Uptown Special
Mark Ronson reaches new collaborative heights on the wonderfully funky *Uptown Special*. In addition to writing lyrics alongside Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Michael Chabon, the multi-instrumentalist DJ/producer enlists musical genius of all stripes, from Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker to Mystikal to Jeff Bhasker. While Stevie Wonder lends his touch to the astral melodies of the album’s opening and closing cuts, Bruno Mars pays brilliant homage to Prince on the propulsive “Uptown Funk.” Get ready to move.
If Mark Ronson’s previous albums were united by formalizing principles (retro-soul makeovers of alt-rock standards on 2007’s Version, odd-couple duets on 2010’s Record Collection), the producer's strategies on Uptown Special are more conceptual. The Bruno Mars collab "Uptown Funk" is already a massive hit, and other guests include Mystikal and Kevin Parker of Tame Impala.
Mark Ronson gets more attention as a producer for what he brings to, and out of, other musicians than for his own releases. But on his fourth album, Uptown Special, Ronson has saved the best for himself, with Jeff Bhasker (Kanye West, Alicia Keys) co-writing and -producing and acclaimed novelist Michael Chabon…
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If you're Mark Ronson, you dial a Pulitzer-winning novelist, snare a sympathetic group of stars, session giants, and unknowns, including a singer discovered during a talent quest through churches from New Orleans to Chicago, and record another tribute to your childhood soundtrack.
Let's get one thing out of the way: musician-producer Mark Ronson isn't a singer, or someone who pretends to be. What Uptown Special represe...
"Uptown Funk," the first single off of Mark Ronson's new album Uptown Special, is a funk and Motown track, slickly bedazzled with the coolness of Bruno Mars's attitude and style, and though the album as a whole doesn't totally resemble that track inasmuch
Uptown Special assembles a seemingly disparate group of collaborators to create a cohesive homage to vintage soul and funk.
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Fourth from New York golden boy DJ-producer is uptown but not top ranking. Review by Thomas H Green