Pop Rock Nation

Author: Paul Lorentz

Free Download! Gorillaz “Do Ya Thing” from Converse

Gorillaz R 4 Realz
If a corporation could have a hobby, I think Converse shoes has found theirs. In the last few years, Converse has opened it’s own recording studio, and every couple of months, it’s commissioned some great, unexpected collaboration singles, like last year’s irresistible “I’m a Goner” which matched indie pop duo Matt & Kim with swag rapper Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em and Andrew W.K., the original party rocker. You can still download the song for free home page, and while there, check out the behind-the-scenes footage from the making of the song’s video, which looks like it was inspired by the final scene of Summer School.

“I’m a Goner” (2011)

Converse’s latest collaboration single brings Gorillaz into the studio with Outkast’s Andre 3000 and LCD Soundsystem’s maestro James Murphy. It’s called “Do Ya Thing”. Check it out and download it for free here. Like any good Gorillaz song, it’s a veritable pinata of brightly colored audio sweetness – doodly doo organs, tooting horns, glitchy beats – and there’s a great contrast between lead Gorilla Damon Albarn’s jaded intro verse, and Andre’s marathon sprint, with James Murphy swooping in periodically to deliver a hilariously just-a-little-bit-off falsetto hook. The bummer about this collaboration is that this is really the sort of thing that Gorillaz does all the time – it’s not unlikely that these three artists would have been in the studio together for part of the next Gorillaz album. So while it’s great to have a new Gorillaz track out there (for free!), I generally expect something more unexpected from Converse.

February 23, 2012
New Single! John Legend “Tonight (Best You Ever Had)” featuring Ludacris

From the ''Think Like a Man'' Soundtrack

He doesn’t wanna brag. And so what if he says he’s gonna be the “best you ever had” – it’s not bragging if it’s true, right? (Having seen him live when he was touring his debut album, I don’t doubt he’s got the goods. On stage, I mean. On stage.)

I love John Legend, and part of the reason is that he can say things like “I don’t wanna brag” – while bragging – and make it sound charming and sexy. (It helps that he doesn’t need any Autotune to get his point across.) Justin and Timbaland can talk about bringing the sexy back, but John Legend is the sexy. Obviously, there’s more to John Legend than his sex appeal: like his 70s soul forebears (particularly Marvin Gaye), he’s a deep-thinking, three-dimensional, socially/politically engaged artist (who – did I mention? – also happens to be totally hot) and he’s one hell of an entertainer. While we’re waiting for him to wrap up his fifth studio album, he’s serving up some sweet, sweet foreplay with this new single.

“Tonight (Best You Ever Had)”, from the soundtrack of the forthcoming movie Think Like a Man, is the first new music from the Ohio native since his 2010 collaboration with The Roots on a collection of covers of classic soul protest songs called Wake Up!. “Tonight” features a guest verse by Ludacris, which is okay, I suppose; more importantly it features a throbbing beat, a slinky “let’s-take-our-clothes-off” bassline, and John Legend doing a breathy falsetto on the word “tonight.” This sounds like a great live show opener. It also sounds like it could make it rain panties in a theater.

February 21, 2012
New Single! Taylor Swift featuring The Civil Wars “Safe and Sound”

Safe and Sound
Last Sunday, The Civil Wars made the most of 2 minutes of network airtime on the Grammy Awards as the “opening act” to Taylor Swift‘s performance of “Mean.” (They’d also been awarded two trophies of their own prior to the broadcast including Best Folk Album.) This week, the duo’s debut album Barton Hollow nearly tripled it sales from the previous week, almost exactly a year after its original release. Huzzah for The Civil Wars!

In addition to playing Taylor Swift’s opening act on the Grammy stage, singer-songwriters John Paul White and Joy Williams, who’d spent much of last year touring with Adele, co-wrote and recorded the song “Safe and Sound” with Swift and producer T-Bone Burnett for inclusion on the soundtrack to the forthcoming movie The Hunger Games. (The Civil Wars are also providing a song called “Kingdom Come”, sans Taylor, for the soundtrack.) This is a nice departure from Taylor Swift’s usual teenage study hall love letters and fairytale stuff. Have a listen:

February 19, 2012