Written by willshoob on Tuesday, 30 of September , 2008 at 3:31 pm
T.I.’s newest album, Paper Trail is a step in the right direction for Mr. Clifford “Tip” Harris. After last years colossal terd of an album entitled T.I. Vs. TIP, Clifford has returned showing he can make music that doesn’t suck. For what T.I. is, he is a great rapper. He’s not a rapper who cares about important lyrics, or interesting beats, he is a rapper who is in it to make money. I consider rap in two parts: I consider most rappers to be buisnessmen, while I consider a few rappers to be musicians. T.I. strattles the line with this album, as he tries to prove to the world he is not a bad man. T.I. made this album while under house arrest, and he starts to spread more of a positive message, unlike his previous albums. T.I. has been traveling around America lecturing kids on his past mistakes, and how they can prevent them. He will be going to jail for a year, so I can imagine all of this factored into his making of this album. But this is still a commercial rap album that talks about how much money he has. Although he seems to take a more positive spin on most of the stereotypes for radio rap music. For example, on the albums second single “Whatever You Like” T.I. talks about spoiling one girl or “dropping a couple a stacks on you” instead of talking about how many women he does have. It just feels like T.I. is trying to spread a better message now that he has had a bit of a wake up call.
On T.I.’s opening track entitled “56 Barz”, he says “Ya’ll been waiting on this shit since What You Know, huh?” He is precisely right. Most people who bought his last album thought T.I. had become schizophrenic, and had no idea why he was having two different made up characters who were both himself fight on the album. So most T.I. fans skipped over the last album, and remembered the glorious song from his album King, entitled “What You Know.” “What You Know” is one of the best beats I had heard in a while, although the lyrics came up way short. Anyways, T.I. was precisely right in his assumption. The only reason this track rules is because he shouts out Lupe.
Skip a few tracks and you arrive at”Live Your Life” featuring Rihanna, which is an absolute hit. Any song with Rihanna has a chance to be successful, but this song is one of the catchiest I’ve heard in a while. It once again features T.I. spreading a positive message, and has Rihanna belting out an insanely catchy chorus.
T.I. strategically placed my three favorite songs in a row because after “Live Your Life”, next comes “Whatever You Like” and then “No Matter What.” From there all the way until “Swagga Like Us”, the album is pretty dull. I have a personal vendetta against “Swagga Like Us” because that was the song that shut our website down, but it’s a shitty song anyways. Any song that has Kanye mentioning asthma, swagger more than once, relating himself to both shit and urine, and relating himself to Christopher Columbus is a piece of shit. Also Jay-Z thinks a new term for testicle is knot. LOLZ.
The only other songs that catch my attention are “Dead and Gone” which features Justin Timberlake, and “What Up What’s Haapnin’.” “Dead and Gone” will be on the radio real soon. It features Justin Timberlake, a Timbaland esque beat and T.I. rapping a speedy verse. Essentially the same formula that made Justin Timberlake’s “My Love” a massive hit. “What Up What’s Haapnin’” is an entertaining song, with a catchy chorus.
For what it is, T.I. made a good album. This album wasn’t going to have any really smart, intelligent lyrics or feature any killer beats. Instead, it features safe lyrics that will keep the attention of an average listener, and beats that will catch radio stations attention. I didn’t expect much more out of this album, but it does have a couple of great songs. There are about 5 or 6 songs that I will enjoy guiltily for a while, and the rest will probably never get played purposely on my Itunes. If you’re a die hard T.I. fan you’ll probably love this album, but if you’re a die hard hip-hop fan, you’ll think this album is mediocre.
I don’t think T.I. has the lyrical skills to capture an audience based solely on his words, so for this album he has to rely on megastars singing choruses and producers to make hits. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it just shows that T.I. knows his flaws, and how to make them irrelevant.
All of these files are on box, so left click them ;-).
P.S. The “Live Your Life” link is now fixed, thanks for the heads up Gord.
Written by pistachionut on Monday, 29 of September , 2008 at 3:11 pm
This rendition of GMM is dated to the legendary Blink 182 (Tom DeLonge, Mark Hoppus, Travis Barker). Their music soundtracked my childhood, and I listen to them continually in my adolescence. Who gives a fuck that all their songs have similar (if not the same) chord progression(s). Each and every song is fantastic and pitch perfect. Filled with driving guitar riffs, catchy hooks and laugh out loud vocals, Blink 182 never fails to amuse.
Written by gzabriel on Saturday, 27 of September , 2008 at 11:59 am
Brazilian band Nancy have just gotten the remix treatment from yelpy Canadian poppers Born Ruffians. This is Born Ruffians first remix and it gives the original a more downtempo spin akin to a more tropical Grizzly Bear or one of Born Ruffian’s more downbeat songs (Little Garcon and Red, Yellow, and Blue being prime examples). The remix and original can be downloaded off of RCRD LBL and are for sure worth your time.
Written by willshoob on Saturday, 27 of September , 2008 at 11:41 am
San Diego musician, Rafter has announced a music video competition along with his record label Asthmatic Kitty. You can download the three songs that are part of the contest here, or at the Asthmatic Kitty website. All the rules are on the website, and take your time because the contest ends in November. I highly recommend you check out Rafter because not one song on his EP sounds the same, and he’s awesomeeeeeeeee. Enjoy the songs below, and make sure to check out the video contest for there are tons of cash prizes.
Written by hKWAP on Saturday, 27 of September , 2008 at 8:51 am
Last night, myself and two fellow members of the tape team, made the trek to the west side to see what has been dubbed the “Toe-tally Awesome”, and “Toe-tally Fresh” show. This concert, as was previously described in an advert for the show, was a benefit for a girl’s toe, which had been sliced off. All proceeds went to the restoration of her toe, as her insurance was not willing to “foot” the bill. As the story goes, a similar group of kids were attending some sort of house show and at one point the band played a track strictly for the guys in the crowd. Therefore, all the girls began to leave the room. The victim of this incident, who was the last to exit the room, closed the door lightly on her toe. Then, not recognizing that someone’s toe was logged in the door, drummer Luke Silas slammed the door shut, causing a sizeable chunk of the toe to shoot out towards the audience. Of course there was utter commotion and panic but thankfully, after a trip to the hospital, the girl in question, Hannah Berezin, is fine.
The first band to perform was Boys who’s acoustic sound is altered by the presence of a trumpet as one of their lead voices. This makes for a very original sound and creates some really nice layers atop the simple rhythms and great harmonies.
Next up, Will Weisenfeld of Nephews and Post-Foetus displayed another electronic side of his musical endeavors. He performed as Geotic: a Daedelus-inspired one man band who delighted us with the soothing sounds of his computer.
Then, noise rock group Ass Sayer took the stage. When asked about their name they responded by saying, “one time we got hight and thought it was funny”. Indeed there is not much more to be said besides that they definitely exemplified the essence of their genre. They were, if nothing else, noisy.
As the ringing in my ears was beginning to subside, the energetic, Nephews-esque trio, Nat-Love, began their set. Comprised of two members of Nephews (Luke Silas, Newman Wolf), they played a healthy number of originals and a Blink 182 cover, “Adam’s Song,” all set against a projection of Hayao Miyazaki’s Castle In The Sky. Some songs were uncannily synchronized with the film, creating a very cool audio/visual experience…
Then, the inevitable, and painfully cliche: The police arrived and shut the concert down. However the spirit of art and music would prevail as, the show continued after the police had dispersed. Although Nephews only played two songs for fear of a second encounter with the police, it was an epic two songs. The math rock trio (four if you count Newman Wolf on strobe light) performed wearing masks and their music was set against scenes from Ice Cube’s cinematic masterpiece, “Friday”. Odd time signatures and carefully constructed rhythms were interspersed with loud and climactic choruses, which were further enhanced by a shirtless Luke Silas, standing atop his stool as he played, and taking swigs of beer in rest periods.
Although I was definitely disappointed by the length of the final set, I left the venice house feeling more than satisfied.
Written by caz4mack on Saturday, 27 of September , 2008 at 6:13 am
Obi Best is a local LA based band comprised of Alex Lilly - vox, keys, guitar; Bram Inscore - bass, keys; John Wood - keys; Barbara Gruska - drums; Kim Talon - vocals, Lisa Tremain - vocals; and Mike G - vocals. They draw their influences from such musicians/bands as The Bird and The Bee, Bjork, and Air. They come from a scene of bands in LA that all seem to interlock with musicians, including B.R.A.M., Hour of The Shipwreck, and Colorforms. Throughout all of Obi Best’s music there is definitely an element of the fantastical. Their music blends very interesting vocal melodies along with almost (as their myspace suggests - “Showtunes, Showtunes, Showtunes”) a theatrical element. The instrumentals feel very composed and orchestral. This all blends together to create a sound that is very accessible yet very different, new, and original.
Obi Best have made one song available for free download the rest will be streaming.
“Nothing Can Come Between Us,” like many of their songs has very strong hooks which keep you interested throughout the whole piece.
The vocal harmony at the beginning pulls you into the song. There is something about the opening that makes the song feel very electric; it feels as though the voices take the places of synths.
Another new Charles Hamilton song. He makes about as much music as Lil Wayne does, but Mr. Hamilton’s is actually quality. Charles Hamilton- Runaway Groom
Written by willshoob on Friday, 26 of September , 2008 at 12:11 pm
So I might have mentioned in my Lollapalooza review that I ran into Dave 1 from Chromeo in Chicago’s O’Hare airport, but maybe I didn’t. Anyways, he was a really nice guy and I eventually contacted him about an interview, and that’s what I’m typing about now. We asked him a few questions pertaining to his band, and a few questions having nothing to do with the band. Below is the interview, and a couple of Chromeo tracks. I’d like to thank Dave for cooperating with us, and for answering the questions with miraculous amounts of grace and poise, ballerina style. Enjoy!
The Tape: If The 80s exploded in a tragic time travel accident, what would you guys sound like?
Dave 1: Late 70s and early 90s. We actually listen to more 70s soft rock than 80s music anyway. Stuff like Fleetwood Mac, Steely Dan, Toto, Air Supply, Foreigner — you get the idea…
The Tape: Explain your live set-up, and have you ever considered using a live backing band?
Dave 1: It’s me on guitar and vocals, Pee on the talkbox and keyboards, and we both play bass and percussions. We’ve got backing tracks, of course. We tried playing with a live band, but it ended up sounding too much like 90s New Power Generation or the Arseion Hall band. We also tried playing with just a drummer, but the feel of our programmed tracks was lost. So we prefer doing it just as a duo…
The Tape: If you could build a robot, what would it do?
Dave 1: Cook dinner for me.
The Tape: Does the Maklovich family have any plans to take over the world through hipster cred?
Dave 1: Haha… Isn’t hipster cred an oxymoron?
The Tape: Any plans on a new album?
Dave 1: Yes, absolutely. We’re starting on it in November. I want to get it done quick. We can’t wait…
The Tape: What’s the best show you’ve ever played?
Dave 1: There have been a few. But one of my all time favorites was at the Icelandic Airwaves festival last year.
The Tape: What are you guys currently listening too?
Dave 1: The Very Best of Change, Young Jeezy’s latest record, Kid Sister’s album (it’s bananas) and anything by Lil Boosie.
The Tape: What are your all time guilty pleasures?
Dave 1: I don’t really know. We took what people consider guilty pleasures and turned them into influences for our band…so there’s no guilty pleasures left.
The Tape: What is the most badass movie line ever?
Dave 1: Come on…that’s got to be “say hello to my little frieng” (leave the g in there…for the pronunciation)!
The Tape: If you could play with anyone, anywhere, anytime, how would it go down?
Dave 1: We’ve done it! At Daryl Hall’s house. We just didn’t know there would be that many cowboy hats involved.
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