The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper: Line Out: MP3

The Return of Tricky

Charles Mudede — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 11:52:19 -0800

Now that's what I'm talking about...

The singer is Francesca Belmonte and the tune is from an album, False Idols, that will be released on May 28th by the venerable !K7 Records. "Nothing's Changed" might become Tricky's ""Still D.R.E.".

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The Good Sin: Doing Wrong, Feeling Right

Sean Jewell — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 10:45:26 -0800

Realist rapper The Good Sin has been dropping one song per week, and one video per month as part of his #FallBackSeason campaign. The latest entry "Doing Wrong, Feeling Right" is philosophical, funky banger packed with the lyrical cathartis that's become his trademark.

The last two years in February the Seattle emcee has gifted us with the hiphop perfect EP Late, and 2012's rocky relationship record The Story Of Love x Hate. I inquired as to whether there was another album coming this February and he let me know #FallBackSeason is the plan for now, with a possible album in the future. We always look forward to hearing more from him.

Get your life right and go to his website and soundcloud to catch up on all the free downloads you shouldn't be allowed to miss.

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Bay Area Chronicles: New Friendzone Mix, Antwon, Kool A.D.

Sean Jewell — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 16:16:37 -0800

A mix by FRIENDZONE for February's Champion Sound column by Drownedinsound on Mixcloud

Oakland citizens Friendzone dropped a nice mix this weekend for UK publication Drowned in Sound. Friendzone, you may have noticed, is the cloud production duo making it rain joyful synth beats all over your favorite rapper's tracks. They recently stepped way out of the bedroom and into the lime light working for the green ova' boys themselves, Main Attrakionz (Squadda’s I Smoke... mixtape inspired them to start making beats), as well as one take ‘em or leave ‘em A$AP Rocky, whose stupid raps on his hit track “Fashion Killa” float by so smoothly on Friendzone’s production cloud as to go unnoticed. Thanks, Friendzone. They then reached manifest destiny working with North Carolina’s Deniro Farrar and came back home to the Bay to help out Antwon on a teaser (and probably album-worthy) track called "Automatic." Their soundcloud is a beggar’s banquet of free downloads just dying to help you fatten up that enervated iTunes library of yours.

Speaking of Antwon, do yourself a favor and go download In Dark Denim. At least once in your life you should hear a tongue twerk itself into heterosexual descriptors that’ll make your shoulders bounce and cheeks blush simultaneously. His latest tumblr raps are out on Himanshu Suri’s (Das Racist) Greedhead label. Check that stringy seventies action movie score rubbing up against thunderous synth sounds, and dude’s Biggie cadence meets Heavy D good looks. As is, I still prefer Antwon’s last effort End Of Earth more, but I do appreciate dude’s lock on that early ’90s charm everyone begs for and somehow ignores while complaining that hiphop is either A) Dead, B) Homophobic or, C) Should return to that ’90s sound. Stay relevant, internet comment section experts.

QUESTION JAM ANSWER (FEAT. BUSDRIVER & BEANS OF ANTIPOP CONSORTIUM) (PROD. AMAZE 88) by KOOL A.D.

Also from the bay: Kool A.D.'s most recent stream of consciousness mixtapes 63 and 19. Named after Alameda bus lines and chock-full-o' cool attention deficit style pop culture appreciation and appropriation, they’re free for download (after donation) over at Bandcamp. If you’re familiar with his work, you know what to do. If you’re not, let me just say: Kool A.D. is a rap game cubist, and when you look at a Picasso you don’t expect the pictures to straighten themselves out to look like other paintings. I invite you to jump into the rap avante-garde and hear his exploitation of your culture on jams like "Saved by the Bell," and "OK Computer." Kool stays on the offensive, straight stealing raps from Beck and declaring himself the "best white rapper" on the dis-titled "Rap Genius." Repeat offenders like Mike Finito and Amaze 88 on production make frequent appearances, as well as guest rappers like Meyhem Lauren and Kassa Overall, and personal favorite Busdriver. There’s a real production credit from Ad-Rock on a mediocre track, a fake credit (or just a sample) from Kanye on another, and even a Keyboard Kid-produced based gem titled “All Skreets.” If you don’t like his albums, maybe you prefer to buy some of his contemporary art?

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Pillowfight!

Sean Jewell — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 13:22:06 -0800

I've been waiting forever (and missed two Emily Wells concerts in the last year for no good reason) but it's finally here: Pillowfight is the collusion of producer and gifted multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Emily Wells, Dan the Automator (Deltron, Dr. Octagon, Handsome Boy Modeling School, Gorillaz, Cornershop), and artist David Choe. Rumors of their work together hit the internets early last year with a short video in Choe's own inimitable "dirty style."

The full self-titled album is set to be released on the 22nd of this month on Bulk Recordings/EMI. Given Wells' own body of work, from folk songstress to audaciously good violin looping rapper, and Dan the Automator's supernatural DJ skills, his patient, perfect selection of artists to produce, and the fact that he's also a classically trained violinist, this album has monumental potential.

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Macklemore and the Death of the Music Industry

Charles Mudede — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 11:54:29 -0800

The writing is on the wall...

Music is a much smaller and less significant part of many people’s lives than 10-20 years ago. There is more competition for our attention and the value of music has declined precipitously. This graphic shows the rise of digital against physical music, and the overall impact of piracy, widespread distribution and digital media on the music industry. The sad story is that overall the music business is shrinking. That is a fact that we all have to face. The silver lining in all of this may be on the horizon, but it cannot come soon enough for me. We have to do something to reverse the trend.

No reversing this trend. It began with Napster, and nothing can stop it. As for the silver lining, it may not be found in the record corporations but in the artists themselves. One of its current forms, for example, is Macklemore, who, as Larry pointed out, has achieved unprecedented commercial success by means that are not conventional but consistent with the distribution technologies of his and our moment. The recording industry should fear him more than it fears people pirating music on the web. It is wise to always fear producers more than consumers.

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Show You Suck's One Man Pizza Party III: Rest In Pizza

Sean Jewell — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 12:52:08 -0800

Chicago hiphopper Show You Suck has released his final piece in a trilogy of album/mixtapes called OneManPizzaParty.

OMPP3: Rest In Pizza is the most lyrically collected and sonically brilliant of the three. The half-mixtape-half-concept album closes in on the One Man Pizza Party idea and uses Show You Suck's flow to wrap story rhymes around the themes of addiction, relationships, food, and hiphop.

A lot of great music came out of Chicago this year. Rappers like Lil Reese and Chief Keef made amazing/disturbing music that caught national attention, though it remains unclear if superstars in ascension or collapse. The Lex Luger/Trap Rap/rapid synth snare sound Chicago has made it’s own was pushed to new limits by the likes of producers like Young Chop, and vituoso’s like MC Tree made themselves known by somehow capturing the pain of living in the clutches of a murderous city in a soulful, galvanizing way.

Among them, but distinctly different in style, is Show You Suck. More treated than trap, more hiphop than rap, Show You Suck’s advance in artistic ability can be seen plainly through his catalog of Pizza Party mixtapes. With every album the weight of his influences become imbued in his production and lyrics, but this one takes heavy advantage of this years most popular productions sounds to it's advantage. His hardcore music philosophy meets with his steady flows on a mish mash of silly songs about serious things from what's wrong with his relationships to what's for dinner. Rapping about beef, Big Gulps, pizza, carne asada, and chon chon (that’s food right?), Show You Suck finds a way to be humorous and thus, relatable, and instead of simply being relevant, has developed a unique sound through an obvious creative process.

OMPP3: Rest In Pizza is the confluence of Show You Suck's work to establish a clothing line, his rise in popularity with the blog-rap class of 2012, and his ability to understand that he’s good enough to both use that patented Chicago sound as a soapbox for his bizarre, thematic story raps, and draw attention to another less venomous side of Chicago. OMPP3: Rest In Pizza can be downloaded for free over here.

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"Another Dream" by Mmoss

Jason Josephes — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 18:18:32 -0800

It’s Thanksgiving and you don’t want anything heavy, so here’s a delightfully drowsy snack for you: “Another Dream” by the New Hampshire-based Mmoss. Love the Farfisa meets Robitussin sound of this one, and the rich harmonies are warm butterscotch for the ears. In fact, every time it comes up on shuffle I play it louder than I did the previous time.

Not sure if/when they are coming to town, but fingers crossed!

(Tip of the hat to Captain Obvious, the blog that featured this track on their monthly mixtape. You can pick up the latest volume — which also features tracks by Tame Impala, Mac DeMarco, Tori Y Moi and many more — here.)

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The Epic Pinder

Charles Mudede — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 14:50:53 -0700

Go here for a free download of J. Pinder's epically slamming "Lenore." Produced by Kuddie Fresh and J. Pinder and featuring the R&B pipes of Musiq Soulchild, the tune projects the moods at end of a relationship onto a big screen.

Lance Mercer/Fin Records www.finrecords.com

Checkout Pinder's record Clueless at Fin Records.

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Chimurenga Renaissance: PUNGWE Mixtape

Sean Jewell — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 11:52:03 -0700

Check out this mixtape that dropped yesterday in advance of Chimurenga Renaissance's (Tendai Maraire) forthcoming album. It's a promo piece put together by Tendai himself with help from Brooklyn DJ Chief Boima.

Both artists were born in Africa, and raised in America (Boima in Sierra Leone and Brooklyn, and Maraire in Zimbabwe and South Seattle), and the tape seamlessly merges the sounds of Tendai's hip hop with traditional and contemporary Chimurenga music. Boima goes deep into the record crates and pulls out music from Western to South Africa to include such folk heroes as Thomas Mapfumo and Youssou N'dour, and even uses some of Tendai's father Dumisani's music for the mix.

If you weren't already familiar with Tendai Maraire's lifetime of music (literally) through his family, his performances, or his production, you most definitely heard his work from under your rock on Shabazz Palaces Black Up in 2011. His chime toned mbira solos have been salient contributions to the rest of his Shona style rhythm section, and were part of the woozy mystery that made Shabazz Palaces the stand out hip hop act of the year. They introduce themselves again to you, along with a guest spot from Palaceer Lazaro himself, on the first track of the tape A Toast To Frame and Ro.

The rest of the tour through this brief history of African revolutionary music, is guided by a Tendai himself under his rap moniker Fly Guy Dai who aggregates a lifetime of worldly wisdom on the soulful Help Me Out, and professes scornfully on the street wise F U, over the very music that he so ardently embodies. Just like the music of Africa is neither a performance nor an art but a participatory event for all, Maraire is neither proposing revolution nor pitching a cultural ideal; he's relaying his life to you in song, and on extremely personal on tracks like Boom he's the Chimurenga Renaissance incarnate.

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Blue Sky Black Death's Very Wavy and Oceanic Aquatic Reveries Beat Tape

Mike Ramos — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 13:57:27 -0700

Behold the Destroyer

Half Seattle/half San Francisco production duo Blue Sky Black Death's popularity seems to have spiked over the last year or so — especially, as that official-as-hell blue check on their Twitter account suggests, among an Internet audience. Most of these newer fans don't realize that these guys have been making music since 2006, incidentally the first year a "tweet" was ever tweeted.

Released through blog Behold the Destroyer — who I have previously mentioned for their involvement with this immense act of #based public service — Aquatic Reveries compiles beats old and new, peaceful and menacing, some meant to zone out to and some normally rapped on by a certain local goon you may have read about before. It's not an album, but it's a well-put-together beat tape that includes tracks like "Chloroform" from their 2006 Mush release A Heap of Broken Images, "Shoot You Dead" from 2008's Babygrande Late Night Cinema, even recent Noir standout "Sleeping Children Are Still Flying" sandwiched between select instrumental versions of their Nacho Picasso collabs.

The whole thing flows ("Aquatic," har har) very well, and as Behold the Destroyer's typically great writeup suggests, is "a very chill and emotional listening experience that’ll put you in the right mindspace to get work done, fly, or communicate with various sea creatures."

Download Aquatic Reveries here.

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Thaddeus David f/ Av Young Blaze & Nacho Picasso - "Sir Lancelot"

Mike Ramos — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 13:16:04 -0700

"Sir Lancelot," Thaddeus David's first single following his Apprentice EP, sounds different than just about anything else he's released in the past. Abandoning the smoother boom-bap sound present on everything from his SOTA stuff to the Helluvastate album, Thad joins up with resident Seattle rap goons Av Young Blaze and Nacho Picasso on a "trapsylvania" slap that's all death-knell bells and eerie piano riffs. The entire thing works well, but it's not too surprising given his recent "Block Business" remix and previous Nacho collabs.

Stream it below or download it on Bandcamp.

Sir Lancelot Featuring Nacho Picasso & Avatar by Thaddeus David

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Have You Heard the New Stephanie Single Yet?

Mike Ramos — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 11:44:56 -0700

The local five-piece recently leaked the first single from their upcoming One Glove release, "Cell 44." The title is said once as "love, Cell 44," but bassist Ian Judd says it's not an intentional reference to the old Zombies song. The shifty, reverb-soaked track is just a small dose of the dextrous, "swirly," indie-rock goodness that the Erik Blood-produced One Glove—out this September—has to offer. And bonus points for that album title. RIP Bob Marley and Michael Jackson.

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Speaking of Snoop Dogg...

Mike Ramos — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 11:39:32 -0700

Did anyone notice the D-O-Double-Gizzle's almost-dreads in the photo from the below post? Turns out there's a reason for the rastaman look.

Snoop Lion is Snoop Dogg's new reggae alter-ego, and he released his first single "La La La," produced by Saturday night Block Party closers Major Lazer, last Friday. Billboard.com points out that "He's created a Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr and has reached out to celebrities through Twitter—such as the Kardashians, Martha Stewart and Rihanna—to send them "postive vibes" and links to "La La La." Okay then.

Stream "La La La" below. It's guaranteed to have you feeling irie, or just extremely weird about whatever the fuck is going on in the world today.

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Tyler The Creator & Toro Y Moi - "Hey You"

Larry Mizell, Jr. — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 11:48:33 -0700

My intentions, were wider than the summer
reflections in the lake being sung by Stevie

Is that the Goblin kicking another comfortably awkward love jam without reaching for the duct tape? Tyler and Chaz got a bit of a heater here. Apparently it's a leaked rough, but a studio version is allegedly on its way.

The Odd Future machine is kicked into high gear again—yesterday they announced, besides upcoming release info for Domo, Mellowhype, and Tyler, a US tour (with no Seattle date, they're focusing on cities they haven't hit yet). OF currently have a classic R&B album (I really mean it) on their hands with Frank Ocean's Channel Orange, and I'm loving their moves right now—hopefully they really earn all those Wu-Tang comparisons and hit a glory run of dope. Go listen to "Oldie" again, or at least the last verse: so instead of critiquing and bitchin', bein' mad as fuck, just admit, not only are we talented, we're rad as fuck.

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Listen to a Bunch of New Main Attrakionz Songs That Came Out on the Internet Today

Mike Ramos — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:52:41 -0700

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.

Other half of the Best Duo Ever Mondre M.A.N. and Green Ova fam member Dope G, who previously popped up on Kool A.D.'s "Town Business" track sounding like a #based Too $hort or something, also put out "I Can't Rap," apparently from his upcoming Zig Zag Raps mixtape.

Or hear both of them go in, in the true blog-baiting indie/rap crossover fashion that Main Attrakionz somehow manages to do so tastefully, over this reworked version of Dominant Legs' "Make Time For the Boy" by DJ Ammbush. Definitely the kinda stuff that will get you featured on, say, a "Stereogum Premiere".

Lastly, Brooklyn label Partisan Records announced today that they are launching a new imprint called Young One Records, and Main Attrakionz are among their list of signed artists. The label has seven previously unheard tracks up for streaming now, and are offering free cassette mixtapes of them to the first 75 people who sign up for their email list here. Main Attrakionz contribute the first two songs, the EA Sports-referencing, Scatman John-sampling (!!!) "All In the Game" and much more traditional "Ride For This."

Sources say that Main Attrakionz' next full-length is supposedly in the works, and I couldn't possibly be more excited about it. Seattle venues, however, will stay owing us Rap Junkies a proper show until the deed is done, in the meantime keep Cloud Skatin and enjoying these Perfect Skies, y'all.

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Thaddeus David's "Block Business" Remixed By Keyboard Kid

Mike Ramos — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 14:33:36 -0800

"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.

Block Business (Keyboard Kid Remix) by Thaddeus David

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

Mike Ramos — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 11:45:00 -0800

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.

Featuring (in order of appearance):

Mondre M.A.N., Squadda B, TRPLBLK, Chavis Chandler, Kool A.D., Big Baby Gandhi, Key Nyata, Isaiah Toothtaker, Joeybagadoughnutz, Dizzy D, Supa, Snaxx, Left Leberra, Don D, Rod Fuego, 9Gs, Zachg, Lakutis, Fat Tony, Lofty305, Lowercase, Himself the Majestic, Shady Blaze, Keyboard Kid, Antwon, Western Tink & Chippy Nonstop.

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The Return of Burial

Charles Mudede — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:14:27 -0800

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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Viper Creek Club Hit's the Spot with DTTTC Remix

Charles Mudede — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 14:01:52 -0800

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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Dear Musicians & Labels: Please "Feel Free" to Tag Your MP3s

Dave Segal — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:05:42 -0800

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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New Band Alert: Sub Pop Signs Poor Moon

Kelly O — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 11:45:40 -0800

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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Serving the New De La?

Charles Mudede — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:35:34 -0800

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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Thaddeus David - "By Any Means"

Mike Ramos — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 16:01:07 -0800

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.

By Any Means by Thaddeus David ft. Onry Ozzborn and Parker

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Johnny Jewel Unleashes Two-Hour Symmetry Imaginative Soundtrack

Charlie Swanson — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 10:04:59 -0800

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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Sub Pop's Spoek Mathambo Keeps the Hits Coming

Charles Mudede — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 17:31:09 -0800

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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For Your Consideration: Chev - Charles

Mike Ramos — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 11:47:31 -0800

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.

Let It Bleed by chev

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Now That's How You Use A Sample

Mike Ramos — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 14:16:57 -0800

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.

Fuck The Money by Silky Johnson

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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More Things You Can Do Today Involving Rap Music and the Internet

Mike Ramos — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 14:22:06 -0800

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.

Cloud :: KeyBoardKid :: by MondreM.A.N.

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

Mike Ramos — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 14:13:34 -0800

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.

Wifey (feat. Das Racist) [Prod. by Patrick Wimberly & Das Racist] by MishkaNYC

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.

Big Baby Gandhi is another first-generation Indian-American Queens native who happens to rap well and produce even better. His mixtape Big Fucking Baby is a backpack-rap (the Operation Doomsday kind, not the Anticon kind) throwback loaded with homemade, sample-laden beats and mad lyrical observations about feeling weird as a minority in America (be sure to check out the Weeknd-sampling "White World" if nothing else). His looped software beats and naturally skilled flows make it seem like he cranked out the lo-fi recording in just a couple days. Download that one here.

Big Baby Gandhi also collaborated with Das Racist's Kool A.D. a few months ago on a short but awesome EP hilariously titled Hyphy Ballads. Each of the five tracks were produced by the Big Fuckin' Baby and are centered around Björk sample flips, which is definitely worth checking out if you're a producer type. Kool A.D. provides goofy free-association verses, including one on the title track where he rhymes "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit" with "If you don't like this song, go suck a dick"* before fully going in with a double-time flow that includes the line "fly like a lesbian seagull" and stopping to let a Malcolm X speech ride out to the end. That one can be found here via a weird Das Racist fan Tumblr.

With only half-serious mixtape projects of this quality coming out on a regular basis, and with label head Heems' Nehru Jackets mixtape still on the way, this emerging Greedhead collective looks to be a source of quality New York rap tunes in the coming year.

*To be fair, he also says "fans of this stuff probly do acid and fuck."

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More Black (Star) Friday Goodies From Black Star

Mike Ramos — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 15:56:53 -0800

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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