Jan
27

Son Raw: Plastician waxes nostalgic

Son Raw was going to slam that shitty Rusko X Cypress Hill song, but what’s the point?

Jeff was a bit optimistic yesterday in describing Electronic Music’s current forward drive as there’s more than enough nostalgia for yesterday’s futurism to go around these days. Much like it’s ancestor Jungle, Dubstep evolved so ridiculously fast that purists somehow managed to get misty eyed about the old stuff ahead of time; resulting in collapsed timelines, evil twins with goatees and Simon Reynolds books. After the cries of “first!” and the usual complaints that “it used to be better” however, comes the unenviable task of putting the last decade into “context” and figuring out what bits still sound good and which ones were the result of one too many pills. With all apologies to the dark UKG heads, smart money says that 2004-2006 will go down as Dubstep’s great “classic” period as the genre mutated from Garage’s dark offspring into an unpredictably experimental form of Grime to a full-fledged movement and genre. Cue the usual milestones: the first DMZ singles, Midnight Request Line, Mary Anne Hobbs’ Dubstep Warz, Burial…

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Jan
27

Douglas Martin’s Dirty Shoes: Guided by Voices Eat the Factory

Douglas Martin was in the Sandbox-era lineup of Guided by Voices. He was the greatest four-year-old bassist in indie-rock history.

No need to put the word classic in scare-quotes. Between 1994 and 1996, the lineup of Guided by Voices released some immeasurably great output. If most pop-rock bands had the opportunity to slap their name on Under the Bushes, Under the Stars, they’d have the crowning achievement of their career. Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes are justly recognized as two of the greatest guitar albums of the past twenty years, the Rubber Soul/Revolver 1-2 combo of the indie-rock generation. Out of the dozens of configurations, the lineup Robert Pollard enlisted featuring Mitch Mitchell, Greg Demos, Kevin Fennell, and Tobin Motherfucking Sprout is the most celebrated for a pretty good reason.

As reunion-happy as the past five years have been, expectations weren’t astronomical when Pollard announced that he’d be reviving the Guided by Voices name after retiring it with a thrilling New Year’s Eve farewell show in 2004. After Pavement’s world-beating 2010 reunion tour, it’s safe to say that people were mainly anticipating a night of 90’s indie nostalgia– where arty undergrads turned investment bankers could relive their twenties and kids barely even born during the band’s heyday can have a live experience of the records their cool older siblings passed down to them. The greatest conjuncture made about the Guided by Voices reunion was that they’d run through five six-packs and thirty songs, and you’d hear “Watch Me Jumpstart” or “Gold Star for Robot Boy” and absolutely freak out. Mission accomplished.

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Jan
26

Video: Frankie P – Hallway Music/Dyckman Street 4:01 A.M.

As the title intimates, I am a sucker for songs with specific time references. See also: “The Warning.” See also also: Question in the Form an Answer: Frankie P

Via Steady Bloggin

Hazy Nights In The Heights – An Instrumental Ride Through The Mind Of Frankie P by HazyNightsInTheHeights

Jan
26

Pour some Suga (Free) on Me

Did you want to hear Suga Free rapping over a sample of Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” about how much he wants to sex Jill Scott, Sade, and Raven Simone? Maybe it’s best that you don’t publicly answer that question (though the comment section is open). Not only does Suga Free protege Pomona Pimpin’ Young have the best new name in rap, he is far more than weed carrier. on their new mixtape, there is also a song called “Succa Repellent,” where Suga Free kicks his silky flow with waves still deeper than Redondo Beach. This is Cadillac-riding, Vaseline-smooth pimp shit and that will never go out of style. At least according to Jezebel, the website and biblical worker.

Download:
MP3: Suga Free ft. Pimpin Young & Casino G-”Turn Me Up”
MP3: Suga Free-”Automatic”

ZIP: Suga Free & Pomona Pimpin ‘ Young-We Do the Work

Jan
26

Whitewashing the Fence: White Fence’s ‘It Will Never Be’ and the Subjectivity of Influence

Indie rock fans are an interesting breed. While rap and electronic music steadfastly push forward progression (at least lately), indie rock circa 2012 rarely produces anything substantial that doesn’t mine nostalgia for the near past. Whether its Cloud Nothings and Jimmy Eat World, The Men and the Replacements, or Yuck and every band in the 1993 MTV Buzz Bin, critical acclaim is often how well you synthesize the teen favorites of the average indie critic between the ages of 27 and 40. A lot of Pavement never hurt no one.

If you don’t rock a retro Sub Pop pin, you might be dumbfounded at what passes for the cream of the crop of contemporary indie rock. Sure, great bands like Grizzly Bear get lavish acclaim, but then they’re on Warp — an electronic label. More often, we receive polite recreations of a once-great vanished era and are told that this is the new-new, when in fact, it’s the same song (word to Shock G). To translate this to rap terms, this would be like if 9th Wonder had been the recipient of widespread critical adulation. Okay, that happened. But I think that the fact that no one bitched when we left him off even the Honorable Mentions of our Greatest Producer List means that we have all agreed to atone for our sins.

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Jan
26

Passion of the Weiss Mix Series: 56 Mix by Stones Throw’s Tim Nable

What you know about Marsha Raven, Eastern Gang, Z-Factor, and Section 25? Probably nothing. You are not alone. My goals for a great mix are pretty simple: if you have original selections and funky sensibilities, I am easily sold. The 56 mix, the latest installment of the Passion of the Weiss Mix Series, succeeds on both fronts, with rare and random boogie funk, disco-rap and minimal wave.  I have never heard 93 percent of these songs and I would dance to all of them (were I not painfully aware of the awkwardness that accompanies 6’3 Jews dancing. This is the root of all oy.)

The mix is blended by Stones Throw employee Tim Nable, who is one of the resident DJ’s at 56, the label’s bi-monthly party at Mr. T’s in Highland Park — the first regular party that the label has attached itself to in its 15 year history (in other random self-promotional shills: I wrote about the label’s anniversary in last month’s LA Weekly). 56 launches tonight with DJ sets from Peanut Butter Wolf and the Funkmosphere’s “Gemini Twin,” an enigmatic funk doctor who may or may not have the most impressive hair this side of DJ Quik.

The mix is here. The tracklist is below the jump. The advice is implied.

Passion of the Weiss Mix Series: Stones Throw’s Tim Nable – The 56 Mix by passionweiss

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Jan
25

Gangrene Alchemize Vodka & Ayahuasca

Last week, I spent four hours rambling around weed dispensaries with Alchemist and Oh No, watching documentaries on Ayahuasca, and smoking enough weed and hash to harm the health of even a “legalize hemp” advocate. They are true professionals. The article drops in the LA Weekly two weeks from tomorrow and I’d planned on timing something about the new Gangrene record with the article. Clearly, I’m opting otherwise.

Between this video and the Roc Marciano-assisted cut leaked earlier this week, there is no choice but to post in a more timely fashion. As it is, this video has clocked nearly 50K views in almost 24 hours. Funny thing about a record like Vodka & Ayahuasca is that it will elicit zero coverage from non rap-centric publications. There is no narrative to attach to it, other than two grimy stoners warp psychedelic soul samples until the souls start screaming. It’s popular, just not within the would-be cool kid demographic. After all, Hip Hop DX has more readers than The Fader.

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Jan
25

Daedelus – “California”

Alfred the Great drops a bomb to rip up the nu-”California” stereotype established by Phantom Fucking Planet in 2002 and continued until whenever The OC croaked. How much would you rather hear this than that wrist-cutting-in-the-sunshine sop that soundtracked Adam Brody’s amateur neuroses? (Let the pro’s handle this, son.)

Maybe I’m biased. Daedelus’s original last name had a Weiss in it and he grew up a few miles from me. His California is close to my own. But this song is gentle, gauzy, unnerving and beautiful. You will like it too. It can be found on the excellent Gem Drops Two charity compilation, curated by the Dropping Gems imprint. Sadly, there are no Mobb Deep tracks. Instead, the label wrangles precious stones from a lineup of lesser-known but highly-gifted beatmakers from S. Maharba to Low Enders Strangeloop and Co Fee. The embedded stream is below the jump and if you have the means, buy it and donate to a good cause (cancer research).

As for “California,” the only question is whether or not it’s better than Low’s version.

Download:
MP3: Daedelus-”California”

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Jan
25

T. Shirt Is Angry

Tosten Burks #*&^ @*&+ing *#^~ mother ~#*% #^$* >&=*

It takes time to get past the gimmicks of Queens rapper T.Shirt. The name might mock typical rapper-name nonsense, but that doesn’t make it any less dumb. Dubbing a video like this an “essay” doesn’t make it not blatant blog-bait provocativeness. Underneath the antics though, there is substance. (And substance abuse.)

Shirt’s latest mixtape, “The Fuck,” further develops a character that isn’t as much pure New York hip-hop as it is pure New York. This is dark-alley anger rap, shamelessly abrasive, stumbling out of a dive bar. Lyrics that sound best shouted off a cheap, rundown rooftop.
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Jan
24

The LA Underground (90-94 Mix)

When people invoke the history of the Los Angeles underground, they usually reference the late 90s iteration, the capital letter Underground that produced Dilated Peoples, Jurassic 5, and People Under the Stairs. Less celebrated but significantly more interesting was the period that preceded it, a scene that coalesced around Project Blowed, the Unity party run by Bigga B, and dozens of other parties that never got equal notoriety.

Mark Luv was one of the seminal figures between the last throes of the KDAY era and the  delusional epoch when executives brazenly figured J5 could go platinum strictly off the Birkenstock crowd. On the latest Hedrush podcast, Luv guests and drops knowledge for anyone curious about that period in Los Angeles hip hop. Tracklist below the jump, complete with many of the essential obscurities of the period. And Funkdoobiest.

Download:
MP3: The Hedrush – Episode #43 (LA Hip Hop Appreciation Vol. 1)

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