Category: Song Of The Day

SONG OF THE DAY: Ellie Goulding – “Figure 8”

Chess for girls… Now that Ellie has a pop hit here in the states, the hipsters are already talking smack about her. I overheard one of them referring to “Figure 8” as “dubstep for girls,” a la the infamous Saturday Night Live sketch commercial for “Chess for Girls.” Needless to say, I completely disagree. Yes, the song is quite similar in structure and tone to Alex Clare’s crossover/advertising jingle “Too Close,” but that same critique will be thrown at any artist who utilizes dubstep rhythms with emotional storytelling (though both songs do share the same coproducer, Mike Spencer.) “Figure 8” is quite darker than her current single “Anything Could Happen,” with moodier and sparser verse production and harder dubstep chorus beats acting as a background for Ellie’s story of heartbreak. It’s easy to see why Ellie Goulding was embraced as a true songwriting talent in the UK in the same way that they embraced Adele. The two remixes couldn’t be more different. Drop Lamond’s take is hard to describe – an interesting and odd fusion of breakbeat and brokenbeat, with an electro groove throughout. The stop-and-stutter feel would make for a nice change in vibe for any ballsy DJ willing to take a risk at a WTF moment. If you like their mix, you should also check out their single “Kerosene.” For mainstream dance floors, The Alias continues their streak of hands-in-the-air Hi-NRG mixes (Girls Aloud, Little Mix, Kelly Clarkson) with another galloping floorfiller. I find it quite impressive that the label is commissioning commercial remixes like this (and the Almighty remix of “Anything Could Happen”) in addition to the edgier, “credible” mixes. It just shows that a strong song can translate for any audience.

Image Courtesy of CherryTree/Interscope.

SONG OF THE DAY (SUNDAY FUNDAY): Ke$ha – “Die Young” (Seamus Haji Remix)

“Die Young” is a total guilty pleasure. Yes, it sounds like every other Ke$ha song, but with the track at 128 bpm if you strip out the vocals (and the Illuminati/New World Order nonsense) it could easily be a Swedish House Mafia or Calvin Harris pop record. British producer Seamus Haji has been on quite a roll lately, turning in solid club mixes from artists as varied as The Gossip, Elton John vs Pnau, Maroon 5, Ne-Yo, and Rita Ora. In his deft hands, “Die Young” is elevated to primetime commercial club monster- with harder electro buildups, a more dramatic dropout, and even sicker vocal effects. It would be interesting to see what would happen if one of the big-name DJs dropped an instrumental of Seamus’ mix, because I bet if it was circulated without the vocal it would be quite a massive club record on its own.

Image Courtesy of RCA/Kemosabe.

SONG OF THE DAY: Cher – “Woman’s World”

With the current wave of electronic dance music taking over the airwaves, Cher is one of two artists that I have been waiting to hear from (the other being Missy Elliott.) “Woman’s World” is exactly what you would expect, a hybrid of europop and electro with Cher’s effected vocals singing a song of female empowerment (think Beyonce’s “Run the World,” set in a club and free of expletives.) Cher does sound great, and the production is incredibly slick, but the song kept reminding me of something that I couldn’t place. When I read “Woman’s World” was produced by Paul Oakenfold, it hit me… “Celebration,” the song Madonna did with Oakie. (Note to mashup DJs, “Celebration” and “Woman’s World” would go perfectly together.) As much as I would love Cher to work with someone more up-and-coming, her working with Oakenfold makes perfect sense, as I predict the two legendary artists are about to experience another boom in prominence with a new generation of clubgoers. The song title is probably a play on her 1995 album title It’s A Man’s World, the album that contained “One By One” – of which the Junior Vasquez remix supposedly influenced Cher to step back into dance music to create “Believe.” Club play will be massive as there is guaranteed to be an insane set of credible club remixes, but it will be interesting to see if Cher can capture the attention of commercial radio for a full-on mainstream crossover.

Image Courtesy of Warner Bros.