Category: R&B (Page 1 of 11)

Songstress Delilah: Peaking the Charts and Piquing your Interest

November 24, 2012 /

For a country smaller than the state of Florida, England incessantly burgeons with musical talent. A modern “British Invasion” has emerged on this year’s music front, with radio charts offering an English mash-up of thumping bass and the thrum of banjos. From Alex Clare’s experimental drum-and-bass to Ellie Goulding’s indie pop melodies, the eclectic range of British influence has made an influential mark on the contemporary music scene.

Another innovative artist climbing the UK charts is twenty-two year old Delilah; a London-based songstress gaining notable praise with her debut album, “From the Roots Up.” The freshman LP skillfully combines ambient, electro-bass beats with sultry, R&B vocals; successfully achieving a bold range of genre-bending tracks.

Delilah’s first single “Go” samples lyrics from the 1983 Chaka Khan hit, “Ain’t Nobody,” while flawlessly incorporating her own edgy, carnal-driven undertones. The provocative track peaked at #21 on the UK Singles Chart, and amassed heavy radio rotation.

“From the Roots Up” is a candid showcase of Delilah’s lyrical versatility, offering realistic – at times haunting – accounts of love and lust. Physical expression is glorified throughout the album, highlighting her frank and unapologetic approach to sexuality.

Delilah is certainly an artist on the rise, presenting a fresh culmination of innovation and talent, but what’s your opinion? Take a peek at the creative video for her single, “Love You So,” and see if this English artist tickles your fancy….

Ambient, Artists, Electronica, From Across the Pond, Get to Know, Me Myself and iPod, Progressive, R&B, Vocal

Bullz-Eye’s Favorite Albums of 2010: Staff Writer Ted Asregadoo’s picks

December 6, 2010 /

The days of getting lost in an album have passed me by.  This year, I really tried to rekindle that lost listening art of playing entire albums – instead of compiling playlists in iTunes.  It hasn’t been easy.  I think the ease of digitally downloading albums has dried up the sense of anticipation that used to come with a purchase of a physical copy of an album at a record store.  Now, the record store is just part of the millions and billions of distractions that await you on the Internet – much of it for free.

Now, I don’t mean to go on a diatribe against the devaluation of music because of the Internet, but one thing that has occurred because of the sheer plethora of music available with one click of your mouse is a kind of ADD when it comes to listening to music. My colleague both here and at Popdose (that would be Jeff Giles) has written about it more eloquently than I can, but the sentiment is very much the same:  because of the volume of music that is available in downloadable form, it’s difficult for me to form a deep connection with an entire album.   If we could flash back 20 years, it would have been a different story to feature 10 albums.  Nowadays, it’s rare that an entire album can hold my attention.

But, never say never, right?

What you will find here are mostly my favorite songs of 2010, but occasionally you’ll find entire albums.  I know, after all that “downloadable music is ruining my attention span” crap, I say that there were some albums that really captured my attention.  But like I said, I’ve tried to rekindle the art of listening to entire albums, and while I feel I’m losing that battle, I haven’t entirely lost the war.   So, here we go with my top 10 of 2010!

10. Paper or Plastic, “The Honest Man”
Every now and then a link arrives in my inbox that lives up to the hype.  Case in point is the New York group, Paper or Plastic, who has a kind of Ben Folds thing going on with “The Honest Man.”  The song is an example of some very lovely power pop, and you’ll find yourself humming the chorus after a few listens. The band is giving away their EP Ron Save the King on their website.  Get it, if only for “The Honest Man.”

9. Somebody’s Darling, “Lonely”
In my review of this album, I was upfront about my allergy to country music – even if it’s alt-country.  But Somebody’s Darling has enough rock-n-roll in them to make the musical waters safe for a guy with my particular affliction.  “Lonely” is by far my favorite track on the album, and it’s not difficult to hear why. The song is just one big fireball of energy with a great driving beat and some wailing guitars.  But it’s the full-throated vocals from Amber Ferris that takes this song from good to great.

8. Daft Punk:  Tron Legacy
I used to be an avid soundtrack collector, but those days have passed me by.  When I got a hold of the “Tron Legacy” soundtrack, however, it reminded me what I used to love about these kind of soundtracks:  the combination of standard orchestration with tasteful touches of synth laced in for good measure.  And that’s what Daft Punk has delivered in what could have been some cheesy-ass electronica music cues.  Serving the weighty tone of the movie, Daft Punk avoided the familiar clubby territory of their music and went right for a fusion of classic music cues with flourishes of electronica.  

7. Kanye West, “Dark Fantasy”
While most music critics are jizzing in their pants over Kanye’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, I was underwhelmed by most of it. However, give me a great hook, and I’ll take West’s tone-deaf singing any day.  And Kanye delivers both on the album opener, but thankfully keeps the singing to a minimum. Sure, the chorus of the song is tremendously catchy, but West also adds some lyrical heft with rhymes like these:

Hey, teacher, teacher / Tell me how do you respond to students/

And refresh the page and restart the memory / Respark the soul and rebuild the energy / We stopped the ignorance, we killed the enemies / Sorry for the night demons still visit me / The plan was to drink until the pain over / But what’s worse, the pain or the hangover?

6. Devo, “Sumthin’”
Devo was such a part of my high school and college experience, that it was so refreshing to hear that classic Devo sound resurrected for 2010.  With “Sumthin’,” it’s like it’s 1982 all over again, and it’s heartening that the Spud Boys, after their breakup and detour into the world of TV soundtrack work, haven’t lost that jerkin’ back and forth feel on this song.  The entire album is good, but this track stands out as the strongest on the album – and one that I keep coming back to over and over and over. 

5. Prince,  “Lavaux”
In this day of the instant download, how do you create a buzz around an album release? Well, if you’re Prince, you make it difficult to obtain the album outside of the certain geographic region. Case in point is the release of 20Ten – which Prince only gave away in the UK to readers of The Daily Mirror and The Daily Record.  He undoubtedly knew that once the physical CD was ripped and uploaded to a torrent, it would go viral and people would be talking about the entire album – and not just a single.  Alas, the album for me was more of a miss than a hit.  But when Prince did “hit,” as he did in “Lavaux,” it was reminder of the kind of sublime pieces of music he’s capable of making.

4. Chromeo, “Hot Mess”
This Canadian duo’s brilliant lead track on their 2010 release, Business Casual, is a sonic delight with some wonderful ‘80s throwback production techniques. Plus the fact that song is just pure pop joy doesn’t hurt matters at all.  Pretty good work from a group whose lead singer is working on a PhD at Columbia University.

3. Arcade Fire, “Suburban War”
Another album that’s bound to make many ‘o critic’s top 10 this year, and yet it’s another album that really didn’t impress me.  But what did impress me was “Suburban War” with its ’60s-era Byrds-inspired guitar work and hypnotic vocals. If the song stayed with that tempo and style, it would have been a kind of sleepy standout track on the album, but Arcade Fire did something interesting:  they upped the tempo (and the tension) of the song for the final ride out that masterfully raised the emotional depth – which is something rare in popular music.

2. Rush, “Caravan”
I don’t apologize for my love of Rush, but I’m not such a fanboy that I will laud everything the band puts out.  The two singles they released in conjunction with their Time Machine Tour are a study in contrasts.  “Caravan” has a number of classic Rush flourishes, but it’s also a song that has enough quirky elements that it demonstrates Rush’s commitment to progressive rock in that, they are never quite comfortable resting on their reputation.  I have to admit to not liking the song when it first came out, but when I saw it performed live, it was such a blistering rocker that it quickly became a favorite in Rush’s oeuvre.  I can’t say the same for “BU2B (Brought up to Believe)” – which I found a bit of retread of some of the weaker songs on Snakes & Arrows.

1. The Gaslight Anthem, American Slang
If you’re a fan of rock anthems that’ll get you singing songs that sound like they were written during Bruce Springteen’s heyday, then you’ll fall in love with the Gaslight Anthem’s second full album release.  Song after song exemplifies the best in this style of rock music. The album is free of any filler, and while the hybrid of Springsteen and the Clash suggests a lack of originality, The Gaslight Anthem are able to use the old wine skins that has influenced their music and make a new wine that’s tasty, taut, and thunderous. 

Alternative, Americana, Best of 2000s, CD Reviews, Country, Electronica, Hip Hop, Instrumental, Pop, Power Pop, Progressive, R&B, Rap, Rock, Soul

Bullz-Eye’s Top Ten Music Moments of 2010: Staff Writer Rob Smith’s Picks

December 6, 2010 /

In my mind, 2010 will be remembered more for moments of strangeness, oddity, and lessened expectation, than it will be for transcendent music. The throwaway nature of pop has never been more transient or incidental; technology enables us to hear as much as we want and, by the sheer volume of those possibilities, to actively listen as little as we ever have. How else to explain Ke$ha and the Glee cast recordings, much less the continuing nonsense of Black Eyed Peas? Raise your hand if you think Bruno Mars or Rihanna are still going to be churning out hits ten years from now, or that Katy Perry (more about her below) will still be squeezing into latex after she and her pasty Brit hubby have two or three little Russells to contend with, and things start saggin’.

I will remember 2010 for several key moments:

Top 10 Music Moments of 2010

1. The Roots, Being the Roots. Are they the best band on the planet? It’s hard to argue when their versatility is put on display every weeknight, and when they reiterate their overall excellence by turning out two of the best records of the year (How I Got Over and Wake Up, with John Legend).

2. Dio, Chilton Die. We lost metal’s gentle sorcerer (Ronnie James Dio) and Big Star’s genius-in-residence (Alex Chilton) within a few months of one another. May they both rock in peace.

3. “The Bed Intruder Song.” Some television producer obviously thought putting Antoine Dodson’s rant on the evening news would make for amusing viewing. Add Autotune, YouTube, and stir, and you have the most unlikely viral hit of the year.

4. Michael Jackson single: Real or Fake? It’s him. Not even Sony would be so dumb as to taint their posthumous cash cow by trying to pawn off a soundalike as the man himself. It’s too easy to get caught. Until MJ rises from the dead (which I firmly believe will happen), this is how he’ll stay in the headlines.

5. ICP’s “Miracles” Video. There is no WTF moment from 2010 nearly as WTF as this WTF moment.

6. Katy Perry’s Breasts Make Videos. Perry’s videos display the two things she does best: making catchy singles and showing off her breastuses. Not since chocolate and peanut butter were mixed by H.B. Reese has a combination worked so well.

7. Rush Become Movie Stars. Who’da thunk the kimono-wearin’, prog-playin’, not-very-pretty Canucks who made Hemispheres and 2112 would ever be so compelling on film? They’re funny, charming, and have more inside jokes than you and your seventh-grade buddies did.

8. Tyler to Idol. It is my fervent hope that Steven Tyler’s defection to television does what 20 years of shitty Aerosmith records was unable to do—namely, stick a fork in a band that has rattled on long past its expiration date.

9. Bret Michael Survives. Dude’s got nine lives. Twenty-five years of groupies, lite metal, drugs, booze, and more groupies has to be good for you.

10. Quasi release “Bye Bye Blackbird.” It’s been in their set for a while, but to hear it on American Gong was something of a revelation. Play it loud enough, and you will be moved. Maybe out of your shoes.

Adult Contemporary, Alternative, Documentaries, Funk, Hip Hop, Lists, Metal, Pop, Power Pop, Progressive, Punk, R&B, Rap, Rock, Soul

Bullz-Eye’s Favorite Albums of 2010: Staff Writer Mike Heyliger’s picks

December 6, 2010 /

I seriously can’t remember the last time I’ve had to struggle with a list of my favorite music in a particular year. Actually, I can, so I should clarify: I seriously can’t remember the last time I’ve had so much good music to choose from when paring down my list of favorites for the year. Upon looking at my CD collection (yes, I’m one of those guys), I still see another 10 or 20 albums that could make the list if I listen more carefully. But without the benefit of the free time it would take to check those CDs out, here’s a list of the 20 best albums I’ve heard in 2010.

1. Kanye West: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
As much as Kanye’s childish tirades infuriate me, I’ll be damned if his music doesn’t always win me over. Fantasy is amazing from just about every facet: musically, lyrically, thematically. I’ll forgive ‘Ye for a million idiotic public statements if he keeps making music like this.

2. Gil Scott-Heron: I’m New Here
One of two albums in my Top 20 recorded by artists re-emerging after a 14-year absence, I’m New Here is a haunting listen. The ravages of time have wreaked havoc on Scott-Heron’s voice, but much like Bob Dylan’s most recent work, age has given the artist’s voice additional resonance.

3. The Black Keys: Brothers
Sometimes the album that breaks a band through to a mainstream audience is indeed their best work. That’s definitely the case with the Black Keys’ Brothers. Bluesy garage-rock with enough hooks to keep guys like me interested, I feel like this is the album Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney were aiming for with their Danger Mouse-helmed Attack & Release album. As it turned out, they didn’t (really) need Danger Mouse, anyway, just their bad selves and the ghosts of Muscle Schoals, Alabama.

4. The Roots: How I Got Over
Can someone give these guys a medal for the most consistently awesome act not only in hip-hop, but in music period? I feel like the Roots are incapable of making a bad album even if they tried to. Although I suppose if they replaced Black Thought with Jimmy Fallon…

5. Cee Lo Green: The Lady Killer
“Fuck You” (or “Forget You,” if you’re easily offended) was a gimmick single, sure. However, even gimmick singles can be genius, and what’s more is that the Goodie Mob/Gnarls Barkley frontman was able to back the promise of that song up with an incredible album. I wish he rapped more, but when you can outsing just about every artist in contemporary pop and R&B, I guess you can be excused.

6. Nas & Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley: Distant Relatives
Needless to say, this was a good year for hip-hop. Political and passionate, but still sweet and melodic, Nas is on point lyrically and Marley provides the album with organic, sympathetic production. He should produce every Nas album from here on in.

7. Band of Horses: Infinite Arms
You will never hear sweeter harmonies than on this record. You might not hear better country-flavored rock and roll, either. Give the Byrds or CSNY a little modern flair, and you’ve got Band of Horses in a nutshell.  I also doubt you’ll see cooler facial hair.

8. Vampire Weekend: Contra
Despite being released in the dead of winter, Vampire Weekend captured the sound of summer for the second consecutive album. It’s easy to overlook lead singer Ezra Koenig (as well as keyboardist Rostam Batmanglij)’s perpetually tongue-in-cheek lyrics when the music is this fun, but that’s not to say you should.

9. Steven Page: Page One
His former Barenaked Ladies soldiered on admirably without him (All in Good Time was a pretty okay album), but after hearing Page’s solo debut, it becomes obvious that he took a great deal of songwriting and singing magic with him when he left.

10. John Legend & the Roots: Wake Up!
It was a great idea for John Legend to team up with the Roots for this collection of mostly obscure soul covers. As great as the idea was, though, I can’t help but wish Legend, ?uestlove and Co. would have put all the passion and soul they put into Wake Up into a collection of equally passionate and soulful originals.

11. Robyn: Body Talk
She may not sell as much as contemporaries like Britney and Christina, but there’s no doubt who makes the most interesting music. Even if “Body Talk” consisted of “Dancing on My Own” ten times in a row, it would have been worthy of inclusion on this list. Thankfully, there’s other material on here that further qualifies Body Talk as the dance-pop album of 2010.

12. El DeBarge: Second Chance–
One of R&B’s greatest should’ve-been stories returns after a decade and a half in the wilderness, and he hasn’t lost a step. Talented enough to write beautifully about his personal struggles and smooth enough to create masterful collaborations with the normally insufferable likes of 50 Cent, this is a must-have for contemporary R&B fans.

13. B.o.B.: The Adventures of Bobby Ray
This Atlanta newcomer made a definite case for the eclecticism of modern-day hip-hop. Capable of recording playa anthems with T.I. as well as rockin’ pop jams with Dr. Luke and Rivers Cuomo, rapper/singer/multi-instrumentalist B.o.B made the year’s most fun record.

14. Big Boi: Sir Luscious Leftfoot: The Son of Chico Dusty
The less-heralded member of OutKast more than made up for his partner Andre 3000’s absence with an album funkier than those drawers you’ve worn all week. Mixing socio-political commentary with a fair amount of shit-talking, Leftfoot almost made me stop wanting an OutKast reunion. Almost.

15. Crowded House: Intriguer
One of the best songwriters of his generation, Neil Finn never disappoints. The second album by Crowded House Mach 2 (well, 3, actually) finds the band regaining their footing with aplomb following the somewhat tentative Time on Earth album.

16. Method Man, Ghostface Killah & Raekwon: Wu-Massacre
Wu-Tang Clan certainly has the capability to be scattered and messy. Even a cursory listen to much of their recent output (together and solo) bears that truth out. However, this album finds group MVP Ghostface re-teaming with a newly energized Raekwon as well as Method Man, who obviously had a fire lit under his lazy ass by the other two men. Result? The best Wu product in a decade, easily. So good I won’t even harp on the paltry 30-minute run time.

17. Bilal: Airtight’s Revenge
It sucks that all left-of-center R&B vocalists seem to fall under the radar at one point or another. Nine years after his solid debut, 1st Born Second, Bilal Oliver returned from space (or wherever he was hiding) to deliver his deliciously bizarre sophomore effort. Who needs D’angelo when you’ve got this dude?

18. RJD2: The Colossus
Is it hip-hop? Is it indie rock (what the hell is indie rock, anyway)? Is it R&B? Who the hell cares? It’s good! One of the more underappreciated underground (damn, I was gonna say hip-hop) artists out there, RJ capably straddles boundaries and genre lines with his excellent fourth solo album.

19. Scissor Sisters: Night Work
The sophomore slump killed the Scissor Sisters’ Ta-Dah critically, while some unfortunate comments made at a retail convention killed the group’s career commercially. After taking a few years off, Jake Shears and company returned with the year’s most decadent, hilarious dance record. Shears sings like Barry Gibb’s long lost son and he’s got a capable foil in the band’s female member Ana Matronic.

20. Drake: Thank Me Later
I hate Lil Wayne. So the fact that his protege ranks on my list of the year’s top albums says much about Drake’s level of talent. The amiable Canadian might be an unlikely hip-hop star, and the buzz that surrounded him prior to his album’s release was way over-inflated, but good music always wins out over buzz, and Drake’s rapping and singing skills are capable (if not amazing) enough to have won me over. Maybe Weezy should concentrate on being a talent scout or something.

Alternative, Artists, CD Reviews, Dance, Electronica, Funk, Hip Hop, Indie, Pop, R&B, Rock, Soul

Nicki Minaj: Pink Friday

November 24, 2010 /


RIYL: Rihanna, Missy Elliott, Lil’ Kim

Kick off your first album with a track titled “I’m the Best,” and you’re making a hell of an announcement — either you’re more gifted than your peers, or you’ve just got the biggest balls. With Pink Friday, Nicki Minaj displays a bit of both: though it’s admittedly an uneven affair, this album contains some of the best hip-hop/R&B you’re likely to hear in 2010, and while it doesn’t play to Minaj’s otherworldly rapping talent as often as many fans would no doubt prefer, it still makes for an intoxicating, eclectic debut.

minaj

Of course, unlike most new artists, Minaj has the advantage of being a known quantity before her album even reaches shelves; she’s been all over the charts as a guest artist for months, popping up on songs by Lil Wayne, Trey Songz, M.I.A., Drake, Usher, and others – including Kanye West, whose “Monster” features an incendiary Minaj verse that outclasses everyone else on the song, including Jay-Z and Rick Ross. Nothing on Pink Friday comes close to “Monster” – not even “Roman’s Revenge,” her profane, rapid-fire showdown with Eminem – but that isn’t really the point. Minaj has a lot of weapons in her arsenal, and this album is meant to display them all, while aiming directly at Top 40 radio.

What’s somewhat surprising, given her aggressive/aggressively weird image, is just how savvy Minaj’s pop instincts are – and how successfully Pink Friday makes room for them while incorporating plenty of singularly Nicki moments. This is an album that makes heavy use of Buggles and Annie Lennox samples, and features will.i.am, Rihanna, and Natasha Bedingfield cameos – but it takes the fetid roar of “Roman’s Revenge” and “Did It On ‘Em” to tell the whole story, and she brings both halves together in the stunning “Right Thru Me,” which takes breathless verses about reckless love and leads them into a chorus that brilliantly, nakedly asks: “You see right through me / How do you do that shit?”

That kind of duality is hard to distill in a pop song, and with Pink Friday, Nicki Minaj doesn’t always succeed. But her punches connect more often than they miss – and if that’s mostly because she never stops throwing them, well, that only makes it that much harder to stop listening. Her peers had better lock in those guest spots now – a few more albums like this one, and the words “feat. Nicki Minaj” will be a lot more expensive than they are now. (Universal/Cash Money 2010)

Nicki Minaj MySpace page

CD QuickTakes, CD Reviews, Hip Hop, R&B

« Older posts

© 2025 Eat Sleep Drink Music

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑