Archive for May, 2010
Toast is the resident logistician for LxNxM and according to the stats y’all are showing us more love – I just want to say we appreciate each one of you. This creative endeavor has brought our crew closer, and our ideas have only start to take root…
Keeping the love going, I have been mesmerized by the next level soulstress Nneka. We mentioned Nneka a few months back vis-à-vis a collaborative mixtape she dropped with tastemaker J.Period titled The Madness (Onye-Ala).
Nneka has experienced a much deserved rise to global status since then. The Nigerian-German/Nigeria- raised singer has landed a song “Viva Africa” on LISTEN UP! the official FIFA 2010 World Cup soundtrack, she also just joined Nas and Damian Marley on the Distant Relatives tour – making me regret missing their Seattle stop even more.
There is something higher about Nneka’s music. An anthropologist by training, she resonates her human experience to the listener with poetic clarity – in my humble opinion she is definitely channeling something the world needs in her music. Check out Nneka’s official site to cop her first U.S. release, Concrete Jungle and learn more about this visionary artist.
In interweb time, an album from 2005 counts as an oldie – am I right??? Maybe, maybe not, but either way Triple P by Platinum Pied Pipers has stood the test of time. Waajeed and Saadiq’s first album remains exactly what it was five years ago, soul for a modern world.
Good for a sunny day and good for a rainy day. Wherever you are, enjoy it. As always, we encourage you to support your folks and buy something for once, but we know how it goes too.
Download: Platinum Pied Pipers – Triple P
And for some more flavor, get that DJ Topspin/Waajeed PPP Remixtape right here too – blends, flips and straight up neck breakage.
Download: DJ Topspin and Waajeed – The PPP Remixtape
Tracklisting/art after the jump.
Apparently, burning Washington DC to the ground wasn’t enough for the Brits. Now they’ve come for our music.
UK grind-rap aficionados Southern Hospitality jumped onto many peoples’ radars with their all-Huntsville mixtape, appropriately titled “The Huntsville Alabama Mix.” Staying true to their love of Stateside emcees, they just dropped their most recent mix, “The New Age, Volume One” (one assumes this will become a long-lived series).
The mix features a gang of up and comers, plus some internet vets – yes, internet vets: if you’ve got more twitter followers than album sales, you’re a product of the future, for better or for worse.
It’s a good sampling of what’s bubbling from the Bay to Georgia and back again, and it only seems appropriate that this is a mix curated and selected by non-Americans. There’s something about being on the outside that gives you perspective on the big picture, and Southern Hospitality nails it.
Download: Southern Hospitality – The New Age, Vol. 1
Tracklist after the jump.
I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of Dwele’s new album, W.ants W.orld W.omen that drops June 29th. Now, despite the slightly egotistical/ “I’m Feeling Myself” title, the singles I’ve heard thus far for the album have all been good. Dwele doesn’t really hit folks with mind-blowing music but rather soothes the cerebellum and spirit simultaneously with songs that are more subtle than superb. That’s not even a knock. That’s just his style. Dwele is good at what he does and hopefully W.ants W.orld W.omen continues to showcase that.
Check out the latest song below to get a feel:
[audio http://thefader.cachefly.net/dwele-i-wish.mp3]
After the jump, check out a promo video shot at the old Train Depot off Michigan Ave in Detroit for the new album. Shout outs to Detroit Roller Derby diva Kyle Kentala and songstress Monica Blaire who make cameos in the promo. Read the rest of this entry »
Ah hell yeah! This is a mixtape we can really get behind! Top three reasons this mix is the shit:
1) It comes to us courtesy of the homies over at Emayo Cutz, who are holding down the cumbia scene like bosses of all bosses.
2) Arizona is fucking up people’s lives right now, and any way we can give that a little more light is good.
3) The mix is damned hot. The last Telesforo mix we put up here was a banger, and this is no different. Good shit out of Guadalajara!
And yes, there’s a lot of cursing in this post, but dammit, the coffee’s got my blood on fire!
Apparently lazers and bullets go hand in hand. Today marks the release of the Lazer Proof Mixtape, combining new and existing chunks of music from Major Lazer and Brixton synthsters La Roux. The redheaded duo La Roux broke through the synthy poppy boundaries with their self-titled 2009 release, the biggest single off of which is “Bullet Proof,” a catchy little ditty that managed to make some crucial cross-over dents. And so the time is right for a mash up? So it would appear.
What does it mean that everybody’s favorite fake bionic commando and Brixton’s favorite redhead have combined forces on a Mad Decent-official mixtape? It’s a little unclear, actually. And the results reflect that. After a couple listens, the mix still doesn’t quite hang together the way you hope a concept like this would. That said, the moments that shine – especially the dub plate selections – provide some replayable moments. Still though, the familiar Major Lazer sounds sneaking in and out of the melodies made me want to go back and listen to straight up Major Lazer. Perhaps not the intended outcome.
Still, I expect to hear this on rotation at buzz-happy parties all summer, and that doesn’t make me too mad. Even La Roux did a fake patois.
Download: Major Lazer and La Roux – Lazer Proof Mixtape
Check the tracklist after the jump.
This isn’t music, but damn if it isn’t filthy. Canh Solo is a photographer/artist/documentarian whose work has moved towards blending social commentary, high art, and contemporary graphic design. His latest project, Gentrification: A South Seattle Story, pulls all three of those levers into high gear, putting stark black and white imagery into conversation with what looks like quotations from various new and old residents.
Check the full meal deal at his blog, it’s worth it.
At the Diamond District show/Canary Sing EP release throwdown a couple weeks back, I was very happily surprised by a guest verse by an emcee going by the name Militant Child. Completely unknown to the crowd, she still brought an unexpected hype and energy to the proceedings.
Turns out Mili C is brand new to the scene, hailing now from Seattle, by way of the Grit City itself, Tacoma. Her releases up this point are primarily her own rhymes over various big name instrumentals, giving a nice contrast of her own swaggering style versus the top-40 originals. Militant Child has one all original everything track: “Roc tha mic”, a high energy proclamation of self over a looped childhood rhyme from the Child herself.
Based on the love she’s already getting from tastemakers like KEXP’s Street Sounds, Militant Child’s going to be getting far more exposure, and soon. The good news: she deserves every bit of it. The even better news: you’re already at the only place where you can get Militant Child’s music… for now!
Militant Child – Roc tha mic
Militant Child – Pass me the lead (Run this town)
UPDATE: Just came across some live video of Militant Child rocking over Amy Winehouse, check it below the jump.
We’ve already given you an early update on how fresh Eternia’s new album should be when it drops in June. Every track I’ve heard from it thus far sounds good and the Ottawa-born MC really seems to be stepping into her own with this project. Here’s her new video for the title track, “At Last,” featuring Termanology and Reef the Lost Cauze. I haven’t spent too much time listening to Reef over the years but he definitely comes correct with his verse on this track. At Last drops June 29 on Fat Beats. And if you want something to stream after watching the video below, peep Eternia’s last project, Get Caught Up, which will hopefully tide you over until the end of June.
