Playlist #5

Music has been my friend on the lonely periods between school, work and home.
Due to that, I felt like I needed to get back on the playlist posts, to try, in my own dysfunctional way, to pay homage to some of my biggest “friends” for the past few weeks.

The Beatnuts - The Originators - Great beats and consistent MC’s. One of the few albums released after 2000 that feels like that early 90’s hip-hop.

Mos Def - Black on Both Sides - Maybe his best record, I haven’t quite explored his music enough to the point of coming to that conclusion, but I can say this album has some of my favorite Mos tracks and lyrics, and the beats really make a difference.

Outkast – Aquemini - Underrated album. Here you find some of the best lyrics Outkast ever wrote as a group. You find a shared flow and a common concept in all the beats…don’t get fooled by the stuff that’s on MTV nowadays, this is the truly southern hip-hop.

Rise And Fall - Our Circle is Vicious - When I started listening to this one, I didn’t know if either I hated or loved it. Now, I know I love it. But not as much as the previous releases.

Also, on my occasional joggin runs, I’ve been doing this thing of choosing one album per run. So far I have come with this selection:

Clipse – Hell Hath No Fury - this records is on its way of becoming one of my favorite top 20 (more like 30 lol) records of all time. I find it the perfect soundtrack for almost everything I do, it sets me up in the right mood. The combination between The Neptunes beats and the bragging voices of the Thornton brothers produced one of the most efficient rap albums ever, from the first track to the last one you get nothing but quality.

Beastie Boys – Ill Communication – My favorite record from Beastie Boys. And I also discovered this is almost perfect for a run, the songs have a consistent flow, creative beats (and riffs) and the 3 MC’s deliver funky raw rhymes that. find almost no match on the other albums. It really is a good album to run to.

Kid Sister Release Party

So the album is out, the party has begun…let’s see if Kid Sis maintains the groove and the feeling that I love in her.
Angela posted the video for the first single out the Ultraviolet album. I can dig the song, but the video is kinda lame.

Gonna listen to the album this afternoon, if it’s good enough I’ll report about it.

Lost Ground

From time to time, an hardcore band surprises me.

Defeater’s first release, titled Travels, went straight to my music archives almost unnoticed…I mean, it had the intensity and the sense of desperation that I love in this sort of bands, the lyrics of that record are enclosing enough to keep one interested, but it just didn’t have an impact on me.
Last week, I downloaded their new Lost Ground EP, played it on my way to work on a rainy afternoon, and felt like I had been dragged into a sea of angst…every guitar riff, every screamed line sounded like an ongoing struggle of feelings. It felt like a big stone had instantly hit my head.
But the best part ’bout this EP is the drums…it’s been a really long while since I heard a drummer actually having his “say” on every track of a record. The rhythms and breaks from tracks like “The Bite and Sting” and “A Wound and Scar” totally blew me away and changed my perception of the quality of this band.

Lost Ground really changed my view of this band. It has the perfect length and I can’t find a weaker song to point out in this record, it is so good that I will give their LP another chance.

It’s good to hear something different, not that they have the most distinct sound ever or have reinvented the rules of hardcore music, but they have the quality and the attitude to stand out from all the other bands in the same genre.
If you like melodic hardcore (with quality) and got sad ’bout Have Heart calling it quits, than this is a band for you. If you are not convinced, check out the show they gave this year on a town very near my home (don’t mind the apathy of the public, just pay attention to the band):

DEFEATER MYSPACE

Popular Demand (Popeyes)

My girl already posted the song, and I actually don’t like it, but the video is actually better, so here it is for you all to check.

Clipse trying to maintain that hood appeal, but unfortunately we only catch that feeling from the video cause the production just isn’t doing it, at least for me. And Cam’ron’s lines are completely worthless, so many rappers could actually made a difference in this track…

The upcoming album probably is gonna fail when compared to the previous ones, but the brothers still got that swagger, I mean, who could make rap videos eating fried chicken and still look cool? Ahah.

CLIPSE MYSPACE

 

Hall Of Fame x New Era x LA Dodgers

Red is back.
Not the biggest inovation in terms of logos an caps…but I’d  buy it. And there are more models that some of you may find fresh.

Check the other models here. Buy here.

Ignorance is not bliss

Yesterday I used part of my day-off to watch 2 of the dozens of documentaries that are pilling up in my hard disk. There were two major similarities between both the films: they portray life in the USA and talk ’bout stuff that goes into our body.
I’ll leave you with two small reviews.

FOOD, INC.

This film starts off with the objective of showing what is the true origin of the food the general public puts in their plate everyday, and what is done to that food before it reaches the plates. To my surprise, the director does that in a very objective way and does not go into the common mistake of trying to shock the audience with constant brutal images of animals being killed in slaughterhouses.

It goes through a big range of products and explains why and how they are connected, how they are manipulated and what big corporate food industries are doing to fuck up the general health of America and to ruin lives.
Food, Inc. unveiled many unknown stuff to me, like the substances coming from corn that are on the most unexpected products, or the gene altered beans that are patented by a single company and basically are taking over farms without much stuff the regular farmers can do against it.

The film finishes of with some propaganda messages that really leave you thinking ’bout what you eat…of course it has to be contextualized, in Europe there are much more healthy products and politics concerning alimentation, but still, from now on I think I’m gonna care even more ’bout what really is in my plate everyday, even though I already read labels and I think that’s a habit not many people have.

IMDB LINK

TRAILER

BIGGER STRONGER FASTER*

More than a documentary about steroids and other drugs, this is a documentary about the American mentality, conveyed in a very personal way by a guy that just wanted to know why people take anabolic substances.
“Bigger, stronger, faster, no matter the means or the costs” is not the motto solely to the bodybuilders and sportsmen,  but as we get to understand from the film, it’s the motto that pushes the American way of life, it’s impregnated in their culture. Cheating is not cheating if everybody else is cheating, and morals are subverted to the will of becoming the best…The movie only touches that wound very lightly, but it still does it and tries to brings up the true issues behind anabolic drugs and other substances used not only in sports but in many other human activities.

I liked the personal outlook that this film gives, that’s part of the reason why it works as a documentary.
It’s not the most neutral perspective, as it tries to convey steroids almost as a completely harmless thing, but still the guy exposes his life and his family’s issues in a very honest way, and still asks all the right questions.

IMDB LINK

TRAILER

There’s one third similarity both movies have that I intentionally omitted until this part of the post, and that is the one about the corruption and the bullshit that takes place in America nowadays.
Both movies try to expose many clear situations of corruption that occur in the American system without anyone with power taking action, and that action is not being taken because almost in every governmental institution and/or public entity there are lies and stuff that is being held from the population’s eyes. Their legal system is so fucked up that even the most common sense decisions cannot be taken immediately, not even if everyone knows that something is wrong.

These 2 documentaries helped me understand that I’m not that bad living in a European country.
At least I don’t eat shit all the time and my culture and legal system doesn’t protect cheating and corruption as much as the Americans do (although there is big time corruption going on in Portugal too). What is left of that country is becoming more and more a really fucked up “American dream”.

STARSTRUKK

3Oh!3 and Katy Perry? Lovely.

I already talked ’bout these guys on a previous post, but after seeing this video somewhere in A Tribe Called Next blog, I just felt the need to share this pop piece with you all.
The video keeps the funny style common to all their previous videos, and Miss Perry comes in just to give out some beauty, cause honestly she doesn’t add nothing to the original track.

And that’s all for today folks…kinda lame posting recently I know, let’s hope I get some time to write about what I’ve been watching and reading lately.

Blakroc

Some weeks ago I made this post ’bout tons of stuff that got my attention, and one of them was this project put up by Dame Dash called Blakroc.
By the time all I could juice out of the web was this teaser/promo video, but now I bring you the first official video, including Mos Def and Jim Jones on the mic. Absolutely love it.

The whole straight to the point soulful style on this song kept my head banging all the way through, and I even liked Jim Jones on this track, which is something I would never consider saying ’bout that rapper.

And just cause the guys at 2dopeboyz definitely don’t sleep, I bring you another track, this time with Raekwon The Chef on the vocals. Light up that shit.

Blakroc…hip-hop and some jazzy rock, and it sounds realer than 90% what American rappers are putting out nowadays. I guess Dame Dash is trying to save the game hum?

 

P.O.S.

In an era where hip-hop screams for an S.O.S. in terms of creativity, artists like P.O.S. let me know there is still a light in the dark.

I saw the video above when I was browsing through Kanye’s blog and on that moment I knew I had to check more stuff ’bout this rapper. I ended up discovering he’s been dropping albums since 2002, does tours with artists like Saosin, and most of all, has a really style, different beats and heartfelt and intelligent lyrics.

Check him out, if you like good music in th vein of El-P or Aesop Rock, you won’t be disappointed. Here’s another video to give you a taste of P.O.S.’s habilities:

P.O.S. MYSPACE

D*Face

Not a big fan of his work, but the guy surely has some good ideas and graphics, and shows knowledge ’bout street art.

I’m not an apologist of graffiti and derivatives being shown/sold in art galleries though, but artists gotta make a living too right?

First seen at Wooster Collective.