If you haven’t heard, Gold Dust is putting out an album of live Doom performances called Expektoration. To be honest I’m not really expecting much from it – Doom’s shows are good when he actually shows up but my general impression of most live rap albums has been negative. Still, the promo stuff Gold Dust is releasing for the album is surprisingly solid, so it might end up worthwhile after all. Rehashed Doom is better than no Doom I suppose.
Some dope shit from our inbox. Chicago’s F.Stokes is a versatile rapper, with a manner ranging from fast and forceful to mellow and measured. I usually prefer the latter, but in Stokes’ case the slower cadence didn’t engage me as much as the brisk delivery heard in the songs below. This rapid-fire approach works particularly well on Jo Jo Dancer, where Stokes avoids the southern-ish inflection and just exhales his verse with much intensity but little stylization.
After recently beating out an attempted murder charge, Rock a.k.a The Rockness Monstah of Heltah Skeltah is back with his latest Mix CD project Rockin Out West, available September 7th, 2010 for physical CD release only. The album is an ode to Rock’s time spent out on the West Coast in Los Angeles with guest features from Kurupt, Ras Kass, Nate Dogg, and more.
“Rockin Out West is my latest gem” says Rock. “Most diamonds are rocks that form under high-pressure high-temperature conditions but at the end you get something beautiful, something special, a gem. That’s all a metaphor for the case I faced over the past two and a half years. The case and the pressure I was under created the climate that gave me the fuel and the fire to do this project. It happened on accident, but then again I don’t really believe in accidents.”
With Rock’s powerful voice and hard hitting rhymes over classic West Coast hits, Rock is confident in the release, elaborating “To all of my fans and supporters, old and new, this gem is my gift to you! Rock on!”
Rock will be releasing several music videos from the forthcoming Mix CD, in the meantime fans can listen to the latest leak off Rockin Out West, “Rockridah” as Rock’s distinctive sound flows over 2Pac’s classic “Ambitionz Az A Ridah” here: “Rockridah” SoundCloud Link: http://bit.ly/bHqu0S
Rockin Out West Official Track Listing:
1- Suge Intro
2- West Coast Rockin
3- Da Ness Episode
4- Watch Out
5- Gangsta Boogie
6- Meet n Greet feat. Kurupt
7- Underground
8- Puffin n Drankin
9- Da Shitsong
10- Still Rockin
11- Rockridah
12- Who Wanna Rock
13- WestCoastBlah
14- CantBrag, CantComplain
15- Tha Villest
16- Not Goin Out feat. Ras Kass
17- Big Heaters
18- Rocko feat. Po-Rilla
19- MostWanned
20- Respect Da G-Code feat. Rockredd, Boblakk, Rudyrockwell
21- Walk Like a G feat. Nate Dogg
22- Murdererer
23- Help Me
24- Da Dirtiest
25- Warning
26- Brite Lites Big Cities
27- Paid Niggas feat. Munchdawg, Pressha Dinero
28- Temp Murda
Numero continues doing god’s work as the greatest reissue label around. This trailer is for their upcoming Syl Johnson anthology. You can preview and pre-order this essential set here
I really hope Numero puts together a tour to promote this, maybe something in the vein of their Eccentric Soul Revue with Syl as a headliner. Watching the man unerringly blaze through ‘Is it because I’m black’ while he was (seemingly) too drunk to stand was one of my favorite live music moments of 2009. Do not miss one of his shows if you have a chance to see one.
Another one from The Stargazing Soundtrack, featuring some young Midwest talents. The song is actually a rework of a track featured on The Prologue Pt. 1. Overall, this mixtape is looking really good so far. I’m tempted to ignore all further leaks from it just so it’s all still new to me once it comes out. That probably wont happen though.
Today Ras Kass and Rhettmatic’s A.D.I.D.A.S. drops. You can download all 26 tracks now by going to http://raskass.bandcamp.com
Enter the promo code hrsmn at checkout to save 30%, but get it soon because the promo code expires at midnight on July 22nd!! (*you can listen to the entire album for free before purchasing)
I like that The Heliocentrics are now becoming the go-to band for cult jazz revivalism. After the successful collaboration with Mulatu, Strut and Now-Again are pairing the band with obscure exotic jazz hero Lloyd Miller. The album will be called OST, and what’s been released from it so far sounds like the right combination of cool and weird (the two songs are below). You can read more about this on the Strut website.
ihadanaccidentrecords has been putting out a lot of bizarre, curiously arranged musical fits of cacophony over the last couple of years. Mr. Felix carries on the tradition with Clean. A new and limited edition (only 30) cassette release you can scoop hear.
If you’re stridently anti-emo/Pete Wentz, walk away now. But if you like purposefully irreverent songs with catchy melodies juxtaposed against ultimately depressing vocals and lyrics, this is for you.
