The Leak(y) Album: Hard Candy

As the leak for Mimi's E=mc2 appears not to have hurt sales (est. at over 500k for this week), perhaps the sampling of 6 more tracks from Hard Candy (in addition to already released 4 Minutes and already leaked Candy Shop) will excite listeners to buy at the record store:

Give It To Me

This is to be her second single. There's wink in the rhythm link to 'Superfreak' before a break complete with Balinese Gamelan gongs.

Heartbeat

A heartbeat gives away to a layer of stuttering synths (reminding me of something from TRON) It's an ode to dancing as an escape from 'this complicated life' ...seems like she hasn't finished her dance floor confessions.

Miles Away

Beautiful, breezy song with Madonna ruefully ruminating on how love is so much easier at a distance. This should be released as a single.

She's Not Me

I love this song -- very Ring My Bell at the roller disco. Funky guitars over spare cascades of bells, cowbells and whistles -- all supporting cheeky, back off b*tch lyrics -- quite a treat.

Incredible

Twittering beats over a series of piano chords as Madge sings ruefully of beautiful beginnings gone stale. Then the bridge which comes in raging w/ electric guitar before giving way to a fluttering of more synths before jerking back into the sputtering beat/piano combo and veering into a breakdown. It seems like Madonna & Pharrell are trying to force the urgency of 'finishing what we started' through the schizophrenic sonics. To me, it's the most jarring and least accessible of the leaked tracks.

Beat Goes On

Radical rework from the demo leaked last year, both in sonics (a calvalcade of tinkling bells, synths, cowbells) and lyrics (thankfully jettisoning the 'always the bridesmaid, never the bride' reference for a more universal 'Just Do It' vibe). It bumps along nicely, sweeping Kanye along for the ride in a guest rap.

Here's a link to an article in The Sun with Madonna's own rundown on some of these tracks.

(UPDATE: Seems that Warner Bros. is more diligent than Universal in plugging leaks...check back next week for the full-on deluge!)

the leak(y) album: E=mc2

Those darn internets -- Mimi's E=mc2 leaked last week (even though her album drops today)...and the tracks are already up on YouTube! :-\ Either this is Universal's ploy to drum up further buzz on the album for that big opening week sales number (her stint on Oprah on Monday will also help bring in the bucks), or someone on the label needs to watch his/her back...!

Click on the titles below to listen to the tracks:

Migrate (feat. T-Pain)
This club banger opens the album as 'It's Like That' did for Emancipation, complete with guest rapper! Considering 'It's Like That' was a disappointment on the charts, I can understand her not wanting to repeat that scenario. Her lackluster live performance of this song on SNL didn't help much either.

Touch My Body
See blog entry below.

Cruise Control (feat. Damian Marley)
Mimi mixes Jamaican patois with those JD programmed beats. The reggae organ and Damian Marley 'Pass the Dutchie' melodic reference are inspiring.

I Stay in Love
Standard R&B ballad...nice, yearning lyrics that will be very popular at high school proms.

Side Effects (feat. Young Jeezy)
OooOOh, Mimi is MAD! She put Mr. Mottola on BLAST with this song...and that butterfly flirts back in her lyrics once again...

I'm That Chick
I'm really feeling this song. The disco, Patrice Rushen 'Forget Me Nots' vibe is quite a refreshing change of pace. The Off The Wall reference in the middle is quite cute too.

Love Story
Back to JD and his drum kit...however, we *do* get a piano too!

Loving You Long Time
Ah, a joyous single with a wall of (sampled) sound, many Mimi voices and an impassioned lead vocal. Another standout track.

Last Kiss
Back to the standard JD slowjam (multilayered vocals, syncopated melody lines, that 808)..reminds me of We Belong Together.

Thanx 4 Nothin'
*Another* JD ballad (see above) -- but with lyrics sour, not sweet. :-\

O.O.C.
'Out of Control' -- the cymbals and handclaps ground the song as multitracked layers of vocals swing and coo. Nice.

For the Record
Yet another JD slowjam. If these songs weren't jam packed into the same album, they would most likely stand out. Unfortunately, they start to meld into each other as track blends into track.

Bye Bye
See blog entry below.

I Wish You Well
A lovely way to end the album: Mariah, a piano and a gentle layer of background vocals. It reminds me of Vanishing, a gem of a song from her debut album.

Overall impression -- JD really needs to back off that 808 machine. Well, at least the sound is consistent.

UPDATE: a fantastic review from Rich at fourfour -- pretty much on the money.

How's that song go again? Beat It

With Thriller's 25th Annivesary edition: The original version: Beat It - Michael Jackson This was a classic... Weird Al's version: hahaha... Fall Out Boy (w/ John Mayer) currently has a rendition that's #19 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart (UPDATE: it fell out of the top 50 in this week's chart). Here's the Guitar Hero version for you to play along: And finally, my favorite version of the song -- Amy Winehouse & Charlotte Church tear it up (literally): I just admire how the great Amy "plays" with the vocal line as Charlotte helplessly plods along...

How's that song go again? Ain't No Other Man, KEN LEE!

So, the CONductor sent me this clip he found on YouTube several weeks ago...he professes to gloss over the song lyrics, deeming them irrelevant compared to harmonies, counterpoint, musical textures -- blahblahblah.

Perhaps he wanted to provide insight into the music of his mind:



While I never thought of Xtina's pronunciation as particularly poor, I do appreciate aural reconstruction.

If a native speaker of English can mishear and mangle the meanings of songs, imagine the reinvention done by those who don't speak it at all-- like perhaps someone from...Bulgaria:

The British are Coming! Leona & Estelle

Leona Lewis landed on our shores and scored her first US #1 two weeks ago (with much help from Mama Oprah) with debut single Bleeding Love (check out the UK version as well as the US version).

Estelle, signed to John Legend's Homeschool Records (Atlantic), currently has the #1 single in the UK with 'American Boy' (feat. Kanye West):


This song has a sophisticated, 70s disco vibe which reminds me of that (dare I say) CrazyCool Gnarls Barkley hit -- which was huge in London during the summer of 2006. Hmmm, could this be a good omen for Ms. E?