As Lindsey is getting ready to go off and rage at Coachella, I am preparing to wake up uber early on Saturday morning in order to line up outside of Princeton Record Exchange so I can get first dibs on all of the releases I am targeting. I’m going to throw my list of targets up here, and it may or may not change before Saturday depending on what I read from now until then.
I just secured a new apartment – so I am no longer homeless come August 1st, been working on a ton of projects, interning like shit, road-tripping back and forth between Philly and DC … so please forgive me for not paying as much attention to this here blog as I normally do.
Now this mixtape came out awhile back but after spending part of yesterday at the Cowbell office, I got on a serious Sufjan kick. Introducing the free remix tape, Illinoize, all sampling Sufjan songs from his 2005 LP, Illinoise, as well as a few other albums. The tape features greats like Aesop Rock, Daddy Kane, Outkast, Brother Ali, and others.
After Record Store Day this year I put together 2 hour long mixtapes consisting of purchases I made. I posted a blog about it and included links to download the two tapes from mediafire. Those links are still up, but if you prefer to just stream the tapes from the site you can now, thanks to our new Mixcloud account.
P.S. My review of Centro-Matic will be up soon. I’ve spent the last 2 days pretty much laid up as my sinuses exploded. The drugs are kicking in now, though, so I’ll be more productive.
Oh yeah, that's what I grab. Thanks for reminding me, Julio!
I’ve posted about Aesop Rock before, so if you’ve been keeping track, you know that I’m a fan. Anyway, he just came out with an album as part of the group HailMary Mallon with Rob Sonic and DJ Big Whiz. Thealbum is awesome and their song Garfield just got remixed by Edison. Check out the remix and then the original version below:
Hail Mary Mallon – Garfield(Edison bent remix)
Here is the original so you can compare the two:
Hail Mary Mallon – Garfield
If you like Edison’s take, head over to 900bats.com where you can download an instrumental EP produced by him for free.
Atmosphere recently released an album on the same Rhymesayers label that Hail Mary Mallon is on. Here’s the first single they released from Family Sign.
Atmosphere – She’s Enough
Grieves’ album “Together/Apart” is due out June 21st and a few of his tracks have already been released to listen/download. On the track “On the Rocks” Grieves has a sing songy delivery that is a bit white Nate Dogg and sounds a bit laid back jazz-ish. On “Blood Poetry” he has a straightforward rap delivery and the instrumental features a jazzy piano. I like jazz.
Grieves – On the Rocks
Grieves – Blood Poetry
Speaking of jazz, Eyedea was part of a project called “Face Candy” before he left this world. It’s live hip hop completely with a drummer and bass player. Live improv lounge singer rap from one of the best emcees ever.
In college I started a tradition in which for birthdays I would use the radio production suite to record farcical “berfday rhymes” for my friends. As a surprise my friends managed to get someone to help them record one for me. In this rhyme I was roasted and complimented, and McLellan MX decided to call me Golden Retriever during the listing of the nicknames that they did. I think it fits. Golden Retrievers are friendly and love to do nice things for their owners/friends, most notably fetching the newspaper every morning.
Now for Record Store Day, that’s the national holiday in which there are rare releases and everyone supports their local independent record store. This was my first year participating and I did not know what to expect. Unfortunately because of this I wasn’t able to fetch everything I had hoped I would. That means no Danger Mouse Rome project single with Jack White and Norah Jones and no Franz Ferdinand Covers E.P as there was a line before the store opened and those titles sold out before I got to them. Despite those minor disappointments I was able to grab a ton of cool stuff which I immediately threw on the turntable to check out.
My Purchases:
Adele – Rolling in the Deep (Jamie XX Shuffle)
I’m a big fan of Adele so I wanted to grab this. It comes on a nice white vinyl record and I believe it is a 10 inch as it is bigger than all the 7s and smaller than the 12s. The Jamie XX Shuffle version is funky and there is a great live recording of the song on the B-Side.
The Cults – Abduction
I picked up the new single that will be on the Cults’ upcoming album. It’s a nice lofi pop song which is what you would expect. The B-Side is a 2 Bears remix of “Go Outside”.
Parlophone Box Set of Singles
I got this mainly because there is a Hot Chip single included and after listening I was not left disappointed. It’s a sweet dance track. Because of this buy I found out about Eliza Doolittle whose single Pack Up was included. I like her stuff a lot now. The Blur also have a good single in there as well as Tinie Tempah and Kylie Minogue.
Jimi Hendrix – Fire
Got this one more for the unreleased track on the B-Side entitled “Touch You”. Solid instrumental from Jimi.
The Gorillaz – The Fall
The Gorillaz recorded this entire album on an iPad while on tour and released it online for free around Christmas. I got this more as a collectors’ item but the album is sweet. I always love the Gorillaz.
Rhymesayers Picture Disc
This is a 12 inch release from the Minnesota based indie rap label Rhymesayers and it came on a limited edition picture disc. It looks awesome and sounds awesome. I first found out about Rhymesayers when I found out about Eyedea(RIP), who may be the best conscious rapper ever. Check out ALL of his music.
Vanguard - Follow Me Down
A collection of obscure psychedelic rock from 1966-70 from the vaults of Vanguard. I was interested in this one as I had never heard of any of the bands included. I like discovering new stuff so I had to get it. There are a few songs here that could have stayed obscure and locked away, but for the most part it’s a cool album and has some really nice blues-y stuff.
Arthur Russell – World of Echoes
Holy crap!!!!!!!!!!
Since vinyl is old school I decided that the music sharing in this post should be somewhat old school so I put together 2 mixtapes that are an hour long each and contain selections from all of the albums I mentioned. So check out what the Golden Retriever got you.
Since I mentioned it, here is the berfday rhyme that named me Golden Retriever. I suggest that you don’t listen to it as it is horrible white dudes trying to rap, but I figured I’d share it in case you were curious.
While finding that old song I found a gem on the same cd. Sparks Flyin’ is a song my friend Matt Cusack wrote and recorded back in like 2006. He went on to record various different versions with his band Mountain Man. This is the original version and it’s a sweet reggae-ish tune. DEFINITELY listen to it.
I’m a little late on this post as this holiday was last Monday, but my computer was fried. So pretend you’re reading this on March 7th. In honor of women I’m going to post 3 songs here, all for different reasons.
Some construction workers wish this lady a happy International Women's Day last Monday
First up is Aesop Rock’s new strip club anthem Take a Titty Out . He made this dance track for a friend’s short film and it sounds very different than what I’m used to hearing from him. It’s a fun 2 minute song that seems to be a farce.
Next up is the Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. track Simple Girl . This song came out last year but it’s still good. Where the Aesop Rock song makes you want to get up and dance, this song calms you down and relaxes the mood.
The third song features a talented woman named Mirah. I like all of her solo work and now she is teaming up with Thao Nguyen to make music after the two toured together over the past year. Their album is due out in late April. They recently put out This Song .
Bonus Features!
I mentioned Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. so here is Nothing But Our Love from that same Horsepower EP.
Also, listen to the first single off of “It’s a Corporate World” due out June 7th here.
Since St. Patty’s Day is Thursday, here’s an Irish drinking song that my friend’s now defunct band Mountain Man made a few years ago.
This is my first post here as I have just been invited to be a contributor by Lindsey. I’d like to start off by professing my love for music. I love it so much that I try to relate it to every aspect of my life. That means that every time I poop I call it my latest release. If it happens to be in a public restroom, RELEASE PARTY!!!
14 year old toilet humor aside, here are some releases I’m looking forward to:
Last Night At The Jetty Panda Bear’s album titled Tomboy will be out on April 19th and this entrancing tune will be on it. Great harmonization on the vocals and a very relaxed vibe.
Truth Alexander Ebert, the lead singer of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, is working on a solo project that is due out this year. His first single, “Truth”, has a bit of a hip hop feel to it as the verses seem to be melodically rapped.
Bosico (butchered by Aesop Rock) Aesop Rock is supposed to be releasing a new album this year and has also collaborated with Kimya Dawson on some projects. Here is a song he released for free on 900bats.com . He remixed the original version of the song that is on the Grimace Federation’s album “On Velvet”.
Speaking of Kimya Dawson, she is also set to release an album this year. You can listen to her single “Miami Advice” here . Aesop Rock and the Olympia Free Choir are featured on the track which opens with a verse about Twitter.
