The best in the rap industry became the best by establishing themselves as such from the very beginning. It is often in the early careers of these artists; before the glamour and wealth, that they make their best music. It seems all too common that a musician’s best music is released before mainstream media catches hold. Check out this playlist of old school classics by household names before they were.

Jay-Z – Can’t Knock The Hustle (feat. Mary J. Blidge)

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Kanye West – Never Let Me Down (feat. Jay-Z)

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Eminem – The Way I Am

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Lil’ Wayne – Pussy Money Weed

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Lupe Fiasco – Hurt Me Soul

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Kid Cudi - Cleveland Is The Reason

 

 

Quote Of The Day - “A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.” – Wayne Gretzky

 

Viva la Musica!

I recently began listening Friendly Fires, and was immediately impressed at their ability to combine multiple genres into their music, while still having it work musically.  Combining the definite tones of indie-rock with a dance/electronic vibe is something only a handful of modern bands have been able to accomplish. Think MGMT and Passion Pit with tones of old-school Bloc Party.  In any regard, their music is both lively and well-composed, something I feel is lacking in popular electronic music. Give these sample tracks a listen and let me know your opinion.

Friendly Fires‘ Newest Release “Pala LP” is out now. Check it out!

LP Rating: 7/10

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Blue Cassette – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuPwhCVBbQw

Paris – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSdeDJUxF-0

Jump In the Pool – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofRCldHb7X0

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Quote Of The Day:  “Honest Disagreement is often a good sign of progress” - Mahatma Gandhi

As a band or artist grows in popularity and is set to release a new album or EP, I sometimes find myself subconsciously comparing it their previous albums.  Whether it’s wishing the artist would “regress” back to the material before they became famous, or whether I just simply preferred the older material, musically, it always seems that earlier albums are the rawer and more unrefined view you don’t get when record labels are breathing down their necks.

Modest Mouse is a band that continues to produce high quality music but falls into my inevitable preferences. Their earlier album of the late 90′s and early 2000′s possess a level of unedited, untouched brilliance that has been lost in more recent albums. It’s not to say No One’s First and You’re Next or We Were Dead Before The Ship Sank are bad albums.  On the contrary, they still make the top of the list of my favorite albums in those years. But it is the aforementioned inability to conform to the demands of “popular music” that makes Modest Mouse’s early works so notable.  In this post, I would like to focus on the modern-classic, The Moon & Antarctica.  

Brent DiCrescenzo of Pitchfork.com beautifully surmises greatness in his review, “Every so often… an album comes along that palpitates our hearts, ignites our passion, and justifies our existence.” This album is The Moon & Antarctica.  DiCrescenzo goes as far to call this rocks only major accomplishment since the birth of Radiohead’s OK Computer.  I would hazard to agree with Brett and although I am not as poetic in delivery, I am confident in saying this album demands and deserves the critical response it deserved when it was released (2000).  Every song on the album is fantastic and adds to the overall sense of self-introspection the music brings on.  Here’s a few tracks to highlight to album:

3rd Planet -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsnELWjsCsA

 

Gravity Rides Everything –

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8crIHgjG1_I

 

I Came As  A Rat –

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyppWrs0RTs&feature=fvst

 

 

Quoted:

“The universe is shaped exactly like the Earth. If you go straight long enough you’ll end up where you were.”

 

9 months ago I stopped blogging, as I felt I had become to repetitive with both presentation and material.  The continued broadening of  my music taste has given me new material to post on, as I hope to once again semi-regularly submit my opinions to the cyber world.  For the time being, I think two posts a week; an Artist Spotlight and a genre-in-focus, should give a fresh take to a once-monotonous blog. I also hope to occasionally incorporate pop-culture tidbits and political opinions to widen the covered topics.

I’m back in the saddle and ready to post.

Quote of the Day:

“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.           -John Lennon

Elliott Smith, an icon to any modern-day indie artist and a creator of a sort of emo-indie genre in the likes of relevant artists Death Cab For Cutie or Wilco.  It’s not to say that Elliott Smith is emo in the 21st century definition of the word but rather referring to the raw emotion of his songs.  His music was painstakingly layered and edited by Smith himself, fearing that his vision would be compromised.  This masterful music-making is best demonstrated on “Either Or.”

Until I did some research, I knew little about him and was dismayed to find that he died at the age of 34.  I was less surprised to read of his battle with drugs and depression, as his lyrics portray this struggle well.

Either Or, in my opinion, is the album that balanced youth and maturity, obscurity and stardom, being his second solo record. Many of the tracks on this album were later used in the film Goodwill Hunting, which won two Oscars, propelling Smith to stardom amongst the music savvy crowd of the late 90′s.  Check out the album and listen to Either Or for yourself.

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No Name No. 5

Rose Parade

Say Yes

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Hope you enjoy

Let me know what you think.

I’m going to attempt to try to combine a movie  review, soundtrack review and music suggestion all into one post.  Here we go.

The film Away We Go, starring everyones favorite John Krasinski (Jim from The Office) and the surprisingly brilliant Maya Rudolph.  Director Sam Mendes was my original draw to this movie because he previously directed “American Beauty”, a film that has become somewhat of a cult classic.  Right off the bat, the chemistry between Burt (Krasinski) and Verona (Rudolph) seemed genuine, making the film easily relatable and giving it good flow.  Krasinski’s dry humor, reminiscent of his “Office” role cuts the drama well.  Regardless of the impending drama the couple finds on their journey to make a home, it will keep the audience chuckling toward the heart-warming ending.

The soundtrack is essentially a tribute to the great Alexi Murdoch, the folk-rock veteran.  He was asked by Mendes to supply a simple, heartfelt album and he supplied a remix of his widely popular Time Without Consequence album and he came through with an OST that both fits the film and is outstanding as a stand alone.

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Away We Go (movie) – 9/10

Away We Go (soundtrack) – 8/10

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Wait

All My Days

I haven’t posted in some time, partly because my supply of new music ran dry, partly because I forgot my password to WordPress. Oops.  My goal is to post at least twice a month throughout my freshman year of college.  As usual, your comments and feedback are greatly appreciated.

I’ve posted on a few songs by Bon Iver six or so months ago but feel that a more in-depth follow-up to the man behind the music; Justin Vernon, is needed. The alias Bon Iver is composed of his newest and most popular work but it is his earlier, obscure work that has interested me of late.  His first recorded music I found was in the band Mount Vernon, a rough garage band that played alternative rock.  He later created DeYarmond Edison, a band of peers that played a folk-indie style of music that really interested me.  In 2005 they released the album Silent Signs, on which Vernon co-wrote much of the material. Two tracks, Silent Signs and Heroin(e) and Bones really exemplify the Vernon lyricism we better know today.

In 2005, Vernon launched a solo career, looking to refine and produce his brand of folk rock. His second album, Hazeltons, was produced in the midst of a battle with mononucleosis.  The album took a more melancholy tone, perhaps indicitive of his mono but was nonetheless brilliant.  Album standouts were Easy and Song For A Lover Of Long Ago, both seeming to keep fit in perfectly with his later released For Emma, Forever Ago.  Check out this early Vernon material. Compare it to his current stuff and let me know what you think.

Silent Signs (Silent Signs)

Heroin(e) and Bones (Silent Signs)

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Easy (Hazeltons)

Song For A Lover Of Long Ago (Hazeltons)

Hope You Enjoy!

Viva La Musica!

Fat Jon the Ample Soul Physician is proof yet again that some of hip-hops best music lies beneath the superficial Auto-Tune and gangster rap we have come to embrace in today’s pop culture.  Underground rap is where it’s at.   Check out these masterful beats and let me know what you think.

Fat Jon – “Look In My Eyes”

Fat Jon – Everywhere

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs2H1-sYfJ0&feature=related

Just a quick post today

Viva La Musica

I haven’t posted in months mainly because I haven’t had much time to find any new music worthy to post on.

It’s unfortunate that the musical mastermind Jun Seba passed away in February but it was this occurrence that pulled me back into the “trip-hop and jazz/funk” genres of music that I haven’t listened to in quite some time.  I initially re-listened to Modal Soul, afterwords branching out to it’s producer, Uyama Hiroto.  Hiroto, for those who don’t know him is a producer who’s credentials put him with the likes of Henry Binns and Sam Hardaker as one of the world’s elite “new wave” producers.  His song Stratus is a laid-back jam worth listening to.  Check out the rest of this jazz-inspired play list and let me know what you think!

Oh and shout out to EvanAwake’s Youtube Blog for making some unique and dirt mashups. Keep it up man.

http://www.youtube.com/user/EvanAwake

D.F.T.N. – Cise Star ft. Uyama Hiroto

Stratus – Uyama Hiroto

Soul Provider – Blu ft. Force Of Nature

Get Up Get Up! – Boom Bap Project ft. Dela

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Hopefully this pays at least some small tribute to Jun Seba and the genre he adhered to and expanded over the course of his life.

Viva La Musica!

I haven’t posted in a few weeks, perhaps because I haven’t found any significant new music worth blogging about.  Perhaps I’ve been busy? Either way I think this artist I found is worth posting again.  They are called Sol.illaquists Of Sounds, and I downloaded their discography a few weeks ago and have been consistently impressed with their fresh beats and relevant lyrics.  The bands new album, No More Heroes is my favorite of the five or so releases thus far. Let me know what you think.

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Bulletproof

http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/song/Bulletproof/23189428

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4 People

http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/song/4+People/23189297

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Those are my two favorites off of the album but the album is overall one of the more unique and pleasant rap albums I’ve heard in a while.  Download it and listen for yourself

Viva La Musica!