Gorillaz who
Because really, you can’t go wrong with a song that features the line “I wanna ruin our friendship, we should be lovers instead”.
Studio Killers are a virtual band fronted by cartoon character Chubby Cherry. Above is their latest single, “Jenny”. The track is very a very light sounding, breezy dance production. The main riff is played in an accordion, popular in Romanian dance music. No wonder it sounds like “Stereo Love”.
You should also check out “Eros and Apollo”. If “Jenny” is a Romanian dance song, this is an Avicii song. They also have “All Men Are Pigs” , admitedly the weakest link, but nevertheless a great pop record, and their debut single, “Ode to the Bouncer”. Not one bad song there, people.
Pop in spanish has some great producers too
Whereas in the Enlish pop music record producers fight hand to hand for the spotlight with performers (Who hasn’t heard of Timbaland or David Guetta?), in the Hispanic market they are left in relative darkness. They are the unsung heroes that keep the market going. A few months ago I promised I would talk about one of my favorite producers, and I think his time has come.
Carlos Jean is a Spanish DJ (I would say “Latin Grammy-nominated” but really, who cares about those) that began working as a producer since 2000. While he has more than a few released under his name, they are not much different that your regular anglophone DJ single so we can skip that part.
The first track that brought him to my attention is his remix of La Oreja de Van Gogh’s “Cometas por el cielo”. The original version is a breezy, electric-tingled poprock song. The remix turns it into a dancefloor-ready, trip-hop inspired tune.
Some time later he released another fantastic remix, this time of a song by El Pescao, former member of Spanish rock band “El Canto del Loco”.
Now, what surprise me is that, after I decided to read some more about Carlos is that he produced Fey’s album “La fuerza del destino”. Fey is a ’90s Mexican teen pop sensation who, in 2000 something, decided to release a collection of covers by Spanish timeless band, Mecano (honestly, if you need an introduction to pop in Spanish, you will start and end with Mecano. That simple). The original “La fuerza del destino” is a story about falling in love with a friend of a friend, meeting off and on, watching how the power of destiny keeps fixing encounters between both of you.
Mecano’s version is an ’80s ballad, running for a little over five minutes, filled with trumpets and a slow-paced drumming sound. Carlos’ version is an elegant explosion of icy cold synths, upping the rhythm a little bit faster. The production is absolutely impeccable.
And, to finish with a bang, a song I’ve talked about before. I was surprised when I discovered that it was produced by Carlos Jean, too. Here’s “Duele” by Belinda.
I still believe that this might be one of my favorite Spanish-language songs of all time, and so far his magnum opus. The middle eight in this song is sublime and by the time the last minute of the song begins everything explodes into an Earth-absorbing melody of drum machines and echoing voices. Sounds crazy, but the best way to describe the song would be “Arabian Alice in Wonderland”. Just picture that.
I’ve ought to keep an eye on Carlos Jean. I can’t wait to see what he has in store, while his DJ work is not my favorite his production career is more than strong and I’d consider myself a fan. He has the ability to surprise me in the near future, and I can’t wait.
Natalia Kills, eat your heart out
Have you ever noticed that the lyrics of “The Rhythm of the Night” by Corona (truly a timeless dance anthem, by the way) are actually incredibly dark?
- “You could put some joy upon my face. Oh, sunshine in an empty place.”
- “Think of me, you’ll burn. ”
- “I don’t wanna face the world in tears.”
- “Please think again, I’m on my knees.”
- “No reason to repent.”
Found it thanks to Bastille’s amazing on take on the song, “Of the Night”, that doubles as a mashup with another dance classic of yesteryear, “Rhythm is a Dancer” by Snap!. It’s so unexpected and out of the blue, I like it very much.
