Sometimes my severe eclecticism and ceaseless desire for new music leads me to all sorts of obscure artist and genres, most of which is flat out weird and never makes it to EMPT but this time I think I’ve found a happy medium, Shawn Lee & The Ping Pong Orchestra. I came across Shawn Lee while looking for some cool music for a playlist I was making for Phillipe Chow’s in the city. Long story short I heard all these genre blending, multicultural albums by Shawn Lee and then ran into his cover album Hits the Hits in which he transforms some of our most exhausted pop songs into these creative vintage sounding pieces one can’t help but love. Pop done the bachelor pad way, enjoy.

Shawn Lee & The Ping Pong Orchestra - Hey Ya (Outkast Cover)

Shawn Lee & The Ping Pong Orchestra – Rehab (Amy Whinehouse Cover)

Shawn Lee & The Ping Pong Orchestra – Get UR Freak On (Missy Elliot Cover)

A lot of people don’t know this but Miike Snow is produced by the same guys who produced some of Britney Spears’ biggest hits! That right the guys who helped make Animal are the same guys who wrote and produced Toxic, Radar and Piece of Me. You have to love the power of not being famous, no one expects anything specific from you and you’re limitless in terms of how you can express yourself. Which brings me to a point I’ve wanted to make for quite some time.

A lot of social norms and silly concepts make people believe they have to act or behave a certain way which in turn creates all sorts limits in terms of expression. My view on that is f&$k that, my form is no form because life isn’t about formulas, it’s about flexibility and living in accordance to one’s unique disposition. For a person to follow a way of life that doesn’t truly suit their own needs would be nothing short of idiotic. That apply’s to everything, work, art, taste, sex, everything. I’m saying all this because I like how Bloodshy & Avant go about their business, whereas a lot of other producers and artists live in a box making solely what others expect of them without ever really expressing themselves.

That said, Miike Snow’s self-titled LP does not fall in that category. I’ve heard people call their music emotional-pop but since when does talking about something real make you emotional? The insecurities never end with people. Animal, one of the albums most noteworthy tracks is not only an outstanding production but also has really great lyrics. Basically, the song is about coming to that cross roads when you realize that the things you may have valued before don’t really give you the satisfaction and fulfillment you expected. The answers you thought would solve all your problems only led to more questions and now you’ve come to realize that in the end your just, well, an animal. To me, that means that happyness and fulfillment are a lot simpler to achieve then the world makes you believe because it is all internal and has nothing to do with “Money, money, money,” or anything else external for that matter. ”I’m still, I’m still an animal” is just a metaphor for constantly maintaining that perspective.

As an over-ambitious 23 year old I went through the same thing so this song strikes a particular chord for me. Anyways, today felt like a good day for this song, it’s fall in the city and the air feels great, this post is already too long let me stop talking so you can continue listening, enjoy.

Miike Snow – Animal

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Miike Snow – Animal (Mark Ronson Remix)

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One of our readers commented on yesterdays post and said the Yael Naim cover of Toxic is better than the Marc Ronson version.  First of all, saying one is better than the other doesn’t really make sense in this case.  While both are interpretations of the same song, they are noticeably different in styles and in my opinion should be appreciated independently. It’s like comparing a really fun outgoing girl with a girl that likes to stay at home, bake cookies and watch movies, each one has something different and great to offer so saying one is better then the other is completely incorrect and in the end dependent on your individual taste. I personally don’t make any generalizations when it comes to anything in matters of taste,  I find it best to deal with things from a case by case unbiased point of view, be it music or girls  ; ) …

Of course I love you, I love all yall.”

However, if for some reason I was walking down the street and someone challenged me to a Samurai showdown about the issue I can assure you the victor would be the Mark Ronson version. The mere fact that he managed to effectively mix Ol’ Dirty Bastard on a Britney Spears track is a feat in itself.  Aside from that, the Ronson version is simply much more exiting, creative, upbeat and entertaining. One of the traits of a great producer is having the foresight to bring together things that traditionally don’t coexist.  Whether it be new sounds, rhythms, genres, cultures you name it.  I didn’t really hear that in the Yael Naim version, all I heard there was a nice sounding mellow acoustic cover of the song. Anyways, that’s just how I feel about the matter, I’m curious to see what people think of this so I’m putting up a poll. You can listen to the Mark Ronson cover in yesterdays post; let the best cover win.

Yael Naim – Toxic (Britney Spears Cover)

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Bonus: Wale  -  New Soul (Feat. Yael Naim)

Wale  -  New Soul (Feat. Yael Naim)

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[poll id="2"]

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Posted a Lilly Allen cover of this a few weeks back, here’s another version by Timid Tiger. Good stuff.

Timid Tiger – Womanizer (Britney Spears Cover)

Talk about the difference an artist/production style can make

Lily Allen – Womanizer