A few years ago, I thought the success of Timbaland’s Shock Value album was a novelty. Producers can have success, but they’re just not meant to be household names if they can’t do something else. That his Shock Value II release did significantly worse on the charts and radio seemed to confirm my suspicions.
But that’s not entirely true at this point. There’s a reason that the Grammy Awards were able to get away with a huge tribute to dance DJs who don’t sing at their last ceremony. The cache of producer clout is rising fast as more and more labels clamor to jump on the latest trends in digital and dance music.
Two years ago, a DJ/producer like David Guetta getting multiple Top 20 hits off of one album would be unimaginable. A crossover hit from the dance charts was always a possibility. It’s how people like Enur can score a hit every once in a while. However, in those cases, normally the guest artist/singer is the one credited for the song. The vocalist is who we can connect with even if the DJ/producer is the one who put in all the work.
Yet, listening to Top 40/Contemporary Hit Radio stations in recent months, when a David Guetta track is played, it’s credited as “David Guetta featuring [guest],” not “[guest].” You could argue that Usher, Nicki Minaj, or Sia are the real draw. The fact still remains that somehow, the rise of dance/club music into mainstream culture has seen an equal rise in the recognition for DJ/producers.
Skrillex is gaining recognition for his music and his public image.
It goes beyond DJs just getting credit. They’re being recognized in big ways. Remember Skrillex being a surprise Best New Artist nominee and actually winning more Grammys than any other nominee in that category? His music is suddenly everywhere in advertising, films, and TV shows. People know who Skrillex is even if they don’t understand what he’s doing.
Then there are the singers who crossover from being well-known and well-credited producers. Ryan Tedder of One Republic was been scoring a lot of hits for other artists like Kelly Clarkson and Beyonce long before his band was given a chance at a record deal. Neon Hitch produced for a bunch of dance acts before a label gave her some promotion.
The difference between these modern acts and an older industry crossover story like Carol King is intention. People like B.o.B. and Bruno Mars may be having successful solo careers right now, but they’re still pursuing work as producers with more press than usual. You’re just as likely to read a print article in Billboard (or like publication) about a new artist as you are to read about a new DJ/producer crossing over with an album or single. Working behind the scenes has never been hotter in recent memory.
The reason the trend sticks out for me is simple: the people making the music are starting to become household names. If the trend continues, who knows how many aspects of the creative industry will suddenly be recognized by the public. Will songwriters get their due without having to judge a reality show? Or will this emergence of DJ/producers stop when the sound of the lubs inevitably shifts in a new direction?
Best to live in the moment and appreciate what we have. The music industry is nothing if not fickle. Embrace the trends that make you happy and hope they become evergreen in the long run.
The Library is a recurring feature here at Sketchy Details where I take an in-depth look at a song I think could fit in nicely with anyone’s music collection.
Nickel Creek was an acoustic folk trio comprised of Chris Thile, Sara Watkins, and Sean Watkins. The group, sadly, disbanded in 2007 to pursue outside projects. However, the four albums of progressive acoustic music, or Newgrass, they released are some of the most intriguing albums of original folk music to come out in recent memory.
Nickel Creek came across as relaxed and effortless because of their technique.
Their biggest crossover single was “When in Rome,” a moody bluegrass track all about tone. The lyrics are rhetorical and broad. The band questions the disillusioned state of a sick man and teacher before wondering how the dead respond to the contemporary world. If there is a flaw in the song, it is that the lyrics are perhaps a bit too driven by angst and lacking in focus. The song is focused on what society has become without speculating as to the cause or reach or the problems.
Good thing the draw of this song is not the lyrics but the underlying composition. Nickel Creek, at their absolute best, are incredible instrumentalists. It’s hard to think of another contemporary mandolin player who matches the technical skills and artistry of Chris Thile. The mandolin is not an easy instrument and Thile makes it look like child’s play.
Sara Watkins is a beautifully expressive fiddle player. Her technique brings out the sweetness of the instrument without becoming too flashy. There’s a time and a place for raucous passages of fast finger work and Watkins chooses not to push too hard.
Sean Watkins serves as a strong foundation for Nickel Creek. He rarely gets to show off as much as Sara or Chris, but what he does is solid. The band rarely uses actual percussion, which means the guitar becomes the foundation of everything.
Together, the trio forms a tight ensemble of relaxed and accomplished musicians. Their approach to music is effortless, even if their compositions are complex and inventive. Too many instrumentalists use the difficulty of a song as an excuse not to engage with an audience. Nickel Creek just felt natural and relaxed on record or in person, making it easy to connect with their music.
“When in Rome” is no exception. The driving pulse of the song is not the slap on the acoustic guitar but rhythmic interplay between the mandolin and the guitar. The composition builds to an explosion of counterpoint at the chorus. Chris Thile takes one melodic line as the vocalist, Sara Watkins takes another on the fiddle, and Sean Watkins pulls the whole thing together on the guitar. Even without Sean and Sara’s vocal harmonies and Chris’ mandolin playing, “When in Rome” would be a solid composition. With it, the effect is enchanting.
Will you be adding “When in Rome” to your music library? Sound off below.
How far down the rabbit hole have we gone if artists like Florence + The Machine are covering a song by Drake? A song that is adapted from a dance remix of a cover of a blues standard by Gil Scott-Heron? How about if the song has now spawned a new version where Gil Scott-Heron is reintroduced into a song that Drake covered without much other change? This is where the story of Drake’s single “Take Care” ends for now. The song was officially released as his fourth single off his second studio album Take Care last Tuesday and is starting to make headway in the charts.
The story starts fifty-two years ago. Brook Benton is a rising star in the music industry. He’s a singer/songwriter who began working for Mercury Records. He just released his most successful singles to date, “It’s Just a Matter of Time” and “Endlessly.” He writes a new song around 1960 called “I’ll Take Care of You” that just tugs at the heartstrings.
It’s a declaration of love and protection over a small blues ensemble. A piano, drum kit, electric organ, some strings, and a guitar fight against a very smooth vocal. The organ is the singer’s inner monologue confirming his desire to do everything right in a relationship. Any doubt disappears when the organ kicks in. Bobby Bland, a touring blues musician on the brink of success, records the original version of the song. It only reaches #89 on the Billboard charts, but it makes enough of an impact to be covered again and again. You can listen to the original version of the track here.
Flash forward to 2010. Gil Scott-Heron releases his final album I’m New Here featuring a cover of “I’ll Take Care of You.” He really gets into the blues feel of the song. The backing band–synth strings, real strings, drum kit, piano–keeps the rhythm while Scott-Heron feels his way through the meaning of the song. His understanding of the style of the piece is remarkable. He gets a lot of emotion out of a grumbling bass vocal that seemingly doesn’t care where the band is. Gil Scott-Heron is so caught up in the song that nothing will stop him from getting his message across at his pace.
In 2011, Jamie xx releases a remix album of Gil Scott-Heron’s I’m New Here called We’re New Here. Jamie xx modernizes the blues standard without minimizing the strength and impact of Scott-Heron’s recording. He sets the meandering vocal in time with the more upbeat dance backing while paying tribute to the more dynamic organ style of the Bobby Bland original.
Perhaps most intriguing about this track, now called “I’ll Take Care of U,” is the almost-Latin breakdown at the bridge. Jamie xx takes the chorus of “I’ll Take Care of U” and breaks it apart into a salsa beat. The result is a crazy moment that sounds like it was ripped out of a Pitbull track rather than based in a blues song. It takes a special kind of DJ/producer to reinvent a song this much and make it work.
It just so happens that Jamie xx and Drake are friends. Drake decided he wanted to include a cover of “I’ll Take Care of U” on his second studio album. Reworked with new verses, the song is now called “Take Care.” Drake and Rihanna take turns rerecording Gil Scott-Heron’s vocals as reworked by Jamie xx. The result is a fifty-two year old song taking on a brand new meaning. It’s no longer one person’s unrequited declaration of unyielding affection. Now it’s a song of commitment in a relationship. Both members are present and they’re both on the same page. It’s a lovely and unexpected twist on what became a Blues classic.
And that’s how you go from a poor-performing blues track from 1960 to a hip-hop track with enough resonance that artists are willing to cover it on live TV appearances.
I have to give credit to the Grammys for one big thing: they tried this year. They really tried to make a fun and exciting ceremony for television. The telecast played like a concert, not an awards ceremony, and the approach mostly worked.
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed with the lack of awards on the broadcast. If you told me they handed out more than ten awards last night in three and a half hours, I would be shocked. Only two prizes were awarded in the first hour and a pair of the winners–Kanye West and Jay-Z–did not show up to the ceremony. Otherwise, it felt like a tribute contest to Adele and Whitney Houston.
There were some interesting events before the 54th Annual Grammy Awards telecast began. For example, even without being invited to the massive electronic dance music tribute, Skrillex was still the big winner for those styles. He actually won more Grammys than any other Best New Artist nominee, taking home Best Dance Recording, Best Dance/Electronica Album, and Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical. Skrillex already racked up more Grammys than most nominees before the red carpet broadcasts started.
Alison Kraus also made Grammy history last night. She became the most awarded female artist, the most awarded singer, and the second most awarded Grammy winner of all time. There is a bit of misinformation going about today. Kraus herself has only won twenty-seven Grammys. What’s being miscounted as her twenty-eighth is actually a prize that went to her album engineers Mike Shipley and Brad Blackwood. It’s an amazing achievement either way. She’ll surely wind up being the overall record holder in another few years.
Trey Parker and Matt Stone are now Grammy Award winners for the Original Broadway Cast Recording of The Book of Mormon. Betty White took home her first Grammy award for Best Spoken Word recording. And Kathy Griffin still has not won a Grammy award, despite her best efforts to campaign for all the prizes ever invented.
The 54th Annual Grammy Awards had a three point agenda last night that came across remarkably well considering the circumstances. Everyone knew going in that Adele would win everything. We also had an inclination that the Grammys were aiming for massive combined performances split by genre and theme. We did not know until the night before that the ceremony would choose to put so much focus on the sudden passing of Whitney Houston.
A sobering series of Whitney Houston tributes at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards
The Grammys opened with a somber prayer ceremony for Whitney Houston. The artists in attendance all bowed their heads and held hands as LL Cool J spoke about her life and influence on the music industry. From there, it was rare to see a segment go by without anyone referencing the late singer.
I honestly think the whole thing came across with an understated sincerity that betrayed expectations. With more time, there would have been an overproduced tribute that was more about which labels’ were fighting for artist exposure. This is, after all, one of the ceremonies where the In Memoriam montage turns into an applause competition for which dead musicians are the most important. Everything is competitive at the Grammys, even death.
There were a number of standout Grammy performances last night. One of the best was a well-performed tribute to country icon Glen Campbell. The Band Perry, Blake Shelton, and the man himself outclassed much of the ceremony by performing as musicians. Anyone who was confused by the Best New Artist nomination for The Band Perry should have walked away knowing why the country music scene has embraced them. It was a classy tribute that made for great television.
Nicki Minaj did not betray my expectations. She went for spectacle. She started with a few lines from “Roman’s Revenge” before transitioning into an insane homage to The Exorcist set to her new single “Roman Holiday.” The stage was filled with people dressed as priests, altar boys, and monks. People on Twitter were confused and frightened. That was the point. Nicki Minaj did not set out to do a pleasant performance. She set out to be remembered. Mission accomplished.
My favorite performance of the night, however, was the tribute to Electronica and Dance. Even with the presence of my least favorite Grammy Award winner (who, inexplicably, was given a standing ovation by everyone in the front center section every time he walked onstage), it was great entertainment. It kicked off with David Guetta performing with that guy and Lil Wayne. Then they introduced The Foo Fighters. They performed with Deadmau5, who then got to do what he does best: entertain. It’s worth pointing out that this is the first time Electronica musicians have been invited to perform during the actual ceremony. You can watch the whole thing here.
The night belonged to Adele. The non-Whitney narrative of the evening was paying tribute to a strong new artist and welcoming her back after vocal surgery. Would she still be able to sing? How would she sound? Would she still be grinding her vocal cords and screaming her way through songs like “Rolling in the Deep” even though that (plus chain smoking) is what blew out her voice anyway? The answers are yes, just dandy, and no. Get thee to a good vocal teacher, Adele, lest you want to be a professional songwriter who can’t sing at all in three years.
Due to logistics, you knew at most that a single artist would be chosen to perform in honor of Whitney Houston. The Grammy producers had less than twenty-four hours to choose a singer, teach the song, arrange the music, and stage/tech the song for the ceremony. Jennifer Hudson was selected to sing “I Will Always Love You.” The performance started a cappella. Hudson had to pause before the band joined her on the chorus to compose herself for the rest of the performance. It worked. If nothing else, it showed how hard it will be to fill Whitney’s shoes. She was an original artist, master vocalist, and strong performer. She will be missed.
What will surely not get as much fanfare today was the excellent tribute to Etta James. Alicia Keys and Bonnie Raitt sang “Sunday Kind of Love” at the front of the stage. There were no fireworks. There was no stage magic. It was just too talented musicians paying tribute to one of the greats.
The only surprise of the night was finding out that the Grammy voters didn’t care about fairness this year. Normally, an artist like Adele almost sweeps. Maybe they lose Song of the Year but win Album of the Year and Record of the Year. Sometimes, someone else will take the genre Vocal Performance award but the star of the night will win for the genre of the album.
Adele Sweeps at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards
Not last night. Adele went six for six, even winning for her music video to “Rolling in the Deep.” The only nominee connected to Adele who lost was Ryan Tedder. He was beaten for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical by Paul Epworth. Epworth was nominated for producing Adele tracks, as well.
All in all, the 54th Annual Grammy Awards were strong. The whole thing still dragged on far too long. This was a significant improvement over the ceremonies that typically go over by twenty or more minutes.
What the Grammy foundation could do in the future is make the live telecast a concert event for the industry. Choose stories and artists that represent the eligible year in music and plan for spectacle. Hand out the majority of the awards at an earlier ceremony and save the big four–Album, Record, Song, and New Artist–for the live telecast. Edit together nice packages dedicated to the winners and keep the show under three hours.
There’s a reason Lil Wayne has been a big force in music the past few years. He’s a rapper who understands the need to balance entertainment with honesty. Sure, he’s released a few singles that are nothing more than sex metaphors, but even those wind up having a few clever lyrics that rise above a lot of contemporary music.
Lil Wayne gets deep and dirty in "Mirror"
“Mirror” is one Lil Wayne’s more serious moments. The song is, predictably, about reflection. He’s reading through his own persona to get through to a deeper truth about himself. What made Lil Wayne the person he is? Why all those tattoos, that viewpoint, those choices?
To his credit, Lil Wayne does not fall into bland and self-centered introspection. The song never gets more personal than the third verse, which barely reveals anything.
Looking at me now, I can see my past
Damn, I look just like my [redacted] Dad
…I see my Mama’s smile, that’s a blessing
Even though “Mirror” is clearly a personal song for Lil Wayne, he avoids the pitfall of going too personal. He takes a step back from his own life, experiences, and problems. When you start writing specifically about your own life, you can come across as self important or out of touch. It can sound like whining. People can be turned off instantly in a format as short as a song. Lil Wayne looks into his own life at a surface level that is easily accessible for a wide audience.
The production of “Mirror” is simple. A synthesizer–patched to sound like the cross between a string ensemble and a chorus–plays long sustained chords over a simple drum machine. Lil Wayne sticks to his low speaking range. He’s not exactly whispering, but he’s not projecting his sound much, either. Bruno Mars is pushed to his upper range, singing a variation of the synth chord progression as a hook.
Bruno Mars soars high in "Mirror"
The draw of “Mirror” is not the chorus, but the verses, which is becoming something of a trademark for Lil Wayne. You’ll learn the hook quickly. That’s not even a question. What’s interesting is how quickly you’ll want to absorb his verses.
It’s almost the reverse of some of his contemporaries. Lil Wayne’s choruses are simply a catchy phrase to help you identify the song, not the driving force of what people remember. His verses are where he makes the effort to be sharp, pithy, and memorable. The result is a mid-tempo song that will surely do well on the charts with the push of the music video.
Last year, I went into painstaking detail to explain how the voting in Best Original Song works. Essentially, all music branch voters watch all of the eligible songs and score them from 6 to 10. Songs need to score higher than 8.25 to qualify. If no song scores that high, the category is skipped. If one song scores that high, it and the next highest scoring song are the nominees.
At this point, I think they should just get rid of Best Original Song at the Oscars. I can think up more than five songs that easily deserved recognition off the top of my head from 2011 films: “Marcy’s Song”* in Martha Marcy May Marlene, “Life’s a Happy Song” from The Muppets, “Man or Muppet”^ from The Muppets, “Real in Rio”^ from Rio, “Never be Daunted” from Happythankyoumoreplease, “Star Spangled Man” from Captain America: The First Avenger, “Lay Your Head Down” from Albert Noobs, “So Long”* from Winnie the Pooh, and “Another Earth”* from Another Earth. Of these, the songs with asterisks didn’t even get screened for the Academy and the songs with carrots are the nominees.
Yes, it’s true. Only two songs were deemed worthy of an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song. More than likely, only one song scored 8.25, allowing the next highest scoring song to join it on the final ballot. Not to take anything away from these two songs (they’re strong nominees), but there were so many narratively significant songs in films this year that there easily should have been five nominees.
Take, for instance, the title song from Another Earth. A man who has no recollection of the car accident that killed his wife and son has fallen in love with the young woman responsible for the accident. He takes her to the university performance hall he used during his tenure as a music professor and plays an original song inspired by her. It’s a huge moment in the film, absolutely essential to the story, and the music branch decided that it wasn’t significant enough to even make the long list.
Or take “Marcy’s Song” from Martha Marcy May Marlene. Talk about essential to the story of the film. The song is how the cult leader convinces Martha to stay at his commune. He woos her in song and she falls head over heels for the charismatic leader. This song made the long list, but did not make the shortlist for the music branch voting.
If, in a year where critics were forced to discuss the use of original songs in many films, the Academy cannot use its strange nomination process to get more than the bare minimum of nominees in Original Song, then what’s the point in having the category any longer? There have never been enough musicals released in a year to kick in the complimentary prize Original Musical Score (since the latest iteration of that prize was added to the possible Oscar categories). Why even pretend that there’s a reason to honor vocal songwriting anymore if the voters do not believe that there are more than two or three worthwhile songs for the past few years? It’s a waste of time and resources at best and an insult to the hardworking songwriters at worst.
The only good thing I can say about the choice of two nominees this year is that the two songs are actually used in significant ways in their respective films. These aren’t the songs that play over the closing credits (although, used properly, those can be quite an effective way to bring catharsis to the audience). These are the songs that drive their respective stories forward.
The first nominee is “Man or Muppet” from The Muppets, written by Bret McKenzie. Walter, who has spent his entire life living among humans, and his brother Gary, a human obsessed with everything Muppets, are forced to choose if their loyalty to The Muppets is more important than their relationships with family and friends. It’s a highlight of The Muppets because of the mock-music video staging and fantastic sight gags. The song itself is a strong introspective rock ballad spinning the “Man or Muppet” concept in an interesting direction. It’s the eleventh hour anthem of a film that refuses to just be a full blown musical like it should be.
The second nominee is “Real in Rio” from Rio, written by Sergio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown, and Siedah Garret. It’s the big opening number for a film that has a surprisingly strong score. It introduces the Brazilian rhythms that dominate the score, shows off the birds, and gets you excited for the rest of the film. It’s quite a clever composition that would be at home in a stage show. It’s the “Bonjour” from Beauty and the Beast or “Tradition” from Fiddler on the Roof. “Real in Rio”‘s purpose is to let the audience know the tone of the film, how the music will work, and what the story is going to focus on. It’s an old-fashioned film/musical scoring technique used to great effect here.
Here’s where the category gets strange. If more voters just listen to both songs, “Real in Rio” could easily win. It’s a flashier song that stands up by itself better than “Man or Muppet.” If more voters watch the films to see the context, “Man or Muppet” could easily win. Its narrative purpose is stronger and it’s a much more engaging scene than the big bird dance number of Rio.
Both films are only nominated for Original Song and both films fared will with critics. Rio grossed almost twice as much money at the box office domestically, but The Muppets came out more recently. It’s really a toss up as neither of these songs were favored by critics groups or major precursors for Original Song nominations. I’d bet on “Real in Rio” pulling a surprise win just because it’s more exciting out of context.
In conclusion, I believe we can all agree that this category needed more “Star Spangled Man.”
What happens when two very well-defined artists collaborate on a song? It depends on the artists. If they get along or the track plays to their strengths/lets them record separately and never see each other again, it can be great. If they get in each other’s way and fight over direction, it tends to be a mess.
Collaboration is big right now. DJ David Guetta has been racking up Top 40 hits in the past year with his songs featuring vocals by well-known artists like Usher or Nicki Minaj. Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera have their biggest hits in years by collaborating on “Moves Like Jagger.” And it is a rarity that a hip-hop track gets released as a single anymore without a guest verse or guest singer on the hook.
British singer/songwriter Neon Hitch–who seems poised for a big push in America any day now–sings the hook on Gym Class Heroes’ newest single “…Back Home.” Neon Hitch is best known in America for her covers (even if some of her songs charted for other artists)
while Gym Class Heroes have had their biggest successes on collaborative singles. They were even signed to collaborator Patrick Stump’s (formerly of Fall Out Boy) record label Fueled by Ramen. He sang the hook on a few of their singles, including their first hit “Cupid’s Chokehold.”
The two acts blend very well together on their single “…Back Home.” The song is a long distance relationship love song, which in itself makes it a bit of a novelty.
When you call and I don’t even know
what city I’m at
or what day of the week in the middle of the month.
In a year I don’t recall,
it’s like my life’s on repeat and the last time we spoke
I told you I wouldn’t be long.
That was last November now December’s almost gone.
I’d apologize but I don’t realize what I’m doing wrong.
It’s refreshing to hear a song that seems to get at the honesty of a relationship. This is not some overly romanticized relationship from the perspective of rapper Travie McCoy. He likes the girl but he doesn’t know how to go further in the relationship. The complaints confuse him and he’s genuinely lost for words when asked about his traveling schedule. It’s a sweet and honest moment.
Less novel but effective in context is the chorus sung by Neon Hitch. This woman misses her boyfriend but at this point she just wants him back. The key is under the mat and she’ll gladly take him back. There’s a sense of understanding at some level that Travie won’t be there all the time, but she still wants him back home. There’s a great play between the two sides that amount to the same goal but get there in different ways.
The song is obviously resonating with listeners. It is the biggest gainer this week on the Billboard Hot 100, jumping from number 57 to number 33 with a big push of airplay. The hook is catchy and the sentiment is refreshing. The one thing that drives me insane is that radio stations, at least in the NYC+ area, have been cutting off the final spoken “I’m home, baby” that ends the song. Way to leave the audience in suspense.
When I interviewed Cynthia von Buhler back at NYCC, she mentioned something that really stuck with me. I asked her about the difference between art in Boston and art in NYC. Essentially, she said you just need to be a little weird to breakout in Boston where NYC is filled with weirdos. “Look around you,” she said, as she pointed at all the cosplayers waiting in line for a comic artist’s signature.
So how does that play out for Karmin, a pop duo that’s starting to get some mainstream recognition? Simple: they’re from 4 miles outside of Boston. At least that’s where they formed. They’re Berklee College of Music alum with serious skills. Karmin does kitschy covers of Top 40 songs and they’re clearly aiming for an oddball appeal. How else do you explain this “Super Bass” cover?
That might be one of the strangest and most effective covers I’ve seen in a long time. I like strange. Nick Noonan (keys) really gets me with the softly sung “bass, bass, bass, bass” on the bridge while Amy Heidemann (guitar, lead vocal) is far more coordinated than I am with the guitar/rapping combo.
On this edition of The Joy Factor, we look at how Karmin chooses to play around with music for kicks. Let’s start for real with this acoustic cover of Eminem feat. Bruno Mars “Lighters.”
Again, they do something very different with a song I’m a big fan of. Amy gets bonus points for flipping between that super-aggressive Eminem style of the verses and a much sweeter soprano harmony on the chorus. Nick has a pretty nice voice himself that he keeps very steady for someone bent over banging a box for a completely acoustic cover of a rap song. Nick, too, proves he’s more coordinated than me. I can’t handle more than guitar/singing or keyboard/singing. Drumming and singing? Guitar and rapping? Jealous.
So how, exactly, do you reconcile a pop duo with a proclivity for acoustic instruments with their debut single that is anything but? Simply. Karmin has a distinctive sound already. They play with dance grooves. Amy raps, sings, and plays guitar. Nick fills in with vocal harmonies and seemingly anything but the guitar. The instruments they play and the style they’re drawn to–almost this strange jazz/dance/Top 40 hybrid–can easily go acoustic or electric. The important thing to remember is that they play with sound. Check it on their first studio single “Crash Your Party.”
The first good sign? Amy sounds pretty much the same as the YouTube videos. You can even hear Nick’s voice come through in the “oohs” at the chorus. That appears to be more of a layering effect (like how Adele’s vocals are typically doubled or even tripled for effect on her tracks) that I’m rather fond of. That suggests minimal monkeyshines with studio magic for the album. Considering I’ve mentioned how well both members of Karmin sing already, that’s a good sign.
Need another reminder? Here’s Karmin singing Adele’s “Someone Like You” over a track from Aston.
Just lovely. But I digress.
The second good sign from Karmin’s single “Crash Your Party?” Even with a laundry list of collaborators (Heather Bright, Kelly Sheehan, Harr and Jackson, Kane Beatz, Oak, Diane Warren, Hit Boy, Audio Push, and that’s not even half of them), “Crash Your Party” has all the fun elements of the YouTube covers on a new song. The sample from “The Choice is Yours” by Black Sheep brings that mixed-genre feel to the track almost in the opposite way of the covers. There, Karmin uses the cover as a way to insert original music content. Here, the original content is enhanced by the cover.
Third, and most important, is that joy factor. Amy and Nick are having fun here. This is not an earth-shattering, game changing song. It’s a fun pop song with a lot of style and life. I can only hope it crosses over from YouTube to mainstream success. They could be the next Justin Bieber. Strange that I can’t think of another YouTube-to-Top 40 act.
My dream right now would be a Karmin/PowerFox and PonyMane collaboration. Boston and NYC aren’t that far apart, Amy, Nick, Jackie, and Jess.
You can find a bunch of Karmin’s covers at, unsurprisingly, the Karmin Covers YouTube Channel.
The music industry, at large, is trying to make Dubstep fetch for a wide audience in America. It’s one of those dance genres that people know by sound because it’s difficult to describe. Essentially, dubstep is layered dance tracks remixed to be highly syncopated. It typically uses big manipulated/processed bass lines and tiny little snippets of recognizable samples. The intended result, near as I can tell, is to get the listener to move.
After the unexpected Best New Artist nomination for Skrillex, I had to start digging around. Sure enough, the calling card effects of dubstep are starting to be tossed at Top 40 club-friendly acts to make them more appealing.
Flo Rida’s new single uses the digital processing typically reserved for bass manipulation on the vocal sample used as the hook. Skip ahead to 2:40 and you’ll hear a full-blown dubstep breakdown replacing a bridge on the song.
Rihanna’s new single is also pulling in some dubstep elements. Around the 2:30, you hear some strange syncopated synth rhythms start bouncing around an otherwise typical reggae-kissed Rihanna single.
Dubstep remixes are starting to get radio play during CHR/Top 40 shows where the DJ is allowed to mix the tracks. I’ve been hearing a lot of this “Till the World Ends” by Britney Spears feat. Nicki Minaj remix when stuck in traffic on a Friday night.
So what would be the ultimate end game for this attempt to push dubstep onto the masses? Actually promoting dubstep artists. It’s all well and good to go touristing in another genre for that new sound. Remember the dance hall craze a few years ago? It’s even better if a new trend can help the people who have made their careers in the genre.
Dubstep artists are in demand for remixes and have been for years. Britney Spears, La Roux, and a bunch of other artists get deconstructed and transformed into something new when official remixes come out. Shoot. I just wrote about the Remixed, Non-Classical category at the Grammy Awards and there’s dubstep aplenty in there.
Is it possible for a dubstep song to take off as a standalone crossover single? I’m not sure. People like a hook to be able to sing along with and you don’t get that in dubstep. What you do get is a very unique and recognizable mostly-instrumental track that could crossover to music video play on the mainstream networks. There is no reason why MTV2 or Fuse can’t start sprinkling in dubstep videos into their playlists.
Well, there is a good reason. Dubstep artists rarely get music videos. They release their tracks and they perform live. That, combined with remixing and DJ gigs, is their source of income. Maybe labels will be willing to take a chance on promoting a dubstep artist for Top 40 crossover if this trend really takes off in a big way.
In The Library, I recommend songs that I think would be a great addition to anyone’s music collection. This time, we’re talking about one of the most skilled mash-ups I’ve ever heard.
Glee gets a lot of flack for its music arrangements. I was beating that drum all throughout the first season for various sites (ghostwriting, though an occasional feature would pop up). It’s not that the arrangements are bad. They just, early on, had a bad habit of taking the edge out of some great songs–theater and music industry alike–to essentially push as pop factory hits.
Season 3 has seen a lot more depth, grit, and narrative purpose to the song choices. This is a huge step in the right direction for the show. I’ve actually been trying to convince people who would tell me I was stupid for skipping weeks of the show in the first season to give the show a try again. It’s actually functioning as musical TV like the pilot at this point.
On the mash-up week, new glee club The Troubletones did a phenomenal mash-up of Adele songs. It is as good as Adele’s remix album (from DJ Mick Boogie, who turned strong blues/pop into club-ready dance anthems), which is just another testament to the strength of her songwriting. Current hit single “Someone Like You” is blended seamlessly with “Rumour Has It”–a song that’s getting club and airplay without officially being an official single.
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Julissa Veloz is a former American Idol contestant with an unusual story for non-finalists. She’s actually had commercial success. Julissa is doing quite well internationally on the dance charts. Her first post-Idol single “Take Control” made it to #8 on the Billboard Dance/Club Charts and the follow-up “Predator” reached #19 on the same list. She does great dance music with an identifiable style. Her songs are all about the balance of power between men and women. Specifically, she turns the power dynamic partway through the song and empowers her performance character to be in control of her own destiny.
Enter “Mayhem.” This is another solid dance track from Julissa. There’s really not much to say. It’s on trend for dance music right now. It features some throwback late 80′s/early 90′s vocal processing going into the bridge but is mostly an organic vocal. The melody is memorable, if a bit repetitive.
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I was aware that Nick Cannon had a rap career. I had friends in high school who bought his self-titled debut album with the single “Gigolo.” The song, featuring R. Kelly, is basic boast rap. It’s a well-produced track (if a bit dated now), though back then it felt like he was just trying to break free of his Nickelodeon image. He was a featured player on All That, after all. The thing to note about the track and video is that he is fooling around with this. There’s a joke element even if the song only features a few dry jokes that pass in an instant.
What I didn’t know was that Nick Cannon has started rapping for fun on a pretty regular basis. If you visit his official website, he’s doing remixes of tracks he likes. Just this morning while I was driving to the post office, I heard an excerpt of one of these tracks on the radio. It was something.
If you’ve paid attention the past few days, my posting schedule has been rather sporadic. I have my reason. Is it technically an excuse? Yes, and I will do my best to be more consistent in the coming weeks.
I’ve been hired to arrange a bunch of music for live strings to perform during a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It’s a high school production, yes, but they’re paying me. It’s not volunteer work and I can’t just pass on it at this point. Plus, it’s the first time since I left NYC that someone is willing to let me do live music arrangements for real. That’s huge.
For the first act, when everyone is in the actual city of Athens, the music is going to be classical. Specifically, I’ll be reworking Mendelssohn’s beautiful orchestral scoring for the show. I’m working off of piano solo versions to make sure that the arrangements are teachable in only a three or so weeks. I have an eleven piece string ensemble and I can easily reduce sheet music like this arrangement of “Scherzo” to fit their needs and abilities.
I’ve talked about Kreayshawn before. I think she’s talented but took off with a single that had a pretty annoying beat. I think I even said something like, if the song had a different beat, it would be much better.
Well, my speculation seems to be correct. Neon Hitch, a dance pop artist from Britain, does great covers of songs. She has a very defined style and wisely chooses songs that let her play up her performance style. She’s sultry and playful without being conceited.
It makes sense that she would be drawn to “Gucci Gucci.” It’s a song all about standing out from the crowd and being independent. In Kreayshawn’s version of the song, she’s not even interested in the popular high end brands; for Neon Hitch, she doesn’t need them. She’s better than that.
