Mixtape to Milli

Today, Drake finally signed to Lil Wayne's label, Young Money, as part of Universal. This deal, after a massive bidding war, is not only a milestone in his relatively young career, but a picture of the music industry today. In the past 3 years, this Canadian rapper has steadily built a successful underground following with his four mixtapes, culminating in this year's So Far Gone. An incredible mixtape, and one of my favorite albums of the year thus far, So Far Gone has helped launch him into almost unprecedented unsigned stardom. His current single, Best I Ever Had, could potentially become only the 2nd #1 song in history by an unsigned artist (he currently has songs at #3 and #10). So far this year, he's performed on various TV shows, awards shows and on tour, selling out shows all well before the release of his first studio full-length album.

The situation is unprecedented, but I foresee it becoming more and more common. With an increasing divergence from an upfront consumer exposure being controlled by corporate music industry, the underground indie artist is gaining power (albeit still relatively capped). This is evident in Drake's success with So Far Gone. As a free album, the buzz that it's generated and the opportunities that it's led to demonstrate the power of the listener to reward quality material as well as the true money-making potential for an artist in everything but album sales.

All that said, it's impossible to notice two things. Firstly, Drake was basically adopted by some powerfully mainstream mentors. Along with getting public praise and facetime with Jamie Foxx, Kanye West and Jay-Z, Lil' Wayne has been grooming him for success for several years now. This manifests itself in So Far Gone with four songs featuring Weezy himself. It's close to impossible to avoid success when your chummed up with the best-selling artist of last year. Most recently, the two performed two songs and sat together on the front row of the BET awards.

I'm excited to hear his upcoming major label debut, but I'm nervous. Part of what has made Drake so interesting for me thus far has revolved around his ability to speak openly and smartly. Amidst hints of the nonsense of a stereotypical hip hop extravagance, he always mixes in reflections on something of emotional depth. In the same verse that he talks about a freak-show tour bus, he details crying with his mother after he catches her trying to literally desert him as a young boy. This is all coupled with a great restraint in the musicality. Much of So Far Gone is slow and moody, finding ways to re-imagine popular indie songs from the likes of Lykke Li and Peter, Bjorn and John. I hope that his marriage to Lil' Wayne doesn't begin to corrode this style. Weezy, although somehow managing to make almost any song sell, has a tendency to digress into a cracked-out randomness in his lyrics in a way that bends more towards disturbing than metaphor to me. Insert "A Milli" here.

Can an artist really have a chance at consistent mainstream success without eventually being tied to a major label?

Drake - Say What's Real (Warning: Explicit Lyrics)

Drake - Successful (ft. Trey Sonz & Lil' Wayne)(Warning: Explicit Lyrics)

Sarah may be the coolest librarian ever.

My sister requested a 15 min. mix as an intro to her preschoolers storytime at the public library in Norfolk, VA. The summer theme is "Alphabet" and I got a handful of suggested dance-worthy songs that she was looking for and took off from there. It was a lot of fun, not only to jump back and forth between all of these classic songs, but to insert little nuggets of "special" like the french alphabet (the language we both took in high school) and the kermit song (she's been known to appreciate muppets.) It also helps to invision an unruly mob of min-humans jumping around for 15 minutes getting excited for stories to come. Thanks for the opportunity Sarah!

_Michael

Download the MP3 here

Shake a leg

I returned from a stunning vacation in the Grenadines with rejuvenation and a bit of a tan. At the time I knew that I wanted to record a new mix, but I was unsure which direction it would go. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your perspective, the influx of stress over the past few weeks helped me narrow focus and craft the playlist. While reaching for tracks that I very much enjoy as of late, often simple and catchy to give my mind a break, I began to notice a trend towards the grimey. So, without further ado, I'd like to share a new mini mix with you (albeit a tad louder and dirtier than usual). Enjoy!

_Michael

Download the MP3 here

Setlist:

Santigold - You'll Go Crazy ft. Young Jeezy

Phoenix - Listomania (Alex Metric Remix)

The Virgins - Rich Girls (The Twelves Remix)

Passion Pit - The Reeling (Calvin Harris Remix)

Boss in Drama - Favorite Song

Sébastien Tellier - Kilometer (A-Trak Remix)

Dragonette - Fixin' To Thrill (Don Diablo Remix)

Hot Chip - Touch Too Much (Fake Blood Remix)

MSTRKRFT - Click Click ft. E-40

Killa Queenz - Bitches (Zombie Disco Squad Remix)

Daft Punk - Harder Better Faster Stronger (Deadmau5 Edit)

Heads We Dance - When The Sirens Sound (Don Diablo Remix)

Empire Of The Sun - Walking On A Dream (Van She Tech Remix)

Flashback

I'm mid-process of recording a new mix and should have it up in the next few days. This mix goes back to my interest in electronic/pop/indie dance music and you can get a little taste by listening to last November's mix. Enjoy and stay tuned!

Setlist:

1. CSS – Move (Cut Copy Remix)
   
2. Treasure Fingers – Cross The Dancefloor (Chromeo Remix)
   
3. Lykke Li – Dance, Dance, Dance (Data Life Remix)
   
4. Justice – Phantom Pt. 2 (Soulwax Remix)
   
5. Lykke Li – Breaking It Up (Punks Jump Up Remix)
   
6. MGMT – Kids (Soulwax Remix)
   
7. Thunderheist – Jerk It (Jokers Of The Scene Remix)
   
8. I Am Finn – I Love You (Van She Tech Remix)
   
9. Kap10kurt – Mission Complete (Moulinex Remix)
   
10. Chromeo – Fancy Footwork
    
11. MSTRKRFT – Bounce Ft. Nore (Felix Cartal Remix)
    
12. FnDannyBoy – Drop On The Dancefloor
    
13. Kid Cudi – Day-N-Nite (Crookers Remix)

Yikes

So I just realized that unless you have an IMEEM account, you've been hearing mostly 30 second previews of these songs.  You can still listen to the full song by clicking on "Listen to the full track" in the player, which will link you to IMEEM.  I'll continue to look for other options in the meantime and sorry to those who were annoyed at a blog full of 30 second clips of songs.

Dance already

A few new dance tracks I've been enjoying lately. Dig it. The first from Alex Metric, who cranks up a newly released track from French band, Phoenix. Secondly, Deadmau5 reinvents the classic Daft Punk track and finally, Don Diablo kills "When the Sirens Sound".

Not in Arizona

Every once in a while I feel like I've struck gold with a musical find. Even when I'm not convinced that they're going to be the next big thing or that all of my friends need to listen to their music, I still feel obliged to share. I'm convinced that most people have some odd, unexplainable attraction to a very specific genre or sound. A tune that just makes them feel right.

My relatively new exposure to the French band, Phoenix, is giving me hints of that "right" feeling. Emerging from suburban Versailles (joining the ranks of Air and Daft Punk), this foursome has those ingredients of funk, indie rock, electronic and pop that seem to work for me.

Their first, self-titled album was released in 2000 and had some great, accessible songs such as this one:

Their next two albums, Alphabetical and It's Never Been Like That were released in 2004 and 2006 and further defined the bands sound, introducing more electronic. Check out "Long Distance Call" or "Run Run Run" alongside this one

Releasing at the end of this Month, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is looking promising with their first single "1901" released as a free MP3 and their latest, "Lisztomania". Look for them in San Francisco at the Regency Center on June 27.