jj is one awesome little trio - two guys and a girl vocalist. Hop on over to YouTube, type them in and find their sublime rendition of the theme to Welcome Back Kotter.
No, I am not lying.
“Ecstasy” – jj
(Words/music: jj, available on jj n° 2, Secretly Canadian 2009)
A few years back, rappers and DJs looked to Scandinavia for samples, with Peter Bjorn and John’s “Young Folks” married to an assortment of freestyles on mixtapes. This time around, it’s the mysterious Swedish pop group jj lifting the track from Lil’ Wayne’s “Lollipop.” It’s all there – the echoing keyboard, the melody, and even the beat. Other than softening the drums slightly and trading Wayne’s auto-tuned purr for the hazy, distant sounding female vocals, “Ecstasy” and “Lollipop” sound like siblings. Both even take place in a club, although Wayne has his attention on the ladies while jj offers a paean to their club drug of choice.
Still, the first time through jj n° 2 was jarring, if only because I wasn’t expecting this turn. The first few tracks are bright and bouncy, featuring woodwinds and hand drums. I had it on in the background and enjoyed it while cooking dinner and maybe because I was preoccupied I didn’t notice the keyboard line right away. It wasn’t until the hook came in with the same melody and enough similar syllables to get me to put down the frying pan and turn quizzically toward the stereo. Even if it seemed out of place, I still found it compelling. Where the overall skeeviness of Wayne’s lyrics in “Lollipop” (where he’s nowhere near as clever as his finer moments) turned me off, “Ecstasy” sounds somewhat hypnotic and captivating. Where I’d probably feel out of place in a dance club that played “Lollipop” (which is to say that I’d feel uncomfortable in just about any dance club), there’s an inviting warmth to “Ecstasy.” Maybe it’s the song’s lower intensity, but I feel like I could survive in a place playing that song.More on jj: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm
