Jul
31

The Doctor is In

Ideal prescriptions for remedying a foul mood Friday: 1. Eating: Greasy spoon breakfast–vegetarian omelette (cheese + avocado essential), fresh fruit, raisin toast, strong coffee. 2. Reading: Tom Wolfe, “The Right Stuff.” Raymond Chandler, “The Long Goodbye.” 3. Listening: Y.G.’s “I Need Weed.” Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2 leak–Raekwon + Meth + Deck + Ghost… Continue reading »

Jul
31

Brand New Knux: “Fuck You”

Even if you’re not a fan of the brothers Lindsey, it’s difficult not to respect them. Rather than damage inboxes with the umpteenth “freestyle” over “D.O.A..” they’ve laid low since dropping Remind Me in Three Days last year, opting to eschew the blog hustle for the tangible grind, building a fan base the old-fashioned way:… Continue reading »

Jul
31

Summer Jamz 09: Mallory O’ Donnell & Jeff Siegel

  Jeff Siegel and Mallory O’ Donnell are both members of the Stylus Diaspora. Passion of the Weiss is proud to serve as Babylonia.  Jeff: For this aged club rat, chased off by cokeheads, Guidos, and Guiliani, the worst thing about summers was always the outdoor parties, or the warehouse raves devoid of air-flow. One… Continue reading »

Jul
30

Raekwon @ Noisemakers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56VrgqCTdUw Thanks to Dallas Penn for the video and GrandGood for the audio. It’s times like this that I wish the NYC rent was a little less steep, and the journalistic prospects more sound. Download: ZIP: Raekwon @ Noisemakers: Part 1 | Part 2

Jul
30

No Three Piece Suits or Aladdin Style T-Shirts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLlrYwrpIg8 Inspired by the last post, I’ve spent a large portion of my morning Youtrolling for old Toddy Tee videos, only to discover a treasure trove of pre-gangsta’ LA electro-rap clips posted up by German scene historians, West Coast Pioneers.  The above Ice-T clip is taken from the 1983 documentary, Breakin’ and Enterin’, set at the legendary… Continue reading »

Jul
30

Damn, It Feels Good to be a Gangsta

Why post the front cover when this tape is all about the tracklisting? Murs and the L.A. Leakers deserve plaudits for this essentially flawless compilation of seminal West Coast gangsta’ rap. The other Nick Carter says it best in his introduction: “when we were younger, this is what we were listening to on the West… Continue reading »

Jul
29

Popscene: Pulp-”His ‘N’ Hers”

Aaron Matthews prefers this “lipgloss” to Lil Mama’s. Pulp’s career trajectory seems distinctly quaint in the blog-bombarded, Hype Machined era. While modern times mean a disappointing sophomore effort is enough to make people forget you faster than you can say Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!, Pulp lingered in near total obscurity for 12 years before… Continue reading »

Jul
28

The Analog Tropical Pop of Memory Cassette

I’d tried to avoid the Elbo.ws elbowing over the proprietary rights to New Jersey maharajah’s of mystery, Memory Cassette, because well, sometimes it’s more fun to run the contrarian jerkstore (see Fire, Arcade).  But reading their Pitchfork interview caused me to cave, specifically when head tape, Dayve Hawk declared, “the last thing I want to… Continue reading »

Jul
28

Beards, Blazers & Brie: Grace Jones & Of Montreal @ The Hollywood Bowl

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3s1YtQPNPA Everyone compares In Living Color to Chappelle’s Show for the same reductive reason: they both featured talented African-American comedians performing topical sketch comedy to the delight of millions. But more than just the superficial racial parallel,  both transcended merely skewering culture icons to wholly re-contextualizing them. Try listening to “Superfreak” without thinking of “I’m… Continue reading »

Jul
27

Sach O – Jay Electronica – Dear Moleskin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cA010JeecE If you’re an ex-Rocafella super-producer doomed to work exclusively with crazy emcees, you might as well find one that goes on Tibetan pilgrimages. I’m assuming that this is what Just Blaze was thinking when he decided to get involved with Jay Electronica. Who knows what this is or where it’ll end up, but hopefully… Continue reading »

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