Publications
Partners
What we thought:
Mark Ronson has been making hits since before the late Amy Winehouse went Back to Black (he produced most of that Grammy winning record). He’s big on horns, soul singers and 808 heavy bass lines. This we knew going in and from the lead single (that’s impossible to miss on local radio) Uptown Funk featuring the diminutive powerhouse Bruno Mars.
We like that, which is why our friends at Deezer told us about this exclusive pre-stream a week in advance so we could prepare ourselves. And we did, listening to his 2007 offering Version and his 2010 offering Record Collection. After all that re-listening research we have to honestly tell you that Version is a better record than this, but Record Collection is not. Musically and structurally this record is a clear step forward for Ronson but in all there’s a spark of energy on some tracks that simply doesn’t carry over to other tracks. We were left wanting to fast forward more than once, making it only sort-of a good product. Inconsistency being its biggest problem.
Best track:
Uptown Funk feat. Bruno Mars. The energy that we love in some parts of this album is embodied perfectly by this track. Beautifully structured and masterfully delivered, we can see why it was the lead single. Radio and club friendly.
Worst track:
Leaving Los Feliz feat. Kevin Parker. It tastes like vanilla sorbet after having a wonderfully rich mix of chocolate and strawberry. Boring. Some might like it.
Sounds like:
If you fell into that time machine in Austin Powers and went back to groovier times. Fun(ish).
