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It’s been a little while since I posted up some muzak, and indeed, Def Jux founder El-P’s Weareallgoingtoburninhellmegamixxx3 could easily be what you would listen to while on hold with your insurance company, or riding the elevator to your office, in some far flung, totally awesome version of the future that’s absolutely never going to happen. Although I guess it wouldn’t be that awesome if you still had to deal with insurance company goons, or even still had to take elevators for that matter, instead of just, you know, teleporting everywhere. Man, even in the cool versions of the future things still suck. It’s hard to get excited about shit when you view the world with pessimism-colored glasses, I guess.

Nonetheless, I’m not convinced that we are all actually going to burn in hell either. After all, hell is just the evil, entirely black licorice version of Candyland that you go to if you don’t follow all of King Kandy’s stupid rules. And the logic of pessimism doesn’t really apply to the illogical world of fairy tales, or religion, whatever term you prefer.

Moving away from that particular train of thought, as its sole destination is the township of heated arguments and hurt feelings… if there’s anything that could easily distract you from an uncomfortable conversation about religion, it’d be El-P’s newest monster of an instrumental album. Known for his method of throwing equal parts boom-bap and Blade Runner in a blender, and seeing what kind of electronic hip-hop mutant comes out, Megamixxx3 is probably El-Producto’s most refined work to date. Paranoia and menace run thick throughout the album’s 46-minute run time, as entire dystopian cityscapes throb in your mind. This is a soundtrack for the type of sci-fi that’s drenched with smog and sin, providing the impeccable bassline behind the urban sprawl’s evil, mechanical heart.

However, this is far from an ambient album — lush walls of sound are constructed with meticulous care, dripping with synths, strings, and the chirping of small robotic insects. All the while, truly inhuman, lumbering beats march out of your speakers, keeping your head bobbing and no doubt inspiring some genuinely mean bass faces across the nation.

Staying faithful to his own ultramodern microcosm, El-P’s tracks have the attention span of a future raised on streaming video and smart phone apps. Most of the segments clocks in around the two-minute mark, masterfully evolving into the next section to create a relentless, ominous atmosphere with loads of sci-fi swagger. Highly recommended for that last post-apocalyptic themed pool party of the summer.

With mainstream music of all kinds getting dumber and less inspired by the day, along with painful wait times between underground releases, I’ve found myself searching for head bobbers and bangers in stranger territories. Lately I’ve been excavating the deep, rich mines of DJ instrumental albums. And for those of you who crave psychedelia and a solid bass line equally, this is exciting territory to be mining.

Cut Chemist - photo by Oliver Shyal Beardsley

Cut Chemist’s 2006 debut full length, The Audience’s Listening, has a stranglehold in my iTunes “Recent Played” playlist right now, and with good reason. With his track record of producing neck-breaking beats for Jurassic 5, checking out his solo material should be pretty much a no brainer. Seriously, check your brain at the door — smoke some California medicine, flip this on, and prepare for blastoff. 

The Audience’s Listening is incredibly diverse, as Cut Chemist liberally rifles through samples and rearranges them into some truly mind-blowing soundscapes. After a few introductory spins, the listener is finally able to peel their slacking jaw off their desk and move on to actually digging into the songs. This is an album that demands numerous play-throughs to fully appreciate, although I suspect any fans of scratching, trip hop, and backpack rap will be coming back to it quite willingly anyway.

It’s an exciting 47 minutes to behold — a treasure chest of world beats, turntable feats, and party fuel a la The Avalanches. And since the Apocalypse is likely to arrive before The Avalanches’ long-awaited followup, Cut Chemist’s whacked-out concoctions are a fine substitute for all those times you feel like going on a sonic vacation.

Anyway, before I go, I wanted to sprinkle a little pixie dust in your eye. 

Maybe it’s not quite magical, but it’s still a heck of an even number to randomly hit. Wish I had been paying attention when 666 rolled around a few years ago. I would have even taken 6666 — evil with a touch of extra evil. Whatever. There’s no real significance to 9000, except that after another year or so, I’ll forsake a 4 digit song count forever. Or at least until I clean out the 8000 or so songs I have that I never listen to. Never mind that now — we’re going straight on til’ 10 grand.

It was with great hesitation that I downloaded the latest mashup album to float into my net, (500) Days of Weezy. For one thing, I haven’t seen (500) Days of Summer, because I heard it was for people who enjoy crying, and the album employs the film’s soundtrack as samples for all of the beats. Additionally, I’m just really fucking tired of Lil’ Wayne. I’m glad he went to jail. That’s right, I said it. I think we all needed a break from Weezy, personally. And Weezy probably needed a break from rotting his stomach with children’s prescription cough syrup.

This is not a mashup album, this is an album about Wayne. 

In any case, (500) Days of Weezy turned out to be quite a surprise, loaded with some of the most enjoyable and surprising mashups I’ve heard lately. A major reason the album is so compelling is the moodiness created by samples from classic Morrissey and Simon & Garfunkel songs, interspersed with clips of Wayne’s revealing interview with Katie Couric. The fact that producer My Sick Uncle was able to create something that sounds this honest and new out of entirely derivative material is an achievement.

People are quick to dismiss mashups, both music snobs and music morons alike, and it’s not entirely undeserved. Today, a simple A + B mashup is about as done to death as J. Howard Marshall. It’s hard to take a shitty song and make it not shitty, but that’s exactly why good mashups are impressive. I’m more than happy to let a bunch of geeks with laptops and beards do what they can to salvage the dreck today’s starlets hurl upon the charts.

Fortunately, since most of the obvious blends have been thoroughly plundered at this point, hopeful mashup DJs have been forced to get a little more creative. Lately, a bevy of mashup concept albums have been released. While this can be something of a hit or miss endeavor, they’re still some of the most original remix projects I’ve heard in a long time. As it turns out, there’s plenty of gold left to be mined if you abandon the Top 40 meets Top 40 formula. Huge surprise, I know.

To be honest, this is the best Lil’ Wayne material I’ve heard in a long time. There are miles more depth here than in the stillborn Rebirth. And the unusual collection of instrumentals backing his rhymes are a welcome breath of fresh air for the hoarse rapper whose sound has gotten significantly watered down due to over saturation. Instead of generic club bangers and weird autotuned rap ballads about getting your dick sucked, we get an entirely unique product: something… well, something worth listening to.

My ongoing love affair with Sean Daley, aka Slug, aka Seven, aka the vocal half of underground hip hop darling Atmosphere, has been pretty well documented on this blog. The rest of my experience with Slug can be found buried in public records. That restraining order doesn’t stop me from listening to the music, Sean — shoulda thought of that!

Anyway, like so many rap wunderkinds, Slug has dabbled with as many side projects as substances… which can have addictive results — for both him and his listeners, depending on which half of that comparison you’re talking about. Such is the case with Felt, Slug’s ongoing collaboration with Murs of Living Legends, who’s not too shabby at putting together a good 16 either.

Murs and Slug - photo via urchicago.com

To date, the duo have released three separate albums, each featuring a different producer stirring their own distinct mixture of loops and instrumentals into the brew. This keeps things fresh, by occasionally forcing the emcees out of their comfort zone, and simply by hearing them rap over beats that may be atypical of their usual style. Felt’s first album was produced by The Grouch (of Living Legends), their second album was produced by Ant (of Atmosphere), and their third album was produced by Aesop Rock (of… himself), so each release has an individual sound, which makes them a lot like Lucky Charms or Pokemon — a golden recommendation I dare any critic to best.

Each album has been named after a different female actress (Christina Ricci, Lisa Bonet & Rosie Perez) and each features two songs named after other celebrities (Suzanne Vega, Rick James, Morris Day, Marvin Gaye, Kevin Spacey & Paul Reubens). I have to imagine this is intentional, if only because a coincidence of that magnitude would split my brain in half almost immediately.

Originally, the title of the first album was decided based on a wager between the two rappers over who could sleep with Christina Ricci first — to date, neither has been successful. Which, I suppose, is why they move on to new actresses every couple years. Like Rosie Perez for example… who you may know as that “adorable little cop” from Pineapple Express:

To be clear, the only real reason I posted that clip was for the two seconds when Rosie Perez shoots the hapless bystander in the arm. That’s what you get for wearing an over-sized windbreaker, dickbag!

I’ll leave you with one last track, from The Hood Internet’s recent mash-up album of Felt 3 and Tobacco’s latest journey into the realm of psychedelic indie rock, Maniac Meat. Thanks to the mind-bending beats, the 5 track EP is pretty much complete insanity and boy, does it ever have its hooks in me.

That was a music pun, I don’t know if you guys got that or not, what with the super obvious italics all up in your face. But I couldn’t bear to see it go to waste in case you’re less of a nerd than I am.

Last night, when I went skateboarding in the hopes of avoiding the sun’s deadliest noontime rays, it was still so goddamned hot I think my genome mutated. This winter, I spent months trapped inside my cinder-block castle in Chicago, performing dark rituals in the hope of encouraging summer’s early arrival. Well, it’s pretty much just on schedule, nonetheless, summer’s here in a big way — after a week of 90+ degree temperatures, I envision the entire Northeast looking like a frying egg in one of those old-school anti-drug ads. Indeed, I can hear the sizzling from here… oh shit, actually, that’s just my flesh. Moving on.

Temperatures this steamy call for a few things, preferably in order — good tunes, an abundance of beers to get you nice, and by “nice” I mean really, really dehydrated, and finally, your very own Crocodile Mile. Now, I won’t pretend to know your preference in alcoholic beverages so you’re going to have to handle that on your own, and I better not see you eyeing my Crocodile Mile again. But I can provide you with some awesome jams, and can pretty much assure you that your summer will suck if you don’t download the Mos Dub remix album produced by Max Tannone.

Mos Def - photo via capcomsarcade.com

The producer behind the well-received Jaydiohead mashup album put out some fucking HEAT a couple months ago, just in time for the sweltering fourth of the year. The album features a number of Mos Def and Black Star tracks remixed with classic dub reggae plates and they work so well together it’s kind of hard to believe it wasn’t done before. The highest point of achievement for any remix or mashup is to actually improve on the original source material, and at least in my opinion, a lot of these tracks are far better than Mos Def’s originals. This is a creative, original project that’s expertly produced and simply different.

Can I issue an open call for more dub-inspired beats in hip hop going forward? Maybe it’s all the herb, or maybe I’m not thinking straight due to the sun-poisoning, but this shit is doing it for me in a major way right now. This is the sound of good times, of kicking back and cooling out, which is a very, aheh, refreshing thing lately. The case of Capri Sun I picked up earlier is probably a little more refreshing, but let’s not get into technicalities here. I was just trying to make you jealous, anyway.

Mos Def is consistently a creative voice in the increasingly homogeneous hip hop genre, so his solid lyrics with his laid-back delivery mixed with grooving, easy-going dub is not only a no-brainer, but a veritable instant classic. Download the album right here, right now, or put the rest of your pool parties this summer in serious jeopardy. Is that the kind of blood you want on your hands?

Recently, I found myself lost in a particularly shameful corner of the shameful mash-up world — the lost kingdom of hip hop remixes of video game soundtracks. And they weren’t tributes to just any old video games, they were tributes to some of the nerdiest video games ever made, Ocarina of Time and Final Fantasy VII. The shit that kids who never, ever go outside play. The shit that kids who actually, seriously want to be elves play. Indeed, the shit that capital “g” Gamers play. Are you wincing yet?

Unsurprisingly, Team Teamwork’s mash-ups of big hip-hop hits with the soundtracks for both games can only be the guiltiest of guilty pleasures. You see, The Ocarina of Rhyme and Vinyl Fantasy VII definitely belong in that kind of embarrassing “I don’t like hop hop but…” camp. And they both serve as further proof that nerdcore only exists because the aforementioned Gamers are so socially-retarded they can’t relate to anything that hasn’t been reworked to fit within their nacho cheese-coated, basement-dwelling worldview. That was mean. But you know what they say — the truth is mean.

The execution on many of the tracks is questionable at best, but there’s something infectious and intriguing about the projects all the same. A big reason why is that the beats sound like nothing you’ve heard paired with hip hop before. In the cringe-worthy cases, it’s because the beat was just never going to work as a hip hop track to begin with. But in some of the luckier pairings, they’re strange but just novel enough to work.

The first time I listened to these, I was mostly compelled by sheer interest and fascination with how goddamned fucking weird this shit was. I wasn’t sure if it was worth listening to ever again, but something hooked me. As time has gone by, that same weirdness has kept me coming back to these albums — each time discovering new things, like a Level 13 Nethermage scouring a zombie-infested dungeon for rupees. My final consensus is that the albums are worth checking out simply to hear something completely different from anything vaguely rap-related you’ve ever listened to. However, their staying power is limited because, let’s face it, sometimes experiments don’t quite succeed, like having intercourse with an N64, for example.

Sure, video games are great to play when you’re high, but as I grow older, that’s increasingly the realm in which they stay. And to be honest, that’s probably where these mixes should remain as well.

Despite pop music as a whole getting progressively shittier as the years go on, there’s been an inverted movement when it comes music videos. That alone says a lot about where our priorities are. The actual music means less than the barrage of visual stimulus that accompanies it. Plus, you can sneak product placement into music videos far more inconspicuously than adding a lyric like “Da da da da da, I’m lovin’ it!” into your hit single. Unless you’re the Black Eyed Peas, because they have no desire to even appear like legitimate musicians.

Anyway, occasionally there are great music videos with great songs behind them, and this one for French producer Breakbot’s “Baby, I’m Yours” featuring Irfane’s vocals is unquestionably one of them.

The animation was all hand-done with individual water color illustrations, which sounds like a serious pain in the ass. Apparently it took four months to complete, and the work obviously paid off. It’s the most beautiful and enthralling music video I’ve seen in quite some time. Granted, it might not get as many views (or ad dollars) as Lady Gaga’s latest leotard-clad spectacle, but this is a true work of art.

Four full length albums in, along with two fantastic hip hop remix albums, and production credits for some Kid Cudi tracks to boot, Mike Stroud and Evan Mast, the duo behind Ratatat, have established themselves as easily recognizable, incredibly consistent wall of sound to be reckoned with. Blending electro-pop with instrumental hip hop and about a billion layers of pan-genre hookiness, their screaming guitar riffs have become a sort of brand unto themselves. And it’s here that they find themselves upon the release of their fourth full length, the obviously titled LP4 — a group both elevated and perhaps shackled by their remarkable consistency.

This will be a polarizing album for their fans. Naturally, there will be the diehards who will celebrate it as an unbridled masterpiece. And then there are those who hate everything that becomes popular, and naturally, they’ll hate LP4 too. Truthfully, what this album deserves is a reaction favorable, but not quite ecstatic, between the two extremes. It’s another solid effort by Ratatat, full of hallucinogenic, head-bobbing tunes. And while they expand into new territory with the addition of ambitious string arrangements and lush orchestration, I can’t help but feel like it’s just more of the same.

Granted, some of that is likely due to the fact that, despite the increasingly diverse range of instrumentation and international influences, the boys are still following the same formula. They’re trying new things, but in the same old way. And that’s not to say that there’s anything on LP4 that’s even worthy of the adjective “bad”… but even the best tracks, like “Drugs” (posted below), don’t pack quite the same punch that their earlier work on Classics did.

NOTE: “Drugs” has been removed due to a copyright claim by XL Recordings. The album’s single, “Party with Children” has been posted instead, because I bend over for the man.

That said, “Drugs” is still a great song — and there are many more to be had on this release. But like real drugs, after too many doses, the user starts experiencing diminishing returns. I suppose their experimentation on this album was not nearly experimental enough — the novelty factor is gone. At this point, Ratatat has ceased to be groundbreaking. However, they are still interesting, and nothing if not sonically pleasing. One thing’s for sure, you’ll be hearing plenty more of these beats in the weeks and months to come, as a horde of less original producers latch onto the new material to fuel this year’s crop of hip hop mixtapes.

A few days ago, Adam Riff linked to “the only summer mixtape you’ll ever need.” A pretty bold claim, and an obviously false one at that, but it suckered me in anyway. The mixtape is called Sumor: Zwei, and I suggest you download it — soon your summer parties will be rocking into the zwei hours of the night.

The mixtape mostly features tracks released in 2010, with a varied guest list including, but not limited to, Big Boi, Major Lazer, Tobacco, Crookers, my man Mux Mool, and… uh… Robyn.

So yeah, I just posted a Robyn track. Look, it was produced by Diplo, and everything the man drips his powers over is more infectious than the herps to me. I can’t help it. I’m a bitch for those world beats, dogg! Regardless, if you can’t get into this because of some misguided sense of toughness, then you must be a bigger man than me. And by “bigger”, I mostly mean “considerably more terrified of being perceived as homosexual”. But also literally bigger, because my god, those breasts of yours look spectacular all pumped full of HGH.

Anyway, don’t get scared off too easily if you can’t bear the shame of people overhearing you listening to Robyn in the subway. This is a great party album, and for the most part it definitely feels like summer. Aside from the de facto mega club bangers, it’s pumped full of head-bob-worthy, chilled-out beats that only get better with a beer and a blunt.

Downsides? The mixtape takes a depressing turn halfway through “Side B”, which I suppose is apropos in a “mourning the end of Summer and all those bangin’ hookups” kind of way. Nonetheless, real life is depressing enough as it is, I don’t need my music to pick up any of the slack. It would have been nice to power through the entire second half of the mix with facemelters so we could spend the final days of summer partying our braincells into oblivion, instead of crying on the couch, snotting into a half-pint of Ben & Jerry’s. That’s what winter’s for, anyway.

P.S., sorry in advance if I made anyone catch an epileptic seizure over something as dumb as a Jungle Book animated gif.

Rappers I couldn’t live without (an incomplete list)¹:

Atmosphere (Slug)

Slug - photo via blogs.creativeloafing.com

So I’m an emo backpacker. So what.

Seriously though, maybe he doesn’t do it for you if you’re not a clinically depressed husk of a human being — but nobody could rap about self-hatred, alcoholism, and relationship problems with the humor and charisma that Slug delivers. With his highly developed, conversational style of story-telling, it’s easy to relate to his raps… at least for me. Non-husks need not apply.

The Gift of Gab

The Gift of Gab - photo via amoeba.com

His skill level is indisputable. That’s all there is to it. Whether it’s in Blackalicious, The Mighty Underdogs, or on his solo albums, he’s awesome on every track. Gab is a master of his craft, a true innovator… a magician.

Aesop Rock

Aesop Rock - photo via delarge.co.uk

I like that photo of Aesop Rock because he looks totally crazed. And I like Aesop Rock because he’s experimental and has a huge vocabulary… and well, he’s totally crazed. He may not suit my daily needs as well as some other names on this list. He may not be nearly as accessible, but he’s unlike anybody else, and in a music industry as flooded with generic noise as ours is, that counts for a lot.

DOOM/MF Doom/King Geedorah/Madvillain/Victor Vaughn/ad nauseum

DOOM - photo via blog.hopeglory.com

Just since some people wear a mask don’t mean they did nothin’ automatically - DANGERDOOM

Drunk, horse from too many blunts, slurring and rasping his way through relentless punchlines and nostalgic pop culture references, Metal Fingers Doom is unmistakable. And yeah, I guess the multiple personalities and big silver mask might also have something to do with that.

Chali 2na

Chali 2na - photo via theagencygroup.com

While there are other more prolific and adventurous emcees I could put here (Del was a serious contender), 2na Fish elevates any group song he’s on. “The verbal Herman Munster” works best in a b-boy group, with his distinct baritone voice and fast flow peppered with literary devices. His solo work is occasionally routine, and lacks that certain chemistry he had with the other Jurassic 5 dudes. But nearly all of his parts in Jurassic 5 before the whiff that was Feedback are flawless and entrancing.

Just think about Jurassic 5 — they would have kinda sucked without 2na. Set, point, match.

Sorry Del. If we were talking about hip hop albums, 3030 would top the list. Plus, there’s always room for one more… I’m just tired and this post is overlong as it is. So, instead of officially putting Diesel on the list, I think I’d rather just do as Del does, and smoke some BMs — Bob Marleys, that is.

¹All current champions are subject to change.

Despite nearly a decade of consistent releases, Los Angeles rapper Murs is still only “underground successful” despite inking an ill-fated deal with Warner Brothers. His albums sell well enough to make a living, but it’s not like your average knuckle-dragger at the club, sipping on prescription Patron, has any clue who he is. But those who know Murs, know that he’s always at his best when producer 9^th Wonder is manning the boards. 

Murs - photo via mixtapemixtape.com

And so we find ourselves with their fourth collaborative album, Fornever. And while their first release project, Murs 3:16: The 9^th Edition set the bar perhaps a bit too high, the new album still delivers exactly what you’d expect from the duo. It’s easy to see that the two work well together — Murs’ albums produced by 9^th are where he really shines, particularly compared to the aforementioned Warner Brothers fumble. The soulful, sample-heavy beats, blending equal parts Motown and g-funk, serve as the perfect chilled-out, head-bobbing compliment to Murs’ honest, straightforward and everyday-insightful rhymes.

For example, “The Lick” might not break any new ground lyrically — hip hop has certainly spent plenty of time dwelling on the subject of drinking on the corner and hitting the bodega — nonetheless, it’s hard not to catch some of the infectious good times imbued in the track thanks to 9^th Wonder’s, erm, wonderful beat.

Fornever sees MURS sticking to simple storytelling — sharing little pieces of his day-to-day existence in each song. The songs are forthcoming, relatable, and punctuated with plenty of humor. If you’re one of those confused kids who expect Michael-Bay-league adrenaline shots to the mainline, this probably isn’t your album. But if you look for the same things in hip hop that you listen to any good music for, Fornever is an easygoing, feel-good way to spend 40 minutes.