#175 – Rye Rye Plays A Special Engagement

I f*cking love Rye Rye. She is awesome… a mix of dirty rap, sex, feminity, B-more and she’s got a sense of humour about everything she does. On top of this her songs are always awesome. The list of people she’s worked with reads pretty well too, with MIA, Diplo and Sinden among some of the big names.

She recently (this week) played one of Noisey’s Special Engagements in Seattle which was livestreamed across the internet. In case you weren’t lucky enough to catch it, they kind people at Noisey have put up a video from the gig, which you can watch by clicking on the picture above.

Podcast V

"I'm being serious now. Listen to it."

After yet another long wait, here is the newest podcast for you. It’s got music from Asa, Cults and Zakee, among others. You can click on the links below to go to their respective pages and you can also listen to the songs on their own.

Safety, Fun & Learning Podcast #5 [Download]

#115 – Songs About Athletes

This is a little bit of light writing, if I’m going to be honest. I was listening to Mother’s Milk yesterday and I heard the song Magic Johnson and thought to myself “I wonder how many song there are that reference sportspeople”. It turns out there are, rather predictably, tons. These three are ones that I could think of without too much effort, so they are what you get. Luckily, they all happen to be pretty good. As far as the Weezy goes, any opportunity to put him on the blog is embraced with open arms. So, without further ado, here are my three lazy sportspeople referencing songs…

Lil’ Wayne – Kobe Bryant

#101 – Animal Farm Told Me To

Have you heard of Animal Farm? And no, I’m not talking about the controversial (one-time banned) George Orwell novel. I’m talking about the Hip Hop group out of Portland, Oregon. If not then fret not. We have got a bit of a treat for you, as the five of them have kindly taken the time to do our little musical interview. But before you get to their choices, listen to their track ‘Test Of Time’ which features Talib Kweli who is easily one of my favourites. This song came to my attention thanks to the daily RCRD LBL mailout some time ago and it’s been getting a steady rotation since. A funky sample and a great lyric/flow adds up to a song that you will listen to plenty! We actually featured it a little while back, but seeing as we’re so generous here’s another listen.

Animal Farm – Test Of Time Feat. Talib Kweli

The guys have just released their newest single and you can listen to it here. If you like it, then follow the link to their Soundcloud page and get it free.

Animal Farm – Culture Shock Feat. Rob Swift

Just after the drop we’ve got the guy’s choices and there are some right good eggs in there. I reckon my favourite is probably Fury’s choice. But I’m a sucker for Q-Tip…

#80 – Weekly Roundup

Another week’s gone. Sadly, so has another weekend. So let’s bury our heads in the sand at the prospect of another week of work and listen to some music. Here’s what I’ve been listening to over the last seven days…

To start things off, here’s a new song from Animal Farm. It’s got a great chilled, old school jazzy vibe and a cool bassline. It’s pretty conscientious lyrically (well, it’s not rapping about guns and dolla) and the chorus is fly. Oh, it also features Talib Kweli.

Animal Farm – Test Of Time Feat. Talib Kweli [Myspace]

From some old-sounding hip-hop to some very contemporary stuff, here’s the lead single off Theophilus London’s debut album Timez Are Weird These Days that’s due to drop on July 19th. It’s a great blend of electronic, indie/rock and rap that’s probably got a legacy in the original mash-up album from Linkin Park and Jay Z. Which, for the record, I liked when it came out. I was about 12/13 though, so I make no apologies for that. Mr London is the master of networking and talking himself up and in that respect this is the perfect single to take us to his album; he introduces himself (once or twice) and isn’t afraid to blow his own trumpet. With any luck the LP will live up to his hype. In the mean time, listen to this and let us know what you think of it. If you like it you can retweet it here and get it for nothing.

Theophilus London – Last Name London

Now to move a long way away from rap. The below track is by The Coppertone, which is the name under which Amanda Zelina records.

#68 – Some More Holiday Tunes

As promised, I’m back. I had another week off… Sorry about that! As much as I bitch about life and work and all sorts of other crap, I haven’t really got a leg to stand on when I can take two weeks off and the weather decides to shine down on me.

This is just another list of good songs I’ve been listening to over the last seven days or so. Considering just how sunny it’s been there’s a song by the Buena Vista Social Club that’s made the cut and it’s amazing. The whole song is good, but it comes alive around 2:15 or so (and again at 4:15ish). Meanwhile, the Major Lazer remix was one of the very first songs I posted when this blog started and I figure that since we’re almost a year down the line and summer is well and truly teasing us then it’s about time to put it up again. Just one final note on the song by The Kinks. I heard it on the soundtrack to The Darjeeling Limited which is an outstanding film. The whole soundtrack is worth listening to, so the [Buy] link after ‘Strangers’ will take you to the soundtrack’s page and not the Kinks.

Kanye West – Monster Feat. Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Nicki Minaj & Bon Iver [Buy]

Buena Vista Social Club – Pueblo Nuevo [Buy]

The Kinks – Strangers [Buy]

#53 – The East Coast Fights Back

After the relative success of last month’s post on West Coast rap by Jimmy, I’ve got the East Coasts’ reply. Actually, I can take very little credit for this. I owe a lot to Josh, Rob, Dave and Jimmy, as they were the ones throwing one good song after another at each other in some kind of friendly, Facebook rap war. After the dust had settled and the empty casings hit the ground, 19 songs had been put up. Here are my picks of the bunch. Guys, thank you.

Cormega – Beautiful Mind [Buy]

Rakim – When I B On Tha Mic [Buy]

Jay-Z – D’evils [Buy]

#45 – Jimmy Told Me To

I was back up in Sheffield this weekend and I got talking to one of my friends about the blog. Anyway, to cut a long story short, James Batson is quite the fan of rap. And he said he’d send me some of his favourite West Coast tunes. Take it away, Jimmy…
_____

If I was to pick 3 strictly West Coast licks, they would probably be…

Snoop Dogg – Tha Shiznit [Buy]

The Pharcyde – Passing Me By [Buy]

#44 – What’s That Song?

Fatboy Slim. When people hear his name there are a few songs that pop into mind, but with it’s great video five and half minutes of quality this song is one of the first to be mentioned. And the vocal that goes on through the entire song comes courtesy of Camille Yarbrough. I found out about her version of the song thanks to another blog actually and if you’re prepared to part with your email address they’ll send you a free song a day too. Have a look over at Track In The Box. Anyway, she released the original back in 1975 and it couldn’t contrast Norman Cook’s version much more. When I hear it I can see myself in the late seventies kicking back in a cool New York bar with a liquor in one hand and a cigarette in the other. It’s smooth, jazzy and it’s oozes soul. Twenty-three years separate these songs and the ‘newer’ version is in it’s thirteenth year now, but they still sounds as awesome now as they did when they came out.

Fatboy Slim – Praise You [Buy]

Camille Yarbrough – Take Yo’ Praise [Buy]

For my next pair I was rather torn. I have been listening to Lil’ Wayne

#43 – How You Doin’ This Evening?

Today let me tell you about True Ingredients. They’re a UK based hip hop collective who draw influences from the good old rap of the 80’s. Good sounding beats, live brass and some good fun lyrics come as standard. What I like most about their album is how varied it is. ‘Hell Yeah’ is a rocky, guitar-based track with some awesome sounding drums and a meaty lead part. A couple of songs later you’ve got a song that sounds like it was written and recorded in some Cubana bar; horns, an awesome bassline and a rapper who sounds like he could have been on the East Coast in the 90’s.