November 13th, 2009
If Dibiase does not win the title of best beatmaker in Los Angeles, he will buy it from a thespian giant named Andre who may or may not hail from Grenoble France. As this is a tough belt to win, I hope he is saving his diamonds and gold bullion. Unlike the Million Dollar Man, the Watts-born beatmaker understands the value of paying dues, as he’s bounced around for over a decade, honing his craft at Blowed, Unity, and Sketch, the forerunner to the Low End Theory. Of late, he’s finally said his prayers and taken his vitamins, with Alpha Pup set to release his debut LP soon, on the heels of a Low End performance this summer that hit me like a folding chair over the head (no referees).
Like everyone else affiliated with the beat scene, you can trace his sound through the usual suspects: Madlib and Dilla, Primo and Pete Rock, et. al. But Dibiase’s love of old-skool Nintendo is rivaled only by the Bristol producers, as he’s recently flipped RC Pro-Am, Castlevania, and Mega Man 3 with ease. I remain patient to hear the re-constituted versions of Baseball Stars and Tecmo Bowl–perhaps tonight when the erstwhile Diabolic takes over the Hyperion Tavern, which some knucklehead recently claimed hosts the best weekend electronic beats in town. Also playing is Dak, who records for Matthew David’s Leaving Records imprint, and provides conclusive evidence that either the depth of local talent is limitless, or I have smoked myself retarded. Maybe both.
YouTube videos of both Dibiase’s below the jump, complete with Bobby the Brain and Gorilla Monsoon’s Manichean dialectic. The World Wrestling Federation was deep.
Download:
MP3: Dibiase-”Cubaser Laser”
MP3: Dibiase-”May the Force”
MP3: Dak-”For the Sun”
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Posted in Alpha Pup, Dibiase, Beats, Low End Theory | No Comments »
November 12th, 2009
Footage from last Sunday’s cerebellum-crushing Brainfeeder sessions for those that slept, or unluckily live outside the Southern California region. Credit the last half of that sentence as testament to the Brainfeeder, Alpha Pup, and Low End-affiliated artists for keeping me so entertained that I’m not constantly trying not to escape back Bay-Bound (if you’ve ever had the grilled chicken burrito at El Farolito, you understand).
How I managed to attend this show sober remains a matter of mystery. Then again, even the most regal of kush’s would have merely been an enhancer. “Have you ever seen a Gaslamp Killer show…on weed?” Videos from Jogger, who recently released their debut album on Daedelus’ Magical Properties imprint, and Jeremy Ellis, below the jump. It’s times like these that I wish Jim Jones released a “That Purple” iPhone Ad-lib App. Of course, I would need an iPhone to access it, but one can dream.
Also, for bonus excellence in the field of excellence, check Flying Lotus’ Myspace page for new never-heard tunes.
Download:
MP3: Gaslamp Killer-”Anything Worse”
MP3: Gaslamp Killer-”Track 9″ from Gaslamp Killers (Self-Released, 2007)
MP3: Jogger-”In America”
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Posted in The Gaslamp Killer, Brainfeeder | No Comments »
November 12th, 2009
Boycotting American radio might be the wisest decision. Satellite was supposed to be the great equalizer, but despite the promise of Bob Dylan waxing philosophical about catfish, I’m not willing to fork over $20 a month to hear Martha Stewart, Nascar and Oprah boosting Precious. And it’s not like Sirius has come running to me with offers to host blog radio either, or really at anyone willing to play non-Shade 45 approved rap (not to impugn the blog radio shows, some of which are excellent). KCRW is cool–they played The KLF’s “3 a.m. Eternal,” at 3 a.m. early Sunday morning, thus ensuring my eternal gratitude, but let’s be real, Jody Rosen wasn’t all that far off. Locally, Dublab are really the only ones holding it down.
Indeed, it’s particularly inexcusable why week-after-week, the BBC 1Xtra snares some of Los Angeles’ brightest talents to drop insane mixes studded with exclusive never-before-heard cuts. Two weeks ago, it was Dam-Funk and now it’s Detroit-born, LA-based producer/percussionist Karriem Riggins, lacing Benji B’s show with a slew of rarities: collabos with Madlib, Black Thought, his own material, and a cut from Ahmad Jamal for good measure. The interview also delves into his time spent working with J Dilla, Erykah Badu, and Common. The Benji B portion of the show is similarly excellent, including cuts from Raekwon, Hudson Mohawke, Marcus Belgrave, and Dam-Funk. I’m even willing to forgive the guy for playing Drake.
Download:
MP3: Soulful Beats with Benji B ft. Karriem Riggins (11/08/09) (Left-Click)
MP3: Madlib & Guilty Simpson-”The Paper”
Posted in Karriem Riggans, Benji B, Stones Throw | 1 Comment »
November 11th, 2009
Bart: Hey, I know it wasn’t great, but what right do you have to complain?
Comic Book Guy: As a loyal viewer, I feel they owe me.
Bart: What? They’re giving you thousands of hours of entertainment for free. What could they possibly owe you? I mean, if anything, you owe them!
Comic Book Guy: Worst. Episode. Ever.
A few years ago, before Lonely Island completely flipped the archetype for rap satire in the post-Weird Al age, several Hollywood executives and agents expressed interest in turning The Passion of the Weiss into an Internet Television show, something akin to The Daily Show but for music–with parodies, interviews and trips to far-flung festivals for drug binges on the corporate dime. Considering the economic crash hadn’t occurred and corporate brass were willing to throw around wads of cash at this new-fangled Internet thing, it seemed like a decent enough idea. Lame, I know, but there was a point to the phrase, “get rich or die trying,” and journalism certainly wasn’t aiding or abetting.
So with apprehension, I took a few meetings, with the goal of getting the money to turn my notion into a concept and later turn it into an idea. At first, the executives filled my head up with all the stereotypical buzz words you’d expect to get a rookie hyped: creative freedom, spontaneity, “wild and off-the wall” humor. Right. I even went ahead and filmed/recorded a few things: an interview with Ghostface where we attempted to get high before UCLA security stymied the plan, a parody rap song, and other scatter-brained ephemera that probably weren’t very funny. Somehow, the meetings progressed to the point where getting money for a pilot seemed like a reasonable leap.
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Posted in Major Label, Poochie, Wale | 26 Comments »
November 10th, 2009
After years of blogging, you’d think I’d learn my lesson and not invoke grandiose posts that traffic, migraines, and malingering conspire to prevent me from writing. But despite the linguistic similarity to my surname, I am not wise. So perhaps something on Attention Deficit tomorrow, perhaps not. In the meantime, a fulfilled promise alluded to two weeks ago: a long-form feature on Jason Chung, a.k.a. Nosaj Thing, a.k.a. the best thing from Cerritos since Cerritos Auto Square. (RIP Big Ern)
The article is my first for Resident Adviser, the dance and electronic music magazine extraordinaire. For those chagrined that Stylus is no more, Todd Burns, ex-chairman of the Sty, currently runs RA and has reunited many of my former colleagues. It is very much worth adding to your RSS feed– if you’re into that sort of thing. In the interim, more Nosaj rarities. Know what I mean.
Download:
MP3: Jogger-”Nice Tights” (Nosaj Thing Remix)
MP3: Daedelus-”It’s Madness” (Nosaj Thing Remix)
MP3: Low End Theory Podcast (D-Styles & Nosaj Thing)
Posted in Resident Adviser, Nosaj Thing, Beats, Low End Theory | 3 Comments »
November 9th, 2009
Parts of this interview originally appeared in my Pop and Hiss article on Wale. More on Attention Deficit tomorrow, maybe.
So judging from the title of Attention Deficit, its wide-ranging sound, and interviews that you’ve given, it seems like it’s your commentary on the fragmented nature of the Internet world, with a million blogs, twitters, and dozens of mixtapes released daily, How hard is it for an artist to create something that has a life span longer than the next blog post?
I think a lot of the blogs are selfish, they don’t really care. There might be five or six really legit hip-hop blogs, your Rap Radars, your Nah Rights, your 2 Dope Boyz, and others, but some that are very minuscule, if you don’t give them what they want, they’re going to shit on you. I think that their visitors aren’t even 1/1000th of another blog that you’ve already done an interview for and they want one to do one with them too.
Q-Tip one time told me that 15 years ago, all people had to judge you on was your album, one or two interviews, your record for the radio and picture on the album cover. That’s it. The only way you can remain relevant is to give yourself up, unless you’re blessed every once in a while there’s a Drake situation, but that’s not even once in a while, that’s a once thing.
But that’s pretty much a different stuation unto itself. A lot of people watched Degrassi, a lot of girls watched Degrassi.
And now they’re more mature and can hear words like fuck and shit. Look, I’m happy for what happened to dude. But the game is just completely impossible now. You have to give yourself up. That’s why I’m so frequently on Twitter, it’s because I don’t have a big record out right now. I don’t have a lot of things to explain and prepare people for the person they’re about to listen to.
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Posted in Wale, Interviews, LA Times | 21 Comments »
November 8th, 2009
Robert Charette, the author of this review, is a senior at Penn St. University. For an assignment in his Literature Public Sphere class, he was told to review a book and have it published somewhere “where someone decides whether or not something or not is published.” For some foolhardy reason, Robert requested that The Passion of the Weiss be that great decider. I imagine that vast quantities of Natural Lite had something to do with the choice, but hey.
Hip-Hop made its mark as the music of the oppressed and misrepresented. Think “The Message,” “White Lines,” and “Rapper’s Delight” (the latter of which tackled tough questions of what to do when your friend’s mother serves chicken that tastes like wood.) This characteristic has made it both ridiculously lucrative and helped it achieve relative ubiquity over the past 15 years of pop culture. But today’s current climate reflects a fandom divided. The decline of “socially conscious rap” and the stanky leg, the Soulja Boy, etc. have forced people to reevaluate the veracity of Chuck D’s claim that hip-hop was the “CNN of the Ghetto.” Then again, if you go to the CNN homepage, you can find the headline: “Dazzling on the Red Carpet.” So…
The internet’s latest salvo over hip-hop’s status quo found “New Yorker” critic Sasha Frere-Jones insinuating that hip-hop lost its place as vanguards of the avant-garde by gradual drifting and eventually submerging itself in the mainstream of pop culture. Positioning themselves as genre defenders,Brooklyn hip-hop duo Das Racist penned a scathing rebuttal that argued that while hip-hop’s sound has evolved, it remains effective as social commentary. While Jeffrey “O.G.” Ogbar, author of “The Culture and Politics of Rap,” may share Frere-Jones’ academic credentials, he leans toward the opinions of Das Racist.
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Posted in Robert Charette, Guest Blog, Book Review | 6 Comments »
November 7th, 2009
2:00 a.m. wine is a risky endeavor. On the proper occasion, it can be wise, if not essential to ease social awkwardness, set the mood, or just get your mind right. However, should things not go your way, it can be the recipe to a sledgehammer headache worthy of Peter Gabriel (no shock that monkey.) But there’s no denying that at that late hour, fermented grape can be undeniably awesome, mingling with the impending sleeplessness to create a mildly hallucinogenic euphoria. Throw a spliff into the mix and now we’re talking. Teebs, one of the Brainfeeder brethren, understands this alchemy well, at least that’s what you’d expect from his blurry, bong-ripped, down-tempo beats that most closely resemble Brainfeeder boss Flying Lotus.
His latest mix, 2:00 a.m. Wine, done for Cosmopolyphonic Radio, channels this Ambien-addled aesthetic (the miracles of modern chemistry) and delivers a gauzy beautiful haze ideal for the witching hours. Best served with some Miles Raymond-approved vintage, the pop and hiss of vinyl and the strongest smoke money can afford. For those in the 9-0 zip codes and attempting to strike this combo, you are in luck. Come Sunday, Teebs, Daedelus, Gaslamp Killer, Kutmah, and Jogger, will be kicking off the first of the monthly Brainfeeder sessions at the Downtown Independent. Flier below the jump. $10. Strong drink not included.
In the meantime, should you still be awake in 10 hours, your playlist is now pre-programmed.
Download:
MP3: Teebs-Cosmopolyphonic 2:00 A.M. Wine Mix
MP3: Teebs-”Untitled Beat”
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Posted in Teebs, Brainfeeder | 1 Comment »
November 5th, 2009
The animated video for Air’s “Sing Sang Sung,” inculcated a mild psychedelia via its trippy kaleidoscopic visuals and requisite mushroom imagery, but truthfully the Parisian duo of Godin and Dunckel have never been ones to soundtrack drug binges, instead keeping their eyes firmly focused on crafting Gallic electro lover’s rock (I imagine at this point, Moon Safari has approached Al Green levels of unplanned pregnancies). Wisely, they enlist Black Moth Super Rainbow, the most inadvertently hallucinatory band of the past few years, to lace the remix with off-kilter synths, neurotic fuzz, and the gumby glide that you get when drugs dissolve all tension from your limbs. Dope.
Download:
MP3: Air-”Sing Sang Sung (Black Moth Super Rainbow Remix)”
Posted in Black Moth Super Rainbow | 1 Comment »
November 5th, 2009
Another post should be up later this afternoon, deadlines and dawdling permitting. In the interim, necessity demands sharing this incredible cut from the ATL’s top-ranking Lonnie Lynn/Rick Bawse impersonater, Sean Falyon. The West Philly-raised Falyon, pairs up with the dependably great Playboy Tre and Scar, to drop an incredibly poignant slice of the Dungeon Family-type Atlanta rap I grew up loving: weary, spiritual affirmations of life in the face of sorrow. A necessary counter-balance to the popular chains and crack rap that has consumed one-dimensional media definitions for most of the decade.
Between Killer Mike, Tre, Pill, BOB, Falyon, and a gang of others Maurice Garland knows more about than me, contemporary Atlanta rap amounts to a lot more than Jeezy, Gucci, Soulja Boy, and D4L. Not to disparage those guys–they exist in a practically different genre altogether. But none have ever hit me as hard as Tre does on this track and throughout his excellent Liquor Store Mascot and Goodbye America mixtapes. Gotty captured it perfectly when he said that what “Tre needs to do is…scribe his autobiography or a few Donald Goines-eque paperbacks. Sure, his words sound melodic when done over music. But there’s a wisdom to his ghetto scriptures… Words that should be shared on a wider level. There’s nothing cryptic or “deep.” It’s the starkness and the way he develops round, dynamic characters in his rhymes… They aren’t heroes, just average cats working their way through the world.”
Wonderful.
Download:
MP3: Sean Falyon ft. Playboy Tre & Scar-”Wonderful Life”
ZIP: Playboy Tre-Liquor Store Mascot (Left-Click)
ZIP: Playboy Tre-Goodbye America
Posted in ATL, Playboy Tre | No Comments »
