Ryan James Yezak Presents

Flashback Friday: Britney Spears - Quicksand

Ok I’ll admit it. Any chance I get to post about Britney, I’ll do it in a heartbeat. Any chance I get to post about Britney & Gaga (who co-wrote it with Fernando Garibay) - well, you never know it my be my only chance. This song was an itunes bonus track on Britney’s most recent album, Circus (excluding The Singles Collection of course, for all of you Britney fanatics who might have jumped on me for not including that - takes one to know one). This is my favorite song from that album & it wasn’t even exclusively on the album. Everything about it is beautiful & I think it suits Britney, or the produced voice of Britney, really well. Everyone can relate to trying to hold on to something they once had, right? Have a great weekend!

Click here for more Britney Spears.

“Baby even if we’re sinking…”

Jónsi - Time To Pretend (MGMT Cover)

Wow. He really got this right. Jónsi performed a beautiful cover of MGMT’s “Time To Pretend” last week on BBC Radio 1 & really captured the youthfulness of it while at the same time making it a bit romantic. I love it when artists reinterpret other artists’ music like this (Scott Simons “Umbrella”, Sliimy “Womanizer”, Sam Tsui & all of Lady Gaga). Couldn’t have asked for a better rendition. Jónsi is actually the vocalist & guitarist for Sigur Rós, the Icelandic band I posted about a while back. He is pursuing a solo career while the band is on hiatus for a year. Good luck to you Jónsi, I can see you doing great things! What do you think?

Click here for more Jónsi.

“Forget about our mothers and our friends… we were fated to pretend”

Brand-x - Chillin On The Plane (M.I.A//Lady Gaga//Wale)

This song is purely for fun. A mashup of two highly enjoyable songs and what do you have, a highly enjoyable mashup. I remember people starting to mashup these songs and post them in forums a few years ago, but I never remember them being this damn good. I feel like mashups have come a long way because they’ve really become this reinvention of the songs involved & I love it. Like any other artwork you can do a great job at reinventing, mashing up music is no different. Besides, “Chillin” never really got the recognition it deserved & so why not go off of the huge success “Paper Planes”. As far as Brand-x goes, I’m unable to locate any information about the DJ. If you know anything, let me know! What do you think of this mashup? Should it be mashed down a notch or is it perfect the way it is?

“Look at that look at how they lookin’ at usss…”

Alphabeat - Telephone/Bad Romance (AlphaMonsterMashUp)

Yes, yes, yes! This is really worth a listen. I love Alphabeat & have been a fan since their song “Fascination” & their debut album This Is Alphabeat a couple of years back. I haven’t really gotten into their new material yet & from what I understand their sophomore album has been delayed until March (in the UK at least). But, in the meantime, they are doing some impressive work with Gaga’s music. Their take on “Telephone” & “Bad Romance” offers a little more of a lighthearted sound than Gaga’s dramatic originals. Do they outdo Gaga? No. But they do a cover that is creative, unique, & true to the style of Alphabeat. The Danish pop group are currently opening for Lady Gaga on the UK leg of her world tour. Thanks for the heads up Felicia!

“Stop telephoning me…”