Listen To This - Joey Purp - iiiDrops

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I've been meaning to write this for a few weeks now since I started listening to this mixtape! I had heard a few things about Joey Purp here and there on the blogosphere, but I hadn't checked him out until I saw his freestyle with Vic Mensa on Sway in the Morning (starts at 35:40):  

I loved how they (admittedly-so, it appears planned although Purp does genuinely look confused when Vic Mensa tells him he'll start it off - that ain't how this freestyle game is played Vic! Purp is the main guest today!) played off each other (though you might  catch their little mess up about half way through), but Purp's verse at 38:18 is what hooked me.

Which brings me to his mixtape, iiiDrops. This mixtape has everything. The first track reminds me of Jay-Z's orchestral-type beats with all the loud in-your-face horn, like on "December 4th"

"Girls" may be the catchiest track on the album, "Money and Bitches" takes him down another route and flow. But the centerpiece of the album, "Cornerstore," another orchestral Jay like beat (as well as "Winners Circle"), is a lucid Purp waxing about his upbringing in Chicago.

There's a couple duds like "You Say You Do" and "Kids," but the guy's talent and range is hard to miss. I look forward to hearing his debut...no word on when that might be!

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 54

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The real star on this mixtape is Amber Arcades. This is the female Deerhunter. If you don't know Deerhunter, do yourself a favor and go listen to Halcyon Digest, one of the strangest, catchiest rock albums this decade. I included "Nothing Ever Happened" to follow Amber Arcades because a) I thought it sounded the most like "Fading Lines" although Deerhunter's "Desire Lines" was a very close second and b) it's my favorite Deerhunter song and it's actually not on Halcyon Digest! 

Just started listening to this track by Future Haunts - whoever the hell they are (all two tracks of them on Spotify) - and it immediately caught me. 

These Spotify Sessions curated by Jim Eno (the drummer of Spoon and producer extraordinaire) are recorded really well and worth checking out. I heard this one with FJM and have been digging into them since. 

A while back I wrote about Ghostface Killah making a really great jazzy album with a group called Badbadnotgood. This is a track off their new album with the wild and super cool live:

lead singer from Future Islands. (Letterman loved it!)

Have a great week all. 

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 52

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As I preluded to on last week’s rant of a writeup, this week’s Monday Mixtape will just consist of rap. If you’re heading to the exits, I would just say to always keep an open mind to all music and try to find something beautiful in what (NO DON’T CLOSE THE DOOR!)…

The mixtape starts with Lushlife, a rapper/producer from Philly. I first heard of him with a track with Killer Mike, “This Ecstatic Cult.” But “Totally Mutual Feeling,” the track that leads this mix is one of my favorite rap songs this year. His other track in the mixtape, “Strawberry Mansion,” has a somewhat (since he’s from Philly) of a surprise cameo from Freeway, the man the myth the legend (sorry, I know he released a lot of albums since) who did such classics (with Jay and Beanie) as this gem in 2003:

The mixtape ends with “Toynbee Suite,” a seven minute track that feels like a play playing out through the acts as the song goes through three parts. Dig it! 

If you haven't watched Mr. Robot, I would highly recommend Season 1 as it was my favorite season of television since True Detective Season 2 (JOKING! Stop swearing. It was a joke. I know you're still mad. It was Season 1). I'm still trying to figure out where Season 2 is going (and these hour and a half episodes are sort of weird considering we haven't really gone anywhere - Game of Thrones anyone? JOKING. Stop swearing.).  

WHAT I WAS TRYING TO SAY was that the bright spot of Season 2 for me has been Joey Bada$$' amazing character, who over the first few episodes has started watching Seinfeld and can't get enough. It's great comedy for such a dark show as he analyzes Kramer and Constanza, and he's been surprisingly good, one of the better rap/actors I've seen in a while. "Devastated" is one of his best tracks since his earlier days (back when I was screaming about this dude's talent in 2010 on his first and still my favorite Mixtape by him).

Ladies and Gentlemen, Schoolboy Q! I have loved Schoolboy Q since he released “There He Go,” easily one of my most played rap songs in the past few years:

So anyways, Q can be an acquired taste because he’s raw as hell and misogynistic (See: “Big Body,” mostly every lyric, particularly the yelling by Tha Dogg Pound), but if you can see through that stuff (and admit that without the lyrics, Big Body is an AWESOME song and catchy, how good is that chorus??), his new album is one of the best, thoughtful, and insightful (see: “Neva Change”) albums of the year. 

See: the two verses from "Neva CHange":

The sidewalk chalk
The block stay hot
Paranoid, the cop that keep my gear in park
Pull me out the car to give me black thought
But fuck it, this shit's all kinda player
This shit my mama flavor
This that raised by your granny, pistols and Now & Laters
Your pops was way too busy, missin' your mom's labor
Grew up just like your daddy
To baggin' baggies in alleys
To where the streets is your family
Gettin' blurred by the same cop
Go to jail for a year and come home
Two of your n***** dropped
You know how that feelin' feel
What to feel when it's gettin' real
More bullets to go around
Come jump in this water, n****
You still with your mama livin'
30 with no ambition
Your kid got no pot to piss in
You sayin' some n**** fake
You're selfish and sad, n**** you're lame
You hatin' on another man's success
Because the n***** blessed and wouldn't let you finesse
You got the game all twisted
You're leechin' worse than these ladies
Your inner n**** ain't aging
Reason the hood stay shady

And then the last verse:

Still our motive be commas
And still my life isn't promised
Still nervous as drivers
You see them lights get behind us
They pull me out for my priors
Won't let me freeze 'fore they fire
You say that footage a liar
They want my flow in the dryer
I'm at the top aimin' higher
My lawyers stay on retainer
When white folks point the finger
Place my neck on that hanger
Shit, no wonder we riot
N***** still killin' n*****
Child support killin' n*****
Cops enslavin' us n*****
Little girls killin' mothers
They treat their kid like a brotha
Fathers stuck with them lifers
Kept it real with his n*****
But left his kid for the suckas, shit no wonder we bang
Damn shame, mane, some things will never change

Yeah, so his words > my words.

The final track from him was THat Part with Kanye (which I yelled about last week because I think Kanye’s verse here is taking some 2 Chainz flow, but maybe it’s just me). The beat is totally Schoolboy - a hazey whistle walking through an abandoned house of mirrors over a deafening bass. Nobody sounds like this dude. Check the whole album because it’s all really good. 

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 51

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I’ve never really thought to count this before, but in the last six days, I’ve added 30 tracks from approximately 23 artists to my “Songs” list in Spotify! It’s amazing to think of how much new music we can be exposed to in such a short amount of time.

This is one huge reason to love Spotify. There are others to dislike (over saturation of genres, too much garbage to wade through, copycats (I mean listen to Desiigner - a jackass who paid $200 from some other jackass to buy the beat to “Panda” and then just made himself sound like Future and released it to the world. At which point people thought “this is a sweet new song by Future!” And now this 19 year-old is huge and getting co-opted by Kanye on HIS new album (which btw is also weird and something I’m not digging about Kanye - is it just me or is he jacking 2 Chainz flow on “That Part”) Wow, that was a rant. Sorry.

WHAT I WAS TRYING TO SAY was there’s a ton of great music this week. There’s no rap on this one since I think next week I’m going to have a rap-centered mixtape because Schoolboy Q’s new album is so sick. 

All these artists on this mixtape are random as hell and mainly people I’ve never heard of. The only exception is Carl Broemel, and if you know who this dude is, pat yourself on the back! If you don’t know him, he’s the seriously brilliant guitarist (and many other instruments as well - killer on the pedal steel guitar!) for My Morning Jacket. 

I’ve been lucky enough to see MMJ a couple times. The first time was at an amphitheater in South Florida that can hold thousands. I’ll never forget this show because MMJ sauntered out onto the stage, and Jim James was wearing his cape and had whatever instrument it is that looks like a Nintendo controller that he plays for songs from their Circuital album (as that was the album they were touring to support - which btw was an unreal time in their discography to see them live). 

They all finally made it out to the stage, and Jim James looked out to the crowd and looked a bit perplexed. There was maybe 500 people there. This was a band that was selling out Madison Square Garden and a huge draw. James looked over at Broemel, who shrugged his shoulders at James who in turned shrugged his shoulders, and off they went to play a TOTALLY kick ass show. (P.S. Everyone has shrugged their shoulders at one point in time at South Florida).

WHAT I WAS TRYING TO SAY was that I was able to see Carl Broemel up close, and the dude’s a magician. He effortlessly played memorable hooks and destroyed all sorts of solos when prompted. I think at the most recent show he was playing the saxophone! It’s cool to hear him do his own thing, and “Snowflake” is a layered and delicate track that shows his finer sides. 

And the one other band I know - Nice as Fuck  - is Jenny Lewis' new band (and I think there's  someone from Au Revoir Simone as well) which is pretty kick ass. "Angel" and another track not on here called "Runaway" really remind me of Lucious Jackson. Remember Naked Eye???

But I haven’t seen any of these other bands let alone heard of them - Hoops? Really? (Though I'm digging their Real Estate vibe). Though I guess I've heard of Japanese Breakfast since she’s getting a lot of love on the blogosphere. But I digress.

If you’re still here, thanks. Have a good week!  

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 50

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This will be short and sweet. First off, it’s the 50th Mixtape! Second off, this mixtape is focused on a specific genre which I will call electro-wave - it’s chill and feels like floating in a boat in the ocean as the waves and rhythms rise and fall. This type of music really calms me down and helps me focus. 

I saw Giraffage in a small tent when I was at Outside Lands in SF, and he had a number of us really groovin’ out to his jams. He’s a local guy from the Bay Area (as is Ark Patrol) so hopefully you dig him!

That’s all I got! Have a great week.

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 49

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Can the start get any better than these first two tracks from The Mystery Lights? I still haven’t fully inhaled the whole record, but this is one hell of a start to an album.

I think Vince Staples has earned the crown of best not-totally-mainstream rapper. His debut Summertime ’06 was dark and hypnotic with a forced restraint like a shadow trying to scream. This guy should not be slept on. “All Nite” is one of my favorites he’s released to date.

I heard “Controlla” by Drake on a patio in Croatia overlooking the turquoise Adriatic Sea with mountains beckoning ahead and a beer in hand, and I was in such a chill mood that I realized how great this song was. I had never really listened to it before. It’s amazing how your circumstances dictate how your ears' hear. 

Drake’s Views has been critically panned as his worst album, a self-centered album entirely too long (20 tracks!). I think critics are just starting to hate Drake because he’s become too big for his own good. Yeah, the album isn’t his best, and yeah, he constantly talks about his issues, and yeah, who makes a 20 track album?? but I still have 10 of the 20 tracks on the album saved on Spotify, so that’s a pretty good success rate. Forget the critics.

Over a month ago my buddy Sean clued me to the video that later completely blew up the internet of Pharrell Williams’ listening to a student’s (Maggie Rogers) song at NYU (cue to 18:27):

It's so cool to see Pharrell, a legend and a man I place at the top of the list of influential producers since the 90s react in such genuine appreciation and astonishment at her talent. 

P.S. if you didn’t know Pharrell produced the following track at the tender age of 19:

WELL NOW YOU DO. AND ENJOY YOUR WEEK!

  

 

 

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 47

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Sorry that I have disappeared for two weeks, but I was just on a two-week long binge trip of work. 13 straight days to be exact. I would love to tell you about how wild it was and how many different qualities come out of human beings that are stressed and sleep deprived beyond reason, but I will only do that in person!

Anyhoo, a TON has been going on in the wide world of music, including Radiohead putting their new album and "In Rainbows" on Spotify!! Years back, I was trying to make a Best of Radiohead playlist on Spotify but just couldn't because I thought "Nude" and most certainly "All I Need" needed to be included. But good news, now that all of their albums are on Spotify, I can do it. See you in a year. 

Radiohead’s new album, A Moon Shaped Pool, is the calmest album they’ve made, a slow pace around the orchestra pit. I’m not sure how many instruments were involved in the making of this album, but the simplicity of the piano and strings in “Glass Eyes” was the most effective of all and delicately gorgeous. Radiohead also gave their loyal fans who know every B-side they’ve ever made a true treat at the end of the album, a studio version of “True Love Waits.”  

Nobody liked Band of Horses last album. Because it was really bad. Fortunately, their new album is pretty good, none better than the opener that starts with their patented chill-reverb guitar and Ben Bridewell’s vocals. Speaking of these guys, if you haven't listened to my Best of Band of Horses, here's the mix!  

After the first 30 seconds, if you had to guess whose song “Wow” was, what are the odds you would have said Beck? One percent? Five? The point is the man adapts and creates like no other artist I can think of. 

If you actually listen to Whitney (a spin off of two dudes from bigger bands, one from Unknown Mortal Orchestra and the other Smith Westerns) instead of just the instrumental from them that I included, you may think the lead singer sounds like the greased-up deaf guy from Family Guy:

and you will probably be right. Nonetheless, I still like the album as it’s the sound of summer. And we all need more summer. 

If you haven’t listened to the Car Seat Headrest album, get on it. 

Wild Beasts have been a band I’ve followed for many albums, and they’ve never really caught on, mainly because their lead singer refuses to sing any way other than a man reading an erotic novel like an opera singer. He tones it down a but with “Get My Bang,” the catchiest song they’ve ever written. It’s still no “The Fun Powder Plot,” my favorite song they’ve done from back in 2009.

Have a great week, I am flying to Croatia as we speak and will be navigating down the coast over a two week span in a rental car with a manual transmission (that I somewhat forget how to use). Pictures will be posted upon my return. You can't go to Lake Plitvices and not return without pictures. 

Monday Mixtape, Vol. 46

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Thanks to Memorial Day, there is quite a backlog of great music for you. Overall, I’ve been pretty disappointed in the music that’s been released this year, it just seems to me like a down year. But, there are a ton of bands I love (Local Natives, Blind Pilot, Young the Giant) still to release theirs.

I’m particularly excited for Local Natives’ new album. I’ve had three favorite bands in the past decade - Local Natives, US Royalty, and Tame Impala (while Radiohead being the all-decades favorite) - and they’re all on their third album with only Tame Impala to release the masterpiece Currents. Third albums are huge for bands that garnered a lot of recognition for their first album because the sophomore release is always allowed to be a regurgitation of the first since the first was so good. (And for the record, Local Natives second album was not like their first, but it just wasn’t as good.) Vampire Weekend and Arctic Monkeys are great examples of that. Their second albums were pretty darn good, it sounded like the first, so no one complained. 

But the third is a different story. It shows whether a band has “it” however one may define it. My definition: a sound and structure that is unique and original and a dedication and labor of love that is apparent that it all makes for an unforgettable album, something to be remembered because it sounds like nothing else. Currents did exactly that for me. So did Vampire Weekend’s third masterpiece of an album while Arctic Monkey’s third album went a little too far off field and gave too much sound control to Josh Homme (producer of the album and lead singer/songwriter of Queens of the Stone Age). Though “Cornerstone” is still one of my faves by them.

SO WHAT I WAS TRYING TO GET AT: there’s a lot riding on this album for Local Natives. And that being said, their new single provides hope. I still think Taylor Rice’s vocals sound a bit whiney, but I just LOVE the sounds they get out of their drums and guitars. How awesome is the drum-off starting at 2:17 which leads into some serious kick-ass electric guitar lick? That is Local Natives' specialty, a messy conglomeration of harmonies and other sounds that bleed like waterfalls. It’s beautiful. So maybe I’m getting more excited for their new album now! 

A few other notes:

I though Post Malone was a joke - BECAUSE I LOOKED AT A PICTURE OF HIM - although I loved “White Iverson,” but I obviously couldn’t take him seriously. And though on his track on this Monday Mixtape he’s talking about flexing with gold grills and all sorts of other shit about his squad and sending “Snaps” to his girl, “Go Flex” has a great hook and even a little acoustic guitar in it! 

“Something to Believe In” is Young the Giant’s sultriest song yet. Sameer Gadhia is the modern day Brandon Boyd (of Incubus) - he has one of the best voices in the business, but I think Young the Giant is mainly disrespected by critics. Have they listened to “Islands??” (Yes, I know Incubus is still making music).

The beat that starts the song by Allan Rayman sounds like it should have been on a Montell Jordan tracks. Love it. I don’t know too much about this Allan Rayman guy nor an I sure how to describe him, but this is one of the catchiest songs I’ve heard all year.  

“Feel No Ways” is one of my two favorite tracks from Drake’s new, somewhat disappointing album. I think there are some good songs, but a lot of not so good songs which is not usual for Drizzy.

I am heading to LA on Saturday for two weeks, but I will try to post something for next week’s mixtape because there are a lot more songs I want to share.