Monday 10.11
WILLIAMSBURG
Mark Ronson and the Business Intl. @ the Music Hall of Williamsburg
66 N. Sixth St. 212-486-5400. $22-$25. 9 p.m.
Mark Ronson’s new album is called Record Collection and that’s probably because he pulls inspiration from anything and everything in his likely enormous pile of music: Drum machines, strings, gospel choirs, synthesizers, live drums, horns, guitars and every genre in the iTunes Music Store. With an equally diverse list of guests—including Spank Rock, Boy George, Ghostface Killah, D’Angelo, Rose Elinor Dougall and Q-Tip—on paper, Record Collection sounds like it would disjointed and scattered. But Ronson’s production adds the perfect amount of cohesion, letting the album wander but not get lost. This was evident on his last album, Version, which strung a Coldplay cover with the Daptone Horns, Ryan Adams cover with UK rapper Kenna and Britney Spears cover with Ol’ Dirty Bastard into sounding like stepping stones along a singular path. And Ronson’s ability to hone in on a sound is probably also the reason Amy Winehouse, who’s Grammy Awards-slaughtering Back to Black he co-produced, apologized immediately after she said he was dead to her. One question remains: How does an artist whose albums are so guest-laden perform his songs live? Guess we’ll find out.
(Also appearing Oct. 12)
