Madlib - "Rock Konducta Vol. 1 & 2" 2014
This is the latest entry in his Beat Konducta series, which finds him exploring the realms of psychedelic rock. This is more or less exactly what you would expect this to sound like, and is predictably great. Madlib has his beat making and sample chopping down to a fine science at this point, and it's always a joy to hear what he's done recently. At 52 tracks long, I won't be tiring of this album anytime soon. Check out "Harmonia Inventions", Licorice (The Beginning), "Future Correlations", "Black Dreams", and "Hosianna IV".
"Keats//Collective Vol. 4" - 2013
I really enjoy these Keats Collective compilations, but it always kind of bugs me out how similar the production style of all the songs are, even though they are by different artists. They are all really honed into a specific pocket of sample based beats that kind of play out like slowed down and flanged up versions of disco songs. These compilations are nice to ride around in a car to during nice weather, with the breeze blowing through. This album and many others are available as a free download from their bandcamp page.
Jel - "Late Pass" - 2013
Jel doesn't come out with many solo releases, so him coming out with anything new is going to perk my ears. I bought this from him when I saw him in concert, pretty much right after it dropped. His performance at that show was excellent, by the way. A true master of the MPC. This album clocks in at a lean 31 minutes, and i'm sorry to say that I really don't enjoy it that much. His familiar style is imprinted within the beats, which are all decent, but somehow manage to come off as both bland and intricate at the same time. Most of the songs are about half instrumental, and then the other half of the song we hear Jel doing this sort of talk-rapping, which I find distracting from the beats, but also just kind of a mood killer in general. This album isn't bad, it just wasn't what I am looking for. Check out the video for "Breathe". Also check out "La Resolve" and "Steady".
Kool Keith & Big Sche Eastwood - "Magnetic Pimp Force Field" - 2013
This is definitely a strange album. Keith sounds slightly more focused than he has in a little while. This is probably his best release since Dr. Dooom 2. Big Sche (that's pronounced Ski) holds his own as the other half of the duo, and ends up not falling prey to the Ced Gee syndrome of not being able to hold a candle to Keith while collaborating with him. On some of the songs I even prefer his verse over Keith's. The sound of this album comes off as some pimps attempting a nerdcore type vibe, and this mostly works. The production on this album is similar to the "Tashaan Dorsett" album, but I like these beats a little better. There's a couple missteps, like "Natural High", where they cheesily sample off the Kavinsky song from Driver, or "I'm Insane", which sounds like a poor replication of something that would come out on Strange Music, but most of this album sounds good, as long as you don't mind excessive Star Wars references. Check out "Death Star Pimp Mobile", "Ewokie Galaxy Swag", "Magnetic Pimp Force Field", "Thunder Cats With Jet Packs", and "Ride & Mug".
Lorn - "Debris" 2013
Lorn came out of nowhere a few years ago and caught my ear with some of his beat creations. He showed skill and a good ear, but also even more so, potential to be even greater. He signed to Ninja Tune shortly after, and his releases since then have been disappointing to me, but mostly because he seemed like the type of artist that would steadily progress his style over time, into the future, instead of re-doing things he's already done. This EP fares a little better to me than the last few things I heard from him, but only barely. This is still just a decent release and not a must-hear, but it does show promise again. Check out "Karma", "Debris", and "Inverted". I couldn't find a link for my favorite track on here, "Bury Your Brother".
Latyrx - "Disconnection" 2012
OK, for as big of a fan as I am of them, i've been really shitty at checking out these reunited Latyrx releases. After hearing this EP, i'm wondering if I had some type of sixth sense feeling that these releases might not be that good. I've been enjoying Lyrics Born's genre bending solo ventures, for the most part, but Lateef's solo material has always left a lot to be desired, and i've always felt he was an MC in hip hop that has some of the highest levels of raw talent and skill in history, but outside of the old Latyrx stuff and a couple random guest appearances, he never really manifests that level of talent on records. These guys CLEARLY are still able to rhyme and flow with all the best of them, but this EP unfortunately suffers from dope verse/corny chorus syndrome, as well as having the same issue I have with a lot of more recent Zion I or Grouch & Eligh releases, where you can hear an underground producer trying to reach for a mainstream audience, but the way they go about it ends up sounding insincere, or just slightly too thin. Check out the videos for "Call To Arms". (This is probably my favorite track on the EP as well. It's too bad i'm already familiar with this sample as being part of a Buck 65 song. It takes away from it a little for me) and "Gorgeous Spirits (Aye, Let's Go!)". Also check out "It's Time" (featuring Zion I).
Api Uiz - "Au Grand" 2012
Another one of those blind downloads that panned out. This is just 2 instrumental songs full of some nice crunchy yet noodly rock. Both songs just kind of flow like water down a stream and i'd like to hear more from this group. Upon doing some research I found that this band is from France and have existed since the mid 90's. This is a re-release of a 2002 single/EP that was put out under a different alias. I would recommend this to any fans of instrumental music. I can't find any links to share, sorry.
7 Days Of Funk - "7 Days Of Funk" 2013
This is an album I meant to review during the winter earlier this year, and then I lost my damn hard drive and had to spend half of 2014 rebuilding it, and this blog suffered from that. I've been trying to go back and catch all the "must-hear" releases I missed, but some always fall through the cracks. 7 Days Of Funk is the duo of Snoop Dogg & Dam-Funk, and the fact they decided to come up with an actual group name gives me hope that this isn't just a one-off project, but maybe something they will continue to collaborate on over the years. For those unaware, Dam-Funk is a veteran bedroom musician, who spent years being an unknown, just piling up more and more songs, who was then signed to Stones Throw Records and released his debut album in 2009, well over the age of 30. I love hearing about later in life success stories, and Dam (pronounced Dame) might be my favorite. He is someone who has a singular vision of what dope music made by him should sound like, and has never quit doing that, even when his style was out of fashion with the rest of the world. He pretty much had to wait for what he does to come back in style, and now is his time to shine. He's easily one of the best live performers and most knowledgeable DJ's i've ever seen, and it's extra cool that someone with the stature of Snoop Dogg decided to extend a hand and ask him to collaborate on something. The run time on this is only about 34 minutes, so it's more like a long EP, but there's no weak moments. Just Snoop doing some laid back singing and rapping over Dam's funky, synth laden beats, with a couple guest appearances from Dogg Pound. This is definitely the best thing i've heard Snoop do in years. They ran a contest for fans to make videos for these songs, so there's tons of different videos for these tracks out there, which I think is awesome. Check out the videos for "Faden Away", "Hit Da Pavement", "I'll Be There", "Do My Thang", and "High Wit Me". Also check out "Systamatic" (featuring Dogg Pound) and "Let It Go".
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