Wow! This is one of the most ecstatically strange recordings of hip hop dance music we've heard in quite awhile and it is no wonder that its elusive existence was the spark that inspired Brian Shimkovich's Awesome Tapes From Africa blog (and subsequent label) a decade ago. After years of searching for the man behind the music and eventually getting permission for the reissue, we finally get to hear it.
Hailing from Ghana, Ata Kak Yaw Atta-Owusu released this cassette in 1994, an awesome tape indeed of homegrown African Hip-house - a hybrid genre of high energy disco, b-boy hip hop and off-kilter rap-singing, that we weren't sure even existed. Only 50 tapes were originally made and out of them, only 3 sold, making its rediscovery that so much more remarkable. Made with a synthesizer, a 12 track recorder and Notator Atari software, Obaa Sima is like no African hip hop we've heard before. Tinny drum machines, fast-paced babble-rapping, helium voiced back-up vocals, infectious bass grooves and an alltogether beamed in from outer space atmospheric soulfulness that somehow makes this all work. Seriously, it's as much fun as the craziest Bollywood disco stuff, ferinstance. Get in on this party train! Super recommended!!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
We've all been keeping a watchful eye on Mr. Atom Heart lately. Watching bemusedly as his relocation to Chile prompted him to reinvent himself as Senor Coconut, and listening, as his techno turned to mambo, and his obsession with the indigenous music of his new home seeped into every facet of his music making. The first Senor Coconut record (out of print, it seems) was a glorious mix of Perez Prado style mambos and Squarepusherish drum programming. The Senor Coconut we listed on the last AQ list took a bizarre turn no one could have predicted, consisting of all Kraftwerk covers done Chilean style, all mambo and rhumba, barely a hint of his former Atom Heart remained. On "XXX", Atom hooks up with Chilean rapper Tea Time, for a wickedly clever record of X rated rapping (in Spanish of course) and convuluted hip hop, complete with plenty of turntablist trickery and hard disc scratching. And it's practically perfect; funny and catchy and smooth and super wicked. Tea Time's got a super smooth flow (sounding a bit like MC Solaar) and the music is just completely bizarre, lots of hiccuping loops, low end rumble, crazy scratching, and bizarre hard disc editing, making for probably one of our favorite (albeit quite odd) hip hop (Latin American glitch-rap?) records of the year, and it's easily the best Atom Heart...er...Senor Coconut record yet.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
With a title such as that you know the music is ferociously cool. Local boy and frequent Mo'Wax engineer/remix-savant Dan Nakamura recently broke out with this exciting ep. He says it pushes OUTward the boundaries of (american) hip hop, a very good thing to do, no? If you dig the Dr. Octagon record, then you'll like this one -- Dan along with Kool Keith are the principals on both albums.
Dan Nakamura's Automator release A Better Tomorrow gets re-issued with several more tracks to finally make this ep an lp - hence the addition of the word "much" in the title. For all you Kool Keith heads out there, there are some previously unreleased Dr Octagon tracks on here as well - not to mention some bonus scratching from Q-Bert. This stuff is so much better than much of the recent Kool Keith offerings. Highly recommended.
Apparently the Automator is selling just the previously-unreleased stuff for those folks who already bought "A Better Tomorrow", we'll try to scare up some copies...
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Old school hip hop diva who's skills on the mic are still heavily in demand. She most recently appeared on Roni Size's records. Here's a budget priced seven tracks for your listening enjoyment, with new school guests Rasco, Planet Asia, Dwele, DJ Revolution, etc.
It's hard to predict what songs will become hits, it's a magical mystical mysterious talent that few possess, and the ones who do wield that power like kings. But every once in a while, it's totally obvious, no secret talent needed, that jam you heard in the grocery store, in the background of a commercial, on the radio in the car, all it takes is a few seconds, and it's lodged in your head for good. The music, the vocals, the hook, the beat, the lyrics, when everything falls into place, few can resist. Which is also when songs and records get crazy hyped, and inevitably then incur some crazy backlash, which is precisely what happened to Azealia Banks and her song "212". A song we had been hearing about for months, but hadn't actually heard. Or hadn't realized we'd heard. Cuz we had just caught a second of some song on the radio that blew our minds, a weird, double-dutch-y Missy Elliott style stuttery hip-hop jam, all warped beats, skittery rhythms, and some of the craziest vocals, a sort of valley girl drawl, distorted and a little bit blown out, occasionally slipping into a weird dubbed out effects heavy loop, or a squelchy electro groove with an almost shouted hook, before lurching right back into it, with a cool little bloopy synth horn melody, and a lush soulful bridge, weird and warped, but CRAZY catchy. We did some digging and discovered that it was in fact the very same song we had been hearing about. So we looked it up on YouTube, watched the video, which only made us dig it more, AB a total cutie in a Mickey Mouse sweater, dancing with a nerdy pal, while spitting rhymes, and then we noticed just how nasty the lyrics were, easily the most occurrences of the word 'cunt' in a top 40 pop song, and then we wondered how the fuck they could have altered the song for radioplay, considering the 'chorus' is pretty much unbroadcastable. As is the verse really. But whatever. You've probably heard this already, and you probably already dig it too. Needless to say, this is WAY worth the $5 for that song alone, and we listened to that song about a hundred times before we even bothered listening to the rest. But the other three songs are pretty good too, the Missy Elliott influence even more prevalent, one a little bit of a techno vibe, one a little bit housey (with some dark bark beats, and a goofy slowed down vocal outro), and the title track sounding like Missy Elliott by way of Tribe Called Quest. Cool.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Unfair to dis him as the Ivy League Eminem? Maybe. Funny/annoying whiteboy rapping never goes out of style, does it? But it must be said that Barman's definitely got some hilarious lines in his rhymes.
(But then again, so does my friend Steven Schultz, and he probably wouldn't put PM Dawn on his record like MC P.B.). Anyhow, if you liked his Prince Paul-produced WordSound debut from last year, then you'll enjoy this (and the cute/gross cover visuals). If you haven't heard that, well, thirty seconds at www.paulbarman.com ought to make up your mind.
MC Paul Barman is the hip-hop 'protege' discovered by Prince Paul. In what looks like an ironic take on the discovery of Emimen by Dr. Dre, Paul Barman is a particularly annoying rapper somewhere between the aforementioned Eminem (though not as good) and Atom & his Package.
More Ivy League joke hip hop pining for grade-school. I guess you gotta spend that trust fund money on something.
Beans follows up his acclaimed mini-lp, Tomorrow Right Now, with the jam-packed full-length Shock City Maverick. The backing tracks are what one might assume a hip-hop artist on Warp Records might sound like. Sophisticated, electronic-leaning party beats are minimal enough to carry Beans' cadence-changing lyricism with an undoubted coolness. The lyricism and production play well-balanced parts throughout Shock City. "You're Dead, Let's Disco" is awesomely more-or-less instrumental. "Shock City Maverick" is lyric heavy and low on musical exploration. The remaining songs blend these two elements in the coolest way you can imagine. Never boring, never annoying, never embarrassing, like some popular hip-hop can be. Overall, Shock City shines blissfully on Beans' path of evolution originating from his time with Anti-Pop Consortium.
Beans returns with his latest post-Antipop Consortium solo outing, and it offers up an infectious and tweaked out mix of primitive electro crunch and swaggering old school b-boy flow that further cements Beans as an outsider stuck between hip hop and something else. Beans' lyrical skills have never been sharper than they are here, as he spits and bites through topics ranging from the personal (fatherhood, his own childhood) to the polemic (the state of hip hop, race, politics) to the playful (fantastical sexcapades, taunts, boasts).
Likewise, the production (mostly by Beans himself, but with a few contributions from Dabrye and Holy Fuck) is more focused and consistent than it has been on previous outings - it's a dense, future primitive sound that manage to push boundaries and look forward without losing sight of its roots.
To anyone who has followed Beans' solo work, Thorns won't throw any curve balls; rather, it offers a more concise and focused approach to the music he's been making over the past half decade. The record is both brainy and brawny, and is recommended for anyone with a penchant for fractured electro beatsmithery, lyrical acrobatics, and hip hop that harkens back to the old school.
This dvd features live footage of the Beastie Boys performing at Madison Square Gardens back in 2004. Most of it was shot by audience members using fifty DV and Hi-8 cameras! The editing style is pretty darn chaotic at times -- you're definitely not going to feel like you're at the show -- but that just adds to the frantic, tripped-out, tricked-out fun that is the Beasties, don't it?! Lots of silly extras including a cappella tracks, band commentary and a 'documentary' about director Nathaniel Hornblower (aka Adam Yauch) that guest stars David Cross. This is sure to be a fan pleaser... especially if you were one of the peeps handling one of the cameras... hence the title...d'oh!
So rad to finally have this Beastie Boys classic back on wax, all fancy gatefold 180 gram vinyl style. Originally released back in '92 it was a record that so many of us were dying for, as it was their first record in almost four years following the classic yet not totally embraced at the time sophomore outing Paul's Boutique. While they pretty much mastered the art of sampling on that album, they decided to pick up the instruments themselves on this one and along with their buddy Money Mark they hashed out most of the instrumentation themselves. There is a gritty aura to Check Your Head which found the Beastie Boys embracing their punk roots and finding how to create their own grooves which were just as tasty and funky as all the great stuff they had sampled in years past. Another Beastie Boys album that has passed the test of time, and whenever we blast this there's definitely some nostalgia but we're also reminded of how damn good these songs still sound!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
A description of this is not necessary, as we're sure you've heard it already and probably bought one too.
There's nothing that welcomes summer quite like a brand new Beastie Boys record. And damn, once again they bring the goods with cleverness and charisma, undeniable skills, and high energy that's going to make us blast this loud at pretty much every gathering we'll have this summer and beyond. So cool to see how after all these years the Beastie Boys have really kept on top of their game, there really is not a bad album in their discography, and they're also so smart about taking their time between albums to make sure nothing is rushed or half baked.
It's been almost seven years since their last full length, To The 5 Boroughs, came out. During that time MCA (Adam Yauch) was diagnosed with cancer which he has since overcome and you can hear that feeling of ecstatic triumph in the sounds of these new supercharged Beastie Boys SONGS. It's really got everything we love about them, their rad MC skills, their attention to detail and impeccable taste in samples, a bit of old school punk rockin', and it's for sure one of the most gritty and thick recordings in their catalog, recalling some of the sounds of Check Your Head. They understand how to use the studio as an extension of their sound so damn well. Try to think of any other hip-hop groups from the late '80s who are still around, yet alone still making such fucking cool sounds.
All these Beastie Boys reissues are reminding us just how damn good and timeless this stuff sounded and STILL sounds. With the utmost love and respect for classic hip-hop culture, the Beastie Boys managed to be pioneers as well, infusing elements of punk, rare groove, Latin music, and even Tuvan influences into their sound, resulting in this classic album, originally released in 1994.
In an age where bands seem to release a new record every few months, one of the strengths of the Beastie Boys, and no doubt a key component to their incredible sound, was that they've always given themselves ample time to really hash out and construct their records, with always at least a couple years in between releases. And that time and care definitely shows, the sound so layered and lush, so catchy and so totally unique. It had been ages since many of us had listened to Ill Communication but once we threw it on again we were all immediately transported back, to a time where this was all some of us listened to. Hearing it again with fresh ears, it still sounds fantastic, groundbreaking even. A rare example of a group with big time mainstream success but with their musical integrity fully intact.
The cd version of this comes with a bonus disc of remixes and a few live tracks. The vinyl version is a double lp, remastered and pressed on 180 gram vinyl.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Four-track ep showcasing an electro-flavor.
Whoa, it's been twenty years since Paul's Boutique came out!!?? 20th anniversary records are usually for bands like Chicago or Journey or Led Zeppelin, but we guess it's just another sign that we're getting older, as all of us remember buying this record the first time around, many of us on cassette, and playing the shit out of it for years and years. While the Beastie Boys were bratty, obnoxious and fun on their debut License To Ill, they didn't really show us what the were capable of until this follow up which kind of flopped commercially when it first came out, but now is widely acknowledged as one of the most innovative hip-hop records and dense sampling tour de forces of all time. For so many of us who were pretty young when this came out, many of the many, many songs sampled on Paul's Boutique were unknown to us beyond the Sample. It wouldn't be 'til we grew up a bit that it became easier to place 'em all (Johnny Cash, Curtis Mayfield, Sly Stone, The Sweet, etc.). Of course producers The Dust brothers are due their share of the credit.
Paul's Boutique is like THE classic example of postmodernism at its most fun and creative. Taking bits and pieces of popular culture from the past and present, Paul's Boutique was jammed with so many rad obscure references in the clever lyrics as well as thick and bouncing beats and those now so recognizable MC personas. Several years before Beck was genre flipping and DJ Shadow was crate digging, this record set the blueprint for so much of the adventurous pop, hip-hop and electronica to follow. We can't help but get nostalgic when we listen to this now. So many memories... Skipping school for the first time, blasting the cassette on our brother's stereo when he was at his friend's house, forcing our folks to hear it over and over as we rode shotgun in the car. This is a record that so many of us grew up on and a disc that most definitely helped open our eyes and ears to the amazing lineage of hip-hop, funk, soul, rock etc. that the Beastie Boys were using as not just sound sources, but also for inspiration. They showed how wit and humor could be blended into music that was also smart and serious, and with a broad and complex sonic scope. While frat boys and squareheads may have ruined The Beastie Boys for some, you can never totally blame a band for their fans, and just because this record has been blasting in dorm rooms for the last 20 years doesn't mean it's not an amazing piece of music...because it is! The cd reissue features a pull out mini poster of the full artwork (much more than is on the cover), the lp folds out as a massive multiple gatefold, both versions include links to download some band commentaries.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Hello Nasty cuts (including "Negotiation Limerick File", "Three MCs and One DJ", "Body Movin", and "Intergalactic") remixed by Kut Masta Kurt, Prince Paul, the Automator, and others!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Shame on them for not giving credit to Perrey & Kingsley for the fab title. This is the cd version of the previously-fan-club-vinyl-only instrumental record. New versions of songs you've already heard that had vocals the first time 'round, plus pieces that were always instrumentals...
A surprise of sorts comin' at ya from those beloved lil' Beasties. They've dished out a completely instrumental album! That's right no samples and no vocals whatsoever! The absence of their telltale voices allows for the tracks to reveal more clearly the deep and broad influences that other musical genres and elder artists have had on the Boys over the years -- '70s funk and soul, '60s spy movie kitsch, old school hip hop, Perrey & Kingsley, Afrika Bambaataa, The Meters, Santana and Run DMC. They checked their youthful, snotty, smartaleck, punky 'tudes at the door long ago, but despite their tempered maturity and composure, they clearly haven't lost their rambunctious playfulness. This is some solid fresh and funky goodness from start to finish. And yes, the ultra groove pop meister Money Mark is along for the ride too!
If you dug their 1996 In Sounds From Way Out! collection of instrumentals from their Ill Communication and Check Your Head albums, you won't wanna miss this.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
42 track, 2 disc anthology covering the entire span of the Beastie Boys extensive career. Includes the new single "Alive" plus rarities, unreleased tracks and an eighty-page booklet.
You don't need us to tell you that there's a new Beastie Boys album out. And for a lot of people, that's all you're gonna need to know. However let's proceed with a cursory review anyway. Starting with the suppostion that you're familiar with the Beastie Boys, and in fact most likely a fan, should you buy this record? There's no doubt that the Beasties have been responsible for mucho musical good times over the years, from their party hardy License To Ill debut to their sampling masterpiece Paul's Boutique to the live-band innovation of Check Your Head...but if you kinda lost interest 'round about their last album Hello Nasty, well, we can't say that To The 5 Boroughs is gonna bring you back into the Beasties big time. However, if you're sticking with 'em, this record has its share of good times too. With wise-guy, white-guy rapping and lots of old skool boom-bapping it sure sounds like the Beastie Boys...but it kinda just makes me wanna listen to a Beastie Boys record. I mean, an old Beastie Boys record. And this album's NYC theme (did they move back? or is it a 9/11 inspired tribute, as the WTC towers in the skyline on the cover might suggest?) just adds to the nostalgic vibe. I guess we've gotta listen to this some more to really assess its merits. One thing about this that gets the gas face (whoops that's 3rd Bass, getting mixed up there): the FBI anti-piracy warning on the back. One of our more paranoid customers claims that this cd contains secret software that will inform the authorites if you rip it on your computer: visions of the Beasties knocking down our door Sabotage video style 'cause of the sound clips we made. But how else are we gonna ask you to ch-check it out?
Blackalicious, the duo of producer / musicmaker Chief Xcel along with lyricist Gift of Gab, here release their highly anticipated major label debut (anyone know why they didn't stay with Quannum?). Uplifting, substantial hip hop that's made catchy by Chief Xcel's obvious talent with beatmaking, distortion, and melody. Half of the tracks, however, feature guest vocalists, players or producers who all have their own signature styles that're more established than Blackalicious' style -- drowning the personality of the duo before we've even got a chance to appreciate / learn it. Most of the album sounds catchy and charmingly unpretentious, the music never too easy or boring. (There are a couple of bad slow jams on the record with the requisite predictable diva vocalists, but they're easily programmed out if you're so inclined.) And the album *really* finds its legs in the latter half, with four or five consecutive tracks that just kick butt.
With Gil Scott Heron, Cut Chemist, Zack de la Rocha, Saul Williams, Lyrics Born (of Latyrx), Rakaa and Babu (of Dilated Peoples), Jaguar Wright (vocalist last seen doing backup on Jay-Z Unplugged), Chali 2na of Jurassic5, Money Mark, Miho Hatori of Cibo Matto, and more.
Last month's The Wire cover-stars Quannum (formerly the Solesides crew) include lyricists Chief Xcel and The Gift of Gab, a duo otherwise known as Blackalicious, who have just released this new disc. Their Quannum colleagues DJ Shadow and Latyrx (Lyrics Born and Lateef) of course contribute. Deft, kick ass, and super righteous. Recommended.
People have been after this record for ages, we have to admit though we were a bit skeptical, not cuz we don't dig the Black Keys, but just cuz it seemed like a recipe for disaster, two white dudes, blues rockers to boot, as a back up band for a bunch of killer rappers. But hell, we're happy to admit when we were wrong, we have been convinced, this stuff is pretty bad ass, the Black Keys laying down super stripped down beats and grooves, which isn't all that different really than a DJ just sort of playing those same grooves maybe, but it's cool to hear a live band rocking behind these rappers, and wow, what a stellar bunch, the first track features Ol' Dirty Bastard ferchrissakes!! Teamed up with Ludacris to boot! Mos Def, Pharoahe Monch, RZA, Raekwon, Noe, Jim Jones, Q-Tip, as well as a soul singer named Nicole Wray.
The Wu-Tang tracks rule, RZA and Raekwon don't disappoint, ODB kills, pretty much everyone delivers some seriously killer flows, and the Black Keys are definitely up to the task, and actually, if you didn't know better, and just heard one of these jams on the radio, you'd probably never know...
Jordan Blilie and Johnny Whitney, taking turns at the mic with guitarist Cody Votolato, drummer Mark Gajadhar, bassist Morgan Henderson are the Blood Brothers. BB joined forces in 1997 in Seattle, while still in high school. They've been dubed the next big thing, and got some crazy budget to record their forthcoming major label release. We wish them luck. We would love to live in a world where The Blood Brothers were REALLY the next big thing. Arty nervous energetic hardcore, and even though that isn't always my thing, I still love this band. They play the familiar qualities of punk loud craziness but in their own fucked up distorted way. This is a compilation of all their previous 7"s.
Blueprint's first solo album pays homage to 1988, a year that brought us so many amazing hip hop records (from the likes of Eric B and Rakim, Biz Markie, Stetsasonic, Public Enemy... and so many more). Now, his use of samples of past hip hop classics is a little gratuitous, though the songs on a whole are well written, well recorded and well produced. And all by Blueprint himself! Two guests on 1988 are Aesop Rock (on "Lo-Fi Funk") and CJ the Cynic (on "Kill Me First"). Personally, the last song, "Liberated", is my fave. Solid beats, solid rhymes, awesome lyricism, no obvious or extraneous samples... it's totally rockin. Check it!
