May
11

Not a Blogger: Adam Yauch Tribute — The Beastie Boys as Activists

Does Doc Zeus not bleed?

I admire Adam Yauch. As a diehard hip hop fan and a child of the 1990s, that might seem exceedingly obvious to say. But beyond the superficial of simply “liking” his music, Adam Yauch was an extraordinary human being. Beyond his accomplishments in music and film, his character was of the highest caliber and it’s a tragedy beyond writing a few eulogistic words that he was ripped away from the rest of us at the sickeningly young age of 47. He deserved better. Far better.

For a group that started as socially conscious as spilled bong water in a fraternity basement, the Beastie Boys grew up. Over the years, they evolved into something beyond the frat rap idiots whose biggest concern was the eternal, existential fight against parental oppression. They became tireless human rights activists and respected humanitarians willing to be vulnerable in public and speak truth to power when the time called for it. They spoke out famously against the sexual violence that occurred at Woodstock ’99 at MTV’s Video Music Awards in 1999. The group spoke prophetically against the United States government’s military aggression in the Middle East and the growing climate of racism against Muslims and Arabic people at time when American citizens were getting blacklisted for publicly expressing their views on the matter.

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May
10

Sonnymoon -”HoustAtlantaVegas (Wajeed Re-Fix)”

You know how Jonah Bromwich does on All-Star Weekend.

Before he aggravated many of us with his unique marriage of arrogance and fine whine, Drake released a mixtape called So Far Gone. It opened with “Houstatlantavegas” — you remember. Here, Drake’s confessional style saw its genesis with a grueling, upsetting verse, about the women you run into on All-Star weekend and Drake’s penchant for falling in love with said women.

In my opinion, it’s his best song. This cover, originally done by Sonnymoon a few years ago and recently remixed by Wajeed, perfectly captures the original vibe while removing the coarseness. I ’ve recently  become obsessed with female covers of originally male songs and vice versa and this is one of the best I’ve heard. There’s a joy in hearing about the male dominated party lifestyle raved about by a soft-voiced woman. Functioning much in the same way as jj’s excellent “Beautiful Life,” these songs provide an excellent way to remove some of the misogyny from music we love, and to remind us that, no matter the gender, everyone enjoys making it rain from time to time.

Download:
MP3: Sonnymoon – “Houstatlantavegas” (Wajeed Re-Fix)

May
10

Son Raw: Lunice & Hudson Mohawke are TNGHT

Son Raw will be opening for Lunice at the July 29th edition of Piknic Electronik.

There’s an odd link between Glasgow and Montreal. Perhaps it’s our shared distaste of British rule or our love of fattening foods but Scottish label Lucky Me has found a rich vein in signing Montreal musicians from Jacques Green to Ango to instrumental Hip-Hop wisecracker Lunice.  Bug’n, this latest collaboration with label-mate Hudson Mohawke evokes the following words: creepy, crawly, drippy, off-kilter, bass heavy, neon, spaced out, Timbaland inspired (90s version), post-Dubstep. video-gamey, eighties, nineties, aughties, future and #swag. It’s also a sonic representation of what happens to the inside of your head after one too many shots of whiskey and a poutine.

May
10

Douglas Martin’s Dirty Shoes: Nootropics and the Confounding Creativity of Lower Dens

Douglas Martin is considering a move to Baltimore. Maybe.

We all have our preconceived notions of what great artists do and how they go about adding to their canon of great work. I think the most important thing an enduring artist can do is fuck with the expectations of their audience while satisfying themselves creatively. Many contemporary artists do this many different ways, but the beacon of reinvention and exploration I always end up pointing to is Jana Hunter.

The Texas-via-Baltimore-via-Texas singer/songwriter started out as a folkie on the back of a Devendra Banhart co-sign, releasing the fascinatingly weird Blank Unstaring Heirs of Doom in 2005, following it up with 2007’s There’s No Home — an unsettlingly quiet record full of droning country-folk ditties and tall grass rustling in southern wind. Then, she restarted her career in Omar Little’s backyard as the frontwoman of rock band Lower Dens, where she took first-wave rock ‘n roll songwriting and combined it with a Kevin Shields-like attention to textural detail, and gave the songs titles like “Batman” and “A Dog’s Dick.”

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May
09

MobbDeen: Twista – Ain’t Too Young Now (feat. Tia London)…

Don’t leave your younger sister around Deen.

There’s a lot of shit that makes being a black man in America fucked up, but my biggest fear isn’t getting shot by the police or some weirdo with race/anger issues while I walk around my neighborhood in a hoody. That would suck, but I’d be dead and but I’m already kind of resigned to that shit. No, I’m not sad – at all. My biggest fear — well more like twin fears — are catching a rape charge or worse, a statutory rape charge. Go ahead and Google “strict liability” (don’t worry, I’ll wait – see what I did there). Priorities folks!

I’ve always been super paranoid about getting dragged into a sex-related legal morass because like most Americans I don’t have Kobe or even Medium Sean money, which in turn means that I can’t afford dope ass lawyers to fix said situation (oh, the fucking irony). Matter of fact, Juicy J would be dismayed to find out that I left an inappropriate amount of fux on the table during my college years due to this paranoia. I basically restricted myself to older women and sober colleagues until I hit my mid-20s. It was a little pathetic some nights, but man cannot live by YOLO alone. Going to jail for inadvertently taking some underage clunge would be really hard to explain to my folks back home – despite what you ignorant assholes may have heard or read about the Motherland.

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May
09

Son Raw: Paveun doesn’t know anybody else

Son Raw is going to be spinning LIVE on Nasty.FM with Habit & Pivot from 7-9PM EST.

Fun fact, the first record I ever owned as a kid was an Alvin & The Chipmunks compilation of 80s hits: think “Uptown Girl” as sung by squeaky-voiced rodents. My favorite track on the LP was a brittle, trebbly version of MJ’s “Beat it” which I usually pitched to +8 on the 45RPM setting for maximum effect, amplifying the speed and distorted pitch to even more ridiculous levels.

Perhaps this early addiction to high-speed intensity explains why I’m so enthralled by Paveun’s hyper-juked anthem-in-waiting “I don’t Know.” Maybe it isn’t and that story just served to introduce this blog post, who knows in today’s overcomplicated world? The important thing is that “I don’t Know” splits the difference  between 1993′s rave euphoria, Kanye-era Hip-Hop production and Footwork’s 808 fetish in the best way possible and the Montreal producer has kindly opted to give it away for free for a limited time via Soundcloud. Like rap production turned inside out, this soul-sampling number avoids open breaks instead drawing for the biggest, hookiest bits before chopping and looping them ad-infinitum. The results? Diva house that doesn’t plateau so much as accelerate before exploding out of the stratosphere. Fans of good taste be forewarned: this one’s for the kids on a sugar rush.

Download:

May
09

Kanye West – Lost in the World (Music Video)

Tosten Burks is tost in the world.

Posting this video because the song remains more interesting than anything Kanye’s done since. Maybe Watch the Throne and these recent G.O.O.D. Music album leaks have matched the gaudiness of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, but none of it has been inspired or emotionally engaging enough to feel deserving of such scale. “Lost in the Woods” is only maybe a top tier MBDTF song, but that’s like calling the Tower formerly known as Sears only even maybe a top tier skyscraper. Is there much difference at that point when you’re standing at the bottom looking up?

The point being, a video as art-filmily pretentious and absurd as this, or as “Power,” or “Monster,” or “Runaway,” works because the music feels like it deserves such grandiose visual ambition, requires it even. Maybe the track owes more credit than asserted to the original Bon Iver song, but what matters is the left-fieldness of the sample and the boldly quiet respect towards its pure state, humble restraint holding up the unflinchingly self-important verses laid on top. This could not be on any other platinum-artist’s album. I’m not sure anyone else has enough guts. Which is a testament to West’s ability to pull commercially successful sounds out of anywhere and also the reason his output as of late doesn’t hang.

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May
08

Son Raw: Kahn talks guns.


Son Raw
gun dem bust.

Stasis is the enemy when it comes to Urban music, particularly on the dance floor. You don’t want to be caught dead rocking last year’s riddim, which can sometimes cause problems when the way forward isn’t as clear as it should be. Having pushed half-step’s torpor and darkness to the limit, many a UK producer retreated to safer climes but whether it’s the zeitgeist due to Cameron’s austerity or simply boredom from rote club hedonism, the pendulum seems to be swinging back towards darkness.

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May
08

MobbDeen: DJ Drama – We In This Bitch (feat. Young Jeezy, T.I., Ludacris & Future)…

Deen has to give DJ Drama credit for this one.

Maybe “perfect” isn’t the word, but this is how to leverage networking into dope “quality street music” (his words). Bringing the “old” (is it time to start describing Jeezy, T.I. and Luda as old) ATL and one of the leaders of the new ATL together on the same track for what should be a decent summer-sized summer hit.

Speaking of summer hits, outside of that “Cashin’ Out/Nina” song, I’m not hearing a whole lot of anything new for this summer. “Cashin Out” is no “Racks” damn it. And 2Chainz is not going to save you party people – he’ll do well enough for himself, but he lacks the vitamins and minerals to give you those club hits you love so much. I haven’t gone out much in the last few weeks, but I haven’t heard G.O.O.D. Music’s “Mercy” at a club either. I’mma need you coon rappers of America to give us more candidates for “banger of the summer.” Or am I trippin’ too soon? I believe in y’all. We deserve more competition for this cheap xylophone Nina shit.

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May
08

Question in the Form of an Answer: Kool Keith by Alex Koenig

Alex Koenig got a 10/10 on the Kool Keith or James Joyce test.

Over nearly the last 30 years as a recording artist, legendary Bronx MC Kool Keith has subverted nearly every hip hop cliché whilst staying completely true to his personality. At his best, Keith comes off as an unhinged and maniacal artist whose verses are witty, creepy, and most of all, unique—a interstellar cry from the hoes, clothes, and drug archetypes imbued into the hip-hop culture.

Keith’s penchant for exploring themes that portray lurid malevolence leads critics and fans to identify his music as horrorcore– a subgenre of hip-hop defined by its grotesque, violent imagery and brooding production. And in a 2007 interview, Keith even audaciously claimed to have invented horrorcore. But while his posturing might seem bold, it actually holds weight if looked at chronologically. As a founder of the Ultramagnetic MCs (a group whose surging 1988 LP Critical Beatdown remains an essential Golden Age document, Keith stood out for being one of the first to offer lyrics that came off as far more bizarre and gruesome than his contemporaries. “Respect me, when I whip your brain, skip your brain and dip your brain/ In the lotion while I deck ya skull, I’m like a bird when I’m pecking ya skull til it hurts and swell, puffs, bleed, blood,” he raps on Critical Beatdown’s “Travelling At The Speed Of Thought”– you weren’t going to see this type of off-kilter, irascible lunacy from Chuck D or Ice Cube.

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