So, did I just somehow miss out on hearing about SonReal? I looked into some more of his stuff after I heard "Scream" and apparently he is pretty established and has some good tunes and good videos. In case you haven't seen it, here's his most viewed video on YouTube: "Already There".
I might be partial to this song because I am from South Carolina, but anyways its pretty James Taylorish if you are into that sort of thing/have a soul. Jason Harrod is an American folk musician who has won considerable praise including nomination for a grammy. He hasn't released any albums recently but continues to play. His next concert has food provided by his mom. If you're sixteen with some shit band, this is normal, if you have performed at Merlefest like Jason, this is awesome.
Oh yea my iTunes is broken, so can anyone tell me how I'm supposed to sleep at night?
So there are a lot of "Black" bands out there these days that kick ass. Black Keys, Black Lips, Black Angels - all getting a ton of press at the moment...
Anyways, all of these Black bands have some serious talent, but the one that is particularly rockin' at the moment is the Black Angels. These guys are a bluesy, psychedelic rock band from Austin, TX who trace their name (The Black Angel's Death Song), sound, and image back to the Velvet Underground. Check them out.
I feel like the name "The Matrix" could not be more appropriate when paired with Bassnectar. He's dropping a new album August 1st. Hold on to your nuts.
And the dude in the background of the picture looks like Matt Dillon, but a little slow.
"Who is this legend?" I asked myself when I saw this video. And holy shit did I find a story when I looked into Kyle "Face" Myrick who garners the rap name "Stalley." This is one of my longest posts ever because this story is so awesome. You want to read this.
Myrick once was a standout shooting guard at Overbrook High in Philadelphia, PA, Wilt Chamberlain's alma mater. Myrick graduated in 1998 after averaging 20 points a game his senior year, earning all-Philadelphia Public League honors and being awarded the MVP of the Public League All-Star Game in 1997.
His play garnered some nice looks from local mid-level Division I schools like Drexel and La Salle, but grades and a lack of academic discipline sent "Face" (a nickname his mother Shiela bestowed upon him for his assorted facial expressions as a child) across the country to Lassen Junior College in Northern California.
Myrick stayed there for a season before returning home. He had attracted the attention of schools like UNLV, LSU, Nevada and Hawaii, but home posed larger problems. Myrick still associated with some of his boyhood friends, a number of whom were street hustlers or still living the thug life. One night, Myrick was with a group that locked horns with another on the mean streets of North Philly.
There was no gunfire, but punches were exchanged and someone was hospitalized. Someone had to be charged. Myrick was one of them, receiving 11½ to 23 months, beginning his stint in Philadelphia County jail and then being transferred to a Delaware County correctional facility, ironically not that far from where Myrick now plays.
"I was mixed up in what went on that night," Myrick admitted. "I was throwing punches. I had to defend myself, but they put us all together. The only thing that I kept thinking about was getting another chance. I'm a good person and I wanted another chance. The first days in there, you don't get no sleep. The food is horrible. I cried my first couple nights in there; you can hear other guys crying, too. They won't admit [it], because they have to be hard, but everyone cries in prison.
His release date of Dec. 8, 2002 is now what Myrick calls "the greatest day of my life."
"I told my mother when I came home that I was never going to back to prison again," he said.
Instead, Face went back to Philadelphia trying to rekindle his hoop cred. He hit every major summer league, playing against every local Philadelphia pro from Aaron McKie to Cuttino Mobley to Philadelphia 76ers star guard Allen Iverson.
Myrick attracted the attention of Lincoln University in Chester County, PA, where he went to play in 2004 after a year at Riverside JUCO in California. On November 19, 2004, the first game of the season, the 6-1 guard gave a glimpse of things to come, posting 36 points. He finished that first year with 727 points, averaging 26 per game and leading the Lions to the postseason for the first time since 1999.
Myrick came into the 2005-2006 season on the Street & Smith’s second-team All-American team. He proved the early season hype leading Lincoln to a program best 25-5 record and first NCAA tournament berth. Myrick finished the year as the leading scorer in Division III, averaging 33.7, was second in steals with 3.7, and second in assists dishing out 7.9. He also cleaned up the post season awards, winning Division III National Player of the Year from Basketball Times, D3 Hoops.com, and the Association of Division III Independents. In some people’s minds, Myrick may be the best player in program history. The numbers do not lie. He was thefirst player in all divisions to score 1,000 points in one season since former NBA player Glenn Robinson did so for Purdue in 1994.
Some thought Kyle could play in the NBA, but he never did and focused his attention on music. He got his start connecting with Ohio DJ Terry Urban in 2008 and has since worked with Mos Def, Nike, ESPN, 10Deep and Mishka.
Dirty. Them Crooked Vultures is a rock supergroup formed in Los Angeles in 2009 by John Paul Jones (left), former member of Led Zeppelin; Dave Grohl (right), of Foo Fighters and former member of Nirvana; and Josh Homme (middle), of Queens of the Stone Age and former member of Kyuss.
Woah. Trippy. I can't stop staring. The guy's name is Kyle Jones and the text below is a message from him. He's actually a professional graphic designer, and very talented I might add. I've included one of his videos below. Check out some of his work: http://work.justkyle.com/.
"I just happened upon this trick when testing what it was like filming from inside my guitar. *Note this effect is due to the rolling shutter, which is non-representative of how strings actually vibrate.
Tips:
• You must have the strings brightly backlit to get the camera to capture at such a high frame rate (pure conjecture). You can see how the effect fades when the buildings come into view.
• Use a pencil
My man. Jermaine Cole, better known as J. Cole, was the first rapper to be signed to Jay-Z's label Roc Nation. He was born in Frankfurt, Germany, and at the age of 8 months old, moved to Fayetteville, North Carolina where he was raised by his mother and aunt. After high school, J. Cole decided that he had a better chance of getting signed in New York City, so he attended St. John's University on an academic scholarship where he majored in communication and minored in business, graduating magna cum laude.
How the flying tits do you add more energy to a song like "Levels" by the Swedish mastermind Avicii? Ask these remix artists - they did it. Depending on your taste in music, you may like them better than the original, which, I have to admit, is pretty hard to top.
SBTRKT's self-titled album has been one of my favorites this year. The London producer's single, "Wildfire", has sky-rocketed in popularity, as shown by Drake's remix of the song.
Dude has got some funky fresh rhythms. And he appeals to just about anyone. In fact, I was playing "Wildfire" and a 70-year-old woman next to me was getting down, even asking me "who is making that delightful noise."
And in case you are wondering, the name is pronounced SUBTRACT. Sound it out dumbasses...
"Who else could put the hipsters with felons and thugs?"
That's a very good question. It's funny how there are all of these skinny jean wearing, man-purse holding, vegan hipsters that are so into hip-hop (and I say that as the thuggest white hoodlum anyone has ever seen). You can't really compare wimpy hipsters to the rock-slangin' gangsters who make most of the rap out there...
But, looking at Tyler The Creator and the rest of Odd Future, they are kind of hipsterish. And Pusha T, former Virginia Beach coke dealer, is able to merge the hipster and gangster worlds in this track.
Another hot track from Slick Mahony (I hope my sarcasm is obvious). I'd say the YouTube description for this video below is about all that needs to be said.
"Newly signed Pop sensation SLICK MAHONY debuts with his hot new hit single 'SEX SYRUP' featuring YUNG HUMMA - A TUMMISCRATCH BEAT courtesy of BROWN NOTE STUDIOS ..."
Let's take a trip to Athens, GA - home of the Bulldogs, Alex Board, and the up-and-coming band Reptar. Yes, their name is a reference to the green dinosaur in Rugrats on Nickelodeon, and they have been working with Ben Allen of Animal Collective fame to produce some newer tracks and a particularly addictive gem, “Stuck In My ID” is below.
Usually I don't like white rappers - and, for that matter, just white people in general - but this new song by Hoodie Allen is pretty good. By the way, if Hoodie Allen's actual name is Hoodie Allen you can call me Doo-Rag Rawles. There's just no way.
UPDATE: Hoodie Allen's real name is Steve Markowitz. Ha.
UPDATED: Me n my music producer buddy Matt Huckfeldt just mastered Midnight Shutterbug. If you downloaded the old version, re-download it - this one's better.
Awww shiyiit.
So I woke up this morning with a tremendous hangover and began to listen to M83's new hit "Midnight City." I've found myself pretty obsessed with the song over the past couple of days - the background music is just addictive as fuck. My only criticism was the gloomy, less-than-average vocals. I know someone out there agrees with me and will mash it up with something else soon, but a quick google search showed me that no such mashups exist yet. So I took the project on myself.
I release to you my first song. Haha I hope yall enjoy it.
To download, go to the song's link and:
For PC: Right Click & "Save As"
For Mac: Ctrl+CLick & "Download Linked File" (Safari) or "Save Link As" (Firefox)
This is perhaps one of the oddest collaborations I could imagine. But, it's bitchin'. Some things just don't mix, like bacon and chocolate. Oh wait, WRONG. It's delicious. It's called a "Bacon Bar." And you wouldn't think rollercoasters and booze would mix. Well, You're WRONG AGAIN. Kind of. Depends on how much you like puking...
But you get the point. Sometimes mixing the unexpected brings something great. Like in this case, mixing Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes and Wu-Tang.
From the indie movement going on right now, there are a few bands that stand above the rest. Beirut, a band from Sante Fe, New Mexico that blends "Balkan folk" with the indie alternative style, just released their new album, The Rip Tide. They use a ton of horns, trumpets, flugelhorns, glockenspiels, euphoniums, and ukeleles. If you don't have a big wad of spit in your mouth after saying that out loud...then...you can be better than me.
On a side note, I don't like the name Beirut. It's Beer Pong, not Beirut. Just a pet-peeve of mine. Like how some people say necked instead of naked. Drives me funkin' crazy. Ackrite and Speakrite, Bitch.
Keepin' it mellow with this gem. Morcheeba are a British band mixing influences from trip hop, rock, R&B, and pop. You'll hear it all in "Big Calm." So tight.
Two of the best go against a soulful ringer. The anticipated collaboration between Jay-Z and Kanye West, Watch The Throne, will be dropping on August 1st. Competition benefits both parties, so I expect that to be epic.
Kanye West & Jay-Z - Otis
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The latest from M83 - an electronic/dream pop act by French musician Anthony Gonzalez. It is named after a spiral galaxy, Messier 83 - no wonder, as their music sounds spacey. Magically spacey, I might add.
Here's a cool video by Orelha Negra, featuring the artwork of Vhils, Portuguese street artist Alexandre Farto. He's most famous for his graffiti-like work, usually on walls and billboard. In this case, he uses "explosive-etching", loading charges into walls and blowing up bits of the wall to create an image. This sounds like every pyromaniac artist's dream.
Mo Eazy, a Nigerian rapper, used Orelha Negra's tune to rap over which is also pretty spanktacular. Check it.
I couldn't find a picture of my man Sol, so I figured no one could complain about this picture. The girl's name is Lane Lindell. She's was Ms. America in 2008 and somehow I found myself at dinner with her and 5 others 2 weeks ago. She's really not that hot - just photogenic.
Indie rock music videos are often strange, and the new official vid for Foster the People's "Helena Beat" is no exception. Please turn your headphones down for the first 20 seconds or you will regret hearing the terribly high-pitched transmission sound that they decided to incorporate into the buildup. Great song.
These guys are the tits and are making a big splash in the underground music community. Shabazz Palaces is a Seattle-based hip-hop group that uses some electro-heavy bass rhythms to make some one-of-a-kind music. It’s different from just about all other kinds of hip-hop, but it is so damn catchy.
The group consists of Ishmael Butler, who you might recognize from the badass old school group Digable Planets, and Erik Blood, who has a background in traditional African drumming and electro-mixing.
This group is really young, although Ishmael has been around for awhile, starting in 2010. I have a feeling these guys are only going to keep getting bigger and bigger.
Purity Ring is a duo whose sound comes from the forefront of the new wave of indie music. The first song "Lofticries" combines an indie-synth sound with dubstep samples that gives it a mysterious tone. The track takes a stab at hazy perfection. The second song "Ungirthed" uses high-pitched blipdrop keynotes and a Chewbacca-sounding vocal sample to bring us a groovy beat. Both tunes feature pretty ridic female vocals.
The Chili Peps are back. After a 5 year hiatus since Stadium Arcadium, we’ve finally got some new music from the dudes. I haven’t heard much of the band’s whereabouts in a while, except depressing news that RHCP’s front man, John Frusciante had departed from the band.
Flea, the well-known bassist, played the National Anthem at the Rose Bowl a couple years back and has worked on a few projects with Thom Yorke, including starting up the super group “Atoms of Peace”.
To me, it seems like the once crazy, heroin-driven bunch of monkeys has shifted their funky and energetic style to a slower paced alternative rock style. While they’re still producing good music, but part of me does miss their old wild style.
I guess after almost all of the band has either died or had serious drug problems you start to run out of juice. However, their still truckin’ and their new album, I’m With You, is set to be released in September.
Surely you'll recognize this music from the movie "The Social Network." The song is intensely pensive and somehow makes Wiz Khalifa singing "Homey I'll Roll Up" seem meaningful.
"I’m your savior, I’mma text you when I can
She falling for me, so I’m gonna catch her when I can
And when I call you we back on, loving you with the strap on
A bald head in the winter, I keeps my hat on"
Lupe n' Black Thought team up with Nikki Jean in "Million Star Motel". White Thought was supposed to have a verse as well but he something came up and he couldn't make it to the studio for the recording sesh.
I heard this song and thought damn, this Guy Harrison bro is kickin' it old school style... Legit. Then I saw this picture of him reppin' lax (all be it 'Cuse) and knew he was TOO legit. Download his mixtapes off of DatPiff.com if you want more.
Speaking of the Late Greats (see post below), I’ve been meaning to post this for awhile.
Back at the end of May, one of the most respected musicians passed away. Gil Scott-Heron was a soul man, frequently speaking of the trifles of the African-American culture. His use of the spoken word, as heard in “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” has been credited with the birth of hip-hop and modern day soul.
Eminem, on the day of Scott-Heron’s death tweeted:
Months before Scott-Heron’s death, Jamie xx, an electro artist, came out with a mixtape, remixing a bunch of Gil’s tunes. This track is for you, C Rawles, Mott, Bonds, etc…god speed in the Big Asshole ("apple" while you hold your tongue).
2Pac is dead. Dead as shit. I can’t stand it when people say, “2PAC LIVES!!!” No, he’s dead, just like Biggie, just like Abe Lincoln, just like my old dog, Deuce. Dead.
But that doesn’t mean that his posse can’t release some bitchin’ tracks from time to time. A couple weeks ago, another one of Pac’s unreleased tracks was “leaked” and it’s hilarious. The track not only targets Biggie Smalls (duh), but also attacks other big name rappers, such as Nas. De La Soul, Bad Boy, Mobb Deep, and Dr. Dre, leaving Pac with a big grin in his grave.
“I thought this bullshit was over” – thinks Dre and Diddy. Nope. Who knows if there’s more to come.
“Don Makaveli bitch bow down to Death Row
F-ck what you say we untouchable now that we done shook Doc Dre
He ain’t made a beat in six years, swear he the shit
Won’t get no record sales suckin’ Nas dick”
What happens when you mix a little bit of OGK, a little bit of the Black Keys, one of Cleveland's finest, and two other rappin' trappin' happnin' dudes...
Simply looking at the description of the song made me go from 6 to midnight.
A few days ago, King Fantastic, the duo consisting of Killa Reese One and DJ Troublemaker, released a trailer for their upcoming EP, Death of Summer. Today via Twitter they released their first EP, "Locals Only."
Based on their last album, Finger Snaps and Gun Claps, I'm expecting big things from this Cali-clean dude. Not too sure what I think of "Locals Only" right now, but everything else they've put out is fuc-King Fantastic, so I'm sure they will not disappoint...
To download a song, go to the song's link and:
For PC: Right Click & "Save As"
For Mac: Ctrl+CLick & "Download Linked File" (Safari) or "Save Link As" (Firefox)
I'm sure a lot of yall have heard this rock ballad, but the trailer for the new flick "Horrible Bosses" which features this song has reminded me of how rock solid my private parts become when my ears are exposed to it. Add it to your iTunes library if you're missing it.
To download a song, go to the song's link and:
For PC: Right Click & "Save As"
For Mac: Ctrl+CLick & "Download Linked File" (Safari) or "Save Link As" (Firefox)
A jazzy jamfest comin' in hot. City and Colour is the recording alias of Canadian singer-songwriter Dallas Green. He's often accompanied by various indie rock musicians. For a country that fuckin' sucks so much compared to Americuh, Canada can really breed some musicians (see unrelated epic video below for details). Respek.
To download a song, go to the song's link and:
For PC: Right Click & "Save As"
For Mac: Ctrl+CLick & "Download Linked File" (Safari) or "Save Link As" (Firefox)
This psychedelic rock group from western Australia makes a single speaker sound like surround sound in an Imax theater. To me, "Lucidity" sounds like a Beatles/Jimi Hendrix/David Gilmour mash-up. And I wouldn't throw that kind of credit around lightly. Tame Impala is definitely on their way up.
Irish rapper seems like a complete oxymoron. But he pulls it off in a pretty cool way. And he is from Seattle, where they do things a little different from the rest of the US, mainly grunge rock and B boys.
Thanks to Laos2o6 for introducing me to this joint. You know who you are...
To download a song, go to the song's link and:
For PC: Right Click & "Save As"
For Mac: Ctrl+CLick & "Download Linked File" (Safari) or "Save Link As" (Firefox)
VS.
