Remix: M.I.A. ft. Missy Elliott & Rye Rye - "Bad Girls (Switch Remix)"

At Soundcloud you can listen to this Switch remix of the M.I.A. track featuring verses from Missy Elliott and Rye Rye.

Album Review - Santigold: Master Of My Make-Believe

Santigold
Master Of My Make-Believe
Rating: Grrrr

Second albums are a tricky proposition. So many bands/artists coming off a hit debut fall prey to either releasing something half-assed too quick, taking too long and losing any forward momentum and being forgotten, or going so far off the mark from their signature sound that it confounds fans. It's been four years since Santigold's debut, which in this Internet-must-have-immediately climate is practically a lifetime. In that time she has undergone a name change (there was some legal wrangling over her use of Santogold, so to placate the other side she switched to Santigold), has worked with everyone from Nick Zinner, GZA, M.I.A., Beastie Boys, Mark Ronson, and Lily Allen, but has not put out much in the way of her own material. Her debut was an amazingly assured collection of alt-rock, hip-hop, EDM, reggae, and a hundred other genres all mashed up into a smooth confection. As I mentioned, four years is a long time; enough time for Santigold to change up her sound completely and for her signature sound to become dated. I was a bit concerned when I saw that she was working with a huge array of different producers for Master Of My Make-Believe, including her original producers Diplo and Switch, along with Nick Zinner and Karen O of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Dave Sitek of TV On The Radio, Boys Noize, and Buraka Som Sistema, thinking that the stylistic diversity might overwhelm the album. As the album title and striking cover photo demonstrate, however, Santigold is in complete control of her vision. Master Of My Make-Believe is a further honing of the sound from her debut, and while it may not reach the giddy heights of that wonderful record, it is a solid step forward for her.

Master Of My Make-Believe isn't an immediately gratifying album; there is nothing as bracing as "L.E.S. Artistes," "You'll Find A Way," or "Lights Out." In fact, it takes quite a few listens for the hooks to appear and grab you. There are actually only a few tracks that could be called singles. "Disparate Youth," which is fast becoming one of my favorite tracks of the year, marries a jaunty reggae beat with new wave blasts of guitars and washes of keyboards, adding an insistent backing to Santigold's tribute to the protests in the Middle East.



Buraka Som Sistema add a blast percussive heft to "Big Mouth" that carries Santigold's lightning fast vocal delivery.



"Freak Like Me" and "Look At These Hoes" both are aided by upbeat percussion and aggressive delivery from Santigold. Producer Switch adds his signature world beat flavor to the former, while partner in crime Diplo works with Boys Noize on the latter, arming the track with a low end throb and a variety of odd sounds from cash registers and toy whistles.





The remainder of the album finds Santigold in a more somber, serious mode. "God From The Machine" has a dark, dub-like feel, with Santigold lamenting about the rise of the Christian right,



deriding the price of fame in "Fame,"



or using the tender ballad "This Isn't Our Parade" to showcase her own unique path in life.



Aside from the twitchy opener "GO!" none of the other tracks really get the BPMs moving, and, as such, there is a hesitation at first with getting behind the record. Indeed, the middle of the record has a long stretch of mid-tempo tracks that adds weight to the album's meager 38 minute run time, and I admit made my initial pleasure with the record hard to come by. These tracks though are excellently produced and sneak up you in time. Just making the time for that to happen might be too much for the casual listener. Master Of My Make-Believe can be considered a "difficult" second album, and you will not get much of an argument from me. I will also admit that sometimes I am not willing to give a record adequate time to grow on me, but in this case, I am glad I didn't give up too easily.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

Alex Clare: The Lateness Of The Hour

Alex Clare
The Lateness Of The Hour
Rating: Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It

Over the past couple of years, dubstep has slowly been infiltrating pop music and away from pure bass aggression. Artists as diverse as James Blake, Katy B, and Jamie Woon are adding dubstep textures to their music. Even the first single from Britney Spears' latest album threw in a dubstep break. It is only a matter of time before it is fully embraced by the mainstream, and one indication is the debut album from British singer Alex Clare, The Lateness of the Hour. Produced by Diplo and Switch, the album showcases Clare's soulful voice, but chooses to take the opposite route of traditionalists like Adele, and allows for more wobbly dubstep bass and other international styles, like Moombahton and Reggaton, that Diplo has soaked up over the years. The first half of the album is almost perfection, each track building off the next, taking chances, adding subtle effects and textures. The back half, unfortunately, takes a hug nosedive and never really regains control. What could have been a classic debut album merely becomes a promising one.

Leading off with "Up All Night," the album kicks into full gear with a blast of reggaeton/punk, the pounding drums pulsating under pile-driving guitars.



"Treading Water" begins several notches down, focusing on Clare's beautiful voice over cautious keyboards, before the skittering drums and wobbly dubstep bass enter the picture and take this gorgeous track to another level.



"Relax My Beloved" is the most dramatic and haunting track on the album. Tension filled and ominous, like a blues lament from hell, it clearly is one of the highlights of the album.



"Too Close" also ratchets up the drama, taking almost true hardcore dubstep bass at the chorus, making it stand out in the crowded pop music field.





"Too Close" has recently been featured in an ad for Bing and Internet Explorer.

Despite a misjudged cover of Prince's "When Doves Cry," the album continues with album highlight "Hummingbird," the simplest and most heartfelt song on the record. Minimal instrumentation never detracts from Clare's impassioned vocal.



The remainder of the album, unfortunately just doesn't live up to the first half. "Hands Are Clever" starts the downward spiral, beginning strongly with blasts of funk horns and guitar, but descending to almost comical levels on the chorus, sounding like a third rate Sly Stone cover band.



"Tightrope" and "Whispering" are fairly minimalistic tracks that oversell their dubstep trappings. And the final two tracks, the ballads "Sanctuary" and "I Won't Let You Down," suffer from being over-top and too minimal, respectively. Only "Love You" retains the magic of the first half of the record, evoking the sound of recent solo work from Jamie Smith of The xx.



Although the back half of the record lacks the immediacy of the front half, it is still undeniable that Clare is an artist to watch. It just appears that Clare might have been apprehensive about making an album that was entirely dubstep influenced, and tossed in some tracks that would make the album more palatable to a wider audience. Instead of making the album better, it just shows how the dubstep tracks support his vocals better. Based on the first half of the record, however, I am still anxiously waiting to see what else this guy can do.

Rating Guide

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.

M.I.A.: Vicki Leekz Mixtape

M.I.A.
Vicki Leekz Mixtape
Rating: Grrrr

M.I.A. had a difficult year last year, igniting a shitstorm by tweeting the phone number of a journalist that wrote an unflattering portrait of her in the New York Times Magazine, and releasing MAYA, an album of unbridled electronic noise and agitprop, that was met with complete and utter indifference by her audience and critics. I was one of the few people that saw through the clutter and felt MAYA was an underrated success, it being a critique of our society's over-stimulation by the media and technology, and how all these new tools at communication and connection only serve to make us more isolated.

Continuing in that same mode, M.I.A. releases the free Vicki Leekz Mixtape, as a tribute to the Wikileaks controversy. Working with almost all the same producers she worked with on MAYA (Diplo, Switch and Blaqstarr; Rusko has been mentioned, however, he has since tweeted that he was not involved), the album is another set of politically contradictory rhymes and rants from M.I.A. set to a blitzkrieg of electronic beats and synths. If you disliked MAYA, there will obviously be a predisposition to dislike this mixtape, but while there are similarities there are more differences that should be taken into account.

For one, this a much more focused release, it is barely over the 30 minute mark and goes by quickly and easily, and hones a lot of MAYA's ideas down with surgical precision. The release is way more beat heavy, with lots of detailed programming and interesting textures, which makes this a lot more "fun" listening experience. And it is less in your face and agitated, being almost a pop-leaning series of tracks.

I can't really speak to the political side of the record, as I really can't pin down what M.I.A. is truly pissed about or what she is trying to comment on. Just as you think you are getting a handle on it, she changes her mind and goes down another path. Half the record seems to be about censorship and government control, then it becomes about too much communication and technology; you can't win with her it seems.

Murky political commentary stances aside, Vicki Leekz is truly a fun listen, the beats are challenging and interesting, and it rushes by at such a frenetic pace you don't have a chance to get bored or lose interest. Plus, the damn thing is free, so what are you complaining about?
Download it for yourself and come up with your own opinion.

Here is a link to the free download:

http://prettymuchamazing.com/reviews/albumreviews/vickyleekx

Rating Guide

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top albums of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and peaks one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been trimmed or polished.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.