Making Raw Underground Shit

Like many of the loose tracks that are in my iTunes library, I have no idea how I obtained the song "L.A." by MURS. Sometime earlier this year, I heard it on shuffle for the first time and distinctly remember being impressed by how simple yet unique it was. The 9th Wonder-produced beat samples the roots reggae track "Atlas" by The Mighty Diamonds to create a crisp, uncluttered sound that is a welcome change from the clichéd sampling/breakbeat routine that most hip-hop producers are too quick to resort to. MURS has a great flow: He is clear, down-to-earth, and humble in his descriptions of the Southland. Listen/watch:

When I listen to this song, Los Angeles doesn't actually sound all that bad...wow. I sometimes imagine this guy kickin' it in his hood, making the world a better place one compost at a time. And that's a nice thought, so that's why I like this track.

Saludos, Hovito.

At Kanye West's Glow In The Dark Tour show at Madison Square Garden last Wednesday, Jay-Z came onstage, and spit some new tracks: this little number right here, and a song called "Ain't I". These are potential tracks for The Blueprint 3. There isn't much to go on besides rumors, but Timbaland is slated to produce the majority of the album (EDIT: Several sources have brought to my attention that this is no longer the case; No ID and Kanye West will do some too). There are also talks of a collaborative record between the two; if you have talked to me in the last two weeks I have mentioned this and quoted Timbo as saying that it would be "like ten Big Pimpin's". Let me remind you how incredible this song is:

Seriously, holy shit. This is the apex of party rap, rivaled by few and equaled by none. Imagine an entire album of it. You'd run out of Cristal to pour on the legions of video vixens who follow you around everywhere. So let's cross our fingers and hope that it happens. Blueprint 3 could potentially come out as early as this December, which means the other album can't be too far behind...

Lollapalooza, In Summation

FRIDAY.



Yeasayer: So much better than I remember on the album. I don't know the name of this song, but wow. The percussion hurt so good: thick and raw bass with racing snares added for a very intricate effect. The distortion provided a soft bed of sound to carry the whole thing along, and the gentle guitar riffs with the middle-eastern tinge were drizzled on top like icing on a pastry. A DELICIOUS TREAT FOR ALL AGES!



Million $ Mano: Homeboy knows how to rock the house. This means playing Justice and Daft Punk duh. I don't know if Hollywood Holt can actually rap, but he sure can...hypeman, if that's a verb. It's a little silly, though, that when you normalize the beat in Abelton Live so it's all at the same tempo and add bass everything suddenly becomes a "MILLION DOLLAR MANO REMIX!!!!". That was a little annoying. I am glad he brought out Drea for some He Say She Say joints, because those are always satisfying. Most importantly, I got my groove on.


SATURDAY.



Spank Rock: Naeem Juwan is a nymphomaniac, or at least that's what his lyrics would suggest. I was a little surprised/disappointed when he didn't have sex onstage with Amanda Blank's backup dancer. Regardless, the crowd was excited. He performed a lot of Bangers & Cash stuff, which was really entertaining to watch. Hats off to him.

DJ Momjeans: Yes, Danny Masterson from That 70's Show is a DJ now. It was bland electro, which I guess is acceptable. But it left no lasting impact.



Wilco: This was an incredibly soothing concert. It's obvious that this band has mastered their catalog and can perform it effortlessly and beautifully. I wish I was more familiar with their work, I probably would have enjoyed this concert even more.


SUNDAY.


This is actually a picture of the flosstradamus set, but whatever I liked it better




Kid Sister: I want to say this was great, but the truth is that it was a little disappointing. I guess that she's only used to doing shows in clubs and whatnot, so being on one of the main stages was probably a big change. She was getting really tired and was visibly straining to deliver all of her lines accurately. Also, she performed a lot of new material, apparently for the first time. It showed: at one point she started the second verse to a song early even though the chorus wasn't over yet. The backup dancers were terrifying/amusing. Her brother Josh (J2K of Flosstradamus) helped to hold the whole thing together by doing the hype stuff while Autobot did the actual DJing. It was ok overall, but the crowd just wasn't feeling it. At a smaller venue, this would have been much better.

Brazilian Girls: No.



Amadou & Mariam: This blind couple from Mali make incredibly catchy afropop. This is what true world music should sound like because it is crafted from a vast array of sources. Very enjoyable.



Flogging Molly: Ah, it's good to be Irish.

Kanye West: I left early, so I can't really give a comprehensive review of this. Kanye made good and bad descisions during this concert. Good: Doing his verse to "Put On" without auto-tune. Bad: Giving a tribute speech to his mother in auto-tune. Unsure: Performing "Get 'Em High" with a really deep satan voice enabled? I don't know.

All photos courtesy of my cousin carlos or everyoneisfamous.com

Darkness falls across the land; the midnite hour is close at hand. Creatures crawl in search of blood, to terrorize y'all's neighborhood...and whosoever shall be found, without the soul for getting down, must stand and face the hounds of hell and rot inside a corpse's shell. The foulest stench is in the air. The funk of 40,000 years, and grizzly ghouls from every tomb, are closing in to seal your doom. And though you fight to stay alive, your body starts to shiver. For no mere mortal can resist the evil of the Thriller.

you can't embed this video, it's impossible.

lollaplaooza highlights soon.