When he’s not setting world records for performance lengths and challenging Andrew WK to piano battles, Gonzales has been known to take electronic songs and transpose them beautifully onto the piano. This recent rework of the Erol Alkan and Boys Noize track Waves is no exception. It takes the original digital experience and gives it the analog soul it deserves. Full disclosure: I like this piano version a lot better than the original song.

Gonzales – Waves [Erol Alkan & Boys Noize Remake] removed by request

Erol Alkan & Boys Noize – Waves removed by request

I can’t help but be tickled every time a folksy female singer songwriter covers a gangster rap. The last good one I remember was by Kendra Morris who covered the Kanye West track Can’t Tell Me Nothing. Normally I keep these indulgences to myself but in the case of Anya Marina, her original work on the new album Slow & Steady Seduction: Phase II is well worth the mention.

Marina’s soft whispering way of singing is mistakenly reminiscent of some the styles Emily Haines has perfected with Metric and her solo project. Apparently, there is an empirical medical reason for the style of singing, according to her bio,

her doctor once told her she had the larynx of a “very young adolescent.” When asked what that meant for her singing career, he replied, “Well, it’s not like you’re ever going to be singing at the Met.”

Who knew having any body part of a very young adolescent could be a good thing? Of course having one of your songs featured on Grey’s Anatomy also helps. The song in question “Move You” is one of the more up tempo songs on the album and sounds a lot more like the cutesy conversational singing style of Lykke Li.

Anya Marina – Vertigo

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Anya Marina – Whatever You Like [T.I. Cover]

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Chiddy Bang is making a lot of noise on the mixtape circuit with their newest tape The Swelly Express. This reboot of the Sufjan Stevens song Chicago is particularly indicative of the Philly hip hop group’s ability to produce more than just your typical hipster mashup. If this is the direction hip hop is moving in, we can all rest easily.

Chiddy Bang – All things go (w/ Sufjan Stevens)

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Good things always happen when Wale and Mark Ronson get together. Look for a post on the new Wale album “Attention Deficit” coming soon.

Wale – 90210

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