Since Bouier enjoys the original joint so much...

...figured he'd love the remix, with Teairra Mari.

You like Mari, don't you, Bouier? Don'tcha?

Clickity. [or the pic, of course.]

McMahon...

c/o

Kanye @ VH1 [Audio]

     I...warned you not to miss this.  It was fairly dope, save for the moments when Kanye chose to speak.  But you expected that, right?  Right.  You can still catch the individual performances at VH1.  It's really worth watching; the setup was designed by Martin Phillips, the man responsible for the Glow in the Dark tour, the last Daft Punk tour, and the latest Nine Inch Nails tour.  All the band members and backup singers had on weird Deft Punk-esque outfits and helmets.  Audio?  Told you I find it, and in decent quality, no less.  But enough talk.  Click the pic.  It's worth it, really.  Now if you'll excuse me, there's some swag on my DVR I need to delete...

Sidenote: If you haven't heard of/bought/downloaded Late Orchestration, make that a priority.

McMahon...

c/o

Kanye on SNL

That's "Love Lockdown". Peep Kanye spazzing at the three-minute mark.

"Heartless / Pinocchio Story", the latter of which...I'm not particularly fond of. But if you want to see Kanye dance like a small child, then...go ahead and watch the whole thing. On the plus side...the screen work was dope; never seen that on SNL before.

*ahem* That's all, bipeds.

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New Keri Hilson viddles

That'd be the new vid for "Turnin Me On", featuring Lil Wayne.  Anyone who remembers me posting this track a while ago would notice that this version sounds different; there are extra horns and synths on the track, which sounds good.  Also, Wayne's verse has been Auto-Tuned, and he changed up the delivery of the bars slightly.  Ehh...should've stuck with the old verse.  All in all, it's a good video.  Peep the cameo by Rich Boy.  Oh, and Polow, who produced.

Oh, and the audio sync is off.  I'll update when/if there's a better version.

That's all, bipeds.

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Kanye x Alan Parsons Project, Tears for Fears [Free Samples drop...]

Kanye's vid for "Heartless".

The Alan Parsons Project - "Ammonia Avenue"

[skip to 2:32, and please forgive the YouTube slideshow]

Hmm...that's a pretty nice song.

Wait...I have another.

Kanye West  - "Coldest Winter" [dedicated to Donda West]

and...

Tears for Fears - "Memories Fade"

This one also sounds pretty good.  But I like 80's tracks, so...disregard.

That's all, bipeds.

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umm...new tracks from...this guy...

I find this pic dope, for some reason.  But...that's a digression.

Alright, more stuff from eynaK, as if Bouier didn't post enough.  I bring thee three tracks.  Three?  Yop as hell.  Cop em before the DMCA-huggers get wise.

First Joint: "Amazin" (feat. Young yzeeJ)

Second Track: "Streetlights"

Third Cut: "Tell Everybody That You Know" (feat. Lil enyaW)

Links?  Clickity, clackity, cluckity.

If you want my opinion, the first one is pretty OK.  The second one, I could do without.  The third one...ehh...I'm saying "No."  The second and third, I think are missing drums.  You know how "Love Lockdown" was, until the chorus? Yeah...but these lead nowhere.  Weezy sort of pwns Ye on his his own track.  I mean...neither one...sounds great...but he hits the beat a little better.

You're welcome for that.

Oh...here's a Bone-Us, because a certain reader thinks we don't post enough ecnoyeB:

It's called "Ego".  I don't care for it, but that's for personal reasons.  But don't listen to me.  Click the pic.  

*ahem* c/o

Umm...give the drummer some.

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T-Pender x J-Timber?

Apparently so.

It's the official remix to "Can't Believe It". And...damned if it doesn't sound decent as hell. New lyrics, two part harmonies and all. Clickity.

That's all, bipeds.

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New Kanye Viddles...

That would be the new vid for "Heartless". Yet another Hype Williams joint, for the win. Peep the Andy Warhol nod, via the Campbell's soup cans. Also peep Kanye lighting the square. Adds some depth to the mood of the song, in my opinion.



That's Kanye West & T-Pain on "Go Hard" off of DJ Khaled's most recent album. Seems pretty low-budget. Oh, and peep the numerous plugs for Nuvo. [5 seconds in, and...every thirty seconds thereafter.] That drink's been in damn near every rap video out right now.

That's all, bipeds.

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Luda x Pender

It's the video for Ludacris' new single "One More Drink". Tried to drop the mp3 for this a while back, but the DMCA keeps riding me [pause]. Pretty smooth song, with a funny video. Peep the cameos by Katt Williams, Shawty from Wild N' Out, and Big Boi. Oh, and peep the pink Nuvo champagne they keep plugging. It's been in a few videos so far. Bought some a while back; pretty tasty.

That's all, bipeds.

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More Teddy Pender...

I'm not sure if I'm supposed to have this...so...we're not saying names...

The name of the joint is "naM redaelgniR", and...it's nice.  I actually haven't heard anything bad from this guy lately.  I think this is the intro for the album; it kind of sets the stage for him to do his thing on the album, cohesively titled Thr33 Ringz. In less than three minutes, he embraces his weirdness, and claims to have the industry by the knickers.  The synths in the beat sound like calliopes, and the entire song is in 3/4 time, so...it actually does sound like circus music. 4/5 on the Shrug Scale.  Click the pic.

Give the Pender some.

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More Yeezy...

This particular ditty is called "pocoboR". That's right, the DMCA doesn't scare me...entirely.

Umm...if you're not a fan of New Wave, don't even pretend you want to hear this. Umm...I terribly afraid that album will grow on me. Is it too much just to hear Kanye rap? Some sort of hard hitting lyricism. But...I'm tired of hating. Peep the two Stephen King references he makes, and how he mumble nonsense syllables on the bridge/breakdown. But...the song makes sense, so...it's a step ahead of "Lock Lockdown", a step below "Coldest Winter", and two steps below "Heartless", my default fave of the four I've heard...out of the eleven tracks...

Bouier and I and others were having a debate about rappers dropping albums with few tracks. I think that unless you're a rock band, or pop/R&B singer, you should have no less than fifteen tracks. To clarify, "tracks" means "songs"; don't say you have fifteen tracks if that includes an intro, an outro, and three skits with the same extended metaphor. The more tracks, the greater chance of the listener liking the project as a whole. Bouier disagrees, suggesting that with the artist focusing on less tracks, it allows them to make those few tracks more potent. And of course, the whole question of whether not John Q. Rapper frequents the mixtape circuit presents a large variable.

But I digress...clickity-click.

Beloved Bone-Us? Yop as hell.

Whoops...how'd that get in here?

There we go. Yet another track from Q-Tip. Well...fuck it, I got two. I was only to drop one, but...you do need these both in your life. One is "We Fight/Love", featuring Raphael Saadiq. The other is "Life is Better", featuring Norah Jones. Click the Q-Tip pic above, and the one below.

And that is all, bipeds.

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Let's try this again...

Last time I tried to post this joint, it got deleted. So let's try this:

You know who that is, right? OK...

Just dropped the mastered version of "sseltraeH". [flip it] If you want it, click the pic.

Give the drummer some.

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Best remix I've heard so far...

Since Kanye dropped the Pro Tools sessions for "Love Lockdown", mad amateur producers have tried their hand at remixing the joint. This is only one I've heard that I found blog-worthy. Clickity-click the pickity pic.

That's all, bipeds.

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"F***in Vocoder!!!"

T-Pain's having some technical difficulties...

T-Pain's a clown...but still, self-deprecation, for the win.

That is all, bipeds.

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Heard ya moms be waxin polls...

Yop-yop, new poll on the site [to the right, to the right].

Here were the results from the last poll:

Who demonstrates the most heinous use of Auto-Tune?

	Lil Wayne; I'm not a large fan of codeine-induced contraltos.	6	55%
	T-Pain STILL holds the crown...so to speak.	3	27%
	Kanye West; "Love Lockdown" was NOT the business.	2	18%

Along with a comment left from one of our ever-faithful readers, gamalam:

Man, Weezy F has the setting on Autotune to the point where you can barely hear what he says sometimes on songs. It's supposed to fix your vocals, not distort it. Case in point, T-Pain's latest single that features Wayne. What the hell does Wayne say? I mean, I love T-Pain's verses... "I put you up in a mansion, somewhere out in WisCANsin" - IG'NANT GENIUS!

That's a vote for [or against?] Wayne, obviously.

Rules are just the same as last time: click to vote, leave a comment if you like, and poll closes in a week. That's Fri, Oct. 3rd, at midnight. [Zee-row hundred hours for the Army brats.]

And as always, your readership and participation is paramount.

That's all, bipeds.

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T-Pain does NOT equal Roger Troutman... [Know Your History, Part 1]

*ahem* Allow me to flash my Passive Editorialist card for a sec...

Behold, Grammy Award winning singer/songwriter/rapper/producer T-Pain. Entering the mainstream back in '05, Teddy Penderazz[down] has made quite a name for himself, both with his own hit singles and by penning/producing joints for Lil Mama, Chris Brown, Britney Spears, and others. His almost religious use of the Auto-Tune, once hated on by critics aplenty, is now being heavily bitten by rappers and singers alike [e.g. Kanyeezy and Kells, respectively], and contunues to be hated on by critics aplenty. In many [not quite most] circles, he's compared to the late great Roger Troutman.

I'd beg to differ, albeit only from a technological standpoint. While the sounds are indeed similar, and were indeed used ritualistically to make hits, the devices are not the same at all. T-Pain uses Auto-Tune, which is a computer application included with certain music production software. Roger Troutman used a talk box, which is a physical [as in tangible; touch it, feel it, grab it, rabbit] effects device supplemented by an other instrument, e.g. organ or guitar. A talk box is similar to a vocoder, but...not quite.

This would be the part where you'd ask "Well gee, Murph, how am I supposed to know the difference between a talk box and Auto-Tune?" Don't fret, housepets, as I'm here to learn you something good. I will now bring to thee examples of both devices, explaining the differences thereafter. In fact, if you're a true audiophile, you might notice the difference yourself.

OK, so here's an obvious example of Auto-Tune:


The aforementioned T-Pain - "I'm Sprung" [Listen for about a minute.]

OK, now an example of a talk box:

Zapp & Roger - "I Wanna Be Your Man"


Hear the difference? No? Let's try again:


Daft Punk - "One More Time" [Auto-Tune]



Daft Punk - "Harder Better Faster Stronger"
[Talk box; skip to the exact middle of the video]


Still not hearing it? OK, one more chance:


Cher - "Believe"
[First commericial song to use Auto-Tune; and no, I am NOT a fan]


Stevie Wonder - "Why Do Birds Suddenly Appear" [Talk box]

OK, so what's the difference? Well, for starters, with Auto-Tune, you can still actually hear the singer's voice, whereas the talk box effect is thicker, sounding completely digitalized. Also, the talk box has a smoother transition between notes, while Auto-Tuned vocals have very audible "clicks" as the singer alters pitch.

As always, I've prepared Beloved Bone-us Items for all. The first is Snoop's video for "Sensual Seduction" [or "Sexual Eruption" depending on where you hear it]. Take note that Snoop is holding a keytar with attached talk box tube, but his voice is actually under the Auto-Tune effect. Miseducation, FTL.

The next Bone-us is T-Pain's "Studio Luv", feat. Lil Wayne. This one is interesting because he actually uses Auto-Tune AND the talk box [heard at the beginning]:


[damned YouTube slideshows...]


And the last, a pretty cool Geico commercial you may have seen, with guitarist Peter Frampton:



*whew* That was a long one. But I suppose all editorials are. Hope you enjoyed.

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