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to listen to the Podcast Tracklist:
1. Mount Zion - Protocol X rmx 2. Disko
Rekah - Loefah 3. Glaciers of Ice - Rae &
Ghost 4. Verbal Murder - God Sunz & Street
Smartz 5. Good Friday - Why? 6. Vikings Invade the
Mediterranean but Don't Leave - Prefuse 73 7. Ox Broil - Oh
No 8. Marin Sideshow 9. Latyrx (Hard Left Remix) -
Lateef and Z-Trip 10. Lolo - The Orb 11. The Forrest
of Lyonesse - The Orb 12. I Can Never go Home Anymore - The
Shangri-La's 13 I Know You Are But What Am I -
Mogwai
KONTEXT
FAILLING TO WEIGHTLENESS
Immerse
Based in St. Petersburg on Russia's Baltic coast, Kontext draws inspiration from both Croydon and Berlin for this pair of 12" releases on the Immerse label. One of a small number of artists currently charting the territory between dubstep and minimal techno, Kontext's music is an intricate blend of dreamy atmospherics, minimal clicks and glitches and cavernous sub-bass. 'Falling to Weightlessness' is the most sinister and compelling piece here; showers of electronic artifacts and glitches rain down over a sublime steppers bassline in 'Aeromonarchs Attack'; and 'Plumes' somehow manages to bring together elements of funk, tech, house and dub and make it work. At times the rhythms become overly rigid and sterile, unfortunate when all the glitches and atmospheres are so beautifully crafted.
When I sit down to review an album like Postcards From The Third Rock, I am always wistful for that time between 1997-2003 before the Internet really changed the way people related to music. I am not one of those people who thinks that there was better music then…I just think people actually valued albums as a complete product, and had the attention span to listen to one. Perhaps no genre of music has suffered more in the wake of the Internet’s influence than underground hip-hop. This was at one time the sole genre in which credibility was embodied by 12” vinyl; now only heavyweights can even afford to put out vinyl records. Once upon a time, if you had an album by someone obscure that you swore was dope, everyone wanted to hear it. Nowadays if you don’t have a co-sign from XLR8R, a big name producer and two prominent bloggers on your unit, nobody cares. The days of wandering into Fat Beats stoned, combing through the racks and copping a couple records just off the cover art or a recommendation are long over and it is a record like this that makes me miss them.
Well, if it was the old days-and I like to pretend it is- this is a record I would slip on when chilling out with a couple friends smoking an L or shooting the shit. And I figure that about halfway through the blunt (or about the amount of time it would take for us to be halfway through the incredible second track “No Rims”) someone would stop nodding their head absentmindedly and ask me what we were listening to. At which point, I would smile knowingly and say “Oh this, oh yeah, this is just some shit you guys aint up on yet”. There was time when you might take a little pride in putting people onto something ill or having a dope record that other people are begging you to let them dub to cassette. And Postcards From The Third Rock is that type of record; not perfect, not the best album of this year even…but unique, intriguing, creative, underexposed and flat out dope.
LoDeck handles the lyrics and Omega One handles the beats. I’m more familiar with Omega One since I own his 2005 debut, The Lo-Fi Chronicles. A surprisingly good instrumental album, one of the only tracks with lyrics actually featured LoDeck with good results but truth be told that was about all the LoDeck I had heard before or since. Well, one thing is for sure, these guys sound good together. Omega One’s production meshes perfectly with LoDeck’s rambling flow and slick rasp, for his part LoDeck manages to walk a fine line between abstraction and the concrete that kept me hanging on every word. The Invizzibl Men show up for two guest spots and one of them results in one of the albums best tracks; Titanium. The albums greatest achievement is perhaps that it sounds like an album; sonically cohesive, thematically consistent and well sequenced. LoDeck’s style will not be for everyone, his slurred flow and penchant for incongruous imagery may deter some but for me it was great NYC headphone music.
The album is not perfect, a couple beats didn’t do a lot for me and LoDeck lost me on a few songs but for the most part this is the exact sort of record that underground hip-hop fans should at least lend an ear. And if they ever decide to press vinyl, I will be first in line to cop this; it has a sonic quality that I know would be even better on wax.
Throw on the debut record by this Bushwick, BK based group (comprised of musicians from Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Antibalas, El Michels Affair and the Budos Band) and you might feel as though you've been dropped into the soundtrack of some gritty-streets-sunny-skies, Curtis-Mayfield-must've-been-busy '70s gangster movie. In fact, one American Gangster, Jay-Z, on “Roc Boys”, has already sampled the excellent first track. The hook's soaring horns are only part of the picture though; upbeat chimes round out the whimsical, soulful—and pretty much perfect—instrumental sound. No wonder Producer/musician Thomas Brenneck calls them “the street's unofficial house band”. The tracks range from moody to upbeat (“Home Again!”), the latter making it easy to see how the school band from P.S. 20 chose it to perform in their recital. Another standout track is “The Traitor”, a stealthy car chase scene while strings pluck away, but trying to break this album down into its best tracks is a bit futile. This is essential listening; great, fabulous and any other adjective that might make you think about getting yourself a copy or seeing them live. I do hope they never make the mistake of working with a vocalist, unless maybe Sharon Jones. She is the only one who would even have a shot of doing these songs justice. If I were a record nerd, I might even say that it should be on the shortlist of best records of the year.
juste
SAV KILLZ
SUCCESS IS INEVITABLE
Mixtape
Hip-Hop is like Major League Baseball when it should be more like the NFL. Its like pro basball in that no matter how played out or past your prime you are, if you’re a “major” artist even your weakest singles get put on. Exactly like how a baseball team trots out its high priced players no matter how bad they are. In football if you suck you get cut and someone steps in do the job, something label heads should consider. Sav Killz would benefit from such a system. His latest mixtape Success is Inevitable he brings much to the table lyrically. He’s a New York MC with ability that allows him to shine alongside guests such as Planet Asia, Sean Price, Steele and AZ. Sav also shows versatility by spitting over a variety of beats. If this was Benz’s world Sav would be given a chance bring his skills to a wider audience while someone else rides the bench.
Benz
INVIZZIBL MEN
The Unveiling
Backwoodz Studioz
Its such a simple concept yet hardly any one seems to grasp it. Hip-
Hop is infinitly better when it is conceived as art rather then a
commodity. From the very beginning The Unveiling reveals itself as a gallery were
two lyricists practice the art among its highest levels. Comprised of
Marq Spekt and Karneige Invizzibl use vivid imagery and exact diction
to compose their rhymes. The resulting album is one of the best this
year. Whether trading verses themselves or collaborating with the likes
of C-Rayz Walz, Vordul Mega, and Vast Aire Invizzibl get busy. True
fans of lyric-centric Hip-Hop will find a variety of tracks to feel. I
personally thought “T-Rex” and “HipHopPsa” were Invizzibl at their
best. If you can dig tough East Coast production and nice MCs you’ll
enjoy The
Unveiling
