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.
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