Archive for the ‘michael jackson’ tag

method man, ghostface killah & raekwon – our dreams

This jam is pretty much a slam dunk right off the bat. I mean, it’s pretty hard not to be when you have a wicked awesome sample like this from the late, great King of Pop. The sample is from “We’re Almost There”, a song that I have never heard before this, but it was clear right away who sang it. I think that motown Michael Jackson was one of my favorites, right after disco Michael Jackson. I’m not even planning to pretend that I know about the Wu-Tang Clan, but I do know that this track is the first single from the upcoming Wu-Massacre album, which is the “kind of side project from a few Wu-Tang members, but let’s not call it that, because we’re all in Wu-Tang already, so we don’t need to be in a different group” album, released today. I’m confused by this whole thing. It features Method Man, Ghostface Killah and Raekwon and is produced by RZA along with a whole cast of characters. I really should have recruited my resident hip-hop writer for this one since I’m sure he knows whats up, but don’t I at least get something for trying? I never claimed to be a music historian, only a purveyor of songs that are good. But what I do know is the heat level of this song, which is bordering on hot to quite hot.

Method Man, Ghostface Killah & Raekwon – Our Dreams

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michael jackson – rock with you (frankie knuckles remix)

in keeping with the quasi-theme of this week, heres another song thats a little on the lengthy side (thats what she said). if youve hated the mini theme this week, have no fear because today is probably the end of it. its a michael jackson remix (too soon?) by frankie knuckles whos a bit of a dj legend who was sort of one of the founders of house music (thanks wikipedia) and because of that i really have no idea how old this song is. and even though its a nearly 8 minute remix, the real highlight for me is the first few minutes. its pretty neat to hear this song with nothing but jacksons legendary voice and some great piano work with a touch of strings. theres some cool stuff that comes in the last few minutes, but the middle is pretty status quo as far as remixes go. whos down for releasing a whole album of jackson tunes with no accompaniment but the tickling of the ivories (too soon again?)? i really think it could work.

michael jackson – rock with you (frankie knuckles remix)

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michael jackson tribute part 2 – the hood internet – billie “wildcat” jean

before we get into todays tribute to MJ song, i just want to talk about how excited i am to see the handsome furs tonight at the detroit cityfest. formerly known as the tastefest, this event takes place every year centered around the 4th of july in detroits new center area and combines tons of delicious restaurants with tons of music stages. the best part is, all the music is free, and they usually draw some pretty big names. in the past, ive seen broken social scene and common. i think the year in between, spoon was playing and the new pornographers played another year as well but i missed them both. it should be wicked awesome.

ok, on to the second and final part of our tribute to the late and great king of pop. seriously, those leg moves where he lifts his leg and moves his foot from side to side are crazy to me. todays track is courtesy of the hood internet and was just released this past friday and you can download it on their webpage. the hood internet is comprised of abx (aaron brink) and stv slv (steve reidell) and they specialize in awesome remixes of hip hop and indie rock. i am a huge fan of mashups and have a great appreciation for them because they not only give you a fresh look at some of your favorite songs, but i feel as though its extremely difficult to make them work.

todays mashup is of billie jean and “wildcat” by ratatat, a favorite instrumental group of mine. and by group, i mean its made up of two guys from new york, evan mast and mike stroud. i saw these guys live a few months back and it was killer. now heres the beauty of mashups. if you would have told me about this, i would have thought about the two songs and would not have been able to imagine them actually working in harmony, but after listening to the song, it really works much much better than i thought it would. and thats why i would not be good at creating mashups. rest in peace mike.

the hood internet – billie “wildcat” jean

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michael jackson tribute part 1 – discovery – i want you back

ok so the biggest pop star of all times passed away, and all i said about it was a sentence. but thats because i was in the middle of a theme week — the first ever theme week — and i couldnt justify throwing that off board for something i could talk about later, especially since that would be a time when not everyone in the whole world would be talking about it all the time nonstop. but then after we organized a 15 person pizza party at work today complete with watching michael jackson videos in the conference room, i decided that i wanted to put up a couple tracks in memory (two to be exact), but with a twist, and was lucky to hear two tracks today that i thought fit in quite nicely with whats been going on around this site lately.

the first track is by discovery (the second track is tomorrow). thanks to both karen and ursula for bringing them to my attention. discovery is a side project of rostam batmanglij of vampire weekend and wes miles of ra ra riot and its pretty much nothing you would expect to come out of those two groups, in a good way (dont worry, not hating on either of them, cuz im not a hoe). even though theyve been noodling around for a few years, their first album isnt officially released until july 7, but you can hear most of it streaming in about a zillion places, and im really really liking it so far. its kind of super lo-fi and hi-fi(what does that even mean?) at the same time. im bad at describing things. anyway, one of the tracks on the album is a cover of the famous jackson 5 hit “i want you back”.

do not click on the play button below if you are expecting a straight up cover with motown sounds, because you will be sorely disappointed. do click on the play button below if you are expecting an electronic dream world version of this song, because you will not be sorely disappointed. it features what i like to refer to as voice immodulation (even though i know that this is actually what voice immodulation is) and electric shooting star effects. what do y’all think of this? if you dont like it as a cover, you should still listen to other discovery tracks because they are “the whip”. im also pretty sure that this song features the yoshi noise from super mario world featured prominently after the first chorus. warning — song doesnt start for about 15 seconds, so wait for it.

discovery – i want you back

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climax week day 3 – the new pornographers – the bleeding heart show

we interrupt your regularly scheduled program so i can acknowledge the king of pop. alls im gonna do is mention how awesomely 70s the “dont stop til you get enough” video is, and how i still really really want to learn the thriller dance.

back to the task at hand….it just wouldnt be climax week without the new pornographers. get it?! i am hilarious. but seriously folks, im not. anyway id heard about the new pornographers for quite a while way back when before id ever heard them. they seemed to be yet another one of these canadian supergroups, except there are some americans too. but the group features tons of other people that have their own projects. there’s the unofficial leader of the group, ac newman, his partner in crime dan bejar of destroyer fame, the ever classy alt-country crooner neko case, and kathryn calder (who i believe is also a niece of someone in the band) of immaculate machine. and those are the ones i know off the top of my head, so im sure there are other side projects by these and the other members of the group. because of this, you never really know who will show up on stage when they tour. i was lucky enough to catch them last spring at my favorite new venue the crofoot and while dan bejar wasnt there, i was happy to see that neko case was.

regardless, id been hearing about their super poppy sound but never really gave it a shot until i heard this track, the bleeding heart show. i think it was featured in some sort of commercial a while back for a college or something but cant remember which one. luckily for me, i picked up a copy of “twin cinema” and then explored the rest of their catalog and am stronger and wiser because of it. is there really anyone who hasnt heard “use it” and loved it instantly? place a few of these catchy as F songs next to some neko case ballads (like “these are the fables”) and youve just got a great, well-rounded album thats loved by both young and old. it even ends with another climactic track, “stacked crooked”, which is also a favorite of mine. while this is definitely my favorite album of theirs, the ones that came before or after are nothing to bawk at, which i thought was a real saying, but spell check is telling me otherwise.

whats so great about this song? the change from start to finish. if you listen to the song, you will know exactly what im talking about. this song has a nicely defined beginning, middle and end, each section a little louder, a little bolder, a little happier than the last, until you arrive at the final theme in all of its major chorded, harmonized glory. cap it off with some excellent drum fills and the one-of-a-kind voice of neko case and you can thank me later.

the new pornographers – the bleeding heart show

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