Metal Lungies

Detroit bred Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. slowly crept into the music scene last June with a four song EP, Horse Power, that proved to be a hidden gem. Now, exactly a year later, their first full length album has arrived. Although It’s a Corporate World includes 8 brand new tracks, the songs previously made for Horse Power are still the best on the album (in particular Nothing But Our Love). The only regret we have with DEJJ is their inability to adequately name things, really, it’s all about first impressions. The only advice ML can give to you is not to judge this band based on their name or album title, they really are worth a listen.

ML Note: We’ve invited Meg, a friend of ML to liven things up around these parts. ML has always dabbled in stuff that isn’t just the rappity raps and  Meg will lead the charge in getting ML readers hip to all sorts of new things. Be on the lookout for her proper introduction tomorrow. Lastly, don’t confuse Meg with MegH, who turned out to be ML’s own Detox of sorts after such a buzzworthy entrance.

Two weekends ago at The Metro in Chicago, Princeton served as the calm between two explosive acts and thank god someone had the foresight to set it up that way. DAAN, the first opening act, was a barrage of over the top homoerotic theatrics that didn’t help their music in the least. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for theatrics, but I found it physically impossible to give the music its fair share of attention when I had a gyrating crotch (covered in god knows what) 3 inches from my face. It was simply performance art gone horribly wrong.

When Princeton finally took to the stage the whole audience seemed to breathe a sigh of relief; normal boys doing normal things with instruments. They started off their set with two groove-inducing numbers that got the entire crowd dancing. It was great to see how their sound has evolved since the release of Cocoon of Love. They’ve moved from following in the footsteps of Vampire Weekend and Ra Ra Riot and are blazing a trail of their own. This clearly seemed like a conscious move for them when a girl in the crowd kept screaming “PLAY SHOUT IT OUT!!” (the quintessential crowd pleaser from Cocoon of Love) and frontman Jesse just jokingly replied with “you’re not invited to any more shows”. Princeton played their entire set with humble earnestness that made you feel like you were watching your close friends play. They have something special and I would be surprised if they didn’t blow up even more in the indie scene in the months to come. Hopefully with their next album Princeton can finally make the jump from opener to headliner. They obviously have a fan base and they aren’t lacking in talent so I find it confusing that even now, two years after Cocoon of Love was released, they’re still an opening band.

Although I think Princeton would serve well as a headliner, they did a fantastic job setting the stage for CSS. CSS proved to be a completely energetic show where I found it hard not to dance while trying to photograph the band. They played crowd favorites from their last album, Donkey, and also a few tracks from their upcoming album La Liberacion. Judging by the teaser they gave the crowd of the album dropping in August it’s going to be just as good if not better than Donkey. Lovefoxxx (is that not the coolest stage name?) had people losing themselves in dance in the crowd and it was clear that everyone in the venue only had eyes for her. She sat on my shoulders for a hot second, I’ve never felt so privileged to literally act as a piece of furniture. They closed out their set with a three song encore consisting of two older songs and one brand new which they engineered well and served as the perfect ending to the night.

Photos after the jump.

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G-Side @ The Spin Loft

SXSW Music 2011 was such a craze that I’m still recovering from pure exhaustion, combine that with a mean head cold I caught, and I’ve been slumbering like a hibernating bear. Fear not though, the grand ol recap should be hitting your face in the next few days. In the meantime, check out the instagram photos I snapped, and you may have missed from the ML twitter feed.

Check the pictures after the jump.

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Penguin Prison

Sooo I just survived my first day of SXSW Music… barely. As I write this, all I can think about are my aching feet. Thank God I brought some comfortable sneakers, because my feet are really killing me and I’m just starting.

Anyway, the day started off with me getting into town, getting some amazing goat burger from a food truck called the Giggling Goat. So hip-hop. Oh, and I refuse to try BBQ. Linked up with the homie Jeff Weiss aka Hannibal Moncrief, who I’m sharing quarters with.  Then it was time to get my badge wristband.  Out of nowhere we got a free ride from Chevy to the convention center. As Weiss said, “Thank you Based God.” Just walking around the convention center seemed daunting. One could probably spend all his time there without even hitting the streets.

With the wristband cutting off the circulation to my right hand, it was time to see some music.

Here is who we saw (of what I remember):

Young L, Sean Garrett, Penguin Prison, DJ Premier with NYGz & Nick Javas, Chiddy Bang, DJ Cam, Erk The Jerk, Ellie Goulding, Killer Mike (who brought out Trae), and Clock Opera.

Highlight of the night: Penguin Prison.

Random Notes:

Ran into DJ Michael 5000 Watts at a showcase and talked very briefly. He mentioned that he’s working on a project where he is flipping dubstep. Be on the look out for that!

Food Turcks… good lord are there a lot of food trucks. Is a SXSW 15 possible in like five days? At this rate, I might need to buy a bunch of new jeans when I get home.

That’s it for now, be sure to follow the latest on the twitter feed.

Yeah, you read that title right, ML had to cut the procrastination & curb the lallygagging, and to finally go to the madness that is SXSW. About the title, it does say Hip-Hopish, but we touche the whole spectrum in our picks.

If you read this blawg, chances are you subscribe to some of our music tastes, so here are some of our picks from the official showcases (note: we didn’t pick things that would jam up your whole schedule or overlap, because a big part of SXSW is finding and discovering new music on your own…and having enough time to stuff your face with bbq (but…salad for us, please)).

If the following 2 things occur: I am not passed out somewhere, and I have wifi, I will try to have daily updates on the blog. Regardless, be sure to check the twitter, @metallungies where we will have rants, pictures, and deep thoughts about our time at SXSW. Look for a grand ol’ recap next week…or something.

Wednesday

*9:15pm Chiddy Bang

*10:20pm Freddie Gibbs

*11:15pm Gold Panda

*11:30pm Reks

*12:00am Ellie Goulding

*1:00am DJ Cam

*1:40am Cyhi Da Prynce

Thursday

*3:00pm Blaqstarr

*8:00pm DATAROCK

*8:30pm Dom Kennedy

*9:00pm Big Sean

*9:50pm G-Side

*10:35pm Kokayi

*12:00am MNDR

*1:00am Yelawolf

Friday

*7:30pm Catchdubs

*8:00pm DJ Eleven

*10:00pm The Cataracs & Dev

*10:45pm Collie Buddz

*11:30pm DJ Nu-Mark

*12:00am Chromeo

*12:40am EPMD

Saturday

*8:00pm IAMDONALD

*9:00pm Dominique Young Unique

*10:00pm Bird Peterson

*11:10pm Big KRIT

*12:15am Gangrene

*1:00am The Hood Internet

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Up and coming rapper Koncrete just sent me this video he shot for his new song Exhibit K (a remix of Jay Electronica’s Exhibit B). He’s a fellow DMV person and a rapper that is definitely worth discovering. He sounds a bit like Big Pun, but with a heavy New Orleans (his hometown) influence. Check out his MySpace and be sure to look out for his upcoming mixtape Koncrete is ‘Well Grounded”.

The video is directed by Dehyu Sinyan

Koncrete at Myspace

For a little context, Javelin are a Brooklyn based hip-hop instrumental group that makes incredible summery jams out of samples and keyboards. Their self-released album Jamz & Jemz is one of the best things I’ve heard all year. This video captures Ohio rapper Stalley and ML-fave Curren$y rocking over the Javelin track “Susie Cues”.

Hip-hop and indie rock are intersecting in interesting, more creative ways than the days of the Judgment Night soundtrack.

Via CreativeControl.tv and GFCNewYork

DOWNLOAD: Javelin – Susie Cues

Via Exclaim!

Okay, this is a few days old, but it’s worth hearing. Not as surprising of a combo as you might expect. GZA  made a few appearances on the Atlanta garage rock band’s SXSW tour, and seem to have become fast friends. As for the track itself, it’s…interesting.

The band’s playing is a bit too sloppy for GZA to ever gain a foothold, so he stumbles over the song’s reverbed haze. The verse was also clearly recorded separately from the Black Lips’s playing; GZA’s voice sounds too clear compared to the distant vocals on the backing track. The twangy, dusty vibe of the song isn’t too far removed from some of the spacier stuff on Liquid Swords. Nonetheless, I’d much rather hear GZA spitting with the El Michels Affair, or better yet, a full-length collaboration between the band and the Clan. It just makes more sense, especially in light of the Affair’s recent cover album of Wu-Tang instrumentals, Enter The 37th Chamber.

DOWNLOAD: Black Lips – The Drop I Hold (Remix ft.GZA)

And here’s another reminder of how good El Michels and the Wu sound together:

DOWNLOAD: Raekwon & the El Michels Affair – The PJs

We posted their video for “Mirando” back in July. My friend Jesse recently interviewed Mike and Evan of Ratatat for his radio show and podcast, the Sound of Young America. I’ve featured the show a few times before on the site, and his interviews are always worth a listen.

Stream the interview here or download it at the TSOYA website.

Previously: Ratatat Presents Remixes Vol. 1/Vol.2

Catching up on my Mad Decent readings, gems were to be had as always.

First off, Diplo hooked up with the object every rappers jocking- M.I.A. and Switch to step in for one of Gilles Peterson’s shows on BBC1. Check the tracklisting and grab it now here.

Also you may recall seeing MSTRKFT’s remix of John Legend’s Greenlight. Diplo got his hands on the track and takes it to another level.

John Legend – Greenlight (Diplo Dade County 1988 Mix)

Also check Mad Decent’s rework of an Of Montreal track, who I’m not really a big fan of, unlike this track.

Of Montreal – I’d Engager (Mad Decent Remix)

Some other stuff of note,

This Smalltown Djs mix done for Discobelle (click for track by track breakdown), is absolutley nuts. I just listened it today and I’m already on my 3rd loop.

Smalltown DJs – Dicobelle Mix

D.O.E. (formerly known as John Doe) who was on a few cuts on Timbo’s last album and is signed to the Mosley Music Group put out a mixtape with an unnecessarily long title, Timbaland Presents: The Fall of John Doe-1. The Rise of D.O.E . This is supposedly leading up to D.O.E.’s debut album. I’ve yet to listen, but you don’t have to wait for me. Get it at his website.