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Chris Cornell f. Timbaland: “Part of Me” (Brick Bandits House Remix)
Remember that first song on Soundgarden’s Badmotorfinger, the one where Chris Cornell lets out the humongous rock and roll scream that sounds sort of like two asteroids colliding? This remix is the diametric opposite of that moment. The original Timbaland produced track was weird enough, but this Brick Bandits remix, with it’s sampled “oohs” and piano-hits, would probably make Tom Jones blush. Every time you play this song a Guitar Center employee cries a little bit. A penny for Kim Thayil’s thoughts.
Green Day: “21st Century Breakdown”
The piano-heavy first 15-seconds of “21st Century Breakdown” are enough to make you wonder whether Green Day’s upcoming album might find Billie Joe Armstrong indulging his inner Meatloaf. But when the big guitars hit, it’s clear that the band’s current arena-rock ideal isn’t Bat Out of Hell, but Born to Run. “My generation is zero, I never made it as a working class hero,” sings Billie Joe Armstrong, attempting to build a bridge between 924 Gilman St. and The Stone Pony.
In Flagranti: “Brash and Vulgar”
A new piece of X-rated synthesizer-disco from Brooklyn’s In Flagranti. It’s all implied filth, of course. There’s really not a whole lot that could be offensive about a bunch of sequenced machines. But like The Rolling Stone’s “Brown Sugar” or Lil’ Wayne’s “Lollipop”—and really, all the really good sexy music—it just sounds like it’s dirty.
Phoenix: “1901”
French pop-group Phoenix ditch Strokesy rock and instead deliver brash, hook-laden synth-pop just in time for Spring. Brendan Flowers, eat your heart out.