February 2013 Hotlist Week 3

Billy Martin & Wil Blades - "Shimmy" 2012

Billy Martin is the Martin from Medeski, Martin, & Wood. I'm unfamiliar with who Wil Blades is. This is a little instrumental funk/jazz album with a heavy blues influence as well. Nothing too fancy, just some drums, organs, and bass. Nothing spectacular, but this is definitely an upbeat album full of instrumental jams that pretty much any person can get behind. Check out "Toe Thumb". All the rest of the clips I can find of them are live performances, but this song is a good representation of the whole album.

Igorrr - "Hallelujah!" 2012

I know I already reviewed this last month, but I just can't get enough of this album. If I would have heard it last year, it most certainly would have ended up being my #1 album of the year for 2012 when i made that list. Check out "Tout Petit Moineau", "Cicadadae", "Vegetable Soup", and "Damaged Wig".

Thavius Beck - "The Heavens Bleed Sunshine" 2012

Nice little 5 song EP from this lesser known member of the LA beat scene. Some of the sound quality is almost movie-like on these songs. His songs have kind of an interlude type sound for them, but then are orchestrated out into full length songs. Check out "He's A Mute", "GLK Jack", and "Thanks".

Ryan Hemsworth - "Kitsch Genius" 2012

It's nice to see someone who started out giving away songs for free on Bandcamp becoming one of the next big names in music. It gives me hope for the new way the industry needs to work. He hits angles of the currently popular trap sound, but he stays away from fully immersing his songs in that style, and instead adds layers of other sounds that kinda softly drench your ears. I've heard other people try to do what he's doing and it ends up sounding like a mess, but this all sounds smooth and natural. This is just a 6 song EP, but he's also got plenty of other material out there for people to check out. Check out "Sulk", "Outside Dublin", and "Gucci Anthem".

Com Truise - "Komputer Cast Vol. 6" 2012

Newest in his series of offbeat mixes of music from the early 80's. He made a website just for them, and you can go there or subscribe to his podcasts on iTunes as well. They are all free downloads and he has the tracklistings for them on the site as well, in case you get super curious. As always, this mix is pretty amusing.

2econd Class Citizen - "The Small Minority" 2012

This guy seems to be heavily influenced by older Anticon stuff like Jel and DJ Signify, but he is putting a weird acoustic guitar overtone to everything without making it sound too folksy. This album has a way of not sounding like there's that much going on within the beats when you're not fully paying attention, but when you focus in on the music, it's incredibly intricate. Some of the vocal samples remind me of stuff DJ Shadow would use as well. I wish more music came out that was within this style. Check out "Stop To Wonder", the video for "Change (What We're Creating)", and "Sail Eternal".

"Loving On The Flipside" 2012

Yet another superb compilation from Now Again Records.. This whole compilation is full of gems. Check out "I Don't Think I'll Ever Love Another" by Darling Dears, "I'll Find A True Love" by Lee Bonds, and "Since You've Been Gone" by Little Janice.

The Souljazz Orchestra - "Solidarity" 2012

I don't know how this band slipped through the cracks for me the past few years, but i'm glad I finally found out about them. I blindly just started listening to the album without really knowing what it was or what to expect. They do a few completely different musical styles and they execute each one EXTREMELY well. I was also incredibly surprised to find out that they originate from Canada. WTF? This is a superb album filled with a mix of afro-beat funk, reggae, latin.... pretty much anything goes, but it's all very masterfully contructed. I can't recommend this album enough. Check out "Conquering Lion", "Ya Basta", "Bibinay", and "Nijaay".

February 2013 Hotlist Week 2

Puscifer - "Donkey Punch The Night EP" 2013

A small new offering from Maynard James Keenan that is actually the best non-album thing he's put out under the Puscifer moniker. It's 2 new songs, 2 covers, and then a remix each of them for a total of 8 tracks. The weakest track on here is the very straight up cover of "Bohemian Rhapsody", which still really isn't all that bad, but it is still too close to the original for me. I'd rather just listen to Queen. Out of the new songs, "Breathe" is pretty cool, but "Dear Brother" is superb, and already one of my favorite Puscifer songs. The thing that also sets this apart from previous EP's and remix albums by Puscifer, is that he actually hired some people that sound good to do the remixes this time. Usually it's a bunch of people i've never heard of ruining the songs, but Sonnio did an awesome job remixing "Bohemian Rhapsody". It sounds like something Balam Acab or Clams Casino would make, using certain lines from the song to create an entirely new song. This Denton remix of "Dear Brother" is pretty cool too. Also check the cover of Accept's "Balls To The Wall".

Illum Sphere - "Boiler Room Manchester Art Gallery" 2012

This is a pretty decent DJ set for the first 2/3's of it. I like the way he slowly builds it up and then lets people have it. The reason i'll probably never listen to this mix again is because it is plagued by the MC talking too much over the music. The last third of the mix is also plagued by him doing the "bring it back" rewind thing during every single song. It's annoying. check out the video footage of the entire set here.

To All My Friends - "Ride With Me" 2012

This is a pleasant sounding album. A female singer and instruments include the accordion and xylophones. Right up my alley. My only issues with this album and group is that they're not treading any new water. I could be listening to Au Revoir Simone and wouldn't even know because they sound so similar. Still, I like all the songs, and don't fast forward any, which is hard to say about any album. I would recommend this to anyone who likes stuff like Cat Power and doesn't know what bands to look for next. Check out "Mountain Song", which is the only song up on youtube, or listen to the entire album from the band's website. My favorite track is probably "Spinner"

Oh No - "Disrupted Ads" 2013

Yet another dope new offering from Oh No. This one is a combination of songs with rap vocals and instrumental, Donut style beats. The underlying theme on this one seems to be samples from old tobacco commercials. There is absolutely nothing weak on this album at all. Every beat is straight bangin. Just a stellar album. Not very many people in hip hop are on his beatmaking level right now. Check out the video for "Jones's" featuring M.E.D. and Blu. Also check "Cleansing", "Animals" featuring Chali 2na and Roc C, "Improvement" featuring Georgia Anne Muldrow and Declaime and "Creepers". Just check the whole album.

High Contrast - "The Road Goes On Forever EP" 2012

This is some light electronic music that works good for background music, but there's nothing particularly interesting about it to me. Check out "Emotional Vampire (NHS Mix)", "Strutter (NHS Mix), and the title track, which is an electronic cover of The Who's "Baba O'Reilly". WTF?

Captain Murphy - "Duality" 2012

So it has since been revealed that the true identity of Captain Murphy is actually Flying Lotus. He said this alter ego is his way of getting out all the dark thoughts that his and all human minds have, no matter how good of a person you are, which I thought was an interesting excuse to just rap about anything. This album definitely BANGS. Some of the beats are very Madlib and Oh No-like, and others are more electronic sounding, but none of them are weak at all. Really stellar production here, but with the names attached to it (Flying Lotus, TNGHT, Teebs, Madlib, Just Blaze, Samiyam, Jeremiah Jae), that was expected. His rhyming is cool sounding but nothing special. He sounds like he listens to a lot of Odd Future and Das Racist. The interludes with all the samples about cults are pretty funny too. This project is a great exercise in character branding, with all the artwork and visuals that go along with the music on the internet. Check out "Shake Weight", "The Prisoner", "The Killing Joke", "The Ritual", and "Mighty Morphin Foreskin".

Todd Edwards - "Searching EP"

Blind download that ended up slightly boring to me. Some pretty average house music that still makes for some decent background music. The sounds are soft yet flat, it's kinda different for music that sounds like this. I like it, but I don't want to hear too much of that sound all at once. Just small doses. Check out his Soundcloud page, because none of the songs from this EP are up anywhere to listen online that I can find. My favorite track is the title track.

Gregory Pepper & His Problems - "Escape From Crystal Skull Mountain" 2012

This album straight blew me away. I had heard a few songs by Gregory Pepper, and I thought they were cool and all, but did not prepare me for how awesome this album is. This is the type of album that might be hailed as a classic in the future. Elements of it remind me of Why?, They Might Be Giants, and Islands, but there's also hints of The Beatles and The Beach Boys style classic rock, and also a little pop punk thrown in as well. The sound quality and instrumentation are superb sounding. I had always thought he was a lo-fi artist for some reason. This is the type of album that needs to be getting a major label type push for how good yet unknown it is. Check out these videos for "Born To Die", "At Least (I'm Not A Musician)" and "Breathe In", but really this is an album that was meant to be heard straight through.

David Ramos - "Sento La Tua Mancanza" 2012

It's interesting to me that after all these years, the influence of what Why? and Dose One did back in the clouddead days casts a huge shadow on modern music. I mean, I was enthralled with that stuff back then, but I felt like I was one of the only ones out there listening to music like that in the late 90's and early 2000's. If the Gregory Pepper album I just reviewed above is the hi-fi, big production version of this influence, David Ramos and his brother Ceschi are the lo-fi version. This album is one of the most emotional and personal pieces of music i've ever encountered in my entire life, and it must be really hard for him to perform these songs live. This makes Eels' "Electro-Shock Blues" seem like baby stuff, and that's a pretty sad and personal album. So be prepared for that, but this album is remarkably good. I would also recommend this album to people who are into Astronautalis and don't know where to look next, although I think this makes his material seem corny. I can't stress enough how great this album is. Check out "Digital Memory", "Hollow Days", "Tommy Flew", "Still There", "Find Heaven", and "Forgotten Dance". This is another one that seems like it was meant to be heard all the way through.

Riff Raff - "The Golden Alien" 2012

Checked this out to see what all the hype is about. Riff Raff is a really weird artist. He definitely has talent, and I could even see him making huge hit pop singles at some point. Right now it seems like he's more into making Based type music where it sounds like he records 6 songs a day and releases them all. So some of them turn out pretty cool and other sound horribly misguided or just plain bad. His whole image is just kinda funny to me too. It's like he's making fun of himself but he doesn't completely admit that's what he's doing, walking some weird line between comedy and music. Check out "Bat Phone", "Rice Out" (WTF?), and "Rabies".

February 2013 Hotlist Week 1

Masta Killa - "Selling My Soul" 2012

I had pretty much forgotten he existed at this point, it's been so long since he put a solo album out. He was always kinda the odd man out within Wu Tang to me, because you could see why people like U-God and Cappadonna never really made it big, the way their styles are, but Masta Killa always seemed like he could be more versatile with his laid back flow. Sadly this album sounds more like some lost material from 10 or more years ago than a brand new album, which may actually appeal to some people I know, but I'm usually looking forward when it comes to new music and not backward. There's a couple songs that feel like tributes to other people than actual songs. That all being said, this is a decent east coast rap album that I would recommend to people who miss late 90's NYC rap, the way it was back then, and obviously any hardcore Wu-Tang fans, even though this album doesn't really have the feel of a Wu-Tang LP. It has a similar feel to Ghostface and Raekwon's albums from a few years ago. Check out R U Listening?, "Food", "All Natural", and this video for "What U See" and "Cali Sun" combined.

Torae - "Off The Record" 2012

Torae is a rapper that I neither like or dislike. He's not weak at all, but I don't feel like he has enough of what I want to bring to the table. In 2013, it's not enough to just be a tight MC putting together tight rhymes over decent beats, at least for me. Much like DJ Premier's production after 2000 or so, it all just starts to sound the same after a while with everyone chasing the same crowns and having the same goals within music. This is supposed to be like his leftovers EP of stuff that didn't fit on any albums, and within that context, this EP is pretty solid. Nice east coast style hip hop. Check out "Steady Mobbin", "Over You (Alternate Version)", and "New Day".

Mike Mictlan - "Snaxxx" 2012

I'll be honest, this album surprised me. I was expecting it to be a snoozefest, like most Doomtree projects have tended to be for me for the last few years, but this is the strongest release to come out of that camp since P.O.S.'s 2009 album, for sure. This album is actually fun sounding, and outside of a couple misguided attempts at fitting into whatever this new niche in the local scene that Prof seems to be in at the moment, doesn't really sound like a lot of other Minneapolis hip hop, and especially not within Doomtree. Some of this sounds slightly Spyder Baybie Raw Dog influenced, and his multiple guest appearances bring that home as well. This album made me realize that I had underestimated someone from this crew for sure. Some of this stuff almost comes off as being influenced by Das Racist or something. I like it. Check out "Flick Tha Bic", this video for "Spicy Peen", "Let Me Know" featuring Spyder Baybie Raw Dog, P.O.S., and La Manchita, "Hella Frrreal", and "Scottie Pippen" featuring Z3R0KOOL8D and Spyder Baybie Raw Dog.

C418 - "One" 2012

This guy became known from doing music for the video game Minecraft. Apparently most of these songs are from the soundtrack to the documentary about Minecraft, which I have never seen. Nice classical piano stuff tinged with electronics. Good for having on in the background and completing tasks. Check out "Post Success Depression", "The Weirdest Year Of Your Life", and "Lawyer Cage Fight".

"Sunrise Blend 2" 2012

Nice compilation put out by French record label, Juicy. This highlights a lot of upcoming, sample based electronic musicians from around the world. This is a very enjoyable album all the way through, even if there's not really any stand out songs to me. Just a lot of cool people throwing down cool sounding songs. You can check it out here.

The Chariot - "One Wing" 2012

This band was introduced to me by a friend of mine who is more into this style of rock than I am. I remember liking some of their older songs, so I decided to check this new one out. My assessment is that this band has a shitload of potential that is not being tapped into enough. If they concentrated less on the annoying Deftones style screaming and more on the Mr. Bungle/Secret Chiefs 3 style changeups they have going on in some of these songs, I would be WAY more into it. Check out "Love", "Tongues", and "First".

Reso - "Tangram" 2012

Well, here it is. The full length debut by Reso after I slew of relatively amazing EP's from the last 4 years. Within that context, this album is slightly disappointing, but as a debut album, this is incredibly solid. It shows that he doesn't need to pander to the dubstep audience at all, and can produce pretty much any style of electronic music, and excel at it even. Check out "Tabris", "Check 1,2", "Half Life", and "Virtua Rhythm".

John Roberts - "Paper Frames" 2012

Don't know anything about this guy, but these couple songs sound pretty good, and in the same vein as people like Amon Tobin, but it also reminds me a lot of James Blake's instrumental stuff. I'll have to seek out more music by him. Check out "Paper Frames" and "Crushing Shells".

DJ Spinn - "Teklife Vol. 2: What You Need" 2012

So, the next in the Teklife series also does not disappoint. I'm just really digging all these footwork/juke guys take on DJing and electronic music in general. There's not any weak tracks on this entire album. Check out this ridiculous remix of Kanye West's "Mercy" featuring DJ Rashad. Also check out "What You Need" featuring DJ Manny, "Let Me Baby" featuring DJ Rashad, "4 A $5 Bag", and "Horn Chemist" featuring DJ Rashad & DJ Manny.

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - "Psychedelic Pill" 2012

I just checked this out to see what old Neil is up to nowadays. Some of the stuff on this album is listenable, but it's mostly due to Crazy Horse being a pretty nice jammy sounding band. Most of Neil's lyrics are pretty rambly and uninteresting. This album has a very loose feel, like they're all just jamming and improving with each other, and didn't really have a plan. It makes for some good background music if you already generally enjoy him. This album sounds cool on headphones too, due to the way the guitars were recorded. I didn't know all these videos existed until I was putting together this blog entry, so that was a sweet bonus. These are great. Check out  the title track, "Driftin Back", "Ramada Inn", and "Walk Like A Giant".

The Chap - "We Are Nobody" 2012

I really dug their previous album "We Are The Best", so I was eager to hear this one, and it doesn't disappoint, but I will also say, I still prefer that album. These guys are fairly uncategorizable. I would call them a rock band by default, but they hit lots of different feels from song to song and use some electronic elements. There isn't a clear cut lead singer either. Both the male and female seem to share equal duty. Definitely recommended for people who don't like regular boring rock, and maybe also enjoy stuff like Stereolab and The Unicorns. Check out "Hands Free", the video for "What Did We Do", "Better Place" (can't find a link for this song anywhere, and it's one of my favs), and "This Is Sick".

Kuba - "Random Precision" 2012

Blind download. This music is incredibly detailed and complex overall, but somehow the way it's arranged and produced so slickly, makes it almost seem generic. It sounds like something you'd hear on a "moods" or new age type satellite radio station, but it's not 100% that stiff either. Most of the songs are kind of like an adventure that never really goes anywhere. Hard to explain. Check out "Dub Mythology", "On The Spot", and "Never Trustafarian".

Stark Reality - "Acting, Thinking, Feeling" 2012

Now Again Records is releasing an anthology of this jazz/funk band's entire body of work, ranging from the late 60's to early 70's. This is kind of the odds and ends disc, with a couple 10" releases and short albums compiled onto one disc. I like the instrumentation a lot, and how they are able to effectively play both traditional jazz and more funky stuff, but some of the singing leaves a little bit to be desired. Check out "Say Brother" and the title track.

Joey Bada$$ - "Rejex" 2012

Checked this dude out because he has a decent buzz going right now, and I wanted to see what the hype was about. I was actually surprised to see that he's a traditional sounding east coast rapper, rhyming over mostly late 90's sounding production. I normally really hate when people go for a retro sound or try to prey upon younger people's ignorance to the fact that rap like this used to be the norm, but this guy actually has some talent. This is a promising collection of rhymes. Check out "OG Killuminati", "Indubitable" (did he ask Lord Finesse permission? haha), and "Pantie Raid".

Oh No & Chris Keys - "Ashes" 2012

2012 was definitely the year of Oh No, at least for me, and this was ANOTHER release he put out that fell under my radar. I don't know anything about Chris Keys, but stuff I read about him says he has a jazz background. This album is strictly hip hop though, and while it's not spectacular in any way, it bangs all the way through with no weak tracks. I'm assuming they made all these beats together, and they work good as a production duo, although not quite as good of a match as Oh No and Alchemist as Gangrene. Check out "The Light" featuring LMNO & Declaime, "Devastation" featuring Guilty Simpson & Montage One, and "Strangers".

Choir Of Young Believers - "Rhine Gold" 2012

This group is OK, but they seem to fall in that same zone as Muse for me, where i'd rather be listening to Radiohead when I hear them, but I know they're not a bad group. I like how these guys have very high aspirations and get almost progressive sounding at times, but their sound is clearly still planted in the basic pop/rock world. This also seems like the type of album I might enjoy more the more I get to know it. Check out "Have I Ever Really Truly Been Here", the title track, "Patricia's Thirst", and "The Wind Is Blowing Needles".