Oh, don't act so surprised--as if I was going to pass up an actually legitimate opportunity to write about Blake Lewis! iTunes U.S. and the U.S. Amazon mp3 store are now carrying remixes of "How Many Words," Blake's '80's electro song that is his current single in the U.S. Why exactly we're getting these remixes I have no idea--as I've said elsewhere, I'm very surprised the label is spending any more money at this point--not that they've spent much so far (and not that this was probably a very expensive project), but that just makes it even more odd. Still, I'm not complaining--I'll take all the Blake Lewis material we can get while we're still getting it.
Should you somehow have ignored all my pleas to get Blake's album up until now and yet somehow feel your interest piqued at this point, I'd strongly recommend going for the album, Audio Day Dream, instead of this latest E.P.; iTunes U.S. is selling A.D.D. for just $7.99, but the even better deal is buying it new (as a physical copy) from Amazon for the same price: $7.99. There is literally no full song on it I dislike (I do skip the beatboxing interlude that makes up track 12).
You can read my original review of the album back here (I'm thinking about writing another one, actually) and though I'm doubtful that any track could have given him commercial success in the U.S. (though the music more than deserves it!), here's the song I would have gone with as a single given U.S. radio tendencies, "End Of The World," which, to quote myself, "shows that Blake's frequent collaborator Ryan Tedder has learned from Timbaland's remix of of his song 'Apologize' and realized the power of a slow handclappy/stompy beat underneath a ballad, though this song has its heart in Erasure-esque synth-pop."
8 comments:
Yep they definitely went with the wrong single. Shoulda been End Of The World or Without You.
Shame. :(
I was literally just about to e-mail you about this!!
And while we're at it...just going off that top pic, I'd hit it so hard he'd chip a tooth.
^^^^ What d'luv said.
Also, I would REALLY like to see what you've got to say in an updated album review. I definitely think this is something you should do soon as I loved your original review but can imagine certain things may have changed for you over the months?
It is. I'm still not really sure that anything from this album could have done well here, though! I do genuinely love "How Many Words," I should say, for the record.
Blake Lewis is in the air! ...or not. Thanks for thinking of me, though! And this is why he has to stick around--how else am I going to find excuses to post pictures of him?
Ah, thanks, Adem! You're really right about certain things changing--which is kind of odd for me! I don't usually live with albums this much for this long and actually experience development in my opinions like this--it's such a strange feeling!
I think How Many Words is a great single choice. I'm also loving the dave aude radio edit of the remixes quite a lot. I still think Got To Get Her could break him in Europe (then, to be all DLuv about it, I could break him in, in Europe, fnar) and then have this and End Of The World as follow up singles. Blake. Sigh.
Like I said, I do love (love) "How Many Words" and I'm certainly not saying it was the worst single choice possible or anything--it's just that I so want him to do well and he's so unestablished so far that going for a song that seems a little more US radio-friendly would have been nice; just a matter of degrees--so close to the right choice, but I think he might have had slightly better odds with "End Of The World." Maybe. And still not very good odds.
Like you said, PPG, I'll continue to buy anything Blake puts out right now. That being said, the mixes are odd though. Very clubby and not so much "radio"-y, which is not the direction I would have thought the label would take. Alas, so many bad decisions and missed opportunities have plagued Blake since ADD came out! It's a shame.
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