Sam Sparro "Black & Gold"

Arik sent me this with the following note: "Hey, Here's someone who I think will do a 'Scissor Sisters' - i.e., an American artist who's huge everywhere but the US - what with the flashy clothes, lisping and all... A great song, though..."

It really IS a great song - I actually like this SS's music better than most of the Scissor Sisters' music. (I know they are the queens of performance though).

For the record, I did a little research and this guy's actually not American by birth - he's an Aussie, but he's spent a lot of time in Los Angeles. He's like D'Angelo soul (listen to "Cottonmouth") meets Prince funk and gender play meets Hot Chip hipster electronic/pop. I actually disagree about the US prediction -- this has a much better shot of being big in the clubs here than the Scissor Sisters every will, b/c of the funk/hipster edginess.

THANKS ARIK!!!


Sam Sparro - Black & Gold - Watch the best video clips here

"In Love With A Girl"

First single off Gavin DeGraw's upcoming album. Hmmm...

Please Don't Forget to Vote!

"But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope."

Adele - 19

RMW was gone in Europe all week last week. :( However, the one good thing about that was that he filled my order for the UK release of Adele's debut album, 19!

You've likely heard Hometown Glory and Chasing Pavements by now if you read my blog, but what about the rest of the album? Well, I like it! I worry that she's getting a bit overhyped before she even officially debuts in the US -- 19 is not the best album of the year. However, it's a darn good debut. Adele has a mighty alluring voice. Her songwriting is a bit inconsistent and probably has some maturing to do, but it shows promise for sure. She's got a lot of different musical influences -- I love the track below called "My Same" which is modern, bluesy jazz and sounds like Peggy Lee's "Fever" reincarnated. Two other good songs, which are more retro motown are "Melt My Heart to Stone" and "Right as Rain". I'd like to hear her record more jazz (but realize the business peeps probably fear that'd be a commercial risk...). If anyone can make jazz hot again with a more mainstream audience, though, it just may be Adele.

Yes We Can!

Many thanks go to the ice chewer, Yuval, for letting me know about this fantastic, inspiring video. See dipdive.com for a larger, clearer version too.

Ma ma se ma ma sa ma makossa

(from MJ's Wanna Be Startin Somethin & Rihanna's Don't Stop the Music) Ever wonder where it came from?



This is random, but I somehow JUST discovered Cameroonian legend Manu Dibango today through my musicovery.com streaming. I am loving his music. Sadly though I had musicovery.com set to "non-hits" only, and one of the songs I like best - "Ami Oh!" cannot be found anywhere (itunes, amazon, etc.). Bummer. But his crossover hit above influenced SO much popular music, it's crazy. In case you're wondering, "makossa" means "I dance" in the African language Duala.

p.s. The new 25th anniversary version of "wanna be..." featuring Akon and Will.I.Am is good. Hit MJ's myspace page to stream it, but I think it's on itunes now. I can't wait for the whole 25th anniv. Thriller album to come out. Thriller was my first record! I am feeling old that it is 25. Oh wait, here's a youtube of the song:

Musicovery.com = intriguing

http://musicovery.com

You tell them what your mood is (or what you want it to be) and pick genres and eras you want. They generate a tree of streamable songs that match your mood. I haven't hated anything they've recommended yet! (impressive)

I'm big fan of musical therapy in general. I use music to change my mood all the time. Try it - it really works!