Heavy Artillery

You know, sometimes the crazier the world gets, the more I need loud music. Like maybe if the beat is hard enough I won't think about how insane 2010 has been so far.

Last week Kanye dropped his new single, Power, off his upcoming album Good Ass Job, that is reminiscent of the Jesus Walks militaristic gospel type beat that first brought Kanye into the game as an artist. Then we also have General Patton from Big Boi, off his July anticipated album, Sir Luscious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty, that also has that church choir meets marching band style.

Perhaps I'm not the only one in need of a loud, consistent base line this year. When the going gets tough, guess we all gotta find a way to reload, whether through religion or repetitive rhythm.

Visualizing the Great Spill

This whole oil "spill" thing has made me stop and think about just how much stuff we "spill" onto the earth in general. There's a lot more being dumped into the oceans than just oil, unfortunately.

While the news has been pretty grim this year, ignorance won't help anyone. But sometimes it's pretty damn impossible to comprehend the magnitude of all that's going on. Thankfully we have artists like Chris Jordan who has taken the numbers and made art out of them, producing functional, educational and stimulating pieces that help bring it all to scale. His Running the Numbers exhibit showcases that while a photo is worth 1,000 words, it can also capture 106,000 aluminum cans.

Beware, Jordan might have you rethinking your own contribution to the Great Spill.

Music Musts

Sorry y'all. Been a bit busy with moving and whatnot, but I'm trying to get back into this blog thang. Given that these two must-have albums dropped today, I couldn't let these pass without some screen time.

Jannelle Monae - The ArchAndroid

Ms. Moane's amazing funky unique style, coupled with features from Saul Williams and Big Boi, make this album a must buy. Amazon has it for $7.99. For less than the price of lunch you can have some feel-good music forever.

NaS & Damian Marley - Distant Relatives

Anyone who heard Road to Zion knows that it's hard to deny that NaS and Junior Gong make a brilliant team. This album doesn't disappoint musically or lyrically, allowing both artists to explore their african roots. As Marley said in the New York Times' article, "By the time Africa is developed it will be the Wonderland of the world... But it nah go just drop out of the sky. So we have to put in work." While the amount of work Africa needs may seem daunting, at least now we've got some theme music to whistle to while we work.

Parting Sounds

As many of you know, I'm jumping coasts and heading to New York. Hence, the delay in posting lately. That being said, I couldn't leave you without something to vibe out to while I'm getting settled 3,000 miles away.

So here are two videos: one by an artist you know, one by an artist you don't. And rest assured, I'll keep feeding your musical soul, should you choose to accept the offering.

Theophilus London you probably don't know about, and you'll probably want to. He dropped a mixtape today called I Want You that you can download for FREE here. You can thank me later. His MySpace has his hometown listed as Brooklyn. How perfect.

Below is a video for Humdrum Town, off London's last mixtape, This Charming Mixtape, that is also fantastic. Know about him.




Lupe Fiasco you should know already know about. The visuals for I'm Beaming made me smile, so I wanted you to smile too.

Remix Gone Right

I'm not usually a fan of remixes, especially when the original song is already strong on its own. But every now and then a DJ gets it right.

DJ Earworm (worst name, ever?) has many mash-ups on his website, but this one—Reckoner Lockdown—blew me away. He took Reckoner by Radiohead (which I'd list in my top five favorite Radiohead songs) and Love Lockdown by Kanye West (which I never loved, but thought the beat was cool) and put them together to make one awesome song. Granted, it's more Kanye than Radiohead, and I'm not advocating that it's better than the original Reckoner, but the two songs blended together just sound right. And then a cat named Instamatic made a video for it. Don't you just love YouTube sometimes?

Take a listen and if you're feeling it, check out DJ Earworm's site where you can download a bunch of his work for free. Most of his other blends aren't really my style, but music is in the ear of the beholder.

Everything Falls into the Hands of Music

I'm reading this amazing book right now, Let the Great World Spin, by Colum McCann, and at one point one of the characters says, "Everything falls into the hands of music eventually. The only thing that ever rescued me was listening to a big voice."

Let that one marinate in your mind for a moment.

Ironically, the same day I read that passage I also discovered Little Dragon. Coincidence? Not only is their musical composition beyond magical, it only takes one listen to realize the singer most certainly has a big voice. And with a feature on the new Gorillaz album, be prepared to know about this Swedish band sooner rather than later.

So whether you're in need of some rescuing, or not, take a listen to the big voice that is Little Dragon. Eventually you'll find some place for them in your life.




**Note: Huge thank you to Mel for putting me onto them!!

Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba bump

I know I said I wouldn't post music, but this track has too much bounce to not pass it along (below).



After listening to this track, how badly do you want the Left Foot album, like, now? For Your Sorrows, Shine Blockas and now Shutterbug? Good sign of what Sir Luscious has in store for us. No album release date yet, unfortunately. For now you'll just have to bump this track on repeat.

Props to 2DopeBoyz for the download.