Mark Ronson - Uptown Special - Printable Version +- Music Discussion (https://www.music-discussion.com) +-- Forum: Music Discussion (https://www.music-discussion.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=4) +--- Forum: Alternative (https://www.music-discussion.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=11) +--- Thread: Mark Ronson - Uptown Special (/showthread.php?tid=12484) |
Mark Ronson - Uptown Special - Music Head - 25-01-2015 enters the Billboard chart this week at #5 Spotify online listen 3.5 of 5.0 by allmusic 4th album evryone loves the Bruno track only one other tune uses that funk (below) other than those, not sure how to peg this Tame Impala vocalist gets 3 tracks thus my placement of this artist website - http://www.markronson.co.uk/ Bio - from allmusic Mark Ronson is a sought-after turntablist who's worked with such diverse artists as Macy Gray, Jay-Z, and comedian Jimmy Fallon. The stepson of guitarist Mick Jones of Foreigner, Ronson spent the first eight years of his life growing up in England. Having played guitar and drums from an early age, it wasn't until moving to New York City with his mother that Ronson discovered DJ culture. At age 16, already a fan of such popular hip-hop artists as Run-D.M.C. and the Beastie Boys, Ronson began listening to the various hip-hop mixtapes released every few months by DJs. Inspired, Ronson confiscated his father's record collection and began trying his hand at mixing. The young DJ with the diverse taste soon caught the ears and eyes of various socialites and New York celebrities, including fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger, who featured Ronson, along with other sons and daughters of celebrities, in a 1997 fashion campaign. A year later, hip-hop mogul Sean "P. Diddy" Combs hired Ronson to DJ his fabled 29th birthday bash. These and other high-profile gigs boosted Ronson's "hip quotient" and helped promote his more serious-minded music career. Fusing his eclectic turntable skills with his knowledge of musical instruments and songwriting, Ronson eventually embarked on his first solo project. Featuring such diverse guest artists as dancehall rapper Sean Paul, hip-hop artist Mos Def, Jack White of the White Stripes, and Rivers Cuomo of Weezer, Ronson's debut album, Here Comes the Fuzz, appeared on Elektra in 2003. After releasing his debut album, Ronson kept busy producing tracks for a number of artists including Amy Winehouse, whose 2006 album Back to Black earned critical praise in large part for Ronson's throwback, Motown-influenced production. His own sophomore effort, a collection of cover songs called Version, dropped in 2007. In 2010, Ronson began performing under the moniker Mark Ronson & the Business Intl and released his third studio album, Record Collection, featuring the single "Bang Bang Bang." Taking time out in 2011 to marry French actress and singer Joséphine de La Baume, Ronson wouldn't return to the studio until 2013 to start work on his fourth album, Uptown Special. Featuring collaborations with the likes of Bruno Mars, Mystikal, Tame Impala's Kevin Parker, Hudson Mohawke, and Simian Mobile Disco's James Ford, Uptown Special also featured lyrics written by novelist Michael Chabon. The album was released in January 2015. Album Review - from allmusic What do you do when you're a connected and funded musician/producer who, like many others pushing 40 or greater, is disappointed with commercial music made by and for people born after your favorite era of music? If you're Mark Ronson, you dial a Pulitzer-winning novelist, snare a sympathetic group of stars, session giants, and unknowns, including a singer discovered during a talent quest through churches from New Orleans to Chicago, and record another tribute to your childhood soundtrack. Indeed, apart from the involvement of Michael Chabon, whose lyrics color nine of the 11 songs, Uptown Special is business as usual for Ronson and co-pilot Jeff Bhasker. The two songs that don't involve Chabon made the earliest and deepest impressions. Bruno Mars showcase "Uptown Funk," despite aiming for early Time and landing closer to a second-tier trifle -- One Way's "Let's Talk," for instance -- topped pop charts in a number of territories and went platinum in Ronson's native U.K. "Feel Right," led by Mystikal at his vulgar and ebullient best, splits the difference between Bobby Byrd and Son of Bazerk. Everything else was co-written with Chabon, whose somewhat surreal scenes are matched with predominantly hazier and freewheeling sounds. These songs, including two highlights that boast the dynamite rhythm section of Willie Weeks and Steve Jordan, as well as lazing vocals from relative youngsters Andrew Wyatt and Kevin Parker, tend to evoke summery soft rock/smooth soul hybrids of the mid- to late '70s, or certain songs by later practitioners like Phoenix and Daft Punk. "I Can't Lose" is the lone Chabon song that breaks a sweat -- thick, twisted synth funk that borrows from Soho's "Hot Music" and (cleanly) lifts from Snoop Dogg's "Ain't No Fun," featuring newcomer Keyone Starr in the role of Evelyn King (or maybe Mary Jane Girls' JoJo McDuffie). Neatly tied together by opening and closing cuts that include Stevie Wonder on harmonica, because Ronson could swing it, Uptown Special is another nostalgic fantasy that provides light entertainment and provokes backtracking. the only other funk track James Brown anyone not bad but for the mf's and n's [video=youtube;gb73FC6I_0U]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb73FC6I_0U[/video] Track Listing 1. Uptown's First Finale 2. Summer Breaking 3. Feel Right 4. Uptown Funk 5. I Can't Lose 6. Daffodils 7. Crack in the Pearl 8. In Case of Fire 9. Leaving Los Feliz 10. Heavy and Rolling 11. Crack In The Pearl, Part II Mark Ronson - Uptown Special - CRAZY-HORSE - 25-01-2015 ....saves me listening to it....thanks. Kevin Parker(tame impala) sure has come a long way since he used to jam with my mate Tem... Mark Ronson - Uptown Special - Big Ears - 25-01-2015 When Mark Ronson is mentioned, I always think of his work with Amy Winehouse. Mark Ronson - Uptown Special - CRAZY-HORSE - 26-01-2015 thanks for the memory jog Big Ears...i'd actually forgotten he had produced Amy... her "back to black" album is a modern classic IMO... awesome vocalist but her 'inner demons' destroyed her, such a shame! Mark Ronson - Uptown Special - Big Ears - 26-01-2015 Winehouse's husband, a waster called Blake Fielder-Civil, claimed to have introduced her to crack cocaine and heroin. Although they divorced, the addictions continued until her death. As you say, it was a shame. After her death, Ronson said he had lost his soulmate, which I thought was an unusual way of describing a professional relationship. |