Another great act from across the pond. Dr. Syntax hailing from London drops his album Self Taught. Syntax has shown up for guest spots with fellow London rawkers, Foreign Beggars and his new record features some great verses and production. Check it out.
Mp3: Dr. Syntax - "Subcultures"
Buy: Get this here.
Album is out there. Its dope. I've been a Coldplay hater for a minute but the track "Homecoming" has me seeing Chris Martin in a whole new light. Top to bottom album is great. Get after that pre-order. Bury 50 cent. His act is tired. Positive hip hop from here on out. Don't slow down Kanye.
I am going to continue to try and bribe back my readers after the long hiatus dude to midwest weather. I have three (3) mixtapes by Darko (of Spank Rock) to give away. The approximately 50 minute mixtape features all sorts of great tracks from the Ninja Tune catalog (Kid Koala, Coldcut, The Herbaliser, Blockhead, TTC, Mr. Scruff, DJ Food, Amon Tobin, One Self, Bonobo, Spank Rock the list goes on). The question is simple:
If you could see one (1) Ninja Tune artist live who would it be and why?
Post up your comments and don't forget that always needed email so I can get back to you when you win. Post' em up this thing is fantastic. Check out a sample of the record.
Mp3: Mr. Scruff & Spank Rock (Darko Mix)
Be sure to check out Darko's myspace here.
LVX Collective from LA features a great electronic/dub/hip-hop infused sound. The duo features vocals by Lord Zen from the The Visionaries backed by music and mixing from David Harrow the On-U Sound stalwart who played with The Dub Syndicate, Lee Perry and others. 50.5.10 is due out in September and is definitely worth checking out. There are a bunch of great tracks on this record but take a listen to this one:
Mp3: LVX Collective - "Days Like This"
If this track doesn't convince you then I am not sure what will. This track is certainly massive.
Buy: Be sure you support these dudes by picking up the record here.
Better late than never I guess. People are bailing left and right. Let's get ole Mr. Cheney to step down next.
photo by Doug Mills/The New York Times.
Back with vengeance and a great contest here. Name your 3 favorite Madlib tracks (can be produced, remix, solo whatever) post them up in comments with a CURRENT email and I'll pick three (3) winners on Monday Sept. 3rd.
2 people get the Beat Konducta album
1 Grand prize winner gets the album & the Quas/PE shirt.
Also don't miss BEAT KONDUCTA IN INDIA (BEAT KONDUCTA VOL. 3-4) AVAILABLE ON iTUNES.
Got hit pretty bad by the midwest storm on Thursday afternoon. No power as of 10:00 AM Saturday morning.
Hopefully be back up and running soon.
ComEd and mother nature kept us down for 4 days, yeah 4 days and I live right outside the 3rd largest city in the US, BUT I am back and have some music and contests to start runnin'. Stay tuned.
I can't help but associate the name with this song but its an entirely different deal. Telephone Jim Jesus is an experimental electronic hip hop dude hailing from Oakland Cal. Signed to the esteemed Anticon records his new album is Anywhere Out of the Everything the latest predominately instrumental full-length.
2007 has been a great year for instrumental records and this is a very good one. Check out a track and let me know what you think. The record is more varied and than your typical instrumental record. This one has a more atmospheric tone to it.
Buy: Get this record from Anticon here.
Article about the idea of having a hip hop studies major at UC Berkley.
Hip-hop is the primary language students bring with them to school. To ignore the language and the existence of hip-hop culture altogether is a failure to provide equal education under the law.-Kofi-Charu Nat Turner, education Ph.D. candidate.
Check out the full deal. Read more here.
If you don't know 9th Wonder then you have homework to do. Here's a start....he was the main producer for Little Brother and on top of this has done work for Jay Z, Mary J, Strange Fruit Project, Murs, Masta Ace and more.
His latest project is solo record called Dream Merchant Vol. 2 (there are some snippets here). The album is set to drop October 9th on Justus Records. You can get a feel with this track here feat. Jozee Moe:
Mp3: 9th Wonder feat. Jozee Mo - "Ya Hear Me" (128 kbps)
This track is going to be a bonus track on the upcoming LP.
photo by unkljohn.
I was taken back when DJ Amplive the dude behind the production for Zion I one of my hip hop staples emailed me. He's been out doing some solo producing and doing it well. Here is a track Amp produced by Kafani featuring Keak the Sneak. Check it out. He also dropped a remix for you all to check out as well.
Support: Swing by Amplive's myspace and let him know what you think.
Another week down. Thanks to everyone that joined the contests (see below for the winners of the Stones Throw contest). There will be another Stones Throw contest this Thursday I believe. I am also trying to put together some type of regular dub reggae feature so if you know of some people/bands whatever making dub music please let me know. Check out the week wrap below and have a nice weekend. Peace...always.
*Now Again: Re-Sounds give away over. Winners to be contacted. My personal favorite Stones throw releases are: Quasimoto's The Unseen, J Dilla's Donuts and Koushik's Be With.
*O RLY? Crazy if this is true. But what does he have to lose? Nice calculation he's wrong no big deal he's right? Blog breaks HUGE news before any of the major stations.
*Iraq prison population rises to 23,000.
*Kanye West f. Lil Wayne, "Barry Bonds" (Clean) from Fader.
*Nas and Miles Davis.
*MIA - "URAQT" (Luvtek Remix).
*Diplo on Solid Steel.
*Foreign troop death toll passes 4,000 in Iraq.
photo by chicagophotogirl.
Satoshi Tomiie is a Japanese house DJ and producer. He has created a great remix of Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke's "Eraser." Tomiie's label is Saw Recordings and he has a long list of great remixes check out the remix.
Buy: Get Yorke's great solo record Eraser here.
The Boys And Girls Club, no not this one, but this one hail from Brooklyn NY and specialize in pop/club. Their track "Summer in the City" certainly caught my ear. Its got some nice laid back vocals with a great beat. The duo of Scott (Scott Thorough, Nuclear Family) and Mike (Short Stories) formed in the summer of 2002 as a collaborative musical effort. The resulting tracks on their myspace show that its paying off.
Its hard to look past these dude's list of favorite artists Hall and Oats, Daft Punk, MF Doom...alot of the same stuff I am into. Check out a track:
Mp3: The Boys and Girls Club - "Summer in the City"
Let them know what you think. Their album A Simple Night of Dancing is out now.
I ran across the record Mesa the other day on emusic. After giving it a listen I had to purchase it. The downbeat electronic and hip hop influences Anomaly uses fits right into my personal tastes. The interesting part is that I cruised over to his myspace and found out he is my neighbour (Evanston is about 10 miles or so from my house).
This is real laid back instramental stuff here. Check out a track of his latest record:
Mp3: Anomaly - "Its Him Again"
Some of this might be too abstract and minimalistic for the typical hip hop listener but I am certainly diggin it. Get it at emusic here.
Thanks for everyone that entered the UNKLE prize contest. If I were choosing my favorite UNKLE tracks they would definately be:
1. Rabbit in Your Headlights
2. Celestial Annihilation
3. What are you to me?
4. Bloodstain
5. Queens Of The Stone Age - "Burn the Witch" (UNKLE remix)
Certainly there will be some great ones off of War Stories as well I just haven't given the release a good listne through. "Burn My Shadow" is a fantastic start. If you didn't have "Rabbit in Your Headlights" then I just couldn't pick you. In my opinion that is one of my favorite tracks of alltime.
Congrats to Kyle Gilkeson I will be in contact with you regarding a place to send the prize. And thanks again for playing all.
"New" release by the loved Pressure Sounds. Native/Little Madness with Lee Perry Scratch Perry put together Rockstone. Rockstone was the result of a session that took place in 1977 at the Black Ark Studio (owned by Lee Scratch Perry) were Wayne Jobson recorded with the Black Ark Studio musicians. Other tracks on the disc feature reggae legends like Errol T and sessions at the famed Channel One.
The result is a fantastic look at a snippet in reggae history. These tracks are released for the first time. Highly recommended of course. Check out a track:
Wayne Jobson is DJ in Los Angeles and has been involved with various projects including Red X the Peter Tosh movie. Read more about the release at Pressure Sounds.
Buy: Keep an eye out. The record is released the 25th of September.
Unfortunately its about 10 years too late. It would have been great if he had stepped down before he masterminded the Bush take over of the United States of America but as John Edwards so eloquently stated today, "Good riddance!"
Rove steps down today and how sick did it make you when you watched him at Bush boo hoo at the podium? Well I might be sad too if you two buffoons hadn't caused so much pain and suffering for so many Americans and Iraqis. Lets hope we never see Mr. Rove again.
For those not living on this earth and not sick of Justice's "D.A.N.C.E." track there is a new 12 inch out featuring remixes by MSTRKRFT & Alan Braxe that record is for purchase here. But there is not just one but two. The second featuring Tittsworth paired with a bunch of other great remixes. All are available at Vice. Check out my favorite:
Get it: Get Justice's record here.
photo by my good friends at Fader Magazine.
Released last week. Incase anyone missed it. I am liking the whole anime cover art but maybe thats just me.
Tracklist:
01. Good Morning
02. Homecoming (f/Chris Martin)
03. Stronger
04. Champion
05. Good Life (f/T-Pain)
06. I Wonder
07. Even More Broke Phi Broke (Skit)
08. Can’t Tell Me Nothing
09. Drunk And Hot Girls (f/Mos Def)
10. Everything I Am (f/DJ Premier)
11. Good Night (f/Mos Def & Al Be)
12. Big Brother
13. Graduation (Skit)
14. The Glory
Bit of a rawkus week with threats, free stuff and some great music coming out. Make sure you get that Blockhead and Mr. Hill records I was talking about both are instramental hip hop at its finest. Lets check out some of the highlights from the past week.
*My dude has a new mixtape out. Go get it.
*What the? New Gondry movie, Be Kind Rewind trailer.
*Nice MJ post. Nice to see somebody other than me coming to his defense.
*One Day Later puts together a nice Daft Punk mix set.
Have a good weekend all. Be safe. Peace.
I know Denmark and hip hop aren't typically associated and this is probably more pop than hip hop but there is certainly elements. Junior Senior's with have a special 7-song EP, Say Hello, Wave Goodbye which will come with the special U.S. release of the album on August 14th.
Check out a mashup crossing their "Can I Get Get Get" with a bit of Lil' Jon:
Mp3: Junior Senior v. Lil' Jon - "Can I Get Low"
Buy: Pre-order the record here.
Funny how I get in trouble for giving away a track and then proceed to get a bunch of cool records and music related stuff to give away to readers the same week. This is something that will be a regular feature here every two weeks. Thats right free Stones Throw stuff.
We kick it off with a record I am very excited about, Now Again Re:Sounds which I hyped a bit back. This is a give away of three (3) limited edition box sets. The box set containes seven 7-inches with remixes by Madlib, J. Rocc, Cut Chemist, Kenny Dope and others. The records also feature new raps and covers by Stones Throw celebs. Cool stuff. Check out a track off one of the 7-inches:
Mp3: Heliocentrics feat. Guilty Simpson - “Before I Die”
Just answer the question and I will pick three winners. To start we will keep it real easy....
Name your three favorite Stones Throw records.
Like always don't forget to include your picks along with an email and please US folks only. Contest runs for a week so check back next Thursday for a winner. Thanks for playing an good luck.
photo of Jake Yglesias from Heliocentrics via Stones Throw.
CONTEST OVER SEE ABOVE.
Hailing from northern California Dahlak Brathwaite, two-time HBO Def Poet, has an upcoming record called Dual Consciousness. The production is real nice and the lyrics are well written. His track "Welcome to the Cypher" has been getting some local radio play. Check it out:
Mp3: Dahlak feat. N.I.C., C+ & Leejay- "Welcome to My Cypher"
Buy: Keep an eye out here for purchasing information.
I recieved a formal DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) notice regarding allegedly infringing content hosted on my site (ie a mp3 by Kano). I have responded by taking down all mp3s.
Most of them I had permission to use from promo organizations or the artists themselves...some of them I did not. I believed since I only feature one track and prominantly have a link to where you can buy the record it was all good. Obviously that wasn't enough.
I'm still going be hosting mp3s I guess I'll just have to get permission first or watch myself more closely.
Mr. Hill of the NW hip hop group Oldominion puts together a great record (just one more example why hip hop is alive and well in the NW). The Darkest Hour is Mr. Hill's first instramental project and it certainly doesn't dissappoint. Hill has done production for some great underground acts including Grayskul, Kool Keith, Akrobatic and Oldominion.
Check out the title check and let me know what you think:
Mp3: Mr. Hill - "Darkest Hour"
Buy: Get the Darkest Hour here.
Got a rare opportunity to give away some UNKLE goods to a lucky reader. Hopefully I'll be seeing James in Vegoose but that is still in the works of course. This is definately some pretty dope limited edition stuff that any UNKLE head will enjoy. Check out the prize:
One Winner 5 prizes
1- Autographed 7" Night's Temper EP (A Prelude to War Stories)
1- Burn My Shadow 7" vinyl picture disc
1- Burn My Shadow 12" red colored vinyl
1- UNKLE Surrender Sound Sessions 12" vinyl
1- Burn My Shadow import CD single
1- Burn My Shadow 7" vinyl picture disc
1- Burn My Shadow 12" red colored vinyl
1- UNKLE Surrender Sound Sessions 12" vinyl
1- Burn My Shadow import CD single
Not bad. Name your five favorite UNKLE tracks in the comments and BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL! The prize pack is to promote UNKLE's July 24th release War Stories.
Contest ends Tuesday August 14th. I'll be sure to email the winner.
Mp3: UNKLE feat. Ian Ashbury - "Burn My Shadow" (zshare)
"I can't buy what I want because its free."
My Morning Jacket covering "Move on Up" by Curtis Mayfield, Pearl Jam telling BP to knock their polluting of Lake Michigan off, "Daughter" accoustic. "Elderly Woman Behind the Counter In a Small Town" played.
Everything about Sunday was great, it wasn't Daft Punk great, but it was one hell of a show. We made it to a suprisingly un-drunk Winehouse and then were able to stake out a nice spot between the garbage beer stage (aka the Bud Light stage) and the myspace stage allowing us to hear both My Morning Jacket, !!! and Tv On the Radio. I am a huge TVOTR fan but I felt some of their sound didn't translate to festival stage but its hard to argue with the "Wolf Like Me"-"I Was a Lover" combo.
Amazing amazing day. Thanks Chicago. Regrets? Missing Iggy Pop and Lupe.
photo by Kirstie Shanley of Pitchforkmedia.
Day 2 down.
Was able to get to Lolla in time to see Stephen Marley a dude I was very excited about. Some probably thought the set was amazing. I was not one of those. Maybe I was one of the few people that showed up to hear Stephen Marley while everyone else was looking for him to play Legend. And play Legend he did: "Buffalo soldier," "Jammin'" "No Woman No Cry," "Is This Love" were all played to the joyment of casual reggae listeners everywhere. He mixed in some of his original stuff off Mind Control and those tracks were certainly the highlights of what I thought was a dissappointing set. Hell I should have relived 7th grade and gone and seen Silverchair (who people were pleasently suprised).
Next up was Rhymefest (now El Che?) and after some early sound trouble he didn't dissapoint. Backed by a live band and hype man he proceeded to rip off some highly charged hip hop and even a new track influenced by Zeppelin's "Dazed and Confused". His energy was unmatched outside of the Daft Punk show.
After 'Fest it was over to check out the legendary Roots crew. The highlight of the set being them claiming that "hip hop was dead" then dropping into a 15 minute medley of classic hip hop tracks featruing "Just Friends," "Shimmy Shimmy Ya," "Get By" and others. A bit over the top with some of the solos but again a great hip hop set.
Just in time to beat the Metra train back home we caught a bit of the insanely upbeat and positive Regina Spektor set. Here smile and giggly personality instantly winning over fans. It was hard not to see her as a upbeat Fiona Apple. Read more over at the Tribune.
Chicago Tribune's Blog on Day 2.
photo by E. Jason Wambsgans of the Chicago Tribune.
Wanted to get this up before the Friday show but just didn't have the chance. Yesterday was a great day seeing MIA, The Rapture, LCD Soundsystem and Daft Punk. My only regret was missing Femi Kuti but it would have been impossible to get close to the front for Daft Punk had I been at the adidas stage. Here is what I am looking forward to for the rest of the weekend.
Saturday
Stephen Marley (2:30), Rhymefest or STS9 (3:30), The Roots (4:30), Regina Spektor (5:30), Yeah Yeahs (6:30) -- then home cause I'm a baby and need to rest for tomorrow.
Sunday
Amy Winehouse (2:15), The Wailers (5:00), !!!, My Morning Jacket with The Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra (6:15), Tv on the Radio, Pearl Jam (8:00)
Just got back from Lollapalooza and Daft Punk played the most amazing live set I have ever witnessed. Absolutely ridiculous. If they are coming anywhere near you you must go see them (neighbors to the north I am looking at you).
I realize many of you don't have to be told, but if you are on the fence you just gotta go. It was literally worth the price of the entire Lollapalooza three day pass. The visuals and music were nothing I have ever seen. They are definitely more than musical artists.
Mp3: Daft Punk - "The Prime Time of Your Life" (Para One Remix)
read more about it over at Pitchfork...
It's going to be very difficult to top this set. Pitchfork's Scott Plagenhoef agrees:
You don't have to be "Jimmy the Greek" to prognosticate that there won't be better music all weekend, nor will be there be a more visually alluring performance or one that seems like more of an event. Daft Punk will win the weekend on all accounts.
photo by Charles Cherney
Hailing from Paris France Onra teams up with pianist Byron The Aquarius from Alabama, USA. The result is a truely fantastic hip hop journey. Byron plays Fender Rhodes and synths, and Onra programs the drum beats.
The amazing part is what they have to say on their myspace:
Pretty remarkable what can arise from myspace. Check out a track then pick up this record.We met on Myspace but we never met in real life. We exchanged music files over the net, worked with some vocal artists, and finally produced an album.
Mp3: Byron and Onra - "The Return"
Buy: Get The Payback here.
Nice couple tracks from Seattle DJ Risk One. He has some pretty cool mixtapes up and his remix of The Cool Kids is great. Also check out one of his tracks when you get the chance.
Mp3: Risk One - My Patchy Love (zshare)
Mp3: Cool Kids - Black Mags (Risk One B'fix) (zshare)
Check it: Risk One's myspace zone here.
links fixed.
Great track. Big fan of both these dudes. Check it out. Track is off the new Hez which drops on Rawkus records in September. Video done by Shark films.
