Electrik Red- How to be a Lady Vol.1 Terius 'n' Tricky make girl-pop magic

OK, I am gonna play the shit out of this album. Starting tonight. I'm going to play it out every set.

Devotion is the only one I'm not mad crazy about but that's because I don't really like breathy slow jams. I'm sure it's a great example of its kind though.

I'm OK with Devotion - the only one I skip is 9 to 5.

devotion is great, but i can see how it's a tough sell sandwiched tween "so good" and "Freaky freaky"

the lyrics "expose my devotion" and "verify my love" have that gr8 balance of technical + romantic that i lpve

"expose my devotion" is such a visceral lyric

clinical too <3

bed rest does this bjork syllabic repetition thing at the end

ill walk around this bitch in my louis vitton heels with my ass hanging out

― i am rubber, t u.r.koglu (k3vin k.)

http://kuwait-style.com/images/2007/05/05-30-07-LOUBOUTIN-SUPER-WALLIS-PLATFORM-PUMPS-357Pounds.jpg

LOUBOUTIN!

anyway, Rich Juzwiak's write-up of this is really good:

http://fourfour.typepad.com/fourfour/2009/05/oooh-shit-damn.html

great piece. Though I'd rate this a little bit below The-Dream's own albums.

i wholeheartedly disagree

thx for the louboutin lesson brain ;)

Hrrmmmm. That blog raises an interesting point - that, despite all the gurl power stylings, they are still females singing men's words.

(See also: the endless arguments that Miss AMP and I had about the Long Blondes*.)

I suppose it comes down to the concept of acting / performance / delivery whether it comes across as believable, as much as the skill of the lyricist. I mean, girl groups and divas have a long history of singing other people's words and making them their own, making you FEEL it - so it's not bothersome that they're singing someone *else*'s words, so much as singing a man's pneumatic ideal of what an uber-sexy in control babe would sing. (Are they really posed as whores, or women who demand a man who is capable of meeting them on their own level? I don't get whore so much as "I'm a fucking rock star baby, you ought to be able to hold your own with me, financially as well as sexually.")

Do I find them more convincing than, say, Pussycat Dolls (who I find revolting) or more that I *identify* with their take on sexual freedom?

*I suppose the disparity there was the conflict between this notion of Indie Band - i.e. song-writer author, supposed to write their own lyrics, and yet still reliant on dynamic of male songwriter / female mouthpiece and how that just played into the whole "men act, women appear" thing.

This is better than the Dream's own albums due to not having The Dream's annoying persona all over them.

^^

man i love it when u guys get real excited about an album. listening to we fuck you now and it's gonna sound pretty great in my car.

haven't read rich's piece - and don't intend to until i've finished my own piece - and briefly, as am distracted by the tennis, but the-dream told me that all the ideas and concepts re "femininity" came from the girls, and they bullied him into following what they thought rather than what he'd intended to do with them - i mean as much as they're "his" project, he didn't put them together or anything - they were already a group prior to hooking up w/him

This is better than the Dream's own albums due to not having The Dream's annoying persona all over them.

― Tits Bramble (Matt DC), Tuesday, June 2, 2009 11:13 AM (23 minutes ago)

*grinds teeth*

also "devotion" is my favorite!

So which song should I play tonight?

Do I have the ... heh ... "Balls" to play W.F.Y. out? I've already had a Payne request it, so I might have to.

I wanted to play Freaky Freaky but I've got to keep the BPM high just to stay awake.

they bullied him into following what they thought rather than what he'd intended to do with them

HA HA YES YES I LOVE IT!!!!

is it a club or pub, k8? actually i'd say 'we fuck you' or 'on point' regardless...

unless it's outdoors and summery in which case 'so good' or 'friend lover'!

In 93 Feet East. Think I'm gonna go with We Fuck You.

"Go Shawty"! Sexy time in the club

(I'd tell you to come down, but that really depends on how you feel about crafting - I mean, it's riot grrl derived crafting not beardy folky crafting but still. I understand it's not for everyone. But 3 out of 4 Shimuras will be DJing. Anna has promised an all Italo Disco set which I'm a bit worried about, eep.)

i'd have asked where it was so i could come down if i didn't have a ton of work to do tonight :(

Aw. I think no one would mind if you sat down and worked! That's kind of the point. I like to draw there.

I was gonna do, like We Fuck You -> Grace Jones - Williams Blood (rejected Aeroplane mix) but, you know, like, I. Do Not. Beatmatch.

(I've already been in a massive row with some dude out of Shadow Dancer about how beatmatching is the guitar soloing of DJing.)

sit down... in a club? is this a british thing?

it's more of a bar, brainwasher...can't remember if it has wifi. if it does, text me or something k8...might well need to get out of the house.

jesus if you're djing in a bar like 93fe of course you don't need to beatmatch

my favorite part of "friend lover" is the way she sings "i gotta be at work by nine"; dream's debt to kelly has never been more apparent or awesome

i want to strap a boombox to the back of my bike and go everywhere with this record playing

For some reason, I think they do have WiFi, but maybe I'm confusing it with Cargo.

This is the event:
http://www.93feeteast.co.uk/diary/index.cfm?View=Day&EventDate=2009-06-02

Love the way they namecheck us on the front page now, ha ha "Are you looking for a venue to host your new tech-knitting craft night?" Coz like, knitting is the new clubbing. Ha ha ha.

I suspect they'll probably wait to see how The Dream's album does over here before even making a call on a release date. Despite the Electrik Red album being like 20 times better.

― Tits Bramble (Matt DC), Tuesday, June 2, 2009 1:33 AM Bookmark

I would think ER would have a lot more UK-appeal than -Dream. His singles generally seem pretty specific to US r&b radio, where ER is a bit more straightforwardly pop.

Terius is -Dream now btw

yes, things can only get better for dream in the uk.

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:0ifuxzq0ldhe

kells' review of lady will end up being the one i'm most disposed to, i wager - persuasive last line in partic. as far as other takes go: i'm a choosy lover, I PICK MY BOOOONES... with yall later cos i'm not ready just yet.

(i chuckle at that line every. single. time.)

oh aren't we on tenterhooks, wtf happened to you today? even worse than usual

A Kells has never been wrong.

When I first heard "Bed Rest" (and without looking at the title) I thought they were singing "you've got me on benefits."

I interpreted this to mean that the loving was so good that Ms Electrik Red had been recognised by the Govt as suffering from a total and permanent disability meriting a pension.

ha! not far off!

Sexual obsession qualifies one for income support? woot! sign me up!

(I've already been in a massive row with some dude out of Shadow Dancer about how beatmatching is the guitar soloing of DJing.

Beatmatching is clearly the rhythm section of DJing – scratching is the guitar solo! This would make harmonic mixing the singer-songwriter??? I guess beatmatching with software is the equivalent of a drum machine.
Hmm, I wonder what other analogies can we come up with?

Anyhoo, loving this album – would love to get my hands on a vinyl copy, but I guess that’s fairly, ahem, tricky in the UK?

Ha ha, no, that's not what I meant at all. I meant that it's a sheer technical skill which is appropriate in some settings, but by no means necessary to good musicianship, either as a guitar player or a DJ.

I really don't want to rehash this whole argument all over again!

which did you play in the end, k8?

YOU DON'T FUCK US, N*GG*, WE FUCK YOU!!! YOU!!!!! YOU!!!!! WE FUCK YOU!!!!

Even the barman started shaking his ass behind the bar. It was great.

(Isn't it weird that I feel the need to bleep out a racial epithet, even when directly quoting lyrics, but don't feel the need to bleep out the blatant swearing?)

Ha ha, no, that's not what I meant at all. I meant that it's a sheer technical skill which is appropriate in some settings, but by no means necessary to good musicianship, either as a guitar player or a DJ.

I really don't want to rehash this whole argument all over again!

(^_^)

Definitely, I know what you mean! Tune selection, setting the tone, or its flipside, “reading the crowd” (for better or worse) and are all equally as valid skills as beatmatching in DJing, but which some (most?) DJs seem to be less aware of.

Exactly.

And I do think that's something that you can only really learn from experience - which is why the kind of bedroom DJs on that forum will always big up technical skills like beatmatching - while people like me (who never intended to be DJs at all, but just kept being asked to come down and play some tunes) tend to stress tune selection and tone/crowd mood.

If you're DJing house music in a club, beatmatching is more like the equivalent of being able to keep basic time. I mean, it's pretty fundamental. DJing in a bar, it doesn't matter at all.

technical skill which is appropriate in some settings,