Mark Ronson’s Version (Nu Urban Magazine)

Motown Soul meets Brit Invasion crisis equals sweet music with Mark Ronson's Version!

By Marcus Scott

Producer and heavy-hitter British-born New York DJ Mark Ronson made it big when he introduced the US mainstream to jazz-soul Ivor Novello Award siren Amy Winehouse with her 2007 smash “Rehab.” A few months later, he released the experimental dance-soul record “Version,” an album that’s equal parts British Invasion and Motown Sound, covering some of the Brit’s best with a Motown jig.
Ronson blindsides crowds everywhere with his techno go-go sound when he fuses the sexy vocals of crooner Melbourne R&B vocalist Daniel Merriweather on a cover of The Smith’s "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before," and blends it with the Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On." This is a lovely pastiche of 60’s Memphis soul revue and a funk-driven, juiced-up brass sound. While Merriweather doesn’t do a thing to alter the heartbreak in Morrissey’s lyrics, Merriweather makes the lyrics inviting with is soft and sentimental tenor. Morrissey, who has stickler for the obscure and the heartbreaking, can always shed a tear: “smelt the last ten seconds of life/ I crashed down on the crossbar/ And the pain was enough to make/A shy, bald, Buddhist reflect/And plan a mass murder.”
But Ronson takes it a step further with “Valerie,” a Zutons’ track, that mirrors a Las Vegas showgirl act turned Northern Soul when he tag teams with Amy Winehouse. It sounds like she’s in a state of urgency, wailing like a Valkyrie, ringing the alarm on her way to war. Winehouse who sings the song without changing the song’s gender, breathes life into the song, altering the song’s rock-heavy sound into what could easily have been something out of a Motown’s rarity record.
The standout track on the album however, is “Oh my God,” a Kaiser Chiefs’ cover. Reggae vixen Lily Allen puts a smile on after her 2006 signature hit, and revs up the engine to create magic with Ronson. In her element, the song is a reggae tinged dance number with a sleazy-scandalous vibe that recalls a night out in the red light district, and it just works.
The album’s go-go Motown funk and hip-hop jazz savvy will compel Deejays and jazz folks for years to come. It has some dead spots but it cleans house.

To get a glimpse of the July/August addition of Nu Urban Magazine with a copy of the Mark Ronson album review, go to: http://nuurbanmag.com/2nd%20issue.html

On Barack Obama: Whose side is he really on? (Parle Magazine)

Barack Obama: Hopeless or Hopeful Candidate?
Is he too good to be true, or is he nothing more than a false messiah we should feed to the skeptics?

By Marcus Scott

Since his win in November of 2004, which granted him the electorial victory into the Senate with 70 percent of the vote, Illinois senator Barack Obama has beaten the odds in creating American history in the making.

In March 2004, Obama won the primary victory, becoming a US senator. Later, he delivered the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in July 2004, which drew comparisons to exceptional public speakers such as former US presidents Clinton and Kennedy. His speech put him on the map, as he became a landmark for the ideal president. The US citizens were in awe. Endorsing presidential hopeful John Kerry at the event, he said electing Kerry would delieverthe one thing that citizens felt they needed: hope.

In Springfield, Illinois in February of last year, Obama announced his candidacy for President of the US in the 2008 US presidential election and this time, he’s spreading the faith. Placing incentives on government reform, he’s placed an emphasis on increasing energy independence, promoting universal health care as a keen issue and billing it as a priority for the nation, ending the war in Iraq, decreasing the influence of lobbyists. This everyman has hit a high that is beginning to delight people from all sides of the tracks—hippies, yuppies, conservatives, the ill informed—and may just be the next year’s president.

But, how does one endorse ideals that even a skeptic will except. Who knows? You just materialize the facts and stand back.

The 2008 elections so far have caused a stir in the political climate: With concerns about foreign policy, tax incentives, environmental issues, the value of education, healthcare, and of course, the war in Iraq, Obama and other superpowers have the US and the world-at large sitting at the edge of our seats. The world is watching, and everyone is looking at Obama. Obama has voiced several issues he’d like to implement once in office, particularly rules pertaining to immigration and the war in Iraq.

One of the key issues Obama has voiced is that of immigration. According to http://www.politifact.com/, in the last three years that he’s served as a US senator, Obama and former presidential hopeful, Hillary Clinton, accumulated virtually interchangeable records, as their Senate voting records are nearly identical. This includes loyalty to party lines, agreements with the priorities of liberal interest groups and opposition to the current president, with 38 key votes on big issues taken between 2005 and 2007. Clinton and Obama only voted differently three times. In addition to this, outside the sum of 910 votes where both participated, Clinton and Obama differed 5.9 percent of the time, or 54 times.

The plan, launched by Senator John McCain, who co-wrote the 2006 Senate bill on immigration with Edward Kennedy, provides a path to citizenship for most of the estimated 12 million plus undocumented workers in the US. Obama agreed with some parts of the plan as well, and called for the endorsement of economic development with Mexico as a way to decrease illegal immigration, and like his democratic rival, believes that family reunification is principle in immigration.

Another example of his efforts is that of the war in Iraq and the war on terrorism, an issue that differs in opinion and perspective between Obama and his Arizona rival, McCain. As a state senator, Obama spoke out against the war in Iraq, before it initiated and has long since supported a phased withdrawal (an issue most citizens are being to agree with). While, McCain spoke out that he is in support of funneling additional troops into Iraq than Bush recommends.
But it’s all too good to be true, right? Could it be the image that builds Obama into a superhero? People are convinced some people are convinced about his race more so than his policies. Some say he caters to the image of that of the Magical Negro, a stock character that rescues whites from peril. According to “Obama the ‘Magic Negro’” by opinion columnist David Ehrenstein, Obama is there to surpress white “guilt” and the minimal discomfort they feel with a black face running for president. Obama is even compared to the likes of Will Smith and Sidney Poitier. What does “not black enough” mean, anyway? Why is appealing to whites, bad?

Then, there’s the trust factor. According to “Obama Won't Accept Public Money in Election Campaign” by Jonathan D. Salant of http://www.bloomberg.com/, may have blundered or energized Obama’s campaign. On June 19, Obama became the first president to opt out of accepting public financing for his presidential campaign, making him the first major-party presidential candidate to turn down public financing, since the system was created in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal.Obama states the decision to do so was that he may raise far more than the $84.1 million he'd need in government funds. Around April 30, Obama raised $266 million, with $10 million of that for the general election. By May 31, McCain has raised around $110 million. Strategists agree that Obama has the possibility of fundraising more than $100 million for the general election.

However, while Obama is getting work done, this may prove fatal in the coming months. According to the website, before Obama began to rake in record breaking amounts in cash flow and donations, Obama guaranteed to concord with McCain to accept taxpayer-funded capital and spending limits that apply to it. But doing so, would have meant surrendering a significant surplus to McCain.

Of course, McCain's campaign reprimanded Obama for not infringing upon the commitment. McCain’s spokeswoman, Jill Hazelbaker, stated that he did not stand on principle by breaking the deal and that Obama’s 180 “undermines his call for a new type of politics.”
As Election Day draws to a close, Americans every where are at a standstill. You decide. Trading security for safety, the topics of immigration and the war in Iraq are key issues that every American has an eye on. Some questions need to be asked, and some will be answered on Inauguration Day: Who is the best choice, and who will provide the best incentives?

For more information regarding Parle Magazine, go to: www.myspace.com/parlenews