Reckoner

Radiohead - Reckoner - by Clement Picon

Politics As Usual

I really enjoyed this this morning.

Courtesy of Junichi over at Poplicks.

Keep Walking With Me

"The Blue Route", my favorite cut from my favorite album so far this year.

Hamilton Leithauser's vocals weave flawlessly through this song.

But Matt Barrack on drums is the star, not only on "The Blue Route", but the on the entire album.

You remember the "The Rat" right?

Walk With Me

So far, the best of 2008.

The Maverick

The Notations: "It Only Hurts For A Little While"

The Glow

Mos Def: "The Glow"

"Peep The Instrumental"

Alicia Keys' "Teenage Love Affair" was one of my favorite songs last year. The lyrics are pretty run-of-the-mill but the backing track really carried this tune to soulful sublimeness. Now, if only someone can track down Ghostface to get vintage on this... The LL Cool J remix was meh.

Alicia Keys: "Teenage Love Affair (Instrumental)"

Bonus:

Her David Letterman performance some time back.

The Other Knowles

Beyonce's not the only Knowles with talent. Her little sister Solange Knowles has a little something out right now and it's a breezy number - a soulful throwback.

Solange Knowles: "I Decided"

Voltron's Head

Dropping August 19.

I'm guessing that in preparation for his above forthcoming album, the GZA decided to stir things up a bit and drop this track going at 50 Cent. I'm not sure how I feel about this track. On one hand, it's good to hear something new from the GZA. But if he was going to throw jabs he could of brought something with a little more bite. "Paper Plate" doesn't leave much of an impression. I think it's pretty boring altogether. It's a no-brainer that the GZA is superior with his wordplay and commands a better grasp of the english language than 50 Cent ever will. And 50 Cent would probably agree wholeheartedly.

I wouldn't be of the opinion that this was a complete waste of time had the GZA dropped something more witty and unpredictable. You know, the "8 bar murder verse/ freestyle or rehearsed/ I wreck MC's whether I'm last or first" kind of witty unpredictableness...

The Seoul Controllers

How did Top 9 get to the finals anyway? The Gamblerz Crew vs. Brazil All-Star Crew was a more even battle.

The Blast

Radiohead Covers...

...New Order's "Ceremony".

...

Viva the Viva La Vida

The new Coldplay is solid.

And this is my favorite from that album. It's not the best video but it's the only live performance of this song I could find.

Jewels Circa 1969

Beatles: "Don't Let Me Down"

I first heard this on 2003's uneven Let It Be...Naked album. It's since become one of my all time Beatle favorites.



Neil Young: "Down By The River"

"Down By The River" is one of those indispensible Neil Young classics. He's accompanied here by his Crosby, Stills, and Nash co-horts. Amazing song and performance.

Justice

J-Live's Then What Happened? is out. I was expecting a little more considering it's been a while since his last album. It's got some boring material but the good ones almost make up for the parts that lag behind. Content and lyric-wise, he's definitely top 5 if I were to rank my personal favorite MC's out right now.

Furthermore, I've adopted "It Don't Stop" as my personal anthem.

The Great Sadat X

Sadat X: "Stages and Lights"

Indispensible Sadat X:

Sadat X & Diamond D: "Feel It"
Sadat X & Notorious B.I.G.: "Come On"
Brand Nubian, Diamond D, & Kid Capri: "Hot This Year"

Muxtape Goodness

10 in the clip.

You Know The Deal...

Did you support your local record shop today?

And to think, I turned 37 today.

Happy Record Store Day folks!

Cosmic Slop

Big fan of Badu propaganda.

Her New Amerykah album is pretty snoozy save "Soldier", produced by Kareem Riggins.

But I'm digging this Jay-Z laced snippet. I don't think it's an official remix but the beat is so hot, Lil' Wayne could drop a verse on this track and I'd still love it.

"Soldier" : Erykah Badu feat. Jay-Z