December 31st, 2009
Brought to you by our sponsors, Brother Love and The Honky Tonk Man.
25. Diamond District - In The Ruff [Mello Music Group]
Taking artists at their word is a notoriously tricky enterprise. Even allowing for 100 percent sincerity, intentions and ambitions are often discordant with the final results. Luckily, anyone attempting to assess Diamond District’s In the Ruff only has to watch this interview to see that they achieve everything they set out to do: take elements of 90s hip-hop and give them a modern day re-interpretation, with heavy percussion, experimental patterns, and a D.C. go-go influence. As forthright about their influences (Pete Rock, Primo, De La) as they are in displaying their hometown pride, the trio of XO, yU, and Oddisee strike a perfect equipoise between the streets and Fat Beats, with backpack boasts sitting side-by-side next to vivid hood stories, as seen on “Streets Won’t Let Me Chill,” where XO cautions a would-be stick up kid eager to flex. Wale might have garnered the brunt of national attention, but the Diamond District delivered the DMV’s most complete album, one that struck a balance between North and South and came refreshingly HPV Lady Gaga-free. –JW
MP3: Diamond District - “Hologram”
MP3: Diamond District - “Something for Y’all”
MP3: Diamond District - “Gully”
MP3: Diamond District - “I Mean Business”
24. Method Man & Redman - Blackout 2 [Def Jam]
History has since been corrected to acknowledge the original Blackout for the classic it is, so as soon as Red & Meth’s decade-long-awaited Blackout 2 leaked to the internet the call to arms was sounded — “TO THE BLUNTMOBILE!” But while this year’s sequel may not have received the same acclaim or generated quite the same excitement as 2009’s other high-profile franchise reboot (no, not this) Blackout 2 is equally worthy of its name. From blunt-cruising anthems “Dis Iz 4 All My Smokers” and “Father’s Day” to the Ghostface and Raekwon assisted “4 Minutes to Lockdown,” Blackout 2 is strictly for the A-alikes, with Method Man and Redman’s unique chemistry and mastery of the form on full display throughout. Blackout 2 may not have the same classic tracks that endure like “Da Rockwilder” or a “How High,” but you won’t find a more reliably enjoyable rap record this year. –Disco Vietnam
MP3: Method Man & Redman ft. UGK - “City Lights”
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Posted in Best Albums of the Year, Best of 2009, Best Of | 19 Comments »
December 30th, 2009
Brought to you by our sponsor: “Piper’s Pit.”
50. Exile - Radio [Plug Research]
Best known for producing 2006’s acclaimed collaboration with Blu, “Below the Heavens,” Exile emerged as a viable creative force in his own right on “Radio,” a found-art opus that found him re-configuring taped snippets of everything from old commercials to evangelical sermons to Alan Watts. Sewing them into the fabric of an instrumental hip-hop album in the vein of J Dilla or Madlib, “Radio,” firmly established the Garden Grove-raised producer as one of the West Coast’s leading lights and a vital nexus between the Low End and Los Angeles’ underground hip-hop scene. Scanning the dial for both the surreal and the routine, “Radio” transmits both Exile’s caustic wit (see the sly satire of “Watch Out! False Prophet) and excellent ear. It’s probably the only hour of radio you’ll hear all year that consistently strikes the right frequency. –Jeff Weiss
MP3: Exile - “The Sound is God”
49. Oh No - Dr. No’s Ethiopium [Stones Throw]
The second installment of Oh No’s series of world music beat tapes, Ethiopium really should’ve been called Further Exodus Into Unknown Rhythms. Here the still-breathing Michael Jackson creates 38 minutes of cervical-snapping beats sampling exclusively from the Ethiopian Golden Age of the 1960s and 70s. Pulling out odd snippets of horns, otherworldly vocals, strings and guitars and pasting them to classic breaks and gritty drums, the tracks range from straight loops to sophisticated chops. Despite the inherently limited theme, there’s a lot of sonic variety, with beats running the gamut from dark bangers like “Concentrate” and Scary,” to Highlands headnodders like “Melody Mix” and album highlight “The Pain.” While big brother Madlib receives most of the accolades, Oh No has quietly continued to perfect his craft. The breaks never outstay their welcome and in just under 40 minutes, Ethiopium takes you on a breathless and blunted ride through the Horn of Africa. –Aaron Matthews
MP3: Oh No - “Concentrate/The Funk”
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Posted in Best Albums of the Year, Best of 2009, Best Of | 10 Comments »
December 17th, 2009
25. Big Boi ft. Gucci Mane - “Shine Blockas”
Somehow, Big Boi, one half of the most popular rap group of all-time, has leaked fantastic album material for over a year-plus and still Sir Luscious Lead Foot can’t get a release date. The latest gem from Daddy Fat Sacks’s solo album, “Shine Blockas” combines Gucci’s infectious energy and Big Boi’s unmatched flow over a superbly soulful beat with a distinctly Southern trunk thump. Gucci and Big make a natural pair, given the two’s mutual love for goofy similes and metaphors. Big awkwardly sprays like a skunk, while Gucci strives for Tyler Perry sales. Producer Cutmaster Swiff spit-shines Harold Melvin’s vocals until they glisten like a fresh coat of candy paint on a Caddie. Where Kanye used he same sample on Jay-Z’s “This Can’t Be Life” to convey sadness and lamentation, Big Boi turns it into a playful, triumphant kiss-off to the haters. Of course they can’t close the safe–there’s too much money in it.–Aaron Matthews
24. Cormega - “The Other Side”
Outshining legendary producers like DJ Premier and Large Professor, M.O.P’s Fizzy Womack stole the show on Cormega’s latest album with the laid-back beat to :The Other Side.” Shimmering with smooth-jazz strings and blaring saxophone runs, the track recalls the smoother moments of A Tribe Called Quest’s late 90’s Love Movement, providing an unexpected canvas for Mega to display a newfound maturity. Describing his transition from crack to music, Cormega spits fire proving that rapping about finding peace can be just as entertaining as rhymes about going to war. Like Common on Resurrection, it’s the not the positivity that shines through here but the journey to reach it. –Sach O
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Posted in Best Songs of the Year, Best of 2009 | 25 Comments »
December 16th, 2009
If you’re kind enough to link, use this post, as the complete list will be added tomorrow. Yes, there will be a ZIP file at the end. Yes, we have no bananas.
50. Magr ft. Blu - “Laminated Looseleafs”
Odes to the pen and pad seem prosaic in 2009. We’ve all heard a million encomiums to the art of creation and besides, why write it down when the off-the-top intricacy of Jay and Wayne gets you a slot on Katie Couric. That’s why “Laminated Looseleafs” sounds vital, the details of composition vivid but somewhat veiled: Magr and Blu and crumbling herb on an overcast Autumn day in the middle of Jersey. The story spun out in tangential detail: the death of Blu’s girls cousin, a reflection of sitting off Slauson, before he moved out his momma’s crib and “found a conscience.” If you cup your ear, you can hear the chicken-scratch scrawls crossed out and re-written, weed shavings on the table, crumpled dutch’s and beer bottles littering the studio. Backpack rap so that it’s not a dirty word. –Jeff Weiss
49. The Cool Kids – “The Light Company”
The Cool Kids’ style always felt a little gimmicky, born out of easy access to 808 sample packs and percussion-friendly software sequencers. Thankfully, their curveballs on the Gone Fishin’ mixtape were just weird enough to push them out of imitation EPMD territory. “The Light Company” is their strangest detour, a blunted freestyle over dusty drums straight out of a ‘96 indie single and a “Stroke of Death” aping, scratched up-sample from Company Flow’s seminal “8 Steps to Perfection.” Transforming the Kids from bratty fusionists to delirious misfits re-appropriating rap’s past for their own pleasure, the rhymes never rise above an apathetic mumble, while the loopy production hints at the group’s potential should they expand their horizons by about half a decade and decide being cool ain’t all it’s cracked up to be.--Sach O
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Posted in Best Songs of the Year, Best of 2009 | 26 Comments »
December 14th, 2009
I strolled through the books of Job to unfold and open bibles/ instead of hopin’ on revivals.
V/A: Hyperdub, 5 — 5 Years of Hyperdub [Hyperdub]
This wasn’t supposed to happen–what with Internet-era Jeremiahs prophesizing the demise of regionalism and the end of localized movements. Steve Goodman and company intuitively understood that change could come from keeping your head down and your spliffs lit, cooking up the medicine in basements from London to Los Angeles. This is the kief collected from rave, jungle, and Kingston dub, pure THC sparked quietly, outrageously, to enthrall everyone from Chicago house-heads to novitiates eager to have their woebegone teenage existences righted. The typhoid Mary’s are all here: from older gods Kode 9 and The Bug, to prime-time headliners Flying Lotus and Burial, to next-gen sensations, Darkstar and Joker. Every region with its own dialect. Not only does 5 radiate from the energy already exploded, it provides a step-by-step guide of how to procure the next atoms to split.
MP3: Darkstar-”Aidy’s Girl’s a Computer”
V/A - Ram On LA – [Autumn Tone]
Tired of the short shrift given to the slept-on Silverlake scene, Justin “Aquarium Drunkard,” wanted to create compilation to splash people with cold water. Quickly realizing he needed a unifying theme, he noticed that Paul McCartney’s 1971 solo opus, Ram, repeatedly emerged as a touch-stone for local Eastside artists, and he decided to go the cover route. Ram on L.A.’s appeal is partially limited to early McCartney solo enthusiasts, and the weedheads who worship him. But local favorites The Broken West, The Parson Redheads, Le Switch, Radar Bros. Bodies of Water, and Earlimart, nail their respective assignments to create a project more solid than Paul’s brain matter when he was writing the lyrics. Ram on.
MP3: The Parson Redheads-”Ram On”
MP3: The Parson Redheads-”Ram On Reprise”
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Posted in Reissues & Compilations, Best of 2009 | 3 Comments »
December 10th, 2009
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, “polyrhythm.” For good reason.
MP3: Amadou & Mariam-”C’est La Vie”
Franco - Francophonic 2 [Sterns Arc Ltd]
Second volume of Congolese guitar god, Franco, focusing on his 80s material. Recorded heavily in Paris and Brussels and often in collaboration with Tabu Ley Rochereau, Francophonic Vol. 2 explains why he was called “the sorcerer of the guitar.” It also includes Franco’s biggest hit ever, “Mario,” a tale of a gigolo who sponges off his older sugar mama. Enough said.
MP3: Franco-”Mario” (Left-Click)
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Posted in Reissues & Compilations, Best of 2009 | 4 Comments »
