June 30, 2009 · 6:26 PM

Jam of the Day – VIBE Magazine, D.O.A.

Well, it seems like reporting on Michael Jackson’s death and legacy has started to slow somewhat on the national/global news front, but death continues to dominate music industry news today. Apart from MJ’s passing and continued tributes and covers from various artists relating to same, today also brought news that VIBE magazine will be closing “immediately” (Daily Finance reported this earlier having hear from multiple sources, and the New York Times later confirmed the news). So it looks like for anyone who receives this final issue with The-Dream and Christina Milian on the cover, the mag is D.O.A. Seems like there have been too many R.I.P.s to throw around recently. Having been a VIBE subscriber, all I can say is too bad. Looks like ev2bk will have to step up its coverage of the rap game.

In other death related news from today, and getting back to this D.O.A. theme, today Rap Radar posted up a link to the new video from Jay-Z for his much anticipated/buzzworthy “D.O.A. (Death of Auto-tune)” single. In it, Jay spits a lot of pretty fierce rhymes and quotable lyrics and after I watched it, I was left thinking about how cool Jay-Z is, not really about the state of the “rap game” or anything like that. I mean, dude is playing high stakes poker in some Italian-mob-backroom game with Harvey Keitel? Rocking skinny ties? Nice. Plus, No I.D. (Kanye West mentor and longtime Jermaine Dupri collaborator/ghost producer) put together something special for this one; the live band sound is bananas.

I agree that the use of Autotune is too all-pervasive right now, and so I feel the sentiment, but at the same time, I love me some T-Pain, and also think R. Kelly is tight with it. So as a liberal Northeast player, I don’t like to see some big honcho trying to tell everyone what to do (…and thus Hova proclaimed: “Quit using Auto-tune”). Of course, I’m not too worried that this will be the ultimate death-knell for Auto-tune. As T-Pain recently put it on his Twitter page:

“Ladies and gents t-pain is officially the 2009 POP WRITER OF THE YEAR. I think I’m just gonna stop writing for a while iv provd my point

I’m just kiddin bout me not writing. The haters gotta have some to hate cuz if not they just gone stay on jay zs nuts.”

Anyway, check out the video and tell us what you think.

Jay-Z – D.O.A. (Death of Auto-tune):

-Drew

P.S. On a “good news” side note, it looks like Al Franken will finally be seated as the newest Senator from Minnesota, following the state’s Supreme Court ruling this afternoon.

Editor’s Note: Former XXL editor Elliott Wilson started Rap Radar back in March and he is the husband of Danyel Smith, the editor and chief of Vibe.

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June 29, 2009 · 6:04 PM

Jam of the Day – Paying Tribute to the King

Michael Jackson’s death continues to permeate world news today, from speculation about what will happen to his Neverland Ranch, to reports that recordings of the last rehearsal for his sold out 50-show event that was scheduled to start in July may be headed to DVD and CD, to the news of the court ruling that temporarily places his children in the care of Jackson’s mother, Katherine.

Over the weekend, sales of Michael Jackson’s music skyrocketed, with his collection of “Number Ones” at the top the UK charts and four of his other albums in the top 20. Jackson’s greatest hits also dominated the top downloads on iTunes today (his songs currently hold 11 of the top 20 spots).

Last night at the BET awards, the entire show was overhauled and turned into a 4-hour tribute special to the King of Pop, featuring covers of his hit songs, clips from his classic videos, and tributes from his peers. New Edition opened the show with a medley of Jackson 5 hits and the shows’ host, Jaime Foxx, came out wearing a single sparkling glove and a red-leather jacket meant to look like the iconic one worn in the “Beat It” video. Almost all of the shows’ performers and presenters gave a shout-out to Jackson; many even covered his songs and wore MJ inspired clothes. Ciara covered “Heal the World” and Ne-Yo did his version of “She’s Out of My Life.” In a surprising moment, Janet Jackson took the stage to address the crowd on behalf of her family, saying “I’d just like to say that to you Michael is an icon, to us Michael is family and he will forever live in all of our hearts.” To close the show, Ne-Yo and Jamie Foxx did a duet of the Jackson 5’s “I’ll Be There.”

Artistic tributes continue to pour in and there are undoubtedly countless more to come. 50 Cent released two Jackson tribute songs, a new tribute song from the Game, Diddy, Usher, Chris Brown, Mario Winans, Usher, Boyz II Men and Polow Da Don called “Better On The Other Side” was released, and DJ Ayres has put together a career-spanning 54-minute Michael Jackson mix for Brooklyn Radio, that actually really rocks:

Today’s jam is one of my favorite MJ covers of recent years, from Chris Cornell’s 2007 album, Carry On. Cornell is the former lead singer and songwriter for the powerhouse rock bands Soundgarden (1984–1997) and Audioslave (2001–2007). He released a new solo album Scream, produced by Timbaland this March. Cornell talked with UK-based NME.com after Jackson’s death, saying “He had magic! It was by chance that I recorded and rearranged his song ‘Billie Jean’ and have been amazed at the response it gets when I perform it every night. He was amazingly talented and largely misunderstood.” Cornell’s version takes “Billie Jean” in a more intense, lyrically-driven direction but the integrity and genius of the song remains.

Chris Cornell – Billie Jean:

With all the classics he had and all the artists who count him as a huge influence on their music, I’m sure we can expect many more ruminations on Jackson’s music to come.

-Melissa

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June 26, 2009 · 3:37 PM

JOTD Tribute Special: R.I.P. King of Pop

As you undoubtably have already heard, the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, passed away yesterday afternoon in Los Angeles at the age of 50. At this point the details are still coming in, so no one is saying for sure what happened. But no matter the circumstances, people throughout the world are mourning the loss of arguably the greatest performer of all time, a man who spent over 40 years as a public icon and superstar, selling more than 750 million records and affecting the lives of millions of fans. Pour a sip on the concrete.

Since we can’t compete with the likes of MTV or basically every major TV network in terms of piecing together a biography or “Life in Photos” retrospective, we are going to just keep it simple.

Here are a few of our top Michael Jackson/Jackson 5 videos and tracks.

Jackson 5 – I Want You Back:

Michael Jackson – Thriller (Live from the Bad Tour 1987):

Michael Jackson – Billie Jean:

Michael Jackson – Smooth Criminal:

Jackson 5 – Ain’t No Sunshine:

There already are tons of tributes planned and impromptu dance parties going on all over the city (/world) tonight and throughout the weekend, so it shouldn’t be hard to get your moonwalk/white glove/dance party fix.

So many classics, it’s hard to pick just five. Rest in peace.

-ev2bk

P.S. What is your favorite MJ track? Let us know in the comments section!

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June 25, 2009 · 8:00 AM

Jam of the Day – Get Naked in the Sunshine

FINALLY the sun is shining on New York City. To celebrate, I bring you this infectious jam by Norwegian punk-pop diva Ida Maria.

24-year-old Ida Maria is like a modern day Janis Joplin with an infusion of punk power and the poppy ska-drum beats of early No Doubt. On Fortress Round My Heart, her 2008 debut album, her lyrics swing from heavy concepts like religion to girl power and feminism to sex and men. Maria plays guitar and is backed up by band members Johannes Lindberg (on bass and vocals), Olle Lundin (on drums), and Stefan Törnby (on guitar and vocals). In one of the best musical style descriptions I’ve seen on myspace, she describes her music as “Healing & Easy Listening/ Melodramatic Popular Song/ Punk.” On some of her more mellow songs she sometimes sounds like another one of my Nordic favorites, Lykke Li.

After performing at the Hiro Ball Room last week, Maria returned to NYC again last night to perform her hit “Oh My God” on Last Call with Carson Daly. For the rest of the summer she will be on tour in the south and on the west coast with stops in Vegas, San Francisco, Austin, and Chicago, with a final concert at the famed Red Rocks Amphitheater in Colorado this September.

Maria has synesthesia, a neurological condition that is a sort of sensory dyslexia that allows her to see sounds and hear colors. Being a musician with this condition must be fascinatingly trippy to say the least. As she explained to LiveDaily, “When I hear music I see transparent patterns in front of me. Every single rhythm or every single hit on the drum has a different shape and they’re linked up together,” she explained. “Like a snare drum has the same kind of shape, it just varies if you hit it hard or soft or whatever. Drum sounds are mostly black and white with some sparks of yellow in the middle. It’s kind of hard to explain. Yeah, [it happens every time I play music] but it’s all kinds of noise–like when someone opens a door or car. It matters where I keep my focus. When we are on stage, I try to focus there and not the other noises.”

In a recent interview with MTV, she explained that her song, “I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked,” is about “the male population of this planet and that I would like them to be naked all of the time.” It’s sure to be a summer hit of 2009, and you can download it here.

Ida Maria – I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked:

Happy Summer Ladies…

-Melissa

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June 24, 2009 · 4:49 PM

Jam of the Day – Flutes: Spicing Up Tracks Since Back in the Day

In today’s issue of Nature magazine, archaeologists Nicholas J. Conard, Maria Malina, and Susanne C. Münzel report about the discovery last fall, in a cave in Southwestern Germany, of bone and ivory flutes dating from the Stone Age. They say this discovery points to a “musical tradition at the time when modern humans colonized Europe, more than 35,000 calendar years ago.” Only fragments of the ivory flutes were discovered, but the bone flute, made from vulture bone, is looking like it’s in pretty good shape considering that it represents the “oldest-known musical instrument fashioned by human hands.” I wish the AP weren’t so litigious regarding use of its photos, otherwise I’d post one here; there are some good ones in the stories linked above.

Although only 8.5 inches long, the bone instrument produces a sound that is “in many ways comparable to that of a modern flute.” The Times article actually has an audio clip of music played on a replica of a similar, though smaller, bone flute that was also found in the caves around the Ulm region of Germany, and I can confirm that it sounds strikingly similar to the recorder, which I was forced to learn in elementary school music class. Does that still happen these days?

This discovery is important because it reinforces a central theme of Anchorman; namely, that real men play jazz flute, which leads to women playing skin flute (forgive me, I had to get that joke in this post somewhere). Also, this.

In fact, lots of people (men and women) seem to love the flute. Don’t believe me? A quick Google search revealed multiple examples of flute song compilation lists! Who knew that the flute would have such lasting cultural resonance? The Neanderthals, apparently.

More recently, the Black Keys, a pretty kick-ass blues-rock band from Akron, Ohio, reached deep into the collective unconscious and threw a flute solo on the song “Same Old Thing” from last summer’s Attack & Release. Give it a “spin” and imagine you’re in a cave in Germany 35,000 years ago.

The Black Keys – Same Old Thing:

-Drew

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June 23, 2009 · 7:54 AM

Jam of the Day – Bad News in a Cookie Jar

From the escalating violence in Iran following the disputed elections there and the resulting protests, to the deadly Metro Crash in Washington, D.C. that killed at least 9 people and injured at least 75 others last night, to the assassination of a major rival to the Taliban leader of Pakistan, to the nuclear missiles that North Korea may aim at Hawaii as soon as the 4th of July (which we wrote about yesterday), the news today is harrowing to say the least.

Today’s jam is brought to you by Hawaiian singer-songwriter, Jack Johnson, best known for his surfer-soft-rock sound. Although much of his music can be relied on for its mellow, happy vibes (“Banana Pancakes” anyone?), his song “Cookie Jar,” from the 2003 album, On and On, takes a more serious tone. In it, he expresses his frustration with and disbelief of the news of the day and the refusal of anyone to accept blame for their own actions. Today this jam just seemed appropriate.

Johnson first achieved commercial success after the release of his debut album, Brushfire Fairytales, in 2001. Since then he has released five more albums and many EPs. This August, a new film by Emmett Malloy, En Concert, which documents Jack Johnson’s 2008 summer tour across Europe, will be released with a companion album.

Jack Johnson – Cookie Jar:

-Melissa

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