Fresh Beck

For someone who hasn’t released a new album in two years, Beck is pretty prolific. He can currently be found on four different songs #nowplaying on 22tracks, and that’s not even everything he’s got going on right now. It’s kind of been like that since his debut in 1993 and the amazing thing is that so much of his immense output is so great. Alright, I’ll admit it, I’m a bit of a fan.

There’s two new Beck songs on the rock playlist. “Bad Blood” is taken from the second soundtrack of the US television series True Blood, which I haven’t seen. Judging by the album sleeve it has something to do with vampires. Or it could be werewolves (maybe both), as Beck is howling like one in “Bad Blood”, a scuzzy blues-rocker.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1FGBheLutA

It is followed directly in the playlist by “Fresh Hex”, a song on Tobacco‘s new album Maniac Meat. It’s one of two songs by the Black Moth Super Rainbow frontman featuring Beck, and this one has him freestyling with words starting with a K sound. If you can make sense of lines like “Cowboy kaleidoscope / Like a concrete cactus cracking in a colosseum” you’re smarter (or crazier) than me.

Another soundtrack contribution is “Let’s Get Lost”, over on the pop playlist. It’s a duet with UK singer Natasha Khan AKA Bat For Lashes. Like “Bad Blood”, this song was written with especially for the visual story, in this case the movie The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Again, I haven’t seen it (nor the previous two Twilight Saga films) and again, it’s all about vampires. And romance. There’s no video (yet) for this song but should it get made, I expect it to feature his ‘n’ hers fangs.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZxJzhIPTTg

The third Beck song on 22tracks isn’t really one, it’s Jamie Lidell‘s “I Wanna Be Your Telephone” (funk/jazz), which has Beck getting his groove on and playing guitar on it. I blogged about Jamie Lidell a few weeks ago, in case you missed that.

What else is there? There’s a beautiful new video for the Beck-written and produced Charlotte Gainsbourg single “Time of the Assassins”. And then there’s Beck’s Record Club, which sees him covering entire albums with a rotating line-up of musician-friends. It’s currently up to album number four, Kick by InXs (1987). You’ll remember “Never Tear Us Apart”, which is here sung by St. Vincent:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3rOjkSho0A

Getting a bearing from Jamie Lidell’s Compass

If the guys from the soul playlist are paying attention, surely it won’t be long before Jamie Lidell‘s new album Compass is stretched over four 22tracks playlists. As it stands, “I Wanna Be Your Telephone” is #nowplaying at funk/jazz, “You Are Waking” has been playing on the rock playlist for a few weeks, while the title track, another album highlight, is #nowplaying on the pop playlist. Should DJs Full Crate and FS Green be reading this, I’d recommend “It’s a Kiss”.

If, like me, you have been following Jamie Lidell’s music since he debuted with Super_Collider in the late 1990s, you too were probably a little bit surprised by the turn his career took in the mid-2000s. I think even he himself was. Here’s the “old” Jamie Lidell, in a video from 1999:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUgtLCdQyf4

It’s not that, until the release of “Multiply” (2005), Lidell’s talent as a singer was ever in any doubt. It’s that it had usually been shrouded in experimental, mostly electronic production not very fit for daytime programming. His one-man-shows, while nothing less than sensational, saw him tearing up the rulebook night after night.

A more conventional approach to arranging his songs widened Lidell’s audience big time, at least here in the Netherlands. Radio started playing his retro soul records. “Another Day” became an even bigger hit than “Multiply”. It’s a crossover that Lidell doesn’t seem to be aiming for anymore with Compass, though it may be his strongest collection of songs so far. The album is out next week, by the way.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89Qa5rNAeEs

I don’t think the big pop stations have been playing “Compass” or “The Ring” as yet. I can sort of see why. The singer/producer has allowed some of his experimental streak back into his music. To a longtime fan like me, that’s good news. “I Wanna Be Your Telephone” is a seriously tough piece of Prince-like funk, while the folky “Compass” manages to shed a stunning new light on the artist.

Whichever Jamie Lidell you liked best doesn’t matter anymore. I wouldn’t rule out Man!e playlisting “She Needs Me” on his R&B playlist sometime soon.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nICEsQgWhNw

My two cents for Aloe Blacc

When Cali soul artist Aloe Blacc came out with his debut solo album four years ago, it wasn’t so much that I was convinced he was going to be next big thing. The next big could-be, though? Most definitely. Shine Through was a marvel of an album, an unpolished diamond. He underlined his potential with a hugely enjoyable performance upstairs at the Paradiso, probably my favourite venue in Amsterdam.

But that was 2007 and I’d almost forgotten all about Aloe Blacc (sorry!) until he showed up a short while ago singing the theme tune to HBO’s new dramedy series How to Make it in America. Currently not showing outside of America, I believe, unless you know your way around the inpenetrable world of torrent files. According to Aloe’s record label Stones Throw, “I Need a Dollar” is the first single from his forthcoming album Good Things. I like the sound of that. The song is #nowplaying on 22tracks’ funk/jazz playlist.

The band playing on “I Need a Dollar” is New York’s El Michels Affair, best known for an album of re-enacted Wu-Tang instrumentals called Enter the 37th Chamber, released one year ago. Cash rules everything around them, you see. You may also know El Michels Affair, named after guitarist and (presumably) band leader Leon Michels, as The Expressions. That’s their name when they’re backing soul singer Lee Fields.

Like the band, Aloe Blacc, who used to be a rapper when he was in the group Emanon, bears both hip-hop and soul in him. “I Need a Dollar” is a throwback record for sure, but there’s no telling what he will come up with next. After all, Shining Through even included some samba and salsa music. The latin playlist could be next for him.

Here’s Aloe Blacc’s should-be classic “I’m Beautiful”, from back in the day:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hAyrssxG1s

All ears for Orelha Negra

The Pop World Cup is curently in full swing and I’ve been placed in charge of Portugal. I’m currently struggling to get through the group phase, playing against Brazil, Ivory Coast and a surprisingly tough North-Korean side, hoping to make it to the knockout stages. The Pop World Cup is basically the same as the FIFA World Cup only without the football. Countries are doing battle one song at a time, with the public casting their vote on which is the best. As Portugal’s manager (a job assigned to me by the luck of the draw) I’ve had to do a little digging in Portugal’s recent music output.

Which is how I happened upon Lisbon fivepiece Orelha Negra (“black ear”), who released their untitled debut album just a couple of weeks ago. In the end I found their instrumental chill-out hip-hop little too laidback to create a lot of danger in the box (and securing a win with dubstep duo Octa Push proved I was right). It was still a nice record, though, one that might find favour with some of my 22tracks collegues. So I send them a copy and what do you know: Orelha Negra’s “Tanto Tempo” is #nowplaying on the beats playlist, “Barrio Blue” is on the funk/jazz playlist and “M.I.R.I.A.M.” is on the relax playlist!

The above picture finds members Cruz (turntables), Ferrano (drums), Gomes Prodigy (keyboard), Mira Profissional (MPC, keyboard) and Rebelo Jazz Bass (erm, bass) cleverly hiding behind LP sleeves. It’s a neat trick that has a whole website devoted to it. Orelha Negra repeat it on their MySpace page. Which trainspotter can correctly identify all the records?

Here’s the band’s new video:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8id5ZuolFE