Literate Accomplishment

The Latest Greatest, 6/7/13

New album from Literati, entitled "Fait Accompli," dropping on Ecid's Fill in the Breaks imprint on June 25th.  I'd heard of this group in passing through Ecid's promotional pushes, but was first introduced to their music at a pretty shitty show in San Francisco at a bar called the Showdown, where they only managed to play two and a half songs before a gang of rowdy reggae DJs cut them off mid-set to spin records.  Still, even with such a short span of time to show and prove, it was clear to me that these two fellas knew what they were doing and how to do it well.  The group's two members, Mercies May and Chris Caesar, have been involved with a lot of under-the-radar projects over the years, with a wide range of collabs that have even included Little Dragon (yes, the current popular Little Dragon).  Their material as a duo seems to be destined to get progressively better, and leave it to Fill in the Breaks to highlight that progression with this new full length of theirs.  Looking forward to hearing it, check out the video for the single below:

1. Modern Life
2. Echo & Narcissus
3. No Money
4. Bad Karma
5. My Own Worst Enemy
6. Cupid
7. Tear Gas
8. Swoon
9. Parade
10. Way Out
11. The Future
12. Shade And Shadow

The Offspring Runneth Over

The Latest Greatest, 6/5/13

New album from Gajah & Mute Speaker, "On & Offspring," out as of a few days ago via Acid Lab Records.  Gajah is one of the many skilled MCs out of LA who never seems to get the right amount of props for his projects, with a grip of quality albums both as a solo artist and as one half of Project Blowed's Acid Reign crew.  I like Gajah's music in general, but this new collaboration with Brighton-based producer Mute Speaker sounds like one of his most solid projects to date.  The album boasts some very strange and edgy electronic production, plenty of tightly written verses and flows, and some ill guest spots from Open Mike Eagle, Ceschi, Tommy V, and more.  The always awesome cover artwork from Albane doesn't hurt matters any either.  Feel free to stream the project below, and make sure you score a copy for yourself if you're feeling it. 

1. On
2. Enough is Enough
3. The Great Indoors
4. In Between Time (feat. Open Mike Eagle)
5. No Mercy On These Parts
6. Lawd Have Mercy Lude
7. Peace of My Mind (feat. Shuanise)
8. Beast in Man's Clothing (feat. Sojourn, Shames Worthy & Zane One)
9. Game Runner
10. Party Animals
11. Stability (feat. BeOND & Lyricon)
12. See No Hear No
13. Kids These Days (feat. Ceschi & Tommy V.)
14. Offspring

Thr33 X Dope

The Latest Greatest, 5/23/13

Psyched to see that the Th3rdz debut album "This That & Th3rdz" finally has a solid street date attached to it, and will be dropping June 18th via Camobear Records.  Seattle's Oldominion collective has got its fair share of criminally slept on rappers, and when I heard that JFK, Candidt and Xperience were working on a project together, I immediately started keeping a careful ear to their bandcamp page in order to download whatever tracks I could get my greedy hands on.  These three are some very skilled rappers, both on stage and in the studio, so as expected the leaks from this project (which date as far back as 2011) have been damn great.  What I wasn't expecting was how many of those leaks wouldn't make the final cut, which I'm assuming is a good thing since this beast is 19 tracks long and probably loaded with A-sides.  JFK, Candidt and XP all have excellent solo projects under their belts, and they compliment one another nicely on guest spots and at shows.  This debut of theirs also boasts production from Vitamin D, Smoke, and Kuddie Fresh amongst others, along with guest features from Nacho Picasso, Geologic of Blue Scholars, and Sleep of Oldominion.  Bangalangin'.  Peep a couple of videos from the album under the tracklisting below:

1. Intro
2. Big Chain (feat. Cadence)
3. Rap Rap (feat. Piece)
4. Hustle Harder (feat. Geologic of Blue Scholars)
5. Fixed & Addicted
6. Settle Down
7. Boobiewho (feat. Sonny Bonoho)
8. Work
9. All Do It
10. Be Yourself
11. Playas Only (feat. Brotha Brown)
12. Go For Broke
13. GNikes (feat. Fatal Lucciano)
14. Pushin' (feat. Nacho Picasso)
15. What You Waiting For
16. Favorite Song
17. Go Off (feat. Sleep of Oldominion)
18. Awaken Your Dreams
19. Goodies

Lone Wake Up Call

The Latest Greatest, 5/15/13

New album from Saskatoon's shining star Factor, entitled "Woke Up Alone," dropping July 23rd 2013 via Fake Four Inc.  Expectations have been shifting into high gear over at My Backpack is Bigger Than Yours HQ ever since this one was announced to the masses.  Factor's last full length solo album, "Lawson Graham," was such a high-caliber conceptual body of work that it's hard to think of a producer compilation style album that rivals it in its artistry.  "Lawson Graham" offered up a loving ode to Factor's grandfather through the unlikely wedding of hip hop and folk music, delivered in such a perfect way that you'd assume the genres had been married for years instead of being newlyweds.  With this new Factor project on the horizon, it's a pleasure to see that he hasn't slowed down on the ambitious conceptual side of things.  "Woke Up Alone" supposedly tells the tale of a grieving protagonist (played by rapper Kirby Dominant) who is trying to cope with the death of his wife.  This tale is split into 5 scenes meant to represent the different stages of mourning, with guest rappers guesting in roles that range from the protagonist's psychologist to the Devil himself.  Judging by the first leaked single off the album, the sound that Factor is aiming for on this album is something more dark and haunting than his usual fair, driven by dreary guitar jabs and creepy keys.  Looks like some exciting stuff for sure, check out the leaked single "Alive Tomorrow" featuring Nomad and the album trailer below:

Denial & Isolation (Scene 1)
1. Woke Up Alone
2. The Empire Has Fallen (feat. Paranoid Castle)
3. After the Service

Anger (Scene 2)
4. Raise the Dead (feat. Ceschi)
5. Alive Tomorrow (feat. Nomad)
6. Stone Cold (feat. Open Mike Eagle)

Bargaining (Scene 3)
7. Long Hallways
8. In Sickness & In Health (feat. Onry Ozzborn)
9. Don't Give Up (feat. Paranoid Castle & Jeans Boots)

Depression (Scene 4)
10. Denied (feat. Myka 9)
11. Devil's Call (feat. Evil Ebeneezer)
12. Carry Over (feat. Jeans Boots)

Acceptance (Scene 5)
13. Let It Go (feat. Astronautalis)
14. Give Up (feat. Gregory Pepper & Paranoid Castle)
15. The Grave Burial 

Molotovs, Anyone?

The Latest Greatest, 3/14/13

New album from Prolyphic & Buddy Peace, "Working Man," dropping 4/30/13 on Strange Famous Records.  Curious to see how this one turns out.  I was a fan of Prolyphic's work with Robust back in the day, but had a slightly harder time listening to him rap through a full album on his own.  Then again, I still occasionally revisit songs from the "Ugly Truth" album that he put with Reanimator five years ago, and I've heard nothing but good things about Buddy Peace as a producer.  I think this project has potential, and the lead single "Business as Usual" is definitely a nod in the right direction.  I'll be checking for it come the 30th, tracklisting and song below:

1. Stale Bread Winner Part 1
2. Business As Usual
3. Unpopular Demand
4. Drug Dealer
5. Death of the Boombox (feat. Sage Francis & Metermaids)
6. Bad Influence
7. F*** Banks
8. Six Feet High
9. Midtro
10. Hand Grenade
11. Go Green
12. The Tunnel
13. Stale Bread Winner Part 2

A Good Night for Understudying

The Latest Greatest, 3/2/13

 

After a gang of mixtapes and a ton of shows in the Bay Area, the Understudies Crew has finally released their official full length album "One Night Only" via their bandcamp page.  This group consisting of Citizen, Sean E Depp, Gee, Poe, Manifest, Fly Cobb, Self Advocate, Husayn Jay and Myers is one of the most well-respected hip hop crews out of Berkeley CA, known for their live shows and also their community building in the East Bay hip hop scene.  "One Night Only" is not a perfect album, but it is the strongest collection of songs from the Understudies thus far and the most cohesive sounding project from them to date.  A number of the songs on here like "Wilde (Life of the Party)" and "All Here (Remix)" should be familiar to Berkeley heads who've seen them destroy shit live, while other newer numbers like "Way of My Words..." are sure to impress fans of the crew.  The album reaches a high point with the Digital Martyrs produced song "Part 2: Got the Blues," where the Understudies team up with their friends Candlespit Collective and Mikial to deliver some very stylistic bitching about former relationships.  The Understudies are offering up this album on a donation basis, so make sure you toss some money in the pot so they can press this thing up as a CD in a digipack.  Donate and download on the Understudies Bandcamp or stream the album below: 

1. Sirens 

2. Numbers & Math 

3. No Higher! 

4. Mindstate (feat. JB Nimble) 

5. wile. (LifeOfTheParty) 

6. Chamber of Secrets / NoTengoMuchoDinero 

7. Karate Man (Bleed on the Inside) 

8. Part 1: Remember Me 

9. Part 2: Got the Blues (feat. Candlespit Collective & Mikial) 

10. thesmileswewear. 

11. way of my words... 

12. solutionaries (whenthingsgetdreary) 

13. Consider the Options (No Grammy) (feat. JB Nimble) 

14. LetGo(Don't) (feat. JB Nimble & Scarub) 

15. All Here (Remix) (feat. Manifest, Citizen, Fly Cobb, Husayn Jay, JB Nimble, Cyberclops, Poe, Gee, Sean E Depp, Welsed & Self Advocate)

16. Forecast

Mixed Blood on Our Hands

The Latest Greatest, 12/31/12

Peeking at 2013, the first release that I will be dropping my money on without the slightest bit of hesitation is this new self-titled album from the group Mixed Blood Majority, which they'll be self-releasing on 1/22/13.  Mixed Blood Majority is another of those outstanding Minnesota hip hop groups that have been cropping up lately, and consists of Crescent Moon (of Oddjobs and Kill the Vultures) and Joe Horton (of No Bird Sing) on the raps while Lazerbeak handles all of the beat work.  Aside from the excitement of having another fully Lazerbeak produced rap album on our hands, I'm stoked to hear this project for the contributions from Crescent Moon, who I've been a fan of since his early days in the Oddjobs.  Not as familiar with Joe Horton or No Bird Sing, but you can only expect so much from a non-Minnesota native and I gotta say that he sounds fresh next to Crescent Moon on the leaked single "Fine Print."  The album also features Toki Wright, Kristoff Krane, and Cecil Otter, who all tend to be winners when it comes to the raps.  Listen to leaked single "Fine Print" below, and prepare to get bloody:

1. Fine Print
2. Product of My Company
3. Still Standing Still
4. Dead Weight
5. Story to Tell (feat. Toki Wright)
6. Ritual (feat. Kristoff Krane)
7. The Ballad of Cedric Ceballos
8. Free Up (feat. Cecil Otter)
9. Hallucination Music
10. The Runaround

Rocketing Out the Slump

The Latest Greatest, 11/7/12

Sapient's long-rumored alt rock project, "Slump," will be dropping via Camobear Records on February 19th, 2013.  Very curious to see how this one turns out.  Sapient has a very solid work ethic, both as a solo artist and as a member of the well-respected Sandpeople collective out of Portland.  Considering the amount of beats he produces and the number of albums he drops on a yearly basis, it's kind of surprising how many of them turn out to be solid.  This new album drops his traditional rapping in favor of a more melodic rock approach to his songs, which is not actually a huge jump from his past work considering his tendency to end each of his albums with some poppy hip hop rock joint.  Still, it'll be interesting to hear this style of music for an entire album for a change.  It could either result in the most essential Sapient project to date, or in a complete trainwreck of a concept album.  Sapient does tend to lean towards the side of quality with his releases, so I'm confident that "Slump" will offer at least a couple of key catchy tunes to bring a smile to your respective slumps.  Tracklisting and debut single video below:

1. Slow Up
2. Pieces of Paper
3. When
4. Shotgun in my Spaceship
5. Roman Candle
6. The Dapper Mob
7. Notroh
8. Seeking New Skin
9. Went Like This
10. Opera Pigs
11. Ello
12. Monsters Eat Bricks
13. I Was Wrong
14. Gladys
15. Anaphylaxis
16. Out From Under

Soul Reigns Supreme

The Latest Greatest, 10/17/12

I know my serious hip hop head buddies have been fiending for this one.  Myka 9 & Factor's new collaborative album, "Sovereign Soul," will be dropping this November 13th via Fake Four Inc.  Myka is an incredible rapper with one of the most musical approaches to rapping you're likely to hear anywhere, and his last full length with Factor "1969" was one of his strongest projects to date.  I'm left with no choice but to assume that this new album of theirs will end up being amazing, and the tracklisting definitely piques my curiosity. Can't say I was expecting to see Astronautalis or ERULE up in the mix, those should be some epic collabos for the books!  Track I'm most looking forward to hearing is probably that "5 Mikes" one, fun concept already and I haven't listened to a single bar from it.  For now, you can listen to the all-too-short leaked song "You Are Free" below:

1. Sovereign Soul
2. You Are Free
3. Bask In These Rays (feat. Ceschi & Astronautalis)
4. Hard Hit
5. Ode to Cosmosis (feat. Abstract Rude, Freewill & Moka Only)
6. Mind Heights
7. Sexy To The Beat
8. Heaven Up (feat. Johanna Phraze & JNatural)
9. Bless Me Out (feat. Jah Orah)
10. Zo Oh Owe Ning (feat. Charli Rose)
11. 5 Mikes (feat. Open Mike Eagle, Mykill Miers, Mic King & Myk Mansun)
12. Indigenous Areas (feat. ERULE)
13. In So Far As We Know

   Myka 9 and Factor "You Are Free" by Fake Four, Inc.

No Filler

The Latest Greatest, 10/11/12

Chicago MC Robust will be releasing his new album "Fillin' In the Potholes" on November 6th via Galapagos4.  I really loved Robust's 200G4 debut "Potholes in Our Molecules," and the "El Foto Grande" and "Stick Figures" albums that he followed it up with were very dope as well, but I can't really say I've dug too much of the material he's released since then.  Fortunately, judging by the singles that have leaked from this new project, it seems that Robust may be set to make a pretty major return to form come November 6th.  The return to the "Potholes" motif seems to be pointing towards a fresh start, and Ro even jokingly speaks on how the "fans don't think he's hot no more" on the album's lead single.  Production line-up is some A-List Chi Town shit: Meaty Ogre, Maker, Void Pedal (dope!), PNS, Jackson Jones and DJ Alo make contributions amongst others.  Very dope Albane cover art as well.  Check out the video for the single "Northern Soul" and the leaked song "How Ya Livin??" below:

1. Fillin' In The Potholes (prod. by Max)
2. Soloist (prod. by Robust)
3. Northern Soul (prod. by Meaty Ogre)
4. High Road (prod. by Void Pedal)
5. Loop Dreams (prod. by Robust)
6. All I Do (prod. by DJ Alo)
7. Remember When (prod. by PNS)
8. I Wake Up (prod. by Maker)
9. Spare Change (prod. by Meaty Ogre)
10. How Ya Livin?? (prod. by Max)
11. Polluted Views (prod. by Jackson Jones)
12. Tortured Soul (prod. by Meaty Ogre)
13. Driftwood (prod. by Pore)
14. What's Your World (prod. by Pore)
15. Pressure (prod. by DJ Alo)
16. Realism (prod. by Pore)

   How Ya Livin??? - Prod. By Max(Old Irving) ft. DJ ALO by Robust Chicago 

Now Back in Print

The Latest Greatest, 9/14/12

New album from Blueprint, "Deleted Scenes," dropping on October 16th via Printmatic's own Weightless Recordings.  I guess that calling "Deleted Scenes" a "new album" from 'Print might be a bit of a stretch considering that these are songs that were cut during the same time as "Adventures in Counter-Culture." While these joints didn't make the album, Blueprint was apparently selective with which B-sides he picked fin order to rework them and piece them together into a proper body of work.  Printmatic's got a pretty strong track record in my book and "Adventures in Counter-Culture" was amazing, so I have hopes that there'll be some sweet material on this to dig into.  It's interesting to see Terry Troutman of Zapp listed amongst the featured artists as well.  First leak from the album is streamable below the tracklisting:

1. Starting Out
2. Takin’ It
3. Get Right (feat. Dominique Larue)
4. The American Dream (feat. Adoria)
5. True Love (feat. Angelica Lee)
6. Body Movin’
7. Never Grow Old (feat. Angelica Lee)
8. Bells & Whistles
9. The Mask
10. Bartenders (feat. Zero Star)
11. Babies Got Guns
12. I Wanna Go (feat. Nina D)
13. Senseless
14. Leave Me Alone (feat. Terry Troutman of Zapp)
15. Packt Like…

Art Minus the Deco

The Latest Greatest, 9/8/12

New album from LA rapper Gavlyn, "From the Art," dropping October 2nd via Broken Complex Records.  Here is further proof that, no matter how many of these blog posts I devote to female MCs, there will always be fresh talents I haven't heard of.  I cast an ear towards Gavlyn after her recent initiation to Broken Complex, and it sounds like she may be making up for Sirah's departure from the group.  She's also part of an LA collective known as Organized Threat...  All new names to me, but it seems like their hearts and heads are all in the right places.   This Gavlyn chick has got a pretty good voice and an interesting tone in the way she raps, plus her album boasts production from DJ Lord Ron, EQ (Acid Reign affiliate), and Broken Finguz amongst others.  Looks like Destruct's guest-starring on the song "No Worries" too, which is a good sign since him and Finguz were partially responsible for the dope "React" album a few months back.  That cover art pleases my eyes as well.  Color me interested, and check out the video for Gavlyn's songs "Clarity" and "To the Feeling" below:

1. Do You
2. What I Do
3. Staring Problem
4. Clarity
5. Stepoff
6. Set It
7. Make My Move (feat. Fawksie 1)
8. Let It Go (feat. Dy)
9. Hour Glass
10. No Worries (feat. Destruct)
11. Blown Away (feat. Rawlegit)
12 Survive
13. Why Don’t U Do Right
14. To The Feeling
15. Soulfire

Merci, Ca Va Bien

The Latest Greatest, 9/3/12

Now that she's successfully Kickstarted and completed an artist residency in France, Melissa Czarnik is set to release her new album "Non Merci" on September 25th via her and Eric Mire's own label Hyperdrive Motivator Productions.  I first stumbled across Melissa Czarnik's music when she mailed me a copy of her "Raspberry Jesus" album with a funny Jean-Michel Basquiat postcard, and I immediately found her introspective rap verses likeable over Eric Mire's buttery keyboard beats.  Melissa's new album "Non Merci" is like a hybrid Euro-American car with a heightened theft prevention device built in.  She revels in her experience abroad on songs like "Pina Bausch" and "C'est La Vie," but also brings things closer to home than ever before on the ode to her hometown "For MKE."  She even touches upon the relationship between France and the USA on a clever number entitled "If You Love," which is backed by a very quiet and effective keyboard beat from Eric Mire.  A lot of Eric's beat work is exceptional throughout "Non Merci," though the album has a very quiet homemade feel to it that occasionally taps into spoken word and won't appeal to every hip hop head.  With Melissa and Eric moving from MKE to NYC in the near future, it'll be interesting to hear how their perception of home continues to change and affect them... Until then, feel free to cast an ear to the song "Pina Bausch" and watch the music video for "Rummy" below to see if this music might be your glass of Chardonet.

1. Non Merci
2. Pina Bausch
3. C'est La Vie
4. Rummy
5. Fool Who
6. The Green
7. I Prefer
8. If You Love
9. With My Tongue
10. Frida
11. In My Dreams
12. For MKE
13. Lullaby for Melissa

"Pina Bausch"



"Rummy"

Typically Brilliant

The Latest Greatest, 8/29/12

Trying not to get too excited about the release of this new Typical Cats album "3" on September 25th, but I'm failing miserably.  Typical Cats is just one of those groups that has the potential to deliver some of the highest quality hip hop on the planet, bar none.  Qwel, Qwazaar and Denizen Kane are all masters of their respective crafts of MCing, and have styles that compliment one another in unique and exciting ways.  DJ Natural's jazzy funk production tends to bring out sides of their music that you wouldn't here on other recordings, and he cements the group as its own entity.  Many herald their 2001 self-titled album as an underground hip hop classic and others give massive praise to their 2004 follow-up "Civil Service," but I personally believe that these two albums, while good, do not meet the massive potential that this group has as a collective.  My expectations remain sky high, and there's no doubt in my mind that these fellows will one day release an album that will kick my ass from beginning to end.  If the album sampler for "3" is anything to go by, then this may very well be the record that I've been waiting for from Typical Cats...  It's sounding like DJ Natural has stepped up his production chops quite a bit in the last 8 years, and it's good to see the unseen member of the crew Kid Knish back on deck.  Stream the album sampler beneath the tracklist below, and expect more thoughts on this album from me when it drops: 

1. Intro (Cry No More)
2. The Crown
3. My Watch
4. Changing Room
5. Puzzling Thing
6. Better Luck
7. Drop It Like It's Hotline
8. Denizen Walks Away
9. The Bitter Cold
10. It's The Bomb!
11. On My Square
12. Blank Stone
13. Scientists Of Sound
14. Mathematics
15. Gil Say They Don't Knock
16. Bowl Of Tea
17. Reflections From The Porch
18. The Gordeon Knock
19. TC Back For More
20. Full Clip (For The Last Day)

Guv'Nor Jarel & the Metal Kuffed Villain

The Latest Greatest, 7/6/12

Lex Records has announced what appears to be a concrete street date for the upcoming MF Doom and Jneiro Jarel collab album "Key to the Kuffs," which will be unleashed on August 21rst worldwide.  It's always questionable whether these DOOM collab projects will ever materialize given how villainous his approach has been these last couple of years, but I'm glad to see that this particular meeting of the minds may be imminent since Jneiro Jarel is crazy talented and underrated as a producer.  I'd listen to this over a Ghostface or Thom York collab album any day of the week, though Jarel's last project with Khujo as Willie Isz was a little underwhelming.  Hopefully the weirdness of these two will mix well together.  Tracklisting and sample below:

1. Waterlogged
2. Guv'nor
3. Banished
4. Bite the Thong (feat. Damon Albarn)
5. Rhymin Slang
6. Dawg Friendly
7. Borin Convo
8. Snatch That Dough
9. GMO (feat. Beth Gibbons)
10. Bout the Shoes (feat. Boston Fielder)
11. Winter Blues
12. Still Kaps (feat. Khujo Goodie)
13. Retarded Fren
14. Viberian Sun Pt. II
15. Wash Your Hands

Kleening Up

The Latest Greatest, 6/13/12

Very promising new project from Self Jupiter of Freestyle Fellowship and Kenny Segal under the group name "The Kleenrz," dropping July 31rst via Nocando's quality imprint Hellfyre Club.  It seems like Self Jupiter has wasted no time getting back into the groove of recording songs since being released from jail, and his past solo album "Hard Hat Area" was a strong collection of tracks even though it covered a variety of compilation appearances and guest spots.  Kenny Segal is an excellent producer, and crafts very complete conceptual albums for rappers if his "Memoirs of Planet Lovetron" album with Blacklove R88ers is anything to go by.  My hunch is that this one will be excellent... praying that they're planning on releasing it as a CD and not just digitally!  Tracklisting and sample song below:

1. The Interview

2. Filthy (feat. Fanny Franklin)

3. Mr Sandman

4. Best Served Cold

5. Nasty

6. City Lights (feat. Nocando)

7. Altered States (feat. Subtitle, Alpha MC, Gajah, Murs & Volume 10)

8. Outer Rings (feat. Abstract Rude & Shing02)

9. A Big Mess (feat. DJ Prolifix)

The Sun Always Shines Brightest in...

The Latest Greatest, 6/2/12

Mark the date of July 24th on your calenders fellow hip hop fiends, for that shall be the day that Dark Time Sunshine's "ANX" drops like a beam of radiant light to renew our hopes for futuristic hip hop in 2012.  Cape Cowen and Zavala's previous collaborations have honestly been some of the strongest underground hip hop albums of our era, so my expectations are naturally super high for this one.  Something deep within my spirit tells me that they're going to deliver yet again... I guess we'll see soon enough.  The always reliable Fake Four Inc. is handling the release of the CD, while the excellent Fieldwerk Records will giving this one the much-needed LP treatment.  Tracklisting and promo video below:

1. Hosanna in the Highest
2. Can't Wait
3. Cultclass
4. Valiant
5. Rock Off
6. Overlordian
7. Prarie Dog Day
8. I'll Be Damned
9. Look At What the Cat Did
10. Never Cry Wolf
11. Take My Hand
12. Forget Me Not
13. Look Forward
14. Anx

Tastes Like Chicken?

The Latest Greatest, 5/29/12

The latest in swine dining from Josh Martinez and Sleep aka The Chicharones, available June 19th on iTunes and July on CD via Camobear Records.  It's been a while since I indulged in the glorious oinking that this duo produces, and this new full length from'em could prove to be the bane of kosher rap fans everywhere and a healthy feast of indie rap numbers for everyone else.  Their last EP "Swine Country" didn't impress me much, but their last full length "When Pigs Fly" was damn near my favorite album of 2007, so I remain healthily optimistic.  Well, maybe not "healthily" optimistic given the greasy nature of this product, but optimistic never the less!  You can pre-order the album from them via their Kickstarter page and help them make it through Warp Tour at the same time.  Have a taste:

"Hi Hey Hello":




"Burn It Down":

4NML Kingdom

The Latest Greatest, 5/14/12

 

I may be letting the 4nml out the bag a little early with this one, but details about Open Mike Eagle's new album have shown up on some credible websites and it's my duty to share my enthusiasm for it here.  Entitled "4NML HSPTL" (pronounced "Animal Hospital"), the album is produced entirely by UK Machina Muerte affiliate Awkward and will be dropping June 26th on the almighty Fake Four Inc.  Mike Eagle has been releasing some very original and enjoyable albums in recent times, and this one features collaborations with Megabusive, Nocando, Has-Lo, Serengeti and even Detroit's fast-rising underground superstar Danny Brown(!)  Excited to hear this one... Fake Four has already dropped some very note-worthy releases this year from the likes of Bleubird, Sixo, Busdriver and others, but between this album and the new Dark Time Sunshine joint dropping in July, I think the Summer will be theirs.  Tracklisting below: 

1. Starz 

2. Hsptl 

3. Lesson 33 

4. Black Clouds (feat. Megabusive & Finiki McGee) 

5. Universe Man (feat. Serengeti) 

6. Your Back Pack Past (feat. Has-Lo) 

7. Debts (Eagle Journal) 

8. 4NML (Korzybski's Lament) 

9. The Financial Crisis That Wouldn't Go Away 

10. Bad News Brown (Gamin Journal) (feat. Matt Gamin) 

11. One Day 

12. Free-Writing Exercise (feat. Nocando) 

13. DanceBill 

14. Self Medication Chant 

15. Cobra Commander (feat. Danny Brown)

Everything Honkey Dorey

The Latest Greatest, 5/12/12

 

Good news (noose?).  Mine+Us & DJ Hoppa are dropping a new album in the near future, and it's called "Everything is A-OK."  These fellows have got some good music under their belts, including a slept-on gem of an album called "Day by Day" and a strong hand in 2010's awesome Broken Complex group project.  Mine+Us also wins a medal for being the only rapper who I've seen bust into both the Running Man AND tthe Roger Rabbit live, and in front of maybe 6 people no less.  According to DJ Hoppa, this new album buries their past albums somewhere in Mexico, so you can count me in on scooping this one.  You can pre-order "Everything is A-OK" via the Broken Complex website, or just wait till Access Hip Hop starts carrying it.  Tracklisting and sample vid below, beeatch:  

1. Hang In There 

2. Everything is A-OK 

3. Let Them Eat Cake 

4. Most Nights 

5. Blunt Girl (feat. Dizzy Wright) 

6. Hurt 

7. The Piano is Too Heavy to Move 

8. Harvest (feat. 2Mex) 

9. Abuelita 

10. Hard Times 

11. Plan B 

12. Sitting Up Awake 

13. Ginger 

14. Occupy 

15. Only You (feat. 2Mex)

16. Boo Boo 

17. Land in Your City 

18. Detox 

19. When I Die (feat. Soul Scratch)