Relentlessly Speaking About Music (March 2011)     Rating System:      No * means horrible        * means you better get used to it      ** means there is something to like about it    *** means I like it alot  **** means I love it   EDITORIAL  You know....I will never complain again about NYC winters again. Toronto’s winter is kicking my ass! I am so sick of snow right now- I don’t know what to do. I can’t seem to shake this cold that my husband and I keep passing back and forth. And my only relief is my new music. It has given me something else to focus on and look forward to.   And speaking of music.....here’s a few tracks that I recently listened to.   “Fuckin’ Perfect” Pink (LaFace Records)     Whenever you see a greatest hits album by an artist that usually means that their contract is up with whatever label they are on. It usually has a couple of new songs on it and that is definitely the case with Pink’s Greatest Hits. “Raise Your Glass” has been tearing up the Pop scene for the past couple months. My favorite mix of this dancefloor banga is the Louis Louis Club Mix. But the other new track on the album is “Fuckin’ Perfect” which is a very deep song about accepting ones self unconditionally. I first saw a queen name Amanda Roberts perform it on stage at Crews. And then I looked up the video and was blown away. The message and visuals were so stunning and jarring that I almost couldn’t watch it. But I loved it! Every since Pink recorded “Dear Mr. President” with the Indigo Girls, I have  grown a new respect for Pink. I also just got the Riddler Remix which not only does a great job at keeping the intrigity of the original production, but it also transform the track into a mid-tempo dance hit. ****   “ Sunday Mornin’ (Original Mix)” DJ Romain featuring Nedelka (Open Bar Music)     One of the events I miss going to is the Winter Music Conference in South Beach every year. It’s been a while since I have been. But fortunately I am on a few choice mailing list for promos and I recently got a few tracks from Oscar P’s Poolside Sessions 2011. And the track that stood out for me was a happy House track called “Sunday Mornin’”. It makes me think of the many hours of sitting by the pool at the hotel where teh conference is held and hearing all of the featured DJ’s promoting their latest tracks and productions. That’s one of my favorite things about the conference. All the new music and being the few to hear it before it goes out to the distibutors. And the flowing vocals and catchy mellow chant  really just puts a smile on my face. ****     “Scheibe (Drew G. & Brian Cua Dirty Tech Mix)” Lady GaGa (Unreleased)     I couple of weeks ago, I had this young kid ask me to play the new GaGa. I thought he was talking about “Nothing On (But The Radio)”, but was surprised when he said “Scheibe”. Besides not knowing what the hell he said, I had not even heard of it. So, I did some investigating and found out taht the track was created for a Thierry Mugler Fashion Show and will be on her next album, “Born This Way”. Upon further investiagtion, the word “sheibe” means “shit” in German. So, it will be interesting to see what US radio is gonna do with this one. The track is mainly in english, but has a chorus in German. She apparently leaked a low-grade sample mix on Perez Hilton’s site. I’m sure once it has a video, the twinks will be going crazy and bugging the “sheibe” out of me to play it. But for now I will be driven crazy with request for the actual track "Born This Way" which is a complete rip off of Madonna's "Express Yourself". But after the success of "The Fame Monster", she's going to have the same problem Michael Jackson did after "Thriller". How do you top that? *      “Black Friday” (Nicki Minaj Diss) Lil’ Kim (Atlantic Records)     It always amazes me when I hear about another rap feud. Last year when I first heard about Nicki Minaj I thought to myself...”She is taking over where Lil’ Kim had left off”. I mean, after Kim’s stint in jail and her public relations appearance on “Dancing With The Stars”, I sorta felt like she had lost her edge. But there’s nothing like a few choice words to get the Queen Bee back in the game. Apparently, Nicki recorded a track called “Roman’s Revenge” where she implies that Kim is a “has-been” and out of work. Which is odd because they both did cameos on a track last year with D-Dot called “Everywhere We Go”. They even seem to compliment each other in styles on this one. So, it was quite surprising to hear Nicki dissing Kim. Ironically, Nicki’s track is with Eminem (and we all know how I feel about him). And when he was new and hot on the scene, he was dissing Vanilla Ice. I tell ya....I am so sick of the young ones forgetting who paved the way for them to come and do what they do now. There could not be a Nicki Minaj without a Lil’ Kim. There could not be an Eminem with a Vanilla Ice. Just because everyone is all up ya ass now and telling you that you can do no wrong, does not mean that you can dismiss the talents and works of the ones before you. And in another 2 or 3 years, there’s gonna be some new kid who is biting your style and making a lot of paper. And you can rest assured that you will be the target of their insults. History always repeats itself. I was reading an review of Nicki’s album in Next Magazine in NY. They pointed out that she has quite a few homophobic lyrics in her tracks and does not apologize for them. The one thing that Lil’ Kim has over her with the gay community is that she has always acknowleged her gay fan base. She even makes appearances at gay clubs. Nicki....don’t let your Hip Hop mentor, Lil’ Wayne teach you how to spit hate. Lil’ Kim is and will always be The Queen Bee! Hands down! So, of course I love Kim’s new track, “Black Friday” which is a play on the title of Nicki’s debut album, “Pink Friday”.  ****   “Hold It Against Me” Britney Spears (Jive Records)     I’m beginning to notice a disturbing trend in club music these days. Everything is creeping back into the 130 BPM range and I hate it. We are not all teaching step classes. Some of us would like to dance and groove to a track. I’m hoping that the remixes will come out and slow this one down. Because I am sure that all the twinks are gonna be bugging the shit out of me to play “The New Britney”. And as usual, there is nothing new. So, I wasn’t surprised to hear that The Bellamy Brothers are considering legal action against her for the similarities between her lyrics and their 1979 country hit, “If I Said You Had A Beautiful Body, Would You Hold It Against Me?”. So, even before her new album drops she already started some new controversy. I haven’t seen a video yet, but I’m sure it will be a glossy slick production with a bunch of Abercrombie & Fitch models. The song is cute, but it’s no “Slave 4 U”.  I guess when you start at such a high BPM, there’s no room for creativity in the remixing process. So, I have no big expectations for this track.  *   “Light Up The Night” The Black Eyed Peas (Will.I.Am Music Group)     Every few years, there’s a producer that has the industry by the balls. This year that producer would be Will.I.Am. Like Pharrell & Diddy before him, he has the ear for sampling classic Hip Hop and R&B tracks to make a new dance sound. I knew that “The Time” was gonna be a huge hit with it’s homage to Dirty Dancin’ Theme, “Time of My Life” by Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes. Especially since Jennifer Grey was on “Dancing With The Stars” (which she won). So, for The Peas’ next single, Will has taken the classic “Children’s Story” by Slick Rick and sped it up to club speed and added some electro beats. I hated the “The Time” the first I heard it, but I love “Light Up The Night”. ****   “Well Of Love” (The Remixes) Davidson Ospina featuring MJ White (Ospina Digital)     For years now, I have been telling MJ that all he would need is to get with the right producer to have that perfect marriage of his vocals and a serious House groove. Well, finally it has happened. I cannot tell you how happy this track makes me. I have not heard a true House track like this that makes me dream of the Body & Soul events of NYC back at the beginning of the 2000’s. When I listen to the Main Mix or the Strip Down Mix, I totally see the bodies moving and sweating in the July heat of the city. When I listen to the Deeper Vocal or Dub, I think of the sound sysytem of L.O.V.E. in the West Village off of 6th Avenue in the winter time. Boy do I miss those days and that sound system. I had the pleasure of spinning there a couple times. If you miss real House like I do, you are gonna love this track.  ****          Written by DJ Relentless (Alphonso King) March 2011 Don't forget to check out my mixshow on Club Queer Radio (88.7 WRSU-FM) on the fourth Thursday of each month or download selections from my home page on DJRelentless.com