Top Artists - Week Ending 2007-10-14

Saving J*Davey; plus Sa-Ra, Róisín Murphy

by j. brotherlove

Wow. Big shuffling in the charts this week. It was all about the return of J*Davey to my last.fm charts this past week and it was sparked by a rumor.

Saving J*Davey

I’ve been vibing off J*Davey’s self-proclaimed "post-hip hop-electronic-funk-punk-jazz" for over a year. They have no official release; just a bunch of demos, an EP and various outtakes from collaborations and live performances.

The L.A. duo of Jack Davey and Brook D’Leau are were signed to the Warner Bros’ rock division earlier this year but the rumor that their project has been shelved has resurfaced. This would be tragic but not particularly surprising. Does a major record company know what to do with a "black Eurythmics"?

Their underground audience is undeniable but how is Warner Bros. planning to market a black group (a girl named Jack and a boy named Brook) who cover Frank Zappa songs ("Dirty Love"), don’t rap about the bling, and don’t fall under the nu soul umbrella?

I guess we’ll have to wait and see. According to the cryptic Miss Davey "we won". Until then, I’ll snatch up any new tunes and videos of the sexy duo I can find on MySpace and YouTube. I’m still trying to get a copy of their Vegas performance with Prince (hint).

J*Davey Mr Mister Music Video

The Glorious Hip Hop of Sa-Ra

Sa-Ra is more of a collective (Sa-Ra Creative Partners) than a traditional music group. They’ve worked with a laundry list of post-modern hip hop acts like Platinum Pied Pipers, Talib Kweli, Pharohe Monch and, of course, J. Dilla.

Their CD The Hollywood Recordings is a collection of what I tag as Progressive Hip Hop in my music library. Their beats are solid, basslines funky and they usually manage to throw some curve balls into the production. While they often get weird (like on the brilliant "The Second Time Around") they are also not afraid to get raw on your ass. "Tracy", "Glorious" and "Hey Love" help make The Hollywood Recordings a favorite of 2007.

Róisín Wants to Overpower the Dancefloor

Róisín Murphy, the voice and half of quirky group Moloko is back with Overpowered, her second solo effort, mostly a collection of electronic dance songs. It’s safe to say Overpowered will be a big hit with the white gay crowd. Murphy bitch slaps Kylie Minogue and Madonna with strong vocals and killer production.

I admit I prefer the mixed-genre and experimentation of Ruby Blue (a must have). The title single "Overpowered" is slightly better than okay but "Let Me Know" (using a sample of D-Train’s "Keep On") is fire!

G+D = G&D

After re-reading my conflicted review of G&D’s Message Uni Versa, I decided to add some of Georgia Anne Muldrow and Dudley Perkins’ solo stuff for context. I think it’s working.

The Rest of the Best

The rest of my Top 10 I discussed earlier with the exception of Whodini. That entry is directly related to me watching this year’s VH-1 Hip Hop Honors, the most fun I’ve had with an awards show in awhile.

Whodini was one of my first favorite hip hop groups. Watching them on the awards show forced me to dust off their songs along with A Tribe Called Quest. By the way, Soulbounce asked some folks who should be honored next year. Check out the suggestions, including mine.

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