Blog: Mind Inversion

I totally forgot that this video got released last week, and frankly I'm baffled it slipped my mind because I love Phonte. "The Good Fight" is a smooth soulful jam produced by 9th Wonder that was featured on Phonte's spectacular debut solo album Charity Starts at Home . I've been a huge fan of Phontigga ever since the days of Little Brother (sheds a tear), and Charity Starts at Home is exactly what Phonte's fans had been waiting for: a debut album showcasing Phonte's ability to seamlessly rhyme and sing at the same [...]

That's right, Mr. Ali is back with a free EP for the masses; The Bite Marked Heart is a new 7 track EP of all original material. I'm particularly stoked about this one because Brother Ali does the majority of his work on this project with Jake One ; of course, Ali did a couple tracks with ANT as well. If you remember Jake One's album White Van Music , then you know that he works very well with Ali. Upon seeing the tracklisting, I instantly became fixated on track [...]

• Brother Ali - The Bite Marked Heart

As I first put on Brett Orr I absolutely had no idea what to expect. Sometimes when people get a hold of you to review their music it can take you a little while to actually take the gander over for that first listen. His first song on his Facebook had me turning the volume up to 50 on the old Bose. Once his funky soulful voice hit at the 47-second mark in "Becoming a Man" you know he has what it takes to make it in the music industry. Reading on about the Australia native you [...]

First off, my favorite part of Bushwood's self-titled debut album is the cover art featured above. Now, that doesn't mean that I did not like what I heard. Bushwood mixes their reggae together with a mellow, chilled out rock sound for the beach of your choice. Whether that be one with an oceanview, a riverview or a beach that you have to travel to when you shut your eyes(this is recommended only if you aren't driving). For a rock reggae album Bushwood does a great job of not focusing too much on just reggae elements or just rock elements but carefully blends them [...]

Recently, I was introduced to the stoner-metal band Red Fang of Portland, OR, by my buddy Daniel C (Thanks Buddy).  I was down in the dumps and I threw the youtube.com video on.  At that very moment I could not stop laughing, I could not stop thinking about drinking shitty beer, and I generally felt better about my life.  Overall I feel that the music videos Red Fang has put out are ingenious; heavy with solid  lyrics, with a sound that comes across as crisp and hard, and with cinematography and creativity enough to keep people watching their videos.  Since [...]

As many of you know, ?uestlove is probably the biggest J Dilla fanatic there is; I guarantee he has just about every piece of music that James Yancey composed. ?uesto was on Hot97 today as a guest dj, and every song in his show was related to J Dilla; I only wish I could have listened to this live because ?uestlove is one of the most knowledgeable musicians of all-time, and I can guarantee he put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into this. As far as a dj set is concerned, ?uestlove [...]

I still can't believe that this man is gone because it always saddens me to think about Jay's passing. Jay Dee truly was a producer's producer, and no one will ever be able to top Dilla's abilities. I feel as though I am a very fortunate human being; experiencing and finding out about Dilla's music is truly one of the greatest things that has happened in my life. His music is something that I will always be able to confide in whether times are good or bad, and I thank him for that. For those of you fortunate enough to [...]

The more I explore the more I realize I will never be able to discover all of the music the world has to offer let alone our own nation. Made of Wood makes me realize that this is why I am trying to discover as much of that music that I can. On the new album, The Chill/Funk Trip , you will get an instrumental barrage that can be described as Downtempo with 702s Funk and modern Jazz elements. In an email I received from I AM PR Agency  it suggests that you listen to this [...]

Earlier today Murdoc the front animation-man announced who the guest collaborators were for the new Gorillaz  track via Soundcloud . The two lucky artists are Andre 3000( Outkast ) and James Murphy( LCD Soundsystem ). The group of men will be releasing "DoYaThing" in two weeks on February 23, 2012 and will be available for a free download on that day via Converse.com . Anytime you get 3 musical geniuses together you know something brilliant is going to happen and anytime James Murphy is working on something new I want to know. Having the brainchild of LCD Soundsystem team up with Gorillaz [...]

• 3 - Murdoc announces Gorillaz collaborators

Wow, from the start of the new album Country by Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad I am amazed and I am astonished. I first heard of this band while attending a G-Love and the Special Sauce show at First Avenue in Minneapolis. Their live show was an unreal jam session filled with plenty of energy that got the crowd dancing. Country may get your foot tapping a bit while you are sipping a whiskey down at your local saloon. Country is an album with an acoustic, slowed down blue grass sound with folk and [...]

The Black Keys have released their official music video for the new single "Gold on the Ceiling" off of El Camino. It is a very catchy song and the video features the two rockers from Akron, Ohio performing in the studio, on stage and preparing for the stage. The video seems to put a little smile on your face as you watch the amount of effort and the amount of fun the two are having. If you haven't checked out the video yet, go ahead and if you haven't heard the song yet, it is [...]

As I sit here and ponder what to write for my annual Dilla Day post, I find myself thinking about the first time I heard James Dewitt Yancey's music: A friend had told me to check out the track "So Far To Go" off of Jay's album, The Shining . From the second "So Far To Go" started playing, I was hit with a myriad of emotions, and I had no idea how to comprehend what was bombarding my ear drums; once the piano section kicked in right around the two minute mark, I damn near burst [...]

I really hope that this means Fashawn & Exile are close to finishing Fashawn's sophomore effort The Ecolog ; Boy Meets World is still one of my favorite albums to this day. I spotted this gem at 2DopeBoyz yesterday, and needless to say, I fucking love it. The chemistry that is shown between Fash & Ex is amazing; even though Exile is a below average emcee, his style blends very well with Fashawn's witty wordplay. Even though Exile doesn't spit bars that will leave your face molten, he makes beats that surely will; I don't [...]

I spotted this the other day when I logged onto Facebook, but I really didn't have time to post it because of school work. "Still Standing" is the latest cut off of W.A.R. ( We Are Renegades ) to get the visual treatment, and much like "Clap (One Day)" , the video is very deep and has a lot of emotion behind it. If you still haven't succumbed to greatness and purchased Pharoahe's latest album, which is arguably one of the best efforts of 2011, break your headphones, and never listen to music again. Filed [...]

Let me paint you a picture: the year is 2004; I'm a junior in high school, and it's spring time. The weather is beautiful outside, and the country roads welcome my friends and I with open arms; more impressively, Lil' Wayne could rap... and well. More often than not, Tha Carter was the soundtrack to those beautiful afternoons. On "This is the Carter", Lil' Wayne boastfully says "I'm finally perfect"; that statement couldn't be more true about Wayne's fourth solo outing. Mannie Fresh's production on Tha Carter is near legendary, and Lil' Wayne's vivid imagery and [...]

Ah...  Yes, so for some time now I have been digging on Prof. (musically and creatively); A Minneapolis native, south-side (Powderhorn represent!), who makes music that is of quality production-wise, catchy lyrically, and that has an easy way of relating to, even with some delusions of grandeur and vulgar hyperboles.  Prof.'s imagination is over the top, and hard to overlook, but his sense of humor is something to be admired in an age of all seriousness.  His music is an escape from a world of frowns and disapproval. A couple of summers ago I received a cd of [...]

Before Alchemist and Oh No released Gutter Water , I wasn't sure what to think; any time that two producing emcees collaborate on a project, I'm almost certainly going to compare their effort to Champion Sound by Jaylib. I still remember picking up my copy of Gutter Water the day that it came out, and I also remember being completely blown away. There was one immediate thought that came to my mind: Should I pour bleach into my ears to clean out the filth that I had just [...]

I spotted this one at 2DopeBoyz last night, but it was far too late to post anything, so I decided to throw it up today. Big K.R.I.T. released the artwork for his upcoming mixtape 4EvaNaDay , and he let go of the lead single as well; According to K.R.I.T., "Boobie Miles" is about overcoming all of the trials and tribulations that often seem to get in the way when you are trying to reach your dreams. "Boobie Miles" is so smooth, and although it doesn't have a producer credit, I'm fairly certain that K.R.I.T. produced [...]

• BIGKRIT - BOOBIE MILES (Prod. By Big K.R.I.T.)

I was very excited to see this pop up on my Facebook feed yesterday, and I'm glad that Jon Jon Scott posted this. This last September, various musicians got together at the Stonefly Brewing Company in Milwaukee to recreate some of Dilla's production pieces with a classical, yet modern mindset (very similar to Suite For Ma Dukes ); I was bummed that I didn't get to see Unlooped Vs. Dilla , but it looks like I might get another chance to experience a one-of-a-kind opportunity. They haven't released [...]

• radiomilwaukee - Unlooped vs Dilla (Live Recording), September 17 @ Stonefly

The second single off of the new Sleigh Bells album, Reign of Terror , has been released for viewing over at reignofterror.tv . This has happened not a moment too soon since I can not or choose not to remember the name of the first single. "Comeback Kid" has gotten me, once again, excited for the sophomore album by the popular Brooklyn, New York duo. After hearing the first single I was thinking, "Oh no, another follow-up failure to an unprecedented debut album." Major Disappointment of 2011: Sleigh Bells cancelling Lollapalooza. [...]