Hot Video Alert: Chromeo featuring Solange Knowles - When The Night Falls

When I first heard that Montreal based "electrofunk" duo Chromeo was collaborating with Solange Knowles on a song, I nearly lost my shit.  As much as I loved each individual artist, I was thinking "how is this going to work?"  At the time I heard about it I was thinking about how different their genres were...Solange Knowles is an R&B artist whereas Chromeo is electronica. Had I thought about it for more than a minute, I think I would have realized that Chromeo isn't straight up electronica. They definitely infuse a bunch of different junk into their sound, so the reality of the situation is, adding Solange's vocal to the track was kind of a perfect fit. So wrong yet so so right!  The song, "When The Night Falls," is the band's fourth single lifted off album #3, Business Casual which became the band's first album to chart on the Billboard 200, coming in at #70. Business Casual was also a hit on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums Chart, coming in at #4 and the Digital Albums Chart, coming in at #20.


As good as the song itself is, the video for "When The Night Falls" is absolutely genius.  The concept? With one look...Chromeo can impregnate a girl, and boy do they go crazy.  Starting out with one beautiful lady in a bar (played by Jenna Lyng), P-Thugg and Dave 1 end up with half of the city chasing after them with bursting bellies. Hilarious!  Now careful, I'm not saying that the act of impregnating women is hilarious.  You have to watch the full video to actually see what's going on here so don't think I'm being a prick.  The DANIELS-directed clip features magnificent special effects, an exuberant sense of humor and even a little heart at the end. Absolutely the perfect Chromeo video. Oh, and look out for an uncredited cameo by Solange herself. Catch the band as they embark on a North American tour this Fall and download the remix EP for "When The Night Falls" on U.S. iTunes HERE featuring remixes by Lifelike, Breakbot, and Hercules & Love Affair. Tour dates and video below!

TOUR DATES:

9/14 - DALLAS, TX - House of Blues * #
9/16 - HOUSTON, TX - House of Blues * #
9/17 - AUSTIN, TX - Austin City Limits
9/18 - NEW ORLEANS, LA - House of Blues * #
9/20 - MIAMI, FL - Fillmore * #
9/21 - ORLANDO, FL - Beacham Theater * #
9/22 - ATLANTA GA - Masquerade (Heaven Stage) * #
9/24 - MONTREAL, QC - Metropolis (Pop Montreal)
9/26 - DETROIT, MI - Majestic * #
9/27 - COLUMBUS, OH - Newport Music Hall * #
9/28 - PITTSBURGH, PA - Stage AE * #
9/30 - CHICAGO, IL - House of Blues * #
10/3 - MILWAUKEE, WI - Turner Hall * #
10/4 - MINNEAPOLIS, MN - First Avenue * #
10/6 - BOULDER, CO - Boulder Theater * #
10/7 - DENVER, CO - Ogden * #
10/8 - ASPEN, CO - Belly Up * #
10/10 - SEATTLE, WA - Showbox Sodo * #
10/11 - PORTLAND, OR - Roseland * #
10/12 - ARCATA, CA - Arcata Community Center * #
10/13 - RENO, NV - Knitting Factory * #
10/15 - SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Treasure Island
10/17 - SAN DIEGO, CA- House of Blues * >
10/18 - TEMPE, AZ - Marquee Theatre * >
10/20 - KANSAS CITY, MO - Midland Theater * >
10/21 - TULSA, OK - Cain's Ballroom * >
10/22 - OXFORD, MS - The Lyric * >
10/24 - ST. LOUIS, MO - The Pageant * >
10/25 - NASHVILLE, TN - Cannery Ballroom * >
10/27 - RICHMOND, VA - The National * >
10/28 - ASHEVILLE, NC - MoogFest
10/31 - PHILADELPHIA, PA - Electric Factory * >
11/1 - BOSTON, MA - House of Blues * >
11/2 - TORONTO, ON - Sound Academy * >
11/17 - LOS ANGELES, CA - The Wiltern

* # with Mayer Hawthorne & Sammy Bananas

* > with Mayer Hawthorne & Breakbot

 

Check Out Chromeo on the web:

Official Site//MySpace//Facebook//Twitter//YouTube

Kelly Clarkson Album Leaks & New Album Artwork

First things first, it looks like Kelly Clarkson's new (brilliant) album, All I Ever Wanted, leaked onto the Internet, courtesy of the Norwegian iTunes Store, as Rolling Stone reported earlier today. That's a shame. I hope it doesn't drastically impact sales. It might, given that it's not set to be released for a month. I wonder if the label will bump up the release date? Buy your copy! Pre-order on Amazon, iTunes or wherever you buy your music.

Kelly Clarkson - I Do Not Hook Up

2nd Single/Release Date - ??

Album - All I Ever Wanted

Now, since it's Friday and I'm WIPED OUT I'm going to keep things light and fluffy tonight with some new album art, available courtesy of my favorite album art resource on the web, Coverlandia. I've talked about them before but they really are fantastic! They have a great team of artists who make their own album art but they also post official artwork. Below, you will find some of my fav new official album and single sleeves. Enjoy!

Leona Lewis - I Will Be

3rd U.S. Single/Released February 3rd

Album - Spirit

Solange - Sandcastle Disco [Remixes]

2nd Single/Released Digitally February 10th

Album: Sol-Angel & The Hadley St. Dreams

Jennifer Hudson feat. Ludacris - Pocketbook

3rd Single/Released February 17th

Album: Jennifer Hudson

Enrique Iglesias feat. Ciara - Takin' Back My Love

2nd Single/Release Date - *

Album - Greatest Hits

* Released in Europe

Lady Gaga - Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)

3rd Australian Single/Released January 31st

Album - The Fame

Gavin DeGraw - Free

3rd Album/Release Date - March 31st

First Single - ??

Lady Sovereign - Jigsaw

2nd Album/Release Date - April 7th

1st Single - So Human/ Released February 3rd

New Purchases: Lesley Roy, Solange Knowles, Robyn, The Sounds & Andreas Johnson

I am clearly not very financially responsible. I recently bought a shitload of new music, despite there being smarter things for me to spend my money on right now. Oh well. Splurge a little. I've been buying more and more dance music lately. Rare CD promos as well as digital tracks. My two new favorite sources for dance remixes are Masterbeat and Discogs. Masterbeat is an iTunes-like site with a cool, sleek interface and tons of selection. They have frequent "exclusives" and while they are a bit pricier, I prefer to get my tunes legally whenever possible.

Discogs is a Wikipedia-like site where people upload their own music collections, filling out a detailed form with information about the music including writing credits, producing credits, even who was playing what instruments in the band. I've often used Discogs as a resource for hard to find dance remixes and album art but recently I've started taking advantage of the sites other services. Once you log in, you can create a "Want List" of tracks you find on site that you want. When other users decide that they want to sell these tracks out of their collection, you get an email letting you know that something is available from your "Want List." There is a ton of dance music on the site and I've recently purchased a few CDs and promos.

Let's review my recent purchases.

Lesley Roy - Unbeautiful (Remixes): Lesley Roy has been an artist on my radar for the past year or so. Originally from Ireland, she is signed to Religion Records and licensed by Jive in the U.S. Her album Unbeautiful was released last year and her first charting single "I'm Going, I'm Gone" served as the theme for MTV show Exiled. Her current single, "Unbeautiful" charted last year but recently has seen a resurgence in popularity. I first heard that Jason Nevins was on the remix but was pleasantly surprised to find new mixes by Mike Rizzo and Matt Pendergast as well. You can pick them up on Masterbeat. **(I recommend the Mike Rizzo or Jason Nevins remixes personally)

Solange - T.O.N.Y. (Remixes): Solange Knowles' new single appears to be "T.O.N.Y" off her brilliant second album Sol-Angel and the Hadley St. Dreams. First single, "I Decided" and follow up "Sandcastle Disco" both received an impressive slew of dance remixes and "T.O.N.Y" is following suit with remixes by Zoned Out, Lost Daze, Mark Picchiotti and Dan McKie. This was definitely one of my favorite tracks on Solange's album so I'm pleased that it's getting the remix treatment. Here's hoping for another Billboard Club/Dance #1! Get your copy on Masterbeat! **(I recommend the Mark Picchiotti or Lost Daze remixes)

Robyn - Keep This Fire Burning (Remixes): Off of her 2002 Swedish album, Don't Stop The Music (which I picked up when I was in Stockholm a few years back), "Keep This Fire Burning" is a track that went on to be covered by British R&B/Soul singer Beverley Knight in 2004 and more recently last year by British dance act, The Outsiders featuring vocals by Amanda Wilson. Robyn's version has always been my favorite and when the Maxi Single became available on Discogs, I snatched it up immediately! Remixes are by Cherno Jah, Martin Lanquist, Twin, DJ Benji and Sebastian Ingrosso. I'm so happy Robyn was at least nominated for a Grammy this past year and look forward to hearing what else she has in the cards. Also...if you get the chance to see her live...do it! She's fantastic!

The Sounds - Painted By Numbers (Remixes): Further proof that Sweden puts out some of the best music out there today! The Sounds are a New Wave band lead by lead singer Maja Ivarsson and backed up by Felix Rodriguez on guitar, Johan Bengtsson on bass, Jesper Anderberg on keyboards/piano/guitar and Fredrik Nilsson on drums. "Painted By Numbers" was a single off the group's 2006 album Dying To Say This To You. Remixes are by Soul Seekerz and Hassassins and I found the UK Promo CDR on Discogs.

Andreas Johnson - Glorious (Remixes): Andreas Johnson is another Swedish artist whom I have heard of before but never paid much attention to. While perusing Discogs the other day, I stumbled upon his 1999 single, "Glorious" which I had heard before. The single, off his album Liebling peaked at 4 on the UK single charts and was released in the US with quite an impressive list of remixes in 2001. With mixes by Hani, Hybrid, and Angelica Villella I couldn't NOT get it! The boy is quite cute, which didn't hurt. You can find some of his music on the US iTunes store.