As usual I’m late with my recap BUT I still wanted to put up the little photo documentation I have of my Governor’s Ball experience from a few weeks ago as well as at least a mention of some of my favorite acts of the weekend.
So I have been sitting on a collection of indie/underground rap that has come out this summer for a bit and wanted to make a mixtape of it. Since it’s now August, it’s time to make it hot. Not only is Summerslam right around the corner, but we are dropping this hot fire live DJ mix for you guys for free!!! I had my friend DeeJay KMEO(I was one of his basketball coaches in high school. I’m old.) come over and load all of these tracks onto his laptop, he set up the cue points, and I hit record. This is the result.
The mix includes songs by Hail Mary Mallon, the Rapdragons , Illustrate, Atmosphere, Heems, a couple of remixes off of Lyfstyl’s latest compilation, Grieves, Recess, and most importantly 2 previously unreleased tracks from Chaz Van Queen. That means we have an exclusive on our hands!!!! Another step towards legitimacy!!!! You can download the tape here or stream it from our Mixcloud account below.
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.
Mixtape A:
Mixtape B:
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.
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.
Face Candy – Fifteen
BONUS:
From Record Store Day:
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.
BONUS
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.
