My main beef with Hip-Hop is its exclusivist nature (we get it…your shit is the real shit…no one cares).  So I am always happy to share a rapper that exposes himself to different influences.  Atmosphere has always been hit or miss for me, but this performance is worth checking out.  

Atmosphere performs at Current Studios 

In the same vein, Thao Nguyen recently opened for the Ying Yang Twins.  Thao talks about how the fans weren’t feeling it.  But I bet one of the poor souls who came to see the “rap” show was moved to check out Nguyen.  One can only hope.  

(thanks to lhb for the links)

Def Jux continues to be one of my favorite labels because they are always signing new and interesting acts with an emphasis on originality. Chin Chin is no exception. If you’re waiting for the rhymes to drop on “Appetite” you’ll be waiting a while because Chin is the first non Hip-Hop act signed to Def Jux. They still bring the groove though, and this songs funkiness will delve into your brain and get nice and cozy. According to AG, Black Book likened the group to “Outkast meets the Dap Kings.” Not a bad rap.

Chin Chin: Appetite

Chin Chin’s self-titled debut will be out April 29th. hit that up!

Its been a good day. The sun is shining, its warm-ish outside and my Amanaz record came in the mail. I got a tip a while back from gorillavsbear on the reissuing of Amanaz’s 1973 LP Africa. I knew I had to get on that when I heard Khala my Friend, especially cause I know have a deep fondness for that meandering kind of music that makes you feel warm and special. Anyway, this could be written off as just an old stoner record, but while it will help to be baked, its not necessary to become hypnotized by these fuzzy gems.

Amanaz: Khala My Friend

Amanaz formed in 1973 and recorded Africa in Kitwe, Zambia. All the members lend vocals at some point, which contirbutes sort of a different feeling to each song. Some are better vocalists than others; Isaac Mpofu has a great raspy voice thats like another Issac (Hayes) but a little more haunting. 3 of the songs are sung in Bemba and 9 in English. Bemba turns out to be a fitting language for gliding on the bitchin distorted blues riff in “Africa.” The guitar is subdued though, enough for Amanaz’s harmonious gospel to shine through.

Amanaz: Africa

I think its important that people find music like this every once and a while. Maybe not Amanaz, you might think Amanaz is hippy shit, but its just so good to find something that is unequivocally enjoyable. It washes the soul clean of people like Vanilla Ice and Flo Rida. I’m not sure I need to convince you people to listen to listen to good music but, fuck it, theres my lesson for the day.

Amanaz: Sunday Morning

Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings comin straight out of the glory days of soul.

Video for “Sirens” off Dizzee’s recent album Maths + English. One of my favorite videos in a long time, disturbing imagery.

For those of you who give a shit, Radiohead announced the second leg of their upcoming tour. Montreal and San Diego! thats what im talkin bout baby. (spotted via brooklynvegan)

[Read more]

For most Americans (i.e. stupid people) Canada is sort of like mad-cow disease. Its something you hear about or make fun of every once and a while, but nothing that you really take seriously. Well, now that I am a resident of this fine country I am making it my business to show that Canada is more than just dank maple syrup and liberal marijuana laws. Case in point: The Juno Awards. On Sunday Calgary will host what some have called Canada’s version of the Grammys. In my mind nominations for guys like Marco Polo and Skratch Bastid put the Juno Awards on a completely different level. Then again every other nomination went to Michael Buble, Celine Dion, and Avril Lavigne, so there ya go. Heres a run down of some noteworthy nominations:

JUNO FAN CHOICE AWARD (PRESENTED BY DORITOS)
Avril Lavigne J/RCA*SONY BMG
Celine Dion SONY BMG
Claude Dubois Zone 3*Select
Michael Bublé Reprise*Warner
Nelly Furtado Geffen*Universal

The other night Avril Lavigne was playing Montreal and she said “It’s so great to be here…in Ontario!” Montreal is, in fact, not in Ontario, which prompted a backlash from uber-nationalist French Canadians. If she wins the fan choice award, the irony will almost be too much to bear. Also, since this award is sponsored by Doritos, I would like to request that anyone who wins it goes up to the podium and does the Waynes World Dorito scene. Haha, thatd be awesome.

SINGLE OF THE YEAR
Girlfriend-Avril Lavigne J/RCA*SONY BMG
1234-Feist Arts&Crafts*EMI
Paralyzer-Finger Eleven Wind-Up*Warner
Seven Day Fool-Jully Black Jully Black Entertainment*Universal
Everything-Michael Bublé Reprise*Warner

I really wasn’t kidding when I said Michael Buble was nominated for everything. If he wins this over Feist, I really won’t have much left to say for you Canada, sorry.

ALTERNATIVE ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Neon Bible-Arcade Fire Merge*FAB
LP-Holy Fuck Young Turks*Select
Close To Paradise-Patrick Watson Secret City*Fusion III
The Con-Tegan and Sara MapleMusic*Fontana North
Welcome To The Night Sky-Wintersleep Labwork*Sonic Unyon/EMI

This category does a little bit of justice to the quality of music that Canadians enjoy (seriously though they have better taste than Americans). Holy Fuck’s LP is lively, refreshing, and exhiliarating, and they are more than worthy of the nomination. Arcade Fire is Arcade Fire, they kick ass. Patrick Watson is a little bit too im-dark-and-mysterious-and-nobody-understands-me for my liking, but he’s undoubtedly a great songwriter. All in all its a solid category; why the hell weren’t these nominated for album of the year.

RAP RECORDING OF THE YEAR (SPONSORED BY 91.7 THE BOUNCE)
The Revolution-Belly CP*Fontana North
The FEWturistic-Brassmunk EMI
Memoirs Of A Playbwoy-JDiggz Maxamus*KOCH
Port Authority-Marco Polo Soulspazm/Rawkus*red ink
The Old Prince-Shad Black Box*Fontana North

“Nostalgia” is still my favorite hip-hop song from last year. Marco Polo gave Masta Ace a gift with that one, and he responded with conviction, and a passion for the struggle that is conspicuously absent from most rappers lines who claim to be true to the game. “Now a days it feels a little different when a man raps.” Tell me about it, Ace, tell me about it.

The Juno Awards will air Sunday April 6th on CTV. Check here for more info.

Note: Generalizations made in this article are only meant to spark a meaningful debate about the quality of Canadian culture. If I have offended you in any way feel free to contact me at canada.sucks@yourapussy.com

In a joint venture with Vivendi’s, Universal Music, Sony BMG, and Warner Music, MySpace announced the “fluid” launch date of MySpace Music. I’m assuming that means they will roll out new features in the next few months. The new project will offer free music audio and video streaming, paid-for MP3 downloads, ringtones, artist ticket sales and merchandise. Chief Director Chris De Wolfe says they will be “talking to all the big ticketing companies as well as the small ones.” See more here.

The 24 year old singer-songwriter living in Brooklyn (I can only imagine how many blogs have typed those very same words) is releasing his self-titled debut on July 1 with Say Hey Records. I jumped on this when I saw who Miles has been working with. His new single “Buriedfed” was recorded by Chris Taylor (Grizzly Bear) and performed with Chris Bear, Daniel Rosen (Grizzly Bear) and Kyp Malone (T.V. on the Radio). Yellow House (Grizzly Bear) and Return to Cookie Mountain (TVOTR) were two of my favorite records of the last couple years, so I was sub-consciously expecting something special. And something special I received. “Buriedfed” starts out with a folksy flavor, reminiscent of Bon Iver or Elvis Perkins, and builds into a garage rock anthem driven by Robinson’s drunken voice. Check out some other tunes here.

For all my peeps in NYC Miles will be at the Mercury Lounge tonight with Howlin’ Rain.

I’ve included some you’ll-love-this-if-you-like-the-first-song-mp3’s for your listening pleasure:

Download: Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson-Buriedfed

Daniel Rosen (Home Recording): Deep Blue Sea

Bon Iver: Skinny Love

Chances are, what you’re about to read is the latest 2007 wrap-up amongst the hip hop blogosphere. And I don’t mean “latest” as in the “newest”. I mean “latest” as in everybody has done this before we did, and as a result, we’re late. Like how you wouldn’t want your girl’s period to be.

To that, we say this — how could you truly wrap up 2007 when 2007 is still going on?

Here’s how we’re wrapping up 2007 ML-style, in this, the first of several “Best of 2007″ posts. First, each of us here at ML — DJ01, HangoverMonkey, DSuper, Aaron M, and yours truly, Buhizzle — compiled our own personal list of the top 10 albums of the year. Then, on some quasi-NCAA-poll-type shit, we compared lists and compiled a (somewhat) comprehensive top 10 list based on all of our picks. Here at ML, we pride ourselves on having 5 different contributors with 5 different personalities and unique tastes in music generally, and in hip hop specifically — after the jump, peep how our personalities and tastes overlap.

[Read more]

So it’s Tuesday and I’m still recovering from having a ridiculous amount of fun at the Bonde Do Role show in Buffalo. You can’t categorize their music as any single genre because its made up of an orgy of sounds ranging from hip hop to pop. There was crazy dancing/singing/yelling/screaming/random humping. I took some d-rate photos, click the photo to see more (I need to holla at some photography lessons, even though I took some). If they are stopping by wherever you may be and you want some crazy music in your life, be sure to check them out. More info including their tour schedule is at their MySpace. Their album drops on itunes this month and a little after that in the physical world!