Chocolate Industries has released a great new compilation “Personal Space: Electronic Soul 1974-1984″ which focuses on the emergence of high-quality tape recorders, synthesizers, and simple drum machines as a means for musical expression. The tracks are almost all rare and many are solo excursions using a new technology that must have seemed like it had no boundaries. Really cool stuff.
El-P performing Stay Down from his upcoming album “Cancer For Cure” live on “Late Night with David Letterman”.
Killer Mike – Big Beast (Feat. Bun B, T.I., and Trouble) – From “R.A.P. Music”
Yah, every cool site is talking about this one today, but for good reason. “R.A.P. Music” is the new record from Killer Mike and this will be the one that will push him into the big time. Lots to amaze about this record, but maybe nothing more amazing in this day and age in that he chose to stick with one producer (the awesome El-P) for the whole record and the results harken back to the classic hip-hop records from 20 years ago. He is touring with El-P this summer, which promises to be one of the best shows around this year. Check the tour dates and preview a couple more tracks from the album here.
LISTEN: BBU – “Kurt De La Rocha” (From “Bell Hooks”)
The new mixtape by Chicago’s own BBU! has been out for a few months now, but for those of you that haven’t checked it out yet it is well worth a listen (download it for free here). C’mon now, a Nirvana sample used to perfection in a hip-hop song with some Rage Against The Machine lyrics as the chorus? Somehow that just seems like the definition of keeping it real…
Los Miticos Del Ritmo – Otro Muerde El Polvo (Another One Bites The Dust)
The great Will “Quantic” Holland is continuing his (seemingly) single-handed promotion of the music of Columbia. After curating “The Original Sound of Cumbia” and putting out the fantastic “Just Around The Corner“, he has now released “Los Miticos Del Ritmo” with the his band of the same name.
The group is a 7 piece studio band hailing from Cali, Columbia (Quantic now lives in Columbia also) and the album features some fantastic originals alongside cover versions of Queen’s Another One Bites The Dust, Michael Jackson’s Don’t Stop and The Abyssinians classic reggae track Satta Massagana.
As is the case more and more these days, not only was the album recorded 100% analogue at Quantic’s home studio, but it was also engineered to sound like the classic Cumbia recordings from the 1960′s. You can purchase it direct from Soundway Records here.
LISTEN: Oh No – “Whoop Ass (feat. Sticky Fingaz)” (from “Ohnomite”)
Producer and rap innovater Oh No has a new album “Ohnomite” coming out on Stones Throw June 5th (although you can pre-order earlier on their site). The album is based on samples from Rudy Ray Moore’s “Dolemite” and looks to be a bonafide treat for fans of underground hip-hop. The album features the likes of MF DOOM, Alchemist, Guilty Simpson, Phife Dawg, Erick Sermon, Sticky Fingaz, and many more. Oh Yes…
“Big Fun In The Big Town” was a documentary from 1986 showing the growing hip-hop scene that was happening in New York City at the time. Featuring classic footage of many pioneers such as Run DMC, LL Cool J, Grandmaster Flash and Doug E. Fresh, it is gonna be commercially available for the first time after 25 years on May 22nd. [Be sure to check out a young Biz Markie beat boxing at the 3:00 mark in the trailer - amazing!]
LISTEN: Kool A.D. – “Arrested Development (feat. Kassa)” (from “51″)
LISTEN: Kool A.D. – “Leverage (feat. Boots Riley)” (from “51″)
Kool A.D.’s new mixtape “51″ is now available as a free download from Mishka here. Don’t miss out on this one.
