House | “If You Only Knew” With Fear Of Dawn Featuring Boswell
Posted by VMan on August 17, 2015
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Australian label One Love sent over the perfect Monday tune to bless us with this impeccable Summer weather “If You Only Knew” by Fear Of Dawn, featuring Boswell. Sun is shining, the weather is sweet, but do you know how much you’re loved? Oh, if you only knew… On that chill house meets beachside, the Australians are warming their Winter up with some heat, press play, and check out the remix package here from Vanilla Ace, Terace, Tom Budin, and Sunshine & Husky. Supported by Gorgon City, Tensnake, Tough Love and more! This is a must listen!
Beatport: Fear Of Dawn ft Boswell “If You Only Knew”
Cover, Pop | CJ Holland Covers Walk The Moon’s “Shut Up And Dance”
Posted by jeffwbaird on April 24, 2015
I’ve been really impressed by the way CJ Holland has kept this cover series fresh and compelling. This week he covers another song on the rise, Walk The Moon’s “Shut Up And Dance”—a record truly emblematic of pop radio today with its dense, up-tempo, formulaic production and heavily-processed sound. CJ, joined by frequent collaborator One Love, has given it new life before listeners even knew it was necessary. CJ’s vocal here is as smooth as it has been anywhere, and paired alongside the vocals of Nick Petricca it’s even more clear that CJ has a great texture to his voice and overall style.
One Love again provides the perfect supplement, never commanding the attention, but always helping the vocalist thrive. He’s a master of different styles, and has been able to create interpolations of big beats that are equally catchy, but have a new flair about them. His riff on the original here has a subtle melodicism to it fueled by synth pads, but it never sounds over-produced or solely slated for club speakers. He’s stripped away just enough layers to find a vibe for the song that is equally fitting, if not even more so.
Cover, Pop, Videos | CJ Holland — Tuesday [Cover]
Posted by jeffwbaird on March 1, 2015
CJ Holland, a 21-year-old with a voice like silk and a classy style, is a name to know if you pride yourself on staying ahead of the blog curve. He’s clearly developed himself in the vein of pop darlings like JT and Bruno, and has been working on his debut album with the likes of Pharrell, Ne-Yo, and even Quincy Jones.
Recently, he’s performed a series of covers (“Uptown Funk, “I’m Not the Only One,” and “Thinking Out Loud”) that have continued to impress and showcase his range. This week he’s added a bit more of an inventive touch to his cover of “Tuesday,” as producer One Love (of Kinetics & One Love fame, primarily) provides an immersive, trap-infused interpolation of the beat, and CJ rewrites the verses, making them successfully his own while still retaining the original’s staccato flow and melodic touch.
Girl Fire, Pop, Videos | Melanie Martinez — Carousel [Music Video]
Posted by jeffwbaird on October 15, 2014
After ending her run on The Voice in the show’s third season, semi-finalist and now 19-year-old singer/songwriter Melanie Martinez said that her primary objective was to express who she was and touch people’s hearts. Just a year later, she’s set to reach many more; her Dollhouse EP from earlier this year was critically-acclaimed, its lead single garnered over eight million views, and now her second single, “Carousel”, has both been listed as one of Spotify’s most viral tracks and was recently featured in the promos for American Horror Story: Freak Show. As of this afternoon, “Carousel” has gotten a visual treatment as well, and for an artist who cares as deeply about her aesthetic and brand as Melanie does, you know this is a must watch. The song was written and produced with the help of the NYC-based duo Kinetics & One Love—who have been her closest collaborators while recording her new album—and features the same kind of stirring, hip-hop-inspired production and breathy, commanding vocals that we’ve come to expect from Melanie of late. Do yourself a favor and check this video out now, and keep yourself updated with the links below.
Girl Fire, Pop | King Deco — Ocean [Lyric Video]
Posted by jeffwbaird on October 15, 2014
I’ve said this before, but King Deco is an incredibly special talent. Too rarely do I come across a pop songstress who has all the vocal power and polish of a radio heavyweight, yet with a thoughtful aesthetic and resonant lyrics. Building off the success of her last EP, Tigris, Deco released a lyric video for “Ocean”, my favorite song from the project. It’s a heartfelt and thoughtful song that addresses her choice to leave her family in Jordan, where she was raised: “Am I really wrong now?/My family condemns me/But it’s empty in that city of sand.” As a writer, aided by the assistance of NYC writing/production team Kinetics & One Love, she has that essential skill of turning her personal stories into something accessible for others, and extremely poignant. The song was produced by Cobra Starship guitarist Ryland Blackinton and One Love, and is equally mesmeric and cinematically produced as anything we’ve seen come from her camp thus far. Take the time today to watch this compelling new visual from one of pop music’s brightest newcomers.
Electronic, Mainstream Remix, Pop | Melanie Martinez — Dollhouse (One Love Remix)
Posted by jeffwbaird on July 23, 2014
In the not-too-distant past, the production that a rapper could obtain while still positioning themselves as independent artists wasn’t all that important. It was trendy — largely because of Lil Wayne’s Dedication series — for artists to recycle industry beats, and thus they didn’t necessarily need high-quality original production to fuel a career. That tendency has shifted, though, and most successful startups in this market have at least one reliable instrumentalist whose work helps them define their sound. Few, if any, are as gifted and as significant in shaping their overall sound as One Love—best-known as the production half of Kinetics & One Love.
Since K&1L’s critically acclaimed You Are Not Alone released in 2012, One Love has produced for a number of Atlantic Records’ talents, including Neon Hitch and—most recently—Melanie Martinez. Today he’s released his first official remix, to Melanie Martinez’s new single, “Dollhouse”—a song he originally produced as well. While the primary version has accrued over two million views on YouTube already, One Love has utilized the strengths of Melanie’s vocals and reconstructed the darker-themed beat into a summer smash. The increased BPM, coruscating synths, and added melodic qualities of the production entirely change the listening experience, while retaining the meaning of its original. Check out the track below, and follow One Love using the links below.
Videos | Kinetics & One Love — Time Machine (Feat. Neon Hitch) [Music Video]
Posted by jeffwbaird on May 2, 2014
It’s been a year-and-a-half since we last heard from Kinetics & One Love, who have been steadily building a reputation as one of the most talented and promising duos in the genre on any scale. Always conceptual in their artistry, 2012’s terrific album You Are Not Alone solidified elements of their philosophical identity and developed an iconic sense of self, one that many artists are unable to conjure throughout the span of a career. Now, after a brief hiatus writing and producing for other artists (Neon Hitch, Melanie Martinez), they’ve returned with an even deeper and more fully-developed vision and aesthetic, continuing their streak of new music releases where a sense of progression is invoked. It’s expected at this point, and in a genre where progression isn’t commonplace and often first albums are a rapper’s most heralded, it bears a lot of weight that this group simply can’t make new music without “development” being a part of the dialogue.
“Time Machine” features the powerful vocals of Neon Hitch, and ups-the-ante for up-and-comers with its video by Hourglass Films, setting the bar for depth and quality at a level that may have never been surpassed before by independent artists. The track features Kinetics as innovative and visionary as he’s ever been on the mic, invoking the sentiments of Nikola Tesla, using the second verse to detail elements of his poignant death, from the hotel room to the “do not disturb” sign on the door that he left prior to his passing. One Love, too, shows his maturity as a producer here, not just inviting the listener to enter this world, but keeping them there. While his production here isn’t as much in the forefront as it has been on songs like “Vecina Del Mar” and “You Could Save Us All”, he’s become so adept at using the intricacies of his production to complement his vocalists, and its often the subtleties of his work that are the most resonant.