Wednesday, September 30, 2009

The Roots - How I Got Over (video + mp3)



New Roots single. Album due for drop February 2010.

The Roots - How I Got Over

Monday, September 28, 2009

Mayer Hawthorne


Is everyone up on their Mayer Hawthorne-ness? If not - get familiar. My single sentence scrunched run-down of Mayer goes as follows: Michigan bred modern replica of the 70s' finest original soul recordings. His lengthier, slightly more detailed, bio version can be found here.

Mayer Hawthorne - Wish It Would Rain

No surprise Stones Throw (a label that I've previously praised for leading by example & signing properly deserving artists) was, once again, on the ball with the talent snatch-up.

"I think Mayer is the only artist in the history of the label that I've signed after hearing only two songs. Sometimes, you just know it’s the right thing to do."
-Peanut Butter Wolf

Awkward moments in facebook "likes" (screenshots)

The above family pic is just plain awkward, but the below link is what I'm really talkin' about.

4 awkward moments in facebook "likes" (via College Humor)

Miike Snow x Caspa

Caspa's take on Miike Snow, much like Kissy Sell Out's on Burial (back here), is right up my alley - the slower, less wobbley face of dubstep.

Miike Snow - Black And Blue (Caspa Remix)

Few more Miike Snow edits back here.

And while on the Caspa / dubstep tip... the below tutorial features Caspa's heavier remix fondling, this time of TC's "Where's My Money".

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Another failed Drake music video



Forreal? Shit sucks. Directed by the legendary mister Hype Williams? Hype, the fucks wrong with you? How do your go from your unsuprassable videography resume to THIS? Since when does Drake & a greenscreen + Kanye & sparks + Weezy & club booth + Eminem & Slaughterhouse (Royce da 5'9", Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz, Crooked I) entourage + ghetto pixelated youtube video rips of Lebron's basketball progression = a music video? Not to mention, none of them are even in the same city for the shoot. The Lebron thing throws me off the most though - why does the video dickride him? I don't get the reasoning behind it. Can't be courtside seat hookups or free nikes... everyone featured on the track can more than afford both.

Videofail.

*UPDATE: Apparently the song is on the soundtrack of Lebron's "More than a game" documentary (hence the Lebron highlight reels). Still a pretty half-ass way of throwin' him in the mix though.

Friday, September 18, 2009

The Lost Boyz - Renee (video + mp3)



Back to '96 with this one. I STILL FUX WITH THIS JOINT!

The Lost Boyz - Renee

Kid Sister x Kingdom (+ rant)

I'm feelin' the Kingdom take on Kid Sis. I only heard the edit as a 30 second preview last week, so props to RCRD LBL for the exclusive full freebie. It's a beauty.

Kid Sister - Right Hand Hi (Kingdom remix) (direct link for download)

The original version, produced by the heaviest of heavy house hitters, Angello & Ingrosso, has been on rotation for quite some time.

Kid Sister - Right Hand Hi (direct link for download)

I was pretty on the fence about it when it came out. The production is fantastic (can't front on that) but, as much as Mel stayed true to her old style, I just found the chorus too radio-friendly pop. Its the only thing that threw me off. But, in retrospect, I was being an uber music snob - hatin' on an artist's style morphing, when I shoulda been content that they're movin' up in the industry. It musta been stupid hard to maintain her usual technique & delivery once someone as big as Downtown (distributed by Universal Music & tightly knit with Atlantic Records) signed her. You gotta sacrifice some & be open to having a few drops of mainstream squeezed into your test tube. She did go back to studio to re-do this album, what, 2 or 3 times? I guess she had to silly putty her delivery & musical direction significantly in order to appeal to the new target audience. You can do your thing on sold out Coachella stages, merk hype machine's top ranks, and fill ipod playlists of blog-driven teens... but most of that will only you get you so far. She had gotten as big as she possibly could in the world that supported her come-up. That's where the corporate giants step in to fill the gap between being a subculture top runner & having your album on commercials & HMV/Amazom homepages. This is where Downtown does their shit right, won't lie. They're probably one of the finest labels in terms of stepping in as the bridge between our "scene's" leaders and media exposure with the massive that would otherwise never touch the material. Just peep their roster... everyone from Mos Def & Gnarls Barkley to Justice, Major Lazer, & Amanda Blank. It's no accident Santigold blew up, MSTRKRFT produced & appeared on Letterman with John Legend, or Crookers teamed up with Kardinal Offishall. Downtown does, after all, have direct label partnership deals with Fool's Gold, Mad Decent, and Dim Mak.

I guess all I'm gettin at isssssss Kid Sis Mel, good on you. She movin' on up. And music synergy, I support you. And Downtown, waddup.

/end rant

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Dub Pistols x Foamo

Foamo with another one! Last upped was his twist on La Roux's "In For The Kill" (back here), and now its the Dub Pistols he dub touches.

Dub Pistols - I'm In Love (Foamo Dubstep Remix)

Monday, September 14, 2009

Top 5 - August

Pic: Louise Wells

I finally put together my top 5 tracks of August for The Docking Station music site. Just as the month before, the choices are what I've had on heavy rotation @ home, as opposed to new releases for the month of August. Few of the joints are recent, rest are almost forgotten goodies.

Snatch the pickings below, or hop on over to the chart on TDS for a slightly more detailed writeup of the songs.

* UPDATE: Got a Blogger DMCA takedown notification‏ for this post. Not sure which of the below tracks (they never specified) are considered copyright infringement, but they've already taken the post down twice... so you'll have to find the versions yourselves. Sorry!

La Roux - Bulletproof (Nacey Remix ft. Matt Hemerlein) [link removed]

Busy Signal - Da style deh (Douster Dagga remix) [link removed]

Sticky K - The Weirdo [link removed]

Calvin Harris - Ready for the Weekend (Dave Spoon Remix) [link removed]

Dizzee Rascal & Calvin Harris – Dance Wiv Me (Shazam Remix) [link removed]

Saturday, September 12, 2009

TONIGHT - special guest Talib Kweli @ our party!

I've been major failin' @ blogging this month. My bad on that. Last few weeks have been hella busy... from the launch of our new weekly party, to having Rampage come through last week, to being permadrunk/hungover.

Anyways, time to hop back on the net game. Tonight, as a part of our new Saturdays, we have the MTV Love Fest Tour w/ Team Canada DJs comin' through. Thanks to Ritual Nightclub's 2 floor capacity, we were able to add on one of our favourite peoples in the game - Talib Kweli. Kweli's tour dj, Chaps, will be holdin' the lounge down (with Kweli on hosting, drinking, mic fun duties) while Team Canada & Drastik handle the upper level dancefloor.

No advance tix, $12 @ door before 11:30pm.
Ritual Nightclub, 127 Besserer St.

Facebook event HERE.