Ying Yang Twins go electrotron

What do you expect from the Ying Yang Twins these days? Southern hip hop? Shitty horn rap? Crunk? The whisper song II? Naw fuck that. Consider this: a Beastie Boys sample and techno party beat trendy enough for any obnoxious hipster music blog. Now we're fucking talking. I scratch my head as to how this happened. Nonetheless, the new Ying Yang Twins single, "Drop", employs musical tactics one would more expect to find from SebastiAn remix than from a bunch of huge crunk assholes down south. Not that they're rapping about anything new, but the change of pace is nothing less than hilarious.

Ying Yang Twins - Drop

Breakbot Just Blew My Mind

Breakbot is from Paris. The way music has been lately, you should know from that information alone that its gonna be good, and it is. Breakbot's original tracks and remixes alike have a very Justicey feel to them, lots of interesting and complex beats with eerily perfect vocals to match. The end result is good electronic music that you don't have to be high on ecstasy to enjoy all the time.

This first track is a remix of a PNAU (a band I also highly recommend and may blog about further on a later date) song called "Baby". If you ever wished for a more mellow D.A.N.C.E. this is the track for you. Also posted is an original Breakbot track called "Happy Rabbit" which is just a good song.

PNAU - Baby (Breakout Remix)

Breakbot - Happy Rabbit

Kitsune 5

The fifth edition to the ultra party compilation was released at the begining of this month so by hipster standards its old news. None the less Kitsune Maison vol. 5 is noteworthy. With big names like MIA Yelle and Fisherspooner backed up with a fistfull of up and comers like The Teenagers and DatA (the dopest) It is a solid Lineup to jam out to.

DatA-Aerius Light

MIA-XR2 (Silverlink V Kicks Like A Mule Aka 92juk)

New Ghosthustler ... Awesome

Awesome, awesome, awesome. I wish I had another way to describe Ghosthustler, but awesome is all too fitting. Every track they touch turns into hot fire and literally burns right in front of them ... okay that might be getting a little extreme, but its true. When listening to Ghosthustler you will want to do one of two things; either dance ... a lot, or, hop in a car and drive fast with the music up real loud. Thats it, I'd try to better explain what they sound like but all you'd get is synth, awesome, dance, more awesome and so on. Listen to the music, you will not be disappointed...

Ghosthustler - Someone Else's Ride

For more Ghosthuster check out my first ever blog post here.

Two Post Tuesday?? ... The Mystery Jets

Looking at the blog today I realized that with my last post I've ousted indie rock/pop from the front page. As this is something I just can't stand for, I thought I'd break my usual one post a day habit to bring you some new(ish) indie pop. The Mystery Jets are from Eel Pie Island in London (yes there somehow is an island in London and they named it after seafood baked goods), and make some pretty awesome musics. They put out a UK only release in 2005 which had some commercial success hitting 36 on the UK charts. Since then they've been building indie blog notoriety with a slew of remixes including one by the french musical wizards known as Justice. Their new album "21" will be released on the 24th of march and features the lead single "Young Love". The song is indie pop in all its glory. English accents, distraught lovers, and a catchy melody. Anywho the music speaks for itself...

Mystery Jets - Young Love

Mystery Jets - You Can't Fool Me Dennis (Justice remix) ... (this might be the only Justice remix ever thats less complicated than the original)

Remember that band The Roots

Remember the Roots? ... yeah they slipped me too. Their last CD came out almost 2 years ago now and even though they've been a band longer than I've been alive (seriously 1987 ... wtf) I had forgotten how good they were. Even though their new CD "Rising Down" doesn't have an estimated release date yet, they have a new track floating around the net. "75 Bars" is exactly that, 75 bars of ?uestlove thuggin it on drums and Black Thought putting down a two and a half minute verse, no chorus (he don't need it), and proves he can still flow with the best of em. I wouldn't expect the song to be a hit, or even a single, but its a shining example of how The Roots can still get it done, even if they are 20+ years in the game. 

The Roots - 75 Bars (Black's Reconstruction)

The Cool Kids get their grown man on

Well everyones favorite 80's loving rappers Chuck Inglish and Mikey Rocks aka The Cool Kids are back on the grind taking time off of their Australian tour to release the lead single off their upcoming EP "The Bake Sale". The new track is called "Action Figures" and is the neon duo's first take on rap of a little more serious note, i.e. not just pagers and bicycles. Although everyone else already is rapping about the plight of the ghetto, its a fresh twist for the Cool Kids. The highlight is certainly their surprisingly good flow compared to the slightly disjointed nostalgia raps of past tracks. The beat is extremely stripped down but allows the two Chi-Town MCs to take the spotlight. Who said the Eighties were dead? Anywho, the music speaks for itself... 

The Cool Kids - Action Figures

C.R.A.C Music

As of late I've been trying to keep up with the music blog over at Fader magazine, which happened to be formerly edited by RTS fave Nick Catchdubs. Anywho they put me on to a couple of new artists one of whom is C.R.A.C. Knuckles. Now from what I discover through about 15 minutes of research is that the band is two rapper/producers named Ta'Raach & The Lovelution (yes thats one person?) and Blu. Long story short they have a band, a new CD April 22 called "The Piece Talks", and a song (single?) entitled "Buy Me Lunch". Its pretty light on the rap and heavy on the old school RJD2 style funk. Give it a listen and if you like what you hear check out the respective C.R.A.C. members myspaces for a bunch of other free tracks from the new CD.

C.R.A.C. Knuckles - Buy Me Lunch

Lil Wayne Wednesday #4

This week on lil wayne wednesday i've decided to have a little blast from the past and post the first single ever to feature our boy Weezy F. Baby. The track is Juvenile's southern classic "Back That Azz Up". Weezy dropped a 30 second verse on the track that consisted of him saying "drop it like its hot" several times and then just making noises but seeing as the track was released in 1998, weezy was at the tender age of 14 years old, i'll cut him some slack. So listen and enjoy... remember The Carter III is only 27 days away. Thizz.

Juvenile ft Mannie Fresh and Lil Wayne - Back That Azz Up

Castro Steps Down ... yay Capitalism

Cuban communist president Fidel Castro resigned today after 49 years of rule. Some might consider this a striking victory for capitalism (that is unless his lil bro Raul can keep being a commie crackin). In honor of this I'm declaring declaring today Cash Rules Everything Around Me Day. So go to the bank, withdraw any and all money you have, put it in as many bills as possible and make it rain on some hos. Yay Capitalism!

Diplo's baby makin music - AEIOU

Diplo's a musical thug. He makes music that hits you, whether its dirty samples (see his Young Folks remix), darkness (see Veni Vidi Vici remix), or 100 percent soul (see what i'm about to show you). AEIOU itself is eight years old and was made with diplo's homie Triple Double and is also hot fire. If I had to categorize the funky jumble of soul and bluesy samples that the mix is I would say its what it would sound like if Diplo dj'd you having sex, or smoking, or maybe just your whole life. The result is a disorganized stew of awesome, with tracks streching to 16 minutes in length and no real discernible transitions between them, its not difficult to just get lost in the music. So if you like soul or are just trying to set the mood throw on AEIOU vol 1 and have a great time. 

The whole thing's free at Diplo's "Mad Decent" blog and here's a fav track of mine for a little sample.

Diplo and Triple Double - 2wo

And in case you're not up on your Diplo heres a couple more remixes of his...

Young Folks Pussy - Diplo

Veni Vidi Vici (Diplo Remix) - Black Lips

Kanye's got a video

Kanye, Spike Jonze, and bootay.

Oh yeah surprise ending too...

Noah & The Whale makes me happy

Well looking at the blog a little earlier i discovered that the last like billion posts have been rap music, sooo as a change of pace i thought i'd post my new favorite song which just so happens to not be rap. Noah & The Whale is an indie-folk rock band from london and they shure know how to make some catchy music. Their song "Five Years Time" is by no means new, i actually think hype machine had a entry for it like a year ago, but the band is still relatively unknown even amongst the up-to-the-minute blog scene. The song itself though is pretty hard to hate (its the ukulele that does it), but best of all its perfect for a sunny day, which I've finally been blessed with in dreary eugene this week. So as soon as you get some sun wherever you happen to be put this song on and you will have a great time, i guarantee it.

Noah & The Whale - Five Years Time

Lil Wayne Wednesday #3

Well surprise surprise, The Carter III has been postponed once again, to March 18. So while you're wiping away your tears of sorrow because you'll be waiting a month for new Weeezy tracks, I thought I'd remind you of why you should love Lil Wayne....

"I don't really want to, but these niggas making me

Put a motha fucka on ice like the Maple Leafs

Thats a hockey team, and I ain't on no hockey team

But I'm a champion, where's the fuckin Rocky theme

Damn, rest in peace Apollo Creed

I'm a monster, everyday is Halloween"

                                                                     Weezy, "Upgrade" from the Drought III

Sweet Jesus, lets have a quick recap ... in eight lines he threatens murder, makes reference to a hockey team, repeats the same multi-word phrase in the same sentence, makes reference to Rocky, pays respect to a deceased fictional character, and claims every day to in fact be a candy filled holiday. He's so violent yet introspective at the same time. Greatest rapper alive? Hey, its hard to argue with.

Lil' Wayne - Upgrade

Oh, yeah weezy pleaded not guilty on friday to one count each of possession of a narcotic drug for sale, possession of dangerous drugs, misconduct involving weapons, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Don't Hate.

R.I.P. Apollo Creed

MAC DRE HAS A NEW ALBUM FROM THE GRAVE

FUCK TUPAC

DOWNLOAD IT HERE

Atmosphere is still around

A lot of times we forget that Slug is not white. Apparently, he was sooooo pissed about this he had to put out a mixtape to clear the air. Slug raps that he's "young, gifted and mixed," just to remind us of his sweet ethnic diversity, which of course lends him credibility when rapping. Actually, none of this has anything to do with the mixtape, which Slug and Ant released because they've been extremely prolific lately, releasing a number of Sad Clown Bad Fall/Dub or whatever EPs that have some good moments. This Strictly Leakage mixtape is actually month-old news, but it's pretty good, and I enjoy giving away music that the artist is actually giving away as well. Plus, it's funny. The track "Domestic Dog" is about hitting on women at the grocery shop, something that the pimp of all pimps Mac Dre wouldn't even do, as going there certainly wasn't his job. Slug raps, "in the condom aisle/with your awesome smile/tomorrow we should watch Lost and hang out a while." Yeah cleverness.

Download Strictly Leakage here.

Clipse been at it again...

Clipse reps VA. They also sold (still sell?) lots of cocaine. But if you ever heard any of their songs you already knew this. Well they're back at it with their group The Re-Up Gang and they got a new mixtape to build some hype for a spring LP. While some of the material is a little old (we get it you sold cocaine) the rapping is as good as ever, if not better. Pusha T, Malice, Ab-Liva, and Sandman get their lil weezy on tearing it up over jay-z, dr dre, and wu-tang beats with no remorse. The whole mixtape is free off their site (see link below) and its hot like fire, also I added one of my fav tracks below...

Roc Boys - Re-Up Gang

We Got It For Cheap, Vol 3 Mixtape by Re-Up Gang

I get it, France is trendy ... The Teenagers

The Teenagers are the trendiest band in the world, period. Never before could a single band gain such a wide following based almost solely on the fact that they wear cool eighty's clothes and live in France. Before I really listened to the Teenagers they pissed me off, hell they still do, but their music really grows on you. Early last year their track "Starlett Johansson" was bouncing around the web and, to say the least my initial reaction was of distaste. As such I ignored their song "Homecoming" when it came around a little later. But the hype grew and grew and when they released their first LP "Reality Check" the other week I felt another listen was due. And what do you know, those French assholes hooked me. As it turns out Homecoming is one of the better tracks I've heard in a while. The song is about a hook-up between a snarky british hipster guy and a dumb american ho and the results are funny. In a monotone french accent the band belts out some comical stuff like "i fucked my american cunt ... it was dirty/a dream come true/just how I like it/she's got nice tits".... awesome. All this over surprisingly good synth/guitar/drum work. The album itself has its ups and downs, but give it a listen or two and it'll be hard to hate, as much as you may want to. Anywho the music speaks for itself...

The Teenagers - Homecoming

Lil Wayne Wednesday #2

Welcome to Wednesday!!! If there's one thing that I have a passion for its my theory of the relative quality of rap music. It seems more and more true that the quality of rap music is entirely dependent on how good a beat is. You could take the poorest rapper and put them on a good beat and they would sound great, while you'd need the best rappers to make a bad beat a good song. Lil' Wayne's "Shooter" from the "Carter II" albuum is a shining example of the truth of this theory. Despite Weezy's self proclaimed status of "greatest rapper alive" he couldn't save the song with his rhymes, and JT wannabe Robin Thicke sure didn't help. It seemed like all was lost... until DJ Nick Catchdubs got his hands on it. Catchdubs, producer of Wale's kickass "100 miles and running" mixtape, takes a stinker and makes it real hot shit. As it turns out rap sounds better over nasty bass rather than crap... who knew.

88 Shots (Nick Catchdubs Remix) - Lil' Wayne ft. Robin Thicke

PS: Catchdubs' "W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E." was the best remix of 2007 ... 

yeah i said it, seriously, cop "100 miles and running"

PPS: Black Lips at Wow Hall in Eugene tonight... go see it.

Simian "Pre-Mobile Disco"

I was doing a little internet perusing the other day when I stumbled across a little ditty about how awesome Simian was (thanks missingtoof). I myself had only heard the Justice remixed "Never Be Alone" and the work of their spin off band Simian Mobile Disco. But I was quite impressed with one song of theirs in particular "LA Breeze". This song has the electronic oomph of their "mobile disco" songs but has a little more of the lyrical continuity that the more techno embracing mobile disco shies away from. In essence you get an english rock band with sweet electro beats... like The Klaxons but better. Anywho the music speaks for itself...

Simian - LA Breeze

Kid Sister and A-Trak love dinosaurs

The family connections between sweet music people in Chicago are endless. A-Trak's brother is the mustachioed half of Chromeo. Kid Sister's brother is J2K from Flosstradomus. Kid Sister and A-Trak are dating. Wow. It's also rumored that our own Nate G's mom picked Flosstrodamus up from the airport. But I digress. Kid Sister will be running the game of girl rap in no time, and even if some compare that to women's basketball, it doesn't matter because she has some real skills. A-Trak is more than happy to deliver the jams both backing her and as a standalone act, and any dj that incorporates Biz Markie into their set has my vote. Plus, they played at the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum amongst dinosaur skeletons and taxidermied bears and buffalo. Even though some scrub tried to jack my hyphy goggles when I did some stage diving, I still dub their shit: awesome.

Check out a sweet remix of Pro Nails here.