Kool AD's got the giggles. Heems' got the knowledge.
I am an unrepentant Das Racist fan. That’s all you need to know. That, and this: Spin (via yours truly) profiles the group in its December issue. They have officially broken out (though not, um, down there).
Devolution? Not quite, but it's not exactly a step forward either.
Frequent Blackalicious collaborator and Latyrx member Lyrics Born has dropped a new full-length on a new label, and he goes for a new look:
“On his latest, As U Were, Bay Area backpack-rap pioneer Lyrics Born imagines himself as he never was: the rapping, scatting, singing, high-energy frontman of a synth-pop/nü-funk band just waiting for its close-up.”
So … does he pull it off? The harrowing conclusion is at The A.V. Club.
Warpaint -- a lady Joy Division for the next generation?
I mean rlly, do such things have to be justified? They do? Whoops. Probably a good thing I wrote something about it then:
“The Fool is built on Joy Division’s post-punk low end, moody chords, droning vocals, and doomy lyrics.”
But that’s not all. Read the entire review over at Spin.
"Put your face right here."
Zach Hill destroys lives with his drumming. He’ll forever alter you with his stickwork. Might even rearrange your face, carve something into it. Maybe that’s why the Hella mastermind he called his new album Face Tat.
“In 1969, James Brown coined the phrase ‘give the drummer some,’ forever providing skinsmen a handy shorthand and safeguard against singers who don’t like to share. But Zach Hill has always gone out and gotten it himself. The self-taught kit-pummeler …”
Finish that sentence and read a few more over at The A.V. Club.
Tyler the Creator rocks New York City. Where's Earl?
Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All. Courtesy of P4K. Nuttin’ to do with me. Just a fan, fanning out. Love this GIF. Blow your mind on this.
Russia gets fly, thanks to Error Broadcast and Alpha Pup.
A testament to the wide reach of Los Angeles’ thriving instrumental hip-hop movement, a group of electronic artists based in Moscow has begun its own beat scene and, bringing things full circle, has found a friend in downtown L.A. label Alpha Pup. This is a quick read and a mere introduction to their world, by yours truly, published in L.A. Weekly.
Pitchfork did an in-depth followup (we assume), which you can and should read too, called “Beg, Steal, or Borrow.” Also, check the tunes.
The "banned" original cover of "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy."
The Kanye West album leaks. Spin responds.
“After recording an album-length, Auto-Tuned sigh, Kanye West is ready to celebrate again, but not in the way we’ve come to expect. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy isn’t idly titled. It’s a sinister, orchestral, hugely grandiose affair that owes as much to the artist’s self-aggrandizing ego as to the voracious id that would destroy it publicly. Exhibit A: West to album cover portraitist George Condo: ‘Look, I’ma let you finish, but can you make me look even douchier?'”
Read the entire review of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
Pretty clever album art though. The bunny embodies the name.
Franz Nicolay is a man of many hats. Founder of the World/Inferno Friendship Society. Former member of the Hold Steady. Current member of Against Me! and Guignol. Plus, he’s played with the Dresden Dolls, the Living End, Mariachi El Bronx, and Bouncing Souls, and probably written some books or plays too. Many hats, but only one mustache — a fantastic handlebar that he willfully ignores on his latest solo LP, Luck & Courage.
“Fans hoping for some waxed-mustache melodrama of the Coney Island variety will be woefully disappointed: Nicolay has shelved his accordion in favor of shuffling folk.”
But what about the chops? Read more at The A.V. Club.
So many ninjas, so many tunes.
Holy smokes. Venerable electronic indie label Ninja Tune releases a big ole box fulla tunez, XX: 20 Years of Beats & Pieces. Featuring Coldcut, Amon Tobin, Flying Lotus, Kid Koala, the Bug and many more. Not for novices:
“Where oh where, for the love of Steinski, to begin?”
Find out over at The A.V. Club.
Low End Theory's Nobody and Nocando are Bomb Zobies, or Naw & Nopes.
A brand new week begins. Here are the last one’s leftovers. Hella free tunez.
* “The song is called ‘FWUH 16,’ or ‘Fuck What You Heard’ and you’ve gotta have it. If Nocando’s raw verses don’t do it for you, we’re sure Nobody’s funky shuffling beat will.”
(all stories via West Coast Sound, via L.A. Weekly)
Chris Writes Things 