All Rap, all the time.

Everyones going nutters over the Big K.R.I.T mixtape, reason being it's fucking outstanding. Old school in both it's obvious debt to pre-Stankonia Outkast and in it's grotesque 22-track length, it never the less manages to be consistently great. His productions probably a lot better than his rapping at the moment, but his productions super nice so it's no bad thing. I would've paid serious cash for a proper copy of this, but it's up for free so no excuses.

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Also working out their inner Outkast are A.Dd+, who on 'When Pigs Fly' sporadically feel very special and the rest of the time fall short. The tracks where they work though are great (if a little TOO derivative of our ATLien friends), so hopefully they develop a bit of consistenty.






After two artists dropping throw-back southern futurism (how delightfully post-modern a concept..) we may as well stick in Action Bronson, who's doing all that New York ever does, Boom Bap and hard lyrics. Guy sounds near identical to Ghostface at times and this is no different to anything coming out of New York in the past 20 years, but if you like that you should like this. Easy.

Pusha t - Fear of God

One half of Clipse just released their first mixtape, under Kanyes G.O.O.D Music imprint. Pusha has always been the more engaging out of him and Malice, and certainly the one I'd prefer to listen to for a whole solo disk. Still, he's not entirely unsupported in his venture. 50 Cent, the baws Rick Rozzay and (the actual boss) Kanye show up to rap over typically synth heavy beats. Pusha pushes himself lyrically on some tracks, but mainly sticks to the standard rapping about selling coke. It works for him though, and the whole thing goes incredibly hard so no complaints.

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Oneirology

CunningLynguists just dropped a new album, titled as above. Producer Kno released a record last year that was big on beats but a bit light on decent rapping. That seems remedied on this release, which you can listen to for free over at their Bandcamp. The music is more about atmosphere than huge bangers, but it seems like a perfect sort of late night listen. The stream link is here and it should be available to buy physically next week.

Atmosphere

Slug was on 6music today, I think because Nemone liked the video with the dog. I'm not entirely sure if Nemone likes music (except the Smiths, any excuse to play the Smiths) but fair play for having Slug on. It is also nice to know that being a failed Greek athlete qualifys you for a lunch time 6music slot. I'm a failed British athlete, infact I fail at a whole bunch of shit, regularly ! Give me a job yo.

Interview is buried in here somewhere.

The Original Dom Kennedy

A really impressive amount of high quality mixtapes have dropped this year. This one by Dom Kennedy is my favourite at the moment. Really smooth update on the traditional West Coast sound. At some point I'll do a summary of all the best free hip-hop posted up since January, for now just feast on this.

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Greg Greasy

Two tracks off The Giving Tree EP, out (for free I think but I could be very wrong) April 20th. Not feeling the second MC on Wizards of the Coast but you know, it's about pirates and shit so its all fine by me.

Can also grab last years 'Tribute To The Lakes' EP by cliking me.


Wizards of the coast by Greg Grease

tune yards

This is either incredibly catchy or irritating in the same way getting repeatedly jabbed in the eye is. Or maybe it's both. It is, at the very least, interesting.

A Lull

A Lull, band of "that video posted down below" fame, have been good enough to post the entirity of their forthcoming album up on Soundcloud. This placates my frankly needless (it's not even a pre-order that rewards you with goodies, I just love clicking 'Buy' buttons) desire to pre-order right now, instantly, this moment, "Confetti". Not however because it's a bad record, it is rather sublime. It sounds like that one good Plants and Animals album, with dashes of These New Puritans (mainly in those bigbig drums) and another influence that I can't for the life of me place to name, but know is definately there whatever it is.


Confetti by A Lull

Perfectly justified hype.

Album out April 12th

Dumbtron

This video by Dumbtron was uploaded in January, which makes me late to the party, but I'm digging it pretty hard. Luckily I think I'm still in early enough to claim some hip-cat points when they blow. That'll teach me for ignoring Mr.Lif records though, where Dumbtron made an early appearance alongside Vinnie Paz (who worryingly, I find ever more palatable). Peep a live, in studio, in video performance, below.

Bo Becker

Ambient Drone artist Bo Becker has released a new EP, "Transpiritus". Comprised of 3 tracks, it works to form a very cohesive 30-minute mini-album . It was made using heavily processed cellos, guitars and a harp, and crackles, waves and undulates in suitably relaxing fashion. As Mr Becker puts it " It is meant to be played loud, with eyes closed and mind open". If you order the physical version (of which there are but 25 copies) he'll throw in Decembers 'Zephyria EP' as well.

Head over to his bandcamp to either drop $5 on the physical, $3 on a digital copy or to just stream all 3 tracks for free. Below is Transpiritus II.

I feel that every year, March 9th, Google should roll out a themed Biggie Smalls logo on their homepage. I've seen it done for far less important people, I'm sure the entirity of Thomas Edisons contributions to the modern world still wouldn't stack up against "Gimme the Loot".

All the Videos.

3 videos actually, and sticking firmly to my tradition of seemingly only plugging rap music from Minneapolis (I'll branch out geographically I swear), new videos from Atmosphere (cute dog!), Sims (cute bear !) and Blueprint (just Blueprint really).

F.Stokes

This is from last year, F.Stokes from the Lazerbeak produced EP "Death of a Handsome Bride". Beat reminds me of some old Atmosphere business and I like it very much. Get it from doomtree.net for a meager 6.95 ish.

Affiliyated

Last year Gayngs put out the 'Relayted' album, featuring a slew of Minneapolis musicians including Doomtree's Dessa and P.O.S, the latter crooning like a gent. The album was slooow, mellow, cheese laden and contained enough electric bass and sex-sax to make it an adequate soundtrack to Lethal Weapon 5 (should they bastardise the worlds greatest film franchise sometime).

The Doomtree crew were given bits of the record to grind up and smush together into a sticky paste of a free remix project. Havn't checked it yet but you probably should (though the link is currently down).

Tracklist as follows, link after yo.

01 “Fight, Fuck, Fall Asleep” (Sims:vox Cecil Otter: regrind)
02 “Coercion Van” (MK Larada: regrind)
03 “Cologne & Water” (Paper Tiger: regrind)
04 “Draper Drunk” (Mike Mictlan: vox, The Chocolate Ox: keys, Plain ole Bill: regrind)
05 “No Scrubs” (P.O.S: vox, regrind)
06 “Sprinkle Juice” (Lazerbeak: regrind)
07 “Sand In The Lotion” (Cecil Otter: regrind)


Invite me to your Hard Drive

or stream on Soundcloud

Yes to themed months.

Because, as brothers, we decided to print off the wikipedia list of bands that suit the "post-rock" criteria. We may now begin the rummage through hard drives and cd's to compile a months worth of noodling and pretense.

We'll be starting with Talk Talk though because, for those who weren't aware, they were the best band in the fucking world and everyone who's anyone rips them off on occassion.

Standardly late on this, new(ish..) Blueprint, new album April. S'good.

Toro Y Moi

The internet is alive with Toro Y Moi praise, by all sorts of people more authoritative than me on the subject. Many seemed to praise him for moving on from a prior chillwave inclination. I have zero idea what chillwave is meant to sound like, to be honest it fills me with the same sense of dread that 'Witch House' did and I know what that is, it's fucking rubbish. Anyway, it's mad decent and it makes me do my funk dance, which is my favourite to do.

The new TYM album is called "Underneath the Pine". Here's a track what I like.





Realised I got the Sims album posted to the wrong address, so I only got my hands on it at the start of this week. It surpassed all my expectations and is easily my favourite Doomtree release of all time. Sims is so good at doing the simple things pefectly and Lazerbeaks production, which sometimes suffers from being a bit one paced and having a lack variation in drum sounds, trys all sorts of new things. He kills it. It does end with a fairly rubbish Cecil Otter produced hidden track though. I'll let them off and begin construction on my paper animals.

This track features P.O.S. Swaggered to death and going hard in the paint. I know what that means, honest to goodness.

It was already a pretty great day, then Atmosphere dropped a new song and things get even better. Following the To All My Friends/Blood Makes the Blade Holy EP's, they continue to get ever more musical, with the live instruments and what not (what does Ant do these days ? tap out drums ?). I'm sucker for anything with organs, there's not a single genre that isn't improved by a spot of Hammond, specifically Hammond Organ recitals and laid back hip-hop. New album "The Family Sign" out April 12th.


Atmosphere - Just For Show by rhymesayers

Frank Ocean..

..makes Odd Future (yeah I'm on that wagon now) endorsed R'n'B that sounds at times like 808's & Heartbreak's done by someone who can put a melody together. I loved that album anyway so this is my favourite thing in a while. It's FREE and all, who doesn't love free ?

Novacane below, album download link after that.





http://www.mediafire.com/?wjro8xxbcwi27e5

Krautrock February

Is the themed month in the lounge of the French's. Have some Can why don't you ?

Pre-gibberish listening.

I'm trying to keep music resolutely 2011 in 2011 (Akron/Family's "S/T II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT" next, and probably some Saigon) but I thought I'd drop in Mitchell Museum, who I think released their debut album in November time. They're the sort of band who like to put things out on Cassette, which might tell you all you need to know about them. Still, they're chirpy and scottish and on the weirder, Animal Collective, side of the spectrum.

Tiger Heartbeat by mitchellmuseum

You're not a rapper on the come up until someone has asked you to rap in your car.

City of Music: SIMS from MPLS.TV on Vimeo.

If I'd had an internet connection for the past month, I would've posted about the following in timely fashion and it would've been glorious. As it is I didn't, so I havn't;

Sims just dropped Bad Time Zoo, composed entirely of Lazerbeak patented Lava Bangers and packaged with a boxcutter to make your own origami Lion (origami is the one in 2011, believe it) out of the packaging. It's still mid-delivery over the Atlantic (if that's the correct ocean..) but 'Beak killed the beats on the Hand Over Fist record with Mictlan, and Sims has been rapping seriously hard since his slightly disappointing turn on the Doomtree crew record so I'm suitably pumped. Instead of the usual barrage of violent threats that usually occampanies my 'tree pimping, I'll just say it's going to be stupid good, full of huge beats AND HAS ORIGAMI ANIMALS DID I MENTION.






At some other point in February I would have said that the eclectically minded folk at the porcupine tree forum put me on to an album by Hotel of the Laughing Tree that's both utterly bizarre and the type of thing you could play on radio One. It's called Terror and Everything After, it has riffs, trumpets, gang chants, riffs and one really awful song that sounds like Status Quo.

They have a myspace, we all know how to use that particular dinosaur of a social network, search dat.




Finally and almost chronologically, I would've posted that the thought of sitting through Fleet Foxes at Green Man festival fills me with dread, terror, woe and all other synonyms. I sort of thought there might be a rush for tickets this year as Green Man got bigged up a lot last year and there were all sorts of young people (yup, I'm one of those ruddy yobs ruining Green Man for the chuldren) about. Seeing the announced line up so far, you could probably buy the week prior. Here's hoping for a little less folk and a little more weird noise and yelping in the next line up update.


Yeah I thought I'd blog about music occasionally, save me trolling all your facebooks with bangerafterbangerafterbanger. It'll never be as lengthy as this, I swear.