What's New(s)?

T.I., Katy B cover "Drunk in Love"

With the number of covers of Beyoncé's giddy "Drunk in Love", it's only a matter of time before I somehow end up on a remix. Last week alone yielded the official "Drunken Love" remix, along with takes by Kanye West and the Weeknd. A little more than two weeks ago we saw Future hop on and offer up his own slurred reworking of the tune. 

Today that ever-widening list expanded again with performances by rapper T.I. and dubstep/R&B singer Katy B. Somewhat paradoxically, B's version which co-mingles with a cover is the more organic of the two with only piano and the soft pattering of drums to prop it up. T.I. meanwhile snarls over a hyper-kinetic "EDM remix" where vocal samples stutter ad infinitum and the music seems to shift gears every 30 seconds. If its on anything at all, odds are it isn't alcohol.

"Drunk in Love"- Katy B

Morning Phase streaming now

Early returns on Beck's 12th studio album Morning Phase have been nothing short of laudatory. Today, courtesy of NPR, one of Spin Magazine's "50 Albums You Gotta Hear" has been made available for streaming. Beck has been touting this record as a spiritual companion/sequel to 2002's Sea Change and from the first few string-laden moments of "Morning" which drift into rustic guitar you know exactly what he means. I haven't had time to process everything yet, but what I've heard is absolutely gorgeous and fully deserving of the Sea Change comparisons. 

 

As mentioned last week, Morning Phase is just one of two LPs Beck hopes to release in 2014. The other, which has an extremely tentative fall release date may or may not be a dance record and feature the omnipresent Pharrell on it.


For news updates throughout the day, follow @AllFreshSounds on Twitter and check back in tomorrow for more of the newest in new(s).

What's New(s)?

Beck working with Pharrell

At this point, I'm convinced that Pharrell Williams is a robot. There's no other conceivable explanation as to how one man could hold up to such an endless workload. Last week he popped up on the monstrous posse cut "Move That Dope". Two-and-a-half weeks before he was snatching up Grammys and rocking a hat that would make Dudley Do Right envious. Last year, he crafted a 24-hour music video and managed turns on two of the biggest hooks of the summer ("Feds Watching" should've been a clear-cut third). And somewhere in there, he was caught up in the midst of Clipse rumors that appear not to be true.

So why not work with Beck? The indie-chameleon has a new album coming out February 25th entitled Morning Phase, but that's just one of two albums he's been promising for 2014. Now according to a recent interview with Billboard, Beck's detailing that the omnipresent Pharrell will be involved with the other project along with "other high-profile collaborators."

There's no details on that album yet, other than a tentative 2014 release. But as previously mentioned, Morning Phase is out February 25th through Capitol.

"Blue Moon"

"Drunken Love" remix

It seems blasphemous to ask how Beyoncé's soaring "Drunk in Love" could become anymore captivating, but producer Noel "Detail" Fisher had the bravery to. At Complex, he debuted his official remix of the song, appropriately entitled "Drunken Love". And while the original was chugging down thunderous drums and bass, the remix gingerly sips on orchestral flourishes and floating choral vocals. Bey's voice doesn't soar now, it seemingly glides; curlicuing into every line. And Jay's verse, which felt shoehorned into the original, is far less harried her and better for it. If "Drunk in Love" was a full-on body-rush, this is the heady feeling that comes later. 

You can hear the song below and check out of video of Detail describing both the original and the bold reworking here.

For news updates throughout the day, follow @AllFreshSounds on Twitter and check back in Monday for more of the newest in new(s).

What's New(s)?

Beck shares a new song

 


After teasing a new song in the trailer for his upcoming album Morning Phase on Friday, Beck has released the first taste of his upcoming 12th studio LP with "Blue Moon". The record has been touted as a "companion piece" to 2002's lush Sea Change and the carefully strummed first single confirms the reports. Beck's voice hovers above the acoustic and orchestral strings, resonating "don't leave me on my own" during the chorus.

Morning Phase, Beck's follow-up to 2008's sorely under-appreciated Modern Guilt will be released February 25th through Capital Records.

Death Grips working on a new album

Experimental-rap/punk group Death Grips can be accused of being many things, but lazy isn't one of them. Since the three-piece's clamoring debut in 2011, they've released three LPs, including two in 2012 and the phenomenal 2013 manifesto Government Plates.

According to drummer Zach Hill, the group doesn't have any intent to slow down in 2014.

Taking to Facebook, Hill writes "starting to record the new Death Grips album right now," and adds "hope to tour a lot this summer." And while the band's touring record has been "spotty" at best, there's nothing to suggest their output will suddenly taper off in 2014. Even if they fall into old show routines, I'm willing to bet that by late-Summer/early-Fall all will be forgiven with the release of a new album.

 "Whatever I want (F*** who's watching)"

Damon Albarn unveils a video for "Everyday Robots"

 

It's almost impossible to believe that in the incredibly prolific three-decade career, Damon Albarn of Blur/Gorillaz/The Good, The Bad, and the Queen fame has released exactly one solo LP, 2003's largely underwhelming Democrazy. That all changes with the release of Everyday Robots, which Albarn tells Rolling Stone is a sort-of "folk soul project."

Now the project has an accompanying CGI-heavy video for the title-track. The hauntingly skittish "Everyday Robots" which features clanking percussion and scratchy orchestral strings blurs together with cranial scans of Albarn to create an intensely personal video. Director Aitor Thorup calls the piece "a unique digital portrait of Damon" and you can see the artist discuss the making of the clip courtesy of Dazed.

As for the album, a press-release reveals the record will feature contributions by electronic-music luminary Brian Eno and Bat for Lashes' Natasha Khan. Featuring production-work by XL Recordings head Richard Russell, Everyday Robots arrives in the U.S. April 28.

Check back in tomorrow for more of the newest in new(s) and follow @AllFreshSounds on Twitter for updates throughout the day.