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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
Lip-Sync for Your Life: Dida Ritz Owns It!

RuPaul’s Drag Race (Logo, Monday nights), which is just a few episodes into its fourth season, follows much the same template as other reality competitions like Project Runway or Top Chef. Skilled creative types are given a weekly challenge. In the end, there’s the top 3 and the bottom 3 and there’s a winner and there’s a loser, and the loser gets the boot.

But RuPaul’s Drag Race throws in one last speed bump on the road to elimination, a chance for one of the week’s bottom two performers to redeem themselves in the eyes of their drag mama RuPaul: Lip Sync… for your Life. At worst, this is a just a way to mark time before we learn of RuPaul’s final decision. But occasionally, one of the queens delivers a performance that is, well… life-affirming (seriously!), transcending its context and completely validating lip-sync as a high art form.

This week, drag queen Dida Ritz, along with rival The Princess (who, strangely, decided to rock chemotherapy-chic this week) was up for elimination. With guest judge Natalie Cole looking on, the two queens took the stage to lip sync Cole’s 1975 hit “This Will Be” (aka “The eHarmony Song!”) and Dida Ritz not only didn’t “f*ck it up”, she very nearly stole the song from its originator for good.

It helps that Ritz bares some passing resemblance to Natalie Cole, but that’s just the gravy. It was her lip sync itself – not her look – that not only saved Dida from elimination but, in the space of a couple of minutes, made her look like a frontrunner in this season’s competition.

She absolutely embodied the song; she owned it as if she’d written it herself and her dance moves and expressions seemed such a natural extension of the music that it made me feel like I was hearing the song for the first time – no small feat considering how ubiquitous the song has become in recent years thanks to Dr. Neil Clark Warren. Almost as fun as watching Dida Ritz, is watching Natalie Cole watching Dida Ritz! It’s the happiest three minutes of TV I’ve seen in ages.

Sadly, Logo hasn’t posted an isolated clip of the Lip Sync for Your Life segment of last week’s episode. But if you don’t want to watch the full episode (although you really should because the show’s sorta awesome), fast forward to the 38 minute mark:

Get More: Video & Movies, Logo: Fierce TV

February 18, 2012
Eurovision 2012 Update: Denmark! “Should’ve Known Better”

Denmark, Represent!
Another day, another Eurovision entry! This week, the good people of Denmark delivered their final answer on who will represent them in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Baku, Azerbaijan. Meet Soluna Samay, and listen to her winning song, “Should’ve Known Better”:

Aside from the requisite tailed military jacket (Eurovision visuals often tend to totalitarian homage), this is a totally credible pop song. I can easily imagine this getting play on the radio between Colbie Caillat and Kelly Clarkson.

About Samay: She’s 21, the daughter of a German musician, and fluent in four languages, having been born and raised in Guatemala and educated in the U.S. Soluna Samay was virtually a musician at birth; she started learning instruments, singing and writing songs as a very small child, and while still a middle-schooler, she released a single called “I Wish I Was a Seagull.” Did I mention that Soluna’s first name is a mash-up of the Spanish words for “sun” and “moon”? Seriously, you need to watch this:

“I Wish I Was a Seagull” (2003)

Almost makes Rebecca Black look like Mariah friggin’ Carey. Clearly Soluna’s gotten better as she’s grown up. Let that be a lesson to the Rebecca Black haters.

In the years since “Seagull”, Samay’s recorded numerous albums with her father, Gee Gee Kettel. Last fall, she put out a solo album (which is available commercially for download here in the U.S.) called Sing Out Loud. It’s recommended listening for those of us who miss the old Jewel. Actually, I don’t really miss the old Jewel, but her influence is evident in Samay’s music, and I really like Samay. She’s got a similar coffeehouse-folkie twang in her singing (in 2008, she and Kettel put out an album of covers including songs by CCR and The Band), and the same diary entry lyrical style. There have already been three singles released from Sing Out Loud, but the first one is my favorite:

“Two Seconds Ago” (2011)

February 17, 2012