September 30th, 2009
The temptation is to rattle off a litany of $5 adjectives and complex scenarios involving myself, rural Sweden in the spring, several forest nymphs and the words “frolic,” “carefree,” and “jaunty.” But c’mon. Like all Dungen-related projects, The Amazing, coaxes new ideas of a worn-out premise. Gustav Estjes is absent from the proceedings but his star ax-man, Reine “Rule with an Iron” Fiske, is along for the Saab excursion, along with the band’s drummer Johan Holmegard. Paired with Christopher Gunrup and Fredrik Swahn, The Amazing not only live up their name but strangle their competition, Amazing Baby. You know, pastoral guitars, that purple, the whole psychedelic dream. Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good. Almost as good as nymphs.
Download:
MP3: The Amazing-”Code II”
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September 2nd, 2009
Aesop Rock doing the Aesop Rock thing: polysyllabic dissonance, sentient robot beats, repelling lasers in a Hazmat suit. Y’know….
From Definitive Jux Vol. 4, which promises to be Def Juxie.
Via Shabooty
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September 1st, 2009
The rap gods are benevolent today. Just when Blueprint 3 sends my fear and loathing soaring, M.O.P.’s Foundation leaks, to restore my faith in mid-90s New York City street rap. This is like bathing in grimy Artesian water. A full review coming at a later date, but in the meantime, Redman, Fizzy Wo and William Danzini come riding through bearing blunts. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be screaming “BROWNSVILLE, HOME OF THE BRAVE”from the nearest rooftop.
Download:
MP3: M.O.P. ft. Redman-”Riding Through” (Left-Click)
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August 27th, 2009
Aiyo, my wiz play the flute, I stroll through the forest like
Peace, pussies, trees, hello, how was your day?
Remember how I said that we weren’t going to talk about The Wizard of Poetry? Well, that was just an elaborate ruse.
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August 21st, 2009
More posts from me (Jeff), sooner than later. Still dealing with a lingering head cold that refuses to completely go away. In the meantime, Fela live…you know.
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August 18th, 2009
In the quest to defend his thesis that great hip-hop is on the decline, Ivan of Hip-Hop is Read crunched the data from the Best Rap Albums of the Decade list to come up with an awesome bit of rap nerditry,. While I’m not certain if I agree with the conclusion, it’s a fascinating post that dovetails nicely with these YouTube videos compiled by RetrohitsTube.
Below the jump, all the Biggest Hip-Hop/Rap Hits of 1990-2004, separated out by year in chronological Order from January to December, based on the months that each song peaked on the Billboard Charts and when each song received the most radio play. If you’re looking to kill the next few hours at work, this is much better than Snood.
Read the rest of this entry »
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July 26th, 2009
Caption contest: winner receives a free pack of Black and Milds. Don’t give me any of that “too soon” malarkey.
Download:
MP3: Pink Floyd-”Have a Cigar”
MP3: Frank Zappa-”20 Small Cigars”
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July 21st, 2009
Jim James singing sawdust and straw acoustic covers of ancient George Harrison songs likely appeals to the strictly fam members only demographic. But say you’re a My Morning Jackethead, searching to ease your way into warm Tuesday morning like an old man journeying from bed to rocking chair, few options come more mild or pleasant. One of the more overlooked aspects about James is his endearingly absurd goofiness–from Oregon Trail New Year’s Eves, to rocking Moon Boots on-stage, to baffling decisions to turn “J’s” into “Y’s.” The Yim Yames project falls under that category. He’s too wise to attempt to top Harrison’s renditions, so the My Morning Jacket frontman opts for minimalism, unshackling his celestial Orion Belt voice and just having a good time (in a melancholy, mournful sort of way). Hopefully, The Chiffons won’t sue.
Buy: Yim Yames-A Tribute To (Portion of proceeds go to Woodstock Animal Farm Sanctuary)
Download:
MP3: Yim Yames-”Behind that Locked Door”
MP3: Yim Yames-”My Sweet Lord”
MP3: George Harrison-”My Sweet Lord”
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May 19th, 2009
Maybe it’s time I gave John Vanderslice another shot–even if the Game’s pushed less weight than a midget sumo wrestler.
D: So what do you think of acts like No Age—bands that intentionally shirk self-consciousness, or make a point of being shambolic?
JV: If you’d asked me what I’d wanted to do five years ago, I’d have told you I wanted to be Viktor Vaughn or The Game—I would want to be a rapper with an eight ball of coke in my pocket and a wad of hundreds. Because that kind of freedom—well, perceived freedom—is where I want to be. And that’s probably as far away from what I could do. To make a live record—something that has a lot of lice in it—is difficult. After slaving away for years in the studio, when I hear a No Age record or when I hear Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ first EP or when I hear DRI or really early punk stuff, it’s just so powerful, so raw—and I know how hard that is to create. It’s very deceptive. It’s like a Dardenne brothers film—it seems like just a handheld camera following some people around in a trailer park, but it’s incredibly difficult to do that.
Via Decider care of Largehearted Boy
Download:
MP3: John Vanderslice-”Fetal Horses”
MP3: John Vanderslice-”Too Much Time”
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April 29th, 2009
Between Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II, Blackout 2, Born Like This, and UGK 4 Life, there is a strong probability that the year’s four best rap albums will be made by rappers with the median age of 37. Geritol rap is running ‘09. Now is the time to purchase stock in GlaxoSmithKline.
Download:
MP3: Method Man & Redman ft. Raekwon and Ghostface-”4 Minutes to Lockdown”
MP3: Raekwon ft. Ghostface & Method Man-”New Wu”
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