Super Sound

My education in music continues through Super Sonido.

I've discovered some amazing music there - see "Cumbia De Las Fichitas" by Ramon Ropain.

Smokin' son!

the Ocean

I had never heard of this guy until Watch The Throne dropped (he provides the hook for my favorite track on the album "No Church In The Wild").

Just discovered this and I like...

frank ocean [swim good] from christopher francis ocean on Vimeo.

The Oop!

Dr. Oop Capone: "Circle City Classic"

When he drops, he drops the classic material. "Circle City Classic" visual from last year's The Grateful Dread (an album that I unforgivably slept on).

The vibe is undeniably "west" in it's buttery breeziness, or something like that...

Blu

Blu's "Wind(Terlude)" is one of those songs that you can just let run continuous. It clocks in at just under two minutes but could use an extended 12" vinyl incarnation. I tell you, the strings has got me something terrible.

From Her Favorite Colo(u)r that just dropped April 19 which I think is a prelude to his upcoming NoYork set to drop soon.

And,

There was actually a visual for "Blu Collar Worker" from 2007's Below The Heavens?

I Reminisce Indeed...

VTech & Fresh Selects present PETE ROCK & CL SMOOTH "T.R.O.Y." Live @ The Fix - Portland, OR from Fresh Selects on Vimeo.

Camp Lo and Pete Rock = 80 Blocks From Tiffany's

"Mic Check"

Album dropping soon.

Pete Rock with the heat rocks, as always.

Lauryn Hill: Coachella

No new material here but this will have to do.

The Newness!

New J. Rawls!

"Best Producer On The Mic" featuring Diamond D., Oh No, and Kev Brown.

This is definitely first rate material. If you haven't put something out in a while, make sure it's a grade A banger when you eventually do. This is the lead from his upcoming full length The Hip Hop Affect set to drop on May 17.

LCD Soundsystem Live

LCD Soundsystem performs "All My Friends" at their final concert as a band at Madison Square Garden.

This is one of the greatest songs of the last decade. The reason why I find this song so endearing is that it channels elements of New Order circa the 1980's - my favorite group of that era.

Flow like the rivers, rhyme like the poets...

Freeway and Statik Selektah's "The Flow" has got a visual.

One of my favorite tracks this year. The more I get caught up on Statik Selektahs production the more I'm a believer.

Most Definitely

New Mos Def: "World Premier".

Produced by Madlib.

The most flavorous...

The Walkmen: While I Shovel The Snow

The Walkmen stay winning.

Miguel: All I Want Is You

Man, I slept big time on this song in that it came out last year. But damn! This track bangs ridiculous -produced by Salaam Remi so you already know.

Better late than never.

No wonder it had to be flipped here for a Fugees remix. The track is too slick to ignore...

Radiohead Drops

Radiohead's The King Of Limbs can be heard in it's entirety here.

It's compact at eight songs deep and runs at a concise 37 minutes.

DJ Premier

Primo elaborates on 38 of his "classics". I wouldn't necessarily call all of the tracks he speaks on classics but they do include the ones you'd expect. There are definitely tracks that are left out that I think are no brainers (list is too long) but I don't think Primo really had the input. I could be wrong.

But still,

Essential

The Black Keys on NPR's Fresh Air

I'm a little late getting to this interview with Black Keys but it's a great conversation with some very insightful and funny stuff. The tour story from early on in their career is hilarious. Terry Gross is a fantastic interviewer as usual, probably the best at what she does.

The Bamboo Brothers: Beyond The Sensation

Heard this premiered on Real Late w/ Pete Rosenberg some time back. Glad to see Kurious still doing his thing.

Track courtesy of the mighty Pete Rock. He kicks the last verse on the final cut but we don't get it here. A PR banger nonetheless.

A J-Dilla Birthday

"J.Dilla: Still Shining"

The Dopeness Son!

I don't have anything from The Homeboy Sandman. I've seen stuff written about him but never really read them and probably never will. But this cut is serious. He causes much damage on this scorcher of a track - absolutely love the horn loop.

Michael Rapaport talks to E! about the Tribe Called Quest documentary he directed that recently premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah. This is one of the better segments with Rapaport that's been floating around because the presumed fallout between him and Q-Tip isn't the main subject of conversation. There's actually some insight on what we can expect from the movie. Good stuff.

It's not often, in any genre of music, that a group puts out 3 consecutive near perfect albums. A Tribe Called Quest did it with Instinctive Travels..., The Low End Theory, and Midnight Mauraders - that kind of consistency is unheard of these days.

Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah

The Walkmen: "Juveniles" live on KEXP

A live performance of another one of my favorite tunes from 2010's Lisbon.

2010

Favorites of '10 - Old & New

Albums:

10. I Learned The Hard Way - Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings

9. The OMD Singles - Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark

8. Infinite Arms - Band of Horses

7. You Need This Music - Nottz

6. This Is Happening - LCD Soundsystem

5. The ArchAndroid - Janelle Monae

4. Brothers - The Black Keys

3. Lisbon - The Walkmen

2. The New Amerykah Pt. 2: Return of the Ankh - Erykah Badu

1. Marcberg - Roc Marciano

Songs:

"Ain't No Way" - Aretha Franklin

"Round and Round" - Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti

"On My Way Back Home" - Band of Horses

"You Wanted A Hit" - LCD Soundsystem

"Marcberg" - Roc Marciano

"10 Mile Stereo" - Beach House

"Torch Song" - The Walkmen

"These Days" - The Black Keys

"Don't Mean To Hurt You" - Consequence

"Light Up" - Drake feat. Jay-Z

"Fall In Love (Your Funeral)" - Erykah Badu

"And So It Goes" - Billy Joel

"Neon Valley Street" - Janelle Monae

"Shiny Suit Theory" - Jay Electronica feat. Jay-Z

"Blast That" - Nottz feat. Black Milk

"Love Song" - The Ocean Blue

"Turn It Up" - Sadat X

"Taxi" - Ski Beats feat. Mos Def & Whosane

"It Ain't Necessarily So" - Mary Lou Williams

"Devil In A New Dress" - Kanye West

Of all the songs listed, Badu's "Fall In Love" got heavy, heavy rotation in 2010. Nottz put out a pretty solid effort in 2010 as well. "Blast That" is that crack. But Roc Marciano's Marcberg gets the nod for my favorite album of year, hands down. I say that because Hip Hop is my first love and this album is everything I've been waiting to hear - no other Hip Hop album has delivered like Marcberg for as long as I can remember.