Elvis Costello’s many reissues of his back catalog have unearthed a lot of excellent tracks. Today’s Random iTunes selection is not among them.
This alternate take of Imperial Bedroom‘s ‘Little Savage’ is nearly incoherent, especially vocally, a fact that Costello himself acknowledges in the disc’s liner notes:
Apparently the Random iTunes Fairy felt it had been too long since Beyoncé graced the blog with her presence. So here is a cut from Queen B’s 2006 album B’Day.
The record was Beyoncé’s second solo effort and, looking back now, it’s a charming glimpse at the R&B diva before she took over the world.
This week’s final track is a better time machine than Doc Brown’s DeLorean. Rumer (stage name of Sarah Joyce) was born in 1979 but her songs sound like they were recorded five years earlier.
Her Karen Carpenter vocals and Burt Bacharach production are completely out of time but charmingly so. Her throwback style has earned the fandom of Elton John and, yes, Burt Bacharach.
The globetrotting continues with today’s artist, Lianne La Havas, who was born in London to a Greek mother and Jamaican father. She counts Prince among her biggest fans, and has played alongside him on Saturday Night Live and elsewhere.
La Havas released her debut record in 2012 and her sophomore effort, Blood, in July of this year. The album was well-received, hailed as a stirring blend of pop, soul, jazz and R&B. No wonder Prince likes her.
Of all the interesting musical combinations out there, ‘Ethiopian Fiona Apple’ is definitely unexpected. But that’s exactly how I’d describe Mizan, based on this one song anyway.
Mizan (whose last name — or first name? — I couldn’t find on the web) was born in Chicago and raised in Ethiopia and New York. I could find very little else about her online, apart from the fact that her debut EP was released on Nov. 6.
