Sach O: 1. Holy shit. Ghostface blacks the living fuck out on this. He doesn’t walk away with the song, he runs. Like his house was on fire. 2. Dilla is posthumously sonning Rza on his own shit. Which is kind of bittersweet in a weird way but whatever. 3. This Raekwon fellow’s album […]
| Health-“Die Slow (Tobacco Remix)” | August 23, 2009 |
See the photo above. HEALTH don’t need to “get color.” But both the title of the LA electro-noise cabal’s forthcoming full-length, and the decision to enlist Tobacco for remix work intimate that they want their shine blinding. Yet the frontman of Black Moth Super Rainbow never bleaches eyes, instead he angles towards chromatic distortion. Other […]
| Sic Alps-“L Mansion” | August 23, 2009 |
Bleary braille eyes, acrid tobacco tongue, and an apartment a drained swamp of beer bottles–no problem–San Francisco’s Sic Alps hit harder than caffeine. Where bubble gum meets barbed wire, channeling that anorexic aperture between harsh daylight and phantom fragments of forgotten conversations. Mike Donovan sneers “she went to seek adoption, just to see wot she […]
| Brand New Knux: “Fuck You” | July 31, 2009 |
Even if you’re not a fan of the brothers Lindsey, it’s difficult not to respect them. Rather than damage inboxes with the umpteenth “freestyle” over “D.O.A..” they’ve laid low since dropping Remind Me in Three Days last year, opting to eschew the blog hustle for the tangible grind, building a fan base the old-fashioned way: […]
| Damn, It Feels Good to be a Gangsta | July 30, 2009 |
Why post the front cover when this tape is all about the tracklisting? Murs and the L.A. Leakers deserve plaudits for this essentially flawless compilation of seminal West Coast gangsta’ rap. The other Nick Carter says it best in his introduction: “when we were younger, this is what we were listening to on the West […]
| The Analog Tropical Pop of Memory Cassette | July 28, 2009 |
I’d tried to avoid the Elbo.ws elbowing over the proprietary rights to New Jersey maharajah’s of mystery, Memory Cassette, because well, sometimes it’s more fun to run the contrarian jerkstore (see Fire, Arcade). But reading their Pitchfork interview caused me to cave, specifically when head tape, Dayve Hawk declared, “the last thing I want to […]
| Prafit’s “New York Swing” | July 20, 2009 |
Fresh off three consecutive weeks in rotation on Hot 97’s Real Late with Peter Rosenberg comes Prafit’s “New York Swing, the Strong Island rapper’s latest collaboration with blog and blunt baron, Disco Vietnam. Like its antecedents, “Nice Weather” and “My Life”, “New York Swing” channels the city’s mid-90s vintage without lapsing into over-cautious rehash. The […]
| The Jamz and Jemz of Javelin | July 17, 2009 |
It’s apparently come to this. All the good band names are taken. All permutations involving Crystal, Black, and Wolves, have been exhausted. We’re down to naming ourselves after vaguely obscure Decathalon Events. It’s only a matter of time before 110 Meter Hurdle, Shot Put, and Pole Vault monopolize the Hype Machine (in fact, this may […]
| The Commodores-“Assembly Line” | July 15, 2009 |
Occasionally, you hear a song for the first time and stop whatever is you’re doing, because said song is so awesome that it demands your complete attention. I’m not sure how I lived for so long without having heard “Assembly Line,” from The Commodores debut album. Especially considering I played Little League and High School […]
| Joker-Live @ Sonar 2009 | June 29, 2009 |
If we’re really going to go with purple as the new catch-all appellation for the ultra-violet beats bouncing out of Bristol, let’s at least acknowledge the real reason why the tag emerged: these guys must be smoking so much purple haze as to make Cam’ron seem Mennonite (no Freaky Ezekiel). Should he keep up this […]
