as many techno tracks: it was repetitive and redundant. Furthermore, it feels like the song never begins; coming off like a long, 3 minute, 54 second intro. The vocal arrangement is unorganized, randomly shifts and doesn’t consistently blend well with the music. Beyonce` can do and has done better. In my opinion “World” is not a suitable lead single. Hopefully, the music video and the album’s subsequent singles will be better.

1 Comment

Aubrey O'Day: Automatic (New Single)

4/12/2011

0 Comments

Check out the new single “Automatic” from former Danity Kane member Aubrey O’Day and let me know what you think. It’s available now on ITunes. Last night, on the season finale of her Oxygen-channel reality show, “All About Aubrey,” O’Day prepared to showcase “Automatic” and another track “Hitchhiker” at a live radio show event in hopes of catching the eyes of record-label execs to score a deal as a solo artist. O’Day’s efforts paid off; she reportedly signed a contract with Universal/SRC on March 29th (No official statement has been given by the label, but the single is listed as a Universal release on ITunes). The track is a catchy blend of pop, techno and R&B. A dance song, the lyrics are typically shallow and about the club scene. To hear “Automatic,” look below. Please comment :)

Danity Kane fans that didn’t see the “All About” finale might be interested in this tidbit: O’day and fellow DK’er Aundrea Fimbres reunited to record a song called “Ego Trippin’” and planned to perform it together for Aubrey’s showcase. During rehearsals, Fimbres decided to not go forth with the performance. Onscreen, we saw Aubrey go into the ladies bathroom to speak with Fimbres and only heard Aubrey speaking. O’day’s subsequent comments give the impression that Fimbres lost confidence and was unsure about being a performer again. O’day was crushed and disappointed. She was also concerned about upsetting DK fans who were eagerly traveling to see the reunion. O’day proceeded to give some commentary on the break-up of Danity Kane. She also discusses having uncomfortable run-ins with P. Diddy (who formed Danity Kane), in which she felt unsupported in pursuing a solo career. Before her performance, she called Diddy to leave a message and ended well-wishes with “…my album will outsell yours...bye bitch!” Being a DK fan myself, I was disappointed to see Aundrea back-out and I’m still hoping for a drama-free DK reunion. We’ll see; support the solo stuff for now:
Dawn Richard is with Diddy Dirty Money and is on tour (http://www.diddydirtymoney.com), D. Woods has a mixtape “Lady in the Street” (http://www.missdwoods.com) and Shannon Bex has formed a country band with all men called “Bex” and is planning to release a single by May (http://www.shannonbex.com/). All of the ladies, with the exception of Aundrea, are on Twitter. Shannon just tweeted “Hanging with Aundrea right now...she says hello :D xo bex” and has been communicating with O’day in recent days. They’re sharing oxygen and online space…this is a good thing :)

0 Comments

Kelly Rowland-Motivation Video

4/4/2011

0 Comments

I'm glad it wasn't the "Slave 4 U" raunch-fest the set photos indicated. I was pretty relieved that Kelly pushed the envelope only a teasing bit; I'm over pop divas using skankdom for publicity. I don't have much to say about this video other than that. I would've like to see a storyline and more choreography. What do you guys think?

0 Comments

"You Should Hear This": Ashlee Simpson

"You Should Hear This" Week: N.E.R.D.

"You Should Hear This" Week: Sam Sparro

"You Should Hear This" Week: Adele

"You Should Hear This" Week: Jessie J

Beyonce`: Run The World (Girls)

Aubrey O'Day: Automatic (New Single)

Kelly Rowland-Motivation Video

Entertainment

Archives

Tags/Categories