SONG OF THE DAY: Havana Brown – Ba Bing

The mark of a good pop artist is when they take underground sounds and make them accessible to mainstream audiences. With “Ba Bing,” Aussie DJ/singer Havana Brown melds bhangra and hard electro beats as the background of her sexed-up vocal performance. That Luciana cowrote the lyrics doesn’t come as a surprise at all. Though “Ba Bing” was featured on Havana’s 2012 album (still unreleased in the US), it sounds remarkably fresh for 2014. The mixing of Indian/Middle Eastern influences with electro has been done before – Rudenko “Everybody,” R3hab “Pump the Party,” and Diplo “Butter’s Theme” come to mind. The recently released NSFW video is sexually-charged but praiseworthy from a feminist standpoint because Havana is in control with men being just as scantily clad (if not more) than the women. That is never the case in EDM videos, at least not since Ultra Nate’s “Automatic.” Actually, the cinematography seems partially inspired by the previously mentioned “Butter’s Theme.” The video for “Babing” is part of the release of a new single “Better Not Said,” which based on previews sounds like she is trying to put a pop spin on the aggressive EDM tracks that you hear from the Spinnin’ camp. Watch for a favorable review coming soon.

Image sampled from music video. Special thanks to Julio Leonel Bonilla for song suggestion.

SONG OF THE DAY: Priyanka Chopra – “I Can’t Make You Love Me”

Originally recorded by Bonnie Raitt, “I Can’t Make You Love Me” is a classic song that has been revisited quite a few times. Often sung on vocal competition shows, both Kimberley Locke’s game-changing soulful take on American Idol and Angela Hacker’s brilliant bluesy country interpretation on Nashville Star immediately come to mind. As for a dance version, it’s been tried- but for some reason they never get released. A Mark Picchiotti remix of Kimberley Locke’s take (similar in style to Fedde Le Grand vs Ida Corr’s “Let Me Think About It”) was commissioned, but unfortunately never released. Ester Dean’s soulful EDM take can be heard online and was set for promotion with club mixes, but for some reason was scrapped at the last minute.

Here comes Miss World/Bollywood princess Priyanka Chopra to rectify the situation. She is no stranger to clubland with her collaborations – a pre-#Selfie banger with The Chainsmokers “Erase,” the will.i.am featuring “In My City,” and Top 15 Billboart club chart hit “Exotic” with Pitbull. Starting slow with a plaintive cry of the title, the track starts slow and builds into a full-on stadium house electronic anthem. Priyanka sounds great, and the production is perfect, not a surprise as Manuel Reuter did it, who you probably know as DJ Manian of Cascada (whose new single “Blink” is beginning to buzz as well”). The video is what you would expect from a superstar pop video (including the obligatory Beats headphones placement for Interscope), which makes you wonder – just why isn’t Priyanka as big in the US and Europe as she is India, where this song nearly topped the iTunes chart immediately upon release. Could this be the song that breaks her internationally? A round of sick remixes would definitely help – so here’s hoping they will surface quite soon, as I can already hear in my head what the R3hab mix would sound like.

Image Courtesy of Interscope.

Notable Dance Podcast #057

Boy George – Feel The Vibrations (Hoxton Whores Vocal Mix)
Kissy Sell Out ft Holly Lois – The Promise
Felix Cartal ft Chloe Angelides – Ready For Love (POPROX Remix)
Mischa Daniels – Rango Tango (Original Mix)
Disco Fries ft Amba Tremain – Love Me Right (Original Mix)
Sidney Samson & Eva Simons – Celebrate The Rain (Original)
Disco Fries and Loopers – Exposure
John Dahlb?ck & Benny Benassi – Blink Again (Original Mix)
R3hab ft Eva Simons – Unstoppable (Extended Mix)
Tritonal & Paris Blohm ft Sterling Fox – Colors (John Dahlback Remix)
Dash Berlin & Rigby – Earth Meets Water (Club Mix)
Lustral – So Lonely

(Picture of Disco Fries taken at Amsterdam Dance Event 2013.)