Here We Are Together On Your Hi Fi

Kelis w/ Andre 3000 “Millionaire” – Apparently returning the favor for Kelis’ guest shot on The Love Below‘s “Dracula’s Wedding,” this is Andre 3000’s contribution to Kelis’ brand new Tasty record. Fans of Outkast should not be let down by this track, which is produced and vocally dominated by Andre, enough so that it seems more than a little out of place on the Kelis record. As with most anything Andre 3000 does lately, it’s fabulous. I can’t really say the same of the rest of the Kelis album – it’s not bad, it’s just kind of average for the most part. Many of the tracks just sound like the Neptunes on autopilot, and Kelis’ voice never rises above being merely adequete and competant. She lacks the character and presense which would be necessary to make her so-so material compelling. I think that her talents are best suited to playing the melodic chorus-singing foil to flamboyant hip hop MCs like Andre and Ol’ Dirty Bastard. She’s no star, but she can be a gifted ensemble player, and there’s no shame in that.

Of course, the exception to all of this is the single “Milkshake” (which I trust most of you have heard by now, and if not, you will very soon), which is as inspired, catchy, and sexy as the best Neptunes singles of the past four years.

10CC “The Worst Band In The World” – Inspired by discussion on ILM of their biggest hit “I’m Not In Love,” I’ve started to investigate 10CC’s back catalog, which has been a fairly fruitful endeavor for me, if just because I discovered this song from their 1972 album Sheet Music. It reminds me a bit of the better Steely Dan songs, but with even more sarcasm and irony in the lyrics, and less meticulous lite-jazz gloss.

One of the questions which I’m frequently asked by new readers is if I know of any other blogs which share this blog’s format – ie, a semi-daily mp3 blog. Up until recently, I’ve only ever been able to recommend Gabba and a handful of other blogs like Do You Feel Loved which rotate their mp3s with a much slower turnover rate than the one I have established here. Well, no more. Tangmonkey is now offering daily mp3 downloads, and joining me as I straddle the fine line between music “piracy” and free promotion and publicity. Godspeed, Tangmonkey!