Armand Van Helden and Hairspray

Today I have some music for you by Armand Van Helden. Now this is a guy who has been around in the music industry for a very long time. Not many know him, but Armand Van Helden is one of the biggest influences in the New York electronic music scene. He works with all kinds of genres, from funk to R&B to hardcore EDM. What I find really cool about Armand Van Helden is that despite the fact that he has been such a presence in the music scene of the Northeast, his music still sounds underground. There are still so many elements of his music that sound really nice and underground, very unique and quirky. If you want further reference, there is a song by him that has gotten really popular. The name that he went by for that song though, is Duck Sauce. Go look it up, and you will know exactly which famous song I am talking about. But this song samples some older songs, songs which come from the 80's era of music. But he does so because of how rooted his music is in funk and groove jams. Even this song's main melody is more of a funk line played out on synthesizers. Which is an added bonus to making him one of the suavest underground artists ever. This song is tastefully produced, keeping the beats at a good energy level and not bass boosting the song. There is of course a little bit of a repetitive nature to the instrumentation of the song during the verses, but that doesn't matter because you get so into the groove of the song. This is a song that gets you bopping and jamming out, waiting and listening for when that saxophone flair kicks in. Armand Van Helden is like the original Mark Ronson honestly. He has the funk and the groove, he has the throwback sound, and couples that with a modern approach to the music. Now this song features the rap verses of the rapper Common. He used to be a huge rapper, but as time goes on, sometimes you take the backseat. But Common is an extremely tasteful rapper. He isn't blatantly disgusting with his verses, and they are there to get you more hype. His voice is really smooth and controlled which adds more flavor and richness to the song. Common doesn't try and overshadow the music, and the music track doesn't try and take over the verses. There is a really great sense of balance here and that balance is what makes this song work. It isn't easy to combine rap with funk with jazz and do so using synthesizers and drum pads. But Armand Van Helden does an awesome job of finding just enough of each thing to make this song complete. Today's instrumental song is from the movie Hairspray. I personally think this movie was incredibly well done. The music was accurate to the setting and all of the songs were energetic and compelling. They are funky and jazzy and have the full power of a swing big band behind them. The movie was seriously well done, and I won't lie, I have enjoyed the few times I watched it. I hope you enjoy the music and please feel free to comment!