With a voice that sounds a cross between Terence Trent D’Arby and Adam Levine from Maroon 5 (and that’s not a diss!), I completely forgot I had heard Daniel Merriweather on Mark Ronson‘s Versions album on “Stop Me” – a mash up of an unlikely pairing of The Smiths’ “Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before” and The Supremes’ “You Keep Me Hanging On.” Mark Ronson has been working with Merriweather since 2003, and quickly signed him to his Allido Records label once it was formed.

The Australian native’s highly anticipated debut album Love & War is scheduled to release October 6, and is produced by Mark Ronson, featuring his backing band, The Dap-Kings (of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings and the band used for Amy Winehouse‘s Back to Black).

You can pre-order Love & War on Amazon, but watch his video below for the single “Change” featuring Wale.

The Prince’s of Trip Hop are busy in the lab working on their new EP for an October release, with a full album out in January 2010. I can’t wait! The last time I saw these guys live was in 2006 at New York’s Roseland (by the way, Roseland has the best PA system I’ve ever heard in my life!). Not knowing what to expect from the Bristol boys on whether they’d be able to translate their moody music into performance, we were surprisingly sent home on a massive musical high. They were dope. The new album features the wonderful roots reggae singer Horace Andy, known for his classic “Natty Dread A Weh She Want” and Martina Topley-Bird, known for her work with Tricky – but came out with a great debut album, The Blue God last year. Check out Massive Attack‘s first single below, “Spitting the Atom” below – sounding Gorillaz gone dark. Love it!

For further updates on this release, go to Massive Attack‘s website.

Well, from the last Thom Yorke interview that circulated online, one would think we weren’t hearing anything new from our boys from Oxfordshire. However, they lied. Or maybe it was simply one of their skillful marketing strategies to surprise us. We welcome surprises, especially when they sound like this! Not sure if there’s a new album in the near future, or if it will be a “name your price” type deal, but the single, “These Are My Twisted Words” is brilliant, and true to the Radiohead stance. Phil Selway certainly knows how to carry a beat! Enjoy the song below, which is also available for free download.

“These Are My Twisted Words” – Radiohead (Download)

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I first heard Siji almost six years ago on Danny Krivit‘s 2005 In The House compilation, where he featured Siji’s “Watching You, Watching Me,” from Siji’s debut album God-given, which became an instantly favorite. With his self-entitled sophomore album, he has teamed up with DJ/Producers King Britt, Rich Medina, and Alix Alvarez (all who are well respected in house and Afro beat music) to provide us with soul, jazz and African rhythms. The British-born, American expat, and multi-instrumentalist has this kind of silky smooth voice with tremors of soul and Yuruba; DJ’s have a field day with including him in their mixes. Adé Siji is more Afro beat than his debut, with full rhythmic arrangements, often sang in Yoruba, and perfect for when you’re ready to get your chillaxation on or dance your arse off. Listen to a couple of songs taken from Adé Siji, below, which is also available on iTunes. Also check out the lush video for the single, “Yearning For Home” here.

Fantasy – Adé Siji

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Irinajo – Adé Siji

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Back in May, I ran a mini-feature on Mayer Hawthorne, whose “Maybe So, Maybe No” hit hard between my ears, forcing me to set the iPod and iTunes to repeat. Recently, just finishing up the Stones Throw U.S. and European tour, I was able to talk with Mayer about his musical path, his alter egos, that really aren’t alter egos but extensions of himself. One thing that is apparent, these guys (Mayer Hawthorne and DJ Haircut) aren’t going away. Seems weird referring to him as two people, but as you read in the interview below, you’ll understand the separation of characters.

Mayer’s album Strange Arrangement is set to release on September 8. Sorry folks, no sample tune to listen to here; they’ve got the album on “lock.” However, I have heard it and there are some baby-making worthy tunes on there — enough to make your soul smile. Mayer has a cool style, soft, yet raspy voice, that definitely extends beyond his years. Drew Cohen was born to be Mayer Hawthorne; there’s no pretense or contrite, just pure soul. Read what he told Muphoric Sounds and listen to the Astronote remix of “Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out.”

Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out by Mayer Hawthorne (Astronote Remix)

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Muphoric Sounds: How did you get started as an artist? How long have you been in the business?
Mayer Hawthorne: I have been playing in bands since high school. My parents are both musicians. My dad taught me how to play bass guitar when I was six years and he still plays in a band in Detroit to this day. My mom made me take piano lessons when I was a kid, which I hated, but now I’m so glad that she made me take those lessons.

MS: Was that because of the technical side of playing and reading music?
MH: It was mainly for the introduction to one of the key instruments of soul music, which is the piano, and music in general. Most of the greatest songwriters of all time, all play piano. Billy Joel, Elton John. It’s an important instrument.

MS: Your bio says you’ve taken from the Motown assembly-line production model and eliminated nearly every element. How would you describe this process to create what you do?
MH: [laughs] Usually, the song just comes to me and I’ll ear all the parts in my head very vividly and the challenge is to take the song and all the arrangements that I hear in my head and get them out of my head and onto a reel. So one by one, play the drums, bass, piano, or whatever the instrument is to get it to sound like it does in my head.

MS: You did a Prince with Strange Arrangement, by playing all the instruments and vocals, being like a one-man production, which is quite amazing.
MH: One of the main reasons I wanted to play all of the instruments myself, in fact I didn’t play them all myself, but I did play the majority them. I had a little help from The County, my live band. Playing the instruments myself, is really fun for me. It’s generally easier for me to get the sounds I hear in my head, if I just play it myself rather than trying to explain it to another musician. I’m extremely meticulous in the studio, I’m an extreme perfectionist and I’ll record a bass line a 100 times in a row until I get the perfect sound the way I hear it in my head. And a lot of times, its easier to play it myself than try to explain to another musician.

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First of all, let me apologize for being out of commission for a bit. I was in London visiting family, getting reacquainted with old friends, and checking out a few musical events. Muphoric Sounds was in my brain, just couldn’t log on to tell you what was happening. Here are a couple of events you should seek out if you’re in London.

Plastic People in Shoreditch, East London with monthly resident DJ, Theo Parrish. We left the club muphorically ecstatic. The night was incredible! Theo Parrish is by far, now, one of my favorite DJs. How best to describe Parrish is to think of Soulful House fused with R&B, hip hop, broken and afrobeats, and an experiemental flavor. He took it to the left, in a smoke haze, with a crowd who were rhythmically free. Mixing Bill Withers to J Dilla caused the crowd to wear ugly music faces. A musical purist, I’m in awe of this guy. Check out his podcasts on Last.fm or BBC Radio.

Benji B‘s Deviation night at Gramaphone in Bank. This night was pure heat. Literally. Featuring dub step, UK garage innovator MJ Cole, and MCs Serocee and Judah, was non-stop dancing, and a battle to position yourself in front of the limited air conditioning; the UK is not up on club ventilation. The event was the kick off to Nottinghill Carnival at the end of the month, where Deviation will be playing at a secret location. Make sure you visit the Deviation website for clues on where the next party will be.

Was extremely sad to leave London, as there is SO much ground to cover; definitely needed more time.