Check out this fantastic version of Beyonce’s “Single Ladies”. Endless Noise put together this tribute to the 60′s greats Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, The Supremes and The Ronettes.
Via Jezebel
An amazing thing happened through Twitter this week. Erykah Badu wanted to sample the Wings song “Arrow Through Me” in an song on her upcoming album. The catch? Only 9 hours to get ahold of Paul McCartney and get his permission. So she turned to Twitter to connect with Lenny Kravitz since he knows McCartney’s daughter Stella who could then put her in touch with the man himself.
Luckily artist Mathieu Bitton was able to come to the rescue and put her through to Lenny Kravitz. The result?
Mashable’s coverage notes:
As Tears for Fears’ Curt Smith talked about in our recent interview, usually this process involves lots of lawyers and in-betweens and can often be drawn out for weeks if not months of back and forth. In another excellent example of how social media can be used to disintermediate the music industry status quo, Twitter made sample clearance a collaborative and rapid process by putting two artists into direct contact.
And this might be the first time sampling has been cleared through Twitter. These are exciting times.
Erykah Badu and Paul McCartney: First Twitter Sample Clearance?
According to the A.V. Club:
In the newest issue of Rolling Stone, human droning fork John Mayer says that he’s looking for a girlfriend who is “able to go toe-to-toe with [him] intellectually,” amongst other qualities.
Following that is a brilliant, hilarious analysis of why it will be impossible for for him to find that special woman who can be his intellectual match. For example:
1. John Mayer has a tattoo of the number 77 on his chest.
Why? He was born in 1977.
Are you clever enough to tattoo the year of your birth on your chest, just in case? Probably not. John Mayer is thinking on the Memento-level.
If you have time, read the whole thing. It’s well worth the time.
Evidence It Is Impossible To Go Toe-To-Toe Intellectually With John Mayer
Ben Folds‘ second solo album Rockin’ the Suburbs is easily one of his best. Apart from the title track, it’s a beautiful, at times almost mournful, set of songs that get my brain and blood moving every time I listen to them. I blame the lyrics and the piano. I’ve always been a sucker for people who play the piano like it’s an extension of themselves (Tori Amos and Elton John also comes to mind).
Each of the songs do something different to me. “The Ascent of Stan” makes me feel like I’m driving so fast that I’m floating a little. “Losing Lisa” reminds me of shitty past relationships. “The Luckiest” makes me smile and think about my wedding (we used it for our first dance). “Still Fighting it” doesn’t make me think of anything, but I always have to sing it at the top of my lungs when it gets to the chorus.
I can’t recommend this album highly enough, but here are some videos in case you don’t believe me.
Still Fighting It:
The Ascent of Stan (with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra):
The Luckiest (with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra; skip to 2:25 if you’re not interested in his banter with an Australian talk show host):
Buy it from Amazon.com
Buy the mp3 album from Amazon.com
Buy it from Amazon.ca
I first listened to Amelia Curran’s music a few years ago when a good friend suggested I check out her album War Brides. I fell in love with the first song “Scattered and Small” and the rest of the album from there. It’s a folk album that isn’t too sweet and sounds like it’s had whiskey poured over it, making me feel like I understand maritimers even if I probably don’t. War Brides became the soundtrack to the summer for me it’s stayed in my blood since then.
Given that, you can imagine my delight when I went to cash in an iTunes gift card and found out she’d released another album a few months ago. Hunter, Hunter feels like the perfect follow-up to War Brides. It has a similar sound but avoids coming off as recycled material. It’s still not too sweet, still sounds whiskey-soaked, but takes everything a slightly different direction I can’t quite put my finger on yet, but I know I like.
I’m not going to go into all the songs because I’m not great at talking about music and really just think you should buy the albums and listen to them and join me in loving it already, but check the first track “Bye, Bye Montreal”. It’s beautiful and got under my skin and will give you a good idea of whether you’ll like it or not.
Buy it from Amazon.com
Buy it from Amazon.ca
