Black Eyed Peas: Is This the Beginning of the End?

I'm going to make this short and sweet. Should you buy the Black Eyed Peas' new album, The Beginning? Let me me put it this way: If you love auto-tune and the dramatic swing towards a blatant electro-pop sound Will.I.Am and The Black Eyed Peas seem to be heading, then by all means purchase the album. Just to give you a taste of what your in for, the first track off the album interpolates (I've Had The) Time of My Life from the movie Dirty Dancing and, in my opinion, heads downhill from there.

Will.I.Am has explained that he used to attend raves while he was in high school and that is why his music has gravitated towards a more technotronic sound but, at this point, it's hard to believe that Will.I.Am ever used to produce for Eazy-E's Ruthless Records. While the majority of the album seems to fall short in an attempt to seemingly reach a broader audience, the one shining spot on the album is track number eight: Don't Stop the Party, which is ironic seeing as it is the only track on the album that doesn't. Buy it if you must, but I recommend you pass over this album in favor of Deadmau5's 4x4=12 if you're looking for a good electronic music fix.

Bass Thumpin' Thursdays

I know it's been a while since the last edition of "Bass Thumpin' Thursdays" and for that, apologies are in order. Running the blog takes a considerable amount of time and effort the former of which I seem to have less of each day. In that consideration, I may decide to make BTT a bi-weekly staple instead of devoting a post each week to the cause. Regardless, some feedback would be much appreciated as well as some suggestions for artists and songs to be featured. On that note, I bring to you four music videos that made the cut this week. The reoccurring theme is hot chicks featured in electronic music videos. In retrospect, a Sash! video would have been appropriate here, but instead we'll kick things off with the Steve Angello and Laidback Luke remix of Robin S.'s "Show Me Love".

"Show Me Love" originally failed to make an impact when it was released in 1990, but after a re-release in 1993, became a #1 dance song and the debut single for Robin S.'s album of the same name. Heavily regarded as a classic house track, "Show Me Love" has been remixed and sampled extensively (In fact, The Pussycat Dolls sampled the original song on their 2005 smash "Don't Cha"). The version I bring to you is the most recent bass-thumping version: a remix by Swedish House Mafia's Steve Angello and, Dutch DJ, Laidback Luke. Enjoy.

Steve Angello & Laidback Luke feat. Robin S - Show Me Love

Though the next video features a hot chick at around the 2:00 mark, be warned that there is a horrible guy to girl ratio for a trance video (2:1). Maybe that's the reason Rockstar decided to use Eric Prydz' "Pajanoo" on the soundtrack and feature the song in the first trailer for Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony. Either way, the track is more contagious than the flu and repeated listens will drill the melody in your head like and offshore oil rig. Hopefully the end results will differ from the BP oil fiasco.

Eric Prydz - Pjanoo

Thirdly, I would like to present a video by a trio of Belgian dance musicians named Lasgo. Lasgo is comprised of Peter Luts and Jeff Martens as the producers and singer Jelle Van Dael who provides vocals and eye-candy. As an aspiring producer myself, I realize that, in order to succeed, I should keep a hot blond in tow. However, if I could attract hot blonds, I probably wouldn't get much work done. Giggity.

Lasgo - Out of My Mind

Lastly, I would like to present a video by Elena Alexandra Apostoleanu a.k.a. Inna. Inna is a dance singer from Mangalia, Romania and her debut album "Hot" reached #1 on the European dance charts partly due to the #1 smash of the same name. Inna's infectiousness has yet to reach state side but I predict that this ravishing Romanian will soon show the world just how "Hot" she is.

Inna - Hot

Bass Thumpin' Thursdays

Today, I bring to you an assortment of music that has been coursing through my head, as well as my car and computer speakers. First up is a new song by British artist Wiley. This addictive dance/ rap track has infected me since I first heard it and reminded me of the song it sampled: White Town's Your Woman. White Town's original featured a sampled trumpet line taken from "My Woman" by Al Bowlly, therefore Wiley's Song is a sample of a sample. Don't be dismissive however, because Wiley makes great use of the source material. This pulsing track is an excellent lesson on how to use a sample that's rarely been used to make an entirely new compilation. Too often producers try to use the same samples that have been shown to be tried and true hits. They follow the reasoning that if a song sold 10 million copies, they can nab a percentage of that original song's fan base. Regardless, here is my first pick, as well as the sampled source material from the 90's.

Wiley Ft. Emeli Sande - Never Be Your Woman

White Town - Your Woman

Next up is another act that's gaining popularity in the UK, Serbian DJ Gramophonedzie. Aside from being a DJ, Gramophonedzie (real name Marko Milicevic) studied Sound Design at Belgrade University, in Serbia. He has made music for many video commercials, shows, films and produced projects of some major hip-hop groups in Serbia as well as the theme for the Balkan version of Big Brother. He is definitely an act to watch and we wish the best for Gramophonedzie when and if he decides to drop a full-length album.

Gramophonedzie - Why Don't You

Lastly, to round out the April Foolishness, I'd like to share a little ditty that has my head bobbing like, well, a bobble-head doll. Rene Ablaze (real name Rene Bos) started his career in 1986 in smaller clubs and discotheques and surprised many people while playing a fledgling musical genre known as trance. His off-the-cuff sets never repeated themselves and Rene was always happy to take audience requests. "Beside working for his own company “ABLAZE PRODUCTIONS”, which among other things deals with mediation of artists and music productions, Rene also founded the record company “REDUX RECORDINGS” That is growing to a very populair [sic] Trance Label" according to Rene's Myspace. Check out Floating from Rene Ablaze and give me some feedback on music you like and would like to hear.

Rene Ablaze - Floating