hip-hop

Del’s Leak Pack, Vol. 1

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If it hasn’t been made abundantly clear throughout Del’s career at how prolific the man is, he’s offering more proof in the form of free downloads.

The granddaddy of Hieroglyphics is releasing Del’s Leak Packs, a series of new and/or unreleased material.

Del had this to say about the Leak Packs to HipHopDX:

“We make so much music that sometimes waiting for album to be released for folks to peep is too long. We may be on to something completely different by then and those tracks may not get used. So it’s good to leak ’em out so they get heard and people can have something in between projects.”

Gotta love it when artists embrace the power of the Internets, and I have lots of respect for Del for using this forum to help less-heralded artists earn some exposure. Here’s the tracks included in the first Leak Pack:

Del, 30 30
Chip Fu, MC Squared
Tame One (formerly of the Artifacts), Anxiety Attacks
Bukue One, Final Clues

Download the pack here.

  • Del the Funky Homosapien | 30 30
hip-hop, Sundays with Tribe

Sundays with A Tribe Called Quest: Vol. 9

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I wish I had more to say about this remix. All I know is, this is one of my favorite flips of a remix. Ever. And after all these years, I don’t even know who Know Naim is. A Google search reveals little.

I know this comes off the Oh My God single (have it on tape, CD and vinyl) that featured a remix of the original. The Know Naim mix is then a reworking of the remix with new verses by Know Naim. It’s 2 minutes, 49 seconds of tight rhymes, with one hot one-liner after another: “I’ll cramp your fuckin’ style / like you ate before you swum.” “They got my back like a Jansport.” “Play like En Vogue because you’re never gonna get it.”

Someone tell me: Who is Know Naim? The credits on the single: “Know Naim is: Snag, Lo and Bay.”

arizona

Incoming: Reubens Accomplice, Sept. 13

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Well, “incoming” is a misnomer, considering Reubens Accomplice is from here (all except drummer John O’Reilly, that is).

However, Reubens has been holed up for quite some time now, recording the follow-up to the great 2004 album The Bull, the Balloon, and the Family. From what I hear, finishing touches are being applied. So my guess is, this Sept. 13 show at Modified is going to feature plenty of a new material.

Nothing new, really, on the MySpace page save for an outtake and an unreleased track. Not sure if either will show up on the new record. On an outdated Live Journal post, Reubens said in 2005 that the record would be called Mammal Music.

Until then, a taste of The Bull.

general, video, vinyl

Paul Mawhinney and The Archive

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Here’s a brief (seven minutes or so) but thoughtful look at Paul Mawhinney, who owns an astonishing record collection, allegedly the largest in the world. One million albums and 1.5 million singles? “Astonishing” doesn’t even do that justice.

This is inspiring and heartbreaking in its own way, a story that earned press earlier this year when a sale for the collection fell through. Mawhinney appears to break down a bit while listening to John Miles’ Music: “It’s my life’s song.”

From a purely aesthetic standpoint, I love the vinyl popping sound near the end when the credits are rolling. Nice touch.


The Archive from Sean Dunne on Vimeo.

hip-hop, remix

Flobots: Handlebars (DJ Shadow remix)

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I’ve been on a DJ Shadow kick of late since reading the 33 1/3 book on Endtroducing … . (In short: Informative but could have done without the Q-and-A format for the entire book; seemed to lack proper context for such an important record.)

So I spent some free time on Tuesday checking out solesides.com, always a favorite. That turned up a remix Shadow did for the Flobots song Handlebars.

To be honest, I haven’t spent enough time with Flobots – from Denver, home of one of my favorite bloggers – to really know what they’re about, but I heard their Tempe show earlier this summer was pretty packed. You can hear the original track at their MySpace. Is there much of a variation in the remix? I’m not hearing it.

A friend suggested that maybe Shadow phoned it in on this one. Thoughts?

  • Flobots | Handlebars (DJ Shadow remix)
covers, general, video

Travis: Something Anything (video)

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Well, I don’t think I can get in any sort of trouble for posting this Travis video.

The track, Something Anything, is from the forthcoming album Ode to J. Smith, due out Sept. 29 in the UK. Not sure what that means for a U.S. release.

In more Travis news, the band’s outstanding track, Sing, has been covered by Glen Campbell for his Meet Glen Campbell covers album.

Perhaps Campbell is returning the favor on a Wichita Lineman cover by Travis and Jason Falkner?

Here’s Campbell on AOL’s Sessions:

arizona, general

Go Vote 2008: Calexico and Jim Adkins

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There are important shows and there are Important Shows. The 2008 version of Go Vote, put on by Stateside Presents, would obviously fall in the latter, capitalized category.

In conjunction with congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, Calexico, Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World and Mariachi Luz de Luna will perform Sept. 20 at Rialto Theatre in Tucson as a way to encourage young people to get out and vote.

You’ll recall a similar show a couple years ago in Tempe with Jimmy Eat World and the Format in support of congressman Harry Mitchell, who later won his election.

Tickets ($15-$35) are available at Giffords’ Web site. Ticket sales benefit Giffords for Congress.

From what I’m told, Giffords used to go see Calexico at Solar Culture Gallery back in the day. She’s the one also responsible for sending the Calexico tune Crystal Frontier into space.

More to come, as I’m working on a freelance story about this, but I do know Calexico will be backing up Adkins for some songs.

  • Calexico | Two Silver Trees
  • Jimmy Eat World | Electable (Give it Up)

    • Promotional video for the show:

hip-hop, video

Incoming: Common, Sept. 13

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Pretty sure this is a newly announced show — and not much time to prepare for it. Common is slated to hit Marquee Theatre on Sept. 13. Ironically, that’s just 10 days after Ice Cube rolls through the same venue; if you recall, the pair once engaged in a little beef.

The timing of this is also coincidental in that I was chatting last week with Angela, who said she’s listening to Common’s entire catalog. When she said she was about halfway through, I believe my reply was: “Stop right there.” That was only a partial joke because I liked most of 2007’s Finding Forever, even (surprisingly) Drivin’ Me Wild with Lily Allen.

And if you didn’t know, my recurring hip-hop feature, I Used to Love H.E.R., is named after a classic Common track (the one that allegedly sparked his beef with Ice Cube, actually).

Tickets for the show are $29 in advance. Get ’em here. No support acts have been announced yet.

Let’s keep it old school (that is, his pre-Gap-hawking days … no, I can’t let it go). Common’s video for Resurrection: