Best Albums of 2012: #3. Kendrick Lamar: Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City

Kendrick Lamar's major label debut is the best hip hop album of the year, and has been appearing on many critics lists as best album of the year.  Kendrick Lamar was previously in the hip hop supergroup, Black Hippy, along with Ab-Soul and Schoolboy Q, and now has branched out on his own and released Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City just a few months ago.  It's lyrically a concept album ("a short film", as Lamar calls it)--an autobiographical account of growing up in Compton.  Ironically enough (as I just featured Nas on my last post), I recently read an article on "Hip Hop Dx" comparing Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City to Nas's Illmatic album, calling it "the West Coast Illmatic".   I agree with that comparison as Lamar is a great storyteller and rapper, just as Nas can be when he's on his game.  I can't necessarily put it up on Illmatic's level yet--it has to stand the test of time, but Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City is definitely a solid, entertaining release and one of my favorite albums of the year.

    

Best Albums of 2012: #4. Nas: Life Is Good

 "Nas is back", I've heard (and read) many times over the years after each new release has dropped.  This time it's for real.  After years of spotty releases, Nas has released Life is Good, undoubtedly his best album since his famed debut Illmatic dropped in '94.  What is so cool in regards to Nas is that as he is approaching 40 years old, he is tackling topics that pertain to his age and where he's at in his life (a rare occurrence in the rap game--hip hop generally tackles subjects that pertain to dudes in their teens and twenties).  He's not trying to sound like some young rapper dude.  Instead, he is tackling subjects like on "Daughters" about raising his teenage daughter and the mistakes he's made as a single parent.  Life is Good also features my favorite single of 2012, "The Don". 

 

Plenty of head nodders on this album. Life is Good is #4 of my favorite albums of 2012.  It's great to see Nas release such a solid album from beginning to end (with the exception of "Summer on Smash"-yikes). One of my favorite MC's of all-time, I definitely recommend you pick up this album. 

 

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, you all!  Hope you get lots of good candy, and stay safe out there!

Another Booker T. Joint

I know I featured Booker T & the MGs in a post not too long ago in regards to their Beatles Abbey Road homage album McLemore Avenue, but I've been listening to much of their catalog quite frequently recently, as I have most of their 60's and early 70's releases, with the exception of Uptight.  It also felt right to feature another post on the MGs, as longtime bassist Duck Dunn passed away just recently.  I would have to put their 1971 release Melting Pot among my favorite of their albums.  The first time I ever heard the title track, I immediately realized that I did know this song long before I ever "knew" that I knew it, as I was familiar with Big Daddy Kane sampling it on his track "Another Victory".  As much as I love their earlier releases like Green Onions and Soul Dressing, Melting Pot speaks to me the most, probably because it is more groove-oriented then their previous releases.  Here's the real deal, Booker T & the MG's "Melting Pot".

 Here's Big Daddy Kane "Another Victory" (sampling "Melting Pot").

     

R.I.P. Adam Yauch

It's a very sad day in the world of hip hop, and pop music in general.  When hearing this morning of Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys (a.k.a. "MCA") death, I immediately felt like a big piece of my childhood was lost for good.  I  remember when "Fight for Your Right to Party" was all over MTV.  I remember first hearing Paul's Boutique and not necessarily being blown away initially but by the fourth or fifth listen, fully realizing it's brilliance.  I remember first digging Check Your Head and being amazed, as I didn't know they could play INSTRUMENTS!  I remember Ill Communication in the summer of 1994, going into my senior year of high school, and playing the crap out of that album while driving around my hometown of Bellingham, Washington.  I remember Hello Nasty, another summer album of mine in college, staying alone in a three bedroom campus home at the University of Portland, and playing that album and jumping around the house by myself (probably drunk).  I must admit that I haven't listened much to their recent releases, heard good things about Hot Sauce Committee but just haven't checked it out. However, the Beasties have always been a part of my life, no matter what musical phase I was going through in my life.  They were one of my introductions into the world of hip hop, and I got into the game because with them, along with Public Enemy.  I still pull out Paul's Boutique and Check Your Head at least once or twice a year.  I will always love their music, and will miss Adam Yauch.

      

San Francisco Treats (Part I)

I spent three nights in San Francisco with my wife over the weekend.  I was mainly there for a conference, but also got to do some music shopping.  I came away with 12 new albums, some I've always been familiar with, and some not as much, but all were on my wishlist to pick up.  Places like Amoeba Records, and Rasputin Music in San Francisco were my main stores of purchasing.  So what did I pick up?  A crazy avant garde Brazilian album by Lula Cortes and Ze Ramalho called Paebiru (see above picture of album cover), among many others of Soul, Jazz, Hip Hop, and Latin nature.  For the last four days of this week, I'll focus on three tracks from three albums each day that I purchased over this past weekend.   Here are three of the twelve albums I purchased over the weekend, along with a track from the album:

1.  Lula Cortes e Ze Ramalho Paebiru--crazy, mysterious, Brazilian music released in 1974.  At times Jazzy, folky, and experimental, sounds all at once, Paebiru is certainly an intriguing listen.

2.  Diamond and the Psychotic Neurotics Stunts, Blunts, & Hip Hop.  Diamond D shines on his solo debut, released in 1992, and this album shows how much he was one of the most underrated rappers/producers in the game.

 3.  Ramsey Lewis Funky Serenity.  The only Ramsey I owned up to this point was the magnificent Sun Goddess.  Funky Serenity was released just prior to Sun Goddess, so the feeling is similar (though without Earth, Wind, & Fire helping out).

When Nothings Left

Song of the day, featuring Exile sampling Otis Redding's "That's How Strong My Love Is".  I loved Exile's production on Blu Below the Heavens album, and while I'm not necessarily feeling this album as a whole, I really enjoy this track.  Magic can still be created on a 4 track!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!  I hope you all enjoy spending quality time with your families, and y'all get what you want!

Old School Video Focus: Super-Wolf "Super-Wolf Can Do It"

                                                                            

"Old School Video Focus" is turning into "Old School Hip Hop Video Focus", as I'm slowly realizing that a lot of my favorite videos are of the late 70's/early 80's hip hop variety.   Today, I'm featuring Super-Wolf, and the track "Super-Wolf Can Do It".  Say what you want about Sugar Hill Records (and there have been a lot of negative press regarding how the Robinson's treated their artists, but that's a whole other story), they had an ear for music, an eye for talent, and a vision on how to market their product.  Sugar Hill Records helped bring hip hop to the masses.  Before the Robinson's and Sugar Hill Records, hip hop was just an underground street/NYC thing, but songs like Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight", and Grandmaster Flash's "The Message" helped bring the genre of hip hop into the public eye, and for that, Sugar Hill Records should be commended.  Anyway, I don't know anything of the artist Super-Wolf, but I dig the song, of which I first heard it after buying The Sugar Hill Records Story box set.  Check it out!  Super-Wolf Can Do It! 

Old School Video Focus: Heavy D. & The Boyz "We Got Our Own Thing"

I found Heavy D. & The Boyz Big Tyme on vinyl at the Goodwill a few weeks ago, and was suprised to hear how well it has held up over the years.  Released in 1990, Big Tyme featured the single "We Got Our Own Thing", and the subsequent video that was released to the public showed that, for a big dude, Heavy D. had some amazing dance moves.  Heavy D. passed away just last month of pneumonia, at the young age of 44. 
R.I.P. Heavy D.

 

Old School Video Focus: Mantronix "Bassline"

For today's classic old school video focus, I thought I'd go way back in the hip hop world to the mid-80's with electro hip hoppers Mantronix.  Taken off of their seminal first album Mantronix:  The Album, "Bassline" is not only a classic hip hop track, the video is so freaking cool as well.  Check it out!

Soul & Jazz vs. Rock--Evaluating a Music Collection

Blurred snapshot of a portion of my cd collection

Blurred snapshot of a small selection of my 45's

Recently, I've been in a music purging mode, getting rid of lots of albums that I didn't see the purpose of owning anymore.  This is not anything new for me (see May 11, 2011 Soul Excursion post titled "Binging and Purging--Music Style!").  In fact, it's almost a monthly event that I take out 10-20 albums that I don't see myself listening to anymore, and trading them in for something new--new as in usually something from the 60's/70's soul era, 60's/70's jazz era, or 90's hip hop.  As I've noticed recently, I have almost double the amount of soul and jazz albums then I do rock albums, which it seems my rock collection has dwindled over the past few years as some of my old rock albums are the first ones to go in trade.  In evaluating this observation, clearly this is because I hardly ever listen to any rock music anymore, from any era, and this has been that way for over a few years now.   The only rock I generally listen to is The Beatles (and occasionally Bee Gees, Donovan, or Elliott Smith), which the entire Soul Excursion family enjoys and is listened to frequently on road trips. This past weekend, I went on another music selling/buying binge, and thought I'd feature a few tracks off of new purchases from this past weekend.

The first track is the title track off of jazz drummer Billy Cobham's 1975 release A Funky Thide of Sings.  Great funky jazz, with some crazy synths and guitars included, the title track would've sounded perfect on a film straight from the 70's.   

I'm a big Roy Ayers fan, so I was excited when I stumbled upon Cincinnati's own RAMP, and their only release, Come Into Knowledge.  Come Into Knowledge was released in 1977, and Ayers produced this album, and wrote some of the songs as well.  "Everybody Loves The Sunshine" is one of my favorite tracks by RAMP.  

I picked up a classic hip hop album by Oakland's Souls of Mischief, 93 'Til Infinity.  Released in 1993, I don't know how I slept on those cats for so long, when I have most of the essential hip hop releases from the 90's.  Somehow, 93 'Til Infinity has been on my list to buy for years but have never gotten the chance to do so.  I decided to scoop it up and glad I did, as it's one of those staples of 90's essential hip hop albums, well worth picking up. Here's the track and video for "Never No More". 

Lastly, I felt like including a James Brown track off of Black Caesar, which I actually picked up over a week ago while visiting Portland for the weekend.  JB released his soundtrack to the blaxploitation flick Black Caesar in 1973.  It seems as though every major soul artist was creating a soundtrack to a blaxploitation film during this time (Curtis Mayfield Superfly, Isaac Hayes Shaft, Marvin Gaye Trouble Man, Willie Hutch The Mack, and Edwin Starr Hell Up in Harlem, to name a few of the best), and Brown doesn't disappoint with this soundtrack.  I have about a dozen James Brown albums, and have always wanted to pick up Black Caesar, so I was stoked to find this for $5.  Very groove-heavy instrumentals, as much of James Brown's albums were during this time.  Good stuff, though in terms of James Brown's 70's albums, I like The Payback, and In The Jungle Groove better.

 

Back In The Day, It Was All Good

The Fat Boys in their hayday

 I'll contribute a more lengthy post later in the week when I have the time and energy, but in the meantime, enjoy one of my favorite videos of all time.  Always a riot, The Fat Boys were the inspiration for my horribly attempted beatboxing back in the day as an impressionable 12 year old after seeing them for the first time on Yo! MTV Raps! many, many years ago.  I still pull out the occasional Fat Boys track on a rare occasion...

Kanye West and Jay-Z: Watch The Throne

The long anticipated Kanye West/Jay-Z album Watch the Throne, finally hit the stores Friday morning. I picked up my copy and like it for the most part, but have some mixed feelings about it.  It's great hearing Kanye and Jay-Z rapping together, on top of their game.  Upon my first two listens, there are some tracks I love ("That's My Bitch", "Welcome to the Jungle"), and some I'm not feeling ("Lift Off").  Overall, a pretty solid album, though I can't help but feel increasingly put off by the new direction much of mainstream hip hop is taking.  I'm beginning to miss hip hop the way it was, with the emphasis on the beats and rhymes.  These days, synths are more prevalent, and an electro-techno/club friendly beat is beginning to take the place of the old school sound.  While I don't mistake the genius of a producer he is, and damn he writes great hooks as well, but I miss some of the head-nod beats off of albums like Kanye's College Dropout, Late Registration, or Jay-Z's The Blueprint.  Nevertheless, Watch the Throne is a good listen and definitely worth copping.  The below track is "Welcome to the Jungle", definitely a song I'm feeling!       

  

The Art of the Hip Hop Mixtape

It's amazing how much hip hop has changed over the years, especially with the popularity of the mixtape--a MC/DJ's way of promoting themselves and helping them to either: be noticed and hopefully sign to a major label, or is used to whet the appetite of the hip hop connoisseur and excite them for their upcoming label backed, full-length release, usually dropping within months of the mixtape.  Here are a few mixtapes that I've enjoyed over the past six months, some released earlier than this and some released more recently:

Lil B I'm Gay (I'm Happy)--This cat has been releasing mixtapes like mad for the past few years, and his new one might be the one in which Lil B is no longer a rap cult figure, and may blow up the mainstream.  This track, "Unchained", is a good 'un.

J Cole Friday Night Lights--I'm pumped for J Cole's full-length to drop, possibly in the Fall of 2011 on Jay-Z's label.   In the meantime, his latest mixtape release was Friday Night Lights, which honestly sounds less than a mixtape and more like a full-length, as it's well put-together.  

Jay Electronica What the F*** is a Jay Electronica?--Love his style, his raps over Dilla beats.  Jay has some great mixtapes out there.  The question is, will he ever drop the full-length in our lifetime?  He's been signed with Jay-Z over a few years now, and his cult following are beginning to get increasingly impatient.  I dig this track, "So What You're Saying", over a bumping Dilla beat. 

Wednesday's Excursions (Random Eclectic Music Notes)

• I'm really digging the new Ghostface Killah album Apollo Kids.  Technically, it's not new (came out over six months ago), but I slept on it for awhile, thinking that it was "just another new Wu-Tang solo joint".  Seriously, it's the best Ghostface album since Supreme Clientele, and I'm very suprised Apollo Kids hasn't been talked about more, as it's received mainly tepid reviewers among the critics.  Dig the track "2getha Baby", featuring a looped sample from Soul legends The Intruders:        

• I like me some Blues at times, and I'm enjoying the new release by Milwaukee's own Tweed Funk.  The album is titled Bringin' It and it's a really nice combination of Blues, Funk, and Soul.  I dig the guitar work of JD Optekar, and the soulful vocals of Smokey.  "Black Coffee" is a tasty Blues jam--they are Bringin' It, and I'm feelin' it.  

•  I was supposed to see the soul legend Allen Toussaint last week at the Jazz Alley in Seattle, and foolishly passed it up as it was a tough day at work, and I just didn't have the energy to muster seeing a live show that night, regardless of who was performing.  Toussaint is one of the most-respected soul figures with his work with New Orleans greats Lee Dorsey, Aaron Neville, Irma Thomas, Dr. John, among others, and above all, I love some of his solo albums, especially Love, Life, and Faith.  The track "Fingers & Toes" is one of my favorite soul jams, one of those tracks when you first hear it you get the goosebumps because of it's pure soul-pop perfection.  Sad I didn't get to see him, but I guess I always have the music at home to turn to.     

• I'm currently reading Don Charnas book "The Big Payback", about the history and business of hip hop, from it's early inception of Enjoy Records and The Sugarhill Group, through Def Jam, Run DMC and beyond, and I'm right now reading about the early 90's era of hip hop, when it began being more prominently featured on pop radio stations for the first time.  It's an absolutely wonderful read thus far (I'm over halfway done), if you have any interest in hip hop, the history is all there in those 600+ pages...well-worth the read.                                           

• Lastly, I wanted to sing the praises of Ethiopia's own Mulatu Astatqe.  I absolutely adore his late 60's/early 70's Ethiopian Jazz, and after years of not listening to it, for whatever reason, I've turned back to it over the last few nights, as it strangely calms me before I turn to bed.  

The Song That Wouldn't Die

The beauty of a great hip hop track is, besides telling a story in rhyme, or the flow of the words from the mc, or the slamming beats from the dj, it's also the history behind the samples that are used.  As I've gotten deeper into soul music over the years, I can't even name the countless times I've listened to a soul song and immediately recognized it as a sample taken from a hip hop track that I've liked over the years, like the first time I heard Syl Johnson's "Different Strokes", and right away recognized it as a sample used from the Wu-Tang track "Shame on a Nigga", or Eugene McDaniels songs "Headless Heroes" and "Jagger the Dagger", and recognizing the Beastie Boys "Get It Together" and A Tribe Called Quest "Push It Along", or noticing that Eddie Kendricks and The Impressions were sampled by J Dilla, among many, many other examples.  It makes you appreciate not only the original soul song in which the sample was taken from, but also the hip hop track in itself, and the dj who might have done some serious crate digging in order to find some obscure soul track.  In 1968, soul legend Freddie Scott recorded "(You) Got What I Need".  Over 20 years later in 1989, old school hip hop great Biz Markie recorded this ever-so-popular track, "Just A Friend".

Basically, the Biz flipped the chorus of Freddie Scott's soul classic and made uniquely his own.  Fifteen years later, The Ghostface Killah recorded "Save Me Dear", where he flipped the verses from Freddie Scott's "(You) Got What I Need", and made it uniquely his own as well.

Interestingly enough, all three tracks work, and all three tracks are among my favorites from each of these artists.   This is just one of many examples in which songs can take on so many more forms.  It's what makes hip hop so great and what makes soul music so timeless.

Best Albums/Singles of 2010

Steven Ellison/Flying Lotus contemplating his next masterpiece

OK, I admit that I don't listen to much new music.  Something about the production gets to me, as it's usually so slick and overproduced.  Honestly, I just like the way music from the 60's and 70's sounds much more.  It's more raw, organic, and feels real.  Don't get me wrong--I'm sure there is good music out there these days, but when someone tells me "oh, if you like 'fill-in-the blank (great 60's/70's soul singer)'  then you should definitely check out 'fill-in-the-blank (new retro soul singer)" and I'll almost always be disappointed and I end up turning off the new album and end up putting on Sam Cooke & the Soul Stirrers or something like that.

Nevertheless, even though I'm severely late on a best of 2010 album list, I thought enough of these albums to mention them in this blog:

1.  Flying Lotus "Cosmogramma"---This is really the only masterpiece album of 2010.  Steven Ellison has created a brilliant work, a beautiful mixture of equal parts J Dilla and Alice Coltrane (he is her nephew).  It's electronic, but organic as well.  Instrumental hip hop/jazz/electronic at it's finest.  Actually, Flying Lotus is really their own musical genre. 

2.  Four Tet "There is Love in You"---One of the few electronic artists I truly enjoy.  Great beats, meditative, good head music, great to listen to on headphones.  Their best album since "Rounds".  

3.  Spoon "Transference"---I've been a Spoon fan for years, and this one doesn't disappoint.  I'm glad they went back to the more lo-fi approach of some of their earlier albums.  Still similar influences (Wire, 60's garage), and still great.

4.  Madlib "Medicine Show 3:  Beat Konducta in Africa"---Really, I've gotta give major props to Madlib, and most of the Medicine Show albums (he's been releasing one a month!) have been entertaining, but this one is definitely my favorite.  Good samples of 60's/70's Afro-pop songs with Madlib beats, spliced with what sounds like an advertisement on African tourism.  Great stuff!

5.  Strong Arm Steady "In Search of Stoney Jackson"---Almost everything Madlib produces is gold, and I've got to give the nod this one over the Madlib-produced Guilty Simpson album earlier this year.  Madlib uses great soul samples, along with great beats.  Not hugely into the rapping style of the mc's, but I've grown to like them the more I listen to them.

6.  The Black Keys "Brothers"---These two dudes almost never disappoint.  This is probably their most soulful, and diverse album.  I love that they recorded this at the famed Muscle Shoals studios, and they cover one of my favorite Jerry Butler tracks "Never Gonna Give You Up". 

7.  Kanye West "My Beautiful Dark, Twisted Fantasy"---I wanted to not like this album because I'm not a fan of Kanye West the person, but no one can deny that this is a very good album,and that Kanye is a great producer and rapper.   I don't agree with the masterpiece tag being thrown around by critics in regards to this album, but I would call it a very solid album.  "Power" is my favorite track, as I gotta give props to Kanye sampling my favorite King Crimson track.

8.  Cee-Lo Green "F**k U" single---"The Ladykiller" is a pretty spotty album overall.  I would say I really enjoy about 4 of the tracks (including the single, and probably the ones most 60's/70's soul influenced).  However,  "F**K U" is definitely the single of the year, just a brilliant pop song.  Who could not like this track? 

I listened to many, many more albums in 2010, but these are the albums I've listened to more than 10 times in 2010, which obviously meant they stuck out more than the other releases this year.