Monday, March 19, 2012

The Day After SXSW...

I'm still collecting my thoughts on this year's influx of music/technology/film/hopes/dreams to Austin. We were home most of the time, and actually partook in the festival, which is a change from recent years. If you follow me on Facebook then you'll know that this year I unveiled a new project I've been working on with my dear friends Brothers Lazaroff called, appropriately enough, "Elizabeth McQueen Meet Brothers Lazaroff."  The Brothers remixed two tracks from the Laziest Girl in Town that turned out so great, and playing live together was such a natural fit,  that we're going to keep mixing and melding our sounds and do a full on project together. 

Tomorrow, I'll have my SXSW-recap for you, but today I'll leave you with the tracks we made, and a review that Robin Wheeler,  aka PoppyMom wrote of   We still have some free downloads left, so grab 'em before they're gone! It's the last gasp of my SXSW 2012.



On 2010's "The Laziest in Town", Elizabeth McQueen used her emotive voice to capture the languid grandeur of jazz vocalists past. Two years later, Brothers Lazaroff have taken two of those retro-tinged tracks and energized them with the flavors of modern jazz and funk with hints of country noir and hip-hop to make a true melting pot of American music. 

Remixed to include thrumming bass, twinkling synths, a delicate harmonica hum, and a sensual response interlude, "The Laziest Girl in Town" turns from an exhausted woman's lament to a slow swim in sweet molasses under the stars, bookended by lo-fi haze. While McQueen might have been lounging in pajamas in her original, now she's venturing into sexy skirt-dropper territory. It suits her well. 

The original sass of McQueen's "Mind of Men" remains, but with a brutally punctuated emphasis on the scathing lyrics. The jazz horns are still there, elbowing for space with muted but nonetheless searing guitar riffs that replace the original's sass with a rooted anger. She's less pithy chanteuse, more straight-forward worldly woman in a remix strikes a balance in the conflicting nature of modern love. 

3 comments:

Joanna said...

I loved what I heard of you and the Brothers Lazaroff and can't wait to hear more!

EMQ said...

Thanks Joanne! And thank you for coming out last week. It was really cool of you!

JLF said...

Love this remix! Your voice just keeps getting better and better.