Tag Archives: Hall Oates

Usher’s Looking 4 Myself: The Reviews Are In!

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Given the incredibly fast-paced, blink-and-you-miss-it, flash-in-the-pan, hit-singles-or-bust state of the music industry these days, career longevity is almost as difficult for an artist to achieve as fame and recognition itself. RB superstar Usher is clearly an exception, as Tuesday (June 12) marks the release of the seventh studio album in his 18-year career. Usher has said that Looking 4 Myself represents an “evolution” for him in several ways, and judging from the positive reviews, critics seem to agree. Without further ado, let’s take a tour through the Looking 4 Myself reviews.

The Story of “Myself”
“To the list of people who’ve had mind-altering experiences at Coachella, you can add Usher. In April he was a surprise guest at the music festival, and he says his seventh album, Looking 4 Myself, was inspired by the eclectic acts he saw there, including Euro-disco champs Swedish House Mafia (who produced two songs for L4M) and Aussie synth-rockers Empire of the Sun (who guest on the title track). Even Usher’s new look off stage — the Buddy Holly glasses, the facial scruff — suggests that he’s warming to indie music. Did he go into Coachella as a Top 40 guy and come out a hipster? Well, he’s not exactly taking a stand against party-rock anthems here. Looking 4 Myself still sounds like the Usher you know; it’s just a little more interesting than his usual onslaught of skull-pounding beats and silk-sheets ballads.” — Melissa Maerz, Entertainment Weekly

The EDM Influence
“In the interviews surrounding the release of Usher’s seventh album, Looking 4 Myself, the singer discussed the wide variety of music that influenced the set, ranging from electronic dance music to folk-rockers Mumford Sons. And while there’s a prominent EDM sound on many of the tracks (folk, not so much), the sound has fused seamlessly with RB, making Looking 4 Myself, at its best, a truly next-level soul album. One that has the warm, organic feel of RB and deep pop hooks, but also the pulsating low-end and shimmering keyboard flourishes of EDM.” — Jem Aswad, Billboard.com

Sonorous Surprises
“A number of surprises lurk within, though. ‘Twisted’ is the most disruptive track on the album, and proves that production duo the Neptunes are still able to time-travel back from the future to offer another dose of innovation. The rhythm is ridiculous, the kind that the Virginia team of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo are experts at creating. Jim Jonsin’s catchy rhythm on ‘Lemme See’ finds its groove when Rick Ross parks his Lamborghini on the track’s lawn for a cameo. (Pharrell, by contrast, raps of rolling on another kind of vehicle, ’20 of us on Vespas and mopeds,’ cruising the city and offering a girl a gift of white lipstick.) The biggest outlier on Looking 4 Myself is Usher’s collaboration with Australian progressive electronic group Empire of the Sun on the title track. The song, which features Empire lead singer Luke Steele, is a new wave ditty with a beat that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Hall Oates or later-period Steely Dan record.” — Randall Roberts, Los Angeles Times

The Final Word
“Looking 4 Myself covers a lot of ground, from the modernized, shouting soul of ‘Twisted’ to the jaunty new wave of the surprising title track, a catchy collaboration with Luke Steele of the Of Montreal-esque synth-pop band Empire of the Sun. Not all of it works, but none of it is unpleasant, either, something that couldn’t be said of the previous releases from the single-and-on-the-prowl phase of Usher’s career. Unlike Raymond or Versus, with their dutiful adherence to Top 40 templates, a sense of freedom and exploration carries through Looking 4 Myself that makes it feel unique from any other Usher album. Although few of these songs rank among his best, it’s a pleasure to hear a great performer branch out, following whims and taking risks as he tests new ways to work his voice.” — Evan Rytlewski, The A.V. Club

Nero Look Forward To Playing Alongside ‘Massive Artists’ At EDC

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When MTV News first caught up with Dan Stephens, co-producer of U.K.-based electronic dance music outfit Nero (with co-producer Joseph Ray), and frequent vocal collaborator Alana Watson, last December, it was at the launch of the music video for “Reaching Out.”

The song is the fifth single from their debut album, Welcome Reality, and features original vocals by Daryl Hall of Hall Oates fame, who recorded pieces of the Hall Oates ’80s hit song “Out of Touch.” Nero’s other singles from the album, “Crush On You,” “Promises,” and “Must Be the Feeling,” garnered remixes from the likes of Kill the Noise, Skrillex, Flux Pavilion and Calvin Harris, to name a few.

Since then, Nero have been tirelessly touring the U.S. and U.K in support of the album, playing to frenzied fans who often even drown out Watson’s live vocals. It’s safe to say that the often bass-heavy EDM collective are more popular in the U.S. than ever before.

“We’ve literally just come off of a three-month tour of the U.K. and the U.S., and that was amazing,” Stephens revealed when MTV News caught up with him at EDM mecca XS Nightclub Las Vegas. “We love playing here. Everywhere you go at the moment in the States, people are just going crazy for electronic music. We just feel so very privileged to be doing this, and traveling around to all these amazing places in America. And people are coming and loving what we are doing so it’s great for us.”

After their highly successful North American tour and gigs at XS, Nero is set to join the ranks of Steve Angello, Calvin Harris, Avicii, Bassnectar, Chuckie, Borgore, Sub Focus, Thomas Gold and Armin Van Buuren, among many others, performing at Insomniac Events and Pacha NYC’s Electric Daisy Carnival New York this weekend.

“Really looking forward to it,” Stephens continued. “I mean EDC, they are always really great shows. You’re playing alongside massive artists who are doing similar things, electronic artists, so it’s going to be great!”

So will fans at EDC NY this weekend get a chance to preview fresh, new material? Stephens said yes, sort of, though, it’s probably too early for them to reveal new cuts from their next album.

“We wrote our album quite a while ago,” Stephens said. “And we are working on new material now for the next album, but there’s nothing that’s ready to play just yet of our next album’s material.”

“But we’ve done a few things to play out,” he continued, “stuff that isn’t going to be album material. Just basically big dance-floor tunes. A couple of bootlegs. So there is new stuff that we are playing and its going to be exciting to play it. Some of the stuff we’ve only just finished too, so it’s going to be good to gauge the crowd’s reaction.”

Head to the EDC website for a complete list of performers at this weekend’s Electric Daisy Carnival New York.

Jermaine Paul Crowned On ‘The Voice’ Finale

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Universal Records added a new artist to their roster Tuesday night (May 8) when Jermaine Paul of Team Blake was named season-two champ during the finale of “The Voice,” which also featured some major star power appearances from the likes of Justin Bieber and Flo Rida.

“I just wanted to say thank you for everyone that voted for me,” the former Alicia Keys backup singer said on the sparkler-filled stage, before giving credit to his wife, children and parents. “God bless y’all, man. Nobody but Jesus, man, nobody!”

It was a close call, as host Carson Daly revealed just moments before the announcement that only a mere 4 percentage points separated Paul and runner-up Juliet Simms.

Kicking off the two-hour episode was a brief contestant introduction with Paul, Simms, singer/songwriter Tony Lucca and classically trained Chris Mann, before segueing into a recap of the previous night’s live final round and some thoughts from each of the judges about their contestant.

But it wouldn’t be a big ol’ finale without some collaborative performances from our season’s favorite former contestants, so Paul rallied up Jamar Rogers, James Massone and Pip to lead the pack on a cover of the Jackson 5′s “I Want You Back.” It was a solid effort that most importantly proved why Paul stands as the last remaining singer of the bunch and won the contest.

After a montage of silly bloopers from the panel (proving that Xtina is surely more than just full of sass) and a quick commercial break, Simms of Team Cee Lo joined Flo Rida for a medley of his singles “Whistle” and “Wild One.” Missing in action was singer Sia, but Simms took over for the Australian crooner’s chorus, temporarily walked away from her rock element and jumped to some fist-pumping Top 40.

Team Xtina’s Chris Mann brought back his lady favorites Lindsey Pavao and Katrina Parker for an appropriate cover of the Verve’s “Bitter Sweet Symphony,” and the couple complemented Mann’s lively onstage urgency.

It may have been an intense evening for the contestants, but “The Voice” kept the show lighthearted by dedicating an entire segment to Shelton and Levine’s on-camera bromance with highlights of their cutesy interactions. “It is clear that Adam has a crush on me, and Miranda is a little bit jealous, but I think it’s cute,” Shelton joked about wife Miranda Lambert.

Hall Oates were up next to sing their classic “Rich Girl” alongside the men of the evening: Tony, Jermaine and Chris. As the duo jammed out to their 1977 hit, the trio of finalists crooned on the side as background vocalists to the iconic act.

Living out one more performance were former contestants Naia Kete, Cheesa, Kim Yarbrough and Sera Hill with a performance of “Superstition” by Stevie Wonder. Full of energy, attitude and smiles, the quartet blended their distinctive voices for a great number. But it wasn’t enough to outshine Juliet Simms‘ group performance alongside Erin Willett, RaeLynn and Jamar Rogers for a cover of the Beatles’ “With a Little Help from My Friends.” It was the best of the all-star performances and brought all the judges to their feet for standing ovations.

NBC doubled up when they brought some buzz for the season finale of “Parks and Recreation” as Cee Lo took to the set of the comedy sitcom and had the cast cater to his guest appearance and, of course, the famed swivel chair.

Lady Antebellum repped for country music when they appeared for a performance of “Wanted You More,” but the biggest rumble of cheers went to Justin Bieber, who served up a flashy debut performance of his hit “Boyfriend.” As teased a few weeks ago, the teen superstar took the stage for an elaborate production of his lead single. Entering through the floor, the pop singer walked down an alley of bright lights and spent much of the number as the center of attention for a crew of dancers with misty smoke seeping in between his choreography.

Before the Biebster took center stage, Team Adam’s Tony Lucca re-emerged for his main number of the night with Jordis Unga to sing Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way.” It was a friendly throwback to the competition’s battle rounds, as the two played off each other’s lines and catered to different parts of the stage before joining together for an ending hug.

What did you think of Jermaine winning “The Voice”? Let us know in the comments!

227ed spotted Jermaine Paul Crowned On The Voice Finale