Aus der albernen Tourbuswette, wer wohl zuerst die Schauspielerin Christina Ricci aufgrund seiner Wortgewandtheit in die Kiste bekommt, entstand 2002 das spontane Albumprojekt Felt: A Tribute To Christina Ricci. Murs aus dem Kreis der Living Legends und Slug von Atmosphere waren die beiden Akteure, die sich dieser Herausforderung stellten – zu Gesicht bekam Christina am Ende jedoch keiner. Auf ging es also mit dem nächsten Wortgefecht um die Gunst eines Hollywood-Starlets: Felt 2 und das Tribut an Lenny Kravitz’ Ex, Lisa Bonet, war geboren. Mit einer Hommage an Rosie Perez geht die Kultserie nun in die dritte Runde. Diesmal hat sich kein Geringerer als Aesop Rock vom Definitive Jux Label den Produktionen angenommen. Nachdem mit dem Opener Protagonists besonders DJ Big Wiz durch erquickende Cuts auf sich aufmerksam macht, treibt Rock die zwei reimenden Wettstreiter anschließend mit seinem komplexen Bassmonstrum Felt Chewed Up zu ersten Höchstleistungen an. Abstrakt, verschachtelt oder einfach nur grotesk, lässt sich ein Zugang zu Aesop Rocks vielschichtigen Beats meist erst nach mehrfachen Hörgängen erschließen. Like You, bei dem Aesop die Hookline gleich selbst einrappt, schmiegt sich mit sehr eingängigem Thema hingegen direkt ins Ohr. Anders als die Vorgängeralben, die Ant und The Grouch produziert haben, trägt die Rosie Perez Widmung eine weitaus finsterere Handschrift, wie die düster komponierten Tracks Permanent Standby oder Ghost Dance Deluxe verdeutlichen. Mit brachialen Bässen sorgt Aes für mächtig viel Druck und ergänzt das bestens miteinander eingestimmte Felt-Team perfekt. Im Back-to-back sorgen Murs und Slug für ein ausgewogenes Zusammenspiel an Rapzeilen und überzeugen einmal mehr mit Wortwitz und ausgefeilten Lyrics. Neben ihrem Faible für weibliche B-Promis der amerikanischen Filmlandschaft, zollt das Independent-Rap-Duo auch Respekt an seine musikalischen Wegbereiter wie EPMD oder Run DMC. So liefern sie mit We Have You Surrounded einen postmodernen Ansatz einer Neuinterpretation des Klassikers Sucker MC’s. Murs und Slug in bestechender Form, unergründliche Beats von Aesop Rock und jede Menge Scratcheinlagen von Big Wiz machen Felt 3 zu einem innovativem Gesamtkunstwerk. Für den Fall, dass es diesmal mit Rosie wieder nicht klappen sollte, hat Slug vorsorglich einen vierten Teil von Felt angekündigt, bei dem bereits das in Hollywood-Kreisen umtriebige Callgirl Heidi Fleiss in der engeren Auswahl steht.

Andreas Margara (18. November 2009)

A little over a year ago I started working with the Brooklyn new soul group called Chin Chin, whose founding members include Torbitt Schwartz, Jeremy Wilms, and Wilder Zoby Schwartz. I was familiar with Wilder as he was a member of El-P’s live band during the I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead tour in 2007. Together we collaborated on a series viral videos to promote the album The Flashing, The Fancing, which came out in March of this year on Definitive Jux. The series of four episodes featured guest stars Jaleel Bunton of TV on the Radio, Jon Kirby of Wax Poetics, Paula Henderson of Moisturizer, Eliza Sun from Gogol Bordello, Shannon Moore of Activator, El-P of El Producto fame, and a passenger van covered entirely in aluminum foil.

The plan was to adapt this series to be the music video for the song “GG and the Boys.” The music video has long since been edited, but never released until now. Enjoy the song, check out the viral series, and please pick up their album or see them live, whichever comes first.

Κάθε χρόνο ο RJD2 κυκλοφορεί και νέα δουλειά. Έτσι και το 2004 επανέρχεται με νέο δίσκο, με τίτλο “Since We Last Spoke”. Εδώ τα πράγματα αρχίζουν και ξεφεύγουν λιγάκι. Αυτό ή ο RJD2 ωριμάζει με πολύ γρήγορους ρυθμούς. Σε αυτό το album ο πειραματισμός χτυπάει κόκκινο, καθώς χάνεσαι στη ποικιλότητα της μουσικής και από την εναλλαγή των ειδών με ταχύτητα πολυβόλου. Μη βιαστείς να ξεγράψεις το “Since We Last Spoke”! Χρειάζεται χρόνο και άκουσμα. Μια είναι η λέξη κύριοι: A-B-S-T-R-A-C-T!!! 3,5/5.

myspace.com/rjd2

Αμέσως μετά το Deadringer και συγκεκριμένα το 2003, ο RJD2 κυκλοφόρησε το “The Horror EP”. Το ομώνυμο κομμάτι περιλαμβάνεται στον πρώτο του δίσκο, ενώ το EP περιέχει instrumental εκδόσεις κάποιων tracks του Deadringer, remixes αλλά και κάποια ακυκλοφόρητα κομμάτια. Layout βγαλμένο από ταινία του Rob Zombie και όλα τα άλλα πάνε περίπατο… 4/5!

myspace.com/rjd2

Το 2002 στιγματίστηκε από το εξαιρετικό ντεμπούτο του κυρίου με το ψευδώνυμο Rjd2. Το album με τίτλο “Deadringer” έκανε πολύ μεγάλη αίσθηση, τόσο για την έμπνευση όσο και για τις ικανότητες του νεαρού dj και παραγωγού. Funky samples, hip hop beats, scratches και jazzy πινελιές, ολοκληρώνουν μια επιτυχημένη συνταγή, στέλνουν τον DJ Shadow για ψάρεμα και καθιερώνουν ένα νέο μουσικό μεγαθήριο στην underground μουσική σκηνή. Δίσκος για φίλημα… 4,5/5!

myspace.com/rjd2

“We Do The Work, You Do The Pleasure”

A thunderous track from
the Definitive Jux Presents 4 comp.
Central Services was a duo formed by
the phenom Camu Tao and El-P.
“We Do The Work..” features a berserk Camu spraying
vocal projectiles over loud and manic production.
The lyrics are pretty dense on here, too.
Rest In Peace, Camu Tao,
a true genius.

∆

Now, when I say “best” I mean these particular record labels produce what I consider some of the best underground hip-hop artists ever. My inspiration for this particular post came when I was researching Junk Science (Def Jux Records), a group I came across about two years ago. From there I started thinking about all the great hip-hop artists I’ve come across over the past few years and all of their connections. So, here we are with what I consider the best indie hip-hop labels.

Mush Records

Alright, so Mush Records might not be a solely hip-hop label, with artists like Her Space Holiday, but I mention them as one of the best because they were the springboard for some of the more prominent underground hip-hop artists. Both Aesop Rock and Busdriver started out with Mush Records along with artists like Daedelus, who is beyond awesome but more experimental electronic, that often have hip-hop collaborators. In fact, the song “Experience” was sampled for the Madvillain song “Accordion”.

Definitive Jux Records

Def Jux, as it is commonly known, is definitely home to the grittier underground artists in the genre. Artists include Del the Funky Homosapien, Dizzee Rascal, RJD2, Aesop Rock, Cage, Junk Science, and Cannibal Ox. The Cold Vein, which is probably the most influential underground hip-hop album of all time, was a product of Cannibal Ox under the Def Jux label which is why, in my opinion, they deserve to be one of the best.

Stones Throw Records

Stones Throw has managed to amass some of the best producers and rappers in the business. It is hard to imagine the underground hip-hop landscape without the likes of Madvillain (producer Madlib and MF DOOM) or J. Dilla, who some argue to be one of the best hip-hop producers that ever lived. A large part of the label’s success lies with Peanut Butter Wolf who helped discover artists like James Pants, Koushik, and Oh No.

To wrap it up, I really hope those of you that aren’t as exposed to this genre check out a few of the artists.

Recommendations:

Cannibal Ox – “The F Word”

J. Dilla – “Nothing Like This”

Madvillain – “Accordion”

Aesop Rock – “None Shall Pass”

Cool Calm doesn’t really need a introduction but I will give one anyways. He is slay, smooth and a super dork… kind of like me which is why I like him a lot. (you already know… wikipedia yo) “Cool Calm Pete is an American rapper and producer with a sometimes hypnotically slow, lazy-sounding rapping style. Pete was born in Seoul, Korea and raised in Queens, New York. Pete is one of the three members of the hip-hop group Babbletron. Cool Calm Pete’s debut solo album Lost was released in the United States on Embedded Music, and released in Europe on Definitive Jux. He has since released a 9 track EP entitled “Loosies,” featuring several remixes of his older work. Cool Calm Pete has been profiled in major publications such as Urb, and XXL. Cool Calm Pete is known to be an avid New York Mets fan, most likely because he was raised in Queens. He can almost always be seen wearing a New York Mets fitted cap. Cool Calm Pete attended Cooper Union and received his BFA in fine art.” I am going to be just like Pete… I want to continue in graphics design and flush out my music abilities while I do it. ART! ART! ART!

One of my favorite underground artist is Aesop Rock. (taken from Wikipedia) “Aesop Rock (born Ian Matthias Bavitz on June 5, 1976) is an American hip hop artist and producer. He was at the forefront of the new wave of underground and alternative hip hop acts that emerged during the late 1990s and early 2000s. He is signed to El-P’s Definitive Jux label and is a current member of The Weathermen. Regarding his name, he said: “I acquired the name Aesop from a movie I had acted in with some friends. It was my character’s name and it sort of stuck. The rock part came later just from throwing it in rhymes.” I like Aesop because of how creative he is. His beats are just as grimmy as his style and his flow is just so unique. My favorite song by him would have to be Shere Khan featuring Ann Colville doing vocals. The beat is so smooth and weird. Ann’s voice goes so well with the beat you can could swear it was part of it. This one goes out to all you small grey cats sleeping underneath the silvery moon.

Fantastic Damage is the first proper full-length solo album by New York rapper and producer El-P, released on his own Definitive Jux label on May 14, 2002. The tracks “Fantastic Damage”, “Deep Space 9mm”, and “The Nang, the Front, the Bush and the Shit” were featured in the El-P-scored graffiti film Bomb the System. An instrumental version of the album, Fandam Plus: Instrumentals, Remixes, Lyrics & Video, was released on 1 October 2002. This double disc release included all the instrumentals of Fantastic Damage on its first disc and three remixes, the Fantastic Damage lyrics, and video footage on its second disc.

Buy it now on Amazon!

]]> http://thegoodiebag.wordpress.com/2009/10/04/interview-daniel-sears-the-czar-agency/ Sun, 04 Oct 2009 21:28:59 +0000 The Goodie Bag http://thegoodiebag.wordpress.com/2009/10/04/interview-daniel-sears-the-czar-agency/

Could you please state your name & occupation?

Daniel Sears, owner of The Czar Agency (http://www.wholesaleczar.com).

How did you get into the industry?

I grew up skating & surfing, and I was always blown away by brands like Stussy, Fresh Jive, SMP, Fuct, and especially Powell Peralta.  I studied quite a bit of art & design, both independently and in school.  About twelve years ago, a friend of mine Adam Donahue got me a job at a very small t-shirt company called High Fidelity Dis Co. in Philly.  We’d bang out heat transfers all night, while I was at Villanova University.  It was a fun job.  One of the dudes from that company, a cat by the name of Dave Wurtzel A.K.A. Words, teamed up with Andy Hurwitz of Ropeadope Records.  Ropeadope was a small little record label started by Andy, ?uestlove and some other music industry OG’s.  They wanted to start a clothing line that was actually about something, and not just crap on a shirt.  So I submitted some designs.  After that a friend and I started our own t-shirt line called Flavor Country (you Simpson’s fans will get it) but it never really took off.  Then at one point Ropeadope Industries teamed up with a company called Banzai Apparel, an apparel company with roots in the tye-dye scene from WAY back.  Banzai came on the scene to help Ropeadope tackle the apparel industry.  So that’s when things really started picking up for me.  Banzai really dove into the music inspired scene, bringin’ on Ninja Tune, Blue Note Records, Duck Down Records, Definitive Jux, Daptone, The Roots’ brand Okayplayer, and of course Ropeadope.  Fortunately I was lucky to be at the right place at the right time.  That’s the beginning of the story.

What is the most memorable moment in your career to date?

That’s a tough question.  I guess it wasn’t really one big moment per say.  There wasn’t a day where Jay-Z walked in and threw me a briefcase of hundreds, and Slick Rick never asked me to make him a new eye patch of anything like that.  The most memorable time would probably when I saw my concept/idea of a Digital Showroom taking off.  I had this idea, born out of necessity of course, where I could have a site that acts as a digital showroom for buyers & shop owners from all over the world.  I was just trying to reach those guys who don’t or can’t make it to the trade shows.  Quickly I realized, “what is the point of doing tradeshows if it’s not cut/sew?”  I know apparel decoration pretty well, and if I see samples and evaluate the product, then there’s no risk for the shop.  Obviously I liked my idea, but when I created a blog to experiment, almost immediately I received great feedback.  Shops love not having to travel if they don’t want.  So that was really cool.  It wasn’t like the idea all occurred to me at once, it was a progression that took a great deal of time, an evolution.  That’s my most memorable moment, getting to see my idea not only pan out, but having it received with open arms was great.

What is your favourite part of your job?

Probably two parts really.  The collaborative part where I get to put in my two cents with brands on what I think will help them grow.  The real favorite is when we’re in the middle of a sales push for this order date or that.  When I check my inbox and it’s just order, after order, after order.  It’s such a good feeling.  Not because of money or greed.  But because it’s proof.  When you don’t work with your hands, you run the risk of not getting to actually see the value of your work.  Those emails in the inbox are tangible proof of hard work, and being on the right track. Love it.

What are your plans for the future? 

Always gotta keep thinking about the future particularly how to adapt and try to have an edge.  First priority is upgrading our site.  It’s pretty “rootsy” right now but it has been so easy, useful and very good to us.  In addition we’re branching out to offer more services such as product placement, brand strategy/identity, market research, and PR.  These services are going to be available on a consulting basis, and tailored for each brands needs.  One of the things I believe in is letting experts be experts.  In this industry, there are so many brands who have made it on their own.  I applaud brands that get far enough to create quality products to sell in fine retailers.  But when you want to grow and take it to the next level, you definitely want to work with people who’ve been down this road before.  So, we’re teaming up with some industry vets in those respective fields, look for an announcement by the end of the year.  The result will be an ability to not only open accounts for our brands but also assist with some of those services I mentioned.  After these changes occur we’ll be a little more polished, and as always looking to help our brands grow organically.

Thanks for taking the time Peter.

It’s hard to fully comprehend how big of a deal Cannibal Ox was back in the early 2000’s. After a modern golden age of hip hop had died down towards the end of the 90’s, the independent movement was becoming more of a commercial reality, which coincided with the advent of affordable and manageable technology allowing an army of DIY producers and emcees to begin crafting their own sound separate from the crude samplers and keyboards that had populated much of the sonic landscape in the genre. And yet, no one was really sure what the new millenium would bring about in terms of hip hop. Many were decrying that traditional rap was done with, replaced with the rise of the electronica movement that seemed to take the country’s dancefloors by storm. Others were saying that rap would be replaced with the rise of live band backed groups, doing away with the warm, fully realized soundscapes that most of the producers had worked to carve out in the 90’s. No one was sure what was about to happen.

And then all of a sudden, you began seing the Cold Vein stickers everywhere, announcing the coming Definitive Jux label that seemed like some sort of unholy alliance of emcees, intent on destroying the world view of rap. To talk about Cold Vein is to talk about the producer and head of the label, El-P, first. One of two emcees from the seminal underground group Company Flow, El (along with Mr. Len and Big Juss) developed a style that mirrored the Bomb Squad chaos pioneered with Public Enemy, with a revved up bpm and staccato, almost non-sensical flow that spoke about tagging through subway tunnels and screaming fuck the government. Company Flow’s contribution to the genre is best qualified in terms of their ability to tap into an unexpressed anger that had risen with a certain socioeconomic class of urban adolescents.

Though El-P was indeed white, it was more about appealing to a generation of citizens who were angry, who were raised in a faux-creative environment where writing novels and learning how to read music and play instruments was replaced with cultural immersion, being collectors, learning how to step in and out of niches. It was a generation of fans who couldn’t play guitar, and indeed didn’t have the attention span to learn how to play anything. And in a way, the ritalin-paranoid infused flows of Juss and El-P were outlets, even if you didn’t understand what they were talking about. It’s probably one of the first indie groups that the comparison to jazz could be applied (though many would say Ultramagnetic MCs could be the first), and as much as I’m hesitant to compare jazz to anything, there was something about the advent of listening to songs where the point wasn’t to learn every lyric, it was just about transfer…release through hearing others speak in terms of your own untapped subconscious.

The inevitable collapse of Company Flow led El to start the Def Jux lable (later changed to Definitive Jux due to legal action by Def Jam on the similarity of the names), which began with a release of a small EP featuring two songs from Cannibal Ox’s debut album, The Cold Vein. And the world would never be the same.

While it’s difficult to explain how big a deal this album was, it’s probably harder to truly describe what hearing The Cold Vein for the first time is truly like. The album begins with “Iron Galaxy,” a track that starts with space opera music laid over a howling klaxon, as horror movie string stabs cut into the otherwise eerily quiet soundscape, only to lead to a sample of dialogue that talks about how “it’s a cold world out there…. sometimes I thinkI’m gettin’ a little frosty myself,” in a weasely voice as he rattles ice cubes around in a glass. The song opens up to two emcees trading lines back and forth,

Vast: My shell
Vordul: mechanical found host
Vast: But my ghetto is
Vordul: animal found toast

…as a chaotic keyboard pattern plays over the track, only to open up to a warm, space inspired track to see Vordul spill his stream of consciousness raps. He speaks in singule visions, as if a streetwalker is describing everything he sees as he walks through an urban environment, spilling over each other. The flow is claustrophobic, strangling, almost dire, giving way to Vast Aire’s slow and deliberate raps that mix lazy metaphors with oddly emphasized words in the sequence of normal conversation, ending with visions of decaying households and ghosts abandoning their loved ones. And just as the stark vision is complete, the track shifts into a cacophony of noise, ending with some DJ scratches as if to remind you, “Oh yeah, this is a HIP HOP song.” And with almost no time to recover, the banging drum of “Ox Out the Cage” begins as the album moves on, with or without you in tow.

It’s worth focusing on “Iron Galaxy,” as it’s the most complex and yet, most representative of Cannibal Ox’s ability to craft stories while also making almost no sense. And yet, they weren’t trying to be Kool Keith, wanting to be aliens or some kind of cyborg lacking humanity. “Galaxy” is a warm song, mostly held up by El-P’s use of natural drums and older movie cues and sound effects. At the same time, it’s a warm track, almost a love letter to the shitty setting of dilapidated housing projects and drug-infested streets, without celebrating the lifestyle. There is a cold reality in it, where they both love and abhor their situation, able to speak about it in a cold and detached manner (much in the same way that the Clipse are able to speak about hedonism).

What did this mean for hip hop as a genre? It announced the first of the new abstract artists, which would come to dominate the scene for the next five years (to be replaced by the rise of Southern rap and Kanye production style samples, cycling back to the soul samples used in the early 90’s). At the same time, El-P had given a nod to the coming electronic era of music, separating hip hop from the R&B/Funk stylings that the 90’s attempted to incorporate. These days, the labels that began around the same time (Ninja Tune, Definitive Jux, Anticon) now release a large amount of electronica acts. And as hip hop has always been somewhat of a barometer of popular culture to some degree, it was arguably the first genre that welcomed these new computer DJs, somewhat from necessity but also somewhat from the symbiotic relationship that the audiences could have with one another. It announced that there was something new, and it was worth listening to.

Don’t believe me? Try listening to “Iron Galaxy,” and then skip to the final track “Scream Phoenix,” and tell me you didn’t just take a trip somewhere. And for all the cold, robotic detachment of the music and the rapping, it is as welcoming as a set of open arms, like a hug from a crazy bum who manages to cobble out some wisdom 1 out of every 5 times you pass by him. If you listen closely enough, you can hear the beginning of a movement that still has echoes today.

You know what it is…….let get into it.

Various Artists – Definitive Jux Presents IV (4)

ILLY, SON.  Good gracious this is a dope ass compilation.  At the same time, I didn’t expect anything less from El-P and crew.  I know of at least ONE person (the other owner of this site) that prolly just took a shit listening to this.  I don’t have some long explanation for it.  It’s El-P….Camu (RIP), Cage, Lif, Rob Sonic, Central Services – it’s typical Def Jukie material, advanced and varied sounds, dope lyrics, etc, etc….if you don’t know, now you do.  Pick this up and educate yourself.   personally recommended coppage.

Beanie Sigel – The Broad Street Bully

I’m guess this is a lead up until a real major label album.  In any case, it’s a nice return for Beans – back to doing what he does best – that Philly-style street shit.  I kind of forgot how nice this cat was and is – he goes hard on every track and the beats are dope too.  I will say this as well:  Young Chris is improved, although he sounds like Hov…still nice.  Freeway still got the odd-ass flow that just works, for whatever reason.  Nice pick-up here.

Mayer Hawthorne – A Strange Arrangement

Not sure I would’ve picked this up had it not been a Stones Throw release, but I’m glad I did.  ( I readily admits that co-signs from Mark Ronson and Gilles Peterson helped too.)  It’s blue-eyed soul, but with Holland-Dozier-Holland era mold and feel.  Very interesting – nice voice, good old school sound, and dude plays all the instruments.  I’d heard the initial single, but it’s a lot better to listen to the album as a whole, as least for me.  Nice pick-up.

The Lines – Memory Span

Basically a rundown of work they did from the late 70’s going forward.  Post-punk that was definitely ahead of the curve for their time (especially since punk was just settling down) – should’ve been a LOT bigger than they were.

Singles I’m feeling right now:

Simian Mobile Disco – Audacity of Huge

It’s been out for a little bit, but I’m still feeling it.

Grizzly Bear – While You Wait for the Others

I bought this single for the Michael McDonald cover – which is seeming to give a lot of people the willies, but I like it.   A lot.

Dorian Concept – Trilingual Dance Sexperience

Dance music..a little odd, but enjoyable.

Rain Machine – Give Blood.

Fair to say that if you like TV On The Radio, you’ll like this.  I like TV.

Radiohead – Harry Patch (In Memory Of) AND These Are My Twisted Words

A symphony featuring Thom Yorke and a track of classic Radiohead

Zomby – Digital Flora/Fauna

Huge fan of Zomby…so there it goes.

Oh No – Dr. No’s Ethiopium

Some short (8 minutes) teaser mix that I got from a site I don’t remember…..but it’s Oh No and it’s dope.  Google it.

Thanks to my friend Evan, who alerted me on Monday that some serious Aughties musical canonization was going down this week, I’ve been following Pitchfork’s unveiling of the Top 500 tracks of the decade. As it may be of interest, I thought I’d share my feelings. 

In subsequent posts, I may comment on their impending coverage of the decade’s best music videos and albums, as well as their formulations on the reclamation of pop, the exploration of noise, and the mainstreaming of indie rock. I won’t devote posts to it, though, because there’s a fine line between providing useful commentary and hearing yourself type. And my hunch is that discussing the singles list will suffice, as it presents, by microcosm, a general set of criticisms I’ve long held about the “tastemaker” e-zine.

Covering Pitchfork’s appraisal of the decade in this way makes more sense to me anyway, as the 2000s marked the resurgence of the single. Our increasingly digitized media culture cultivated the need for that one song, found at the click of a mouse or the touch of an mp3 player button or phone pad. That song also tended to get posted on blogs, e-zines, and MySpace pages (however briefly) as a means to define the self or selves (this was a decade when Gnarls Barkley, Brightblack Morning Light, and Crystal Castles could potentially coexist on the same shuffle or mash-up).

So, this list is the first time I’ve seen music of my youth canonized in such a way that it now seems historical. When Pitchfork first did the list half-way through the decade, I was 22 and just out of college; an adult, but only sorta. More specifically, the songs were still new. But having graduated from college twice over and a year into my second post-college job in 2009, I can look at songs from 2000, when I was in high school, and feel my age like many folks who transitioned into adulthood in decades prior.

And now, some nostalgia. A lot of the songs on this list bring up specific memories, images, people, and feelings. I remember my friend Brooke trying to teach me a dance routine to Aaliyah’s “Try Again” for our junior prom. PJ Harvey’s “Good Fortune” reminded me of a high school boyfriend which, in hindsight, speaks to an epic love song’s power to project. I remember a classmate singing the chorus to OutKast’s “Ms. Jackson” to herself in French class. I remember hearing Jay-Z and UGK’s “Big Pimpin’” at a Claire’s somewhere in New York City on a field trip. Radiohead’s “The National Anthem” confused the hell out of me, but I kept playing it at full volume anyway. Missy Elliott’s “Get Ur Freak On” was a confusing song that made perfect sense. And if Daft Punk’s “One More Time” was released when the class of 2001 voted for our song, it would’ve been my pick (I submitted U2’s “Beautiful Day” and Counting Crows’ “Hanging Around”; our song ended up being Aerosmith’s cover of The Beatles’ “Come Together” from the Armageddon soundtrack, for some reason).

Then there’s the rough transition between high school and college. Songs off Radiohead’s Amnesiac and Daft Punk’s Discovery suggest my lonely, uncertain summer before college. I started college, withdrew mid-way through my first semester, and resumed in the spring. This was a “the” time — The Strokes, The White Stripes, The Shins, The Avalanches, and the last album by The Dismemberment Plan. It was also when I started to follow Pitchfork, mostly to avoid writing term papers.

After a summer back home, I applied for a college radio show. It was here that I really started learning about music, and just how much music there was. KVRX maintains a “none of the hits all of the time” policy; if a musical act got a single or video on rotation in a commercial market, they could not be played. While I was there, we pulled The Arcade Fire and Franz Ferdinand from rotation. Some deejays would think that by pulling a musical act they liked out of rotation, we were initiating a taste-based attack on coolness (i.e., undiscovered = good, discovered = bad). While this prejudice existed (and I would certainly perpetuate it at times), pulling an artist embraced by the mainstream out of college radio rotation felt like more political to me. “Spoon is on 101X? Great! They’re awesome. Now let’s shine a light on the thousands of other bands who’ll never get that kind of attention.”

Pitchfork made an effort to shine a light too, biases notwithstanding. During my tenure at KVRX, my relationship with Pitchfork became contentious. While I followed Pitchfork, I was also dismissive or derisive of the staff’s opinions (a classic push-pull for many music geeks: we are at once too cool for Pitchfork, yet check to see if we line up with their rulings). As I came into my own as a feminist, I also became more critical of what they covered, how they covered it, and what they dismissed, out of which came, among other things, this blog.

Yet, there are so many songs on this countdown that remind me of that time. I remember my first radio show, when I played Interpol’s “NYC” because I had some vague idea of who they were. I remember exactly where I was when I first heard TV on the Radio’s “Staring At the Sun” and Dizzie Rascal’s “I Luv U.” I remember seeing Spoon perform “The Way We Get By” on Conan and hoping they’d get big. I remember hearing the bass line to Broken Social Scene’s “Stars and Sons” for the first time. I remember fighting The Rapture’s “House of Jealous Lovers” for weeks before surrendering. I remember being unable to avoid The Postal Service’s “Such Great Heights.” I remember playing Broadcast’s “Pendulum” while getting ready for parties. I remember rocking out to The Gossip’s “Standing in the Way of Control” in the deejay booth. I remember LCD Soundsystem’s “Losing My Edge” being one of the go-to songs deejays would throw on for a smoke break when we weren’t quoting from it (I alluded to it in this post’s title). I remember hearing M.I.A.’s “Galang” at a party and having it blow my mind. I remember impromptu dance parties after Alliance for a Feminist Option meetings when a bunch of sweaty grrrls I still call friends would shimmy to Beyoncé’s “Crazy in Love” and OutKast’s “Hey Ya!” I remember skanking harder and smiling wider than I ever have with the person I built my life with to Ted Leo and the Pharmacists’ “Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?”

In addition, there was Boards of Canada, Wolf Eyes, Feist, Black Dice, Andrew Bird, Ladytron, Devendra Banhart, Destroyer, Hot Chip, The New Pornographers, Deerhoof, M. Ward, Liars, Junior Boys, The Walkmen, Manitoba (later Caribou), El-P, The Go Team, (Smog), Sufjan Stevens, RJD2, The Books, Talib Kweli, Phoenix . . . . The list goes on. If I ever had trouble keeping up with new artists after graduating in 2005, it was only because I had so many established artists to follow.

Of course, my college radio utopia didn’t last. It couldn’t. My monolithic friend group fragmented. People moved, lost touch, became casual, or just stopped being friends. Perhaps this is really when the decade became more to me than a sequence, instead an evolution of time. Late-in-the-decade offerings like LCD Soundsystem’s “All My Friends” and Animal Collective’s “Fireworks” convey this for me.

After college, I acquired Deerhunter, CSS, Hercules and Love Affair, Santigold, Bat for Lashes, Grizzly Bear, Battles, No Age, Be Your Own Pet, Girl Talk, Magik Markers, Vampire Weekend, Vivian Girls, Women, King Khan and the Shrines, and St. Vincent.

Assuredly there will be more new artists for me (and you) to adopt. Just this week, because of the countdown, I picked up on The Knife.

There are artists whose countdown placement evinces moments when we were willing to bet the farm on an act that now seem dated (Death From Above 1979, The Streets, and Klaxons). There are also acts I didn’t “get” but sorta came around on later (hello, Joanna Newsom). There are acts I didn’t know that well in college but came to treasure later (bless you, Neko Case). There are acts I enjoy but could never fully champion (I like you fine, Belle and Sebastian). There are acts I appreciate, but kinda overwhelm me and can’t listen to all the time (Jesus, Xiu Xiu). And then there are acts for whom I just never got the fuss (Fleet Foxes and The Decemberists).

With that said, this countdown plays predictably. Accepting minor issues like what song was selected to represent an artist and where songs fell in ranking, Pitchfork got a lot right. They also got caught up with some songs that I think they’re overselling, and some things they marginalized or completely overlooked. I’ll preoccupy the rest of this post with those flaws.

For me Pitchfork’s big Achilles heel has always been hip hop, primarily because they really only cover mainstream hip hop (Lil Wayne, T.I., 50 Cent, Clipse, Eminem, Cam’ron, OutKast, Kanye West, and Jay-Z — the last three are all over this countdown). And while this isn’t a problem in its own right, it limits how hip hop is defined and what it represents, which, in a lot of commercial hip hop, that still means money, Cristal, whips, blunts, and bitches (though not in all cases). It certainly suggests that the only way for rappers to be successful and culturally relevant is to be part of a corporate mechanism. This seems like something a publication that prides itself on giving visibility to independent artists should re-evaluate. Because, in my mind, if there’s no Busdriver or Jean Grae, I question the validity of the list.

As a result, it largely eclipses underground hip hop which has seen tremendous advancements over the course of the decade, particularly in the states. Talent from labels like Stones Throw, Quannum Projects, Rhymesayers, Definitive Jux, and anticon., along with talent at labels like Plug Research, Mush, Warp, and Ubiquity have created some of the most vital and interesting work in the genre, expanding its sound and its content while working outside a corporate mechanism in the process (anticon. runs as a collective). But you’d never know that if you only read Pitchfork, who primarily acknowledged a few efforts, primarily from white male label owners (El-P) and instrumental artists (RJD2, DJ Shadow). No female MCs were acknowledged. This may also speak to the dearth of female MCs in underground hip hop, but doesn’t excuse it (I love you, Jean Grae; I love you, Psalm One). My challenge to hip hop fans in the next decade is to try to create an online resource as influential as Pitchfork to get the message out. You’ve got a guaranteed spot on my blogroll. My apologies if someone’s already doing this and I don’t know about it.

Also, as you may have noticed if you combed through the entire list, only the top 200 songs are accompanied by blurbs from the writing staff. While I understand that writing 300 more blurbs presents its own challenges, I also think it suggests that tracks 500-301 weren’t good enough for a write-up. And this makes me especially sad when many of the women I loved in this decade – Vivian Girls, St. Vincent, Goldfrapp, Sleater-Kinney, Bat for Lashes, Björk, and The Gossip — are thrown at the end and not given any qualifying statements. This especially seems necessary for a song like The Gossip’s “Standing In the Way of Control,” which became a bit of an LGBTQ anthem this decade. That would be especially useful to read alongside #18, Hercules and Love Affair’s “Blind.” This is a great dance song that I’ve always interpreted as an anthem for coming out and living life queer. But you wouldn’t know that from Tim Finney’s write-up.

And while I’m heartened by the women who did make it to the top 200, especially women like M.I.A., Beyoncé, Missy Elliott, Annie, and Karen O of The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, who made the top 20, I can’t help but notice that many of these women were pop artists who worked extensively with predominantly male producers. I don’t want to suggest that cutting a track with Timbaland or Pharell from The Neptunes means that women are robbed of artistic autonomy, as I wouldn’t say that for Justin Timberlake. However, I do take issue with what female artists and what songs get praise. Or even what versions of songs. While the Diplo remix of the version of M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes” that features UGK is great, I wonder why her version isn’t enough.

That said, the 2000s were both a hell of an education and a hell of a time. Pitchfork knows it. I know it. Hopefully, you know it too. It was a great time to be alive. I hope the next decade is even better.

I haven’t posted in a long time….and I’ve been downloading a lot of music…..so I will ease back into things with one of the things I know best.  Enjoy the tunes….this is only part 1 of 3

Discovery – LP

A very good straight up electronic release brought to you by Vampire Weekend’s XXX and ???.   It’s definitely a side project, as they aim strictly for enjoyment – complete with an electro cover of the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” – which is coincidentally right on time.  Best song – “It’s Not My Fault (It’s My Fault)”.

Cage – Depart From Me

A release I (and Dave) were particularly excited about.  Definitely has a electro glaze on top of it, a sign of the times in the current New York City music scene – luckily he’s pretty responsible in not allowing the microKorg to dominate the sound.  The rhymes are still there, but it’s definitely more straight forward…..he’s becoming less and less manic on the mic.  I’m not sure if that’s good or bad, as it was apart of the appeal….but then again….the fan has to just witness the growth.  (Definitely miss Camu Tao…RIP)

Moby – Wait For Me

I’m reading that some people aren’t feeling this…but I am, so it’s being posted.  It’s not like any of the other albums, in that it’s completely subdued and seems to be kind of yearning for something…as noted in the title of the album.  It’s not a depressing album (as some of the track titles would suggest), but it is contemplative and deliberate in the approach.  It feels like you just had a nasty break-up with someone, and recovered, only to realize that person has left such an imprint on you, that it permeates everything you’re doing in life….and you are just beginning to notice it.

J Dilla – Jay Stay Paid

Yet another Tupacian release by the best pure hip hop producer in history.   I mean…for real….I know dude is prolific, but damn.  But I’m not complaining.  Actually, it’s the opposite.  In listening to this and more of his work, I’m realizing where his talent really lies – texture.  The samples are always there….drums are always there.  But it’s the very distinct feel he gives each track that make you feel something very specific.  (Yes – I’m using the present tense.  He’s still with us as far as I’m concerned.)  One interesting thing is the cameos by obvious people – Frant Nitty, Illa J, Phat Kat, etc.  But it’s the tracks with the likes of Blu, Lil Fame,  Havoc and Raekwon…and Bun B – who seems pretty comfortable on the track (“Make It Fast”).  My favs instrumentals: “King” and “Milk Money.”

The Field – Yesterday and Today

More of less a continuation of From Here We Go Sublime…..but that’s actually not a bad thing.  I don’t know what people call this kind of electronic music, i.e. this group, Lindstrom, etc.  But I enjoy these albums especially when I wake up, specifically because of the slow build up to these all out exuberant tunes.

Nigeria 70 – Original Afro Classics (compilation)

I bought this on the strength of the strong first Nigeria 70 set.  I will say this is about the same in effect, but there are some straight up dope ass tunes on here.  All a person would need to hear played in the record store would be William Onyeabor’s “Better Change Your Mind” – one of the dopest new “old” songs I’ve listened to this year and a perfect representation of the album in total.

Mos Def – The Ecstatic

Flaco Bey is all the way back.  This is the album I thought True Magic would be.  (Although I had learned that that album was more of the a way to just finish out his contract….not using it as an excuse for how wack it really was…but I can forgive.)  Sounds like Oh No is a very much a featured player on the album, which I’m appreciating as an Oh No fan.  Oh No and Madlib, the brother Jackson, are featured players on the boards.  The Middle Eastern/Indian influence fits Mos well.  He has three well placed collabs – Georgia Anne Muldrow, Talib Kweli, and apparently we are marking the return of the Ruler, not Slick Rick – just the Ruler.  As usual, Rick still sounds as dope as he has ever been.  This album isn’t any sort of manifesto that I can discern, but it just feels…..revolutionary in it’s approach – from the Malcolm X intro….to the beats…to even the title of the album.  Better enjoy this album though….you know good and well that you should expect another release until at least 2011-12.

To be continued….

this week’s music monday in keeping with the theme of masters of instrumentation will feature those who are masters of ceremony, aka mc’s.  i know radio rap and the nonsense that sells the most is awful, but this is the real deal.  real hip hop, y’alls!  and there’s no doubt that these guys talent at rhyming should be held on par with the previous artists & their ability to play instruments.  now, when i was 12 i heard a man on tv who changed my life, much to the chagrin of my parents, and at the time – early 90’s – in small town maine made me strange.  it was chuck d of the greatest hip hop group ever, public enemy – yes, even the human tragedy that is flavor of love can’t take that title away from them.  though they made the greatest hip hop album ever a few years prior with it takes a nation of millions to hold us back, it was apocalypse ‘91: the enemy strikes black that i got my introduction.  and it was this song.  here’s PE with “shut ‘em down”.

rakim is widely regarded as the greatest mc by hip hop afficianados.  and i’d not argue against it.  but, i think you’ve got to consider nas as at least runner up, if not outright ruler of the mic.  and, though the aforementioned PE album should maintain it’s honor as greatest hip hop album of all-times, nas’ debut illmatic is a close second.  from that classic here’s “it aint hard to tell”.

oh, a tribe called quest, how i loved you!  intelligent, witty, fun, they were the illest!  q-tip has continued on solo, but nothing compares to that classic ATCQ feel.  from the amazing the low end theory, here’s “check the rhyme”.

now for the man previously mentioned as the renowned ruler of rhyme, rakim.  what’s there to say?  he’s rakim.  i’ll let him show you why he gets that honor so often bestowed upon him if you are unfamiliar.  here he is with long time musical partner eric b doing “know the ledge (juice)”.  side note:  i think that movie is great!

knowledge reigns supreme over nearly everybody.  probably the best moniker of all.  krs-one is the great professor of hip hop.  and along with the likes of chuck d and q-tip was a huge influence on my thinking as an impressionable though severely white youth.  boogie down productions was krs’ group in the 80’s and they put out the classic “my philosophy” on their sophmore album by all means necessary.  i present it to you now!

mos def is absolutely my favorite mc out there today.  i don’t think he gets enough credit for his mc’ing. probably b/c he also is an actor and a host of def poetry jam and all around amazing dude.  my friend sarah put it best, “he’s the kind of guy you want to play video games with”.  here’s the mighty mos with the opening track off his amazing solo debut black on both sides, “fear not of man”.

oh, and here’s mos verbally smacking pompous beeeyatch christopher hitchens on pompous beeeeyatch bill maher’s show!  chiggy check.

talib kweli was mos’ partner in black star, and the two have collaborated many times.  they used to have a shop together in brooklyn.  so it’s no surprise he’s #2 on my tops of currents mc’s list.  here’s the man whose name “is in the middle of e-kweli-t”, with “the blast” featuring hi-tek.

common (aka common sense) came out of chicago looong before this kid named kanye, and put the midwest on the map during the height of the stupid east -v- west coast tomfoolery.  common is friends with mos & talib, and therefore we are blessed with several amazing tracks featuring various combos of those 3. but, going back in the day a bit, here’s the song that i was introduced to common by, “i used to love h.e.r.”.

black thought is the frontman of hip hop’s best band, the roots.  hot damn the roots are incredible. seriously, get familiar if you isn’t.  featuring cody chestnutt, here’s the stupidly addicting “the seed 2.0″.

and to end things off, boston’s best mc, mr. lif.  well, i guess he’s moved to philly, so his good friend akrobatik can have rights to that title now.  lif came up with def jux, aka definitive jux, a hip hop community featuring some of the greatest freestylers you could ever hope to have penetrate your eardrums, as they say.  i plugged lif’s new album in here last week, but to go back a few years here’s “live from the plantation”.

w0rd!

So, let’s be honest, I’m a fan of Shia LaBeouf. That’s the only reason I’m paying particular attention to Cage beyond hearing his name in passing before. The good news, though, is that sometimes the celebrities you like know what they’re doing when they decide they want to use their fame to help promote an artist they’re really into and think you should hear.

After getting into the music video game by first helping out his friends in Rumspringa on their song “Mind’s Awake,” Shia LaBeouf has followed that up by heading a video for Cage’s latest. The single and title track from Cage’s newest EP, “I Never Knew You” is a creepy look at a man who sees a woman, becomes infatuated with her, and the ultimately follows her home. He might call it love at first sight. The rest of us would call it stalking and a nice dose of homicide. It’s definitely a dark track to use as the anchor for promotion anticipation of Cage’s upcoming album, Depart From Me, but after Eminem’s ode to asylums and murder blackouts in “3AM”, this song and video seem a lot tamer in comparison. It’s also probably one of the most accessible tracks on the EP, which explores darker imagery and instrumentation throughout five different tracks without sacrificing energy.

He’s not a new artist. The New York rapper bounced around from label to label since the 90s before finding a fitting home on Definitive Jux. As a long time fan of Jukies, it’s also no real surprise that LaBeouf would want to get involved with the artists, especially Cage’s second album for the label is shaping up to be an album you don’t want to sleep on. They’ve already got the attention and help of MTV2. The blog for Subterranean has posted the entirety Cage’s EP for free download, and the duo are set to host an episode of the show on Thursday, May 28th.

The point: Cage is worth it. That Transformers kid just wanted to remind you, and if you don’t know, now you know.

New video directed by Shia Lebeouf for the Cage song “I Never Knew You.”

Two things to say here…

(1) Someone needs to incorporate the art of stalking the opposite sex into a reality show, and this video is proof. I mean how real is this shit? I’m hanging on the edge of my seat waiting to see what his next move is, or if she’ll catch him hiding behind that column. As a guy who falls in love with girls on the subway on a daily basis – and I’m for sure not alone here – I propose someone monetizes this form of creepy voyeur entertainment. No way it could ever get creepier than millions of people tuning in to see what Senator Pratt is gonna do next.

(2) Shia Lebeouf might be onto something with this directing thing. His video for Rumspringa’s “Mind’s Awake” was solid and quirky in its own way, and now we can see what he’s capable of with a real budget and a plan.

Blink, and you might miss cameos by Aesop Rock and El-P…

-$.

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the 2nd track off the new album i heard it today from boston’s best mc – mr. lif.  LISTEN.

the album opens with the line “oh i see, so we all s’posed to just start trusting the government again cause we got a friendlier face to it now.  all them problems gonna be solved, everything’s all good, right?”.  wrong.

Artist: The Perceptionists
Album: Black Dialogue
Year: 2005
Quality: VBR V0

Tracklist:

01. Let’s Move!! (3:00)
02. People 4 Prez (2:21)
03. Blo (3:22)
04. Memorial Day (3:33)
05. Love Letters (4:12)
06. Black Dialogue (3:06)
07. Frame Rupture (3:22)
08. What Have We Got to Lose?!? (2:47)
09. Party Hard (feat. Guru & Camu Tao) (3:51)
10. Career Finders (feat. Humpty Hump aka Shock G) (3:46)
11. 5 O’Clock (feat. Phonte of Little Brother) (4:06)
12. Breathe in the Sun (3:59)

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