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Friday, July 31, 2009

C.O.L.E. vs. C.R.E.A.M.

Posted by El Keter ben Tzadik

Wu-Tang Clan “C.R.E.A.M. (Terry Cole Remix)”

Middletown, Ohio-based musician and label owner Terry Cole—whose Colemine Records dropped he and emcee Rideout's ‘The City’ in 2008, Jacksonville-based rapper Tough Junkie's ‘Grab What You Can’ this Summer and is prepping a heater of an EP from Brooklyn-based Afro-Funk band Ikebe Shakedown—also makes beats!

But when he makes beats—like he did on this new remix of the mid-‘90s Wu-Tang Clan classic “C.R.E.A.M.”—he doesn’t necessarily go the conventional route of sampling, chopping and looping bits of old records, opting to rework chunks of he and his labelmates' live instrumentation into a more traditionally “Hip-Hop” framework instead.

Wu-Tang Clan “C.R.E.A.M. (Terry Cole Remix)” (.MP3)

Posted at 08:59 PM
Filed under — Music Notes

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Kray and Scott Thorough Give Your Mother a “Hip” Replacement

Posted by El Keter ben Tzadik

Like a mash of The Pharcyde and Atmosphere emcee Kray disses your mom and laments her lifestyle while Scott Thorough gets his T-Pain on over a Ying Yang Twinz-move-to-Brooklyn beat on Nuk Fam-affiliated duo Big Urban's new single “Your Mother is a Hipster.”

Big Urban “Your Mother is a Hipster” (.ZIP)

“Your Mother is a Hipster” is the latest single to be released from Kray and Scott's forthcoming Big Urban EP ‘It’s Not So Much the Heat, It's the Humidity,' which is scheduled for release sometime in the near future via the Brooklyn-based Embedded Records label.

Posted at 01:30 PM
Filed under — Music Notes

Sunday, July 19, 2009

J-88...errr...88-Keys is in the “Friend Zone”

Posted by Emeyesi

That title would make more sense if you were with Keter and I as we chatted it up outside Holyoke's C-Mart last night and I called 88-Keys J-88. I was drunk off that Raspberry Iced Tea Snapple. I wasn't drunk though when I said that I was a big fan of 88-Keys' debut album ‘The Death of Adam.’ As I drove home today my favorite track off the album, “Ho' is Short for Honey”, popped up on shuffle and I hoped that the Wings-sampled track would be the the next single/video for the album. Well I got home and discovered a video for the Devo-jacking “Friend Zone” had just debuted today. Shucks. It better be the next single/video dammit or Mr. Keys is going to be out of my friend zone. Wait...that doesn't sound right. IMMA BE UPSET DAMMIT! So yeah. Cop dude's album. It's dope.

Posted at 09:31 PM
Filed under — Music Notes

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Black Moth Super Snuff Video

Posted by Emeyesi

Suck it Jack Kevorkian! That's how you take yourself out! Dismemberment by three sexy ladies.

Black Moth Super Rainbow's newest album ‘Eating Us’ is out now on Graveface Records.

Posted at 09:35 PM
Filed under — Music Notes

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

I Can't Run in Tight White Denim Jeans. Can You?

Posted by Miss Behavin'

I saw this video today and it reminded me of all the strange dreams I‘ve had were I’m running or flying away from or to something and then I wake up with a rather awful charlie horse.

Anyway, the video is by Austin, Texas-based trio White Denim from their second album ‘Fits’ which was released in Europe on June 22 on Full Time Hobby Records.

Check out their video for the single “I Start to Run”. I know I will be blasting this tune through my iPod nano while I work up a sweat. But I prefer to run in loose shorts because running in tight white jeans in a desert does not look appealing.

Posted at 11:56 PM
Filed under — Music Notes

Monday, July 13, 2009

Just a “Normal Ass Piece of Shit”

Posted by Emeyesi

“That dude.” © P.O.S.

Let me run down my day with “Pissed Off Stef”...I made a conscious decision this afternoon to have P.O.S.'s ‘Never Better’ playing in my ride as I spent some time with one of the kids I work with. I had a feeling he would dig it (he's been getting into Metal and Punk, a far cry from the crap Rap he used to listen to) and before long he asked “who is this?” I may not be able to get this fool to bring his ass home before curfew but at least I can inject some quality music into his life.

So after I met my “teach the babies” quota of the day I headed home for lunch and while I was waiting for ‘Hellboy II: The Golden Army’ to start on Cinemax this came on!

Awesome! Perfect lead in to the Right Hand of Doom~~tree~~ punching a golden army in the face.

Apparently my dose of P.O.S. was not done because as I sat here trying to decide what to get my cousin for her wedding the video for one of my favorite songs of 2009 popped on my TV.

Dude has made some ill videos this past year. Glad “Purexed” got itself one. Do yourself a favor and check out Keter's perfect breakdown of ‘Never Better’ and if that doesn't convince you that you need to have one of the best albums of 2009 in your possession then you need to have your ears purexed.

For serious.

Posted at 10:55 PM
Filed under — Music Notes

Friday, July 10, 2009

New Music: JJ

Posted by El Keter ben Tzadik

JJ
‘JJ N° 2’
Sincerely Yours
(2009)

If you were enchanted by the angelic art-bitch crunktronica of groups like Telepathe and School of Seven Bells you‘ll probably go all goo-goo eyes over JJ, the newest signee to Swedish indie label Sincerely Yours. Well, goo-goo ears might be more like it, since the mysterious JJ doesn’t have a website or a MySpace page and therefore has nary a photograph of herself available for peeping at online. The lack of visual accompaniment or any sort of background information isn't that big a deal though, because the simultaneously pastoral and metropolitan folktronica sound, which tilts from dewy-sweet and summery to icily sharp and wintry, that permeates her new disc speaks for itself.

On several of the tracks on ‘JJ N° 2’ tropical rhythms, throbbing Eurodisco beats and synthesizers underscore hymn-like harmonizing, emotive guitar pluckery and baroque arrangements. These tunes might cause some listeners to liken JJ to labelmates Air France and the Tough Alliance, a more bucolic Sally Shapiro, or even a female-fronted, Scandinavian-born version of Imageyenation dandies of Montreal. But standout track “Ecstasy” quite literally stands out thanks to a swaggeringly aggressive low-slung beat, with double-time hats, claps, rolling programming and a repetitive electronic chirp, which recalls American rapper Lil Wayne's hit 2008 single “Lollipop” of all things.

JJ “Ecstasy”

JJ @ Sincerely Yours
JJ @ Klicktrack

Posted at 07:07 PM
Filed under — Music Notes

Thursday, July 09, 2009

Holy Ghost! Come Back Just to Confuse Your Ass

Posted by El Keter ben Tzadik

Nick Millhiser and Alex Frankel of New York retro-Disco duo Holy Ghost! “come back,” with legendary Electro producer Arthur Baker in tow, with a shot-for-shot remake of New Order's 1983 video “Confusion,” in the new clip for their recent digi-single “I Will Come Back.”

The “I Will Come Back” digi-single was released to the internet via Green Label Sound, the Mountain Dew soft-drink company's eclectic netlable, a couple of weeks back, and it can still be downloaded, completely free of charge, from the Green Label Sound website.

Posted at 02:36 PM
Filed under — Music Notes

Turkey Basting? Is That a New Dance Move?

Posted by Miss Behavin'

Last Summer 'Saturdays = Youth' and ‘In Ghost Colours’ were the albums I played more times than I can recall. But with all the rainy weather nonsense it hasn't felt much like a 2009 Summer in New England. Maybe that's because I hadn't heard an album that could turn any rainy day situation into a wet hot dance party? Well things are looking a little sassier and sunnier since We Have Band “You Came Out” started to play on my iTunes.

Check out their video for the single which at first reminded me of a ‘Robot Chicken’ skit because it involves stop motion and making characters blink and talk. I don't know how cooking Turkey drunk or “Turkey Basting” as We Have Band calls it relates to dancing, but it sounds dangerous.

I‘ve already enjoyed most of We Have Band’s songs on their MySpace page, especially the cover of “West End Girls”, even though all I can think about is Flight of the Conchords' “Inner City Pressure” song whenever I hear that tune regardless of who sings it.

Posted at 12:30 AM
Filed under — Music Notes

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

The King of Hand-Painted Surf Guitar Rap Compact Discs

Posted by El Keter ben Tzadik

Tone Tank ‘King of Surf Guitar Rap’ hand-painted CD

As an ardent supporter of all things Nuclear Family, and particularly all things Tone Tank, I'd be remiss if I didn't pass on some breaking Tone Tank-related news!

The rapper/artist recently announced he's making hand-painted CD copies of his previously digital-only ‘King of Surf Guitar Rap’ EP available through his ScumLife storefront!

From Tone:

A little while back I figured out that nobody needs a cd of anything. Music is information. Information is free on the internet. But I missed having physical copies of music. So I decided to hand paint a bunch of ‘King of Surf Guitar Rap’ cd‘s. They are hand painted to order. They are Art. Hell, I’ll even add a little customized touch if you ask me nicely. I will paint these for as long of a time as I feel that I want to. The music from this cd is free here.

Posted at 05:15 PM
Filed under — Music Notes

Strange Symbols are Underrated

Posted by El Keter ben Tzadik

I became a supporter of Waco, Texas-based producer S1, a.k.a. Symbolic One, and his group the Strange Fruit Project after they sent me their breakout 12'' “Luv Is” early in the decade.

They caught my ear with their warm, soulful production, jazzy vibes, half-rapped-half-sung vocal stylings, and personable lyrics, so I showed them love on mixtapes, here on Imageyenation, and on the radio.

Their last LP, 2006's ‘The Healing,’ lacked the unique organic charm of their previous LPs ‘From Divine’ and ‘Soul Travelin’ though, so I sorta lost track of the crew at that point.

Apparently S1, who collaborated with G-Unit affiliate Illmind on 2005's ‘The Art of One Mind,’ has been on his grind since, and the ‘Still Underrated Mixtape Vol. 1’ is the fruit of his labor.

S1 ‘Still Underated Mixtape Vol. 1’ (.ZIP)

Like the most recent output from his group the beats on ‘Still Underrated’ aren't as founded in the earthy Soul and Jazz-inspired sounds and city-country-savannah-spanning spirit of his earlier output.

But with guest-spots from Imageyenation favorite Blu, Wu clansman Inspectah Deck, and backpacker heroes Little Brother and Slum Village, and a rollicking remix of Beyoncé's “Single Ladies” it's worth a listen.

Posted at 05:02 PM
Filed under — Music Notes

Monday, July 06, 2009

Diablo Cody Lives Up to Her Name

Posted by El Keter ben Tzadik

Award-winning screen-writer, journalist and author Diablo Cody, writer of the oustanding 2007 teen pregnancy comedy ‘Juno,’ turns ‘Transformers’ hottie Megan Fox into an anti-Christ lolita in the horror-comedy ‘Jennifer’s Body!'

The R-rated flick, which reunites Cody with her ‘Juno’ collaborator Jason Reitman, looks darkly hilarious (like a more macabre take on 1980s staple ‘Heathers’) and subversively sexy and is due in theatres on September 18th.

Posted at 02:40 PM
Filed under — Music Notes

Friday, July 03, 2009

Radio Spends Fifteen Days in European Exile

Posted by El Keter ben Tzadik

Los Angeles-based DJ and producer Exile—known as one half of Emanon alongside emcee/singer Aloe Blacc and for producing Blu's breakthrough ‘Below the Heavens...’ LP—is embarking on a European tour this weekend.

He's bringing frequent collaborator, Palm Springs, California-born DJ, beatmaker and multi-instrumentalist DJ Day, who recently also joined him for a series of Red Bull Music Academy lectures recently, along with him on the tour.

Exile & DJ Day Live Dates

July 4th - Paris, France - Le Point Ephemere
July 5th - Madrid, Spain - Charada Club De Baile
July 8th - Copenhagen, Denmark - Kodboderne18
July 10th - Berlin, Germany - Dot Club
July 11th - Vienna, Austria - Cafe Leopold
July 17th - Amsterdam, Netherlands - One Four One
July 18th - Brussels, Belgium - Dour Festival

If you don't own Exile's landmark solo instrumental album ‘Radio,’ a collage of sounds and noises he sampled exclusively from tapes of radio broadcasts which dropped early this year on the Plug Research label, you‘re slippin’.

But don't worry, ‘cause you can get hip by downloading “Mega Mix,” a smooth, multi-movement Summer coolout jam that’s a perfect representation of the radio-dial-rotating cut-and-paste aesthetic of Exile's beat-opus as a whole.

Exile “Mega Mix” (.MP3)

Posted at 03:59 PM
Filed under — Music Notes

The Notorious B.L.O.C. “One More Chance”

Posted by El Keter ben Tzadik

It's been less than a year since Bloc Party released their last full-length album ‘Intimacy,’ but they‘re already releasing new, non-LP music, namely the House-y new single “One More Chance!”

The Jacknife Lee-produced “One More Chance,” which will presumably be on Bloc Party’s as yet untitled fourth studio album which they're currently recording, is due out on August 10th via the Wichita Records label.

Posted at 12:38 PM
Filed under — Music Notes

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Watch Rye Rye “Bang” in the Club

Posted by El Keter ben Tzadik

It's been two years since barely-legal Baltimore babe Rye Rye and DJ Blaqstarr released the video clip for “Shake it to the Ground.” Her long-awaited first official solo single, a breakbeat-fueled B-More Club banger titled “Bang,” has been out for a few months now, and a club-themed video for the track has finally surfaced!

“Bang,” which was produced by her mentor Blaqstarr and features guest-vocals from her other mentor M.I.A., is out now and available in a number of diverse formats from retailers everywhere. It's the first single from her forthcoming debut album, due out any time now on M.I.A.'s own N.E.E.T. Records label, distributed by Interscope.

Rye Rye Live Dates

07-05 Tampa, FL - Czar *
07-08 Miami, FL - Liv *
07-11 Houston, TX - Warehouse Live *
07-13 Phoenix, AZ - Club Red *
07-14 San Diego, CA - Voyeur ^
07-16 San Francisco, CA - The Independent *
07-17 Portland, OR - Rotture ^
07-18 Seattle, WA - Chop Suey *
07-22 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richard's on Richards ^
07-23 Calgary, Alberta - Hi Fi *
07-24 Edmonton, Alberta - Star Lite Room ^
07-30 Ottawa, Ontario - Ritual Nightclub *
08-01 Montreal, Quebec - SAT *

* with A-Trak and Treasure Fingers
^ with A-Trak

Posted at 03:51 PM
Filed under — Music Notes

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