For his latest album, Record Collection, London Superproducer Mark Ronson goes for a more 80s synth-pop feel. No matter that he's made his reputation on funk and soul hip-hop numbers, whatever he does works. Apparently, Ronson wanted to be so authentic to the 80s sound that he went out and procured the actual synths that Duran Duran used. Even the album cover (above) has an 80s theme, deftly mixing the themes of 80s album artwork together.
Bang Bang Bang is eminently danceable and features one of the all-time great MCs, Q-Tip the Abstract. The Bike Song is good fun and Someone To Love Me features Boy George. Though the original for Someone To Love Me is good, the remixes are even better.
I always believed that New Orleans funk outfit, Galactic, is at their best when they have vocals and a full horn section. Witness this amazing song, You Don't Know, from their latest, Ya-Ka-May. I dare you not to move, in particular when the horns start really hitting it hard. I also recommend Boe Money, Cineramascope, Double It, Heart of Steel, and Bacchus.
Ozomatli's new album, Fire Away, is strong through and through with radio-friendly gems like 45, It's Only Paper, Elysian Persuasion, Malagasy Shock, and All Around the World. It's sort of surprising and expected at the same time to hear such a mature, strong album from a group that's been around for so long, but if anything, they're getting better. My favorite track, though, is Love Comes Down; it bends one's expectations of Ozo, showcasing a slower, more melodic, emotionally weighty side of their music. The only place I found online where you can hear the whole track is on myspace.
Daniel Merriweather is the latest English soul singer to benefit from Mark Ronson's slick and solid soul production. They collaborated on both of Ronson's solo albums. Their cover of The Smiths'Stop Me was about a million times better than the original. On Merriweather's solo debut, his duet with DC MC Wale, Change, is of note, as well as Not Giving Up, Water and a Flame (another duet, this time with fellow Ronson collaborator Adele), and Chainsaw. I'm not a lyric fans, but I do love when Merriweather sings, "Giving myself to you is like giving myself to a chainsaw. You keep cutting me open wide. Is that the only thing that you're good for?" It seems like a heavy metal lyric, but it fits perfectly in this sweet little number.
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