Monday, May 31, 2010

[MIXTAPE] The Cool Kids | Tacklebox


Download the latest mixtape from the coolest rapper on the block, The Cool Kids. Not only do they make some awesome songs with dope rhymes, they rhyme about the most random things and make it so intriguing and different. And you know how all the rappers are wearing the eclectic clothing, you bet who started that trend, Chuck Inglish and Mikey Rocks. Tacklebox dropped at 8PM tonight, so it's quite fresh. This should fulfill your Cool Kids needs until When Fish Ride Bicycles, their upcoming ALBUM drops in a few months.


The Cool Kids talk Tacklebox.

Summer Sublimity '10 | 27 Song Summer Mixtape


Here it is. It's a must to be considered a music blog. This is a mixtape that I feel will help you make some legit playlists for the summer. Everything is fun to listen to and will put a smile on your tanned [or freckled] face. So download it below. It'll knock your socks off, if you'e a shoebie, your rainbows, if your that cool, your tevas, if your that green, or your bare feet, if you're that lucky. The tracklist is below and a link to download it as well.

Harlem - Be Your Baby
Theophilus London - Humdrum Town
Dwight K. Schrute vs. Lil Wayne - Office Musik [Clockwork Edit]
Sleigh Bells - A/B Machines
Aloe Blacc - I Need a Dollar
Delorean - Stay Close
Yeasayer - O.N.E.
Real Estate - Beach Comber
The Hood Internet - Two Weeks of Hip-Hop
Big Boi - Shutterbug
Ratatat - Beans Freestyle
Crystal Castles - Empathy
Lil B - Real Life [Pictureplane's True Reality Re-Edit]
Baby Huey - Hard Times
Kings of Leon - California Waiting
The Naked and Famous - Young Blood
Woom - The Hunt
The Radio Dept. - Heaven's On Fire
Best Coast - Far Away
Fang Island - Life Coach
Ratatat - Alps
Pac Div - Here We Go
DOM - Living In America
Black Keys - Never Give You Up
Gauntlet Hair - I Was Thinking
The Beast - Translation
Cassis Orange - Listen Heartbeat
Shabazz Palaces - Gunbeat Falls

Summer Sublimity '10 Presented By Your Third Ear [download .zip file form mediafire]

[Album Review] Band of Horses | Infinite Arms



     A drum roll leading into a symphonic ringing of string instruments unveil Infinite Arms and a slick, rejuvenated Band of Horses. Leaving no time for tomfoolery, Band of Horses flaunt their newfound sound from the get-go whilst boxing their former mentality and tossing it in the attic. It’s a departure from the band’s former sound, a sweeping pop-infused alteration. They have layered on enough production to taint their charming alt-country identity forever, yet the product is more wholesome.
     Notable toe-tappers “Northwest Apartment” and “Complements” feature blissfully layered backing vocals that sound phenomenal as a whole, a result of numerous harmonies and textures. The band’s reliance on tiers of vocals and instruments creates a grandiose and compelling sound, and it’s a sense of power that pervades the entire album.  
     This recent musical revival wasn’t their resolute tactic throughout the album however. With traces of prior albums, “Older” is the runt of Infinite Arms, containing a glorious folk remedy to the case of mass-appeal the band caught.
     The lyrical wunderkind, songster Benjamin Bridwell, channels touching stories of self-discovery and astray loves through the mountainous cadences of Infinite Arms. The humid emotional ambience of the album is especially searing on the title track, a nostalgic ballad wielding lyrics with limitless translations.
     Infinite Arms extends a gracious pair of limbs for swathing purposes and envelops one in an extensively secure, thorough sound. Their folk tinges were gently tucked under pop fluff and laid to rest on this latest release. Without trashing their underpinnings, these South Carolina boys have suited themselves for the big time.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

HEADS UP: June Releases

June 1st
Pill - 1140: The Overdose

Sleigh Bells - Treats [Physical, already out digitally]

June 7th
The Drums - The Drums


June 8th
Delta Spirit - History From Below

Deer Tick - The Black Dirt Sessions

Suckers - Wild Smile
Ratatat - LP4

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Before Today

Here We Go Magic - Pigeons

Blitzen Trapper - Destroyer of the Void

Wild Moccasins - Skin Collision Past


June 15th
Gaslight Anthem - American Slang

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Mojo

Drake - Thank Me Later


Pernice Brothers - Goodbye Killer


June 22nd
The Roots - How I Got Over

June 29th
Wolf Parade - Expo 86

SIKZ POINTZ | Productive Procrastination - Year In Review Mixtape


TI's Fuck A Mixtape and Raekwon's Cocainisms 2 feature a consistent 15-18 songs worth nobody's time and rely on 2 songs to pull the weight. Well here is a 9 song mixtape from NC-via-NYC rapper Sikz Pointz for you fools who are trashing up your iTunes. Productive Procrastination - Year In Review is the first product Sikz has released since his recent signing to Vinyl Records, the UNC-Chapel Hill student-run record label. Sikz has an infectious flow throughout Productive Procrastination. His rhymes are assured on the party-ready remix of Elie Goulding's "Starry Eyed" all the way to the slow-rollin', tree-sparkin' joint "The Rhyme." [Turn this one up on a Sunday afternoon cruise in downtown wherever you are] This mixtape features guest appearances from a plethora of artists from the Chapel Hill rap scene. A consistent and Productive Procrastination will leave you asking "where's the junk that these other mixtapes always throw at ya?" 

Download Productive Procrastination - Year In Review for free now, at Sikz Pointz' bandcamp, then check out his Facebook Fan Page which has quite a few videos of him freestyling. If you stalk him through the depth of facebook you just might find a few videos of him freestyling in an old dorm room of mine...


Check out Sikz Pointz "Starry Eyed Remix"

Friday, May 28, 2010

COMA CINEMA

wow.... 
Not many videos do so little but convey such a deep message. The video goes right along with the music. I was turned on to the video by No Modest Bear. Not knowing anything about this South Carolina Band I checked out their Myspace. A Good start, right? Yes. The band has an upcoming album, Stoned Alone. It's coming out next Tuesday, June 1st, on cassette and digitally through Arcade Sound Ltd.

Find a link to Download their first album FOR FREE and another video after the jump.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

[VIDEO] Vampire Weekend | "Holiday"


Vampire Weekend looks too be having an awesome time in the video, a great ode to a "Holiday." The ultimate kick in the face to all those preppy stereotypes they constantly receive.

[VIDEO] Big Boi | "Shutterbug"


Awesome special effects. Whoever stacked all those Solo cups, damn. If cars lit up like that, Big Boi would have the first. This is the first single from his upcoming album Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son Of Chico Dusty, tentatively out July 6th.

Arcade Fire | Suburbs

August 2nd on Merge Records


Listen to the first single on their site now.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Junk Culture | "West Coast"


Get Junk Culture's album entitle West Coast for a "pay what you want" price at Illegal Art.

New Arcade Fire Singles


Here are two new songs from Arcade Fire, originally slated for a June 1st release, now lost to oblivion. These are a great taste of whatever they plan to release. They are pleasantly producing some good stuff here, it is still their distinct sound but an awesome variation. Mind, these are radio rips, not full quality.
Arcade Fire - "Suburbs"

Arcade Fire - "Month of May"

LAZERPROOF: Major Lazer X La Rox




Download the mixtape NOW. [HERE]

*NOTE: They want your email address, but look at it this way, whenever they 'spam' your inbox it's with dope news, the gospel of good music. [i.e. stuff like this]

Black Keys Play Letterman 5/25


Last night the Black Keys stormed David Letterman for an awesome performance of "Tighten Up." See all those people playing instruments in the background? It's a shame, I wish they were still solely using the guitar and drum combo, but this still sounds amazing. If you didn't catch my top 10 May releases, you'll see where their 8-day-old album Brothers took the number one spot. It's a phenomenally strong performance throughout and the first four songs may be the best kick-off to an album in the last 15 years.

May Releases Ranked 1-10

1. The Black Keys - Brothers
2. The Hold Steady - Heaven Is Whenever
3. The National - High Violet
4. Band of Horses - Infinite Arms
5. LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening
6. Male Bonding - Nothing Hurts
7. The New Pronographers - Together

8. Woods - At Echo Lake
9. Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record
10. Sleigh Bells - Treats

New Album From Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band

My 2009 favorites are becoming Sophomores 



This is a release that I am getting quite excited for! Granted, I just found out today, but Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band's first self-titled album was a brilliant 2009 release. A stellar debut that I enjoy multiple times a week.

Where The Messengers Meet will be released on August 3rd via Dead Oceans. Check out the first single below.

They list Modest Mouse and Arcade Fire as influences. I would agree with these wholeheartedly with those, though they aren't completely on point they are a good starting sketch. The raging guitars, thumping basslines, ranging vocals, and pounding drums make a sound all their own; a triumphant, quality, easy-to-love sound.

Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band - Leaving Trails

New Album On The Way From Ra Ra Riot



The Orchard
Release Date: August 24, 2010

TRACKLIST:
The Orchard
Boy
Too Dramatic
Foolish
Massachusetts
You and I Know
Shadowcasting
Do You Remember
Kansai
Keep It Quiet

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

[VID + mp3] Electric Boogaloo


This is a pretty awesome UK club banger from Wiley. "Electric Boogaloo".

Wiley [feat. Jodie Connor & J2K] - Electric Boogaloo [Find A Way]

LAZERPROOF MIXTAPE

Major Lazer X La Roux X Big Names 



Tomorrow, 5/26, a dope mixtape is going to drop on Mad Decent [Diplo's label which also released the Free Gucci Mixtape]. These brilliant masterminds behind Major Lazer, Diplo and Switch, have collaborated on this mixtape of epic proportions. Get ready for it's release tomorrow.

Bluegrass Hip-Hop Fusion: GANGSTAGRASS

Innovation at it's finest: The Mediocrity of Music


This is a random musical gift that I came across on 'the interwebs' this weekend. GANGSTAGRASS; A mash-up album consisting of bass thumping bluegrass under half yodeling, half rapping a capellas. Relatively unknown [at least to me] mash-up artist Renka has cooked up a genre explosion with Gangstagrass. The idea is more revolutionary than the tracks are good, but it still a great gift that you can admire for it's desired effects. The FREE MIXTAPE isn't as thorough as the tracks below but it just might grow on you.

Gangstagrass - Goin Down
Gangstagrass - On The Run
Gangstagrass - Pistol Packin
Gangstagrass - The Art of Flowin

Download the entire mixtape after the jump.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

[VIDEO] LCD Soundsystem On Jools Holland 5/14

New Toro Y Moi Single

Not Chillwave. Not Pop. Just Chaz 



Toro Y Moi - Leave Everywhere

Here is a cute new single from the artist that transcends the chillwave genre he has grounded himself in earlier releases. This one features a full band sound instead of a computer-looped trip, a nice change. "Leave Everywhere" is going to be released as a 7" on July 20th.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

David Cross: Need Some Coors Light In My Tum Tum

"Dear Coors, I Can't Get Beer In Me"


This is a stand-up piece about Coors Light and how it's hard for people to get it in them. A hilarious 3 and a half minute rant about the innovations that help people drink their Coors Light. I know him from Arrested Development as the man who cannot discover his homosexual ways, but this is a different side of the banal character. A His third stand-up album Bigger and Blackerer will be released next Tuesday May 25th. NOTE: Not to be confused with the stand-up album Bigger and Blacker by comedian Chris Rock. [via pfork]

David Cross - I Can't Get Beer In Me

Big Names Added To Raleigh's Hopscotch


One of the largest, if not the largest music festival's in North Carolina in 2010; HOPSCOTCH [DUH] has added some huge National acts to the event's lineup.

Woods [New York]
Bowerbirds [Raleigh, NC]
Locrian [Chicago]
Dungen [Sweeden]
Floating Action [Black Mountain, NC]
Bellafea [Chapel Hill, NC]
In the Year of the Pig [Chapel Hill, NC]
Bright Young Things [Raleigh, NC]

RAEKWON will join 9th Wonder Friday, Sept. 10, at Lincoln Theatre. Actual Proof, The Away Team, Big Remo, Kaze, K-Hill, Rapsody, The Remix Project, Skyzoo and Tyler Woods are a few of the nearly dozen local acts signed up to join the bill that night.

[VID+mp3] Delta Spirit | "Bushwick Blues"

THE FIRST SINGLE



Delta Spirit - Bushwick Blues
      This first single from their June 8th release History From Below is an emotional whirlwind of southern acoustics and loving lyrics. Songs like this: nickel a dozen. [dimes are too common]
      I've been listening to the album for about a month now and it is one of my favorite of the year, better than some of these remarkable May releases. I can't say enough, but you will see more of them.

Monday, May 17, 2010

I Have A Hard Time Believing You Bob

Words of Wisdom on the Evolution of Kings of Leon

Kings of Leon Kings of Crap


       Back in '03 or '04 the only tunes you would have heard me playing: Kings of Leon. Off a recommendation from my Father while at a record store in Charleston, South Carolina I picked up Youth and Young, Manhood. That was my jam for a while, especially once I found it on my favorite video game FIFA 2004. I followed this by buying Aha Shake Heartbreak, which I didn't like compared to it's predecessor. Then I was hard pressed to find a song on 2007's Because of The Times, a fact that I couldn't fathom because of how much I liked their first album.
Kings of Leon - Holy Roller Novocaine [QUALITY off Youth and Young Manhood]
       Then, sitting in my dorm room in 2008 streaming Only By The Night on Ruckus [R.I.P] and became devastated to hear the bands new direction. Their mainstream sound that is now geared towards arenas is quite different from their Southern Rock roots. It may be a case of a band wanting to spread their wings and detach from their parents or they enrolled in musical economics. Whatever the case may be, their new stuff are produced at a darker and less catchy sound than their early carefree rocking out that blossomed in an untrained voice and bedroom chord flows.
Kings of Crap - Sex On Fire [SH!T off Only By The Night]
       When Kings of Leon put out their first album they were a bunch of goobers, now I'd say they resemble a typical emo band. The picture at the top looks like a group of Budweiser Heavy drinking, foam in 'stache, bell bottom wearing group straight out of Woodstock. The picture below looks like a group of pretty-boy, sminoff-drinking potheads that just finished a set at the Vans Warped tour.
       It really is a shame to see a great band slowly sucked down the mainstream drain. They are working on an album now and going on tour. The Black Keys, The BLACK KEYS  will be opening for them on a string of shows this summer. This is a shame considering the the caliber of music the Keys produce isn't worthy of comparison to that of today's Kings and would still trump their earlier stuff easily.
      It's hard to begin liking a band for a sound they thrived then still like them after they have changed things up. Kings of Leon should have changed their name after their first album to Kings of Crap to help distinguish the two completely different sounds.
       If there is a good analogy it would go a little like this: The Kings of Leon were the strong little caterpillar that never overate his food and stayed true to his tree. Once it time time for Kings of Leon to cocoon his little body and waited his due time, he was corrupted by outside influences [smog, a tape recording of David Bowie's soothing, motivational cassettes, destiny....] and blossomed into A King of Crap; an unattractive, bothersome Moth that serves no purpose. The caterpillar could have blossomed into a beautiful butterfly but this was not the case.


I Don't Diggy This

Rev Run, teach him the ways of words, for OUR sake 


You have to give an artist their fair chance. I came across this video and decided to give it a chance. Word on the street was "He's decent." Well they must be walking down the yellow brick road because this is crap. He might have some 'dope' rhymes but he isn't rapping about anything. His voice also needs to mature a little bit. It has that 'very recent drop' sound of most middle school teens. I figure that he might come up with a few lines and then has people build off of this faulty foundation. He needs to freshen up on Pop's style.

GET STOKED FOR JUNE 22ND

Sunday, May 16, 2010

400lbs. of Lovin': Baby Huey

[VIDEO] The Roots | "How I Got Over"

"How I Got Over" is the first single from The Roots upcoming album How I Got Over out June 22nd.

Arcade Fire Send Digital Greetings From Montréal



The Arcade Fire have posted this digital postcard on their website. Addressed to 'the Internet' the Canadians have confirmed what everyone has been looking forward to in 2010, new material. Over at Amazon a June 1st release date is scheduled for a 12" titled "Suburbs/Month of May."

Saturday, May 15, 2010

[VID+mp3] The Naked and Famous | "Young Blood"

Passion Pit meets Chillwave psychedelia


If this doesn't scream out SUMMER, I don't know what does. The Naked and Famous look like that had a fun time shooting the video for this equally invigorating song. The New Zealanders have generated a phenomenal single poised for greatness. This is a perfect way to uncork the summer and jump into the lake/pool/ocean/pond/mud-wrestling-pit/quicksand/body-of-liquidness. You bet this is already on my summer playlist!

The Naked and Famous - Young Blood

Friday, May 14, 2010

Weekly Q-Tips Week Ending 5/16/10


  • Gucci Mane was released from Fulton County Jail at midnight on May 11, 2010, technically the 12th. Here is his statement. That Chain looks good for a fresh-out-of-jail homie.


  • Of all people to make an appearance on the Martha Stewart show, Outkast's very own Big-Boi stopped by this week with his Mother and I believe that they grilled lobster with her. See a clip of his visit on Stewart's website.
  • Weezy was nabbed for 'music contraband' at Rikers Island this week. He was caught with an mp3 charger and headphones while another inmate had a watch that doubled as an mp3 player. It's undetermined how these items wound up in their possession. Lil Wayne has men on the inside everywhere...Check out the blog he's keeping up while he's locked up.
  • Bummer, The Strokes are planning on waiting until January 2011 to release their new LP. So I guess, we'll be lucky to get it by the end of next year. This new album is like the upcoming Harry Potter movie.
  • Katy Perry has announced the title of her new album: Teenage Dream
    • This is eerily familiar to a similar to: Teen Dream, the beautiful release from the lauded indie pop savants Beach House. Beach House had to say this about the news.



  • M.I.A. has titled her new album /\/\ /\ Y /\, the most ridiculous way to spell "Maya," her real name. The 32-year-old artist has pushed back the release of the album to 7/13 from 6/28.
  • There are a lot of good releases coming out next week, just like every other week in May. Choice releases for Tuesday May 18th, 2010. 
    • Band of Horses – Infinite Arms [Brown Records]
    • The Black Keys – Brothers [Nonesuch]
    • LCD Soundsystem – This Is Happening [DFA/Virgin]
    • The Rolling Stones – Exile on Main St. [Reissue] [Universal]