Best Of 2011 part 9

Phantogram- "Nightlife"

These guys definitely have a good thing going. I definitely prefer the songs where the female sings. These guys are the definition of simple yet effective.

Charles Bradley - "No Time For Dreaming"

As evidenced by my rave review of his concert, i'm obviously a fan. It's hard to believe this is his first album. Menehan Street Band backs him up and they go together perfect.

Blue Sky Black Death- "Noir"

I didn't really expect much of this after hearing the hip hop beats they made for rappers like Jean Grae and Hell Razah, which were decent, but nothing special to me, but this album has me wanting to hear more from them. Some of this stuff kinda comes off similar to Blockhead's music or something in that vein, but most of it has it's own dark and unique feel within this hiphoppy side of the electronic world. I especially love the chilled out, fucked up, Screwed and Chopped mixes they gave as a bonus. So good.

Sole - "Nuclear Winter Vol. 2"

Very solid.

Hype Williams - "One Nation"

What a strange act. They steal an old rap video director's name and release non-categorizable and mega fucked up productions that are strangely catchy or compelling or both. They rarely fall into the realm of annoyance that most people that are experimental as they are do.

Africa Hitech - "Out In The Streets"

The VIP version of this track that's on this single is extremely hard hitting. That Barrington Levy sample gets stuck in my head for days.

The Dirtbombs - "Party Store"

A rock group doing an album of all techno covers. Somehow they made it work.

Shlohmo - "Places"

I love this song, and even though the rest of the songs on this EP don't compare, it's still Shlohmo in all of his dopeness. It seems like he can do no wrong.

Dodge & Fuski - "Python"

They snuck this banger out at the end of the year. Some great hyper-editing.

Paul White - "Rapping With Paul White"

There's more instrumental tracks on this LP than the title would indicate, but that's not a bad thing. I actually like this a lot more than his "Purple Brain" album, and I liked that one a lot.

Rovo - "Ravo Dub"

This is one of those blind downloads that turned out to be really great, but it's really hard to describe. SUPER psychedelic. I can't even tell what's a real instrument and what's not. It all has this weird organic, yet still electronic, feel to it.

E-40 - "Revenue Retrievin: Graveyard Shift & Overtime Shift"

So E-40 dropped 4 albums in 2 years, and they were all worth it. I hear he has plans to drop 3 albums this year. I hope he doesn't overdo it.