August 2012 Hotlist Week 2

Aeroc - "Remixes" 2012

A EP's worth of cool remixes by or for Aeroc. Nice and chill.

Buckethead - "Best Regards" 2010

5 discs worth of these guys jamming out. Some of it is cool, but a lot of it is a bit much. This is my least favorite of his many releases from the past few years.

August 2012 Hotlist Week 1

Matthewdavid - "Jewelry" 2012

This EP is just stellar. The opening track, "Gold Rope" is probably my most listened to song this month. The way he flips The Rolling Stones "Miss You" sample is beyond impressive. I want to hear him do more beat scene oriented stuff like this, instead of his other more experimental noise based stuff.

Chelsea Grin - "Evolve" 2012

I'm not good with metal sub-genre categorizations, but these guys are semi-unique sounding to me, with their approach to the vocals. Nothing mind blowing, but it's a good listen. The standout track on here to me is called "Lilith".

NGUZUNGUZU - "Fact Mix 334" 2012

This mix is pretty damn fresh. They know how to get a dance floor moving while maintaining full credibility with people like me. Not an easy feat.

J Dilla - "Respect The Detroit Architect" 2012

Not sure exactly what the nature of this release is, but it's one of 3 new Dilla albums floating around out there right now. I already had about 1/3 of these songs already in my collection, but there is come cool shit on here I never heard before, or only heard in DJ sets before. Mostly rap songs and not instrumental stuff.

Todd Barry - "Super Crazy" 2012

I hadn't heard much of his stand-up before, but i'm liking it a lot. This is his new Comedy Central special. I like his super sarcastic observations. The Tom's of Maine bit on here had me crying laughing.

Louis C.K. - "Live At The Beacon Theater" 2012

The historic game-changing $5 download. In audio form. I love the bit about the kid in his daughter's class he hates.

The Gift Of Gab - "The Next Logical Progression" 2012

It's Gift Of Gab, so you know it's still good, but this album doesn't really hold a candle to his first solo album, or the first few Blackalicious albums. He's one of those artists that fell into the trap of making the greatest music of his career during the earlier part of it, and now he's not wack, or even really fallen off, but the new material just isn't as interesting in comparison.

Karriem Riggins - "Stones Throw Podcast #74: Karriem Riggins Produced That" 2012

Just like the title says. This mix is a good representation of how unappreciated this guy is as a producer. He has a bunch of classics under his belt, but is not even close to a household name.

Buckethead - "3 Foot Clearance" 2011

Just Buckethead, doing what he does, as usual. Pretty dope.

Mayday - "Take Me To Your Leader" 2012

Something new from Strange Music. This album kinda uses the Drake approach, where they want to appeal to people who like rap and pop, and try to give people the best of both worlds. I'm not really into it, but I feel like this album would go over well with people who like Yelawolf a lot.

Fiona Apple - "The Idler Wheel" 2012

I don't know why i'm so surprised at how good this album is. At this point I should just realize that the stuff she puts out is going to be pure gold no matter what. Maybe it's the long lengths of time in between albums that makes me wonder about quality of new stuff, I don't know. Her older woman voice is really amazing, and I actually prefer it to her younger voice from the first couple albums. I'm sure this will be a contender for album of the year at the end of the year.

Amon Tobin - "Box Set Disc 4: Rarities" 2012

I don't like this one as much as some of the other discs in this box set, but it's still got a few great songs.

Mobius Band - "City vs. Country EP" 2005

Something old I got from my Ghostly International subscription. Pretty lame sounding rock music, in my opinion.

Gojira - "L'enfant Sauvage" 2012

Seems more mainstream sounding than their older stuff, but not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes it's OK to try and be slightly more palatable to the 93X crowd, as long as you don't let the music actually suffer because of it. Definitely a strong new metal release.

"Fake Four Record Sampler Volume 4" 2012

Collection of a lot of the new and upcoming singles from what has become more or less the premier indie rap label. It's not all hip hop though. There's stuff like Child Actor, which is like some avant-pop type stuff, and also Gregory Pepper, who is a weird Why?-like artist. Even a lot of the "rappers" on the label are making stuff that barely resembles rap sometimes, like Busdriver or Ceschi. They definitely are THE label to watch for nowadays. They always keep you on your toes.

Louis C.K. - "Hilarious" 2011

Can't get enough Louie.

Melvins - "Lysol" 1992

Brushing up on my Melvins again, now that I know that i'm going to the Grumpy's show in September. This album really isn't too memorable in the grand scheme of their career for me, but it still rocks.

July 2012 Hotlist Week 4

Amon Tobin - "Box Set Disc 3: Selected Scores" 2012

This is really even above the expectations I had for it before listening. Some pretty epic sounding stuff here. It's like he was born to make scores for movies and video games.

"Spring Is For Dancing: Spectral Sound Spring 2012"

A little sampler of some new techno songs that sound pretty decent.

Nathan Fake - "Iceni Strings" 2012

I never really hear Nathan Fake talked about too much, but he really seems like an artist to watch. All 3 of the songs on this EP are great. He kinda reminds me of Four Tet a little bit.

J Dilla - "Dillatroit" 2012

I have no idea what this actually is. I saw it available to download and I snatched it up. It seems like it has to be some sort of bootleg that's not official. Most of the songs on here are either instrumental or dub versions of songs on "Rebirth Of Detroit" but versions of stuff from "Ruff Draft" and other older albums are on here too. I heard the weird little Mick Boogie noise on a couple of the tracks, maybe this was something he put out, like he did with that J Dilla & Busta Rhymes album. Then I would at least think this was a semi-official release that Ma Dukes was down with. The sound quality is pretty bad on some of the tracks, but as with any download, I would have to have a physical copy to know for sure if it's really that bad. With all that said, this is still a dope little mix for Dilla addicts.

Borgore - "The Filthiest Hits... So Far" 2011

Borgore wouldn't be half bad, if he would just shut the fuck up. His "rapping" is repellent in every way, from the fake British accent (he's from Israel, I think), to his "I wanna be dirty and gross like Necro but I don't know how to do it right" lyrics. The saving grace is that some of these beats are pretty bangin, and on songs like "Love", he keeps his lyrics down to a couple lines, so it doesn't ruin it. This is a sort of greatest hits collection of most of the regular versions of the songs from his singles and EP's thus far.

Oh No - "Ohnomite" 2012

Another new Oh No album, this one released outside of Stones Throw for some reason. The concept of this album is that it's all samples derived from Dolemite stuff. Instead of doing it like his Dr. No stuff, where it's more like Donuts, this is a rap album with many different guests, like he did with the "Exodus Into Unheard Rhythms" album.  Rudy Ray Moore's voice and phrases work really good for DJ drop type stuff, and Oh No uses that to good effect. The music samples within the beats are really great, I especially like the one that LMNO guests on. Just another awesome Oh No album to add to the stack of many.

Louis C.K. - "Chewed Up" 2008

This was my introduction to him and his perverse world when it was a new special. Someone at work told me I needed to check him out, and this was his newest special at the time. I don't wanna call him a genius or anything, but he's really good at what he does.

Matthewdavid - "DISK II" 2012

I read something about this dude somewhere that said he made his stuff with tape clips and reel to reels like BBC Radiophonic workshop style, but I don't know the truth to that. This album is mostly just hazy glowing noise, nicely layered into some kinda organized psychedelic warp. This album probably sounds awesome if you're smoking salvia or DMT or something.. haha.

Lord Finesse - "Funky Man: The Prequel" 2012

I'm not extremely knowledgeable about his history. The first album I bought from him was the "The Awakening" in 1996, and then after that I went back and got the older ones I was missing. As far as I can tell, this is a collection of some vinyl only singles that came out before his first LP. Some pretty decent late 80's/early 90's stuff.

Broken Bells - "Meyrin Fields EP" 2011

I assume this is just 4 leftover songs from the album's recording sessions. Nothing special, but not a dud either. You'll like this if you like the album.

Clams Casino - "Instrumental Mixtape 2" 2012

I don't dislike Clams Casino. I would rather hear his washed out lo-fi-ness in popular songs than some sugar coated pop styles. But this album really makes him seem like a one trick pony at this point. It would be hard for me to sit and listen to this all the way through and not be bored as hell, but it works good to have on the ipod for shuffling purposes.

Melvins - "Freak Puke" 2012

The new album is good. I like the weird orchestral arrangement they have on some of these songs. I guess this is considered "Melvins Lite" due to the fact it's only 3 of them and not the full band, but I like this setup, and these songs are good. It's interesting they chose to do a Paul McCartney cover on here too. It's a pretty straight up cover, but they really make it work. (It probably helps that it's one of my favorite McCartney songs too). I'm looking forward to the show at Grumpy's next month.

July 2012 Hotlist Week 3

Illogic & Blockhead - "Preparing For Capture" 2012

Not really feeling the beats or the rhymes on this one. I'm not a fan of Illogic much anyways, but I expected some decent new Blockhead beats.

Chris Shotliff & The Hardest Part - "Of Common Heritage" 2012

Even though this album is good to listen to, I can't help but wanting a little bit more from it after the EP that preceded it, which I enjoy a bit more. There's still some really strong songs, like the album opener, "Burn A Little Slower". I honestly feel like if this was back in the mid 90's, and the record industry ran the way it did back then, Chris would have already been signed to a major label based on his 2010 EP and be a breakout success with the Cities 97 crowd. He has a certain, old fashioned songwriting style that will come off as enjoyable to people who cherish artists like Ryan Adams and Bruce Springsteen. I like how he rides a fine line between country and rock without fully committing to either genre. I would consider him a rock & roll artist, but I also don't like genre labeling that much either. This is just good music, straight up, with true to life lyrics, sung from the heart.

Bibio - "Mind Bokeh" 2011

It's too bad pop music isn't normally this good, because I enjoy this album even though it's not particularily original or boundary shattering and I feel like some of the songs are sound-alikes of lesser known band's songs. I think they got big from having their songs in commercials, but this was actually a blind download that took me a year to listen to. This is like beat scene music for people who just HAVE to have familiar sounding vocals in the music they listen to, because it makes them shrivel up and die inside when they hear instrumental music, apparently. They sound good for a band now, but we'll see if they stick around, or what they do.

Ginjavitis - "Cartoon Squid Tentacles" 2012

This is some fairly uncategorizable electronic music that sounds really good. You can kinda tell he's working on a budget, but is making the most of it, and making some cool beats on the way to hopefully even greater things. Check out the track "Buckets Of Puff" especially. It's like a really good fake Lorn song that's better than anything off his newest one.

Oh No - "Oh No vs. The Oneness Of Juju" 2012

I remember they did a podcast of this stuff through Stones Throw a couple years ago. This is the full project with all the seperate songs. It's all samples from this jazz musician that calls himself The Oneness Of Juju, and the album is put together similarly in structure to his Dr. No albums, with quick beats that are usually under 2 minutes each, but pack a huge punch as individual beats....so I guess J Dilla Donuts style basically. It's really hard to go wrong with anything Oh No puts out now too, but he especially hit it out of the park with this one, in my opinion.

Bibio - "T.O.Y.S." 2011

A little EP/single for the song "Take Off Your Shirt", which is a catchy little fake Chromeo song. None of their other songs sound like this, but it's a sellable single, I can't knock it. The alternate version called "Take Off Your Skirt" is pretty damn funny, I might add.

DJ Rashad - "Teklife Vol. 1: Welcome To The Chi" 2012

This is the 2nd album this year to come from the footwork/juke scene that just straight blew my mind. (The other one was Traxman - "Da Mind Of Traxman") I'll say right now that without a doubt, that so far, this is my album of the year pick. Look up the songs "CCP" and "Welcome To The Chi". If those beats don't make you move, your ass must be dead or too old. Where Traxman's album is a little more ghetto in nature, which has it's own charm for different reasons, because it's always nice to see people make the most of cheap equipment, this album seems much more refined and clean around the edges, production-wise. You can tell he spent a decent amount of time and effort constructing these insane bangers. 20 full songs on this LP, and not 1 weak one.

Louis C.K. - "Shameless" 2012

Had to bust this one out again due to the fact it contains the infamous "Bag Of Dicks" bit.

Jimmy Fallon - "Blow Your Pants Off" 2012

OK, this album is at least half corny, but I don't watch his show, so I didn't know he did these funny music impressions/covers that make this more than worth it's while. Him as Jim Morrison singing the theme to Reading Rainbow is one of the funniest things i've heard in a while, as is his impression of Neil Young singing the Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air.

Big Business - "Quadruple Single" 2011

Just Big Business doing what they do, being a kick ass band with one of the most awesome drummers in the world, crappin out 4 songs and having them still be the shit. Especially "Guns".Goddamn that song is tough as hell.

J Dilla - "Rebirth Of Detroit" 2012

The newest posthumous release from J Dilla, this one focusing on up and coming people from Detroit. This is a mostly enjoyable album, but definitely not as strong as some of his better releases. Still a very solid rap album.

Jenova 7 & Mr.Moods - "Time Travellers" 2012

This is most definitely a journey back in time to the styles of DJ Krush and DJ Cam in the mid 90's. I think this is kind of a cheap imitation of that style, but it's an adequate album and makes great background music for a lot of different activities. I just kinda wish there was a little bit more to their style.

Smoke DZA - "Rugby Thompson" 2012

12 song LP produced entirely by Harry Fraud, who seems to be the hot name of the moment for rap producers. There's nothing stellar about this album, but it's not weak at all either. The best song to me is "Fuck Ya Mother" featuring Boot Camp Clik's Sean Price.

Beck - "I Just Started Hating Some People Today" 2012

Alright, I admit that I completely wrote off Beck and didn't think he had anything good left in him. This was a vinyl single released through Jack White's company, and judging by the A-side, he could easily re-invent himself as a country singer and sound great doing it. The sinister lyrics just add to an already great sounding song. The B-side sounds more like a fake Leonard Cohen or Lou Reed song, and he also sounds great doing that. Now I wanna know when his new one drops.

Holy Other - "With U" 2011

I found out he was going to be the opener for Amon Tobin, so I had to see what he had to offer. Most of these songs are pretty laid back and almost dreary, but in a good way. Nice downtempo, chill music in the same vein as Balam Acab or Clams Casino, but maybe a little more ambitious sounding than those acts are.

"Soul 7" 

More good funky music from the 70's compiled by the good people at Now Again.