Shazamers' Blog

Coming Soon! Check back for Madonna’s upcoming Halftime setlist at the Big Game on Feb 5th!

LeeMc News

Here is this week’s In The Loop. All the weeks musical chatter delivered in one easily digestible chunk.

Noel Gallagher honoured with godlike genius NME award (BBC)

Lana Del Rey cancels London gig (Metro)

Simon Cowell to launch new TV show to find D.J’s (NME)

Lostprophets announce UK tour (Kerrang)

Singing Legend Etta James Dies (CNN)

Ne-Yo leaves Def Jam to become Motowns senior VP of A&R (Allhiphop)

Preview Flaming Lips collaborative tracks with Bon Iver, Erykah Badu & Ke$ha (Pitchfork)

Leonard Cohen – Old Idea album stream (Guardian)

Rihanna get’s “Thug Life” tattoo in memory of Tupac Shakur (TMZ)

Ringo Starr set to release new album (Express)

K’naan & Nelly Furtado bring you ‘Is Anybody Out There’ (idolator)

BET’s 106 & Park honors Bow Wow (Vibe)

Emmanuel Kobla In The Loop

Having disappeared into the unknown for over half a decade, Eskimo Dance made a long anticipated return at Proud2 (formerly Matter) at the o2. Credit to the choice of venue, as it was a fitting reflection to the progression of Grime music which has in the past been marred with controversy. If you take for example, the political uproar surrounding the release of Lethal Bizzle’s ‘Pow’, to more recently-weapons being waved in a grime artist’s video. You could rightly say, trouble has never been beyond arms reach from the genre that has helped shape the careers of artist’s such as; Tinie Tempah, Dizzee Rascal, Wretch 32 & Tinchy Stryder, who have all become recognized in the mainstream as household names. But this night was different.

Championed by Godfather of Grime Wiley, Eskimo Dance enlisted an amazing lineup of DJ’s & MC’s. Ranging from the legendary Marcus Narsty alongside Funk Butcher & MC Ranking, right through to Kiss FM Grime DJ Logan Sama. With an impressive following gained from Various Pirate radio stations that include Rinse FM as well as the ‘Lord Of The Mics’ DVD’s, earlier forms of Eskimo Dance nights had carved a solid spot in the history of underground folklore so memorable that it’s return would be a success. With that said, it was no surprise that Proud2 was at its maximum capacity at 11pm.

Nostalgia was in the air, confidently brought forth by DJ Logan Sama. Wearing a suit & tie, he took the crowd through an hour long set playing the best in new & old Grime tracks. The feeling of a lecturer delivering a well thought out module could be used to describe the DJ’s set. The crowd gave all attention to the DJ in the form of Cheers, raised hands and repetition of lyrics from the tracks whenever he teased down the volume.

A positive mention to the maturity of this event has to be made, as trouble occurs often between artist’s who take lyrical shots at each other. Such acts have often threatened to spill over into something physical and harming, but there was no such chance of this occurring. This night proved to be all about the music and having a good time.

The best of today’s Grime Mc’s were on hand to grace the stage of what was becoming an unforgettable evening.  Ghettz led the proceedings with Lil Nasty, Roachee, Ogz all performing their braggadocio filled raps over heavy beats that wet the appetite of the audience for the waiting Boy Better Know. In this particular segment, Ghettz (formerly Ghetto) proved that he still has what it takes to rock a crowd, with reloads occurring each time he would begin to rap.

The headline act Wiley, lived up to his elusive title by making only a brief appearance alongside Boy Better Know. Led by Skepta, JME & Jammer, the crowd were treated to a short Boy Better Know set which included the classic ‘Too Many Man’ featuring Wiley as well as ‘Doing It Again’.

Few more Eskimo Dance night should propel the Grime scene to a larger more credited scene than it is now. With Eskimo Dance, once again Wiley shows us why he is every bit worthy of the “Godfather Of Grime” title

Emmanuel Kobla Gigs/ Events

Until fairly recently, Canada’s was probably best known for moose, Mounties and Bryan Adams. However, it seems the US’s quieter northern neighbour is now seeking to corner the market in pop exports. Ontario-born Justin Beiber already has the world at his tiny feet and it looks as like his compatriot Alyssa Reid is well on her way to emulating him.

Another resident of Ontario, Reid’s story shares a few more features with that of the Bieb’s. Like him she was discovered via videos posted on YouTube, specifically a gender-swapped take on his hit ‘One Less Lonely Girl’ (cheekily re-titled ‘One More Lonely Boy’).

‘Alone Again’ pulls a similar trick. It takes elements of ‘Alone’ – the 1987 smash hit from big-in-Canada lady rockers Heart ­– and reworks them into an emotional, rap-embellished piano ballad perfectly designed to get lighters in the air from Alberta to Albuquerque.

“I was just sitting in my bedroom, writing a completely different song called ‘Again’,” she told Canadian Interviews of the track’s genesis. “I wanted to send it to my label to see what they thought of the song, but I didn’t write a chorus yet.  The chord progression from Heart’s song ‘Alone’ was the exact same progression, and I love Heart, so I knew the song. So I sang that overtop, just as a filler-chorus almost, just so they could see the song as a whole, and I absolutely fell in love with it. I was like, ‘we have to get the rights to this song!’”

Judging by the response, this Heart transplant was the right move. The single and Reid’s debut album ‘The Game’ have gone on shift in massive quantities, both in her native Canada and elsewhere. Looks like Bieber had better watch his back.

Check out ‘Alone Again’ here.

Huw Thomas Tag Of The Day Alyssa Reid

As birthday presents go, getting a guest spot on a Jay-Z track has to be one of the most exclusive. Of course, when your dad is the Hova himself, you’re going to expect something pretty special. With this tribute to his newly born daughter, Jay-Z has set the bar fairly high.

With a legitimate claim to being the world’s most famous baby, Blue Ivy Carter can undoubtedly look forward to a life simply overflowing with swag. Dad’s already staged an elaborate themed party to commemorate her birth at his 40/40 Club in New York, where guests were reportedly treated to a golden champagne tower and buffalo wings with ‘Blue Ivy’ cheese sauce. Which is nice. But given Jay-Z’s well-documented taste for bling and braggadocio, ‘Glory’ is a surprisingly heartfelt celebration of the joys of fatherhood.

There’s little doubt that the new arrival has turned his world upside down: “The most amazing feeling I feel/Words can’t describe what I’m feeling for real/Baby I paint the sky blue/My greatest creation was you..” Awww. It’s enough to put a lump in the throat of even of even the flintiest cynic. At the very least, it’s a far cry from “99 problems but a bitch ain’t one.”

Blue Ivy herself makes an appearance towards the end of the track. Her vocal contribution could probably use some autotune, but there’s plenty of time to work on that. A final fact that might be a little upsetting to aspiring singers out there: the tot’s performance has resulted in her being the youngest ever artist to make the Billboard Top 100. All this before she’s even a month old. It makes you wonder what mum and dad are going to come up with for her first birthday.

Huw Thomas Tag Of The Day Jay-Z

American rockers Train hit the top spot in the Shazam New Release Chart USA.

Stephen Titmus Shazam New Release Chart USA Train

DJ Fresh follows up the huge success of ‘Louder’ with ‘Hot Right Now’, this week’s number one in the Shazam New Release Chart UK.

Stephen Titmus Shazam New Release Chart UK DJ Fresh

Here is this week’s In The Loop. All the weeks musical chatter delivered in one easily digestible chunk.

Brit Award winner Emeli Sande unviles “Next To Me” video (Capital)

Madonna wins Golden Globe for best original song (Metro)

Ed Sheeran “No-one is going to do it for you” (MSN)

Rihanna to duet with Coldplay at Grammy’s (Kiss)

Biffy Clyro, Soundgarden and Chase & Status join Download Festival 2012 (NME)

The Big Pink‘s ‘Future This’ review (CNN)

Bruce Springsteen to release Wrecking Ball in march (Billboard)

Wiley Evolve Or Be Extinct album full exclusive stream (Guardian)

Enter Shikari set for their first No.1 album (Kerrang)

Jay Z vows to remove B word from lyrics (act.mtv)

Pop overtakes Rock in music charts (Yahoo)

A$AP Rocky “Celebrate” Unreleased track (Allhiphop)

Amy Winehouse tribute concert planned for summer (MTV)

Emmanuel Kobla In The Loop, New Music

The Big Pink – British duo Robbie Furze and Milo Cordell – have released their long awaited sophomore album ‘Future This’ on 4AD.

The band – whose origins and mythology frequently made the headlines before their music – changed tack for the new record, moving from the fuzzy, distorted lo-fi productions they became best known for towards larger, grander songs.

“Although I love the first record, it was generally quite a down record,” Furze told Hit. “The gigs had quite a sombre feel, too, so we wanted to create a different type of energy on this record.” He elaborated on “wanting to take everything to excess in different realms; getting high is just one side of it. Making the songs exciting, creating amazing shows, being better at what we do – taking everything to excess. Both of us are functional junkies to life, not to drugs.”

Furze and Cordell formed The Big Pink in 2007, and signed to British label 4AD in 2009. In the same year they won the award for best new act at the NME Awards, and released their debut album ‘A Brief History Of Love’. The duo produced the album themselves, and it was recorded at the infamous Electric Lady Studios in New York. After releasing the album, the band embarked on a number of global tours, but went back into the studio in 2011 to work on Future This.

The duo say they took a more serious approach to making Future This. “We got a little nerdy for this record. I took singing lessons and Milo developed our music abilities with our instruments,” Furze told Hit. “We wanted to take everything to the next level and sharpen our tools. We fell into The Big Pink – we were just a couple of mates making music together. But we both decided, ‘We’re in it now, let’s do the best we can and really go for it’.”

Helia News The Big Pink

Never one to shy away from controversy, American rapper and artist Santigold has taken on some of pop’s biggest names in the video for her new track, Big Mouth.

The video is a psychedelic cartoon trip which at one points shows a cartoon version of Lady Gaga being eaten by a tiger at the bottom of the ocean (yes, you heard us right. Must be that well known mythical creature, the mer-tiger). Then we travel up into the atmosphere, where a cartoon version of Katy Perry (wearing blue hair, heels, and pretty much nothing else) – sits on a cloud, blah blah blah-ing into a cell phone. Meow!

The single comes from Santi’s forthcoming album ‘Master Of My Make Believe’, which is due to be released this spring on Downtown/Atlantic (date TBC) and has some pretty big name collaborators – Switch, Dave Sitek and Nick Zinner have all worked on it. Though the album was initially slated for release in late 2011, the delay reaffirms Santi’s perfectionist nature and her desire to make ‘real’ music (as opposed to the bland pop she pokes fun at in Big Mouth).

“I wanted it to feel dynamic and powerful,” she told Billboard last year about her forthcoming record. “I still have the songs that sound very electronic and clubby, but I have a couple ballads on this one — my own type of ballads, where they just sound big, like the way some old Kate Bush or Peter Gabriel songs were”.

Santigold – real name Santi White – first hit the international music scene in 2007 with her single ‘Creator’. Her debut album ‘Santogold’ was released in 2008 to critical acclaim, and featured production from the likes of Diplo and Switch. She changed her artist moniker from Santigold to Santogold after being threatened with legal action.

Helia News Santigold