hi. we’re rolling up on your shit today fully locked with heatseekers. we’ve got the band of horses dudes (AND A MARCHING BAND!) doing cee-lo, unkle stunt man mikeing the grinderman punks, and the moon visionary weirdos rocking out to a killer jam. car fox man, lets get fly! show us the carfax!
“Why Won’t You Make Up Your Mind?” is a fave from Innerspeaker, the full-length debut from aussie four piece Tame Impala. too few new rock bands have been able explore newish ideas and test ‘boundaries’ with taste… props. GET FAMILIAR!
Burger Records got soul! The venerable L.A. label links up w/ Atlanta singer (& former back-up vocals for Cee-Lo Green) Curtis Harding to release his debut LP, Soul Power. “Keep On Shining”, the album’s lead single is an excellent blend of classic soul sounds like The Four Tops & The Dramatics with the more contemporary tones of an artist like Anthony Hamilton. It’s a really good record, don’t sleep. Soul Power is due April 22.
For new mixtape compilation illadelph/matic, Okayplayer and Mick Boogie delve deep into the archives of both The Roots and Nas. The set features 36 prime outtakes and rarities, including appearances from Slick Rick, Roy Ayers & Cee-Lo Green. Our favorite from the mix, which you can sample below, is the original version of The Roots hit “Break You Off” which featured an in-his-prime D’Angelo on the hook (Musiq Soulchild appeared on the final mix).
The Roots – Break You Off (Feat. D’Angelo) (Original Version)
Compiling a year end Best of Songs list is not exactly the easiest ask. There are SO MANY great songs. And ‘the line’ between making one’s list a true Best of list vs. a Favorite songs of the year list can be quite the thin one. Here’s our best go at it. Also, if you’ve yet to check out our Top 50 Albums of 2010 list then you can get familiar HERE. Happy Holidays, and thanks for reading! We’ll see y’all in 2011…
50. Professor Green – Just Be Good To Green (Feat. Lily Allen) (Buy It)
Honorable Mentions:
Corinne Bailey Rae – Are You Here
Fat Joe – Ha Ha (Feat. Young Jeezy)
Chris Turner – Liquid Love
Flying Lotus – And The World Laughs With You (Feat. Thom Yorke)
Lissie – Record Collector
Crookers – Cooler Couleur
Dale Earnhardt jr jr – Simple Girl
J. Cole – Premeditated Murder
Cee Lo Green – I Want You (Demo)
Small Black – Weird Machines
NERD – Hypnotize You
Eliza Doolittle – Skinny Genes
Usher – OMG (Feat. Will.i.am.)
First Aid Kit – Ghost Town
Foals – Spanish Sahara
Nicos Gun – Dirty Girl
Flying Lotus – And the World Laughs With You (Feat. Thom Yorke)
Sia – Clap Your Hands
Taio Cruz – Dynamite
Flight Facilities – Crave You (Feat. Giselle)
Ciara – Ride the Beat (Feat. Ludacris)
Tinchy Stryder – Game Over (Feat. Giggs, Professor Green, Tinie Tempah, Example, Devlin, Chipmunk)
Crystal Castles – Celestica
Gayngs – The Gaudy Side of Town
Big K.R.I.T. – Country Shit
Two Door Cinema Club – What You Know
Everest – Let Go
E-Train – Never Love You
Breton – The Well
Arcade Fire – Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
Badio – Kiss the Sky
Dylan LeBlanc – If Time Was for Wasting
Flux Pavilion – I Can’t Stop
Freddie Joachim – Transistors
Great Lake Swimmers – Gonna Make It Through This Year
Gorillaz – Empire Ants (Feat. Little Dragon)
Groove Armada – Paper Romance (Feat. Fenech-Soler)
Karen Elson – The Ghost Who Walks
Manic Street Preachers – I’m Leaving You For Solitude
Mark Ronson & The Business Int’l – Somebody to Love
PS I Love You – Facelove
Menomena – TAOS
Sleigh Bells – Kids
STS – Fuck A Hook (Prod. By Don Cannon)
2010! What a year! We laughed, we cried, we got into it! It’s mid to late December, so you know what time it is, the presents are being wrapped, the tree is being trimmed, and all the world’s music writers are popping champagne and slapping each other fives, cause it’s Best of list season! So here goes the b3sci staff’s picks for the Top 50 LPs of the year. P.S. Many thanks to our readers for a super cool 2010, the blog has grown in ways we never could’ve imagined really. 2011 is going to be massive (unveiling the now under-construction site redesign!) so stay tuned to b3sci in the new year!
Honorable Mention:
TOKiMONSTA – Midnight Menu
UNKLE – Where Did the Night Fall
Crookers – Tons of Friends
Neil Young – Le Noise
Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings – I Learned the Hard Way
Broken Social Scene – Forgiveness Rock Record
Darker My Love – Alive As You Are
Lissie – Catching a Tiger
Ty Segall – Melted
Avi Buffalo – Avi Buffalo
Kings of Leon – Come Around Sundown
Summer Fiction – Summer Fiction
Small Black – New Chain
Freddie Joachim – Midway
Reflection Eternal – Revolutions Per Minute
Warpaint – The Fool
Nas & Damian Marley – Distant Relatives
Magnetic Man – Magnetic Man
Sleigh Bells – Treats
Local Natives – Gorilla Manor
Belle & Sebastian – Write About Love
Gayngs – Relayted
Professor Green – Alive Til I’m Dead
Deftones- Diamond Eyes
Ellie Goulding – Lights
Eliza Doolittle caught our ears in February with the irresistible UK hit, “Skinny Genes”. Her self-titled debut LP has found itself in heavy rotation here at b3sci HQ and Eliza is currently prepping a US debut and mega year in 2011. We recently caught up to get the 411 on her live cover of Cee Lo Green’s smash “Fuck You“, her Jamie XX collaboration, favorite recipes, Shakespeare and more!
b3sci: When will fans in the States get their next chance to experience Eliza Doolittle in a live setting?
ELIZA: Oooo! Well I’m going to be playing some festivals like SXSW and some others in 2011. And hopefully not long after that I’ll be doing some touring!
b3sci: Your live cover of Cee-Lo Green’s “Fuck You” display’s some incredible musical instincts. How do you do it… what’s your inspiration?
ELIZA: I love performing live so I hope my enjoyment translates and infects everybody watching. I love creating music and when me and my band perform live we try and take the recordings to the next level.
b3sci: On a related note, your voice just seems to find “the pocket” of a great pop melody, has Pop music always been your major vocal influence, or is there a particular style of music that you like to claim the foundation of your soulful delivery?
ELIZA: I loved a lot of different music…growing up, I sang and practiced along to Lauryn Hill, Mariah and Beyonce, really soulful pop vocalists so maybe that’s rubbed off on me but I also love sweet songs like Burt Bacharach music and Beach Boys. And rock like Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers…I don’t know what has directly influenced me.
b3sci: Is there a particular track from your self-titled debut album that you feel especially connected to or proud of as an artist? If so, which and why?
ELIZA: I really love all the tracks …when writing the album I had about 25 finished songs to choose to go on the album and I really loved a lot of them so the ones I put on the album, I really, really love! I think if I had to pick one song I would pick “Rollerblades” as that was the first song I wrote where I really found my own sound for the first time and the rest of the album was based on that sound …so I owe the song a lot!
Eliza Doolittle – Rollerblades
b3sci:Can you shed some light on the happenings behind your connection with Jamie from The XX, and the “Money Box” remix?
ELIZA: I had met The XX a couple of times and am a big fan of their music. I just asked Jamie if he wanted to do a remix and he said yes… so I sent him the parts!
Eliza Doolittle – Money Box (Jamie XX Remix)
b3sci: If you could collaborate with anyone past present or future, who would it be with and why? Keep in mind they wouldn’t need to be a musician, and any sort of artistic collaboration counts.
ELIZA: Hmm, Shakespeare! He is the artistic genius of the entire time we’ve been on this earth!
b3sci: We need to ask you a favorite question of ours… Hypothetical situation, you’re stranded on an island and you can only chose between having with you either 30 songs OR 10 albums! Do you chose to have the albums or songs, and why?
ELIZA: 10 albums definitely because they are pieces of art as a whole album, and I would feel empty without the other songs. Also, an album has 10 songs average on it so that would mean 100 songs!
b3sci: Haha you found the loophole! So what are a few of the albums that you would bring along?
ELIZA: Oooo… Stevie Wonder – Songs in the Key of Life, Steely Dan – Aja, Destiny’s Child – The Writings on the Wall, Beach Boys – Pet Sounds. Just to name a few…
b3sci: What’s your take on the internet and your development as an artist? How would you ideally like to see both your career and your fans affected by the internet and your message moving forward?
ELIZA: Well the internet is a blessing and a curse. Through Twitter etc, I can promote my music and shows but through illegal downloads, I can’t make very much money out of my record. I would love for people to respect the hard work that’s put into making a record and not steal the music but I don’t know if that’s ever going to happen.
b3sci: So what’s your take on the blogosphere? Do you participate?
ELIZA: I have my own blog and I love making it. I love documenting my journey and it’s a great way to interact with my listeners and show them some of my interests other than just music. So you should check it out… http://blog.elizadoolittle.com
b3sci: Is there something killer that you’re listening to and influenced by at the current moment?
ELIZA: I’m loving Cee Lo Green’s new album The Lady Killer. It’s superb! Love Janelle Monae and The Drums too!
b3sci: What are your general observations about the reception of emerging artists from the UK in the states, and the same vice-versa?
ELIZA: I’m not sure really, I hope people will listen to my music regardless of where I’m from. I hope people will like it!
b3sci: What in your eyes are some of the popular misnomers about pop stars and the music industry among the public?
ELIZA: I think people take being in the public eye way too seriously. People judge very quickly for the smallest things. Sometimes I make a spelling mistake on Twitter and have a bombardment of tweets picking me up on it and making a massive unnecessary fuss. I would love it if people just listened to my music and took me in for that rather than my grammar skills etc! Haha! And I’m sure other singers get the same jip.
b3sci: We LOVE to cook! Give us one of your favorite recipes to try out.
ELIZA: Baked beans on toast is my specialty!
b3sci: Well that’s interesting, might need to try that. We’ve got to ask you, happiness… what in this world of ours does it for you?
ELIZA:Great music, great friends and family! And lots of laughter …That’s all you need.
bsci fave Eliza Doolittle holds nothing back when she throwsdown on this soulful cover of Cee-Lo Green’s “Fuck You”. shit is live, and damn it’s HOTTT! Eliza we’d never treat you wrong, call us!
J. Cole keeps the streak alive with this latest track surfaced from his anticipated Cole World LP. Alex da Kid works the boards for this gem that has hit written all over it..
Stones Throw let loose on yet another killer jam, this b-side is edIT of The Glitch Mob’s take on Machinedrum’s 2009 cut “Let It” feat. Melo-X. GET IT NOW on 12-inch!
due for an oct 11 uk release, “all the eastern girls” is the new single from recent loog records signees chapel club. the band released this breton remix as an appetizer to the new track’s release. the song is produced by paul epworth (cee-lo green, primal scream, jack penate, flo/machine) so you know its already awesome. we’re psyched. are you psyched? find out by pushing play!
