Dec
11

ELZhi – Leftovers UnMixed Tape

I feel comfortable listing Elzhi somewhere in the back half of my top twenty rappers currently working. Saying that does not make you a backpacker or into “boring hip-hop,” it means that you appreciate a guy who raps extraordinarily well. I’m not sure when that idea fell out of vogue.  I am sure that if… Continue reading »

Dec
10

The Best Reissues & Compilations of 2009 (Old Testatament)

 In no particular order. Old stuff today, new stuff later.   Amadou & Mariam-The Magic Couple [Wrasse] Best-Of compilation culled from Amadou & Mariam’s 1997-2001 material, in which the divinely gifted Malian blind couple honed the style seen on sacred earth-opus, Welcome to Mali. Coldplay-endorsed, NPR-approved, and the darling of every critic cognizant of the word,… Continue reading »

Dec
09

Before I Throw An Arrow At Your Face on…December 9th

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3EkJ1CPhOo Nepotism bedamned, Zilla Rocca is the rap Tracer Bullet. Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler are proud too– mediums have been consulted.  The second and long-overdue video from The 5 0′ Clock Shadowboxers Slow Twilight is here. “High Noon” at 5:30 p.m. Download: ZIP: 5 0′ Clock Shadowboxers-Slow Twilight (Left-Click)

Dec
09

Stealing 3rd Bass or The Karmic Revenge of Robert Van Winkle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVTzmnrGakU No need to bloviate about how hip-hop has changed since this interview–it’s readily apparent. But 3rd Bass on Arsenio is a nice accompaniment to Sports Illustrated’s incredibly well-reported and engrossing feature on Pete Nice’s baseball memorabilia obsession, and his ongoing descent.  The moral of the story is that you can never trust a young… Continue reading »

Dec
09

When ESKMO’s Feed on Brains

Between “BRKLYN CLLNG” and ESKMO, shunning vowels seems to the be new all lower-case. Presumably, this will give an advantage to native Hebrew speakers, who have long seen the folly in anything that might aid and abet correct pronunciation.  You’re probably wondering who ESKMO is, considering the Planet Mu-signed, San Francisco producer only maintains a… Continue reading »

Dec
09

Popscene: Elastica – “Elastica”

 Aaron Matthews is a thief with taste.  Appropriation has always been a touchy subject in the world of pop music. The biggest bands to emerge from Britain in the last half-century largely built their careers on rewriting other people’s songs. Led Zeppelin, Oasis, and the Stones are all offenders, sure, but these acts all added… Continue reading »

Dec
08

Joy Orbison-”BRKLYN CLLNG”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0BTi20SULg I’ve avoided writing about Joy Orbison because until recently, I was certain that it was a Traveling Wilburys-spoofing porn flick in the vein of “Nailin’ Palin.’ How wrong I was. In reality, Joy Orbison is a 22-year old Londoner named Peter O’ Grady,  who has become a nascent force in dubstep off the strength… Continue reading »

Dec
08

Beards, Blazers & Brutalist Bricks: Ted Leo & The Pharmacists

Disco Vietnam approves of pharmacists, street or otherwise.   If it ain’t raw it’s worthless. Ted Leo’s forthcoming album and first for Matador, The Brutalist Bricks, takes its title from the post-World War II architectural style known as brutalism, which incorporated raw concrete to construct buildings with “striking repetitive angular geometries.” If Leo and his… Continue reading »

Dec
08

Adult Swim: ATL Remix

This will undoubtedly cause a lot of consternation in conservative corners of the web. Admittedly, there is a weird dissonance listening to Gucci Mane spit over Flying Lotus, Young Jeezy rhyme over El-P, and Shawty Lo over Prefuse 73. Granted, not all of this works, and on general principle, I refuse to enjoy anything involving… Continue reading »

Dec
07

The New Rap Language: Delinquent Habits Edition

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_5nCgAXIYU Predictably belated. One final round-up before everything sinks into the year-end morass. Tangential point: Herb Alpert is sorely underrated. Lupe Fiasco-”Thank You”  So the new mixtape from self-proclaimed black Zach Galifianakis (nice try, Lupe) is supposedly a response to being snubbed on MTV’s Hottest Rapper’s List. He shouldn’t be surprised. A year of Internet… Continue reading »

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