The Latest Greatest, 2/14-ish/11
Here's a little Valentine-related music video from Grieves & Budo for you lonely love birds out there. I'm assuming that this "Pack It Up" song is going to be available on their "Together/Apart" album, which is going to be dropping on Rhymesayers some time this Summer. Budo is one talented mo'fo and I'm liking the way he's incorporating more horn into his songs these days. The Grieves cameo at the bar in this vid is cool as well,
Blog banner by Laura "Neila" Yang. http://www.iloveyeti.com
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Gangsta Goddess Prophecy?
The Latest Greatest, 2/12/11
*Blink.* As hard as this may be to believe, Medusa is apparently releasing her full length album "Whr's the DJ Booth?" on Myka 9's label M9 Entertainment in the very near future. How near is the very near future? Valentine's Day, says Medusa - the day after tomorrow! Don't quote me on that date since I have yet to see a tracklisting or official cover for this near mythical album, but there is a sampler of snippets available for listening Here so it's definitely coming. Medusa is a colossal talent of the LA underground, with an absolutely killer live show and no proper album under her name to date... I know people who have been waiting for a Medusa long player for over a decade. Here's hoping that J the Sarge isn't all over this one as he has been on so many M9 releases. My gut feeling is that this album may end up being a disappointment, but I'm optimistic never the less! Definitely giving this a listen when it drops.
*Blink.* As hard as this may be to believe, Medusa is apparently releasing her full length album "Whr's the DJ Booth?" on Myka 9's label M9 Entertainment in the very near future. How near is the very near future? Valentine's Day, says Medusa - the day after tomorrow! Don't quote me on that date since I have yet to see a tracklisting or official cover for this near mythical album, but there is a sampler of snippets available for listening Here so it's definitely coming. Medusa is a colossal talent of the LA underground, with an absolutely killer live show and no proper album under her name to date... I know people who have been waiting for a Medusa long player for over a decade. Here's hoping that J the Sarge isn't all over this one as he has been on so many M9 releases. My gut feeling is that this album may end up being a disappointment, but I'm optimistic never the less! Definitely giving this a listen when it drops.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
More Details Emerge From the Void
The Latest Greatest, 2/10/11
Void Pedal's "Omni-Colour" is dropping February 22nd on Fieldwerk Recordings. My rap radars indicate that it's one of the more promising releases on this month and that it'll be one of the most exciting instrumental projects in recent memory. Those who haven't downloaded Void Pedal's free self-titled EP need to get caught up ASAP here. "Omni-Colour" tracklisting and stream-able singles below:
Void Pedal - Looking Glass by fieldwerk
Void Pedal's "Omni-Colour" is dropping February 22nd on Fieldwerk Recordings. My rap radars indicate that it's one of the more promising releases on this month and that it'll be one of the most exciting instrumental projects in recent memory. Those who haven't downloaded Void Pedal's free self-titled EP need to get caught up ASAP here. "Omni-Colour" tracklisting and stream-able singles below:| 1 | A Place In The Sun | |||||
| 2 | Rainbow God | |||||
| 3 | Parachute | |||||
| 4 | Night-time Butterfly | |||||
| 5 | Baldwin | |||||
| 6 | Looking Glass | |||||
| 7 | Spiral Ease | |||||
| 8 | Should All Be Perfect | |||||
| 9 | Blue Items | |||||
| 10 | Let It Fall | |||||
| 11 | Choke You | |||||
| 12 | Ace Tone | |||||
| 13 | Z |
Void Pedal - Looking Glass by fieldwerk
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Dollar Bin Jewels: Knonam Edition
The Lowdown, 2/10/11
So in my many years of shopping at California's trio of Amoeba Record stores, I have spent a good deal of time digging through their super cheap clearance bins in search of the occasional odd gem. These days, those bins will mostly be a mix of great obscure underground stuff that I already own and complete crap that I wouldn't touch with a yard stick, but ever so often there will come a rare moment when I'll discover something that looks kind of interesting that I haven't really heard of before. Most of the time, those risky purchases end up being disappointing or even unlistenable, but once in a while I'll really luck out. Since it's a rare enough occurrence, I figure I'll document some of those finds here.
I picked up Knonam's 2008 album "Length of the Blade" on a whim at Amoeba San Francisco a few days ago for about two bucks. The 80s-inspired album cover stood out a bit amongst the shitty covers crowding the clearance bin, and I seemed to remember someone bringing his name up in a discussion about Minnesota hip hop, which has been an area of interest of mine for the last few years. Anyway, it turns out this album is the most impressive clearance bin discovery I've made since I bought Debaser's "Crown Control" album from the Amoeba Berkeley bins a few years back. Knonam has not only a strong flow, but also some seriously good song-writing ability, with an obvious understanding on how to hold people's attention with a story or pen a catchy hook. He also produced all of the beats on "Length of the Blade," and the music is a surprisingly great tribute to 80s samples and synth lines, which gives the project an element of originality.
Stream-able below is the title track off of "Length of the Blade," which is my personal favorite song on the album and a great example of Knonam's talents. The eerily familiar creeping 80s guitar riff in the background sets the stage for two of Knonam's extremely personal life stories, which are tied together through an excellent hook. Give it a listen and check this guy's stuff out if you get a chance!
So in my many years of shopping at California's trio of Amoeba Record stores, I have spent a good deal of time digging through their super cheap clearance bins in search of the occasional odd gem. These days, those bins will mostly be a mix of great obscure underground stuff that I already own and complete crap that I wouldn't touch with a yard stick, but ever so often there will come a rare moment when I'll discover something that looks kind of interesting that I haven't really heard of before. Most of the time, those risky purchases end up being disappointing or even unlistenable, but once in a while I'll really luck out. Since it's a rare enough occurrence, I figure I'll document some of those finds here.I picked up Knonam's 2008 album "Length of the Blade" on a whim at Amoeba San Francisco a few days ago for about two bucks. The 80s-inspired album cover stood out a bit amongst the shitty covers crowding the clearance bin, and I seemed to remember someone bringing his name up in a discussion about Minnesota hip hop, which has been an area of interest of mine for the last few years. Anyway, it turns out this album is the most impressive clearance bin discovery I've made since I bought Debaser's "Crown Control" album from the Amoeba Berkeley bins a few years back. Knonam has not only a strong flow, but also some seriously good song-writing ability, with an obvious understanding on how to hold people's attention with a story or pen a catchy hook. He also produced all of the beats on "Length of the Blade," and the music is a surprisingly great tribute to 80s samples and synth lines, which gives the project an element of originality.
Stream-able below is the title track off of "Length of the Blade," which is my personal favorite song on the album and a great example of Knonam's talents. The eerily familiar creeping 80s guitar riff in the background sets the stage for two of Knonam's extremely personal life stories, which are tied together through an excellent hook. Give it a listen and check this guy's stuff out if you get a chance!
Find more artists like KNONAM at Myspace Music
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Diggin' the Dirt
The Latest Greatest, 2/6/11
Brand new album from West coast O.G Joe Dub's group Contra Band on the way, entitled "Praise Dirt." Contra Band consists of Joe Dub on the rhymes, AC75 (a.k.a Alex75) on the beats, and DJ Marz handling the cuts. No official release date or track list for this yet, but the album is said to feature West coast heavy weights like Hugh EMC, Ellay Khule, Eddie K and even a West Coast Workforce reunion. As if that didn't sound appetizing enough, the awesome cover artwork pictured above was handled by none other than Pedro Bell of Parliament/Funkadelic fame! Joe Dub's been holding it down for years and has rarely disappointed, so I'm really looking forward to this. No official leaks from it yet, but you can listen to a track called "Electronic World" off of a 7" that Contra Band put out last year below. The song features some interesting about the age of Information Technology, and a guest spot from none other than Devin the Dude:
Brand new album from West coast O.G Joe Dub's group Contra Band on the way, entitled "Praise Dirt." Contra Band consists of Joe Dub on the rhymes, AC75 (a.k.a Alex75) on the beats, and DJ Marz handling the cuts. No official release date or track list for this yet, but the album is said to feature West coast heavy weights like Hugh EMC, Ellay Khule, Eddie K and even a West Coast Workforce reunion. As if that didn't sound appetizing enough, the awesome cover artwork pictured above was handled by none other than Pedro Bell of Parliament/Funkadelic fame! Joe Dub's been holding it down for years and has rarely disappointed, so I'm really looking forward to this. No official leaks from it yet, but you can listen to a track called "Electronic World" off of a 7" that Contra Band put out last year below. The song features some interesting about the age of Information Technology, and a guest spot from none other than Devin the Dude:Saturday, February 5, 2011
Hieroglyphics Live at Upper Sproul Plaza, UC Berkeley
View Near the Front Row, 2/5/11
A few nights ago, I went and saw the legendary Hieroglyphics crew do a free(!) show over at UC Berkeley's Sproul Plaza. I learned about the show the evening before it happened, when I spotted a flier taped to a pole with the Hiero logo on it and blinked my way through the info in disbelief. Despite the low key promotional roll out for this event, the turn out was pretty damn huge, with Sproul Plaza and its surrounding buildings teeming with curious Berkeley students and long-time Hiero fans. The info on the flier said to arrive early due to the lack of opening acts, but of course the 5:00 PM start time shifted to 5:40 PM, at which point Hiero got an opening act to kill some time for them on stage.
The opener, Knobody, was a Bay Area MC loosely affiliated to Hieroglyphics through their record label, which I suppose makes him a sort of unofficial member of the clique. He was a decent enough performer, and got the excited Hiero fans in the crowd chanting along to some of his hooks. Nothing about his music struck me as particularly exciting, but he didn't completely bore me or irritate me either. He only did a few tracks, and not long after that Hieroglyphics took the stage to perform.
I'd seen a number of the MCs in Hieroglyphics perform live before on an individual basis, but
this was my first time seeing them all together as a collective unit and also my first time seeing Del or Casual play live. I'm not really as die-hard a Hiero fan as a lot of Bay Area heads, but I definitely appreciate their body of work and really love a couple of their key songs and projects. Out of the performers at this particular show, I thought that Tajai and Pep Love were the most impressive. Tajai was incredibly animated and having a ball on stage, barreling through his verses with effortless ease and often tackling and clowning on his Hiero fam mid-verse. Pep Love was probably the most consistent as far as the quality of his verses goes, with his immaculate cadence and flow never missing a beat. Phesto was also strong in this regard, and had a surprisingly large amount of mic time. Casual did a few solo numbers that showcased his unconventional style, though he didn't have quite as aggressive a stage presence as I thought he might. Del Tha Funky Homosapien was a bit of mixed bag to me as 
well, though it partially had to do with his mic not working that well for part of his performance. He kicked some of his old standards, including "Virus" from Deltron 3030, but also had to go into a rendition of 'Clint Eastwood" that made me roll my eyes a bit. Opio and A-Plus were both pretty great but had very few verses compared to the other MCs, which kind of highlighted the lack of many major posse cuts over the course of the set. Fortunately, Souls of Mischief did perform a couple of numbers, including a very rousing rendition of "93' Till Infinity" to finish off the set with. It got just as great a crowd reaction as when I saw them play at Slim's a few months back... no Hiero set is complete without that song. Good show from Hiero, well worth the free admission!
A few nights ago, I went and saw the legendary Hieroglyphics crew do a free(!) show over at UC Berkeley's Sproul Plaza. I learned about the show the evening before it happened, when I spotted a flier taped to a pole with the Hiero logo on it and blinked my way through the info in disbelief. Despite the low key promotional roll out for this event, the turn out was pretty damn huge, with Sproul Plaza and its surrounding buildings teeming with curious Berkeley students and long-time Hiero fans. The info on the flier said to arrive early due to the lack of opening acts, but of course the 5:00 PM start time shifted to 5:40 PM, at which point Hiero got an opening act to kill some time for them on stage.
The opener, Knobody, was a Bay Area MC loosely affiliated to Hieroglyphics through their record label, which I suppose makes him a sort of unofficial member of the clique. He was a decent enough performer, and got the excited Hiero fans in the crowd chanting along to some of his hooks. Nothing about his music struck me as particularly exciting, but he didn't completely bore me or irritate me either. He only did a few tracks, and not long after that Hieroglyphics took the stage to perform.I'd seen a number of the MCs in Hieroglyphics perform live before on an individual basis, but
this was my first time seeing them all together as a collective unit and also my first time seeing Del or Casual play live. I'm not really as die-hard a Hiero fan as a lot of Bay Area heads, but I definitely appreciate their body of work and really love a couple of their key songs and projects. Out of the performers at this particular show, I thought that Tajai and Pep Love were the most impressive. Tajai was incredibly animated and having a ball on stage, barreling through his verses with effortless ease and often tackling and clowning on his Hiero fam mid-verse. Pep Love was probably the most consistent as far as the quality of his verses goes, with his immaculate cadence and flow never missing a beat. Phesto was also strong in this regard, and had a surprisingly large amount of mic time. Casual did a few solo numbers that showcased his unconventional style, though he didn't have quite as aggressive a stage presence as I thought he might. Del Tha Funky Homosapien was a bit of mixed bag to me as 
well, though it partially had to do with his mic not working that well for part of his performance. He kicked some of his old standards, including "Virus" from Deltron 3030, but also had to go into a rendition of 'Clint Eastwood" that made me roll my eyes a bit. Opio and A-Plus were both pretty great but had very few verses compared to the other MCs, which kind of highlighted the lack of many major posse cuts over the course of the set. Fortunately, Souls of Mischief did perform a couple of numbers, including a very rousing rendition of "93' Till Infinity" to finish off the set with. It got just as great a crowd reaction as when I saw them play at Slim's a few months back... no Hiero set is complete without that song. Good show from Hiero, well worth the free admission!
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Open Mike Eagle "Art Rap After Party EP"
Expanding the Backpack, 2/3/11
Need to pull out my extra, extra late pass for blogging about this one, but when this EP was offered as a free download last year, it was advertised as a limited-time-only freebie. I always figured it would drop in some purchasable format and that I'd write about it then, but seeing how the link for it is still in tact and how there is no sign of any other sort of release of it on the near horizon, I figured this early month of 2011 would be as good a time as any to share it. Open Mike Eagle is a cool MC from the new school Project Blowed group Swim Team, and this short look into his music is a good introduction to his interesting approach and style. The EP has a lot of quality jammed into its 20 minute running time, and features the stand-out track "Haircut," which is probably the funnest Open Mike Eagle song to see live. Tracklisting below. No idea about the production credits, if anyone has them handy hit me up!
1. Everbody's Birthday
2. Haircut
3. Someplace Quiet
4. Four Years Old
5. Last Night
Download available via the Mush Records website.
Need to pull out my extra, extra late pass for blogging about this one, but when this EP was offered as a free download last year, it was advertised as a limited-time-only freebie. I always figured it would drop in some purchasable format and that I'd write about it then, but seeing how the link for it is still in tact and how there is no sign of any other sort of release of it on the near horizon, I figured this early month of 2011 would be as good a time as any to share it. Open Mike Eagle is a cool MC from the new school Project Blowed group Swim Team, and this short look into his music is a good introduction to his interesting approach and style. The EP has a lot of quality jammed into its 20 minute running time, and features the stand-out track "Haircut," which is probably the funnest Open Mike Eagle song to see live. Tracklisting below. No idea about the production credits, if anyone has them handy hit me up! 1. Everbody's Birthday
2. Haircut
3. Someplace Quiet
4. Four Years Old
5. Last Night
Download available via the Mush Records website.
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