My latest obsession is the Radio 1's Live Lounge. Where a wide range of exceptional, well-known musicians perform a cover of a song from a polarizing genre. IE - The boys of McFly lay down a crazy bass line on their jazzy version of 'I Kissed A Girl'; Bats for Lashes' slow version of Use Somebody by Kings of Leon is almost gospel-like; Dizzee Rascal goes improv on his cover of 'That's Not My Name' and The Last Shadow Puppets makes Rihanna's 'SOS' mysterious, dark and sexy.
Almost all of the covers give the original's a run for their money (with the exception of Girls Aloud and Lady Gaga). The most impressive of all the covers was Sam Sparro's version of Estelle and Kanye West's 'American Boy.'
Holy CRAP. What an incredible voice. And Sam Sparro's rap owns Kanye's 16-bars. I had to hear more. On his other songs he sounds vaguely reminiscent of John Legend - if all his songs were set to a Calvin Harris beat. 'Cottonmouth' is gangsta-geek-chic and samples some 80's funk tune that makes you wanna sway. 'Black and Gold,' the song that turned Sparro into a Grammy-nominee, is full of old school grooves and lives up to the title of 'Best Dance Recording.' Then there's '21st Century Life' that I think sounds just like a Basement Jaxx/Earth, Wind & Fire mashup. No lie. It's R&B dance-pop electrofunk. It'll make more sense once you hear it and some additional songs on his MySpace.
Basically, white boys with soul needs to become its own sub-genre. Sam can be the poster child. New album drops at the end of August.
Labels: 21st Century Life, American Boy, Black and Gold, Cottonmouth, Estelle, Heatseekers, Kanye, Live Lounge, Sam Sparro, video