July 2012 Hotlist Week 2

Shawn Lee - "Synthesizers In Space" 2012

There's a certain "clean grimyness" about the funk songs of this album that is very appealing. Shawn Lee is in the zone right now, and hitting the world with a barrage of releases, all of which are high quality and different from each other.

Bibio - "K Is For Kelson" 2011

I don't like this EP as much as I like the album it's a companion to, but it's still OK. Depending on my mood, sometimes I find these guys kinda corny, and then at other times I really dig them.

WITCH - "We Intend To Cause Havoc" 2012

Through my Now Again subscription, I got this. It's 50 something songs long. Every single song they ever released. WITCH is a psych rock group from Africa in the 70's. I like this a lot, but it's nothing groundbreaking or mind blowing.

Rob Swift - "Roc For Raida" 2012

A little mix Rob Swift put together as a tribute to Roc Raida. Pretty basic with some of his productions and scratch routines interspersed with some interviews. Still a good listen for fans of turntablism.

Cypress Hill & Rusko - "Cypress x Rusko EP" 2012

I don't know if this is the full collaboration, or if they're just testing the waters with this. I think a hip hop/dubstep collabo could work with the right people. Cypress Hill are not the right rappers for this though. They sound pretty old, tired, and washed up, and this EP sounds super forced and calculated.

Anagraphs - "Flowers & Perfume" 2012

SUPER chilled out and laid back. I think I could listen to an ambient album from this guy all night, if something ever was to happen, the way the synth sounds on these beats just slip out of the speakers and float around and stay for a while. I used to not really care for his drum programming, but that aspect of his style has improved since the last release, and I feel like this album is a good transition album, giving us a hint of what is yet to come from him. Check him out on Soundcloud and Bandcamp.

Amon Tobin - "Box Set Disc 2: Monthly Joints" 2012

I guess these songs were all released for free through his website during 2008 and 2009, but I never knew about it. Thankfully they all got put on one disc for this boxset. This is right up there with one of my favorite albums by him now, if you count it as a stand alone album. Just phenomenal. Even being almost 4 years old, this still sounds like it's from the future.

Louis C.K. - "Live From Houston" 2001

An older set from him. He seems a lot more goofy and whimsical back then, but his main style that he has now was already in place.

I.L.I.C.I.T. - "Who's ILL? 3" 2012

3rd installment in his series of EPs. Not really feelin this one. The beat on the last song is pretty tight, but that's about all I like about this EP. I like the message of the weed song, but stylistically, it seems like he's trying to get on that Wiz Khalifa or Kid Cudi tip or something. It doesn't suit him. He sounds like an MC with no identity trying to find one by trying out a lot of different styles. Normally I like people who do things like that, but lyrically he just doesn't get adventurous or complex enough for me.

July 2012 Hotlist Week 1

Oh No - "On My Way" 2012

This is his alternate version/remix album of his debut album "The Disrupt" from 2004. I don't know if Stones Throw was just sitting on this for 7-8 years and just unleashed it now or what, but it sounds cool. I was never the hugest fan of the original album, mostly due to the lyrics not really being anything special, but I enjoy it when people release another angle of an older LP, and I kinda like some of these beats better than the originals too.

Kool Keith - "Love & Danger" 2012

Another Kool Keith album to add to the collection. This is a decent one with a few good tracks. If you enjoyed the "Tashan Dorsett" album, you'll probably like this.

Chris Shotliff & The Hardest Part - "Hope For The Best" 2010

Checking this out again to refresh my mind, because he gave me his new LP to review. I feel like if this was the 90's, and the music industry still ran like it did back then, this EP probably would have gotten him signed to a major label. Very professional sounding and very sellable to a few different genre's crowds.I'll talk more about it when I review the new album.

Devotchka - "100 Lovers" 2011

At this point, I think they just go through the motions of making albums and touring, because they can. They're definitely good enough to keep me interested, and thankfully they aren't falling off at all, so I guess I kinda feel like a chode, complaining about them staying too much the same from album to album. Whatever, this album isn't weak at all, and the last couple songs on the album are a step in the direction i'd like to see them go in, where they are making songs that don't remind you of other Devotchka songs, if you know what I mean.

Shnabubula - "SNESology" 2012

This EP is pretty cool. All made using the same sounds from Super Nintendo games' music, but these are newly written and programmed/played as far as I know. Super epic.

Amon Tobin - "Box Set Disc 1: ISAM Live" 2012

The first disc in his 7 disc box set. A recording from one of his live shows on his current tour. I'm excited to see this for myself. I like how he expanded these songs for the live versions,and I can't wait to see the multimedia craziness in person.

Jel - "JEL MIX MICE ELF" 2012

A nice cohesive mix of a lot of his productions and remixes. I enjoyed this a lot.

Large Professor - "Professor @ Large" 2012

This album is OK, but nothing special. When he tries to rap, he almost sounds uncomfortable on the mic, and most of the guests don't add a whole lot, except for maybe Busta Rhymes on the song he's on, that shit is tight. There's a few instrumental tracks scattered here and there on here, and i'd like to see more of that from him at this point in his career, they don't sound bad. He's not at the top of his game like he was in the 90's, but he's no slouch either at making beats.

Matthew Dear - "Her Fantasy" 2012

This single is like some 80's pop music from an alternate dimension or something. Too "weird" to actually be pop, but it's definitely got some kinda Danny Elfman/Oingo Boingo for the future type vibe goin on.

Bassnectar - "Divergent Spectrum" 2011

One of the more popular acts in dubstep, Bassnectar is pretty hit or miss for me. When they hit the mark, it sounds great, but they fall into boring, uninspired territory a decent amount of the time. I admit, I really dig the Gogol Bordello remix on here and at least 4 other tracks. It's worth a listen.

Rapewolf & Isaiah Toothtaker - "Rob Zombie" 2012

First of all, you should probably go watch all the videos from this on youtube or look up Machina Muerte's website, which is awesome. I think it gives a better appreciation for these songs. All the beats on here were done by Harry Fraud, so it's all some chilled out trap shit, for the most part. And really how can you go wrong when you've got choruses like "go fuck yourself, I hope somebody kills you". 

June 2012 Hotlist Week 4

Daedelus - "Fact Mix 331" 2012

This mix isn't stellar, but it's good, and it's weird enough to pique my interest. He has a weird style of DJing where he blends a lot of full songs together in fucked up ways, where when it works, it REALLY works,but when it doesn't, or it only sort of works, it ends up sounding train wrecky. I really dig his song selection and overall vibe on this.

Devotchka - "Live At Lollapalooza 2008"

A good document of their live set at that point in history.

Sunspot Jonz - "Galaxy Of Dreams" 2011

I recently found part 2 of this album, so I had to go back and check this one out, since I missed it last year. I think I like the 2nd part a tad bit better, but they work good as a double album together. All the people that jock all the based god type stuff going on currently in the underground of hip hop, should give Sunspot a whirl. He's one of the first rappers I can think of that had that rambly, off the dome, yet still awesome flow that seems to be prevalent nowadays.

Dose One - "G Is For Deep" 2012

As with any album involving Dose One, i'm gonna have to give this a couple more spins before I can truly judge it. First impression is that it's similar to the newest Busdriver album, in terms of how singy the vocals are compared to any previous releases by this artist. Not a bad thing in my mind, but with Busdriver, his vocals and words kinda overtake the whole song and grab you by the throat and force you to listen, whereas Dose just kinda floats above the music and becomes a part of it. It makes it harder to pay attention to his individual words and phrases, and his voice seems more like an instrument. I'm looking forward to getting to know this album better. 

STEAKMOB* - "Steakmob Podcast #12: Street Fortune Mixtape" 2012

I really enjoy the lazy nature of this mix. Not how it was put together, but just how it makes me feel. Bumping this I just wanna lay back on the couch and smoke and try to forget about life. I love it. A great mix of various psychedelic yet ghetto sounding hip hop with other surprises sprinkled in.

Balam Acab - "See Birds" 2010

I don't really know much about this act, other than I saw the name on a lot of hipster lists last year, and kinda avoided it based on what I saw it on lists with and who wrote the lists. Big mistake on my part because this shit is awesome. Nice woozy, laid back, psychedelic, washed out sounds with mostly ambient vocals you can't understand. Real good chill out music.

Jonwayne - "Jonwayne Fucks Disney" 2012

I am straight up obsessed with this EP at this point. I love this style of chopping samples. It's like a modernized version of what RZA used to do in his prime, where you make these weird loops and collages of samples that sound like something completely different than what they actually are after you hear them chopped this way repeatedly. This is what sampling is supposed to be about, making something new with something old, not just ripping something off.

Krizz Kaliko - "Kickin & Screamin" 2012

I've been loving this album. It's a damn shame that most of the people that listen to mainstream rap won't ever hear this album, and it straight crushes the stuff they listen to, even within the same vein. He is just head and shoulders above so much of hip hop right now and is not getting the respect or even acknowledgement he should for it. Maybe in a few more years he can actually achieve the level of notoriety he deserves, I personally think he's the successor to Nate Dogg, in terms of chorus singers, but unlike Nate Dogg, he can actually rap good as well, and doesn't just solely sing on stuff, and can also write great actual full songs and albums, which was something Nate Dogg always kinda struggled with.

"The Karate Kid Soundtrack" 1984

Reliving part of my childhood, listening to the first 2 Karate Kid soundtracks. This might be the CHEESIEST 80's album of them all, and there was so many. It's like Mystery Science Theater for music, it's awesome.

"The Karate Kid Part II Soundtrack" 1986

So bad, it's good.

Caspa - "Sell Out EP" 2012

It seems like with these 3 songs, he's trying to move away from dubstep, but doesn't quite wanna ditch it all the way just yet. Not bad, not great.

Balam Acab - "Wander/Wonder" 2011

Had to check this out after listening to the EP that came before it, and it continues where that left off, and maybe even one-ups it a little within the same style. I'm interested to hear whatever these guys put out next to see if it's just a one-trick pony kinda deal or not. I really like this style though.

Devotchka - "A Mad & Faithful Telling" 2008

It's weird. When this album was new, I thought it was their best album so far. But listening to it now, I think I prefer "How It Ends" and "Una Volta" to it. Still a stellar album, it's just weird how time changes opinions a little bit.

Amon Tobin - "Isam" 2011

I don't know how I actually feel about this album in terms of his whole career. The song structures are almost non-existent, which makes for a difficult listen for most people. It's like a sound design dream though, and it will be very interesting to see how that sound design plays out in his live show when the volume is loud enough where i'll actually be able to feel it and not just hear it.

Bobby Womack - "The Bravest Man In The Universe" 2012

I'm kinda indifferent to this album. It's cool to hear him trying to make a comeback with modern production. Damon Albarn doesn't sound quite as tired of a producer as he did on that last Gorillaz album, but he also only does an adequate job with this album at best. The 2nd half of this album really seems to lag also. For an album with this title, I feel like it should be a little more experimental in nature too, but i'll take this style of a new album from an old person any day over albums like Aretha Franklin's newer stuff, just making music for senior citizens only. It'd be cool to hear Bobby collabo with some Daptone people though. Maybe something like that can still happen.

The Hood Internet - "The Mixtape Volume Six" 2012

These guys keep getting closer and closer to Girl Talk, stylistically, that it's kinda annoying now. They used to be a more "underground" alternative to that style of mashups, but a lot of the source songs are SUPER poppy now and less "hipstery". I preferred the hipstery approach. It was still tight to hear Rustie's "City Star" blended with Chris Brown's "Look At Me Now" though, i'm not gonna lie. Busta Rhymes' verse sounds awesome over that beat.

Bare & Mark Instinct - "Murder Machine" 2011

Some pretty decent, hyper-aggressive dubstep. Music for when you've had too much caffeine.

DMX Krew - "East Side Boogie" 2012

These guys seem to have been busy lately. I enjoy their mostly minimalist electro. It's easy music to listen to, but it's also easy to dance to if you're in the mood. The title track kinda sounds like a cheap Dam-Funk track or something, but the other songs are pretty chill.

Shnabubula - "Starbound" 2012

I don't know anything about this dude, but it's obvious he really enjoys video game soundtracks, and wants to make them himself. He's like a good jazz pianist that likes Nintendo sounds and epic sounding shit. I'm into it.