Archive

2012

New Track from Dntel and Baths

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April 26, 2012
2012, New Music
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Jimmy Tamborello, also known as Dntel, is best known for the part he played in The Postal Service back in the day. However, he’s still cranking out music under his Dntel moniker, and he has a new album called Aimlessness due out on June 5th via Pampa Records. Today we bring you a brand new track off the upcoming album. This one is called “Still,” and it features the lovable Baths, who contributes his signature choppy vocal glitches in a far more subtle way than we’ve seen before. The track is somewhat wistful and contemplative, with muted kicks and fuzzy side-chaining, and the whole thing is a little dissonant in a very pleasing way. Stream “Still” below, and then catch Dntel’s “Bright Night,” another single off Aimlessness, just below that.

Masta Ace and MF Doom!

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April 24, 2012
2012, New Music
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Been waiting for that epic hip hop collaboration between some of your favorite artists? Well, Masta Ace just dropped this bomb on us by revealing a song off his project with MF DOOM, MA DOOM: Son of Yvonne. I have to say that just seeing these two artists on a track made me excited, but an entire album…dangerously stoked. The album will feature Masta Ace spitting over Dooms flawless production. For a taste of whats to come, check out “Slow Down”.

Huh What & Where Compilation Album

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April 24, 2012
2012
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Huh What & Where (HW&W) dropped a free compilation album on 4/20 to appease all of their fans and to pay tribute to the holiday. The album features the likes of Ta-Ku, Evil Needle, Ohbliv, Ackryte, Mike Gao, Co.Fee, and many more from the label. You can stream the album below in its entirety. I will let the HW&W crew describe the comp themselves:

We’ve admittedly stayed real low key since our label’s inception. Truth be told, all of us over here behind the scenes at HW&W are just a bunch of lazy bastards. Now that we’re getting our shit together (sorta), here is the 1st of many HW&W compilations and this one is for free too! Not because we wanted to do something for the fans but because we didn’t think any of you would buy it. But really tho, we just thought we’d do this cuz without all of you rocking with Huh What & Where, none of this would be happening. Big ups to Juj for giving us his worst track he’s made recently and great thanks to Mike Gao for forgetting to send us a replacement for his track cuz he wanted to save this one for his album. Also special thanks to Papa Joe for allowing Sango, Koen, & Tek.lun to appear on this compilation, but most of all for his unquestioned dedication to #oceanswag. On a more somber note, we have a major beef going on between Elaquent and Ta-ku right now. Lives have been lost, triangles have been drawn…I just hope this serves as a way of bringing you guys closer and ending the violence.

New Track and Album Announcement from Purity Ring

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April 23, 2012
2012, New Music
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A few weeks back, we featured the genre-bending Toronto duo Purity Ring as our Sasquatch Artist of the Week. I can’t stop listening to these guys, and up until now I’ve had to loop through a few delicious tracks over and over again. Earlier this month, however, the band announced they had signed to 4AD and Last Gang Records, which was promising news for those of us who have been holding our breath for new material. The good news continues today, with an album name, release date, and a kick-ass single off the album. According to Purity Ring’s twitter, the new release will be called Shrines, and we can expect it on July 24th; check out the album art above. Listen below to “Obedear,” the first single off Shrines. It’s a little more low-key than the tracks we’ve heard from Purity Ring thus far, but it doesn’t lack any of the precision or dreamy complexity of their previous songs. The production is spot-on, the vocals are mellow and pensive, and the lyrics are full of Purity Ring’s signature vivid, stream-of-consciousness imagery. You can download the track for free at their website.

Two New Tracks from Hodgy Beats and Domo Genesis

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April 20, 2012
2012, New Music
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Last month, we reviewed the new album from Odd Future, OF Tape Vol. 2., and discussed how OF members Hodgy Beats and Domo Genesis, who used to ramble somewhat incoherently through clouds of smoke and unfocused bad attitudes, seem to be evolving their respective styles. Thus far, we have seen a certain resistance to production from outside the collective. Last year, in fact, in an interview with Pitchfork, Hodgy explicitly said:

I honestly don’t like working with people outside of Odd Future because I don’t want our sound to change. I want it to evolve, and that happens with people within the camp, not people outside the camp. When you make music, it should be fun. I’m not hating or anything, but I don’t want to be rapping over a Lex Luger beat. Why would I do that? I have my own beats.

This week, though, we saw two new releases from Hodgy and Domo, under their new moniker MellowHigh, and one of the tracks is produced by Lex Luger himself. “Timbs” isn’t particularly lengthy, but it’s enjoyable, and certainly far more focused than previous work from Hodgy and Domo.

Today, we have another new MellowHigh track, “Go,” this time produced by Thelonious Martin. This one’s a little longer and a little spacier, but it definitely exemplifies how well Hodgy and Domo complement each other musically. Maybe we’ll continue to see more material from these two, produced by talent from outside the collective.

Knxwledge drops new EP

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April 19, 2012
2012, New Music
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One of my favorite producers right now continues to put out EPs like its nobody’s business. He has dropped six releases on bandcamp in 2012 alone and is still putting out sampleicious beats. He’s a master crate digger and I would love to see what samples he uses in just one of his releases. This time, Knxwledge drops “Karma Loops pt. 2” for us. Usually one would think that with this amount of output there would surely be a decrease in quality. For Knxwledge that decrease in quality has yet to come as far as I am considered and I am drawn back to his previous records countless times. You can stream the album below and here is a link for “Karma Loops Pt. 1” I highly recommend checking that out as well.

Low End Theory Brings Youthful Rebellion Full Circle

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April 19, 2012
2012, Live, New Music, Uncategorizable
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Last time El-P graced the Low End stage, via West Coast Sound

Everyone has that rebellious phase. Some last longer than others and they all manifest themselves in drastically different forms. No point in getting into all the musical genres rebellion manifests itself in as different people indulge differently, but whether it’s bumping K in some dark basement or running off from your family in a grungy van, the results are generally the same. My rebellious stage started around Freshman year of high school. After several years of listening to mainstream hip hop (Chicken & Beer was a personal fave), I decided I wanted more from my musical preferences. I don’t know whether it was my late introduction into skate culture, or the move from a quirky residential neighborhood to one of Seattle’s “cool” neighborhoods, but I began digging in used CD crates and scouring hip hop forums, resulting in the find of my life, Cannibal Ox’s seminal The Cold Vein.

The album warped my mind years before Warp ever had a chance. Granted, I didn’t understand the context of the majority of the lyrics, but El-P’s dark production was the driving force behind my newfound obsession. Being a pubescent teenager with trouble talking to girls and parent issues didn’t differentiate me much from the masses, but Vast Aire and Vordul Mega sure made it feel that way. As much as I love yelling “kill people, burn shit, fuck school” at the top of my lungs, OF can’t hold a torch to the tortured souls of the Def Jux back catalogue. Soon enough, Mr. Lif, Camu Tao (R.I.P.) and Aesop Rock became the guiding beacons in my life and RJD2’s Deadringer became my holy book. Eventually, I moved onto labels like Stones Throw, anticon and Delicious Vinyl, but my first love was, and always will be, Def Jux.

With that in mind, let’s bring it back to the present day. With promises of a “very special guest” from Gaslamp Killer and Daddy Kev, knowing full well that it would most likely be a Coachella holdover, as well as a scheduled performance from The Grouch and Eligh, the decision to trek to Lincoln Heights for Low End Theory last night was an easy one. After stellar opening sets from every resident (including a fair share of our man Baauer), and a sub-par half hour via Taurus Scott, Grouch and Eligh took the stage and ripped through tracks from No More Greener Grasses and Say G&E!. I should have seen it coming, knowing that Company Flow was/will be at Coachella, but halfway through the set (which also included an appearance from Luckyiam), someone shouted out that El-P was in the building.

Memories of high school quickly flashed across my mind, mostly bad, but some good, and soon enough, El Producto took the stage. He was only up there for 15 minutes, but that was plenty for me. If I could tell my 15 year old self I would witness El-P perform five feet from my face to a crowd of less than 100 people, I wouldn’t have believed it. The man hasn’t lost an ounce of charisma over the years. With the R.A.P. Music album with Killer Mike dropping May 15 and Producto’s newest solo venture, Cancer For Cure, set for a May 22 release date, it’s more than apparent he hasn’t lost the blue collar attitude that made Company Flow so great. Sure, Def Jux might be dead, but there is no doubt in mind that some 15 year old downloaded “The Full Retard” last week and is already digging into some Cool Calm Pete or Yakballz.

A Tale Of Two Singles: Are Major Labels Producing Better Hip Hop?

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April 17, 2012
2012, New Music, Uncategorizable
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Last April, The Smoking Section wrote up an excellent article on the “label that’s figured it all out;” namely, Atlantic Records. Atlantic is the home of artists like Wiz Khalifa and B.o.B, not to mention Plies, Musiq Soulchild, Diggy Simmons and Trey Songz. The Smoking Section article focused on the transition between the former three artists’ emersion as independent entities in contrast to their album releases through the label. Both Wiz and B.o.B. had built up venerable online followings, and their fans were clamoring for a proper release. The hype was a result of critically acclaimed mixtapes like Kush & OJ and Hi! My Name is B.o.B. Lupe had already released two critically and commercially acclaimed albums via Atlantic, The Cool and Food and Liquor, but it had been four years since the release of The Cool and both Lupe and the label were in drastically different places. The resulting albums, B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray, Rolling Papers and Lasers, all went RCAA Gold, an impressive feat for a label in our contemporary commercial music landscape. The label had been able to do what few others could; turn out consistent commercially successful hip hop albums.

That’s where the trouble starts though. Are any of the three previously mentioned albums actually hip hop records? Sure, the are rapped verses, familiar song structure, and appearances by guests like T.I., Eminem and Curren$y, but the albums prove to be a thinly veiled facade covering a disconnected series of singles. For example, the amount of mushy bullshit on Lasers is astounding, considering the completeness and conceptual genius of The Cool. The album serves as a vehicle to get “The Show Goes On” (a thinly veiled rip-off of the Modest Mouse classic) radio play and into GM commercials. Just before the album was released, Lupe stated in an interview with Complex that he hated the album and was forced to make “The Show Goes On.” Granted, Lupe has been a little erratic over the past several years, but it’s hard to imagine an artist of his caliber willingly succumbing to the creation of an album that panders as much as Lasers. It’s easier to see Wiz and B.o.B. abandoning their creative chops for a chance at commercial success, as it is somewhat doubtful that those chops existed in the first place, but they too turned out disgustingly thin albums.

What’s the point? In the past few weeks, two of the most hyped young rappers in hip hop, A$AP Rocky and Kendrick Lamar, released singles in anticipation of their respective upcoming albums. Both also happen to be associated with major labels; Kendrick with Universal, and A$AP with Sony. While I would argue that Kendrick is still under the Top Dawg Entertainment banner, it’s hard to ignore the influence that Universal might have over the upcoming Good Kid in a Mad City. Now, obviously Sony and Universal don’t have quite the penchant for turning promising rappers to the dark side that is commercial pop, but both have turned out their fair share of awful radio-ready puffballs in recent years. I believe that both A$AP and Kendrick are miles beyond Wiz and B.o.B. in terms of pure lyrical talent, beat selection and their respective posses, but again, it’s hard to ignore the effect of major labels. (Continue after the jump)

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Dr.Dre and Snoop Dogg live

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April 17, 2012
2012, Festivals, Live
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Tupac's hologram performance at Coachella

If you haven’t heard people in hysterics yelling ‘Tupac Lives!’ this show was the cause for that assumption. On Sunday, April 15th, for the first time ever in music festival (or world) history a CG hologram was used to reincarnate a rap icon.  Now besides the technological implications this has for the future of concerts and sports (Japan boasted the idea to equip 400 stadiums around the world with 3D flat screens that would make holograms of the players in the World Cup 2022. Thus allowing every country to ‘host’ the World Cup.) its a slippery slope in terms of how frequent artists use this technology to reincarnate nostalgic artists. Imagine if this was used to materialize Biggie, Mac Dre, Jimi Hendrix, Jerry Garcia and the list goes on.

In terms of the show itself, Snoop and Dre put on a killer performance. Bringing out an all-star cast including; Kendrick Lamar (performing The Recipe), Wiz Khalifa, 50 Cent, Eminem, Warren G, Kurupt, a giant projection of Frank Sinatra, and of course a hologram of Tupac Shakur. Backed by a full band this stellar lineup rocked the final night of Coachella. You can catch the hour long set on youtube below and I highly recommend watching the entire set for all of the guest performances and of course Snoop and Dre on the mic.