Playb4ck vs SuperMartxe ft. Mohombi - I Don't Wanna Party Without You

"You're like the sun in California"

This song has been kicking around for awhile now, and I've been meaning to feature it. It's been somewhat of a staple in the Scandinavian charts for weeks and I can see it absolutely blowing up this Summer. Whatever we may feel about it, for now and the foreseeable future, DJs and production teams are the new rock stars. As such, just getting this track's name and feature list out of your mouth is a doozy. However, here at alienhits we are quite familiar with Mohombi, who's released some great music in the past. It was his name that first drew me to this track, and his vocals are the standout here. It's obviously quite a bit more club/dance than we're used to from him, and if I'm being honest, the production basically just follows the template set out by every other club track, but with the weather getting nicer, we can never have enough of songs like this.



(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Buy the single here. Follow me on twitter and facebook.

Top 20 Albums of 2011: 14-13

14. Will Young - Echoes



The 2011 version of a George Michael album. It took awhile for this to stick with me, but once it did, I was really enchanted. I've never completely enjoyed a Will Young album before. His music has always been too... well... boring for me. With Echoes, though, he struck the perfect balance between ballad and uptempo, organic and electronic. The best "grown up" pop album of the year.

13. Mohombi - Movemeant



This album kind of came out of nowhere. With its synthesized Red One production and Afro-Caribbean sound, this was the perfect soundtrack to the Spring and Summer. It borrows many of the tricks of 2011 pop music but gives it a personal, unique edge that makes the album stand out. Plus, it's catchy as hell. Every single track.

Mohombi - Maraca

"Let me see your body move"

Mohombi is really setting the standard for RedOne produced music right now. In addition to a solid album, tracks keep springing online that suggest he’s just getting started. The catchiest of them all (and really, one of the catchiest songs of the year) is Maraca. It’s ridiculously repetitive, but that little “maraca-ca-ca” bit in the chorus just hits you like a ton of bricks even after the first listen. It’s less a song than a party squished into three minutes of sound. And although this kind of shallow dance music can get a bit tiresome, Maraca easily navigates potential pitfalls due to its immense sound. The drums alone are straight from a high-def movie soundtrack. It just attacks you. It’s been fun watching Mohombi’s steady climb in his native Sweden. I really do think he could break the U.S. if he tried.

Mohombi - Maraca by HOS_Music

(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Buy the album here. Follow me on twitter and facebook.

Mohombi - Love In America

"I've been flying all around the world"

I've always had a huge soft spot for afro-inspired pop music. I think it's some combination of listening to Paul Simon's Graceland as a toddler/small child and being obsessed with the Lion King several years later. Whatever the reason, I gravitate towards the stuff like crazy. It's the reason I loved Tinashe's Zambezi so much last year and why a few of the afro-inspired tracks from the Mo's second album (and Nicko's subsequent solo material) sent me into shudders of excitement. So now, along comes Mohombi, friend and protégé to famed producer Red One. Yes, the album has the synth-heavy dance sound we're used to from Red One, but it's tempered with elements from Africa to the Caribbean. It all adds up to something ridiculously catchy. There are multiple highlights (including first two singles Bumpy Ride and Dirty Situation), but this track stood out immediately because of its huge chorus. The general sound--triumphant synths colliding with thunderous vocals--is just fantastic. I'm gonna put out a plea right now: if anyone has any recommendations for music that is similar to this, send it my way! Songs like this (and the aforementioned Zambezi) seem to be rare in the pop world. Or maybe I'm just not looking in the right place?



(Music posted for evaluation purposes only. If you like what you hear, support the artists. Buy the album here. Follow me on twitter and facebook.