Written by lupethefiasco on Thursday, 31 of July , 2008 at 1:03 pm
A ton of new hip-hop singles and such have been released through the internets, so we have brought them to you.
What I assume to be a single off the up and coming Clipse album. Not much different from everything else they put out, but the song does feature some nice strings. I believe this, and the rest of the new album features the whole Re-Up Gang. Clipse- My Life’s The Shit
This sounds similar to the first, but I have a feeling this one will be more popular just based on the synths inserted in this one. Clipse- Zen (Itunes Bonus Track)
Written by caz4mack on Tuesday, 29 of July , 2008 at 11:12 pm
I thought it would be really interesting to take a look at the way musicians interpret other works of music. I am going to be posting some of my favorite covers and keeping up with bands, if they are to put out covers in the near future. A great cover doesn’t necessarily have to be better then the original, but they might as well offer something new and interesting. I hope you enjoy these songs.
This is one of my favorite covers; Grizzly Bear can take a song like this and make it awesome. When i listen to this cover, I feel like they have turned this song into something they can truly call their own. Grizzly Bear- Too Little Too Late (Jo Jo Cover)
Written by gzabriel on Monday, 28 of July , 2008 at 9:50 pm
This is the last post I shall make before heading off to Centralish America (Costa Rica) and Ima make it local. Afternoons is an L.A band who started about 6 months ago making tunes that sound like the choir leapt off the stage and joined the marching band as they romped through Los Angeles on a summery day. The standout track here of course is “Say Yes” which is exhilirating, catchy, happy, and uplifting and it’s also pretty good. So before I head off to some sun drenched beaches: brighten up your day with the Afternoons. (Yeah that was kind of cheesy.)
Written by pistachionut on Monday, 28 of July , 2008 at 9:28 pm
Gabo and I were kicking around the idea the other day that behind every great singer is an even better producer. It proved to be pretty applicable to modern music and I decided to throw up a post on some of the best examples.
Sinden, Switch and Diplo: M.I.A. and Santogold
I kinda grouped these together because Diplo and Switch have worked closely with both these talented artists. Sinden did some work on Santogold’s debut, too. Diplo and Switch have become known now for producing that kind of music. Electronic music with a much more worldly feel.
Mr. Ronson really helped put these two British divas on the map. His production work on Allen’s Alright, Still is top notch and his work with the Daptones on Winehouse’s debut album is fantastic.
Cee Lo actually has a lot of musical input in Gnarls, but DangerMouse is (in my opinion) what put the group on the public radar. His work on The Grey Album is impeccable and Cee Lo’s great voice only adds to his plate full of musical options.
Written by lupethefiasco on Monday, 28 of July , 2008 at 8:42 pm
I was just tidying (spelling?) up my Itunes when I stumbled upon an awesome Wale song, simply titled “Strings.” Under the artist it says “Wale Vs. 45 King” so I’m assuming it’s a mash-up. I don’t know why Wale is so tight, but Europe consider yourselves lucky because Wale is teaming up with Lil’ Wayne for what is going to be a phenomenal tour. Enjoy this awesome beat below, plus a few extras because we are SO COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Written by lupethefiasco on Monday, 28 of July , 2008 at 4:52 pm
No theme to this GMM, besides awesomeness.
Some of you may have noticed our interview with Tokyo Police Club posted here yesterday. We asked them a question about their favorite guilty pleasure, and after much (read: no) disagreement they settled on Fergalicious. They proceeded to sing to perfection this song, while barely (read: totally not) feeling ashamed. We on the other hand would be very embarrassed to belt out the lyrics. I guess that is why we review music and don’t play it.
We are not emo or depressed, but we really do love My Chemical Romance videos. Most of them are very creative, but one stands out. “Ghost Of You” takes place on a dance floor that turns into a war zone. Don’t even try to think about it, just watch.
Come on, does this one really need an explanation?
Flobots are really guilty. They talk about bikes in this song. We hipsters love bikes, some of us admit our love some don’t. This one is for all the closet hipster bikers who are afraid to show their real bike love.
(Gzabriel clarification edit: The song is not about bikes. It’s a metaphor. It’s about power and losing control. That is all.)
Written by lupethefiasco on Sunday, 27 of July , 2008 at 9:42 pm
One of my favorite up and coming rappers is a 19 year old rapper named Leif. I’ve inserted a paragraph of a bio of his, from Eye Weekly: “I really relate to a lot of American booty rap and ghetto tech because I was raised in New York, so my friends were people who wore Timbs, and I used to wear Fubu all the time,” Leif explains. “So music like Debonair Samir and Tittsworth, all that Baltimore hard club with the gunshot samples and the heavy bass, I love that sound. I think it all has a place if you don’t take it so seriously. That’s why I’m really enjoying people like Amanda Blank, Kid Sister and Mapei — these girl rappers who are taking something that is a very male genre really, and they’ve made it so ironic and perfect and theirs.”
I’ve really been getting into the Spank Rock, Amanda Blank genre of music and Leif is another great example. He proves that hip hop can be fun, entertaining, but also beat oriented, which most rappers in this genre fail at. Leif is currently attending Wesleyan, and if he follows in the footsteps of other Wesleyan musicians he’ll be just fine. Look at Santogold and MGMT. He along with Harrison Schaaf are making an EP scheduled to be released in August on Palms Out. If you like his music you can check out his Myspace HERE.
Written by gzabriel on Sunday, 27 of July , 2008 at 1:01 pm
Above: Dramatic Dave needs your camera luvs
So due to some bad planning I can’t get the audio file from my phone up onto the blog which normally wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for the fact that it contains Tokyo Police Club singing Fergalicious. So that will hopefully come later. For now I present a partially abbreviated interview with Tokyo Police Club. All instances of the band refering to “I” are probably Graham.
Tape: How Many Handclaps Are On Your Album?
TPC: One. It’s you invoulantarily clapping along. Actually it’s Metallica’s clap. Actually we took the entire chrous from “Do They Know It’s Christmas Time At All”. It was an expensive album to produce.
Tape: How’d You Get Your Name?
TPC: Our song Cheer It On.
Tape: Do You Have Any Authority in Tokyo?
TPC: I’m pretty sure we have diplomatic immunity because I was there last time and I hit a few people drunk driving. In a bulldozer.
Tape: What Albums/Song Have You Been Liking?
TPC: What’s the Sigur Ros song?
Tape: Gobledigook?
TPC: No the second one, I think it’s the title track…(we assume it’s Inni Mer Syngur Vitleysingur)
Tape: What is Your Favorite Pump Up Music?
TPC: The Hockey Song by Stompin Tom Connors. [Graham to band members] You know that song? [Graham sings] The good old hockey gaaaame. He has a board that he stomps on.
Tape: Is the board an instrument?
TPC: No I think it’s just instrumental. [Manager to Graham] Sounds like our version is Cotton Eye Joe. [Graham] Nahhhh…
Tape: What is the Best/Craziest Thing That’s Happened To You Guys On Tour?
TPC: [Interband Banter] Nah we gotta tell a new story. We recently got 13 [referring to the hackey sack they were playing with the whole time]
Tape: Have you guys been playing before every show?
TPC: Just when we want to.
Tape: What Happened to [Graham's] Bathroom Blog?
TPC: I ran out of things to say about bathrooms. Once you talk about a clean bathroom and a dirty bathroom there’s not much more you can say.
Tape: Good that you got to try out a different profession though.
TPC: Exactly.
Tape: What is Your Favorite Punctuation? (We like the Interrobanger)
TPC: [Internal Banter] Haha no. He said Oxford Comma. The semicolon is good because it if you use it and it makes sense you look really smart.
Tape: I heard there’s debate about the semicolon. Whether it should be discontinued or not.
TPC: Damnit, first Pluto now the semicolon. Kurt Vonnegut hated the semicolon. He called it a bastard hermaphrodite.
Tape: Flying Or Invisibility?
TPC: Uhhh flying. Because then I can spy on the girls washroom from above.
Tape: Nice.
Tape: Do You Guys Have A Guilty Pleasure Song?
TPC: You know that one thing…it goes like…Fergalicious. Oh right. But no one feels guilty about that. I’m loud and proud of my love for Fergalicious. You can do another one if you want I didn’t mean to- nahhh we don’t have any others. Remember we were playing and I tried to rap it and I forgot most of the rap. (Suddenly Graham, and shortly the others, launches into song) I’m the F to the E to the R G I the E/ain’t no other lady get down like me. Fergalicious. Baawnananananananana Baawnanananananana. I be up in the gym just workin on my fitness/he’s my witness Oooh Wee!/They be lining down the block just to watch what I got. Fergalicious.
We talk more about my new shoes and how my old shoes are Graham’s current shoes, whether wearing Keds has a stigma attached, Tristan’s crossword puzzle shoes, and Graham’s experiences using a carrier pidgeon instead of a cellphone growing up. It kept dropping his calls everytime it saw a worm.
Thanks so much Tokyo’s Policial Clubbers for the interview!
The tape is a project conceived by Gabriel Gutierrez (gzabriel), Macklin Casnoff (caz4mack), Tristan Rodman(pistachionut), Asher Kaplan (ashkap) and Willie Schube (lupethefiasco).
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