Jovi Rockwell, “Killin Dem” MP3
After Jovi Rockwell’s smash “Rizzla” melded pop, patois and a sample that sounded like international intrigue, the Kingston native started moving in a more utilitarian mainstream-sounding direction, almost like Rihanna’s early career when she dropped “Pon de Replay” then was suddenly sampling Soft Cell songs. Difference being, Rockwell’s versatility allows her to do songs like her new one, “Killin Dem,” which sounds like something we want to choreograph to: much sass on beats recalling Just Blaze with buoyant synth futurism. Also, um, Jovi can sing.
Download: Jovi Rockwell, “Killin Dem” (via Mad Decent)
Video: Amerie, “Heard Em All”
The obvious touchstone here is Rihanna, what with the badgirl saunter and Grace Jones-ish hoodie. But as much as we love the Rih, sometimes she doesn’t come with the oomph we’d expect from someone trying to give us juvenile delinquent-face: instead of Billy Idol snarls and erase-you dismissals, we get a blank slate. Enter Amerie, who has this tough lady thing down without overdoing it. Maybe it’s the inherent intelligence she conveys, expressive eyes, or who knows, it could just be the chainlink fence, like she’s hanging out by the dumpster behind the school on the “smoking hill,” or whatever was your school’s equivalent to the place the cool arty kids liked to talk smack.
Kinema, “Circles” MP3
Despite the fact that :Kinema: would like us to surround their name with colons like a fence of punctuation a la Smog, there is nothing annoying about the Brit trio’s glossy Phoenix-y pop. This song’s welcoming guitars are the sound equivalent of wearing a giant fluffy turtleneck and walking through Central Park in autumn—total comfort food.
Download: Kinema, “Circles” (via The Fast Life)
Studio Time with MNDR
Right now MNDR is our favorite electronic pop singer/producer and gear head who crafts effervescent jams we simply cannot shake from our brains while posting the deepest, nerdiest, most pocket protectorly posts about synthesizers on her blog. When she’s not performing her “Pon de Floor” remix with Major Lazer at our parties or playing with addictive Oakland mind-gardeners tRIANGLE, she’s recording her debut album in a Chelsea studio with her colleague Peter Wade. We stopped by to hear some amazing new songs and talk to the duo about synths, patches, grindcore and unicorns.
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posted on Sep 18, 2009 in FADER TV, FADER TV MUSIC CHANNEL SPOTLIGHT, MUSIC CHANNEL, MUSIC STUDIO TIME SHOW tags electronic/dance, Major Lazer, MNDR, Peter Wade, Pop, Studio Time, tRIANGLE
Air France, “Gothenberg Belongs to Me” MP3 + Video
Air France’s synth-pop is breathless and breezy 100% of the time regardless, but apparently when they’re repping for their hometown Gothenberg, Sweden, they step it up about seven notches and practically start levitating. “Gothenberg Belongs to Me” is part of a full DIY tourist-board style Gothenberg outreach program made simply for the love, complete with a video that will actually make you want to move there and partake in its beauty. Of course, we already discovered its appeal in FADER 56, when we visited the city for our Tough Alliance cover story, but Air France puts it best in their “love letter in three parts,” dedicated “to everyone whose heart skips a beat at the sight of an intersection, feeling dizzy at the amount of routes available, and to everyone who believe that a city is not just a home, it’s a lifelong companion.” Sigh! Their romance is contagious, so big up to New York from the FADER and wherever you come from, too. (via RCRD LBL)
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posted on Sep 10, 2009 in MP3 / STREAMS tags Air France, electronic/dance, Gothenberg, Pop, RCRD LBL, Tough Alliance
Video: Cocosuma, “Miracle Man”
French pop trio Cocosuma already had us on lock with their perfectly catchy, air-conditioned summer jam “Miracle Man,” but then they had to go and make this awesomely art directed referencing so many painted Mexican skulls, which are said to have healing properties (el hombre milagro). Maybe by watching this video, your swine flu will be cured. Not sure if the duck at the end is on some curandera (Mexican healer) shit, but definitely sure that it is eye candy.
REHEATERS: Serge Gainsbourg & Jane Birkin’s Histoire de Melody Nelson
- story Peter Macia
From FADER #61, our revisitation of Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin’s classic psych-funk sex romp, Histoire de Melody Nelson, available now from Light In The Attic.
Video: Lykke Li, “Tonight”
- story THE FADER
The first time we saw Lykke Li perform a year ago she had a bullhorn and ten billion necklaces. She’s had a serious year since then (not just anyone gets to perform at the MTV Woodies [ahem, Asher Roth]). Looks like she’s mellowing out for 2009, setting the pace in crisp black and white, showing just her face. Her hair is wet. She looks like a young mom dropping her kid off at school.
