hip-hop

Q-Tip Mix, Side B

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So here’s Side B of the Q-Tip Mix. Get Side A here and the cover art here (thanks to Garrison).

In the interest of time (and bandwidth), I know I’m missing a couple – notably, Jungle Brothers’ Black is Black; Nas’ One Love (produced by Tip, who also sings the chorus); Organized Konfusion’s Let’s Organize (another chorus-only refrain for Tip).

However, on this side, you’ll get a previously unreleased De La Soul track from the A Roller Skating Jam Named Saturdays CD single and a Buddy remix that’s just about as great as the original; ditto for the Scenario remix. And, yeah, that’s Janet Jackson. What of it?

What else am I missing?

Essential Q-Tip Mix, Side B :
7. Janet Jackson (feat. Q-Tip, Joni Mitchell) | Got Til It’s Gone
8. De La Soul (feat. Q-Tip, Phife and others) | Buddy (remix)
9. Del the Funky Homosapien (feat. Q-Tip, Pep Love) | The Undisputed Champs
10. Beastie Boys (feat. Q-Tip) | Get It Together
11. De La Soul (feat. Q-Tip) | What Yo Life Can Truly Be (previously unreleased)
12. A Tribe Called Quest (feat. Leaders of the New School) | Scenario (remix)

Also, check out the Phoenix New Times’ Ear Infection blog, to which I provided my top three hip-hop albums of the year as part of its 2006 Pandemic Poll. Who knows, maybe I’ll even get a list on my own blog of my albums/songs of the year.

hip-hop

Q-Tip Mix, Side A

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(Garrison Reid created this fine artwork.)
About a week ago, Gorilla vs. Bear tried to help the hip-hop impaired (specifically, Skatterbrain) with a “How Can You Not Like Hip-Hop?” mix. It’s a great idea and it got me thinking about ways I can continue to educate on hip-hop.Apropos of nothing, the first idea I thought of was a mix featuring Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest, only my (and whole lots other peoples’) favorite hip-hop group. Back in the day, when I used to trade tapes and mixes on the Hieroglyphics Hoopla message board, one fine gal dubbed me a “Q-Tip Appreciation” mix. I see it as my karmic duty to pass on some of the goods.Now, Q-Tip never will be grouped among the greatest of emcees, but his raspy flow is comfort food for those of us brought up on Low End Theory and Midnight Marauders. (I even found it in my heart to forgive him that ridiculous album cover on his solo debut Amplified. Fur coat? Really?)

In his prime, Tip was all over the place, guesting as a producer and emcee for others; he’s made a bit of a comeback with Tribe’s reunion and a spot on DJ Shadow’s new album (included below). That’s what I’ve tried to compile here – some of his finest cameos.

Twelve tracks. Side A is today. Side B comes tomorrow. This isn’t meant to be all-inclusive, though I think you’ll dig a few of the gems in there (esp. a couple B-sides coming tomorrow).

Essential Q-Tip Mix, Side A:
1. Deee-Lite (feat. Q-Tip) | Groove is in the Heart
2. Mos Def (feat. Q-Tip and Tash) | Body Rock
3. The Roots (feat. Q-Tip) | Ital (The Universal Side)
4. Chemical Brothers (feat. Q-Tip) | Galvanize
5. DJ Shadow (feat. Q-Tip and Lateef) | Enuff
6. Busta Rhymes (feat. Q-Tip) | Ill Vibe

hip-hop

k-os: Sunday Morning

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First off, I don’t even know if k-os’ new album Atlantis: Hymns for Disco is available in the U.S. I’ve looked at the usual spots and can’t find it, other than having to pay exorbitant prices to get it as an import. That means you should buddy up with a Canadian right quick and beg him to get this album and send it to you.

Born in Trinidad and raised in Toronto, k-os (stands for knowledge of self, pronounced like “chaos”) draws from so many styles it’s difficult to absorb at first. He slides in and out of hip-hop, dancehall, reggae, rock. But then, after about two listens, I found myself humming the chorus to Sunday Morning out of the blue, leading me right back to the disc.

The promotional folks want to call this the Crazy of the new year, and they might not be too far off. It’s uplifting, catchy and has a hell of a singable chorus: “Every day is Saturday night, but I can’t wait for Sunday morning.” That theme of daily renewal probably would be corny in the hands of a less talented writer. Here, it’s rewarding and contagious.

Go on. Sing it.

k-os | Sunday Morning

BONUS:
Broken Social Scene (feat. k-os) | Windsurfing Nation

hip-hop, remix

Four Tet: As Serious As Your Life (Jay Dee Remix)

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I’m guessing my man Royce – see him over there under “contributors”? (zing!) – could tell you more about Four Tet than I ever could. Royce is the electronic music brains of this operation. Me? I see Jay Dee’s name and I’ll listen. Hip-hop, y’all. So it’s a beautiful thing when it all comes together.

I’ve actually never heard this song in its original form. In a way, I sort of like that, going in reverse. Listen to the remix first, then the original. So many times I become too enamored with an original that I don’t want it to be rearranged. So here I’ll take the rearranging first and strip away the dynamics of it and absorb the original later.

Jay Dee, whose name you’ll see popping up on year-end lists for Donuts and The Shining, took a walking bass line (or maybe it’s jogging) as a foundation and layers over it with a cooled-out front-porch beat and various vocal elements, including raps from Guilty Simpson.

The Four Tet Remixes album is available through Domino Recording Company.

Four Tet | As Serious As Your Life (Jay Dee Remix)

general

awesome guest blogger post

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Hi, I’m Chris from gorilla vs. bear. So, Kevin is up in Flagstaff for some reason, probably becoming one with nature or whatever those hippies do up there. So I guess I can stop playing with my Wii (get it? ha.) long enough to take over So Much Silence and post some songs that hopefully you guys won’t hate too much.

Kevin asked that I post a photo of men in a bathtub, so here’s Menomena

2007 is almost here, and here are a couple tracks from ’07 releases that, based on these first singles, might be worth seeking out. The Menomena record, out on Barsuk on January 23, 2007, is one of my most anticipated releases of next year, and this single reinforces that. It’ll be the band’s first release on Barsuk.

Menomena Wet and Rusting mp3

**************************

This band the Ponys, however, I knew nothing about. They are Matador Records‘ newest signees, and will release Turn the Lights Out on March 20, 2007. Here’s the infectious first single: The Ponys Double Vision mp3 Edit: Matador doesn’t allow deep-linking. Go here to get the mp3 from their site.

covers, general

Bossa N’ Roses

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I can’t decide if this is going to be one of the lamest things I’ll ever have posted or, possibly, one of the more unique. (Based solely on the cover, I might be inclined to go with the former. Her fingers … they’re smoking! Guns! And there’s roses in the background. Guns and roses!)

Music Broker’s previous “Bossa N” series – Bossa N’ Stones and Bossa N’ Marley – apparently were huge in Europe. I suppose if you can’t stomach Axl in his original form, this is a little easier to digest. I was actually just out at a bar with co-workers over the weekend, and Paradise City came on. I think I’ve heard that song enough for a lifetime – and then some – so I suppose some creative interpretation of the Guns N’ Roses catalog isn’t a bad thing. I sort of feel numb anymore when old GNR songs (circa Appetite for Destruction) come on: They aren’t good, they aren’t bad. They just exist.

This version of November Rain is calm and loungy and not nearly as epic as the original (oh, how I love that video, though). This is good for background, atmosphere-type music. Probably also a good conversation piece among friends. I’m not going to argue whether it’s actually good or not. As the athletes like to say these days, “It is what it is.”

Gheto Blaster Ltd. | November Rain (B&H Version)

Stereogum has two more tracks: Welcome to the Jungle and Paradise City.

hip-hop

Murs: Put Something Down On It

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While I contemplate whether I’m going to compile year-end favorite albums/songs lists, I can guarantee that Murs’ Murray’s Revenge would be on there. I’ve been lobbying for this album to anyone who will listen. No emcee sacrifices street bravado for honest and vulnerable writing like Murs.

Lucky for us, Murs has made a previously unreleased track, Put Something Down On It, available via his MySpace. Add your e-mail address and, poof!, like magic, it appears in your inbox. Or, you know, you can grab it right here. Considering Murray’s Revenge was a concise 10 tracks, I’m surprised this song didn’t make the cut. It carries the same themes of the struggles of and dedication to his craft.

Murs | Put Something Down On It

arizona

Lymbyc Systym: “Love Your Abuser”

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In my neglect of the local Phoenix/Tempe scene, a lot of great music has come or is coming out that requires my catching up.First up is the Lymbyc Systym, a duo comprised of brothers Mike (drums/electronics) and Jared Bell (keyboards). I actually had no idea they were from Tempe until someone told us when we saw them open for the Album Leaf. Turns out, I was spelling their name wrong, too. Not “System,” but “Systym.” (I’m sure there’s a deeper artistic meaning to all the “y’s” there, but it’s beyond my mental grasp.)

These guys are making headway pretty fast. They signed to Mush Records (home, at some point or another, to the likes of Aesop Rock, Clouddead and Busdriver) and are preparing to release the full-length Love Your Abuser on Jan. 23. Lymbyc is playing Modified on Dec. 16 with Asleep in the Sea and Metrognome to celebrate the release.An opening slot on the Album Leaf’s fall tour is your first clue about what to expect from Lymbyc Systym: spacey, atmospheric – and lyric-less – soundscapes. (Jimmy Lavelle makes a guest spot on the record, too.) I’ve said it before, but all-instrumental music is typically a challenge to my patience. But with Lymbyc, there’s great attention to detail, as most electronic-laptop pop requires. It isn’t senseless, sloppy jamming, but articulate, mindful translation of ones and zeroes into something a little more tangible.

Lymbyc Systym | Truth Skull
Lymbyc Systym | Astrology Days (via)

general, remix

Editors: Remixed EP

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What better way to extend the life of an album than to release a remix album (or, in this instance, an EP). Come on, everyone’s doing it (Bloc Party, Architecture in Helsinki, Of Montreal and so on).

Editors, on the heels of the U.S. release of The Back Room earlier this year, join the fray with an EP of four mixes, including a Munich remix by Ghislain Poirier (he of the excellent Dirt Off Your Shoulders remix). It’s available at the iTunes music store.

Pitchfork recently supplied a fifth mix that didn’t make the EP: All Sparks (Phones Remix). The indie kids will sweat through their ironic T-shirts dancing to this one.

Editors | All Sparks (Phones Remix) (via Pitchfork)

contests

Calexico contest winners

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Thanks to everyone who entered the contest for Calexico tickets/autographed CDs. In our most scientifically controlled selection process yet, my wife randomly drew names from a hat for the winners. First prize is tickets for two to a show in either Tempe, Flagstaff or Tucson. Second prize is an autographed Calexico CD. Without further ado, the winners:

Tucson:
1. Lindsay T wins tix for the Dec. 2 show @ Rialto Theatre.
2. Matt Anderson wins the CD.

Flagstaff:
1. Alan Schussman wins tix for the Dec. 4 show @ Orpheum Theatre.
2. Tom Brecke wins the CD.

Tempe:
1. Roberto Diaz wins tix for the Dec. 5 show @ the Clubhouse.
2. B. Persons wins the CD.

I’ll be getting in touch with all of you on how to collect your winnings just as soon as I find out myself.

As for us, I have to work on Dec. 5, so we may trek up the hill to Flagstaff to catch the Dec. 4 show. Alan, you can buy us a drink!

Calexico | All Systems Red (acoustic)