Stop Me

Song: Stop Me
Artist: Mark Ronson
Album: Version



Mark Ronson, born into rock royalty, raised in England, but developed as a musician and DJ in New York City has had some serious high quality projects happen recently. His production work for recent albums by Lily Allen, Robbie Williams, Christina Aquilera, and Amy Winehouse have gotten the whole industry hip to his old time soul meets hip-hop vibe. His most recent album, “Version” will be released in the U.K. in the middle of next month.

Ronson was immersed in DJ culture in NYC in his teens, getting involved with the titans of the time, the Beastie Boys and Run DMC back in the 80’s. Throughout he broadened his knowledge of music while becoming a fixture in the socialite/celebrity scene. He DJ’d a party for Puff Daddy and through networking and word of mouth released his first album “Here Comes The Fuzz” in 2003. That album featured a wide range of collaborators (Jake White, Ghostface Killer, Rivers Cuomo, etc.) and found modest success overseas.

“Versions” is a mix of covers, all given an old-soul redo with from-scratch arrangements. He puts a clever spin on Coldplay’s “God Put a Smile on Your Face,” Britney’s “Toxic,” and Radiohead’s “Just,” which was originally found on the compilation “Exit Music: Songs With Radio Heads.” First single “Stop Me” is a cover of the Smiths classic “Stop Me if You Think That You’ve Heard This One Before.” I liked it immediately and really dig how it morphs into “Keep Me Hangin’ On” near the end. Also on the album is a re-done version of “Oh My God” featuring Lily Allen (whom he did an excellent remix for on the hit single “Smile.”) which she covered for the Live Lounge series. He really brings up the soul on his version… I can’t wait to hear the whole record. Could be the hipster chill out album of the year. (At least for this month)

Enjoy.

Here is the video for "Just"


And he also has a Podcast on iTunes, here is ep. one: