Oct
15

Fallin’ Asleep on Death Row: Snoop Dogg’s Lost Sessions

The second release following Toronto-based WIDEAwake’s purchase of the Death Row catalogue, Snoop Dogg’s Lost Sessions Vol. 1 would ostensibly offer a gold mine of unheard rarities cut during the label’s 92-96 heyday. Instead it offers a closer look at how quickly Snoop fell off without Dre’s serpentine funk and creative direction. Of course, any… Continue reading »

Oct
07

Royce Da 5’9 ft. Busta Rhymes-”Dinner Time”

The song commences with Busta admonishing Royce for “sharing your food in a recession.” Judging from Bussa Bus’ ever-expanding waistline, he hasn’t been sharing food since his salad days. It doesn’t help when he starts confusing rappers with hamburgers and frankfurters. If you consider “Fried Chicken,” his 2008 collaboration with Nas, it’s clear that Trevor… Continue reading »

Sep
16

Warren Zevon-”You’re a Whole Different Person When You’re Scared”

As Dom Passantino pointed out, “Zevon came with more killer openings than Bobby Fischer.” Though the lyrics were co-written by a late-period whiskey (and coke and acid)-addled Hunter S. Thompson, it’s hard to argue with the efficacy of “You met her in a Turkish town/but you didn’t want to bring her here/You didn’t want her… Continue reading »

Sep
15

Rainbow Arabia Max Out the Quota for Good “Rainbow” Bands

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIYHILNRoLo Despite their heavy buzz around Los Angeles, there were a variety of reasons why I never got into Rainbow Arabia. For one, there is the above video. I’m not quite sure what’s going on, though I’m pretty sure that if I tried I could pick enough low-hanging hipster humor fruit to fill up a… Continue reading »

Sep
03

God Help the Girl-”Stills”

From the new EP from Stuart Murdoch’s side project. For those who enjoy Isobel Campbell-era Belle & Sebastian, 60s girl groups, and St. Vincent joints. Ideal for a sensitive but quirky Michael Cera indie comedy with a mawkish soundtrack that will mar this song for eternity. Enjoy it while it lasts. Download: MP3: God Help… Continue reading »

Aug
31

Beck-”Midnite Vultures”

Thanks to Nate Patrin, I recently discovered “Midnite Vultures,” the would-be title track turned “Nicotine & Gravy” B-side from 1999. Sez Nate: “some days, this would be my favorite Beck track.” Sez I: throughout of the duration of the weekend, it was mine. In hindsight, Beck channeling Serge Gainsbourg while smoking Gauloises and sipping Pernod,… Continue reading »

Aug
30

Joey Lestrat (Rah Al Milio)-”Touch”

As seen earlier, Rah Al Milio of the Knux has begun a blogging and recording side-project under the Joey Lestrat (Le Pop Killer) alias. He bills it as “The Knux, Vampires, Guitars and stars.” I can’t help but view this as a wise move. In these True Blood and Twilight times, the real money is… Continue reading »

Aug
29

Freddie Gibbs’ “Midwestgangstaboxframecadillacmuzik”

My bad. Three months ago, Smoking Section don, John Gotty sent out an e-mail requesting that I listen to Freddie Gibbs, a Gary, Indiana-raised, Interscope Records refugee with co-signs from Devin the Dude and Just Blaze. For reasons best blamed on scatterbrains and Internet fatigue, I never got around to The Miseducation of Freddie Gibbs,… 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
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 »

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