While, in the past, we've tended to highlight the smoother aspects of Noah Vinson 's oeuvre, it was never a knock against the Bronx emcee's ability to bring the heat when it came to the more hard-hitting trunk thumping material. For "Nation", an early peak of forthcoming mixtape Young & Proud , Vinson and trackmate Frank Ramz do just that, breathlessly running through ego-denting battle-rap-edged bars over producer Kajmir Royale 's skeletal, ping-pongy beat fueled by nothing but good old mic hunger, shared disappointment [...]
Few people are able to blend retro-soul sensibilities with a modern-day pop brush and have it not read dull as well as Mr. Cee-Lo Green , part of the reason why the man has consistently been able to pull in fans of a wide array of ages and backgrounds. That universal appeal magic sparks once again with the Rolling Stone -premiered "Only You", the first single from Cee-Lo's forthcoming solo effort, and one that pairs him up with singer-songwriter newbie Lauriana Mae for a devotional ballad that takes the timeless [...]
Though he's only nineteen, Casey Veggies has been riding the "one to watch" wave for a minute now; add that to an increased public interest in hip hop of a West Coast-based nature, and it's looking like it won't be long before the Inglewood emcee makes the crossover into being an above-the-radar success. Smack-dab in the middle of his latest mixtape, the quite solid Life Changes , Veggies grasps a potent car jam look with "The Team", an upbeat entry that oozes an infectious "just got paid" giddiness thanks to production [...]
For those a bit tired of walking outside and being smacked across the face with the depressing reality that winter is still happening, six-piece Boston indie-pop (or, as they'd prefer, "flute-pop") outfit Gentlemen Hall provide just what you're probably needing in your life with the burst of sugary sunshine that is their latest "Sail Into The Sun". A cheeriness near-overdose of starry-eyed synth glitter, seemingly infinitely stacked vocals pitching a romantic escapade beyond the clouds and an insanely addictive stomp that drops in around the 0:45 mark and could probably brighten a day all on its [...]
In boring old physical terms, Magic Fades are a duo based out of Portland, but in listening to their newest mixtape Obsession the act sounds less like human beings than alien robots who've downloaded bytes upon bytes of various 902s and '002s R&B aesthetics into their mainframes, jumbled them all together and vomited all the information out in deconstructed, hallucinatory nuggets of an alternate dimension rhythmic-pop vein. On the tape's title cut, the candied orchestral figure from Brandy & Monica's "The Boy Is Mine" provides the track's [...]
Is there a sound more heavenly than the warm, Southern-fried trills of Tweet ? Really, if we were to somehow become President, best believe that somewhere near the top of the itinerary would be our attempt to pass a law that made sure the 'Southern Hummingbird' was about as omnipresent as a Rick Ross grunt in terms of constantly dropping something new. Apparently, she feels the people's hunger, cause February 26th is the day she drops new EP Simply Tweet and leading the project off is "Nothing", an old school-seasoned ballad finding her trying to [...]
When we last heard Sam Smith , the London singer was bringing the goods as the soulful voice behind Disclosure 's sparkling glitch-house thump "Latch" . On new cut "Lay Me Down", the credits are switched (it's a Smith cut produced by Disclosure and Jimmy Napes ), but the results are no less sublime. This time though, the dancefloor swerve is left behind for a stripped-back ballad arrangement, one that brings all the focus upon a masterful Smith vocal showcase that flutters and soars in all the right places, bringing all the necessary emotional [...]
Pusha T may only rap about the same two or three things over and over again, but it's a testament to the man's talent that so many people could care less, more than ready to drench themselves in whatever newest dose of evocative coke rap lifestyle tales he's ready to drop next. The bone chilling icy menace cooked up from Boogz Da Beast & Tapez ' production (based around a sample of prog rock icons Yes' 1991 album cut "Without Hope You Cannot Start The Day") sets a perfectly lurid tone for Push's richly [...]
On their new four-track EP Alexandrina , Berlin-based four-piece Orae cater to those not afraid of a little grown-up ambiance soundtracking their day in their meditative fusions of acoustic blues and jazz with a sparse, electronic minimalism. For the spiritual-lined "Protect The Prophecy", a man's return from a mysterious year-plus trip away is met with some contention from a worried loved one back home ("I hope your search was worth my pain," he's confronted with upon his random arrival). While he's a bit vague with the details of [...]
On their 2012 EP Candy Bar Creep Show , New York duo MS MR (singer Lizzy Plapinger and producer Max Hershenow) caused much of a praise-littered on-line stir with their melding of goth-y lyrical imagery and wistful wailing alongside arrangements that further defined their love for the emotional gloom in expansive, cavernous strokes of the blackest-dipped indie pop. On "Fantasy", the first single from their upcoming full length debut Second Hand Rapture (due May 14th), that arresting song-sculpting formula is spun out once again, exploding in melodramatic peaks [...]
The triumphant "ashy to classy" narrative is a tried-and-true subject in hip hop: if your dreams finally came true, and with that, you were also living the lifestyle of a big-budget music video far and away from your humble beginnings, why wouldn't you want to reflect in awe of your come-up? While a constant beating down of the theme from your favorite emcees can start to feel insulting though (especially with most of us mired in a current economic climate that seems like it never wants you to "win"), it's hard not to root for [...]
Thanks to The Modern Age EP and its full length follow-up Is This It , The Strokes will likely forever remain a major staple in conversations of why music (especially rock) in the '002s was worthwhile, but after the many polarizing responses of the band's successive releases and various side dishes and the army of sound-alike acts to emerge in the years that followed, it's hard to pinpoint exactly what is really expected from The Strokes in 2013, even as the anticipation for how it might sound is high. [...]
Even if "Scream & Shout" 's existence didn't quite get you off the "will.i.am is the worst" wagon, the record was oddly fascinating, mainly in its striking decision to play up the Britney-as-inhuman meme by reducing the pop princess to some kind of bored, faux-British-accented, Bond vixen-meets-3008 club kid cyborg, which did enough to distract from the song really being another colorless and ever-desperate (and, as usual, largely successful, sales- and charts-wise) will.i.am attempt at all-demographics-reaching, world-pop domination. Further adding to the track's engrossing factor, a newly released "official" remix which shifts "Shouts" [...]
For a man who used to effortlessly unleash songwriting of a capital F "freaky" persuasion, that the hook to Prince 's newest single "Screwdriver" would center on the ho-hum double entendre "I'm your driver, you're my screw" comes as a bit of a disappointment. On the other hand, at least we know that there's at least a sliver of that old nasty sense of humor still embedded deep in His Purple Majesty's bones, not to mention his ability to still pump out a breezy pop/ rock confection whenever he wants. "Screwdriver" is (of course) no [...]
Los Angeles production duo ii (pronounced "eyes") are definitely having a good week: their debut single, "You Got Me" made its world premiere on hit Showtime corporate dramedy House of Lies this past weekend, and the cooler-than-typical introductory move has already proven to be a beneficial one, sparking up the kind of insta-online buzz so many other newbie acts would happily sell their souls for. If "You Got Me" doesn't necessarily see members Michael Lee and Austin Tirado re-writing any new pop rules, the track does provide a pretty inviting mish-mash of [...]
The downside to being a blogger with a day job: the large amount of good new music that flies under your radar. For example, while we've seen the name of up-and-coming New York duo Lion Babe getting tons of computer ink on some of our favorite blog spots, we had yet to hear a lick of their single "Treat Me Like Fire" to even hear what the big deal was. That is until today, after which we subsequently felt a bit of shame for not realizing (and joining the crowd in touting) what an intriguing introductory [...]
Apparently it's TLC Appreciation Week, because coming on the heels of Kaytranada's crazysexycool twist on "Creep" we talked about yesterday comes this piece of experimental flashback freakiness from Australian knob-twiddler Ta-ku based around a sample of the late '902s favorite/ modern-day karaoke staple "No Scrubs" . Reducing Chili's swift dismissal of the car-less titular character to a mesmerizing series of clipped and screwed snippets, Ta-ku further fills up "BrokeAs"'s three-and-a-half minute space with a dazzling template of electro-soul wizardry, shuffling back and forth between regal bursts and strobe-y washes of synthesizer that culminate [...]
While producing a track that sounds like something you might accidentally come across when rummaging through your parents' vinyl collection might not seem like the most enticing description, in the case of "Lone Ranger", the latest single from Lexington, Kentucky singer-songwriter Matt Duncan , we can promise you that that's a good thing. Blending '702s AM rock and blue-eyed soul sensibilities in a way that's reminiscent of early Hall & Oates and the ultimate dad-rockers Steely Dan, "Ranger" seeps through the speakers and into the brain as the epitome of lazy Sunday afternoon chill time sonic [...]
While most of the attention surrounding Vices , the latest mixtape from Virginia rapper/ producer Nickelus F , has understandably been centered on his re-teaming with former collaborator Drake for the set-closing "Number 153, it's the track that precedes that cut that has drawn our ears (and "replay" button-fingering) the most. "Petey's Wingz" is, essentially, a "weed track"-complete with the fittingly hazed-over 802s R&B-inspired soundbed that seems to float in mid-air-but it strives to do more than just set a go-to smokers' vibe, with Nickelus offering verses that paint an idealistic "blunts n' beauties"-adorned [...]
Watching T-Box on reality TV struggling to re-spark a solo career that should have happened a lifetime and a half ago might be a depressing sight to behold...but, at least, we got the old TLC hits to revisit to keep our mood up. One of those timeless smashes, mid-902s chart-topper "Creep", is re-awoken under the palms of Canadian production wiz Kaytranada , who swipes the a capella from the original's Jermaine Dupri-produced remix and injects the throwback mutual infidelity anthem with a darker sensuality thanks to a bassline-led, late night hip hop-soul bump (and slyly [...]
Mixtape Maestro
And We'll Run
Noteworthy (Stream): Kanye West – Black Skinhead (SNL Performance)
Kanye West Performs “Black Skinhead” & “New Slaves” On ‘SNL’ Season Finale: Watch
Hudson Mohawke collaborates with Kanye West on new single
