The Tape

T.I.’s been battling his inner demons throughout his entire career. The first time we publicly saw him go head to head with himself back was in 2007, when he released the disastrously awful record, T.I. Vs. T.I.P. This was Clifford Harris’ ill-fated attempt at trying to sort out what parts of him were still gangster, and what parts of him had moved on to a celebrity figure, struggling to embrace his commercial success with more fancy clothes and less diamond chains. As T.I.’s career progressed, so did his problems when he went to prison for possession of numerous firearms in 2009. He was put on house arrest before his prison sentence, which must be an awful feeling – having to anticipate ones grim future, with only your thoughts to protect you. But the prison sentenced birthed a beautiful record, the hit-filled Paper Trail. On his most successful record to date, you see T.I. switch back and forth between his cashmere and his bling. He goes from “Live Your Life”, the Rihanna led chart topper that talks about T.I.’s struggle between being a role model and preserving his reputation. “Live Your Life” is followed by “Whatever You Liked”, a sports car version of an old T.I. track. The lyrical content is the similar, but the beat is smoother than anything we’ve seen T.I. do. The pattern continues throughout the record, from “No Matter What” to “Swing Ya Rag” and “Swagga Like Us” to “Dead and Gone.” The contrast is apparent, and it’s a trend that looks like it’s going to continue now that we have some post Tip-in-prison music. He emerged from prison with the grandest of entrances, almost immediately releasing “I’m Back”, a swagger filled hit that features T.I.’s famous growl, which seemed to have been missing for some time. This brought up an interesting question; did prison put the gangster back in T.I.?

Based solely on “I’m Back”, the answer seems to be a resounding yes. It’s a track filled with narcissistic rhymes, but the sincere narcissism we seem to love in hip hop. Sure, T.I. warns young fans about the troubles of getting into violence with lines like “Probably just seen Wayne, Gucci Mane, me and Boosie all go to prison/ now he flippin’ his whole image really trippin/ listen dude for you that’s not in your cards/ think the power’s in the gun, but overall it’s in your heart.” It’s really nice to see T.I. acting as a role model, but the angry, growling swagger we haven’t seen since Urban Legend is back. The horn line is as artificially produced as ever, sounding like it came straight from a synthesizer, an instrument that made a regular appearance on old T.I. tracks. “Ya Hear Me”, the second single from Tip’s upcoming King Uncaged, seems to be “I’m Back’s” antitheses in a way. The beat is as clean as ever, sounding as if it came from a full live band. T.I.’s flow is smooth, organized, and controlled. The interesting thing is, the lyrics are not. T.I.’s content is angry, but his voice is not. He finds aggression, but loses it just as quickly. After going to prison and revealing himself to be a good guy, his threats seem empty. As much as I love post-prison T.I., there’s something missing that he’s still trying to find. His identity is still lost, and it’s really interesting watching him try to find it while recording tracks. The progression of his career has been nothing but a balance struggle, and it doesn’t appear to be ending anytime soon. Luckily for the listener, that’s what makes his music so enticing.

T.I.- I’m Back

T.I.- Ya Hear Me (Dirty)

Sorry for the inconvenience…

Will from We All Want Someone clued me into this band earlier today, and while I’m not completely sold on their original material (not bad, just not my thing), this remix is truly fantastic. In a landscape overrun with less than mediocre remixes, I’ve come to regard the format as a substandard and uncreative way of presenting music, feeling that nine times out of ten, the reworking destroys the integrity and value of the original song. Indeed, this is certainly a sight for sore eyes as Teen Daze work their sonic coloration to perfection, supplementing rather than detracting from LN’s masterwork Wide Eyes. Enjoy…

EDIT: (for some reason the sites not letting me host this track, here’s a MEDIAFIRE LINK)

The critic aggregator Metacritic has listed Wolf Parade’s new album Expo 86 as Expo 69 on their homepage. Nice!

Glass Vaults is a duo hailing from possibly the chillest place on earth: New Zealand. Sharing a home with hobbits and kiwis could only lead Glass Vaults to make the kind of dark, ambient pop that’s threatening to take over the interwebs this summer. The vocals often sounds like a drawn out, droned out version of Local Natives. Drawing on the sparcity of The xx with moments of cacophany inspired by Explosions in the Sky, along with the rhythmic pounding of early Washed Out (Especially on “New Space”), Glass Vaults’ debut EP demonstrates both a range of sounds as well as an element of directionlessness. We’ll keep our eye on this band and see if they tighten down their aesthetic and choose a single mood to pursue on their next release.

Bandcamp Stream/Download – $0.00

Nathan William’s WAVVES has recorded their 3rd LP, King of the Beach, for release on August 3rd. Mountain Dew’s Green Label Sound has picked up the first track from the album, “Post Acid”, and it’s available for download at Green Label Sound or streaming below. Sounds like the use of a real studio has given Wavves a pop-rock makeover, but we’ll reserve final judgement until the rest of the album drops this summer.

The highly Tape-anticipated Expo 86 drops late next month, and for your listening pleasure we’re supplying tracks 3 and 6 for download. Both songs reflect what info Krug and Boeckner have given in their respective P4K interviews – a more raw, live sound, following their course away from the style established on 2005′s Apologies to the Queen Mary. Keep in mind that previous LP At Mount Zoomer‘s first pre-release track was the mild “Call It A Ritual,” not at all anticipating the catchiness of “The Grey Estates” or the mind-bending breakdown on 11-minute closer “Kissing the Beehive”. The two tracks do sound more collaborative (as promised in interview), but following a trend set by At Mount Zoomer, the song with Dan on vocals, “Ghost Pressure,” is a little tighter and cohesive, while Spencer-led “What Did My Lover Say? (It Always Had To Go This Way)” sounds a little sloppier and suspiciously like a Dragonslayer reject, though the solo breakdown hits just as hard as AMZ’s “California Dreamer,” which is to say, hard but with room for more. As we saw from last time, this is no real indication of what we’ll see on the record when it comes out on June 29.

Wolf Parade – What Did My Lover Say? (It Always Had To Go This Way)

Wolf Parade – Ghost Pressure

Updated tour dates after the jump.

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via www.mbvmusic.com

Though DoE experienced their first taste of “mainstream”-recognition with 2008′s In Ear Park, the collaboration between Daniel Rossen and Fred Nicholaus dates all the way back to their college days and 2004′s (pre-Grizzly Bear) debut effort, The Cold Nose. Though adored by some, Rossen was somewhat discontent with the styling and “piecemeal” nature of the album and aimed for his future music to reflect a “sophisticated, dark americana” akin to Van Dyke Parks’ Song Cycle and Brian Wilson’s infamous SMiLE (co-written by VDP). With this vision in mind, Daniel recorded a series of songs in an NYU practice room, aptly entitled Practice Room Sketches, which provided the skeleton for future GB and DoE songs, as well as establishing the trademark Daniel Rossen aesthetic. The duo set out to record an album based on these and other sketches, yet this crusade proved a little over-ambitious and ultimately was deemed a lost cause. Now, for the first time, these early works along with the fabled yet ill-fated January Sessions will be available on record, capturing the beginnings of what would prove a very fruitful career, and providing a bare bones, pre-arrangement look at the unique songwriting styles of both GB and DoE.

Department of Eagles
Archive 2003-2006
(American Dust)
US Street Date: July 20, 2010
UK Street Date: July 19, 2010

1. Practice Room Sketch 1
2. Deadly Disclosure
3. While We’re Young
4. Grand Army Plaza
5. Practice Room Sketch 2
6. Brightest Minds
7. Practice Room Sketch 3
8. Flip
9. Practice Room Sketch 4 (Tired Hands)
10. Golden Apple
11. Practice Room Sketch 5

Out now via Columbia, Passion Pit released a deluxe version of last year’s debut Manners just in time for their Coachella slot Friday afternoon. The reissue features all the original tracks, plus stripped down versions of “Moth’s Wings” and “Sleepyhead” and a cover of the Cranberries’ “Dreams.” An “acoustic” version of “Sleepyhead” popped up a couple of months back, and the stripped down version is pretty much that. It’s re-orchestrated, with an acoustic piano rather than an electric piano, and a different melody in the chorus. Their stripped down “Moth’s Wings,” however, is a revelation for the band. Sounding more like Bon Iver or Grizzly Bear than themselves, the cover shrouds itself in simple instrumentation and reverberating vocals. There’s no massive piano riff, only continuously building guitar. Frontman Michael Angelakos’ voice shines on top of this simplicity. The cover track, “Dreams,” is also top notch. They’ve been playing it live as an encore, and the recorded version does its best to capture that. Angelakos has the perfect vocal range to tackle the track, and it only adds to my excitement for their set later this week. So go. Check them out. Outdoor Theater. 7 PM.

Passion Pit – Moth’s Wings (Stripped Down Version)

Passion Pit – Dreams (Cranberries Cover)

Pick it up on iTunes