Bringing together some of music’s finest existing and up and coming talents, The Producers is a six part series that documents the vital relationship between artist and producer. Developed by Red Bull and VBS, it pairs up the likes of Mark Ronson and Miike Snow’s Andrew Wyatt; Toddla T with The Invisible’s Dave Okumu and Ladytron’s Daniel Hunt with Marina Gasolina.
The series provides a fascinating insight into the writing process with each producer choosing an artist to work with on a track. The latest episode brings together Klaxons’ Jamie Reynolds with pysch-pop newcomers The Cabin Fever. While not known for sitting behind the production desk, Reynolds undeniably puts his stamp on the track.
Arguably the biggest coup was the teaming up of MIA’s producer – and one half on Major Lazer- Diplo with legendary dub pioneer Lee Scratch Perry, culminating in the pairs live collaboration at Notting Hill Carnival.
Existing episodes are now available to stream online, stay tuned for more episodes over the next two weeks.
While Amy Winehouse seems to be a permanent fixture in the press, it’s refreshing to hear that the troubled singer is finally releasing some new music. There’s no sign of a follow up to 2006’s ‘Back To Black’ just yet, but the singer has reunited with producer Mark Ronson and the legendary Quincy Jones on a cover of the Lesley Gore classic, ‘It’s My Party’ – originally produced by Jones back in 1963. The collaboration is to be included on the forthcoming album ‘Q: Soul Bossa Nostra’, which revisits old Quincy Jones classics with the help of such stars as Snoop Dogg, Usher and Mary J. Blige.
In terms of measuring this as a mark of Winehouse’s comeback, it’s fair to say that she isn’t stretching too far from the formula of ‘Back To Black’. Ronson’s retro tinged production once again perfectly complements her unmistakable vocal delivery. While there are a couple of dodgy moments (namely when she unleashes her full North London accent loose in a spoken word section) the singer still possesses a voice that can make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.
After helping Amy Winehouse to become one of the biggest names in music and conquering the world’s airwaves with his unique brand of brass section infused pop, Mark Ronson has gone back to his hip-hop roots. The trans-Atlantic super producer’s first single from his new album was a statement of intent: using his extensive book of music industry contacts Ronson roped in legendary New York rapper Q-Tip and promptly placed him on an old school breakbeat to create one of the most instantly catchy hip-hop tracks of the year in the form of ‘Bang Bang’.
On his newest single Ronson again leaves the horns at home in favour of a poppy blend of electronics, rump shaking breaks and indie pop delivery. ‘The Bike Song’ is somehow more than the sum of its parts. The vocals from Kyle Falconer, he of Scottish indie band The View, somehow sound better than on any of his own songs. The raps from Spank Rock, who has found notoriety with scores of blog friendly electro rap offerings, also sound much more vital when attached to a song with catchy hooks and cross over potential.
With his forthcoming album featuring a smorgasbord of talent the likes of Ghostface, D’Angelo, Wiley, Simon LeBon and Boy George; Ronson could well repeat the huge success of his previous album exactly on his own terms. Mark Ronson & Business Intl ‘Record Collection’ is released 27th September
Anyone with a level of nostalgia for early ‘90’s video games should check out the latest track from trans-Atlantic beat-smith Mark Ronson. ‘Circuit Breaker’ is a sonic reimagining of an epic 8 bit role playing game. The result sounds something like Daft Punk’s ‘Aerodynamic’ set to a break beat and scratch laden backing.
In all honestly, the track is fairly unremarkable: but it’s the cutesy video that sees Mark Ronson battle through a Zelda style world that really makes it. Look out for DJ battle sequence at the end – it’s pretty amusing!
Mark Ronson’s album ‘Record Collection’ is out September 27th and features contributions from Q-Tip, Ghostface Killah, Boy George and D’Angelo.
