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Wednesday, May 16, 2012

MP3 / #1 Fan Listen to a Bunch of New Main Attrakionz Songs That Came Out on the Internet Today

Posted by Mike Ramos on Wed, May 16, 2012 at 3:52 PM

Twitter and other manners of teh modern Internets are telling me that it's Squadda B's birthday, so combined with the fact that nobody (neither me nor Larry, I mean) has posted about Main Attrakionz since the colossal-bummer announcement of their 4/22 show cancellation (which I am still HELLA bitter about) I thought I would throw these up for the enjoyment of the, like, four people that should find enjoyment in them.

First, here's birthday guy Squadda linking up with Arkansas MC Pepperboy on a typically cruising Ryan Hemsworth beat for "Stop Tryin." For a guy who couldn't legally drink until today, sounds like he's led quite a life.

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Thursday, March 1, 2012

MP3 / 206 Thaddeus David's "Block Business" Remixed By Keyboard Kid

Posted by Mike Ramos on Thu, Mar 1, 2012 at 2:33 PM

"Block Business" was one of the grimier standout tracks from Thaddeus David's highly bumpable Maven release, and today Members Only released a #SECRETE remix done by high-ranking #Based Legend Keyboard Kid. The laid-back, cruising-speed menace of the original track adds on the local producer's signature smoked-out, deep-space electronic synths, cracking snare fills and skittering hi-hats. It fits great with Thad's effortlessly gritty lyrics, and he sounds just as comfortable on this kind of beat as he does on his normally more smooth, jazzy, sample-based beat selections. Listen to it below or over on Members Only's Bandcamp page.

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Wednesday, February 15, 2012

??!! / MP3 Listen To This 22-Minute Posse Cut With 27 Rappers On It (Because It's 2012 and You Can)

Posted by Mike Ramos on Wed, Feb 15, 2012 at 11:45 AM

There is nothing hyperbolic about that title. Assembled by the forever up-on-it folks at Mishka NYC and Zach Moldof of Rad Reef, with a little help from Yay Area mover/shaker Dream Collabo and produced by Ryan Hemsworth, "Hyperbolic Chamber Music" is a surprisingly smooth, non-tedious listen all the way through, despite featuring an army of Internet-inclined rappers.

The breezy jazz guitar licks and splashy drum programming definitely help its case, but there's plenty of quality rap stuff to be found here. Highlights include Mondre and Squadda from Main Attrakionz setting things off, Kool A.D., Big Baby Gandhi and Lakutis going in for the Greedhead camp, appearances from Lofty and Lowercase of Miami's Metro Zu, who I have been bumpin heavily for the last couple weeks, and Seattle's own Key Nyata and Keyboard Kid puttin it down for the NW.

Listen or download below, and check the full list of the rappers in order of appearance after the jump.

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Monday, February 13, 2012

MP3 The Return of Burial

Posted by Charles Mudede on Mon, Feb 13, 2012 at 3:14 PM

While walking on the planet of Beacon Hill...

...the new sounds of Burial. If you combine that EP, "Kindred," with the other EP "Street Halo", you almost have the LP you've been waiting for since Untrue.

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Monday, February 6, 2012

MP3 Viper Creek Club Hit's the Spot with DTTTC Remix

Posted by Charles Mudede on Mon, Feb 6, 2012 at 2:01 PM

Viper Creek Club has just dropped an excellent remix of Don't Talk to the Cops' "Swag Treated Swag." All I wish is that it was about a minute longer.

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Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Album / ??!! / MP3 Dear Musicians & Labels: Please "Feel Free" to Tag Your MP3s

Posted by Dave Segal on Tue, Jan 31, 2012 at 2:05 PM

This is a sad and more-common-than-you’d-think 21st-century music-biz problem: untagged MP3s. My work computer iTunes is lousy with unmarked or partially ID'd tracks, tracks that I’ll probably never be able to source correctly, and therefore will never write about. *tear*

I don’t know about the technicalities that go into tagging MP3s, but it can’t be that difficult in 2012, as most people have mastered this arcane science. But too many have not.

A recent case in point? I received a download file consisting of five tracks called “Feel Free,” each of which was appended with “section I,” “section II,” etc. Googling failed to turn up anything useful toward identifying the creators. Plugging "Feel Free" into YouTube’s search engine resulted in nothing helpful. A question on Twitter also spurred no response. So now I’m turning to the learned masses of Line Out to see if anyone has a clue as to who are the auteurs of this five-part, 38-minute suite of “Feel Free”s.

The tracks are stately, impressionistic, and beatless. What sound like violins/violas and cello drone and moan with tasteful restraint and momentousness while gently plucked tabletop guitar and/or a harp provide pinprick counterpoint. Their mobile-like patterns vaguely recall Brian Eno’s Thursday Afternoon. At some point, a dulcimer enters into the mix. Things sort of intensify in sections IV and V. "Feel Free" kind of reminds me of some of Eyvind Kang’s work, too, but I don’t think it’s his. He and his labels wouldn’t not tag their MP3s.

So, that’s all I got. Anybody know who the hell made this music? It’s sublime, and I won’t sleep well till the mystery’s solved. Thanks.

UPDATE: Line Out reader and esteemed producer Crazy Old Bat saved the day/month/year with this link to an excerpt of "Feel Free" by New Orleans musician Duane Pitre. Looks like an alternate take, but you'll get the gist. ¡Hallelujah!

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Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Band / MP3 New Band Alert: Sub Pop Signs Poor Moon

Posted by Kelly O on Tue, Jan 17, 2012 at 11:45 AM

Click to enlarge. PRETTY!

Congrats, Poor Moon! I would like to see you play sometime—you sound and look prettier than my other favorite Northwest super celestial band Dead Moon—but you seems like you have some teeth! Download/listen to new single “People In Her Mind”.

Poor Moon is Christian Wargo (Fleet Foxes, Crystal Skulls) Casey Wescott (Fleet Foxes) and brothers Ian and Peter Murray (The Christmas Cards). The band, named for frontman and primary songwriter Christian Wargo’s favorite Canned Heat song, began four years ago as a long distance project with demos being created and sent back and forth while Wargo and Wescott were touring in support of the Fleet Foxes 2008 self-titled debut and Ian and Peter living in the Bay area. Their first shows were at intimate Seattle house parties where they used playful throwaway monikers like Rabbit Kingdom and Cookie Mask. It wasn’t until the band opened up for Daekon at Seattle’s Neumos (under the name Peppermint Majesty) that things began to really take form. Recording began and the four longtime friends became a band and Sub Pop didn’t hesitate to pursue them.

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Monday, January 16, 2012

MP3 Serving the New De La?

Posted by Charles Mudede on Mon, Jan 16, 2012 at 11:35 AM

First Serve is De La Soul sans Maseo. I really do not know what that means? Meaning, my De La Soul scholarship is not deep enough to understand how that really changes things. I can understand the significance of a De La Soul sans Trugoy of Posdnuos; I can see how that would make a big difference in my experience of the music. In fact, how is the new and excellent track by First Serve,"Pushin' Aside, Pushin' Along," that different from the tracks that constitute De La's canonized body of work?

Still, I wonder what happened to Maseo? I hope everything is cool with those three. I hope what ever hit A Tribe Called Quest did not spread and infect them. I hope for the best.

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Tuesday, December 27, 2011

MP3 / 206 Thaddeus David - "By Any Means"

Posted by Mike Ramos on Tue, Dec 27, 2011 at 4:01 PM

Thaddeus David, previously known as Young TH in SOTA and Thadwick Tristen Trevor III in Helluvastate, just released "By Any Means," the first single from his upcoming solo project titled Maven. A South End native and son of a local musician, Thaddeus has become somewhat of an OG to the new school of Seattle hiphop with both his involvement in local projects (and features for local artists ranging from Stevie and Sam to Nacho Picasso) and heavy Town presence for years now.

The new track features production from longtime LA collaborators Ski Team and guest spots from fellow SOTA guy Parker and Onry Ozzborn, OG to a slightly older school of the local set. Stream it below or on the Members Only Bandcamp page, and be on the lookout for Maven, a collection of solo songs Thaddeus has recorded over the last two years, dropping January 27.

<a href="http://membersonly206.bandcamp.com/track/by-any-means">By Any Means by Thaddeus David ft. Onry Ozzborn and Parker</a>

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Monday, December 26, 2011

MP3 Johnny Jewel Unleashes Two-Hour Symmetry Imaginative Soundtrack

Posted by Charlie Swanson on Mon, Dec 26, 2011 at 10:04 AM

Former Seattle then Portland musician Johnny Jewel used to be known just for his myriad projects, from Glass Candy to Chromatics. Now living in Monteal, the artist has been gaining a mountain of momentum with his recent soundtrack work for the film Drive, an act which may have contributed to Jewel's latest project, and his most audacious work to date.

It's called Symmetry, and it's an imaginary film. Today, Jewel released the full TWO HOUR long soundtrack to this imagination. And it's stunning. Full of atmosphere and electronic curiosity, these are not traditional pop songs by any means. Yet, the 37 tracks that Jewel has assembled really do feel like a full work of art, something that's as visual, and visceral, as anything that's come from the songwriter. And, while Jewel's music almost always contains a retro vibe, this score translates that retro feel into a futuristic setting, while still reveling in a nostalgia for (in my head anyways) iconic 1980s-type film scores.

Sounds great, right? Well, see/hear for yourself. Jewel has made this whole work available online and you can listen to the both hours of Symmetry right here, right now. Get to it!

SYMMETRY / THEMES FOR AN IMAGINARY FILM by JOHNNY JEWEL

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Wednesday, December 14, 2011

MP3 Sub Pop's Spoek Mathambo Keeps the Hits Coming

Posted by Charles Mudede on Wed, Dec 14, 2011 at 5:31 PM

South Africa's most prominent futurist (Sub Pop's most unexpected singing), Spoek Mathambo, is about to drop a new record, Nombolo One: A Motel11 Roadtrip Tape, that revisits and revises the rich history of South African pop. Released by Motel11.TV, the record points directly to Mathambo's most impressive achievement as an artist: True, he is inventing completely new music, new sounds, new combinations, but he has not at all broken with the foundations of South African pop and language. His music is fully South African and yet fully not South Africa. He brings both extremes (South African/not South African) into one whole.

The first single from the album can be downloaded for nothing over here.

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Thursday, December 8, 2011

Album / MP3 / 206 For Your Consideration: Chev - Charles

Posted by Mike Ramos on Thu, Dec 8, 2011 at 11:47 AM

CHEVY.BANDCAMP.COM

Even if you haven't heard of Chev, you've probably heard one of his guest verses. Appearing on tracks like Common Market's "Certitude" and Blue Scholars' Jake One-produced "North By Northwest" Remix (one of the finer posse cuts in recent Town history), the South End rapper has been kicking around the local scene for a while. He just released his first album, Charles, on Bandcamp last week, and though it runs a bit long at 17 tracks, it's an honest and passionate effort from a dude who has seen some shit and can rap well about it.

The album and title track are dedicated to his late father, so some of the material here is pretty heavy. But Chev's natural rap voice and technical flow, plus solid production from Def Dee, Jester and BeanOne keeps things moving. Even a quick listen should reveal how much work he probably put into this, so check out standout track "Let It Bleed" below and download Charles on Chev's Bandcamp page or cop it on iTunes.

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Tuesday, December 6, 2011

MP3 / Zzzzzzzzzzzzz Now That's How You Use A Sample

Posted by Mike Ramos on Tue, Dec 6, 2011 at 2:16 PM

Tim Maia was a Brazilian pop/soul/funk musician who released 33 albums from 1970 until his death in 1998. Here is his hit single "Não Quero Dinheiro (Só Quero Amar)" from his 1971 self-titled, which was the second of ten different eponymous albums he put out. The upbeat number features some triumphant-sounding horns and strings and Portuguese lyrics about wanting love instead of money.

Enter Cambridge, MA producer Silky Johnson. In addition to having an excellent name and having produced tracks for Main Attrakionz (including a couple from the Mondre EP I posted about last week), he released a pretty strong free instrumental album a couple months ago appropriately called Hater of the Year. Here is the album's first track, "Fuck the Money," a title that makes much more sense with knowledge of the sample material.

He pretty much just loops a sped-up main chorus groove, but he adds in the perfect complements for it. Those skittering hi-hats, that cracking snare, the trunk-ready bass, all sounding like he ran it through some lo-fi filter to preserve that dusty '70s feel. A beat of this kind just begs to be freestyled to. Local rappers, take note.

Stream or download the rest of Hater of the Year on Silky Johnson's Bandcamp. While browsing and bumping along, see if you can spot all the famous haters on the cover art. And since 2011 is almost over now, who's your nomination for "Hater of the Year?"

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Friday, December 2, 2011

Shit Talk / MP3 / Video / Teh Internets / 206 More Things You Can Do Today Involving Rap Music and the Internet

Posted by Mike Ramos on Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 2:22 PM

Listen to Mondre M.A.N.'s "Cloud," produced by Seattle's Keyboard Kid. The track was released yesterday on M A N, a nice little EP featuring half of "best duo ever" Main Attrakionz spitting over beats by their usual all-star cast of Internet producers. Stream the whole thing on Bandcamp. 2011 is almost over and I'm pretty sure Main Attrakionz are my favorite musical discovery of the year.

Read Ian Cohen from Pitchfork's scathing pan of actor/comedian Donald Glover's rap alter-ego Childish Gambino's commercial debut Camp. I didn't think this was a big deal after reading it, but as rap blogger So Many Shrimp points out, there was a 12-page thread on Kanye West's forum about the review a mere 45 minutes after it was posted. Twitter is half up-in-arms and half nodding in agreement.

Download the slightly disturbing stan forum Odd Future Talk's Unreleased Vol. 3, which includes three previously unheard songs from the collective's M.I.A. best rapper Earl Sweatshirt. He was still going by Sly when they were recorded, and he sounds about 13 on one of them, but they're a good reminder of why so many kids are quick to chant about freeing him. "Rebellious Shit" is probably the strongest one.

Check out Juicy J's collaboration with current rap-buzz king A$AP Rocky and SpaceghostPurrp from his Blue Dream and Lean mixtape released this week. It's pretty underwhelming, but cool to hear weirdos from both the old and new school on the same track. Plus, the chorus features Juicy J boasting about "takin' naps."

Since Charles already posted the sick new Shabazz Palaces video I was going to also mention, why not watch Childish Gambino's horrorcore-knockoff video for "Bonfire," the first single from Camp, and decide for yourself whether you are into this sort of Human Centipede-referencing punchline rap.

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Thursday, December 1, 2011

Album / MP3 Lakutis' I'm In the Forest EP and Other Reasons You Should Really Be Paying Attention to Greedhead Music

Posted by Mike Ramos on Thu, Dec 1, 2011 at 2:13 PM

MISHKANYC.BANDCAMP.COM

Lakutis is best known for having three of the more memorable guest verses on Das Racist's Sit Down, Man mixtape and thoroughly abusing the DJ airhorn during the group's Nov. 9 show at Neumos. Today the rapper released his own EP titled I'm in the Forest on Himanshu Suri's Greedhead Music, featuring some Frida Kahlo-looking cover art and seven tracks of triumphantly ridiculous, hyper-referential East Coast nerd rap. The wackiness present here is even higher than Das Racist's already soaring levels of satirical, pop-culture-saturated lyricism, which is to be expected from a dude who apparently plays League of Legends.

The EP's highlights include his electronic party-rocker "Lakutis in the House," which he performed at the Das Racist show, and title track, which rides a Prodigy sample and introduces the "Seven Spiders of Hip-Hop," whatever the fuck those are. The following "Ja Rule" repeats the line "I'm out this world, ho" 16 times before Lakutis goes into his own mumbled/sung version of Ja Rule's completely terrible early-'00s R(ap)&B number "Put It On Me" over a warped psych-rock groove. Things get even more absurd with the Kool A.D.-featuring "I'm Better Than Everybody," perhaps the most #based of all based freestyles that valiantly attempts to outdo every boastful bar ever uttered by another rapper over a belligerent Big Baby Gandhi banger. The last track features both MCs from Das Racist and starts with the line "they be like 'Lex, you play Hungry Hungry Hippos?'" which would make it worth a listen even if it weren't for the already way-nice swag-rap beat from Chairlift's Patrick Wimberly.

Enough talk about this one, though. Head over to Mishka NYC's Bandcamp page to download it for free. But since I'm already talking about this Greedhead release, there's a couple more you may have slept on that I want to mention here.

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Friday, November 25, 2011

MP3 More Black (Star) Friday Goodies From Black Star

Posted by Mike Ramos on Fri, Nov 25, 2011 at 3:56 PM

I know they premiered this track during their Colbert Report performance last month, but today the reunited hiphop duo released the official Internet-single for "Fix Up," the first taste of their forthcoming follow-up to the now-classic Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star. Though it's been 13 years since the last album, both MCs still go in over this sample-laced, nearly drum-less Madlib production. The lack of percussive knock here doesn't exactly make it a superb, triumphant return to glory, but it's still great to hear them making music together again.

Black Star "Fix Up" by 3DDistro

Kweli and Bey also apparently have an Aretha Franklin tribute side project in the works, simply titled Black Star Aretha. Check out the Oh No-produced first single "You Already Knew" below as well.

Black Star "You Already Knew" by 3DDistro

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Friday, November 4, 2011

Album / MP3 / Teh Internets A$AP Rocky's $3 Million Free Mixtape

Posted by Mike Ramos on Fri, Nov 4, 2011 at 3:28 PM

Courtesy of A$AP Rocky's Tumblr

In case you missed it during your post-Halloween hangover stupor, Harlem's way-hot-right-now rapper A$AP Rocky released his much-delayed, much-hyped LiveLoveA$AP mixtape earlier this week. Easily one of the biggest blog sensations of 2011 thanks to his "Purple Swag" and "Peso" videos, Rocky (real name Rakim Meyers) translated his plentiful buzz into a $3 million RCA deal right before the mixtape's official release date. Usually a deal that big at a time like that is a career death knell disguised as an opportunity, a move that can only set a young artist up to fall harder from the pedestal they've been put on. While LiveLoveA$AP predictably fails to live up to all that hype, it's a strong enough release to avoid doing any permanent damage to the young rapper's career.

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Monday, October 31, 2011

MP3 A DJ Shingi Beat for Dynasty

Posted by Charles Mudede on Mon, Oct 31, 2011 at 3:30 PM

My presentation in “The Five Obstructions:” A Film About Making response in film by SJ Chiro and Charles Mudede, will include four new beats by DJ Shingi, an LA-based producer whose heart is in Seattle. (DJ Shingi, by the way, comes from the same village in Zimbabwe as Shabazz Palaces' Boy Wonder.) The beats, one of which is below ("Dynasty: Part 2"), are a part of an ongoing collaboration between me and DJ Shingi that explore the twilight zones between hiphop and cinema, image and sound, mood and movement.

The presentation happens Wednesday November 2, 6 pm at The Project Room.

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Thursday, October 27, 2011

MP3 / Teh Internets / 206 Free Beats By Giorgio Momurda

Posted by Mike Ramos on Thu, Oct 27, 2011 at 8:28 AM

Giorgio Momurda doesn't have just a hilarious name that conjures up images of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony in the studio with an Italian disco producer legend (hey, it happened with Phil Collins), he makes some pretty fresh slaps too. The Eastside resident released a free collection of what he calls "mainly throwaways" on Bandcamp earlier this week, but a few listens are enough to make you wonder what kind of heat this dude has stashed away if he thinks these belong in the trash. Momurda mines multiple genres for his tones and samples, mixing in dub (no bro) breaks and bass wobbles, warped or pitched-up/down vocals, even Asian string plucks. His drums tracks are consistently hip-hop, but range from spacey, downtempo head-nodders to straight Yay Area-style hyphy knockers. The third track "Mondre Momurda" appeared on Oakland duo Main Attrakionz' awesome Dark Grapes & 808s II—one of my favorite releases of the year—and features an incredibly smooth switch-up from cruising reggae bounce to breezy sax-sampling kickback halfway through the song.

<a href="http://giorgiomomurda.bandcamp.com/track/mondre-momurda-main-attrakionz">mondre momurda (MAIN ATTRAKIONZ) by Giorgio Momurda</a>

Momurda has also produced for the likes of Lil B, and is collaborating on an EP with fellow 425ers Kung Foo Grip to be released in the near future. Download Momurda's beats for free, bump to em, rap to em, talk shit about em in the comments, or whatever you prefer.

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