Mark Ronson and the Business Int'l - Record Collection

There's something to be said about a man who has only released three full-length albums in the last seven years, but has managed four top ten hits. That man would be Mark Ronson and the fourth hit would be the delightfully French "Bang Bang Bang" from his new album with The Business Int'l, Record Collection.

2009's Most Stylish Man of the Year amassed a bunch of other incredibly talented people and had, what appears to be, a whole lot of fun while making this album. There's a whole lot of hands in this pot, including those of Q-Tip, Boy George, Alex Greenwald (of Phantom Planet, Jason Schwartzma's old band), Ghostface Killah, Andrew Wyatt (former bandmate of Greg Kurstin of The Bird and the Bee in a short lived project called Funkraphiliacs), D'Angelo, Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran fame, and my new favorite person, Rose Elinor Dougall of the Pipettes.

While Version was the "big" album for Ronson, this one is a more mature chapter in his history. You got the distinct, pretentious vibe of "everyone who is anyone is on this album" on Version, while Record Collection employs a more low-key, indie cast. And hell, this album just sounds fun, more so Ronson making an album for himself than the fans. I'm sure he's not upset by the two (and a half) hits on this album. "Somebody to Love Me" would be that half and that's only because it hasn't been out for that long.

The album title couldn't have been chosen more wisely. With all of these people, you end up with a decidedly eclectic sound, which keeps your ear entertained all the way through this album. It kind of amazes me how often this album is lumped into the "hip hop" category...it's so much more than that. A lot of it is very Basement Jaxx goes Motown, and it's pretty awesome. The amount of music on this album that could honestly be defined as solely hip-hop is virtually non-existent.

All in all, this album is soulful, funky, and entertaining. From novelty pop songs like "Bang Bang Bang" and "The Bike Song" to the depths of Boy George's vocals on "Somebody to Love Me", this album encapsulates exactly what it aims to be...a collection. This isn't surprising in the least, with such a prolific musician, but it's nice to see his name attached to something of his own. He's done so much work with various artists in the last few years (Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, Ghostface Killah, Macy Gray, Jimmy Fallon, Old Dirty Bastard, Christina Aguilera, Robbie Williams, Q-Tip, Duran Duran, and a whole host of others) it's cool to see him doing what he wants to do.

For all of those guest vocalists, Record Collection also includes three solely instrumental tracks including "The Color of Crumar", "Circuit Breaker" (a tribute to Zelda!), and the incredibly sultry "Selector". What's amazing is that, within this all-star cast, these songs still hold their own. Way to kick ass, Mark Ronson. You get a B.

Check it out for yourself, I'm sure you'll find something on here that you'll enjoy. You can listen to the whole album, streaming now on Ronson's Myspace. You can also find him on Twitter, Facebook, and at his site.

"Bang Bang Bang"


"The Bike Song"