DJ Holiday Trap-A-Holics And Nicki Minaj – Beam Me Up Scotty
I’ve mentioned Nicki Minaj here before, and with good reason. She’s a protege of Lil’ Wayne, and one of the most creative female emcees around. On this latest mixtape, she appears with Lil Wayne, Gucci Mane, Busta Rhymes, Jae Millz, and many others. Give it a listen and please drop a comment and let me know what you think. I haven’t listened to it yet, but I wanted to pass it on in case it’s as good as her last one.
Tags: Hip Hop
I was gonna post something from Atmosphere’s Sad Clown collection, but instead I think I’ll go with . . .
Tears of a Clown-Cat Power (YSI)
Tags: Covers, Picture of the day
Teenagers who are brothers and make electrorock!
Pretty cool stuff. . .
Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nirvana Cover) Of Montreal with MGMT (YSI)
Maps-Rogue Wave (YYYs cover)(YSI)
I don’t usually review stand-up CDs on this site, but I’m making an exception for Maria Bamford‘s Unwanted Thoughts Syndrome, to be released on Comedy Central Records on Tuesday, April 21. I first saw her on The Comedians of Comedy, one of the best shows you’ve never even heard of, and fell in love. She’s hysterically funny, in an Emo Phillips/Andy Kaufman way–quiet, low key, and strange but real. I’m sure she’d hate seeing herself being described that way, too. So rather than try to describe her act, I’ll throw some quotes at you and offer one clip.
Bamford is much better seen-while-listened-to, too, and fortunately there’s a DVD included!
Candy Bars-Mitch Hedberg from Mitch All Together (YSI)
This is the first I am hearing of Cy Yung, but every underground rap fan knows the names Madlib and Quasimoto. I’ve always found Madlib’s beats to be a little too complex for most rappers, other than MF DOOM, to handle, but Cyrano does a pretty good job here. Lib’s beats are intricate and irregular, hiccuping and stuttering like pieces of stand-alone music, never happy to rest in the background, so it takes a complex rapper to keep up. Cy does a good job. Can’t wait to hear more from him.
This tribute mixtape is free, tracklist below, so cop it and give it a listen.
01.) Pacification (Produced By Madlib & Mamao)
02.) Mongrels (Produced By Quasimoto)
03.) Da Boom (Produced By Quasimoto)
04.) Delusions Of Slander (feat. Naturel) (Produced By Madlib)
05.) SONAR (Produced By Madlib)
06.) Forcefeel (feat. SiLent Knight) (Produced By Madlib)
07.) Madagascar (Produced By Quasimoto)
08.) How You Feel (feat. Access Immortal) (Produced By Quasimoto)
09.) Montego Bay (feat. Ill Poetic) (Produced By Madlib & Mamao)
10.) O.K. Corral (Produced By Madlib)
11.) P.A.T.O.I.S. (feat. Wordsmith & Junclassic) (Produced By Madlib)
12.) Red Bird (Produced By Madlib)
13.) Vowel Movements (Produced By Madlib)
14.) Wrapsure (Produced By Madlib)
15.) Goin’ Back To El Segundo (feat. Dominque Larue) (Produced By Madlib)
16.) A Hard Drive (Produced By Madlib)
17.) Aftershox (feat. Zero Star) (Produced By Madlib & Mamao)
18.) Bing Chaireez (feat. Junclassic) (Produced By Madlib)
19.) Bolsheviks (Produced By Jaylib)
20.) C.Y.I.D.I.T.C. (Produced By Quasimoto)
Download it! (Direct link to zip file)
This is an 8/21/99 1999 Strummer show, a time when Joe had finished working through most of his post-Clash, anti-Mick demons, had done his dirty deeds with The Pogues, and finally hit his stride with a new band. This show is awesome quality, and you’ll find a version of London Calling with a flaming solo, a Rock the Casbah with incredible keyboard work, and cool German banter from Joe. Oh, and the version of White Man is virtually acappella at the start, and is more ska than any version I’ve ever heard.
A truly amazing show. One of my favorites.
From the Bizarre Festival, Colognemost, Germany.
Set list:
X-Ray Style
Rock the Casbah
White Man
Yalla Yalla
Brand New Cadillac
I Fought the Law
Tommy Gun
Bankrobber
Muttering about ZZ Top.
Memories (Leonard Cohen cover)-The Last Shadow Puppets (YSI)
Tags: Covers, Picture of the day
When I first heard the R&B bumps at the beginning of the song, “Ribbon,” I not only knew I’d be buying the entire Nests album, but I knew I’d be reviewing it. So the hardest part of this review wasn’t the decision to write, it was the decision whether to consider this one of the best albums of 2009 so far. Why was that decision hard? Because I think it was released in August of ’08, even though it appears only to have gotten wide release this year. So, I’m going for it:
Nests, by She Keeps Bees is one of the best releases of 2009.
So who is she, and who are the bees? She is vocalist/guitar player Jessica Larrabee. The Bees is drummer/boypal Andy LaPlant. That’s it. Yeah, it’s a boy/girl guitar/drum duet. But it’s not hard edged or crunchbluesy. There’s some of that, for sure, like on the crisp and clear “Ribbon” and the country-tinged “Wear Red,” but the difference here is that the roles are reversed. The song that in Jack White’s voice is muscular and desperate becomes sultry and dominate when Ms. Larrabee wraps her throat around it. Imagine “Got Some Nerve” sung with pain instead of heat, and you’ve got what White (or The Black Keys, for that matter) would do with the same tune.
But I don’t want to spend a lot of time comparing this extraordinary duo to The White Stripes. I actually like this band more. A lot more. And if you hear “Release,” you’ll see why.
I’ve only heard parts of the band’s first album, Minisink Hotel, and I liked it, but wasn’t a huge fan. On this one, the duo has found its way. Big time. The songs are tighter and Ms. Larrabee seems more comfortable taking vocal tracks up and down and back again, something she does often. She’s like the entire Pixies band, with just her voice. But part of the power of Nests is also the production. When you’re dealing with this kind of simplicity—a guitar and a drum set—there’s a temptation to add effects or otherwise “improve” the product to make it sound bigger. But there’s absolutely no need for that when it comes to Ms. Larrabee–her voice fills the room with power and soul (check out the “oooh-oooh-WA-hooo” on “Gimme” for a great example of this). The mike is open and kept clean of nonsense, so we can sit back and be astounded.
The only flaw in Nests, and it is a big flaw, is that it is only 26 minutes. It’s rare that I finish an album wanting more these days, since most are overstuffed, but in this case I was left feeling hungry as hell. And grateful.
For fans of: Bonnie Raitt, PJ Harvey, Cat Power, Heartless Bastards, and, yes, The White Stripes.
