Feb
05

The Roth Boil: Jeremy Jordan’s “The Right Kind of Love”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16-nbgibas8 Hot 97 and Power 106 currently have “I Love College” in heavy rotation, meaning either Rifkin’s payola game stays strong or Big Boy just really loves Weezer. I’ll guess the latter, since SRC couldn’t get Pharoah’s Gnarls Barkley-lite flirtations anywhere near the dial. If and when Asher Roth’s debut actually drops, I’ll probably pen… Continue reading »

Feb
05

Douglas Martin’s Dirty Shoes: Sects in the City and Musical Cosmopolitanism

Douglas Martin is all-too-aware of the irony that if Run DMC emerged today in those pants, they’d be labeled hipsters. Let’s take it back to 1989. I was living with my biological mother, a first-generation rap fan, who would blare Run DMC and LL Cool J cassette tapes upon my arrival home from school. I’d… Continue reading »

Feb
04

The Pains of Being Pure At Heart-”Everything With You”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLVrTruj_Aw At times, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart’s self-titled debut threatens to amount to substantially less than its influences: Ride, Felt, Smiths, C-86, their Slumberland predecessors. Yet a supererogative ear and superior taste excuse the worst execesses of cherry-pick pastiche. Ignore the nettling nomenclature and chances are you’ll agree with Dusted and The… Continue reading »

Feb
04

Things That Make You Go Hmm: Lonely Island’s “I’m on A Boat”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0BIORpeq8I Not sure about the logic of leaking this track sans video. Really, a shot-by-shot re-enactment of “Speedin,” with minor meddling to include an ursine Rick Ross doppelganger, swimming laps surrounded by mermaids, could elicit easy and instant laughs. Obviously, Lonely Island are no Party Fun Action Committee.  But as 50 discovered, you can’t help… Continue reading »

Feb
04

Sach O: Rap will be A-OK

Sach O, he’s running this rap shit. Break out a post and when it happens: that’s it. All of this hand wriggling over poor old Hip hop. It’d be sad if it wasn’t so funny. It seems that ever since Kanye West released his inner Phil Collins on record, the rap blogosphere lost its collective… Continue reading »

Feb
03

Cam’ron-”I Hate My Job”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWQWTZVWVZs ’05 was a frustrating time to be tethered to the Internet, watching bloggers bombastically anoint Dipset with an array of breathless adjectives that not once failed to include the noun, “surrealist.” All this despite not being able to name three actual surrealist antecedents. While the hype was overblown–Purple Haze was good but not that … Continue reading »

Feb
03

The Kills-”Black Balloon” Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ai_QCEBhin8 Cursory observations from The Kills’ new video: a) Is it just me or has Allison Mosshart become a rich man’s Meg White? b) Hotel is becoming more Doherty-esque by the day. Say what you want about Kate Moss, at least she has a type. c) Marlboro Menthols? Really? If you’re treading down the path… Continue reading »

Feb
03

Mulatu Astatke: Infinitely Better than Jacobim Mugatu

What gives Los Angeles music geeks? Mulatu Astatke comes to town to perform a set backed by Cut Chemist and a 15-piece orchestra, and not one of you can post a decent review to further compound my misery. Don’t act like I’m not looking at you O-Dub and Roberts. Still bubonic and bleary on this… Continue reading »

Feb
02

Nico the Beast-Dinner is Served Mixtape

Haven’t listened yet to Nico’s new mixtape, as hard-core South Philly street rap isn’t about to ameliorate the plague-like symptoms that have enveloped me of late. But the Beast has been vicious of late, so I see no reason why this wouldn’t be good. If you have no idea who this fellow is, see my… Continue reading »

Feb
02

LA Times: Live Review-Wale & Blu @ The Key Club

Sick and in no mood for pleasantries or feigned witticisms, as a grotesque and sudden illness precluded me from leaving the house to watch the Super Bowl and seeing Mulatu Atsatke and Cut Chemist. Needless to say, I’d be on the warpath could I stand on sturdy legs. In the meantime, I caught Wale’s set… Continue reading »

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