JayeL Audio

2009 may have had a plethora of covers, but not as many stuck out in my mind as past years. Either way, these were the stand outs, in my opinion. See below for a link to the corresponding podcast. Its my first attempt so….

JayeL Audio’s Top Covers of 2009 Podcast

5. Discovery – I Want You Back (Jackson 5 cover)
Like much of the music industry, Rostam Batmanglij of Vampire Weekend and Wes Miles of Ra Ra Riot discovered the fun of electronic-based studio fun. They were one of the few duo’s that could pull it off. Discovery’s take on “I Want You Back” is awash in synth and Auto-Tune, but this almost “chopped and screwed” take on a Jackson 5 classic manages to offer a slick alternative to the original.

4. Lissy Trullie – Ready For The Floor (Hot Chip cover)
Most of the time, I like covers that are acoustic reworkings or when classics are electro-fied, Lissy Trullie opted for neither. Her take on Hot Chip’s hit “Ready For The Floor”, takes all the electronic elements out and makes it her own with . The only remnant of the original is the hushed intro, that only hints at the jangly guitar and thumping drum ahead.

3. Taken By Trees – My Boys (Animal Collective cover)
I’ll just get this out of the way right now, Animal Collective is a little too crazy for me. “My Girls” was the only track I found tolerable off the album that everyone loves, which makes sense since it is their only pop song. Taken By Trees aka Victoria Bergsman manage to enhance the song as “My Boys”. The cover keeps the story of needing simple things to live happy, but sounds even better with Bergsman’s cooing and melancholy feel.

2. Solange – Stillness Is The Move (Dirty Projectors cover)
It took me awhile to wise up to the goodness of Dirty Projectors’ original, but not Solange’s spectacular cover. Beyonce’s lil’ sister did the opposite of what most cover artists do: remake an indie hit. I’m extra partial to this cover for reworking the beat from “XXXplosive” (via Soul Mann & the Brothers), but Solange’s pipes are the true star.

1. Desktop – My Boo (Ghost Town DJ’s cover)
I’ve been enamored with this electro cover of Ghost Town DJ’s hit since I first heard it. “My Boo” bubbles with synthesizers, vocal distortion (that works) and a drum beat on the chorus might be more banging than the original. The “A Milli” sample was a nice added touch that I appreciate even more now that its not 2008. I imagine there are a number of artists who are now wondering why they didn’t think to cover this classic sooner?
Desktop – My Boo (Ghost Town DJ’s cover)

JayeL Audio Top 5 Covers of 2009 by jayelaudio

TLC – Sleigh Ride

The Kinks – Father Christmas

That is all.

So yea, I like this song.

Back from sunny Puerto Vallarta, it looks like I have some catching up to do. I’ll be rolling out some annual “best of ’09″ lists over the next 2-3 weeks. Until then, below are a few items worth noting, before I head to frigid Michigan for a few days.

-Retro-pop band The Dutchess and Duke played at the Earl last week. They also played an in-store at Decatur CD. Check the video for the great “Back To Me”. Visuals captured by Creative Outlet Productions.

-Largehearted Boy has been busy compiling year end lists from everywhere across the internetz. My favorite is always his own “Favorite Novels of the Year” post. I’ve found a lot of great books via his site and hopefully you will too. I can thank him for turning me on to Josh Bazell’s Beat the Reaper earlier this year.

-I included Macklemore and Ryan Lewis‘ drinking anthem, “Irish Celebration” on The Nark Before Christmas. Turns out, they just released a solid EP. Download it free below.
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – The VS. EP

-I’m not sure how much more I can praise Passion Pit‘s “Sleephead”, but The Hood Internet did what they do best: pair indie pop gems that work so well with hip-hop jams. Even a Juvenile hit that I’ve been sick of since high school.
The Hood Internet – Back That Sleepyhead Up (Passion Pit vs Juvenile)

-If the only reason you watch Jimmy Fallon is to hear the best band in late night, The Roots, then you must love their jam sessions before commercial breaks. The “sandwiches” as Questlove calls them, have been compiled into a mixtape of sorts.
The Roots – Late Night W/Jimmy Fallon Sandwiches EP (via 2dopeboyz)

-Everything I’ve heard from Yeasayer‘s upcoming album, Odd Blood has sounded great. It doesn’t drop until Feb, but Jasper at Eat This City thinks you may be able to find it early. Also, the band is embarking on a tour with a $15 stop at The Masquerade on April 6th.

-I haven’t spoke enough about Detroit’s Mayer Hawthorne on this site, but he is building a solid underground following with his retro soul album A Strange Arrangement. Definitely check out the great interview Thomas Matich of Deep Cutz had with Mr. Hawthorne here.

-Also, Kyle Lucas and Simon Illa turn a Mike Posner song that I wasn’t too fond of into a remix I can support.
Mike Posner – Red Button (remix) ft Kyle Lucas

More coming soon…

Cut Copy – In Ghost Colours (2008)
May/June of 2008, I had completely hit a wall professionally. I was at a point at my current job where I just couldn’t handle working on the account I was on anymore. My co-workers were great, but the pay was pitiful, my cubicle was small and routine was growing stale. It was safe to say I needed a change. Socially, my friends all seemed to be moving in separate geographic directions. My girlfriend was going south to North Carolina for a teaching job, other friends were heading to different parts of the Midwest and I was pretty much running in place. Summer was great with trips all over Michigan (especially Caseville), but I knew my time was running out at my current location and j-o-b. My search in Charlotte, NC was unsuccessful and Chicago, IL had more advertising opportunity, but also more applicants.

It was around this time that I did more research into Cut Copy. “Hearts On Fire” was on my daily workout playlist and its upbeat tempo and ’80s vibe made it a must for me to give In Ghost Colours a listen. My review at the end of ’08 said:

’80’s style sythesizers was a big part of 2008. No one utilized it better than Australia’s, Cut Copy. In Ghost Colours is a giant dancefest, filled with electropop (”Lights and Music”) and indie-rock (”Feel the Love”). I had a new favorite song,depending on the month, but “Hearts on Fire” and “Far Away” were pretty much on repeat all summer.

My analysis hasn’t changed much, but my favorite song has. “Strangers In The Wind” has a slower tempo than most of the jams on In Ghost Colours, but the reflective lyrics are only enhanced by the glowing production.
I started expanding my search and ended up in Atlanta. I had a couple interviews at other agencies, but I am immensely happy where I work. My team is amazing, I’m learning a ton on the account I interviewed for and I’ve met some great people as a result.

Pick up Cut Copy – In Ghost Colours here.

Name your favorite albums of the past 10 years below!

See the rest of the posts on my Favorite Albums of the Decade:
Girl Talk – Night Ripper
Neko Case – Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Kanye West – Late Registration
Jay-Z – The Blueprint/The Black Album
Bubba Sparxxx – Deliverance
Little Brother – The Listening

Girl Talk – Night Ripper (2007)
I had heard of Girl Talk in early ’07 via My Old Kentucky Blog. Admittedly, I initially didn’t give him a chance based on his ridiculous name. As the number of blogs in my RSS feed grew, so did the places I saw Greg Gillis’ ridiculous moniker. In June, I gave Night Ripper its first listen and I was blown away. I had heard so called mash-ups before, but they were really just blends of 1 song over another. The number of samples and genres thrown at my eardrums were mind-numbing. After a couple of listens, I actually thought, is this too much? “Tiny Dancer” with “Juicy”? Wait was that song at the end of “Fight Club” just mixed with “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop” and “Hate Me Now”? Whoa. I knew my musical taste had grown tremendously over the last year, but is this too crazy? I kept it to myself until a 3 hour drive to Caseville, MI with Laura. I told her I was really into this album I downloaded and we should listen to it on the way. I wanted her to give me her honest opinion, but we had to listen to it all of it. After listening to The Nightripper once in its entirety, she asked “Can we listen to it again?”.

Since that summer, Gillis’ brand of mash-ups has been the perfect soundtrack to late nights. Somehow, no matter where I am, either Night Ripper, Feed the Animals or any one of the live bootlegs end up a dance party when with friends. Most people I know didn’t get hooked until Feed the Animals, but I’m still partial to this album. Don’t get me wrong, Feed the Animals has every hit from the last 50 years. I think the moment I heard Night Ripper, mixed with the “oh-shit” factor and introduction to a ton of new artists makes is so great. I don’t imagine this obsession will last forever with the numerous acts trying the same thing, some good (E-603 and Super Mash Bros), some okay (Car Stereo Wars). But for the moment, its an addiction.

Pick up Girl Talk – Night Ripper here (on vinyl too).

Neko Case – Fox Confessor Brings The Flood (2006)
Not too many ladies were on my playlists around Spring 2006, but that would change upon hearing Neko Case. Laura’s recent mixtapes had me looking for new kinds of music in many places and one that I had neglected was Impact 89FM, MSU’s college radio station. Another great college student job I had was at MSU’s Roofing Department, where I often was the driver of one of the dept.’s vehicles. This would often entail chauffeur duties, materials pick up and deliveries from the local convenience store, Quality Dairy (aka QD). Pondering responsibility, debt, job searching and confusion all became part of my recent graduation on these solo laps around campus. Eventually, I had to listen to something other than the ’60s/’70s rock that brought back memories to our motley crew of criminals, has beens, characters that were the full-time roofers (that being said they were hilarious and great to work with).

Being that it was summertime, the student DJ’s at Impact pretty much played whatever they wanted, without a rhyme or a reason. One of the DJ’s apparently liked Neko Case’s 5th studio album, Fox Confessor Brings the Flood because it came out of the pitch and dust-filled truck speakers often on my journeys. I eventually picked up the album for my own stereo and was amazed that the story-telling, let alone Case’s enchanting voice. “Margaret vs Pauline” was a tale of fate’s troublesome path, “Hold On, Hold On” had reflective heartbreak and “John Saw That Number” mocks blind faith in foot-stomping fashion. This album was one of the many I discovered that summer that helped me maintain sanity, while eventually finding my first job, moving from East Lansing and seeing my girlfriend return from Italy.

Pick up Neko Case – Fox Confessor Brings The Flood here.

Kanye West – Late Registration (2005)
It might have been the fact that I had moved from a 2 bedroom apt to a duplex near downtown East Lansing. It could have possibly been that this album was a part of “British Thursdays” and most Friday and Saturday nights. Its most likely that Kanye West created his first masterwork (808′s & Heartbreak would be the second).

From the outset, you could tell that this was a more complete work that Kanye’s debut, The College Dropout. Some of the looped soul-samples remained, but Late Registration was more complete idea of who Mr. West was. First off, he hired a traditional producer Jon Brion who had previously worked with Fiona Apple, The Crystal Method and Elliot Smith. Next, his lyrical game, emcee quality and confidence grew, specifically on “Roses” and “Gone”. Lastly, the guest appearances improved mightily. West grabbed the hot MC’s of the moment (Paul Wall, The Game), enlisted an emerging talent (Lupe Fiasco) and called up some legends (Nas, Jay-Z, Common).

It probably helped that any opportunity we could, Andrew and I re-enacted “Gold Digger” (Highlighted by the Halloween/Karaoke party). I can’t say how many times we “performed” it, but I certainly hope it won’t be a last.

Jay-Z – The Blueprint (2001)/The Black Album (2003)
2001 and 2003 were definitely interesting times for Shawn Carter and me. In 2001, Jay-Z had just beat a criminal case and came off one of his weaker albums. In 2001, I had been second guessing my decision to stay at home, rather than East Lansing and came off one of my weaker semesters of college classes. 2003 brought Jay-Z thoughts of going out of the rap game on top, where he belonged. 2003 brought me thoughts of re-applying to Michigan State University, where I actually belonged. These two albums would be considred landmarks for Jay-Z. I eventually did make the right decision and transfer to Michigan State….so I can’t really bring these comparisons together, but either way the future worked out well for the both for us.

Jay-Z is definitely my favorite artist of all time and these 2 are the closest he has came to reaching Reasonable Doubt status, but here is what always bothered me: If he would have cut a few songs from each and combined the best from both albums, it would be the sickest of the bunch. You’re telling me you thought “Jigga That N****” and “Hola Hovito” were necessary? How about “Justify My Thug” or “Change Clothes” were must haves? I mean, they were recorded 2 years apart, but hypothetically, you would have had a ridiculously amazing album.

See below for what would’ve been (IMO):
Disc 1-
1. Ruler’s Back
2. Takeover
3. Izzo (H.O.V.A.)
4. Girls, Girls, Girls
5. U Don’t Know
6. Heart of the City
7. Never Change
8. Song Cry
9. Renegade

Disc Two -
1. December 4th
2. What More Can I Say
3. Encore
4. Dirt Off Your Shoulder
5. Threat
6. Moment Of Clarity
7. 99 Problems
8. Lucifer
9. My First Song

Back by popular demand, a new hip-hop/rap mixtape just in time for the Holidays. This is probably the most geographically diverse Nark I’ve made to date. The South offers up some street-drama and posse cuts via Bobby Ray aka B.o.B. (“I Feed These Streets”), Spree Wilson (“WORD”), The Clipse (“Popular Demand”) and DJ Khaled w/Usher, Young Jeezy and Rick Ross (“Fed Up”). Oh and a couple Cash Money appearances (“Mo Milly”, “On Fire”). Midwest hip-hoppers including Kidz In The Hall, Chip Tha Ripper and the entire G.O.O.D. music label come with indie-rock samples (“The Grizzly Man” and “Cudderisback”), a mixtape banger (“Get Down”) and a high-powered remix (“Whatever U Want” remix). The Northeast/NYC comes thru per the usual with diversity (“All Things Go”, “Humdrum Town”, “Irish Celebration”), 2 unreleased Wale cuts and a classic DJ Premier production (“Ready”).
The West Coast probably has the best representation with some surprisingly strong Snoop Dogg tracks and welcome comeback bids by Xzibit and Game. At this point, Xzibit and Snoop might have two of the slickest beats on the entire mixtape with Scoop DeVille‘s production on “Hurt Locker” and “I Wanna Rock”.

The Nark Before Christmas http://www.sendspace.com/file/h4d6re
1. Bobby Ray aka B.o.B. – I Feed These Streets
2. The Clipse – Popular Demand ft Pharrell & Cam’Ron
3. Wale – Letter ft John Mayer
4. Snoop Dogg – I Wanna Rock
5. 50 Cent – Psycho ft Eminem
6. Chiddy Bang – All Things Go
7. Obie Trice – Got Hungry
8. Spree Wilson – WORD!
9. Chip Tha Ripper – Get Down
10. NYGz – Ready?
11. Xzibit – Hurt Locker
12. Kidz In The Hall – The Grizzly Man (samples Grizzly Bear’s “Two Weeks”)
13. DJ Khaled – Fed Up ft Lil’ Wayne, Usher, Drake, Young Jeezy & Rick Ross
14. Wale – Beast (prod. by 9th Wonder)
15. Consequence – Whatever U Want (G.O.O.D. Music remix) ft Kanye West, Common, John Legend, Kid Cudi
16. Snoop Dogg – Upside Down ft Nipsey Hu$$le and Problem
17. Birdman – Mo Milly ft Drake & Bun B
18. Lil’ Wayne – On Fire
19. Game – Turn Off The Lights
20. Kid Cudi – Cudderisback (freestyle over Vampire Weekend’s “Ottoman”)
21. Theophilus London – Humdrum Town (samples Futurecop!)
22. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – Irish Celebration
This last track could probably have ended up on the next JayeL Audio mixtape, but I didn’t want to wait.

Bonus Tracks:
Bobby Ray aka B.o.B. – Nothing On You ft Bruno Mars
Kidz In The Hall – All Night ft Marsha Ambrosius

Artwork by Logan Groulx.
Comments are welcome and appreciated below.

Bubba Sparxxx – Deliverance (2003)
Hip-hop/rap mixtapes were always my thing. After a push from my good friend Gutter (the creator of Nark Vol.1), it was my goal to pass on the newest rap to my friends every few months. During the previous year, I took a break from the Nark series (Vol. 18 to be exact), in favor of the Baggage Claim series. It was probably just the level of the hip-hop that would come out over the next 6 months, but only 1 out of the 6 mixtapes was any good.
It might have also been that Timbaland had basically taken a hip-hop nap since producing Missy Elliot’s “Gossip Folks”. Fast forward to Spring ’03 and the early leak of a few new Bubba Sparxxx‘s tracks led to the Nark rebirth. From the moment I heard the country-fried guitar and beat of the drum on “Deliverance”, I knew Bubba and Timbo were onto something hip-hop hadn’t seen before. Deliverance was easily one of my favorite hip-hop albums of the year. It was the first time Timbaland actually spent meaningful time to help out his most promising Beat Club artist. I’d even argue that this album lead to Timbaland’s growth/resurgence, later leading to more diverse work with Justin Timberlake, Nelly Furtado, Madonna, etc. Bubba even steps up his lyrical game on tracks like “Nowhere” (also sounds like a distant cousin to “Cry Me A River”) and “She Tried” (which features an early glimpse of Ryan Tedder).
After hearing “Deliverance” and “Comin’ Round”, I knew it was only right to bring back the original mixtape series. I was bored with the names, so I turned title into a pun-worthy affair, Nark Out Reloaded. Its probably more fun naming the mixes, than actually making them, but I’ve continued ever since (sans a breif lull in late ’04).

Pick up Bubba Sparxxx – Deliverance here.