Even when I was wrong, I got my point across.

Jan
31

A Question In The Form of An Answer: Quelle Chris of Crown Nation

One half of Crown Nation, Detroit spitter/producer Quelle Chris (@quellechris) does double duty as minimal synth one-man band Awesome in Outerspace and a zonked-out rap wonderkind with a lot to say for himself. His excellent album Shotgun and Sleek Rifle got substantial burn around these part. Since we already got him on the line for our “XXX” feature, we chopped it up on the subject of whiskey, musical chemistry and his production secrets. Follow along. –Aaron Matthews

When was Shotgun and Sleek Rifle recorded?
All this year. I told my homie John I could have a classic album in three weeks and that’s what I did. Minus “Mo Money, Less Problems” and “The Loop”, ‘cause I recorded them ahead of time. My homeboy Detroit Dante hopped on “Mo Money” first but I ended up going with Denmark. That song “The Loop” made me want to start working on the album. It started with that sample that made me want to make the record. I was sitting on the porch looking out on Oakland and the beat was playing and it just came to me. From that whole line, it just kinda poured out.

Jan
30

Man Vs. Barrow: The Invada Records Compilation

Geoff Barrow, man. First, he creates Portishead, arguably the best band Britain has produced over the last 15 years (sorry Blur and Oasis fans). Then instead of buying ivory turntable needles from the king ransom’s raised off sold-out Portishead tours, he funnels his time and energy into that most dead-end of economic propositions: a label. This is when he’s not busy excoriating British radio and mediocre bands via Twitter. In the words of Waka Flocka: round of applause.

The label in question is Invada Records, who have received scant coverage in the States, ostensibly thanks to our American obsession with Lana Dull Rey. Tomorrow, be sure to read Passion of the Weiss’ trenchant review of Born to Die, as told from the vantage point of the trailer park where Lana Del Rey received her first visions of the Baby Jesus Jones. As for me, I’d rather marshal my meandering mind towards the tracks on this compilation — evidence that Barrow is dedicated to building the British equivalent of Stones Throw (though that might be One Handed Music).

Jan
30

Video: Shabazz Palaces – “Are You…Can You…Were You (Felt)”

Shabazz Palaces, dropping the video for my favorite track off Black Up. Their raps have always seemed divined from some esoteric and secret scroll stashed in one of Haile Selassie’s hidden archives. So maybe it’s fitting that this video is half in Amharic and aims for the dopest Ethiopian vibes that the Pharcyde once spoke of. Who cares if you can’t understand a word? It’s a feeling.

Download:
MP3: Shabazz Palaces-”Swerve…The Reaping of All That is Worthwhile (Noir not withstanding)”
MP3: Shabazz Palaces- An Echo from the Hosts that profess infinitum”

Jan
30

Son Raw: Guido – Fact 314 Mix

Son Raw is sick. Bring him some soup, damn it.

Guido’s 2011 was so quiet that we almost forgot about him after a brilliant debut album. Anidea is still a startling listen, the kind of auteurist release that still stands strong after the fall of its micro-scene and one that undoubtedly justifies Guido’s forthcoming attempt at a live incarnation. At a time where dance music has retreated towards the safety of House, it’s good to go against the grain. This mix for FACT magazine however is sufficient proof that Guy Middleton fans need not worry that he’s abandoned his bread and butter for the live scene – it’s about as lively a free mix as you’ll find on the Internet in a New York minute (or Bristol fortnight?) The elements are familiar – hulking bass and Final Fantasy melodies, but 2011 having freed the UK from the tyranny of 140 beats per minute, Guido’s now free to shift gears at will complete with Wu-Tang interpolating D&B anthems and Low End Theory meditations. Don’t call it a comeback, it’s only been a year.

Download:
MP3: Guido – Fact 314 Mix (left click to site)

Jan
30

Fat Tape – January 2012

Abe Beame’s quest to transform The Passion into The Source circa 94 continues…….

Download: http://www.mediafire.com/?emtegaxfd85dsve

This will possibly be a recurring feature, but if nothing else, here is a selection of tracks curated and commented on by myself from January in this year of our Lord, 2012.

Nicki Minaj- Stupid Hoe: Great stuff, mainly because Minaj pulls out a lot of the tricks she used to such great effect on her Big Sean guest spot from last year. This is ostensibly a diss track, but more of an excuse for her to get increasingly insane. More giddy, sugar-drunk, schoolyard at recess fuckery than “Ether.” But does anyone but Lil Kim, Nicki Minaj and Maino care about this beef? Along with the “Dance (Remix),” these are probably my two favorite Minaj efforts ever and bode well for her Pink Friday follow up, assuming she can manage to curb her god awful stabs at R&B.

Gangrene- Dump Truck ft. Prodigy: Remember 2003?

Jan
28

DJ Burn One – “When There’s Smoke” Beat Tape

Like dolphins and Dick Cheney, occasionally a beat needs to breathe. Burn One understands this well — dropping an instrumental mix-tape composed of his oven-roasted country soul feasts. Slow slinking smoked-out funk that aims for some imagined house band that the Dungeon Family never knew. If I was in college, I would demand that this be my soundtrack to a thousand wack white boy freestyles and blunt cruises. Burn One: it’s not just a clever name.

Stream below the jump.

Download:
ZIP: Burn One-”When There’s Smoke” (Left-Click)

Jan
27

Ballin’ on a Budget: Schoolboy Q – “Nightmare on Figg St.”

“The landlord turn your lieutenant into a tenant/and if your rims spinning/your jaws dented.”

That barely makes sense and it’s the hardest thing since MC Ren. Sorry Mos Def (uh Yitzhak Bey), this is the diametrical opposite of “Niggas in Paris.” I would be cool with hearing it eight times consecutively at the next Black Hippy show. Should you have missed my more covert link yesterday and be curious to read my extended thoughts on a great record, I reviewed Habits & Contradictions for MTV Hive. Should you be too lazy to read 800 words, the summary is that this album takes the stale late-period Aftermath tradition of LA gangsta rap and leaves it in the streets with its shoes and shoelaces missing.

Video via The Great Gorilla in the Sky.

Download:
MP3: Schoolboy Q-”Nightmare on Figg St”

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…

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.

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