Finally, new Napalm Death has arrived! I’ll be posting a review on this one next week, but if you want to listen to the streaming version for yourself now (and watch a bunch of other goodies), head to their Myspace profile:
<LISTEN>
Time Waits For No Slave will receive a proper release in the states on February 10th through Century Media.
After over three years and $65 million spent on the production of Steven Soderbergh’s epic biopic about the Cuban revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara, the critically divisive movie will finally make a debut on Minnesota screens tomorrow at the Uptown Theatre in Minneapolis. The epic 4-hour, 2-part film starring Benicio del Toro apparently plays much like a diary and serves as a very accurate, documentary-like depiction of the motivations that fueled this leader, teacher, fighter, and eternal symbol of human rights and protest. Rightfully so, as the script was actually adapted from Guevara’s own diaries. The first part of the film, “The Argentine”, is taken from “Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War” (detailing the birth of the Cuban revoltuion and eventual overthrow of the Batista government), and second segment, called “Guerilla” (covering Che’s ill-fated continuation of the Latin American Revolution in Bolivia) is taken from his “Bolivian Diary”. Needless to say, I’m pretty excited to see if these guys were able to make a movie that lives up to the monumental image of Che that I hold in my head. ..well, Del Toro still has yet to let me down, so I’m very optimistic.
Che will be shown in its entirety at the Uptown Theatre for only one week before it is officially released as a seperate features for individual viewing. Click here for more information on the showing and watch the trailer below:
Can’t wait to get your hands all over the new Flight of the Concords mp3s every sunday after their new episodes? Well during Season 2 each Monday after the episode airs, the duo will release the songs from that episode on iTunes for download. A nice gift to go along with the new episodes I’d say.
So no complaints here, I’ll definitely be rocking out every Monday to the sweet sounds of hilarious parody-folk, and I hope you will be too. If you haven’t streamed the first episode of Season 2 yet you’re missing out, lucky for you the site is still streaming it here.
Go and indulge yourself, I have about three times now thanks to this damned Minnesota winter. Can you say Cabin Fever?? Well, I can.
First and foremost I want to let you all know that this issue that is going on with J Dilla’s estate is absolute bulshit. Apparently these people are not giving any of the money that is rightfully owed to Dilla’s mother (Ma Dukes) and Dilla’s children. The IRS is claiming that it’s because of some tax issues that he had accumulated.
In the February version of Vibe magazine you will find a pretty big article about the genius and legend J Dilla. From what I’ve read (click “read” for article) on the Stones Throw website, this might be the best article that I’ve ever read on Dilla because it’s very in depth. It talks a lot about what is going on with the Dilla estate right now, the condition of Ma Dukes herself (she was recently diagnosed with Lupus, the same disease that took her son’s life) and what is going on with his daughters. Another thing that is very interesting is the issue looming about last year’s mixtape classic “Dillagenece” with Busta Rhymes. It appears that Dilla’s so called “estate” is trying to sue Busta over the use of the beats on the album saying that he never payed for them. Ma Dukes however has a different take on the situation: “He got a raw deal,” she says, “Busta didn’t take anything from anybody.”
If you are a fan of Dilla this is a must read for you. I can tell you that when I’m out and about picking up the new Beat Konducta album, I will also be picking up this issue of Vibe (despite the fact that Kanye’s dumbass is on the cover) for my collection. I really hope that Ma Dukes is able to get these issues resolved because she is in a very unfortunate situation right now and she needs all the help she can get. This man is one of the most influential people that I’ve ever had the experience of learning about and there is no reason that this legal “limbo” should be going on right now.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
As many of you already know, Pharoahe Monch is one of the best emcees in the game. The same would be true about his freestyling capabilities as shown on DJ Green Lantern’s “OnDaSpot Freestyle” segment. This video is only about two minutes long but it makes a huge impact because the way this guy can twist words is impeccable.
Death metal, black metal and doom metal – to an outsider of metal, there’s little distinction between any of these labels. To a knowledgeable listener, though, these terms take on a new life. These are weighty words known to describe the most extreme of all metal music. Each of these underground breeds of metal specialize in their own flavor of assault – from the brutal riffing of death to the overwhelming atmosphere of black metal to the bleak, plodding heaviness of doom. In recent years, metal fans have benefited from a sea of bloodthirsty new bands that are pushing the extremes of these styles to an incomprehensible degree while each is trying to make their own lasting mark on genre. One of of my favorite recent releases of this kind is Horoskopus, by Seattle’s Book of Black Earth, an album of chaotic headbanging metal anthems balancing on an ungodly trinity all of the extremes – death, black, doom \m/
Whether it’s a crushing groove, a spine-tingling solo, a wall of noise, or an addictive hook, Book of Black Earth connects the dots seamlessly. The focus behind the attack is powered with massive, layered soundscapes and brutal death metal riffing. When it comes to death metal albums like this one, if it’s big & beautiful, I’m all for it, and thankfully Book of Black Earth never forgets this. However, despite all of the albums maniacal power, the true beauty of this album is rooted in the band’s ability to simulataneously contrast the deadly brutality with blackened, psychedelic soundwaves and doomy tonal ambience. It seems to find a very unique marriage between what I enjoy in all of my music – both catchy and extreme. Horoskopus is an intense, demanding, fun, and eye-opening release and a definite buy for any fan of extreme metal.
I was first tipped off on this track by the fine people over at our Minnesota counterpart Culture Bully, and I couldn’t be thankful enough. As their article states, the beat from this Aesop Rock and Del the Funky Homosapian collaboration is the foundation for the new Eminem track that’s recently leaked and been floating around the world of all things Marshall Mathers for a few weeks now. I’m not ready to give any new Eminem a listen to until it’s finished on the production line, so I’ll just get a quick word in on the beat instead. “Preservation” comes from some Wu-Tang material in 2005, but I’m just hearing it now for the first time. And if you’re in the same boat as I was and have enjoyed any past material from either of the artists you need to give this track a spin, I mean, it’s the only track that I’ve played in the last week from an artist without a fake name or mask (animal collective). The two collaborators work together perfectly and create a track that not only flows better vocally than 90% of rap out there, but the piano key sample in the background is absolute fire. Not much else to say about it, other than I highly suggest it for anybody interested in anything hip-hop. Until next time, enjoy!
Mr. Del The Funky in all his close-up glory
As if you haven’t heard enough from me on Elzhi & Black Milk this last year, HipHop DX did a feature on these two at the end of last year in their Producer’s Corner. Elzhi & Black Milk took the Hip-Hop game by storm last year by releasing two of the best albums of 2008. This is a great interview and it makes for a long but very great read. If you like both of these artists (as I do very much) I would highly suggest that you read this article because it is very in depth and to the point.
Jump on over to HipHop DX and check out the article for yourself.
Also, if you didn’t get a chance to read my reviews of either of these albums here is your chance again.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
This is a video for a single off of N.A.S.A’s upcoming debut Spirit of Apollo which hits shelves February 17th. If I were you guys I would be marking that date on the calendar because this album is really going to be something very special. The guest list on this album is more expansive than anything I’ve seen in the last few years and it should make for a classic. The visuals and art in this video are amazing, and Chuck D drops an earth shattering verse to make sure you all know that he still has it.
The Tracklist:
01. Intro
02. The People Tree (feat. David Byrne, Chali 2na, Gift of Gab,& Z-Trip)
03. Money (feat. David Byrne, Chuck D, Ras Congo, Seu Jorge, & Z-Trip)
04. NASA Music (feat. Method Man, E-40, & DJ Swamp)
05. Way Down (feat. RZA, Barbie Hatch, & John Frusciante)
06. Hip Hop (feat. KRS-One, Fatlip, & Slim Kid Tre)
07. Four Rooms, Earth View
08. Strange Enough (feat. Karen O, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, & Fatlip)
09. Spacious Thoughts (feat. Tom Waits & Kool Keith)
10. Gifted (feat. Kanye West, Santogold, & Lykke Li)
11. A Volta (feat. Sizzla, Amanda Blank, & Lovefoxxx)
12. There’s a Party (feat. George Clinton & Chali 2na)
13. Whachadoin? (feat. Spank Rock, M.I.A., Santogold & Nick Zinner)
14. O Pato (feat. Kool Kojak & DJ Babão)
15. Samba Soul (feat. Del Tha Funkee Homosapien & DJ Qbert)
16. The Mayor (feat. The Cool Kids, Ghostface Killah, DJ AM & Scarface)
17. N.A.S.A. Anthem
Hard Knock TV recently did an interview with one of the greatest emcees of all time Talib Kweli. Kweli addresses a few very key issues. There are actually two parts to the interview. In the first video Kweli addresses a question about the song that he did for Lauryn Hill called “Ms. Hill” (which I may add is incredibly beautiful), as well as the influence that J Dilla has had on Kweli and his group of peers/musicians. In the second video he talks about Hi-Tek as well as addressing the issues about people thinking that Reflection Eternal was a “soft” record.
This is a great interview because I love hearing what this man has to say. He is by far one of the most intelligent minds in Hip-Hop and has been for just about ten years now. Kweli will be around for a long time in the world of Hip-Hop and I really can’t wait to see what he is going to come out with next. We all know that he has reunited with Hi-Tek and there has also been talks of another Black Star record. I can’t honestly tell you how overjoyed I would be if I get to see either of these albums come out this year.
MIND INVERSION 