The Dancing Thumb (aka: music recommendations)

[Max Ernst]

New Janelle Monáe single is out and it sounds a bit like Prince. This song is eighties as hell, but with enough futuristic sounds to avoid sounding 'retro'. The song structure is odd, the melody is a little all over the shop, and Erykah Badu does her usual thing by not fully fitting into the song. 

 

Two hypotheses: this song is fine, but not nearly as good as anything her first record, or this album makes much more sense in the context of her record.

 

Here, have a video of her doing what she does best:

 

Also, b-b-b-b-bonus song because this is also a good song:

[Thrik]

She's great, thanks mon.

[TheLastBaron]

So GY!BE have announced a tour.  Their new album is still probably my least favorite of theirs, but they're super good live and I'd recommend anyone who can see them.

 

http://pitchfork.com/news/50451-godspeed-you-black-emperor-announce-tour/

[TheLastBaron]

Boards of Canada are doing some crazy Valve-esque ARG for their next album.  So far some of the things are releasing a 12" album in random small record stores which had a code as audio, and airing this on Toonami

 

[Max Ernst]

I am excited for the BoC album, but I didn't warm to The Campfire Headphase, so I am trying to keep my expectations in check. I think I am more curious as a fan of the group, and as someone who is interested in their artistic direction, rather than as someone looking forward to a new favourite record. I'm interested in how their sound has changed over such a long period of silence.

 

Also, do you ever listen to Double Nickels on the Dime and think "damn, I wish someone took this music and took it to a new direction"? If so, awe at my powers of mind reading. Also, listen to Parquet Courts. A third of the year is over, and this is still the best album released from it. Here are some cuts:

http://youtu.be/DrUunhlaFMk

http://youtu.be/Rs2_OMnkcxE

[Max Ernst]

One more thing, I just realised that I still haven't heard James Blake's new album yet, despite loving his debut record. Maybe its the fact that he employed the second worst Wu-Tang Clan MC to drop a verse on a track, or the fact that I have heard it promoted on "easy listening" stations, but some small part of me is resistant to hearing it. I don't think I can handle a bad James Blake record, he has too much talent. Here, let us listen to an old song until I get around to hearing the new record. I hope you have nice headphones ready.

 

[Zeusthecat]

Tiesto. Specifically In Search of Sunrise 6 and In Search of Sunrise 7. If you like Techno/Trance this is the best of the best imo.

 

The Ride remix on Sunrise 7 also introduced me to Cary Brothers who is also awesome. And Ride is such an awesome song.

[Twig]

This is, ironically, not really that unique-sounding.

 

But I love it anyway.

 

 

DOOM TREE BANG A RANG

 

it is just so fun to say

 

(bonus: I found it through P.O.S, who is part of the group, as well as Dessa, who I also learned I like, among others - my biggest discovery of late)

[Roswell47]

Shapeshifter pretty recently released a single for their upcoming album 'Delta' which is coming out May 31st. They play drum & bass with lots of soul influences. What's really cool about them is that they are actually a band that plays live instruments (drums, bass, guitar, keys, saxophone and of course their fantastic singer)

 

I made a Grooveshark playlist of my Shapeshifter songs: http://grooveshark.com/#!/playlist/Shapeshifter/85954797

[Twig]

god i am so into doomtree right now

 

 

(the whole set they did live is kind of fantastic, even if it's not necessarily the best version of each individual track)

 

(GODDAMN)

 

this mike guy is clearly not feeling up to snuff but STILL MANAGES TO SPIT SOME SICK RHYMES, as it were

[Max Ernst]

I like P.O.S. but sometimes he sacrifices clarity for speed and I think his music can suffer for it. This song has a bit of that, but the beat and the Children of Men style video more than make up for it.

 

[Twig]

Mhm, I was introduced via that song. I don't think it suffers at all. I loooove speedy raps.

[Max Ernst]

I like speed too, but I feel he has a tendency to blur his words together, which is an effect I'm not really keen on.

 

Still, to this day, this is my favourite fast rap song (also one of the greatest songs ever written):

 

.

[Twig]

I also stop giving a shit about lyrics when they get in the way of vocals as an element of the music, so that has something to do with it, I'm sure.

 

I can't understand anything in that Outkast song, either. Literally I think I get one out of every three words on average. But I don't care at all. U:

[Max Ernst]

To clarify, it isn't about comprehending lyrics. I am terrible with lyrics. I just don't like how POS blurs all his words together in a way that sounds almost like scatting or something. Fast rapping, to me, works well when syllables are hit hard and clear. OutKast were kind of incredible at that, although they didn't flex that muscle often.

 

Listening to BOB again, I am astounded just how much is in that fucking song. Huge drum and bass sounds with funk guitar, space synths, crowd chant hooks and a rocking solo to top things off. How it all fits and works is beyond me.

[Thrik]

I'd like to repeat my thanks for bringing my attention to Janelle, for this is one of the best albums I've heard in ages. The variety, this is prog-like. Shieeeeet.

[feelthedarkness]

A video from Tony Mollina's, the singer of Oakland's hardest: CAGED ANIMAL solo lp Dissed and Dismissed. For fans of the Replacements, Weezer, or Bulldoze. Directed by Hannah from Grass Widow:

 

 

[Patrick R]

Why listen to anything but disco covers of seminal 70's rock songs?

 

 

EDIT: Um, is there a trick to getting videos to show up in your post?

 

EDIT EDIT: Thanks!

[Thrik]

You have to paste as plain text if you're using Chrome, it's a button in the editor. I noted that this happens and why in the forum feedback thread so hopefully someone'll get round to having a look at it at some point.

[Twig]

To clarify, it isn't about comprehending lyrics. I am terrible with lyrics. I just don't like how POS blurs all his words together in a way that sounds almost like scatting or something. Fast rapping, to me, works well when syllables are hit hard and clear. OutKast were kind of incredible at that, although they didn't flex that muscle often.

 

Listening to BOB again, I am astounded just how much is in that fucking song. Huge drum and bass sounds with funk guitar, space synths, crowd chant hooks and a rocking solo to top things off. How it all fits and works is beyond me.

That's fair, I guess, although I don't think the rhythm is lost at all in POS' fastraps. Each beat is still very distinct, even if it's harder to understand what he's actually saying.

 

All that aside: man, Outkast. I listened to them back in high school, before I had a real appreciation for rap. I think I liked one song of theirs. Hey Ya! The easy one. Oh man but now TODAY NOW TODAYYYY I love this shit.

 

Why are young people so stupid?

[TheLastBaron]

Wait there's a button?  I've been typing the media tag out.

[Hermie]

After finishing Thomas Was Alone, I have now made a playlist of the soundtracks of Fez, VVVVVV and Thomas Was Alone. Are there any other soundtracks or albums I can add to it, that would be described as "haunting square-wave music"?

[Max Ernst]

That's fair, I guess, although I don't think the rhythm is lost at all in POS' fastraps. Each beat is still very distinct, even if it's harder to understand what he's actually saying.

 

All that aside: man, Outkast. I listened to them back in high school, before I had a real appreciation for rap. I think I liked one song of theirs. Hey Ya! The easy one. Oh man but now TODAY NOW TODAYYYY I love this shit.

 

Why are young people so stupid?

OutKast became a weird, perfect clash of personalities, which resulted in some truly groundbreaking music. Their first three records showed that they were wonderful MCs. They knew their way around the microphone, and you never found a dud verse on any tracks. The beats were sounded pretty neat and edgy, but nothing too groundbreaking. They just made great rap music.

 

Cut to Stankonia, where Andre is getting into Prince, Squarepusher and psychedelia. The music gets real weird. Voices get pitch shifted, there is a weird album concept through-line, squealing guitars are mixed with future sounding synths and low sounding bass... their music just went next level. 

 

Yet, Andre's exploration was always grounded by Big Boi's refusal to become anything more than a rap artist. The songs still had structure, the duo still rapped fantastically, and there was always a solid beat behind each track. Big Boi stopped them from losing focus, and the album is so much better because of it. It really is a classic.

 

Then they went and made Speakerboxxx/The Love Below which is a decent record but duo to the fact that the album is essentially two solo records, their songs sometimes fell off the rails. Big Boi's half felt unadventurous, while Andre's wandered too far into Stevie Wonder territory, as sub-standard crooning replaced his experimental rap. Their next record, Idlewild took it even further. That album is a weird, interesting, mess. 

 

But yeah, essentially, forget what you thought you knew, and start with Stankonia and go backwards through their catalogue.  They have so many home-run records it is kind of astounding. Here is one of my favourite cuts from Stankonia, and exhibits just how wonderful this record is:

 

 

 

I'd like to repeat my thanks for bringing my attention to Janelle, for this is one of the best albums I've heard in ages. The variety, this is prog-like. Shieeeeet.

It still stuns me that she covers so many genres, yet the whole album doesn't feel like a cut and paste mess. While her influences can be pretty clear, she makes each song her own. Her personality and voice totally come through. Hell, she does a weird K-Pop song and, where it sits in the album, it totally works. Here it is:

http://youtu.be/Iv10t488Zpo

[Max Ernst]

Also, speaking of bands I wrote off because of their popularity, I've been getting into a lot of early R.E.M., which I have always been assured was very good but I never spent the time to dig through their first few releases. This last month or so, I can't stop listening to their first two records. So fucking good:

 

[Patrick R]

If you liked Outkast's early stuff, you owe it to yourself to check out more stuff by Organized Noize and The Dungeon Family. Goodie Mob's early records are almost as good as Outkast's (and you get to hear Cee-Lo before he sold his soul for pop hits!), to say nothing of

and Witchdoctor's album A S.W.A.T. Healin' Ritual. They were on fire the second half of the 90's, and still manage to produce some amazing stuff from time to time. In more recent years, Killer Mike has been the biggest attraction. Everyone went nuts over R.A.P. Music but the I Pledge Allegiance To The Grind series and his debut Monster were really amazing too. Killer Mike, man. If you like Outkast you already know. And if you don't know, now you know.

 

Personally, Stankonia feels a little shallow compared to Aquemini, and I prefer the more straight-ahead (but still certainly funk and psych inspired) early albums to Stankonia's intense wackiness. I think Big Boi and Andre were so great together because they forced each other out of their comfort zones. 3000 couldn't go off the deep end on songs that were really about something and Big Boi couldn't rest on his gangster laurels when stacked up against a lyricist as inventive as 3000. Stankonia honestly already feels like two solo albums to me, because Big Boi feels kind of out of place on some of those crazier tracks and 3000 is just in his own world. Production-wise it's often fascinating, but those guys were so good at RAPPING, and rapping with each other, that the more divided approach kind of bums me out. Not a bad album by any stretch, but it's not one I find myself returning to.

And this is the best Outkast song of all time. Accept no substitutes. 

 

 

"Now who else wanna fuck with Hollywood Court?"