I was a bit pessimistic when the drum beat kicked in on this first song ’cause we’ve all heard it a million times over, but it builds. Hold on if you can because once it gets into the second track you can really start to understand what these guys are trying to do. The songs [...]

The band’s upcoming album Clinging to a Scheme will be their first in four years, although there is some confusion as to why it’s been so long… according to Wikipedia, the album was planned to be released in September 2008 but for some reason it was delayed after an EP was released a few months [...]

The Bonnaroo lineup is still a week away from being announced, but you just read the early surprise. The Flaming Lips will play a ‘regular’ set at the midnight slot on Thursday, then at 2:30 a.m. will play DSOTM. If the words ‘Flaming Lips’ and ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ surprised you in the same [...]

Closing out a trio of hip-hop posts, we have ourselves a fine, and I mean fine, piece of  jazz/hip-hop/r&b. Just Chillin’ In The Spot is a 2008 album from Freddie Cruger aka Red Astaire, an old-school rapper, and it’s as wholesome, crafty, and listenable as they come. Think back to the last old school hip-hop [...]

Welcome to the world of real hip-hop, if you haven’t been here before. CunninLynguists are a trio who formed about 10 years ago, and since then they’ve been putting out albums of really high quality, and there’s no sign of slowing. Their seventh and eighth albums were released last year, and both are pretty damn [...]

Sorry for not posting for a while. I’ve been listening to a bunch of older stuff recently, mainly hip-hop, so expect more of this kind of stuff to come shortly. To start, here’s one of the more popular tracks off Soundbombing II, an album released by Rawkus Records in 1999. It features a really long [...]

I had one of the hardest decisions of my life to make last Saturday. My boys the Baltimore Ravens had their playoff game against the Colts, kickoff time 8:15. Simultaneously, RJD2 was in town, playing a show slated to start at 8. It was 7:00 and I already bought my ticket, so if I wanted [...]

I’m not going ’cause I’m an east-coaster, but I have to say, if I lived anywhere near California I would so go to this. Just for fun, here’s a quick list of people I would HAVE to see, granted I only know about 60-70% of the lineup:

The Very Best is a collaboration between Malawi’s Esau Mwamwaya and electronic duo Radioclit that was formed in 2008. Their sound is described as a unique mix between afropop, hip hop, electronic, and dance. The Very Best’s 2009 release, Warm Heart of Africa, involved contributions from M.I.A. and Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig. Here is the [...]

I realize I am putting this out really late. I always put this off until winter break, thinking I’ll have tons of time to listen to the albums, but always underestimate how much I actually need to listen to. But honestly, that isn’t a bad thing. I think we are living in a time where [...]