09-05-2012, 12:23
online listen
don't usually do ep's, but pickins are slim
and the clip is a hit
it has grown on me
must be that repetition thing
that's the only thing I like here
1.1 from me and a converted 1.2 from the pros at allmusic
from the album - Brokenhearted
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8cbak34DR0
released May 8th, 2012
![[Image: s40148an1rg.jpg]](http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drs400/s401/s40148an1rg.jpg)
Bio - from allmusic
Crafting a pop-meets-hip-hop sound they call "swag-pop," Karmin is the project of singer/rapper Amy Heidemann and
Nick Noonan. Heidemann grew up in a small Nebraska town and discovered her voice in sixth grade, while Noonan became
an award-winning trombone player and avid classic rock fan while growing up in Maine. The pair met in 2006 at
Boston's Berklee College of Music, where Heidemann studied songwriting, performance, and business, and Noonan was on
his way to becoming a professional trombonist, playing with the likes of Paul Simon and Herbie Hancock. While the
pair -- who became a couple -- worked on music for school assignments together, it didn't occur to them to
collaborate professionally until they graduated. Taking their name from combining "carmen," the Latin word for
"sing," and "karma," Karmin's debut release Inside Out arrived in 2010 and featured a largely acoustic sound, with
Noonan playing a wooden box because the duo couldn't afford a drum kit. They also posted their songs on YouTube, but
realizing that it was unlikely that people would search out their original songs, Noonan and Heidemann began
covering Top 40 hits and became an Internet sensation in the process. In April 2011, Karmin posted a cover of Chris
Brown's "Look at Me Now" on their YouTube channel, drawing the attention of Ryan Seacrest, Diplo, ?uestlove, and the
Game, among others; covers of Lil Wayne's "6 Foot 7" and Nicki Minaj's "Super Bass" soon followed, all of which
displayed Heidemann's rapping skills as well as her vocal chops. Around this time, Karmin's original song "Take It
Away" was used in commercials for the 2011 NBA Finals. That June, Epic Records signed Karmin, who began working on
their debut album. The duo, now based in Los Angeles, worked with producer Jon Jon Traxx on a set of songs including
"Take It Away" as well as "Brokenhearted" and "I Told You So," which Karmin performed on Saturday Night Live in
February 2012. Hello was released in May 2012.
Album Review - from allmusic
You'd be forgiven if you assumed "Walking on the Moon," the opening cut on Karmin's major-label debut EP, Hello, was
a cover of the Police's classic. After all, the duo of Amy Heidemann and Nick Noonan made their name in 2011 via
smirking YouTube covers of hits by Chris Brown, Lil Wayne, and Nicki Minaj, so jokey versions of new wave classics
are no great stretch, but Hello is where Karmin attempt to shake off the specter of novelty and present themselves
as an honest to goodness modern pop band, the kind that can work with such heavy-hitters as Tricky Stewart and
Stargate. Those two producers have scored hits for Britney Spears, Beyoncé, Rihanna, and Katy Perry, and that gives
a good idea of how Karmin hope to market themselves: stylish dance-pop with an urban twist. It all sounds simple and
commercial enough but the spanner in the works is the manic pixie Heidemann, who spits out raps with dexterity and
derision, always managing to sound contemptuous of the very form she's chosen. Certainly, by offering nothing but
original material Hello skates around some of the questionable concerns about race their Brown and Minaj covers
raised but they're not gone entirely, not with Karmin reworking "Single Ladies" as "Too Many Fish" and not with
taking on the haters on "I Told You So," where Heidemann boasts that she'd "figured I'd write it in a hip-hop song."
When Heidemann spits out those words, it's with a sneer that's directed at the listeners and hip-hop itself; with
her ferociously showy technique, there's always a sense that Heidemann is convinced her sheer willpower can dazzle
and masquerade whatever distaste she has for the songs she is singing. And there's always a sense that she and
Noonan believe they're lowering themselves to sing pop music, that they are better, smarter, funnier than the music
they're making...and that alienating smug entitlement is impossible to shake even when the productions are
appealing, as they are through half of Hello.
Track Listing
1. Walking on the Moon
2. Brokenhearted
3. I Told You So
4. Too Many Fish
5. I'm Just Sayin'
6. Coming Up Strong
7. Hello
don't usually do ep's, but pickins are slim
and the clip is a hit
it has grown on me
must be that repetition thing
that's the only thing I like here
1.1 from me and a converted 1.2 from the pros at allmusic
from the album - Brokenhearted
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8cbak34DR0
released May 8th, 2012
Bio - from allmusic
Crafting a pop-meets-hip-hop sound they call "swag-pop," Karmin is the project of singer/rapper Amy Heidemann and
Nick Noonan. Heidemann grew up in a small Nebraska town and discovered her voice in sixth grade, while Noonan became
an award-winning trombone player and avid classic rock fan while growing up in Maine. The pair met in 2006 at
Boston's Berklee College of Music, where Heidemann studied songwriting, performance, and business, and Noonan was on
his way to becoming a professional trombonist, playing with the likes of Paul Simon and Herbie Hancock. While the
pair -- who became a couple -- worked on music for school assignments together, it didn't occur to them to
collaborate professionally until they graduated. Taking their name from combining "carmen," the Latin word for
"sing," and "karma," Karmin's debut release Inside Out arrived in 2010 and featured a largely acoustic sound, with
Noonan playing a wooden box because the duo couldn't afford a drum kit. They also posted their songs on YouTube, but
realizing that it was unlikely that people would search out their original songs, Noonan and Heidemann began
covering Top 40 hits and became an Internet sensation in the process. In April 2011, Karmin posted a cover of Chris
Brown's "Look at Me Now" on their YouTube channel, drawing the attention of Ryan Seacrest, Diplo, ?uestlove, and the
Game, among others; covers of Lil Wayne's "6 Foot 7" and Nicki Minaj's "Super Bass" soon followed, all of which
displayed Heidemann's rapping skills as well as her vocal chops. Around this time, Karmin's original song "Take It
Away" was used in commercials for the 2011 NBA Finals. That June, Epic Records signed Karmin, who began working on
their debut album. The duo, now based in Los Angeles, worked with producer Jon Jon Traxx on a set of songs including
"Take It Away" as well as "Brokenhearted" and "I Told You So," which Karmin performed on Saturday Night Live in
February 2012. Hello was released in May 2012.
Album Review - from allmusic
You'd be forgiven if you assumed "Walking on the Moon," the opening cut on Karmin's major-label debut EP, Hello, was
a cover of the Police's classic. After all, the duo of Amy Heidemann and Nick Noonan made their name in 2011 via
smirking YouTube covers of hits by Chris Brown, Lil Wayne, and Nicki Minaj, so jokey versions of new wave classics
are no great stretch, but Hello is where Karmin attempt to shake off the specter of novelty and present themselves
as an honest to goodness modern pop band, the kind that can work with such heavy-hitters as Tricky Stewart and
Stargate. Those two producers have scored hits for Britney Spears, Beyoncé, Rihanna, and Katy Perry, and that gives
a good idea of how Karmin hope to market themselves: stylish dance-pop with an urban twist. It all sounds simple and
commercial enough but the spanner in the works is the manic pixie Heidemann, who spits out raps with dexterity and
derision, always managing to sound contemptuous of the very form she's chosen. Certainly, by offering nothing but
original material Hello skates around some of the questionable concerns about race their Brown and Minaj covers
raised but they're not gone entirely, not with Karmin reworking "Single Ladies" as "Too Many Fish" and not with
taking on the haters on "I Told You So," where Heidemann boasts that she'd "figured I'd write it in a hip-hop song."
When Heidemann spits out those words, it's with a sneer that's directed at the listeners and hip-hop itself; with
her ferociously showy technique, there's always a sense that Heidemann is convinced her sheer willpower can dazzle
and masquerade whatever distaste she has for the songs she is singing. And there's always a sense that she and
Noonan believe they're lowering themselves to sing pop music, that they are better, smarter, funnier than the music
they're making...and that alienating smug entitlement is impossible to shake even when the productions are
appealing, as they are through half of Hello.
Track Listing
1. Walking on the Moon
2. Brokenhearted
3. I Told You So
4. Too Many Fish
5. I'm Just Sayin'
6. Coming Up Strong
7. Hello
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