Aug
26

The New Rap Language Vol. 3

Something old, something new, something Blu. Jay-Z ft. Drake-”Off That” (Left-Click) Chalk it up to the strung out numbness of the Internet IV drip that’s made the run-up to mid-September feel so anti-climactic. Where breathless anticipation should precede new and long-overdue records from Raekwon, Jay, M.O.P. and Boosie, it all feels mundane. Even a self-consciously… Continue reading »

Aug
25

Washed Out-”Feel It All Around”

My former Stylus colleague, Mike Orme tagged “Feel It All Around,” from South Carolina’s Washed Out, with a Pitchfork Best New Tracks this morning. Rather than fritter away an afternoon grappling with ways to reiterate what Mike already said, I’ll just co-sign his sentiments regarding Ernest Greene’s sublime vision, “stuck somewhere in an imagined euphoria… Continue reading »

Aug
25

The Next Spot: Z-Ro–”Let the Truth Be Told”

The Next Spot is a recurring series dedicated to the albums that could’ve, would’ve, should’ve made the Decade Top 50.  Capture the essence of the most important album from one of the most important emcees to come out of Houston in the last 20 years in less than 200 words, including this intro? That doesn’t… Continue reading »

Aug
25

1-2 Boogaloo: A Bluffer’s Guide to Boogaloo

I could spend months combing crates in Spanish Harlem, and still lack Oliver Wang’s knowledge of Boogaloo, that fusion of Afro-Caribbean polyrhythms, Cuban Jazz, doo-wop and soul that flourished in New York and Latin America from 1965-1970. If you’re looking for a definitive take on the music and culture, his Da Capo anthologized essay from… Continue reading »

Aug
24

Two Fingers-”Bad Girl (The Bug Remix)”

The Bug, the British dubstep-dancehall deity behind last year’s hit that never was, “Poison Dart,”  drops a coal-colored cloud over Two Fingers and Cecile’s original ragga work-out. Perhaps not as indelible as some of his work from London Zoo, but a typically claustrophobic and haunted interpretation of “Bad Girl.” I suspect Kevin Martin has smoked… Continue reading »

Aug
24

Immediate Thoughts on Hearing Raekwon ft. Cappadonna & Ghostface-”10 Bricks”

Sach O: 1. Holy shit. Ghostface blacks the living fuck out on this. He doesn’t walk away with the song, he runs. Like his house was on fire. 2. Dilla is posthumously sonning Rza on his own shit. Which is kind of bittersweet in a weird way but whatever. 3. This Raekwon fellow’s album has… Continue reading »

Aug
23

DITDC: Caetano Veloso – Bicho

Sach O something-something-something Muhammad Ali. Lyrics. In this dance about architecture, lyrics are the proverbial Tango on a Gehry. For every genre with an expressly coded form of lyricism (say, Hip-Hop) you get two where it’s impossible make an objective statement. Is Jim Morison’s poetry art or the ramblings of an overblown 60’s acidhead? Depends… Continue reading »

Aug
23

Health-”Die Slow (Tobacco Remix)”

See the photo above. HEALTH don’t need to “get color.” But both the title of the LA electro-noise cabal’s forthcoming full-length, and the decision to enlist Tobacco for remix work intimate that they want their shine blinding. Yet the frontman of Black Moth Super Rainbow never bleaches eyes, instead he angles towards chromatic distortion. Other… Continue reading »

Aug
23

Sic Alps-”L Mansion”

Bleary braille eyes, acrid tobacco tongue, and an apartment a drained swamp of beer bottles–no problem–San Francisco’s Sic Alps hit harder than caffeine. Where bubble gum meets barbed wire, channeling that anorexic aperture between harsh daylight and phantom fragments of forgotten conversations. Mike Donovan sneers “she went to seek adoption, just to see wot she… Continue reading »

Aug
23

Sach O: Shabba Ranks ft KRS-ONE – The Jam

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mBapvqn42Q While all bets are off as to whether Damien Marley and Nas’ forthcoming collaboration album will somehow redeem Nas’ career (perhaps by sampling Redemption Song) or finalize his descent into We-are-the-world fuckery, it’s always fun to look back at a time when Hip-Hop/Dancehall collabos were devoid of pretension and as natural as PB&J. Case… Continue reading »

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