Cosmic Slop

ODB is for the babies! "Don't Do Drugs! Say No!"

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I was perusing through the Altantic the other day and came across an October 28 Gore Vidal interview, a really good read. His take on Roman Polanski's soap opera was interesting. I especially liked how he closed out the interview when asked "Who is the best leader in the Democratic party right now?"

"Do you mean, Who can give the best speech? Who can raise the most money? Look, I’m not a sentimentalist. Nor am I a romantic. I don’t believe in the Great Man theory of history. Great men come along very seldom – and when they do, it’s pretty bloody. But, as Chancellor Bismarck once observed, God looks after alcoholics, little children, and the United States of America."

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O-Dub's got some choice mix's at Soul Sides you need to get upon right now.

They Reminisce

Considering all the bad blood between these two over the years I would have never figured them to reunite together for anything.

So this came as a surprise. A pleasant one.



(Spotted at Nahright)

The Humble Magnificent

There's been an Edan sighting.

Rejoice.

Cypher Sparked

The Swift Chancellors

If you don't already know, Raekwon, Ghostface, and Method Man are forming like Voltron for a December album release, complete with trailers.

There are two other versions of this video for "New Wu" but this is the official, every bit as gully as your gulliest videos.

Mr. Field's Cookies

Lee Fields & The Expressions' My World already came out in June but I've had this on rotation for a while now. Some of the songs on this album had already surfaced in 2008 (the exceptional ones by the way) so I already knew this full length was going to be solid. Forget that Lee sounds like a poor mans James Brown. The work he put in with The Expressions is fantastic and I highly recommend picking this up. You know you can this on vinyl as well.

Don't snooze.

Bonus:

Check this live performance of "Love Comes and Goes", one of my favorite cuts from the album:

Jay Tronix

Well, by now you should already know. He plays the enigmatic well but isn't so mysterious these days. At first, I didn't really understand what the fuss was with Jay Electronica. The verdict is still out until he drops something official but I'm not mad at material like this, the track courtesy of Justin Blazini.

Jay Electronica: "Exhibit C"

Elastic Flows

The new Red.

New Yorke

The Twilight New Moon soundtrack is interesting.

The drum kick on Thom Yorke's "Hearing Damage" smashes.

Villainy!

Madvillain sequel coming soon.

Billy Vera & The Beaters

I've seen and heard many incarnations of this song. Michael Buble actually does a cover of it on his new album. I don't think Buble's version does the original much justice because his vocals just doesn't fit with how this song should be sung. It just doesn't have that soulful bottom to it.

As far as love songs go, "At This Moment" is one of my all time favorites. The live performance is really what I enjoy hearing the most because Billy Vera's vocals express the sentiment of the song so perfectly. Again, I've seen him perform this song many times and he always delivers.

Diamond District

Oddissee talks production.



By the way, Diamond District's In Da Ruff is extra-spectacular...

And the bonus cut they dish out for the official retail release is beautiful. I'm saying, Oddissee is one of my favorite beatsmiths doing it right now.

"Hologram"

Speaking of tracks:

Clipses' "Popular Demand (Popeyes)" is bananananas! Pharrell is no chump when it comes to programming those drums. Throw Cam on the track aaaannnddd...

In The Music

In The Music is not available in the U.S. yet although the U.K. has had it since mid-September. I haven't had a chance to sit down with it yet but the title track isn't bad.

Low Budget

New Kev Brown. Cop that Random Joints EP.

Another Random Joint - Kev Brown from Humble Monarch on Vimeo.

Mos Def Embedded

(by way of Nahright)

"Spit some wizdom"

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The RZA
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Michael Moore

Ghostface is for the ladies!

I really thought this album was going to be terrible. It's not that I mind Ghostface doing R&B tracks coupled with contemporary R&B artists, but the thought of an entire album of them made me want to throw up. And hearing a couple of leaks from the album didn't necessarily help. But the two songs I heard prior to listening to the whole album didn't tell the whole story because I'm liking what the Wizard of Poetry has to offer. I mean, Ghost did say that he was going to do an all R&B album dedicated to the ladies and he definitely followed through. And it doesn't entirely suck either. As a matter of fact, it's vintage Ghostface material here and it's on display in typical Ironman vernacular fashion, if that makes any sense.

Lyrics-wise, Ghost is always going to deliver and that's not what I was really worried about when I first heard he was going through with this. I was more worried about the tracks, the beats, the producers. Most of the producers on this are unfamiliar to me save maybe Sean C & LV (who Ghost has worked with before and who produced some tracks for Jay-Z's American Gangster). Otherwise, never heard of Skymark ("Stay"), Clyde & Harry ("Forever"), Anthony Acid ("She's A Killah"). But the tracks work and, as far as R&B production go, are solid.

Here are couple that really work:

"Let's Stop Playin" feat. John Legend
"Paragraphs of Love" feat. Vaughn Anthony & Estelle

De La and EA?

So it looks like De La Soul's got a track for NBA Live 10. Hip-Hop and videos games are nothing new but I was a little surprised to hear that De La would do something with EA Sports. No matter cause I'm always happy to hear something new from them considering it's been um-teen years since their last official release.

As for the track, I wasn't sure I liked it at first listen but it's grown on me.

De La Soul: "La La La"

Classic?

First off, great cover. If Rae's going for the sequel this is the way to go.

So now that I've heard a few leaks I'm convinced Cubin Linx 2 is going to be a mixed bag. Although I'm not convinced the current track list floating around will be representative of the final product, I'm pretty sure it's going to disappoint. "Broken Safety" featuring Jadakiss and Styles P and "Have Mercy" featuring Beanie Sigel (and Blue Rasberry sings like shit), sound like mixtape throwaways.

"House of Flying Daggars" is good. Vintage Wu-Tang with Dilla providing the stampede. Can't say much about the video though, a little too cartoonish for my tastes.

"Catalina" , one of Dr. Dre's productions on the album, is nice. Doesn't blow my hair back but consistently effective, like all of Dre's recent work. As always, no change up on the tempo.

I think it's safe to say that if you're promoting your own album and you're not calling it a "classic", you're basically shitting on your own project. No? I may be premature. Maybe the rest of it is classic material. And don't get me wrong because I want this album to meet and/or exceed all expectations because Raekwon's no slouch with his mic skills. But if he's saying that the strength of this album is it's production then the product should hold true to that. So far my reaction is...meh.

None of what I've heard is on par with this and I don't even think its going to be on the album. He should get in the studio with Pete Rock and bang out a whole album because they definitely have a chemistry that works. Now THAT would be a classic collabo cause the PR has consistently churned out bangers for various Wu-Tang artists.

Thank You Letterman

Great band. And great, great song.



Grizzly Bear's Veckatimest is my album of the year...so far.