thinking about shabazz palaces

I've been wanting to write about this new album from Shabazz Palaces for awhile. I just didn't know what to say.

I feel like it is really the next step in hip hop's evolution, but I still feel like such an outsider when I listen to hip hop that I'm sure there have been steps taken that I was unaware of, that have already been here. But I don't know.

But for me, this is another example of music expanding right in front of me. My perception of what music can be. I have listened to a lot of hip hop but there have only been a few groups that have expanded my perception of hip hop's capabilities (please note that I didn't start paying attention until college or so). Beastie Boys, Jurassic 5, Blackalicious, DJ Shadow, Saul Williams, Guru (with Jazzmatazz), Outkast (with The Love Below), Kanye West (with MBDTF), and now this. (Please don't argue this list. It is just my personal perception that was expanded. For example, I know people were doing what J5 did before them, I just didn't know about it)

So what's special about this? What's new to me? Well, it seems to take its cues from modern cutting edge electronic music (such as Flying Lotus) and free jazz instead of hip hop. It's rhythmic poetry over music, meaning it probably fits most people's standard definition of hip hop, but it's completely different. And I've heard Antipop Consortium, DOOM, Kool Keith, etc but something about this seems different. It's more immediate to my ears.

It's also surprising to me given the dude's background. I didn't listen to Digable Planets much, but the little I heard didn't impress me that much. It honestly bored me a little bit. I'm sure if I gave them another chance I would appreciate them more. I really should knowing such a talent was involved in the crew. But they were so laid back (based on the little I heard) and this is so aggressive.

Will that do? Sure, that'll do. Check it out if you haven't yet.

And here's a daytrotter session if you want to hear some more.

new wale mixtape

to me (and to many), the breakthrough artist of 2008 was wale who released mixtape about nothing. which was amazing and established him as the most exciting new voice in hip hop that i've heard in awhile.

and now we get his follow-up! it's called back to the feature, and it was produced by 9th wonder. and it features such artists as talib kweli, black thought, daniel merriweather, jean grae, includes samples of peter bjorn & john, duffy, etc etc etc. this seems to be awesome. i am only 8 tracks in but i love it!

get it here: walemusic.com

more bests

del the funky homosapien is nice.  he must like me.  he's giving me a present on my birthday!

actually he's giving it to everybody.  a free album to download!  it is called Funk Man (The Stimulus Package).  

go to delthefunkyhomosapien.bandcamp.com and say what version you want (i went with vbr high myself) (hey! also there are two other "leak pack" eps worth of other free stuff!) and you have to put in your email address.  then you get sent a link back to the site but the download starts.  

and um...the download starts.  even though it says available april 7th 2009.  so ummmm...hmm, you get it now.  

so get it now!!

(still waiting on that new deltron album...but this is very much appreciated.)

via pitchfork (so i hope i can trust that they're not lying this time!)

OTHER NEWS:

*new danger mouse project coming this summer.  mysterious! (stereogum)

*booker t is teaming up with the drive by truckers for a new album.  on anti-.  it seems like it should be surprising but it sounds about perfect to me.  (billboard)

*that's all the recent music related newsworthy news.  ta.

i am so behind!

i hope you had the good sense to pick up the new deerhoof album this week.  and the one from women.  that one's good too.

freehiphopnow has a bunch of new free albums up since i last spoke with you.  i will just link to them:

-belief's let it breathe.  a big mashup basically.  

-elucid's police and thieves.  haven't heard it yet but it looks promising.

-z-trip's obama mix.  you know, songs in support of obama.

seriously though, this year it seems like the best hip hop is the free stuff.  murs put out a new one and it's nowhere near as good as his free one.  and nas' mixtape is much better than the official album.  wale, rhymefest...there's been a lot of good free hip hop so i hope this is some more of that goodness.

Danielson Alive!!

there is a free danielson ep you get get at emusic.  6 live tracks.  hint: click on each individual download link for each track.  if you click "download album" and you're not a member, they try to get you to sign up.  but they don't bother you about it if you do each track individually.  also: 2008 is The Year Free Music Broke Out i believe.  there's been free music forever, but this year there is a lot.  i like it.

Hey guys, it's tuesday!  i hope you got these albums last week:

TV on the Radio

Dr Dooom.

Dr Dooom is actually very very awesome.  if you hated the return of dr octagon, like most people did, you will love Dr Dooom 2.  Basically he's like, "i killed dr octagon, and y'all are bringin him back?  fuck that.  he's dead.  i'll kill him again."  

and of course tv on the radio is album of the year material.

anyway, this week.  lots of stuff:

*Mercury Rev

*Murs

*People Under The Stairs

*Madlib (but the vinyl is out on oct 14)

*Ani DiFranco

*Ben Folds

*Polysics (but shoot, i already got that on vinyl a long time ago!)

*Roots Manuva

*Jennifer Hudson (yeah i dunno.  she's a great singer but it could have annoying production or songwriting and it might end up not being great.  i'll hold off for now.)

and reissues of

Creedence Clearwater Revival (basically all of their albums now with bonus tracks!)

The Jesus And Mary Chain (box set of b sides & rarities)

oh and IRON MAN on dvd!

and THE BEACH BOYS AND THE SATAN on dvd!

oh guys, i never told you so you might not know: there is a charity digital EP from Ted Leo & the Pharmacists available at touch & go records.  it's called Rapid Response and it is awesome.  it's a response to what happened at the Republican National Convention.  very quick, dirty recordings made in like a day or so.  like punk rock is supposed to be.  you should get it.

mixtapes

do you like mixtapes?  here are two of them:

1. Wale's THE MIXTAPE ABOUT NOTHING - my friend Mark alerted me about this one.  Thanks Mark!

2. Ludacris & DJ Drama's GANGSTA GRILLZ: THE PREVIEW - Billboard and Obama alerted me about this one in a story about the Obama campaign slamming one of the songs for being offensive about Hilary Clinton, John McCain, George W, and Jesse Jackson.  Thanks Billboard and Obama!

'08 is the year for free music for the people.

hi!

two things.

1. don't forget to get this week's free track from the pretenders' new album.  download it here.  it's hosted by ilike this week.  this one's called "the nothing maker."

2. murs & 9th wonder have a free album you can download!  just go to their official website and there you have it.  it's called sweet lord.  there's a little video intro by murs and an option to donate if you so choose.  he mostly just wants you to get his new album when it comes out, because now you owe him big time.  source: freehiphopnow.

go! team free stuff!

i'm not sure if this is a new development or if they've offered this stuff on their website for a long time, but you can get some free music from the go! team!  including:

-Get it Together EP (early release)

-remixes BY the go! team

-remixes OF the go! team

-song parts (so you can make your own remixes OF the go! team)

so yeah.  these are all available at thegoteam.co.uk/freestuff.  you'll need to sign up for their mailing list.

source: aversion

free pretenders

hey, remember the pretenders?  they have a new album coming out.  and it would seem they are releasing one song per week, free on their website, leading up to the actual album's release in september.

the album will be called break up concrete.

go to their official website weekly for the downloads.  this week's track is called "boots of chinese plastic."

source: billboard

almost free paul westerberg album!

in case you haven't read any music news websites today, you can get the new paul westerberg album on amazon for 49 cents. it's called 49:00 and it's all one long mp3 track.

you can get it on amazon or here.

more info, including a pdf of liner notes, can be found here.


i have not yet downloaded it because i am not at home. perhaps tonight though (even though i'm getting beck tonight too)

free dandy warhols ep

this one's not even a download. the new DANDY WARHOLS ep is free at participating record stores.

it's called earth to the remix vol. 1. remixes from their upcoming album earth to the dandy warhols. it's available now.

more info here (includes a link to a free download of one song, so there's that). it's not super clear, but i assume "participating stores" are all the stores that participated in record store day.

free miss kittin track!

today i was listening to some Annie as a result of the latest new song to leak from her new album (SO excited!!).  the song is called "Songs Remind Me of You" and can be downloaded here.

anyway, this made me decide to listen to the new Miss Kittin album, which is way better than it's getting credit for.  It seems largely ignored, like people don't care about her anymore, but I think the album is awesome.  Listening to that album prompted me to go to her website, where I discovered a free non-album track to download!  Just head over to the "goodies" section of her website to get the song entitled "FFF fff ..."

It's a strange track, but I like it.

More reading about Miss Kittin directed me to a free 2-track download from FRONT 242.  You can get that here.

the verve + free + official + song

why not head on over to vervedownload.com?  you can get a free! download of a new song by the verve!  remember those guys?  they're still around.

the song is called "Mover" but i haven't heard it.  i'm still waiting for my download link to come to my email.  see, you have to sign up for their mailing list to get the track.  waiting...

so let me know if the song is any good.

i can't rap...

but Jelani can!

yes, here is a free album you can download from Jelani.  get it here!

thanks to free hip hop now for alerting me to yet more free music.

more and more free music!

this new trend of offering music for free is really cool.  two things:

1. girl talk!  the new album feed the animals is out today and you can get it for free or for money.  your choice.  but if you choose to not pay they ask you why.  so you know, choose wisely.  if you pay $10 or more, you get the physical cd for free when it comes out.  i suggest you pay at least $5.  then you get the flac version and your conscience is clear.  to download it go to illegalart.net

2. the legendary mercury rev is releasing two albums in september, one of which is free to those that sign up for the band's mailing list.  they are not out until september 29th, but you can sign up now.  just go to mercuryrev.com.  you know, mercury rev is absolutely wonderful.  if you didn't already know that.

so that's it for that.  for more free music, click on the tag "free music."  i try to catch it all.

carmel

it would appear that i've never written about carmel here on this blog.  what the f.

okay, long story short.  i am writing two blogs today, after all.  lead singer carmel mccourt is one of the coolest, most haunting singers i have ever heard.  probably in my top 10 singing voices of all time.

the band started in the early 80s (i believe) and had some moderate successes.  nothing i knew about for the first 20-some years of my life though.  

now, i know there are lots of bands out there that did something amazing in the past, only to be forgotten years later.  but carmel, to me, is very special.  some of the coolest music i've ever heard, and i can rarely find anything by them anywhere.  i was fortunate, recently, to find a "best of" album at a used record store.  strangely enough, it seemed to be BRAND NEW even though it was released in the late 80s.  like, never before played.  unopened.  an artifact in pristine condition.  of course i had to open it to listen to it though.

i guess my best description of their sound is jazz-soul-david lynch.  like, something you'd hear on twin peaks during an audrey scene.

ok, anyway, the reason for this post is that they have a myspace page.  and at this myspace page, you can download selections from throughout their career.  free songs that anyone in america would have a hard time tracking down.  free.  including a couple brand new recordings (both live and studio).  

click here. it will change your life.  download them all.  befriend them and put them on friend alerts so you know whenever they post new songs.  because the selection is constantly evolving.

you're welcome.

Inspector Owl

this is about one month old, but it still works.

Inspector Owl has a free EP.  You have to sign up for their mailing list to get it though.  But still, free music!  Just go to their website inspectorowl.com to get it.

Once upon a time I featured this band on my show.  When I produced that one show.  So you know, I approve.  Dig it.

nina b is a icon?

i cannot yet attest to the quality of this, but there is a free album that you can download if you go here.

it's a madonna tribute mash-up featuring nina b.  i'm guessing it's like the rhymefest/michael jackson one that came out earlier this year that is AMAZING.  but possibly not quite so amazing.  but it's free, so what've you got to lose?

remember when i posted about tom daily?

about a month and a half ago i blogged about tom daily, one of my favorite musicians from my college years.  well, now i am here to tell you that he has offered up one of his albums for free download!

The Death of Tom Daily is no longer available in stores.  but you can download the whole album, one mp3 at a time, at his myspace page.  just go down to discography and there you have it.  there's also a lot more random stuff to explore there, so download to your heart's content! it is free and legal, after all.

in unrelated news, tonight is when TV packs just about all my favorite shows into one night.  not including simpsons and cancelled shows and other things.  because it's the big NBC comedy night, and the only sitcoms i watch are NBC comedy night.  the office, 30 rock, and scrubs...and THEN switch it over to ABC for LOST.  hooray LOST is back on the air for a few weeks!!

free gnarls barkley album!

EDIT: upon further inspection, it seems to be a mostly-instrumental version.  i just didn't notice at first because of how awesome it sounded regardless (and i've only listened to the first couple songs' worth so far)...but yeah, it's a mostly-instrumental version.  thanks to commenter milesee for noticing it in the song "Run."  anyway, original post:

i haven't seen this very widely reported, but i find it verrrrrrrrry interesting...

gnarls barkley is offering their latest album, the odd couple, for free via download!

okay, it's got a couple catches:

1. it is all one long mp3 track.

2. it is backwards.

go to fronttobacktofront.com to download "elpuocddoeht" for free.

aversion's version of the story is annoying.  aversion sometimes bugs me, how they report and criticize without having all the facts to the story or not giving it enough thought.  

they call it an idiotic waste of bandwidth.

now.  i don't know why they chose to do this.  but here is the version of the story that i just made up.  seriously, i don't know if this is why but it's what i like to believe:

maybe their label (atlantic) didn't want them to release the album for free download.  but gnarls barkley wanted to.  so they maybe jumped through some loopholes.  this download, released officially by danger mouse, is not the odd couple.  it is NOT the album released by atlantic records.  because it's reverse! and it's all one track!  it's just a free danger mouse track!

anyone with any sort of audio software can reverse an audio track very, very easily.  so while officially this is not a free version of the album the odd couple, you can unofficially officially obtain the album for free.  you just have to work for it.  just think of the grey album.  danger mouse is a law-hopping rascal.  

so who knows if this loophole will be enough to keep the site up, or if atlantic/warner will get it shut down.  so get it while you can!

or maybe we're really just meant to listen to the album in reverse for a trippy experience.