Dream-pop pastel colored lights, a staple of the industry, used for full indie effect
I just got news that I have to replace my cars tax and inspection stickers. They're expiring soon, and if you don't own a car, then you probably don't know that you have to go out of your way to pay for these and get them processed, and it doesn't help that they cost 65 dollars each. On my way to the building to pay the sticker bills, I had been listening to Pet Grief by The Radio Dept., and due to my unimaginable incompetence, had been lost for a good 45 minutes within less than 600 feet of the tax building. However, in retrospect, this did not make me angry or frustrated, as the album cheered me up immediately. In a movie like moment, I saw the signs pointing towards the office as the last chords of the final song on the album, "Always a Relief" played. I payed my bill after a wait in the line, and was on my way, surprisingly joyful.
At this point, we've established that the only good bands pictures are ones in pastel or black & white, barring they were shot by Terry Richardson.
The song that stuck in my mind the most from the album was "What Will Give". There are songs with more original themes on the album like "The Worst Taste In Music" and there are even songs with better instrumentation like "What Will Give", but the reverb drenched goodness of "Every Time" gets me again and again.
The instrumental is poppy yet nuanced, as Swedish pop music tends to be, but the constant drone of reverb, and the shoegaze guitars are what give the song good effect. The tone of the piece is bolstered by breaks for a beautiful guitar that would be at home on any harmony for a song in the middle half of Loveless.
Johan Duncanson, the band's lead singer, alters his vocals to a point that they straddle the line between comforting and creepy. The lyrics recall a drunken night of relationship sturggles, but are slightly ambiguous. I'm not one to pretend like I understand everything going on in a song, but the tale of difficult love is one that has been written on immemorial in music, and thankfully isn't overdone here (like a Taylor Swiftsong). Overall, a pretty good song on a very wavy album. It makes me happy.
So what is the point of the story and how does it have anything to do with Track Genius or the Radio Dept.? Well for one, owning a car is too fucking expensive. But secondly, life
can get pretty shitty. It's not just the big things either, like the
death of a loved one or firing from a job that barely keeps you alive in
the first place. The minutia of the world, something as insignificant
as the hand dryer in the public restroom not working at the full
technological efficiency that an invention of the sort should work at in
2013, or something as necessary as getting your car stickers updated.
In the world of minor inconveniences and perpetual misery, everyone
finds solace in something, whether that something be their girlfriend or
their favorite TV show. I find that in music, and listening to something relaxing and something that hit all the pleasure centers of my brain, reminded me of what music is really all about. And for that, I can thank the Radio Dept.
As always, please share, enjoy, and spread the love. Peace.
Denim & beards. Takes me back to my time in Paris when I was in the military. You see, the year was 1944..
There's a lot of bands called "The Shoes". Not any sort of specific type of shoe either. There's no famous bands called "The Loafers" or the "High Top Black Lace Flat Ankle Oxford's". There are however, a lot of bands named The Shoes, and the particular one featured in this Track Genius are an electro duo from Reims, France and they make quite exciting dance music. The duo consists of Guillaume Brière and Benjamin Lebeau, two bearded Frenchmen on a mission to create the most infectious and danceable electronic music that the human ear can fathom. Their debut album "Crack My Bones" came out in 2011, and featured a number of guest appearances including Esser,
CocknBullKid and Wave Machines. They've even done work for the likes of Shakira and had some great remixes of Ladyhawke, Marina and the Diamonds and Golden Silvers. The album was positively received, and featured some good tracks from the group, but one particularly stood out as the most exaggerated and hype worthy dance hit of 2011. That was the aptly named "Time to Dance".
I'll make this quick. There's no point in explaining how amazing the video is, because it has to be watched to be experienced in its full brilliance. Jake Gyllenhaal takes a stunning turn as a Patrick Bateman psycho killer, feeding off the denizens of the night. The American Psycho influences are explicit, but more vicious and immediate. I never thought that Bubble Boy would be so perfect as a cold-blooded killer, but the juxtaposition of the immediately danceable music and the brutal imagery is a treat with Gyllehall at front and center. The song itself is spoken for in its title. Pumping bass and catchy vocals roundabout the exciting melody, but the track feels refined rather than something you would faint on molly too. It's a gentleman's dance song, and one that seeps into your soul in the best way.
Faronsavvy
Hijack the ipod dock from that asshole playing Skrillex at the next house party you attend, and play this record. Hopefully the song kicks into full gear before he tries to drunkenly fight you for the right to DJ, and he begins to convulse in dance. You'll be the man of the hour. Guaranteed.
As always, please share, enjoy, and spread the love. Peace.
Marvin, oh Marvin, where art thou? We miss you so.
It's Saturday evening and I'm feeling happy. The good vibes are emanating through my body as the holy ghost of Mr. Marvin Gaye soulfully swoons about the subjects of love, happiness, and the existential musings of life (like a 17 year old who just finished The Stranger). The sweet sounds of classic "get down and party" and/or "get down and make love" (do one or both, you just gotta do somethin') music from the soul legend, groove through my overpriced living room speakers as I boogy alone on the equally overpriced and over-sized Persian rug (the center does indeed,look like Galaga). "This music needs to be shared with others!" I think, mainly for an excuse to go lurking for another humans touch. Instead of going to a party I wasn't invited to and playing this song after jacking the iPod from the speaker set whilst everyone asks "Who the fuck is this guy?", I decided to write a blog post about it. It only seemed right. For the people. Viva la whatever etc.
Which Marvin song did I particularly want to get down to? It could be the political powerhouse of his most legendary album, What's Going On, or maybe the divorce inspired heartbreak ballads of Hear My Dear, an equally powerful and beautiful record. Maybe not, as they would both have me curled up in the form of a scared armadillo on the floor crying about the plight of the peoples of the world or the girlfriend I never had. Then I saw it, seemingly placed there like a beacon of light shining its eternal brightness onto my face. Live at the London Palladium. After his move to Motown, Gaye was told to make more commercially accessible funk and dance music, because that was the way the industry was moving. As with every other genre he touched, he did it incredibly well, and the album, which featured live performances of many of Gaye's hits, and also came with a new track that was recorded in the infamousMarvin's Room recording studio. That original song is the subject of this Track Genius, and one of the most infectiously groovy songs ever. This is Got To Give It Up.
Gaye has been sampled an innumerable number of times in hip-hop & pop music, and it's plain to see why. Not only does this song have major cowbell, and a groove that straddles the line between country funk & R&B sexiness, but Marvin Gaye sings in a perfect falsetto. Not forced in any way, a little bit of echo on it, and one of the most heavenly voices ever to grace this Earth, create something funk & jazz inspired, that sounds like a nouveau-disco track from a throwback party in 3010. This song plays in some movie about an awkward white kid asking a girl to prom, and in a desperate attempt to impress her, builds up the courage to get on the floor to this song, surprising all the people who gather around him in a circle. Cutaway to a group of black kids cheering him on and saying "white boy has groove!" and a montage of him dancing with a bunch of girls who thought he was a loser. He has become the social butterfly he never thought he could be, and his date says "I had a really nice time" with a coy smile and a kiss on the cheek. 5 years later she turned out to be a lesbian, but that didn't matter for Tanner. Anyway, the song is straight sexy.
Top 5 beards of all time, right up there with Ayatollah Khomeini.
Marvin Gaye just makes the most timeless music like it's nothing. It
comes as natural to him as breathing or rocking an awesome beard. And for that, we thank him.
~ BONUS TRACK ~
Robin Thicke & Pharrell basically redid this song and put a T.I. verse on it, making Blurred Lines, one of the biggest pop hits of 2013. That doesn't matter however, because they did it justice, and it is still awesome (regardless of the sexist undertones). Good to know that the spirit of Marvin is still alive, and appreciated.
Like any respected dream or psychedelic band, Tame Impala has plenty of high quality pictures of pastel lighted and reverb soaked live shows. You don't need to use Instagram filters for these.
I didn't want to sound pretentious or incorrect when I described the sonic landscapes of the subject of this Track Genius, Tame Impala, the rock quintet hailing from Perth, Australia . I could go the usual Pitchfork route and grab my big bag of unnecessary adjectives and words like "over-produced" and "dream-pop" that really mean nothing, but we all know I'm better than that (I'm not). Thankfully however, the band did it for me in the soul of conciseness & brevity.
"Tame Impala makes psychedelic hypno-groove melodic rock music"
That's what the band's official website says at least. The description would be perfect, except for the omission of "Incredibly awesome" before it. For indeed, Tame Impala is the beautiful dream-like crossroad where past meets future, and the muses of rock guide you along a vinyl paved road to the top of a cold and windy mountain where the pinnacle of music lies. It is here that Tame Impala exists in an unheard singularity of old and new. Speaking of old, here's a little history on the band.
Tame Impala's aesthetic is a perfect example of what you'll feel when listening to their music.
Tame Impala is the brain-child of lead singer and guitarist Kevin Parker, formed originally in 2004-2005 as a jazzy psychedelic band with drummer Luke Epstein, called The Dee Dee Dums. After a few small awards and local recognition, Epstein left the band, and by late 2007 the band had been renamed to Tame Impala and unveiling of a whole new line-up, including Jay Watson (synth & backing vocals), Julien Barbagallo (drums & backing vocals), and recently Cam Avery (bass) after bassist Dominic Simper parted from the group. After switching up the group dynamic and replacing the two-guitar attack for the more traditional band format, Tame Impala began the nonstop race that is the music game, and they haven't looked back. Signing with Modular Recordings in 2008, the band released a couple of EP's and single's, including their self titled EP that gave but a glimpse of their future brilliance. In 2010, the group released their first album, Innerspeaker, to critical praise and good commercial success. It wasn't even their best effort, yet Tame Impala had already won the hearts of many. What was to come next however, would be something few expected. Releasing their second album, Lonerism, in October of 2012, the critics leveled even more praise, and the people bought even more records. It was easily one of the best albums of 2012, and there were so many great cuts from it, so I had difficulty choosing one song that would summarize the album for anyone still hesitant to give it a listen. However, all the songs are so good and so different, that I realized this wasn't possible, so I ended up picking the song that I've been vibing with the most lately. That would be the infinitely wavy "Apocalypse Dreams".
There's neither an official or fan made video for this song, but I would like to comment on Tame Impala's general aesthetic. Continuing with the psychedelic and vibrant theme, the album & singles artwork for the band, as well as all the media released in general for the group, is the definition of dreamy. Faded with poppy pastels and exploding sharp nostalgia, the beauty of the band extends to their continuity of the sound aligning with the visual. As for the music, it is even more brilliant in every facet. I chose Apocalypse Dreams because of its duality. Beginning with a poppy base melody and a driving drum section, the song continues to be layered with instrumental cues and tempo shifts, sometimes slowing down for a sort of bridge, and then returning to its fast paced dream-rock arpeggio's, as Parker sings about the dream-like apocalypse and making it through life with ambition, and the end of the world. The feeling of despair and loneliness is chilling when superimposed against the heavily dreamy sonic background. The song then slows down for a psychedelic section, where guitar riffs and slides give way to alienating synths and claustrophobic sounds. I wouldn't mind listening to this song as the fiery meteor incinerated my body during the end days, and I definitely don't mind listening to it now. I've barely even begun to describe how wonderfully structured and played this song is, so really it is needed to listen to experience. I'm thinking I'd describe it as "orgasmic" but I also don't want you to stop reading this out of shame. However you'd describe the song and Tame Impala's sound, just don't pass up a chance to listen to them, or this incredible album.
Tame Impala serves up my daily helping of psychedelic life blood, necessary for a balanced diet. Like trap music.
I'd previously written about Parker's work with Melody Prochet on their collaboration, Melody's Echo Chamber, but he has plenty of other projects and collaborations with some great artists. However, where his singular vision truly shines is with Tame Impala, and I hope to see so much more music from them in the future. With their track record, it'll definitely be interesting and fresh.
Non-slave labor waged sugar, locally sourced spices from seasonal gardens, and everything dream-popped. These were the ingredients chosen to create the perfect little girl.
It is the fate of every self-conscious hipster since time immemorial. It is the burden we must carry. A pain so Sisyphean yet intrinsic to the artisanal craft of musical hipsterism, that the only way to quell the bleeding heart of its occurrence, is to pretend that it didn't even happen in the first place. To ignore the glory that is placed upon the falsified discoveries of Christopher Columbus, for the humble and solemn knowledge that he is the Leif Erickson of lightly blogged about music, and had been privy to this untamed landscape far before the masses of Spaniards had descended upon it, destroying it with their ignorance. The Moirai had sewn the ancient scrawling's into his locally sourced hemp pullover, but even with that warning, he did not know that the anguish would be so severe. When a man finds a song that few other have, it is like eyeing the tangible love that emanates from the fresh, rosy cheeked face of a newborn first son. It is a beautiful feeling, with nary a comparative. Yet, as with any craft of hipsterism, it can be destroyed so easily, as the plebeians come foaming at the mouth in their hordes to ravage the once secret village, and make tons of shitty remixes on their Mac's with Fruity Loops, with an added terribly tempo-shifted Wiz Khalifa verse, once they catch wind that the song exists. What can one do, but move along, and try to shield their eyes from the madness... The shrill and whirling violin chords come in and snap the hipster back into reality. He is laying half naked on his bed, laptop covering his long-neglected crotch, and the heat radiation egressing from it ensure that it will stay that way.
What I'm trying to say in layman's terms is, could I be any more pretentious, AND that I heard this song a long time ago, and I told all my friends to listen to it, and they didn't, and now it's going to be famous, and they're all going to come to me and tell me they heard this song and that I should step my music game up. It is a normal occurrence, and one that, as I said, destroys the fabric of a hipster's heart, though they'd never admit it. It is intrinsic to the label as can be. A heavy heart indeed. Let me explain.
Reverb soaked, pastel hazed, dream pop act. I have never heard this before.
The Chromatics are an electronic music band formed in 2001 and hailing from Portland, Oregon, home of dying hipsters, seasonal foodstuffs, and crippling depression. The band consists of Ruth Radelet (vocals/synthesizer),
Adam Miller (guitar/vocoder), Nat Walker (drums/synthesizer), and Johnny Jewel (producer, multi-instrumentalist). I took that from Wikipedia and there's nothing you can do about it, bitch. According to the world's largest multilingual free-content encyclopedia on the Internet, the band originally featured a trademark sound indebted to punk rock and lo-fi, but after numerous lineup changes, which left guitarist Adam Miller as the sole original member, the band began releasing material on the Italians Do It Better record label in 2007 with a more dream-pop oriented sound that kept the lo-fi roots, but eschewed the punk for a more contemporary and sensual sonic landscape (we use big words that mean nothing here). They've got a couple of EP's and 4 albums as a whole, as well as assorted singles scattered throughout their career, and the band's music has even been featured on films like Drive and Taken, as well as shows like Gossip Girl (which is actually quality television. No. Seriously...). They've got a lot of great, and even semi-popular records that I could have written about, but my favorite, and the topic of this particular Track Genius post, is the song "Cherry".
So technically this isn't the official music video for the song, this one is, but it is probably the best visualization for it, as beautiful hipsters run around in a vintage black and white film filter, while they enjoy life over bubbly pop music, escaping from the existential dread and relationship oriented heartbreak that they give to each other. In reality, it's a commercial for fucking jeans. But you wouldn't really be able to tell that by yourself, and it's directed by hipster-girl heartthrob James Franco (just check any pubescent teenage girl's Tumblr for proof) for the terribly named "Seven For All Mankind Jeans" brand, the "leader in premium denim". What that really means is that they have a product called "Paxtyn Tapered Skinny in Washed Out Destroyed" jeans for $218.00 American dollars. Naw son. Not about that life, at all. Regardless of the message to buy overpriced, already used jeans (notice how they don't even try to hide that fact, since "washed out & destroyed" is literally in the title of the fucking product) the music video is quite good. I wouldn't expect anything less from a company that gave a ton of money, artistic free reign, and a camera to James Franco, who was probably ondimethyltryptamine when shooting this. As for the song, what we're really here for, it is really good. It's got all the trappings of a dream-pop rock song, with the a groovy and repetitive baseline, crescendoing snare pattern, and aerated synth stylings. Lest we forget the reverb soaked vocals of lead singer
Ruth Radelet, the lyrics bring about an ominous sexuality when coupled with the video, but that probably should have been obvious with the title of the song. It's about love and heartbreak and longing, as most things in this life are, but it still sounds fresh, which, most things in this life are not *I clench the unbalanced sawed off between my weakly muscular legs, barrel facing toward my head, big toe on the trigger, continuing to type on my computer*.
Fish lens for my real friends & lens fish for my fish friends.
So, why did I end up posting about this song instead of all the other Track Genius posts I had been writing? It's simple. The hipster inside of me came raging out when I heard today that a favorite rapper of mine, Schoolboy Q, would be sampling the track wholeheartedly on a record off his upcoming album "Oxymoron". The video for "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe" by Schoolboy Q's label-mate Kendrick Lamar dropped today, and a secret Director's Cut of the video, ends with a snippet from the untitled track. You can peep it at 5:05, but you should probably watch the whole video since Kendrick Lamar and this song are both awesome.
So, why did I start such a fuss at the beginning of this post? Well, I told everyone to listen to this song a long time ago! Hell, near when it came out actually, and up until now I've been telling people to check it out. I can tell the Schoolboy Q song is gonna be a hit and a summer radio smash, what with the catchy Chromatics melody and Q's inexplicable charm and uncanny ear for making awesome pop-rap tracks. I may sound incredibly bitchy (I do sound incredibly bitchy*), but I'm actually quite glad both this song and Schoolboy Q are going to get a lot more exposure when Oxymoron comes out. Big ups to everyone. Because remember Track Genius readers, what few of you there are. We're about love here. YUNG PEEPLE MUSIC YO! That's all I really have to say about my crippling hipsterism (can one really be a hipster if they are self-aware or does that defy ironic labeling?) and my love for this track. You can check out more from the Chromatics on their Facebook, Soundcloud, Label Page, or, as always, on Pitchfork.
As always, please share, enjoy, and spread the love. Peace.
A good picture that isn't by Terry Richardson. I'm feeling good today.
The art of sample flipping has always been an important part of hip-hop culture and music (Reminder that KRS-One never shuts up). From the early days of Marley Marl working for every big MC, to the genre defining eclectic sampling and musical styles of J Dilla & DJ Shadow, to the modern soul, funk, rock, and everything in-between sampling styles of Kanye West & Just Blaze, hip-hop production has evolved and has had more important names than most anything in music. Nowadays , thanks to Nas' Illmatic, we're accustomed to a full roster of hitmakers, from The Neptunes funkadelic inspired pop-opuses to the ethereal dream-trap soundscapes of Clams Casino, a varied group of producers on one artists album has become a staple in rap music. Besides, nobody wants their album to sound samey, so it's important to utilize a full roster of sonic styles so an MC can functionally emote his #COKEDREAMS on a grandiose Lex Luger beat, and then smoothly transition to musing over the one that got away over a sex soaked sob-fest Noah "40" Shebib instrumental. However, there was a time that a producer and MC duo were common, nay, expected, as the likes of DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince (now known by his government name "Will Smith") and No I.D & Common Sense were making songs exclusively together. The intrinsic bond between DJ/producer and MC changed when Illmatic came out, and a full roster of producers became a mainstay in hip-hop. If that's good or bad is your decision, and it's not like there aren't a veritable number of producer and rapper duos these days, because there are, but it's definitely not like it used to be. Before this post becomes a vague cover for me trying to let people know how much I know about hip-hop and a list of my favorite producers thinly veiled in a badly written post on hip-hop production, lets make a mediocre segue to the real reason for this post.
MellowHype has a cool group name and come from a cool clique (Odd Future). They also have a high definition picture that is again, not by Terry Richardson. Life is good.
MellowHype is a Los Angeles, California hip-hop duo made up of rapper Hodgy Beats & producer Left Brain. They are, of course, individual artists as well, hailing from the infamous Odd Future collective, comprising of the likes of Tyler, The Creator, Frank Ocean, Earl Sweatshirt, and the aforementioned 2 artists. Left Brain was one of the principle producers for Odd Future and Hodgy was one of the principle MC's, so it only made sense for them to team up. They came to prominence when Odd Future blew up, and got some buzz with Odd Future's staple "dark-toned so we labeled it horrorcore" tracks like "64" and "CopKiller (feat. Earl Sweatshirt)". The duo continues to release music, already 2 mixtapes & an album deep, with a new album coming soon (check out their latest track). They also have a tendency to take 2 words that should be separate and keep them capitalized, whilst still making them one word. Edgy stuff. One of my personal favorite songs comes from their 2nd mixtape, BlackenedWhite, and it's a track called Loco.
While this music video isn't official, it is awesome, and therefore I will comment on it. It seems like, to me at least, there's been some sort of trend with pairing classic American images with dark music, and vice versa, ever since that game Fallout 3 came out. I'm sure people had done it before, but I feel like it really took off when the game let you blow up radioactive super mutants with laser guns made of scrap metal whilst listening to "Way Back Home" by Bob Crosby. That's just my theory though. Regardless of where it started, this video plays with the idea well, as a classic 50's clip of a group of misfits riding their bikes through the suburbs while wearing monkey masks accompanies the song. The juxtaposition of the dark tones of the song, and the complementary French soul sampling, make the video and song have some sort of perfect ironic synergy, a word only used by businessmen who have no idea what it means (this video is it). With the aforementioned sampling, LeftBrain chose to go with Chanson D'un Jour D'hiver by 70's French jazz fusion band Cortex off their 1975 album Troupeau Bleu. Strangely enough, this was first sampled in 2009 by none other than... Rick Ross??? Yes, Rick Ross' own hip-hop group, Triple C's, which included Ross, Gunplay, Torch & Young Breed, sampled the record on a song called "Diamonds & Maybachs Pt. 2 (feat. Suede Royale)" produced by Delando "Mitrxxx the Mad Scientist" Morrow. In classic Rick Ross fashion, it was totally overblown and the sample was drowned out in an incredible amount of overproduction (a term that people at Pitchfork use like businessmen use "synergy"). Nobody except Ross & Gunplay would go on to do anything in hip-hop music, but the sample lived on in many iterations, from MellowHype using it in Loco, to Smoke DZA, Logic & Curren$y all sampling it on tracks of their own. Each had their own twist on it, but it was done best, and grimiest, by MellowHype. The soulful sample is accompanied by a drawn out and ominous bass and the looped piano chord. The child-like singing and piano arpeggio climax as a bass groove plays off into the repeat of the beat, and the snares & claps continue in beautiful monotony. Hodgy Beats spits a modern fairy-tale fantasy about wilding out with Black Panther Party members, and a second verse of braggadocio that employs a drawn out metaphor that incorporates narcissistic wordplay with various condiments. As the track fades and the sample is left to stand on it's own, an air of creepiness comes over the listener. It's an awesome track from MellowHype, and one that didn't get enough attention. I'd argue its even one of the best songs in all of Odd Future's stable of great tracks. Those are for another Track Genius though.
Totally forgot that Odd Future did a shoot with Terry Richardson. Goddamnit Terry. Foiled again.
MellowHype continues to make good songs and collaborate with Odd Future on each artists solo projects, and they plan to release a new project by the end of 2013. Here's to hoping we here more from the smoked out MC/producer duo that hail from sunny California, but make some of the darkest music around.
As always, please share, enjoy, and spread the love. Peace.
This was the
only high quality picture I could find of Freeway. You see kids, back in
the early 2000's, High Definition was still a Shootyz Groove album, and just like old pictures, it did not age well.
Damn fam... Welcome back to Track Genius. Let's get the bullshit out
the way, feel me? I've brought you all here to reminisce. To put on your
rose tinted glasses, and gently slide into your nostalgia pants, to
come with me on a journey back to the early and mid 2000's. The years
when Rocafella Records ruled the world. The records, the movies, and
most of all, the artists. The greatest CEO of all time, Dame Dash,
oversaw the likes of Jay-Z, Kanye West, Cam'rom & Dipset, Beanie
Sigel, Memphis Bleek, and last but not least, one of Philly's finest,
Freeway. This was the gully nigga, bearded Philly Akki, west
Philadelphia born and raised rapper who stole "Freeway" Ricky Ross'
nickname before fake thug rap extraordinaire Rick Ross even did. Freeway
was way ahead of the game in that sense. Along with all the
aforementioned artists, Rocafella oversaw an omniscient steel grip over
street culture and hip-hop music. It was indescribably awesome. Now we
have Macklemore. Regardless, the Roc was in the building, from releases
like The Dynasty to Streets is Watching (album AND movie homie), Dame
Dash and crew held it down, and the most under appreciated guy on the
roster was always the bearded Santa himself.
Coming up
in the battle rap scene in west Philly, Freeway was discovered by fellow
future Rocafella compatriot Beanie Sigel, and given a feature on
1-900-HUSTLER off of The Dynasty: Roc La Familia album with Jay-Z,
Memphis Bleek, and the Broad Street Bully himself. In 2003, Freeway
released his debut album "Philadelphia Freeway" with production by the 3
modern legends, Just Blaze, Bink!, and Kanye West. It also had features
from his aforementioned fellow Roc members, as well as heavyweights
like Nate Dogg, Nelly, Snoop Dogg, Faith Evans, and Mariah Carey. Why
was Mariah Carey on a Freeway album, and how many strings did Jay-Z have
to pull to get that done, and how do you go from having Mariah Carey
& Jay-Z featured at the same damn time on one of your tracks to
being completely irrelevant? These are all good questions, and highlight
the fall of Rocafella well, but that's a story for another day. For the
time being, Freeway had dropped an awesome album, and if you're one of
the people who write for Complex, a bona fide classic. There were some
dope cuts from the album, like club that pays off the health inspector
to not fail the yearly examination/street anthem "Flipside (feat. Peedi
Crakk)", but the undisputed best cut off of the album is what we're here
for. This that mean grimey shit, that shit you can feel in your bones.
That true hip-hop for the people, that kinda record that makes you wanna
put on a ski mask and fuckin rob a nigga for his OG Jordan III's b.
This that real shit. This is "What We Do (feat. Jay-Z & Beanie
Sigel)".
As usual, let's touch on this video. This was revolutionary for a couple
of reasons. When you first see Jay lean into Freeway's ear and
whisper "Keep goin'" after he's just finished rappity rapping 300 bars
of street documentary magic, you finally realize what it's like to go
from boy to man. After that, Jay comes in with a much tighter flow, and
when he spits "So I move key's, you can call me the piano man" for a
beautiful fleeting moments there is an actual piano on the dock. The
masterfully congruent sensory barrage, the first of which is being taken
aback by the hotness of that line, and secondly coupled by the visual
cue of the piano to reinforce that, can only be described as life
changing. This visual toughness couldn't be achieved without an equally
dope song however, as the Roc triumvirate comes correct on the mic.
Freeway's verse begins the song with what feels like 1,000,000 bars of
fire, as if Free was urgently writing his version of Mein Kampf with a
Just Blaze beat as his canvas. After hearing the adrenaline filled
realness of Freeway's verse, Jay-Z comes in with a quick 12 bar, smooth
as ever. You can barely even notice that he tapers off in his drug talk
at the end of the verse because "B. Sige in the third lane" enters, and
delivers an equally fine verse. The great thing about this track is that
everyone says something significant, and it's just on bars on bars. As
for the production, it's a Just Blaze banger, and those are always
classic. With a looped and pitch shifted sample from Creative Source's
"I Just Can't See Myself Without You" and trademark heavy Just Blaze
drums, backed by an ominous and strange violin leftover from the sample
that somehow works, this beat is another soul-sampling street banger
from the house of production that The Roc built. And that's what they did.
There aren't any pictures of Freeway that look like they weren't shot by
DMX when he first learned what a camera was, or won't disintegrate your
retina with their terrible pre-2007 quality, so here's a nice little
blueprint of an actual Freeway (Get it? Freeway. Blueprint. Disregard
the fact that he wasn't even on that album while I go hang myself).
More than anything, this track makes me nostalgic for the days of non-internet rappers and the Dynasty of Rocafella Records. Now the only artist there are Jay-Z, Kanye, and for some reason Jadakiss. The label is sitll around in spirit as Roc Nation though, with Jay-Z as president. Instead of rappers the roster includes such talented musicians such as Willow Smith and Rita Ora. J Cole and J Electronica are signed to the label as well but the former gets no marketing push and the latter won't release his fucking album in the first place. Time truly is the great equalizer, and as the wounds from the disbanding of Roc-A-Fella heal and the people involved settle into their new paths, it's just nice to look back at where we were and where we are now. Things like this make a couple years feel like ages ago. In an age of looking forward, it's difficult to look back whilst grasping the actions of our forefathers, but like the song says, it's just what we do.
As always, please share, enjoy, and spread the love. Peace.
It's so easy to develop a man-crush on musicians these days. Whether its Frank Ocean or Kanye West, we (meaning I) seem to be constantly wooed by artists constant images of gratuitous celebrity, inventive music, general youth/coolness, and the package of street fashion it all comes bundled in that permeates our (meaning my) most vain desires. Miguel is no different. Miguel, the multi-racial R&B crooner checks off all the boxes on the list. He had some big hits, especially his smash record "Adorn" and he is easily one of the 3 heavy-weights in the R&B game right now, along with Frank Ocean & The Weeknd. He's young and hip, meaning all my friends who are girls love hearing his music and then immediately wanting to fuck the next thing they see. And he's always wearing the flyest fashions in the vain of Kanye & A$AP Rocky. Dude wears so many designer sunglasses you'd think he was included in Randy Savage's Estate Will (R.I.P to the big homie *sheds single tear*). And finally, Miguel just makes awesome music. From R.Kelly type sexual bluntness in songs like "Pussy Is Mine" to politically charged existential statements like "Candles in the Sun" Miguel showcases powerful vocal ability over a keen ear for amazingly contemporary and fitting instrumentation. Though the music is very fresh and inventive, that doesn't stop Miguel from registering in the leagues of Stevie Wonder & Marvin Gaye in terms of staying power and potential to be legendary. I thinkCharlamagne tha God said it best when interviewing Miguel on Power 105.'s The Breakfast Club, when he told Miguel
I doubt Miguel realizes the impact that the music he makes has on the industry, but he's all the better for his inventive and eclectic approach to incredibly soulful music. That's all besides the fact that he can sing like a motherfucker. Dude has immense vocal range or whatever the hell they call it, always knowing when to hit the right notes, and bolstering it all with the perfect background harmonies. It's awesome. To top it all off, the guy is a rockstar. Remember when he had rockstars? There are very few rockstars left. I mean, of course there's the likes of Jay-Z and Kanye, or wannabes like Lil Wayne & Kid Rock, but what happened to people like Jimi Hendrix & Prince? Wretched excess and an in your face style is what the kids are really looking for these days. Miguel is a return to all that, and rightfully so. He released his debut album "All I Want is You" in 2010 under Jive Records, but after poor promotion and a label battle that ended up having Jive absorbed by RCA, the record somehow started charting again, and selling quite well. It was inconsistent, but it had its shining moments, like the title track "All I Want is You" featuring your boy Jermaine Colesworth XIV. It wasn't the best or most groundbreaking R&B release, but it was a glimmering signal of what was to come from the soulful singer. After staying on his grind with a slew of mixtapes, including the "Art Dealer Chic" trilogy, and Mischief: The Mixtape, as well as being on a few track by artists like Blu & Asher Roth, but Miguel's real debut album, Kaleidoscope Dream, was released in October 2012 to strong sales and critical praise. With his punk-inspired lyricism, blunt sexual force, and lyrics and music that would make the most asexual of people want to do the dirty, Miguel was finally on the airwaves and in the hearts of bloggers across the internet. My nigga even won a Grammy.
Sid Vicious if he was way more sus or Prince if he was way less sus.
I mentioned Miguel in passing in an earlier post about the J Cole track "Power Trip" that he was featured on, but I haven't dedicated an actual blog post to any of his own songs or his album Kaleidoscope Dream. Seeing as it was one of my favorite albums of 2012, and one of the most creative and beautiful R&B albums ever made, that decision is almost criminal. Hindsight is 20/20, and I'm here to correct my transgressions. Not Justin Timberlake 20/20 though, that would be sloppy and unfocused hindsight. This is more like looking through a telescope... nay, a kaleidoscope of my musical dreams. The king of bad segue's and having to search Google for 15 minutes to learn how to spell segue is back, presenting a new fresh record from one of the best artists in recent memory. This is the "How Many Drinks (Remix) [feat. Kendrick Lamar]".
Now this is sultry. First off, the music video. Miguel was going for an aesthetic where he could communicate the energy and visuals of his live performances, whilst still making a well produced music video. The silhouetting, the deeply colored light shows, and the play of darkness and flash makes this is a visual feast, with nothing gaudy or out of place going on. Even the subtly of dress, like what Miguel & Kendrick are wearing, complements the overall aesthetic. The song is equally amazing, as Miguel serenades the lady of his choice at a hypothetical party, bluntly speaking on how he just wants to know how many drinks he has to buy her so they can spend the night together. He does it with a confident style, and a mature sense of lust so as to not make it come off as some sort of date-rapey Drake anthem. A high falsetto is answered by a brooding yet nervous speaking voice. The lyrics are cool and reassuring, whilst still communicating a sense of urgency, especially near the end when Miguel breaks into a chorus/bridge hybrid, and starts ad-libbing about how his home is "just a short drive away" and he's not trying to waste anyone's time, as he hits high notes like he's only just started trying. Kendrick drops a pretty romantic verse, but it's kind of strange reconciling the sexual nature of the song and verse with the image and voice of Kendrick Lamar. Not that the verse isn't well written, but it seems as if everyone feels they need a Kendrick Lamar verse as a default, without thinking whether or not it's apropos to the style of the song (see how terribly he hits the note in the middle of the verse). Don't get me wrong, the verse is awesome and Kendrick is currently one of my favorite artists, but the song might have been better served with a rapper who's known for making these styles of songs, like Drake or even A$AP Rocky. Big ups to Kendrick though, the verse continues to grow on me. The beat, produced by the legendary Salaam Remi (who has produced many songs for Nas & Amy Winehouse among others), complements the sonic sensuality, with a harmony of a rising violin sampled from O'Donel Levy's "We've Only Just Begun" from the 1972 album, Breeding of Mind, which itself is a cover of a song by The Carpenters. The thud of the 808s and the rhythmic clap, layered over the piano which gives the song a certain elevator music lightness, all make the production very sexy in a classic, Marvin Gaye or Otis Redding sense. All the elements combine for a track that feels timeless and also contemporary, and could be played in either a lustful social setting, or an intimate evening.
Trying to find a good picture of Miguel that's not in black & white is harder than finding one of someone that hasn't been photographed by Terry Richardson. Miguel hasn't, but time is the great equalizer.
Well, I think I've gushed enough about Miguel and his music to the point that most readers probably think I'm dating him, but its not even like that. I respect dude immensely, from his music to his fashion and his whole world view. It's beautiful music for the people, and it's nice to see another young artist making waves with music that is truly succinct and all their own. If you haven''t noticed, those are the types of artists I like writing about here at Track Genius. Hopefully we see more inventive and amazing music from Miguel and anyone who he collaborates with in the future. If I see a Terry Richardson photo shoot, I'll know he made it.
As always, please share, enjoy, and spread the love. Peace.
~ BONUS LEVEL ~
Miguel was on Saturday Night Live recently, and did Adorn and How Many Drinks live with his band, but with an awesome punk rock twist. It's fucking electric. Check out How Many Drinks below, and click on the Adorn link for that performance. Wop!
What do mean they're not pastel colored globs in the shape of humanoids floating through the infinite space of a LSD abusers dream and making alternative electronic music?
I remember vividly when my hipster friends and I discovered Animal Collective before they ever really blew up on the blogosphere, coincidentally a word I loved to use at the time. I remember because it was circa 2004 and their album Here Comes the Indianhad come out a bit earlier. I remember it well because we were at a large music store and my self-aware hipster friends and I had a conversation that went something like this...
Friends: "Aw dude, check it out, this great band called Animal Collective has a new album out"
Me: "Oh yeah? Who's that?"
Friends: "A very underground group man. I don't think they'll ever blow up even though Panda Bear & Geographer [sic] started it. Too niche. But def worth a listen"
Fast forward to 2009 and Animal Collective releases their Metacritic magnum-opus "Merriweather Post Pavilion" and everyone loves it. From the streets of Soho to Pitchfork circle jerk sessions, Animal Collective was the talk of the town and the blogosphere. My friend was devastated, but I was too caught up in the hype, and honestly, I was heavily fucking with their first single, and in my opinion, the best song of their whole discography. As all my years of meticulously built up indie cred dissipate in that statement, and the final fuck escapes from the tips of my worn fingers, let me introduce you to Animal Collective's biggest hit and one of the catchiest songs since insert any overplayed song by Journey here. This is "My Girls".
Just to get this out of the way, the music video for this song is wonderful in every way that word can be used. Borderline R3AL magic trap shit, feel me? It's like green screen auteur's met up with microbiologists, NASA, the Blue Man Group, the American Body Suit Association, the artists from Adventure Time, and then had the video have sex with a Harlem Renaissance museum to create an orgy of color and shape. Really it's just the band playing their instruments on a green screen, and all the rest is done by some unrecognized chubby 20 something who wipes Sun Chip stains off his shirt while he works on it with Adobe After-Effects. Yet it all seems so magical if you're not a cynic. The actual song on the other hand, is true magic. Not the super deliberate Gandalf the White kind of magic where it happens to click because of a time and place and everything is calculated, but that Gandalf the Grey type magic where even if there's some bumps ahead you know he's just messing around with you and had everything crazy tucked away so you just think you're in trouble. Nah b, this that Gandalf the Grey type shit. Those spacey synths, that catchy beat loop, the way the whole song builds up by adding new sounds and spaces. The lyrics are awesome too. They really don't make any sense, and you can barely understand them, but in another sense, they're totally clear. The song is about simplicity and bitches. Well, girls really. It's like gathering every nice and sweet thought you've had about pretty girls and putting them in one positive, synth soaked track. The way that girls hair rests exactly 2 centimeters above her cheek freckles and how her nose curls up at the perfect point and angle? This song is about that. The way that girls legs have that excellent tone so they look good in any pastel colored hipster pants or shorts she decides to wear? This songs about that. The way the lyrics recall something like a mix of Dark Ages romanticism and Little House on the Prairie love in the context of modern electronic music is excellent. And it's about not caring about a girls social status or what anyone thinks of you two and giving her "four walls and adobe slat". That's love fam.
Soaked in pastel light and blurry so you know it's real AKA indie cred swag level on a hundred thousand trillion
It's not like Animal Collective doesn't have a lot of awesome songs and good albums, because they definitely do, but this is the height of their accessibility, appeal, craft, and pure sonic awesomeness. It's nice to see a song like this come along once in a while and make us rethink what we know about music and life, because it's so fresh and well made. I hope to see more from this group in the future, and hopefully they continue to make awesome music. They released their album Centipede Hz, but Pitchfork gave it a 7.4 so we can't like it (it was nice though). Here's to more years. I'll definitely be playing this for my girls.
As always, please share, enjoy, and spread the love. Peace.
This band is a good example of how much people can change looks wise when they get older.
As a young man I had a meager record collection that I couldn't play because I hadn't had the foresight or the funds to buy a record player for myself. Most weekends I would go over to my friend David's apartment to play Super Nintendo and his parent's had a record player, so it was always an extra perk that I could bring over my new vinyl and use it as the soundtrack of our Mario Kart romps. I had been going through the record store looking for something by Huey Lewis for one reason or another, and a powering rock song had come onto the speakers in the store. I had asked the manager what was playing and after shuffling through a couple boxes he handed me the record. It was Everything Must Go by the Manic Street Preachers and the song playing over the speakers was Australia. I plopped all my cash for it, and exact change. It was one of those perfect moments in life when the song ends right when you get out of the store and the universe feels like it aligned to give you a soundtrack to your life. I rushed over to David's and started to play the record. Thankfully his parents weren't home and we could play it without any inhibition. Australia came on again and I felt like I was hearing it for the first time, and I felt like that every single time I heard it again.
This was the first album that the band recorded and released after the mysterious disappearance of their troubled guitarist and vocalist Richey Edwards. The anthemic nature of the track is bolstered by its loud yet melodic guitar chords which I would even say border on catchy with a pop sensibility. The grandiose chorus ushers in a wave of perfect harmony and melody as Nicky Wire and James Bradfield sing angrily and confusedly about their paranoia and alienation from the world. The disappearance of their close friend and bandmate only serves to make this record more poignant, as the imagery of a barren wasteland that we can escape through by means of numbing ourselves from the world speaks to anyone who has ever dealt with the loss of another, or simply felt like they didn't know why or where they were going. Now this is quality Brit-rock. There's a tangible confidence in every word and every note. I especially like the 2nd verse coupled with the chorus, and it very well sums up the whole feeling of wanting to run away forever.
Praying for the wave to come now
It must be for the very last time
It's twelve o'clock till midnight
There must be someone to blame
I want to fly and run till it hurts
Sleep for a while and speak no words, in Australia
In Australia
This is what it's like to get old as hell. Kids, enjoy your youth.
When all was said and done, the Manic's would go down as British rock legends and find a ton of commercial success, but they never really caught on that much in the U.S. We got bands like Radiohead and Nirvana, but we also got bands like Sum 41 and Limp Bizkit for alternative rock, so maybe the Manic Street Preachers could have come in a filled that void. Who can really say these things anyway?
After I moved out of that apartment complex I never saw David again, and I had sold off most of my records because I never saw myself getting a record player, since CD's and then eventually internet formats would come in as the main means of media deliverance. I began to forget about, and even shun the music that I had listened to in my younger years in favor of the likes of My Chemical Romance and Linkin Park, in what we now call the dark days of music. As much as I liked the album at the time, I told David I wanted him to have it, and I came to learn later from my parents that him and his family went through a lot of crazy stuff about death and finding children they never knew they had or something strange of the sort. When I finally did speak to David again after many years, he told me that he was very glad that I had let him have that album, and that it came in handy in troubled times. He'd then say that in the end perspective, finding long-lost half siblings and experiencing tons of deaths didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, and I'd agreed with him in that statement. He told me he'd always wanted to run away and after Australia reinforced that feeling, he finally realized he had to confront everything that was going on, which the record had also helped him realize. We shared our child hood memories and laughed together one last time, and then he thanked me for the memories. the record, and being a good friend. After we finished talking, I never heard from David again, but I like to think that sometimes he wakes up in the middle of the night and plays this song in the dark of his room, and feels like he can go to Australia any time he wants to. And whether that actually happens or not, it always makes me happy.
As always, please share, enjoy, and spread the love. Peace.
