Mash Up Magic

I don't trust people who don't like mash ups. I remember working with a guy who was a "musician" (I believe that was the term he used) when I lived in Canada who told me that as a "musician" (there's that word again) he couldn't get behind mash ups. He said it was because it didn't sound right to throw two songs together, something about key changes, pitch, him being a snob etc etc etc. Look I'm sure there are genuine reasons why mash ups are musically unsound but honestly, take a listen to this beauty:

Now as far as I can see grafting two very modern pop gems on to a bunch of thumping dance hits can only ever be a good thing. A bit of Shakira is always amazing, a bit of Lady Gaga is always fun, throw in a Madonna beat, a bit of Pitbull (who has perfected the art of the trashy club pop tune) and a snippet of David Guetta and how can you go wrong?

I may not be a "musician" (truth be told, I just like putting quote marks on things, no disrespect to any musicians intended) but I can't help but this not only makes the case for mashups, it also makes the case for Shakira and Lady Gaga teaming up for some kind of world conquering pop superduo. Like Salt 'N' Pepa with the rapping swapped with leotards. I think it would work well for everyone.

Spin That Record - Top Tunes of the Moment Circa May/June 2010

LCD Soundsystem – Dance Yrself Clean

B.o.B. – Airplanes feat. Hayley Williams

Janelle Monae – Tightrope feat. Big Boi

MIA – XXXO

Kylie – All The Lovers

David Guetta – Louder Than Words feat. Afrojack and Niles Mason

Jennifer Lopez – Everybody’s Girl

Christina Aguilera – You Lost Me

Lady Gaga – Alejandro (Chew Fu Remix)

Ne-Yo – Beautiful Monster

Dizzee Rascal – Dirtee Disco

Alicia Keyes – Rapture

Kelis – 22^nd Century

Kelis Releases Acapella Video and Continues to Tease Amazing Album

Kelis first released her slinky David Guetta produced single Acapella onto the web in November of last year. I was excited about it back then and I'm still loving it now. A clear crisp slice of dance-pop her gruff vocals sound perfectly at home on what is still one of the most uplifting pop songs I've heard in awhile. The forthcoming Flesh Tone album is sure to be a bit of a stormer.


If that wasn't enough shes' just released the video for the track after releasing a teaser last week. Playing with tribal imagery and slowly bursting with colour it's a joy to watch. Loving the varied looks especially the diamond headpiece/glasses and the image of Kelis floating in a field of stars. Lovely. You can watch the video in full on her official site.


On top of this more tracks from the album are beginning to surface. Live videos of Kelis performing 4th of July have been going around for awhile and it's equally enjoyable with the same sense of euphoria as Acapella. This week at the Winter Music Conference she also performed another new track 22nd Century, produced by Free School. It's great stuff with the straightforward hook "We are the stars" lodging in the head on first listen. This video of Kelis performing the tracks live is great fun, she's clearly enjoying performing the new stuff live (whether she is actually singing or not is questionable though!)

WMC RAW // Kelis from Arcade44.tv on Vimeo.

(Video found on The Prophet Blog who are well worth checking out.)

She also hit the stage with Benny Benassi to perform Acapella and a track she recorded with him called Spaceship according to MTV News, which you can hear below. Somebody had a busy weekend! (thanks to Ultimate Kelis for the video)

The merging of dance beats and club sounds with mainstream US popstars is nothing new and with everyone from Three 6 Mafia to Christina Aguilera taking on electronic sounds, it seems like there's plenty more mainstream electro pop headed our way in the next few months. As pointed out in the recent Billboard cover story on David Guetta (whose gone from ignored on the US pop charts to producer du jour) the synths and electronic sounds that have filtered throughout pop have only gotten bigger. 


Kelis though seems to be putting her own spin on things. Reflecting on motherhood, moving on from a divorce and still being one of the few genuinely quirky popstars left gives her an edge many others don't have. It's exciting to see where this album heads. In the meantime watch Acapella slowly take over the charts. Is it too early to start talking about songs of the summer?

The Wonderful World of Wynter Gordon

Wynter Gordon came to the attention of eager pop fans at the start of last year when Popjustice mentioned her still-sounds-brilliant pop gem "Surveillance". It seemed to be a sure fire winner in the "best singles of 2008" lists but the track was never properly released and Wynter has yet to release her own material. She has built her own profile slowly but surely with new tracks and demos for other artists (including Jennifer Lopez whose new album features a number of tracks co written by Wynter) as well as guesting on Flo Rida's hit "Sugar" and a track on David Guetta's "One Love" ("Toyfriend" one of the highlights).

I've been keeping an eye on her stuff on and off and found this leaked track today (which seems to be knocking about for the last few weeks). A sprightly piece of club pop (produced by David Guetta allegedly though I'm not sure if that is true), not unlike "Celebration" by Madonna, "Dirty Talk" feels like a track that would sound very good blasting out of the radio and even better on a sweaty dancefloor. I'm not sure why Wynter hasn't taken off yet but I hope 2010 finally gets to be her year.