I still can’t believe how interesting this doc was. Usually when I’m watching any documentary, I surf the net or do something else to bide the time. Scratch, however, kept my attention 99% of the time – I had the laptop on for the first few minutes (habit).
Scratch mainly focused on DJing/turntablism/scratching, hence the name, but it was all hip-hop. It covered the important figures in the development of turntablism and the effect it’s had on hip-hop as a whole.
I’ve been reading Jeff Chang’s “Total Chaos: The Art and Aesthetics of Hip-Hop” and a lot of the material from Scratch tied into the book. The doc also really helped me put faces to some of the figures in the book – I suck at remembering names and what they actually did, unless I get a glimpse of their face.
Once you get into it, the rest is a breeze. I was actually wanting more at the ended, unlike most times, but it was definitely full of some good info.
Give a shout-out to your favorite DJ from this – I’ll post mine in the comments a lil’ later.
[audio:Quality-Control.mp3,Intergalactic.mp3,Mass-Appeal.mp3|titles=Quality Control,Intergalactic,Mass Appeal](Download Link in Full Article)
“I Want You” premiered on a UK radio station a few months back, but we still haven’t seen an official copy out yet. As good as “Fuck You” is, I like seeing a more soulful, sentimental side to Cee-Lo. Hopefully, “I Want You” will be released before The Lady Killer comes out early this December – I really wanna see a mash-up of these two singles!
Until then, give ’em a listen and hit me up with your favorite. And if you’ve got any clue on what’s to come with The Lady Killers, hit me up with that too.
[audio:I-Want-You-Radio.mp3,Fuck-You.mp3|titles=I Want You (Radio Rip),Fuck You](Download Link in Full Article)
Got sick on the way back from North Coast – I wouldn’t recommend MegaBus. As such, this post is going to be short – it took enough for me to actually put it out.
Wrekonize is part of a favorite hip-hop group of mine, ¡MAYDAY! from Miami. He just put out a mixtape called A Soiree For Skeptics, which I would review, but I don’t have the strength right now – maybe lata. But check this single off it, it’s a good example of his style.
Alright, I’m out! See it was short ;)
[audio:One-Foot-in-the-Grave.mp3|titles=One Foot in the Grave (feat. Bernz)](Download Link in Full Article)
We just had our one year anniversary on the 3rd, so we decided to take a trip to Chicago and check out the North Coast festival. We’ll cover the festivities in the next post, but first we wanted to talk about the theme song for that week.
Chiddy Bang wasn’t at the festival, but I finally got my hands on their mixtape, Air Swell. The mixtape was put together to promote themselves throughout the UK. It contains samples of famous UK musicians and at first I thought they were based outta the UK until I found out the EP is just based on the UK.
The first track I had to check out was a remix of “Stylo” by Gorillaz, but wasn’t all that impressed after listening to it. However, I did find a song that blew me away […]
[audio:Pass-Out.mp3|titles=Pass Out (Chiddy Bang Freestyle)](Download Link in Full Article)
Atmosphere’s latest EP, To All My Friends, Blood Makes The Blade Holy: The Atmosphere EP’s, is set to release Tuesday, the 4th of September. Just in time for their summer end tour.
Two songs have already been released off the EP, “To All My Friends” about two weeks ago and “Freefallin'” just today. The two have a similar vibe with a laid-back country, summer-daze and a smooth hittin’ beat. Slug lays some reflective lines on both, which, if not like always, seems to be a theme for the EP. Like his music, he seems to be maturing with age, bringing on a new style any fan will come to appreciate.
Alright, I’m off to the North Coast festival this weekend. Can’t wait to see Pretty Lights live for the first time! Maybe I’ll hit up Atmosphere’s Madison set on the 8th, the first stop on the tour… I wish.
[audio:Freefallin.mp3|titles=Freefallin’](Download Link in Full Article)
A couple weeks back I heard Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) was working with KanYe on his new album, Dark Twisted Fantasy, due out in mid-November. A collaboration with Vernon is just what KanYe needs, especially after hearing Vernon’s work on GAYNGS.
A preview of what’s to come was posted yesterday on KanYe’s blog. The new mix, “Monster” shows some promise for these two, especially when you throw Jay-Z into the mix. Unfortunately, the two others featured, Rick Ross & Nicki Minaj, aren’t as promising.
Not just 24 hours ago, I was listening to MTV – we all have our guilty pleasures at 4 am (usually infomercials for me) […]
[audio:Monster.mp3|titles=Monster (feat. Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Bon Iver, Nicki Minaj)](Download Link in Full Article)
I was gonna feature “Deja Vu” back in November of last year, but I thought I’d wait till the album was released. Well, I still haven’t listened to the album, so I thought I’d drop this before I do.
What hooked me to Analyrical – other than his Minnesota ties – was his style. Lately I’ve seen the majority of Minneapolis MC’s gear their style towards the lyrically driven East Coast. And as much love as I have for it, over the years I’ve gone Westward bound towards the more laid-back, soul/funk driven style.
Now, I wouldn’t say Analyrical has a West Coast style, just more west in his Midwest style. Give “Deja Vu” a listen and tell me what you think of it. I’m still trying to figure out the whole classification thing, though it’s becoming more & more obsolete these days.
[audio:Deja-Vu.mp3|titles=Deja Vu](Download Link in Full Article)
I’m starting to realize that new styles of music takes some getting use to. You can’t just jump right in and expect to ‘get’ it – you gotta get a feel for it first.
At first I wasn’t feeling Mayer Hawthorne’s album, A Strange Arrangement, back when it came out in Sept. of ’09. Didn’t really think it was my kind of music, so I let it go. Then I saw the music video for his song, “Your Easy Lovin’ Ain’t Pleasin’ Nothin'” (featured in the full article), on a blog I frequent, and liked it so much I thought I’d give the album another go.
Although I’m still getting use to his pop-style R&B, Hawthorne’s lyrics are smart and fun to sing a long to… too fun to sing to (it’s still stuck in my head!). The entire album may not be full of entirely catchy tunes, like […]
[audio:Your-Easy-Lovin.mp3,A-Strange-Arrangement.mp3|titles=Your Easy Lovin’ Ain’t Pleasin’ Nothin’,A Strange Arrangement](Download Link in Full Article)
When I first heard Lifesavas around five, six years ago, I liked ’em so much I had to find anything else like ’em. That group was Libretto or so I thought. For all these years I thought Libretto was a group, but now that I researched a little, I find out the ‘group’ was actually just one person. I guess it just shows what I thought a group could do one man pulled off.
What he pulled off would be the funkalicious album, Ill-Oet: The Last Element, back in ’04. Libretto’s also releasing some new singles soon, but until we can get our hands on them we’ll stick with his first album.
Ill-Oet: The Last Element has the quality of a Lifesavas album with two exceptions. Lyrically, Libretto doesn’t stack up to what Vursatyl & Jumbo, the two MC’s of Lifesavas, can do. Libretto’s Ill-Oet: The Last Element also doesn’t have the consistency that each Lifesavas LP does. He may not have the amount of hits that Lifesavas does, but he does have a few. Check out the two best, “Last Drop” & “Volume” – the latter actually features Lifesavas, and see what impressed me so much by this one-man band.
[audio:Volume.mp3,Last-Drop.mp3|titles=Volume (feat. Lifesavas),Last Drop](Download Link in Full Article)
If you’ve got time, listen to Ulrich Schnauss’s “Between Us and Them” all the way through. The song is a growing sequence that builts on top of it self, and doesn’t flourish until well into the second half. It’s best listened to in the darkness of the night or, better yet, out in the open summer’s sun (ok, just in a quiet place). Either way it’ll put your mind at ease… which will help me offset all the dubstep I’ve been listening to.
As for the rest of the album, it carries on with the same vibe as “Between Us and Them”, but doesn’t hit the highs that the featured song does. It, however, is still an excellent collection of soothing ambient sounds. If you really need to get out of your head for a while, this will get you there.
[audio:Between-Us-And-Them.mp3,Passing-By.mp3|titles=Between Us And Them,…Passing By](Download Link in Full Article)