Here’s a song that’s owned me the past week. It comes from the Silver State, the Brooklyn-by-way-of-Vegas project of Caleb Lindskoog. The band recently released a tremendous album, Cut and Run, on Young American Recordings.
I’ll have more to say about the album – get it at eMusic – as a whole because it should not go unnoticed.
In the meantime, the video for Faith You Changed Your Name:
This one was a surprise: The legendary De La Soul is playing Venue of Scottsdale (formerly the Cajun House) on June 20.
Tickets are (gulp) $30. Get ’em here.
I saw De La Soul multiple times in the group’s prime (once with A Tribe Called Quest and Souls of Mischief … unreal), and I fear a show like this could taint those memories. That’s not to say the group can’t still bring it, but it’s definitely not 1993 anymore, Toto.
Anyway, one of these weeks I’m going to have a De La Soul Remix Week. I have De La remixes left and right. Here’s one for ya.
Just in time for the band’s show Tuesday night at Modified, singer/guitarist Michael Kingcaid of What Made Milwaukee Famous offers up the 27th installment of I Used to Love H.E.R., a series in which artists/bloggers/writers discuss their most essential or favorite hip-hop albums (read intro).
I think that it would be pretty impossible for me to put my finger on any one hip-hop album that would define my love for the genre. It is much easier, however, to list the rap albums that ushered me into different levels of a deeper appreciation for hip-hop and inevitably permeated into my musical tastes for other genres, too. Some of these were (embarrassingly) spoon-fed to me by society. And I would have loved to just throw out obscure albums that would get respect. But this list is more-so about the rap albums that I wouldn’t be me without. In chronological order, they are:
1. Run-DMC – Raising Hell (1986)
one of the first two tapes that I ever bought with my own money. it’s remotely embarrassing that this is my entry into the rap world (by way of Aerosmith). but the bottom line is, that particular crossover put rap on the radar for a lot of white kids that wouldn’t normally be seeking it out. in that sense (but not that sense alone), the album is seminal.
2. Gang Starr – Step in the Arena (1991)
as far as rap ALBUMS go, this one was the first to capture my full attention for the duration of the whole album. there was such a long time that Yo! MTV Raps just had me buying singles for all the songs that I found on there. this album blew my mind from front to back and I must have listened to it (at least) 500 times within the next five years.
3. Dr. Dre – The Chronic (1992)
I feel like I don’t even need to say anything about this album. this album took everything that everyone loved about NWA, the DOC, Easy, and basically everything about hip-hop to a whole other level. this album put rap on the map as a commercial giant. plus, it’s a phenomenal piece of work.
4. A Tribe Called Quest – Midnight Marauders (1993)
this one might stand alone as the most solid hip-hop album that has come into my life. it seems like it’d be easy to dismiss this one as something that would be stuck in the 90’s. but put it on every 6 months and see how much of it you can regurgitate. that says something.
5. Wu-Tang Clan – Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (1993)
there are so many MC’s that wouldn’t exist without the Wu-Tang Clan that I feel like it’s kind of an injustice that there isn’t a statue of them in NYC. not to mention, Ghostface is still putting out albums that almost always end up in everybody’s top records of the year – every year he puts out an album.
6. Nas – Illmatic (1994)
one of the greatest storytelling rap albums that I own. or at least, it was up until that point in my life. I think that I had to buy this CD twice from listening to it so much
7. Aceyalone – Book of Human Language (1998)
I equate listening to this album with reading one of those books that change your way of thinking for the next few years of your life, like Breakfast of Champions or Siddhartha. Acey’s message is equally as impressive as his delivery.
8. Jay-Z – The Black Album (2003)
I’ve been listening to a lot of Jay-Z recently and I’m pretty sure that he’s my favorite MC. possibly ever. with all the big willy and cash money talk that goes around in hip-hop, his (in retrospect) seems pretty honest. at least, the figures that he starts off touting on his first albums vs. the kind of duckets he throws around these days are reflected accurately in his respective albums.
there are other MC’s and groups that have been equally as influential on my tastes in music (Missy, Outkast, UGK, the Roots, Mos Def). but as far as albums go, those are the pivotal fence posts of my experiences with hip-hop. ok, maybe you could throw UGK’s Super Tight in there, too. but I’ve got plenty more to learn and listen to. and I’m all ears and I’m desperately in need of suggestions because with the year spans listed, I think I’m overdue for my introduction to my next indispensable, hip-hop chapter.
(Click here for all entries in the I Used to Love H.E.R. series.)
It seems like it’s been awhile since we’ve been to a show, so that will make Tuesday night’s outing at Modified, featuring the Whigs, What Made Milwaukee Famous and the Dead Trees, all the more fun.
I’ve been hopped up on the Whigs’ Mission Control (available at eMusic) the past couple days to get ready. (Though, this is my favorite album named Mission Control.)
The Arizona Republic talked to Whigs drummer Julian Dorio.
Given Modified’s modest size, I have a good feeling about the Whigs blowing the place apart. Note to self: Bring earplugs.
The Whigs perform Right Hand on My Heart on Letterman:
EDIT: Check out some live video at Breakfast on Tour of the tour stop in Houston. Um, yeah, Right Hand on My Heart pretty much rules.
Unfortunately, we didn’t drive out to Los Angeles for Elbow’s show on Friday night at the Avalon. But I’ve decided, unilaterally – all on my own, without help from the blogs or Pitchfork – that the band’s new record, The Seldom Seen Kid, is my favorite of 2008 so far. There’s so much to it, but the songwriting is never so confounding that you can’t understand what Guy Garvey is singing about or at least relate to it in some way, especially on a track like One Day Like This.
It’s just a shame the band didn’t perform The Loneliness of a Tower Crane Driver on this session on KEXP. (Subscribe to KEXP’s Live Performances Podcast.) You should seek that song out if you haven’t heard it yet.
However, we learn between songs in this session that Garvey (aside from being hungover … how does he still sing like this??) has been doing some writing/collaborating with Massive Attack for their new record. Also, Garvey has a radio show on the BBC called Guy Garvey’s Finest Hour. (For his last show, he played No One’s Gonna Love You, my favorite song off Band of Horses’ Cease to Begin.)
And check out Garvey’s tour blog for Blender. Apparently, he is the king of all media.
One of my favorites (and Brian’s, too), Los Angeles’ Radar Bros., visited KCRW for an in-studio session.
Also, you can go to the Merge blog, which has live video footage of the group at SXSW.
And don’t forget to check out Mt. Wilson Repeater, the solo project of Radar frontman Jim Putnam.
Marquee Theatre in Tempe has a couple busy days lined up in September. Not only is it hosting Vampire Weekend on Sept. 24, now comes word of a My Morning Jacket show on Sept. 23.
The show is being billed as “An Evening with My Morning Jacket,” which would seem to hint that there is no opening act. The Luckyman Concerts site says “an evening with no support.” But the Stateside Presents site says there is a “special guest.” Stay tuned.
Regardless, tickets for the all-ages show ($29) go on sale May 17.
The band is due to release Evil Urges on June 10. In related news, eMusic now has the entire MMJ catalog, including 2005’s Z.
For years now, indie/underground rap fans – and rappers themselves – wouldn’t be caught dead listening to mainstream rap because all they rap about is “guns, cars and bitches.” That was a clear line in the sand. Uh-uh. No way my favorite artist does that. Well, what happens when the indie/underground rappers start rapping about, well, guns, cars and bitches?
Kidz in the Hall, who are playing some dates with El-P and Dizzee Rascal and later hitting the Paid Dues Festival and Rock the Bells tour, have unleashed what should be this year’s summer jam: Drivin Down the Block. I’ll give you one guess what it’s about. And here’s the thing: I love it.
Drivin Down the Block is the new Kick, Push, and Lupe is just skitching on its bumper.
But here’s the question: What makes it OK now to dig a track that celebrates aimless cruising – “got my seat on recline, turn up the Alpine” – when the same track by a mainstream artist would be shunned by the cool kids (no pun intended)? I don’t really have an answer. It’s just a curious phenomenon.
Hey, any track that cites The Low End Theory is A-OK by me: “Drivin’ down the block/ my ‘Low End Theory’ tape in / playing number 6 / ‘Show Business’ is my shit.”
Check the orginal and the remix by El-P, who, in his production and new verses, again shows his uncanny ability to be a funcrusher plus.
And don’t forget the video:
Good lord. If I could actually process what Busdriver says in his rapid-fire delivery, I might have a better idea of what this new single, Ellen Disingenuous, is about (via Urb Magazine blog; thanks to Chris for pointing it out.).
I actually considered running it through audio software and slowing the tempo to try to write down the lyrics. When I listen to Busdriver I wonder how one discovers he or she has this talent – the ability to not only rap at warp speed but to make sense and make a point at the same time.
We can at least take our time to absorb that awesome cover art.
As promised, Spoon continues to offer a bonus download per month – last month was a Cherry Bomb demo – at its Web site.
This month it’s the “first version” – also known as a demo – of I Turn My Camera On. I actually have this on a B-side of the 7-inch single (as you can tell from photo). I’d already done my due diligence and ripped it from the vinyl, but this version offers a little less snap, crackle and pop.
I even scanned the 7-inch cover for you completists out there. Grab the jpeg right here.
