Mark Ronson and Daniel Merriweather... "Love and War"

Mark Ronson's 2007 album Version has played a pivotal role in defining what I have been listening to for the past two years. It exemplifies exactly what I want out of music. I want it to make me feel. I want it to make me dance. I want it to make me proud that I am listening to it. Version and Ronson harness the soul of Motown, the pop of the late 80's and the attitude of today's elitists creative youth.

While the Midas touch is usually reserved for financial behemoths, I feel the argument can be made that Ronson has helped orchestrate the Second British Invasion with his finger prints all over the likes of Lilly Allen, Amy Winehouse and Adele. He's also making waves with other acts like American rapper Rhymefest, Brit Rockers The Kaiser Chiefs and his protege Australian Daniel Merriweather... yeah the guy singing in Ronson's biggest hit thus far and Smith's cover "Stop Me". This song is so good... try not to bang your hands on the steering wheel/desk/person in front of you when you hear the beat kick in.

Stop Me (Feat. Daniel Merriweather) - Mark Ronson

If you liked that song, then I have good news for you. Last week Daniel Merriweather released his sophomore album "Love and War" masterfully produced by, you guessed it, Mark Ronson. Though this album is no Version, the style is there, and is the perfect fit for the soulful yet popularly palatable voice of Merriweather. Listen to any of these songs, picture Merriweather in your head, then (if you don't know already) guess what his racial background is... I'll tell you right now I was wrong.

Boy's got soul.

At the same time that this album has all the characteristics of Ronson's go-to sound (tambourine tempos with brass heavy, organ rich Motown/Philly soul) Merriweather really chills out for a few of the tracks, even eluding touches of Ben Harper (Cigarettes) and Prince (For Your Money) at points. These few variations make the album a lot fuller and will help keep singles jumping off this thing until his next album. I love this thing. There's something here for everyone. Change and Red have been tapped as hits, and are quality cuts, but my ears can't stop lusting for Impossible, Chainsaw and Water and a Flame Ft. Adele:

Daniel Merriweather

I don't know if Ronson's golden touch or status as Britain's most Stylish Man (according to GQ) is enough to bless the american radio waves with any of the many hits from Merriweather's "Love and War" any time soon, but really, who cares? Buy it for yourself, and impress your friends with your impeccable taste in music.

Or click here and D/L it for the next two days. But make sure you support the album if you like it, and tell everyone you know.

Fine Art... ehem.. on Vinyl

Have you ever wanted a Picasso, Chuck Close or Jackson Pollack hanging in your house, but didn't wan't to pay the $10 -100 million for it. Want to bring the Sistine Chapel into your home, without all the tourists, Swiss guard's shushing and confiscating cameras? Why didn't DaVinci paint the Mona Lisa bigger, it's so tiny? All this an more can be solved thanks to Betterwall.com. With the perfect mixture of art and sustainability, Better Wall takes old art exhibit advertisement and resells them after the exhibit is done.

You know what I'm talking about, those massive Vinyl Ads that say things like "Frida Kahlo 'Triunfo y Tragedia'" which hang down the entirety of museum facades or gallery windows. Yeah, those. On sale. In your living room, classing the joint up a bit.

Chicks'll dig it I think. So Guys, get rid of the Natty Light neon, and put one of these on the wall to step up your game.

Here are the ones I want to buy, and I think you might be interested in too:



Chuck Close - Self Portraits - Double Sided with two of Close's best self portraits. These pristine examples of photorealism would be a super modern, and masculine addition to any space.



Bechtle - ’61 Pontiac - Staying the photrealism realm, this piece is another beautiful example. But, I'm even more tempted buy this one because of the absence of words. This really can act as a piece of art, from head to perfectly painted toe.



Renoir - Boating Party - Impressionism is awesome. Especially when your painting an impressionist painting of all of the great impressionist painters. This could be a cool kitchen or dining room addition.




Warhol - Self Portraits - Now that Apple Photbooth or any number of photo softwares allow you to Warhol yourself, I feel like the over use of the style has killed it. But, you have to give props to the originator, especially if you can have it hanging in your house. You could cut it or just fold it over to just leave the iconic faces, but I would keep this clean design of this piece as is. I think its beautiful and a great buy for any home.



Tiffany - Library Lamp - I'm including this because its my wife's name, and I love lamp. Brick, do you really love the lamp or are you just saying it cause you saw it?... I digress.

If you're looking to fill some or all the space on your walls, these are not only large, classy and beautiful, but they have real historical connotation to boot. They represent specific exhibit tours or showings, and may even be pieces of pop art in and of themselves one day.

Enjoy! Saw this on Outblush.com again.

Respect! Missouri

Saw this on FFFFound.com today. Don't know what it is, don't care.

It's awesome.

Restaurant.com - 80% OFF

I usually try to inverted pyramid my blog posts, but not this time. Restaurant.com is offering 80% OFF their already discounted gift certificates to local restaurants you already go to, or definitely want to try. I saw this on Outblush.com., which is an amazing site, with cool things intended for the ladies, but awesome for guys too. Great for Christmas, Birthday or Arbor Day presents.

Heres how it works. You go to restaurant.com, where they sell discounted gift certificates to restaurants all around the country. An example would be "Buy a $25 Gift Certificate for $10". There are some limitations, like only valid Sun - Thurs, or must spend $35, etc. But you get the picture, It's a good deal if you use them.

However, this weekend, and until Monday June 15, if you enter the coupon code PRESENT, you get an extra 80% OFF your entire order. Tht $25 gift certificate you were buying for $10 is now just $2.

Here's the list of Restaurants in the STL area. But the site has options all across the country.

Here is where i got mine for, and what I paid:

Feasting Fox $25 Gift Certificate

The Drunken Fish - Central West End $25 Gift Certificate

An American Place $25 Gift Certificate

Monarch $25 Gift Certificate

Baileys' Chocolate Bar $10 Gift Certificate

Rooster $10 Gift Certificate

Flaco's Cocina $25 Gift Certificate

Cafe Eau $25 Gift Certificate

Crepes in the City $25 Gift Certificate

Coco Louco Brasil $25 Gift Certificate

Sgt. Pepper's Cafe $25 Gift Certificate

TOTAL: $19.20

Do it. Do it now.

Exipres TOMORROW - MONDAY the 15th

The Funniest Singing Voice

I love music. People call "bullshit" when I tell them that I can find something I like about all musical styles and genres, then they hear what I listen to and immediately believe me, and subsequently wish they hadn't heard many of the songs. Due to this transparent musical filter I tend to be really into music many people find not only annoying, but downright painful to listen to.

One of these styles that never fails to turn away most friends is the "high pitched whiney voiced singer". I love it, can't get enough. It's that long drawn out ability to keep the singer's voice at a high pitch and form sounds, yet the sounds never quite metastasize into words. At least not when I sing along. Why try to figure out the lyrics in these songs, when its just as fun to whine along.

Here's a perfect example from the Fine Young Cannibals that I heard this weekend at a JCPenny. Andy Brown, you gotta hear this:



The genre became really popular in the 1970's due in large part to international superstar family band The Bee Gee's: This stylistic heyday was later immortalized by Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake on SNL:





I think it's hilarious. Not the skit, though it's really funny, but the style of singer. How has this become an acceptable and lucrative form of serenade? Or is the better question, why isn't more music like this? I can't stop laughing when I hear it, I know its rediculous, but I also can't stop listening either.

Here are my top five "high pitched whiney voiced singers" that I love:

#5. James Blunt - This guy is text book "whiney". I thought I was the only person who made loud ridiculous noises as I sang along to this song. But I was in a liquor store in Orlando, Florida a couple years ago when from a few aisles away I heard someone else singing the exact same way. It was eerie and awesome all at the same time, that guy knew what was up:



#4. Antony (of Antony and the Johnsons) - His voice tends a little deeper, but we all know what school it came out of. He's not fooling anyone. Actually I think he is fooling everyone, what is he? This guys has the weirdest and most awesome voice of the pack. Check it out:



#3. Van Morrison - I think this debunks what I said earlier about The BeeGees pioneering the "whiney" sound. I think Van has to be included as one of the godfathers. Jackie Wilson Says is a great example, but if you have heard any Van Morrison song you know that he utilizes whiney goodness throughout his body of work:

Van Morrison - Jackie Wilson Said (I'm In Heavn When You Smile) (mp3)

#2. The Bee Gee's - You have to give it to the originators. The Bee Gee's perfected it, and are still the benchmark. Spicks and Specks is a good one because its not one of the standards, and you get a great sense of how you could literally be making up sounds and it would sound like you were singing along:

Bee Gees - Spicks and Specks (mp3)

#1. Aaron Neville - Thank you David for this clutch, and clearly winning, addition to the list. Aaron's often unexplainable vocal bravado is unmistakable, and no one even comes close to matching it. Why try? It's laughable throughout, until you realize how beautiful it can be. I say it can be, because I once heard him sing the national anthem live at a TN Titans game. There are just some songs that don't need the Aaron Neville touch, and The Star Spangled Banner is definitely one of them. This one, however, is just fine:



Can you think of some more? I know they're out there.

OK, one more:


more movies at www.miloop.com

AstoundSound™ Website Launch

So I know all of you have been wondering where I have been for the last few weeks. I haven't called, I haven't wrote... but I have been designing my ass off.

AstoundSound™ a new and cherished client of NGAGE recently underwent a complete brand overhaul which included a new website. Initial design by David Johnson, but blown out site wide by yours truly (masterfully developed by Jay Criscione).

Check it out, and let me know what you think:





AstoundSound™ is a sound software company dedicated to taking the crappy sounding compressed music that has been bourne out of the MP3 ear-bud generation, and bringing it back to the fuller more expansive sound of vinyl, or theatre sound in the case of movies. Basically giving you a better sound experience without expensive speakers or headphones. Specifically, AstoundSound's product Expander 2.1 is built for the movie or music enthusiast that wants their audio experience to be as dominant as possible.

There are some Demos on the site, check it out for yourself.

Walmart's Great Value - Before and After

So I'm stealling this blog post from one of my favorite design blogs The Dieline.

They recently discussed the new look that Walmart has given to their Great Value product line. You know, the box of cereal or bottle of ketchup that cost a dollar less, but looked as if it had been sitting on the shelf for 12 years and had probably been opened and resealed.

Well for all the flaws of the world's biggest retail chain, both moral and aesthetic, they tried and I feel succeeded in this endeavor to build a stronger brand for their line of cost conscious products.

Check out this before:




And look where they're at now:




Not a bad job. Now if they could just do something about they're "Big Box" architectural style. I know, I know... big box means a small price for me. I don't know though, I might be willing to pay a bit more to avoid feeling like a redneck for shopping there.



On a side note, it has been brought to my attention that my comments section doesn't work all the time, I'll fix that immediately. I really encourage anyone who reads to comment as much as possible, especially about that "redneck" line. Thanks as always.