Alex Piyevsky used to play the corners for dough
I am currently stuck in California, enjoying extra vacation time as the snow storm pummels New York and destroys all chances of flying home. There are worse predicaments to be in, but I do feel a little out of touch. I’ve spent the past 10 days purposefully logged off, enjoying the sunshine and eyeing my twitter feed from a lofty distance with a pronounced sneer. Now, with all the fish tacos eaten, all the idyllic vistas sighed at, all the medical marijuana laws abused, I find myself inexorably pulled towards the familiar sickly pale glow of the monitor where all the music I’ve missed awaits. Here then are some hot takes as I catch up on recent things of interest, inspired by leftover Strawbery Flo. And wine, of course fucking wine, because in California even public bathrooms probably have a wine rack.
Tree – “Don’t E’en Kare”
I’ve missed this Tree. He has put out music recently, some of it very good, but this feels like the first significant return to the the raw grit and unhinged bombast of his patented soul trap style since Sunday School II. This song is also featured in the trailer for his upcoming album Trap Genius, which vividly captures the essence of Tree’s aesthetic in images of Chicago poverty and crime juxtaposed with scenes of worship soundtracked by gospel blues.
Lil Family Ft. Maxo Kream – “Addict” (Video)
I expected Maxo to be more popular by now. Quicc Strikes was awesome and had a unanimously positive responce and he seemed to be catching on around the ‘nets, but a bigger solidified ‘buzz’ never really materialized. I am still rooting for him — the random loosies he has released in the last year have all been uniformely good, as is this one. Keep an eye out for the ungooglable Lil Family too; this is technically billed as his song and he does well on it.
Rast RFC – “Forgive Me” (Video)
Rast makes 90’s New York street tales rendered in a rough-hewen DIY private-press style, ganster rap that sounds like it could’ve come from a Numero compilation of eccentric home recordings. Like with Ka, Rast’s music is not for everybody but interesting videos like this could help it connect. If you like this, check out the Across West 3rd Street EP
Gizzle McFly – “Figure 8” (Video)
Not exactly new but I just heard it and I’m in San Francisco right now, so something from The Bay is obligatory. This is a random fortuitous pick from a handful of new Bay-centric suggestions I found on Philaflava; I don’t really follow Gizzle but he’s good on this and the beat has a really cool and familiar sample I can’t quite place.
Novelist x Mumdance – “1 Sec” (Video)
I should really leave this kind of thing to Sach, I’m wildly out of my depth on grime. But I will add it here anyway because it’s an opportunity to mention how Novelist and K9 are some of my favorite recent rappin-ass-rappers, fresh out of England no less.
The Brothers Slim (Archibald Slim and RichPo Slim) – “Guts Of The Gutter / Pay Me”
I have yet to really dig into the new Awful project Dichotomy, but these two tracks stood out. Archibald has been one of the most consistent on their roster, Rich hasn’t released as much but also has some good stuff.
