This week’s track is I Need a Dollar, by Aloe Blacc. I first heard this song as the intro song to How To Make It In America, HBO’s new show chronicling the life of two young men hustling in New York City to try to enter the fashion business.

Lyrically great, and searching soulful, the song centers around the coming of bad times and the path towards losing one’s job. It’s acutally a pretty sad song of a man in desperate need of a break. Even though it has a pretty classic soul sound it was recorded Feb 2010, which makes me feel like it codifies the life millions of people must be going through as they lose their jobs or fall on hard times during the recession.

I had a job but the boss man let me go
He said / I’m sorry but I won’t be needing your help no more
I said / Please mister boss man I need this job more than you know
But he gave me my last paycheck and he sent me on out the door

It’s Wednesday and I’m already ready for the Weekend, this week’s track from the Black Eye Peas’ Bridging the Gap. While typically I’d go on for a while waxing about why I like this particualr track, I think most people probably know this song. I’m going to spend a few inches lambasting the fall of one of the greatest acts in hip-hop.

I remember vividly when I went and saw BEP play  in 2001 at the University of San Diego. Live drum set, real instrumentation, a DJ, no Fergie and one of the highest energy shows I’ve ever seen. At the end of the show will.i.am, apl.de.ap, and Taboo were all outside signing autographs on ticket stubs and milling around. I wonder where my signed ticket stub is these days. I remember hearing BEP on Jurassic 5 and Ozo albums back then, all with innovative sounds and a positive message — very different than typical West Coast / LA rap.

Then came Fergie. And Where Is the Love. And My Humps. And the nail in the coffin, Boom Boom Pow. Look back at their track, Original, with these verses:

Many people can’t be real, so they gotta chase the steel
What the deal? Is it really all about the bills?
What’s the thrill? I’d rather have my soul fulfilled

So sad, that’s exactly what they’ve become.

A little bit of a change of pace this week, track of the week comes off of Armin van Buuren’s Universal Religion Chapter 4, it’s Roger Shah & Signum’s Healesville Sanctuary (Roger Shah Mix).

On a early morning like today, after I’ve been napping on the train trying to catch some sleep before I arrive to work this is exactly the kind of music to wake me up when I get off the train, put the headphones in the ears and walk in to the office. It’s a Friday and if you’re looking for a wake-me-up, put this track on and it’ll set you straight.

The is a beautiful little trance track, that starts over soaring vocals and plucked strings. This mix is recorded live, and there’s an energy as the crowd gets in to it. As the first progression builds the cheers and whistling from the ground grows as everybody is waiting for the melody to drop. In typical trance style the song goes huge, drops away again and the crowd goes wild waiting for the same beat the second time. Give it a full listen through to hear both halves of the song.

The entire Universal Religion Chapter 4 mix makes for a great 80 minutes of solid trance. It was was the latest work available from van Buuren for a while but A State of Trance 2010 was released at the beginning of the month so expect a TOTW from that later in the spring.

FYI: unfortunately the YouTube link is a slightly different mix from the email than the van Buuren mix, so listener beware.

The second appearance of local band Montana 1948 in track of the week, this week’s track comes from their latest album Picket Fences, Don’t Be Too Late. I first heard this song about a year ago while going to a MT48 show in San Francisco. It had been at that point one of the first songs they had written after their Tiny Drawings EP. Like most Montana 1948 songs, it’s a catchy, pop-y rock song that finds the chorus stuck in your head after a while. When I last saw them at Cafe du Nord, I took a few friends and over the next few days we all ended up having some of their songs stuck in our heads.

My favorite parts are the bridge at about the 3m mark, and the strong close as the band jams over the singer’s lyrics. If you’re in the Bay Area, I recommend going to one of their shows. They have great stage presence and are a ton of fun to watch play. “don’t don’t tell me no / don’t, don’t tell me no”

I’ve been traveling a bit the last few weeks, and it’s starting to feel like spring outside. Nothing better to it off than this week’s track: Good Times by The Holdup, off of Stay Gold.

It’s a lazy reggae-esque track that feels like a good time hanging on on a warm summer evening, celebrating the main priority of “having a good time”. The singer’s voice isn’t what I’d call classic reggae and he’s a little high pitched but it adds to the feel good vibe the song gives.

Opening over a simple guitar riff, and building up with simple drums and the lead guitar, it’s an easy song to listen to while you’re waiting for the days to get longer and the sun to be warmer. “Cuz it’s been a while / since the last time you smiled / and I’m waiting for the next good time”.

This week’s track is Behind the Bushes by The Knife, off of Deep Cuts. I’d peg the album as a whole an electronica synth / electropop work. It’s best known for the song Heartbeats which appeared in some TV commercials apparently.

This track stand out though. It’s free of vocals and free of any kind of dance beat. The backing sound is a set of strings with the melody played by a flute (I seem to be picking a lot of flute music recently). Nearly through most of the song there’s no rhythm section with the exception of a faint drum section as the song creschendos.

The thing that pulled this one to me is how craftily it’s placed in the context of the rest of the album. All sorts of electropop/discopop and them — bam — a melodic exploration of strings, flue and synth. It stands up well on it’s own, but it’s even better when listened in the context of the album as a whole.

This week’s track is Glamorous Lifestyle by The Jacka, off of Tear Gas. A bit of a departure from the last few weeks of track of the week, this is track straight out of the Bay Area as The Jacka hails from Pittsburg, CA.

Not a ton to say about this track. It’s a fun ditty, full of the usual hip hop bravado. The thing that got me hooked on this one is that it’s local to the Bay Area, it’s pretty catchy (strings + flute = unusual and fun) and has a great hook. If that doesn’t make for a hip hop / pop single, I’m not sure what does. The album as a whole is pretty solid hip hop album. Production is pretty low-fi but he’s got a good voice and can rhyme over a beat.

This month brings us a hot new Gorillaz track. But track of the week brings the remix to the lead single, Stylo as mixed by Alex Metric. It’s a total disco/dance track, four-on-the-floor, laced full of overdub and falsetto. Imagine if the Bee Gees had a Macbook with Serato Scratch and Logic, this is the music they’d be making. Comparing it to the studio/radio version of Stylo it’s hard to tell that they’re the same song. Alex Metric has taken the hook (which is fairly disco in its own right) and made a dance floor banger out of it.

Track of the Week returns after a week hiatus with Let Me Take You Out by Class Actress off of Journal of Ardency. This is a fun little indie song with very retro, synth’ed out production. Elizabeth Harper, the vocalist and songwriter has great vocals that sound feathery except during the hook when she holds the sound. Journal of Ardency is a great little six track EP that is full of songs like this (and a great name for an EP, btw).