So I guess you want to know what my favorite songs of 2008 are? You can check out the list after the jump, but if you're feeling lucky just click one of the links below to download each part, which contain 20 tracks a piece. Trust me when I say that 2008 was a good year for music. Granted, I think 2007 was a much better year for music with amazing albums from artists like LCD Soundsystem, Arcade Fire and Spoon, but 2009 was the year that will always be remember by two words...auto tune. And even though it certainly [...]
20. Born Ruffians - Red Yellow and Blue MP3: Born Ruffians - I Need A Life 19. Foals - Antidotes MP3: Foals - Red Sock Pugie 18. Q-Tip - The Renaissance MP3: Q-Tip - Gettin Up [...]
Last Wednesday night was the debut of Flying Lotus' ambient set at the Low End Theory with harpist Rebekah Raff, who has toured with the likes of Kanye, Outkast and Britney Spears. The set was incredibly atmospheric, probably different from what many expect out of the weekly Low End Theory hip hop show, but an incredible treat and a nice departure from the beat-heavy club to say the least. Anyways, Gaslamp Killer kicked off the set with some nice electronic and dirty south jams, and then Daedueus' band The Long Lost followed up with a nice laidback set. [...]
Here's a new mixtape from DJ Benzi and the good people over at 10 Deep. Wale and Kid Cudi have hosted previous installments of 10 Deep's mixtape series and with DJ Benzi going in like he did on this one, The New Deal is going to be a tough act to follow. Benzi said the people at 10 Deep hit him up when their other host unexpectedly dropped out and he had to put this thing together in just a matter of a couple weeks. Nonetheless, The New Deal definitely doesn't sound rushed and with all of [...]
Alright, back to that raw shit, I'm glad I stayed in tonight and discovered this Flying Lotus Essential Mix over at the Mad Decent blog. This thing is like two hours long and it really sounds like Fly Lo put some time and effort in to it. This is if not the best, one of the best mixes I've heard all year and I'm trying to spread the word about Flying Lotus to pretty much everyone I meet at this point. Amazingly, this guy is really not as popular on the West Coast as I expected him to be, but [...]
One of the only few mainstream American bands that has captured my attention over the last few years has been Maroon 5 and not just because every girl I know starts to gyrate whenever their songs come on the radio. It's because they actually have unique, catchy melodies that don't really sound like anyone else out there, and their singer has a pretty good voice. As a matter of fact, a close friend of mine and I were riding around listening to the radio in Bowling Green, KY a few years back and about halfway through "This Love", we broke [...]
Some of the greatest minds of modern indie rock jamming together in Toronto. via Katuwapitiya and Stereogum
This is the first new cut off of the soundtrack for Notorious, the Biggie Smalls biopic set for release on January 16th. I gotta say I'm really looking forward to this movie, being that Biggie is easily my favorite rapper of all time and I think Gravy was actually pretty good choice for the part. Guerilla Black would've also been a good choice, but the guy is from Compton and lord knows we don't need to stir up any more coastal rivalries (especially those involving puppets). The Notorious soundtrack is scheduled to be released on January 13th and aside from [...]
The Clipse released a new mixtape today titled Road To Till The Casket Drops. In conjuction with Complex Magazine, the mixtape commemorates the release of The Clipse's new clothing line, Play Cloths, as well as the duo's new LP, Till The Casket Drops, their first on Columbia Records. If any of you were a bit disappointed with We Got It For Cheap Vol. 3 like I was, Road To Till The Casket Drops more than makes up for it. Instead of more Sandman, Ab-Liva and Pharrell disses, we just get the Clipse by their lonely dropping a dozen pure coke-rap [...]
This is Justice's DJ set from the annual I Love Techno festival in Belgium, courtesy of Asian Dan, who reports that this is their first live set using Ableton. To be honest with you, I can't say that this is all that much different than Justice's other live sets, but it's damn good as usual, and there's a little bit more hip hop and it seems more uptempo than their previous sets. I think Ableton's working for them. Asian Dan also has a mix from Justice's performance on The Weekend Warm Up, which you can find a link to below. [...]
If you're a big Franz Ferdinand fan, chances are you've heard this new track "Ulysses" and if you aren't, you should probably check it out anyways because it really doesn't sound much at all like the material from their first two albums. This track and "Lucid Dreams" find an excellent common ground between pop and hard rock. Stereogum compared "Ulysses" to Spoon's "I Turn My Camera On", but aside from the similar bassline, this track rocks out a lot harder, although there is a nice semi-melodic breakdown towards the end. Regardless, I think fans and critics alike are both going [...]
So I'm back from my two-week hiatus and I'm now settled in to my new apartment in LA. I love it here so far. I've already been to several good shows and I've got a couple great ones lined up for the next couple weeks. I was lucky enough to check out Of Montreal last weekend at the Palladium, which was one of my favorite shows of the year by far. The stage antics were just out of control and the entire band was definitely hitting their stride musically at the show, and at times they pushed the performance to [...]
Here's a link to Lil Wayne's new mixtape with DJ Drama, Dedication 3, courtesy of Nah Right . I'm only a few songs in, but this is definitely in the running for mixtape of the year. Jae Millz makes frequent appearances on the mixtape, as do Willie The Kid and LA The Darkman. This poses the question..is there about to be some kind of southern rap consolidation going on? I'd be perfectly fine with that if it included these guys and not Ace Hood or Soulja Boi. Good to see Jae Millz back in the game in whatever way [...]
It just so happens that "Bama Gettin Money" from DJ Benzi and Diplo's mixtape with the Paper Route Gangstaz is featured as the iTunes Discover Download of the week on iTunes. Go scoop it up here while you can, and if you like it (which I'm sure you will, believe me), go pick up Fear and Loathing Huntsvegas, which will finally be released next Tuesday. There's a link to a nice sampler of the album that I posted a while back, as well as this new remix of "Don't Go" featuring Wale below. I've been hyping [...]
Gotta love Binki's solo at the end, great version of an already great song. If you haven't already, go on and pick up Little Joy's debut LP, out now on Rough Trade.
Critical Acclaim
Princesse - Tell Me | MP3
Beck - 'I Just Started Hating Some People Today' [Listen]
[LISTEN] Gotye (Passion Pit Remix)
New Remix: Jonquil - Run (RxGibbs Remix)
