Let’s be honest- pop music is just really lame today: You’ve got Lady Gaga ripping off Madonna’s 1980’s period so bad that it’s on the borderline of appalling and countless other Disney types that make the Backstreet Boys [...]]]>

Mayer Hawthorne, alongside Chromeo, deliver some great tunes to the Majestic next Monday.

Let’s be honest- pop music is just really lame today: You’ve got Lady Gaga ripping off Madonna’s 1980’s period so bad that it’s on the borderline of appalling and countless other Disney types that make the Backstreet Boys look gangsta. But there’s still some great R&B influenced pop music that still is marvelous in this day of age.

Take the New York via Montreal duo of Chromeo: mixing their love of groups like Hall and Oates with a hip-hop influence and always a health dose of a vocoder, the duo of Dave-1 and P-Thugg have put together a very smooth and fun group of songs for their latest, “Business Casual”. The guys have been on the road for well over a year since the release of “Casual”, and the cuts on the album, like “Don’t Turn Out The Lights” and “Hot Mess”, Chromeo’s chill but entertaining vibe is a real stand out.

The other R&B-pop name that is creating a buzz these days is the Ann Arbor native Mayer Hawthorne, whose debut album “A Strange Arrangement” is a complete throwback to the R&B glory days of the 1970’s. With Hawthorne’s laid back and tunes made for late nights like “Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out” and “Your Easy Lovin’ Ain’t Pleasin’ Nothing”, Hawthorne put together one of last year’s best pop albums and gives fans some hope for what pop music can sound like in the future. Mayer just released his latest single, “The Walk” back in August and later this year should see the sophomore release from Hawthorne, or at least we’re hoping.

Chromeo and Mayer Hawthorne have teamed up on a joint tour that will see the guys on the road through the end of October. But one of the early days give Hawthorne a near hometown show as they play the Majestic Theater on Monday, September 26^th for an evening of soulful tunes and a showcase of how pop music is done when not trying to make a shameful play at the charts.

Chromeo and Mayer Hawthorne play at the Majestic Theater on Monday, September 26^th. Tickets are $25 and are available at www.ticketmaster.com. Additional tour dates and band info can be found at www.stonesthrow.com/mayerhawthorne or www.chromeo.net.

The Montreal based dance duo Chromeo has already had quite the summer, as they got to perform with one of their heroes when they took the stage with Daryl Hall at this year’s Bonnaroo Festival back in June. With the duo of [...]]]>

Chromeo keeps it "Casual" at the Majestic August 5th.

The Montreal based dance duo Chromeo has already had quite the summer, as they got to perform with one of their heroes when they took the stage with Daryl Hall at this year’s Bonnaroo Festival back in June. With the duo of Patrick Gemayel and David Macklovitch enjoying some new found success, Chromeo is preparing for the August 17^th release of their third album, “Business Casual”.

The album plans to be a major step forward in their quest for dance global domination. In a short phrase, David Macklovitch described the album’s vibe as simply “sex & the trials of love”- quite universal themes, no matter what era you’re in.

The duo are longtime friends and played in a few bands in Montreal prior to forming Chromeo. Before their U.S. tour began, I had a chance to speak with Chromeo guitarist/vocalist Macklovitch about performing with one of their idols and the aspirations for the new album.

Here’s my interview with David:

AM: What was the band’s mindset going into this album versus past albums?
DM: Well, it’s a bit different than the last record because it was successful (laughs). I think with the last record, we were trying to establish and master our sound. This time around- we definitely wanted to improve the lyrics, the song structure and add a layer of sophistication to our music. We really wanted to perfect the song structure and harmonies on the songs this time around..

AM: What sort of music influenced the group when growing up in Montreal?
DM: Growing up in the era that we did, we were heavily influenced by groups like Hall & Oates, but most of our influences were based with the hip-hop generation and the mid-90’s era of that music. That’s how we discovered funk music- through all of the samples used in the hip-hop songs and went back and started listening to those songs and see where the rap songs took them from.

AM: How did you guys end up meeting and working with Daryl Hall, including the performance together at Bonnaroo?
DM: We met him when we did this web-based show called “Live at Daryl’s House”, where different bands play with Daryl and do interviews. We got along really well and I guess our show with him was the most viewed show that he had. People really liked the whole cross-generational deal with us performing with him. We decided to take it on the road when we performed with him at Bonnaroo, and it was amazing.

AM: How did you get involved in the different remixes that Chromeo has done over the years?
DM: Well, working with Lenny Kravitz was more out of a corporate deal where it was done for a product. But most of the other ones were done just out of being friends with some of those people. We are friends with Vampire Weekend and decided to work with them; I met Feist in Paris and started collaborating from there. I enjoy creating your own spin on a song and this definitely does that.

AM: You and Patrick have been friends for a long time- has the friendship changed over the years with being in a group together?
DM: Well, it hasn’t really changed all that much over the years. We’re the same two buddies that we were when we were growing up. We’ll get into our fights, but it’s all good at the end of the day. We’re like an old couple, like anybody’s grandparents (laughs).

Chromeo plays at the Majestic Theater on Thursday, August 5^th. Tickets are $20 and are available at www.ticketmaster.com. Additional dates and band info can be found at www.chromeo.net. Chromeo’s new album, “Business Casual”, is due out August 17^th.