This track is amazing in so many ways, I'd have to round up quintuplets (hollar at you Pisners) to count them out using fingers and toes of the same DNA. Blah Blah pitched up vocals. Blah Blah teddy-bear dance-style melody.
Apparently, the track is from some Paper Route Records (tripod.com website? baller.) outfit out of some place called 'Huntsville' - suspect? Regardless, my PBR infused rant ends now.
download Woodgrain [direct]
download Is It Because I'm Black [direct] | buy the album [amazon]
download Hollow Bones [direct] | buy the W [amazon]
A diamond in the rough, a super tongue in cheek contemporary baltimore club tune. If there was such a thing as comedy club, this would be a #1 tune. This showed up on holler.board this week and proceeded a wave of laugher and headshakes from all around. Just have a listen and have a great weekend. I'm off to the Borgata.
download Tittsworth - Nappy Head Ho
]]>...just kidding. FlavorHerd is Ben Woods (fellow WoodgrainFronts poster), Sam Retch-Bogart, and Jru Burrows.
I met these guys way back in my college days, at the illustrious MMS/MT departments of Northeastern University. The incredible flavorherd consistently delivers phenomenal mixes, remixes, and riddims to 'get the ladies open' as Jru can sometimes be heard to say.
And, word on the street, you can catch them at The Enormous Room in Boston (pronounced Baaaaaaaaahstaahn) this Saturday. Clearly worth it.
Download their newest mix: Radio Vol. 2
Unless you've been hiding under a rock and don't read any sort of music related news, then the whole DJ Drama & DJ Cannon arrest ting might be news to you. But everyone else knows at least of a little bit of the story. The whole legality of the situation is just another reminder of archaic laws being enforced in a fluid, progressive society. Gangsta Grillz was Drama's series of hip-hop mixtapes that had huge impact on many rappers' careers. And the first full length LP Drama will be producing will be "Gangsta Grillz: The Album" to be released in the middle of May. This is a hot tune that's been floating around for a few months now. It's a OK quality radio rip of what should be the debut single from the album. I think it's a great spring-time tune to get your headnod on to. The backing track is spot on, not to mention the star studded lineup: T.I., Young Jeezy, Willie The Kid, Jim Jones, Rick Ross & Young Buck. The rest of the album will be nothing to be shy about either. Juelz Santana, Lil Wayne, Three 6 Mafia, Clipse, Pharrell and Busta Rhymes (and more!!) are all rumored to featured.
download DJ Drama - Feds Takin' Pictures (Feat. Young Jeezy, Willie The Kid, Jim Jones, Rick Ross & T.I.)
buy Free Drama & DJ Don Cannon T-Shirts
The Double is my new ish. Special thanks go to Tikva for the intro and for hype-ing them up (which they deserve, really). I have no background info on these folk, but I'm sure all anyone would care to know (and more?) is just a hyperlink away. So what do I know? The Double throws out dirty, grimey, filthy, refreshing tracks. Crooning, whining and distortion in the best combo. Well, their debut, Palm Fronds is, anyways. According to a certain Other Music counter-jockey, they lost much of that special something on their second full length. In any event, Palm Fronds is perfect for this weird, transient weather we've been having... and for the shift that NewYorkCity goes through at the season-changes.
There's a Deli feature (shout out to Xin) on The Double, but I'm not going to read it and regurgitate, etc.
download Blanket On The Beach [direct]
download A Throw Of Distance [direct]
download Standing On A Levee [direct]
buy Palm Fronds [Other Music]
]]>
In light of today's fantastic weather, here's a nice jam from Roy Ayers Ubiquity. Everyone should have this in their collection. Perfect for the spring weather ahead.
download Everybody Loves the Sunshine [direct]
]]>
One of the stand-outs of my little escape was Ahmad Jamal's 1972 Reevaluations: The Impulse Years. Beautiful record. Ahmad is light yet passionate on his keys, tripping all up and down the board, not afraid to break off and go nuts, but always catching himself before things got too carried away. That's a little bit like how I feel right now, only my fumblings seem a lot less graceful. But who ever said grad school was easy? Thesis, bah.
But back to the music... Ahmad Jamal has long been one of my favorite musicians — not only of Jazz musicians, not only keyboard players, but of musicians. One of those Pittsburgh-bred holy-men, Jamal has played with all the greats.
Tranquility has always been my favorite cut on this record. Melancholy, playful, the ultimate haunting bi-polar, with the slant forever towards the dark. Recorded in 1968 and produced by the great Bob Thiele, this recording of Tranquility might be eclipsed buy other great tunes of the time... but for a cool, relaxing evening, it's hard to beat.
download Tranquility [local - 20mb]
]]>
download "Classic" [zshare] fixed
Anyway, the standout track off the upcoming LCD Soundsystem album (Sound of Silver) is a rocking slow-jam called "New York I Love You." It's basically James Murphy talking about how disappointing New York has become in the last couple of years. It's become safe and bland and boring, mostly with the influx of a bunch of relatively well-to-do white people with too much time and money on their hands.
However it is called "New York I Love You" after all, and in the end we all still love New York, no matter how upset we are with it. So for all you NYC dudes and ladies out there, keep holding it down and proving me wrong.
And since I have no moral compass, here's some tracks off the leaked LCD Soundsystem reckit:
North American Scum [zShare]
New York I Love You [zShare]
I first came across (Mad) Skillz, the Virginia based ghostwriter and rapper, in Boston in 2000 when he and his hype man opened for Xzibit at Avalon. Skillz, the highlight of that show came out to a small crowd and ripped it before the X to the Z came out to a capacity house and slowly emptied it out. Skillz stole the show with "Ghostwriter" a song in which he called out all of the mainstream acts for using his rhyme and , from Lil' Kim to Mase, Skillz claim to write for em all, and only get paid by some. Then before leaving the stage he and his hype man did a ping-pong back and forth freestyle using only classic lines from classic rhymes.
After that show I searched every bootleg outlet for (Mad) Skillz songs but only found one thing, a little franchise that Skillz had been puttin together since before the y2k. Skillz yearly Wrap Up. A once a year treat where Skillz jacks the years most recognizable beats and then dissects the previous year in hip hop the way only he can. Other biters tried to jump on this back in 03, so Skillz quit the franchise, but Southern and East Coast Dj's and fans wouldn't let it rest and resurrected it. Skillz ripped it in 03, '04, '05, and here's '06.
download Skillz "'05 Wrap Up" [Breakdown FM Odeo Blog]
download Skillz "06 Wrap Up" [zshare]
]]>1. GAUZE (ガーゼ)
These guys are in their forties or something, they've been around since the begining of hardcore, and they were kind of old then. Well let me tell you, I had the chance to see them live in Tokyo and they kick every other hardcore band's ass. 30-40 minutes of some of the most blisteringly fast thrash I'd ever heard, non-stop, no song breaks. They performed physically on the level of Converge or something. Their records don't disappoint either. Check out the following:
download kao o aratte denaoshitekoi (wash off your face and go start over) [zshare]
go to the band's website
2. MIND OF ASIAN
Kick-ass thrash from an all-female group of four. These guys toured the US last year, so maybe you saw them. Maybe not. Well you should have. Coming from a scene where females at shows are a huge minority (I saw 3 at the GAUZE show), and where they certainly never play music, these girls are not only bold and innovative, but they are awesome at what they do. And what they do is rock your face off:
download konna yo no naka (in this world) [zshare]
download aoi shima (blue island) [zshare]
buy chinmoku no kiri no naka (in a silent fog) [amazon]
3. Jellyroll Rockheads
Sadly this band has disbanded, but that doesn't stop their discography of fun, accessible thrash from completely blowing me away. This was the highest recommendation of my friend Max, and I can see why. An awesome thrash/garage/punk blend that goes great with activities like skating, driving, knitting and even eating jellyrolls...whatever they are. Listen:
download Road To Ruin [zshare]
download No Skate No Thrash [zshare]
buy Wake Up, Music [thrash on life]