Summer Solstice

So as of 7:23 this morning, it's officially summer. Break out the grill and throw on the SPF40, and somebody blow the dust of that slip-and-slide. And while you're at it, get some good, free music. From start to finish, this EP by The Drums sounds like the perfect summer day at the beach: fun and carefree, with maybe a love interest or two, watching the waves roll into the shore. So grab your board and catch the wave, and try not to get your ipod wet in the process. Click the album cover to download.

What Is Love?

According to El Perro Del Mar née Sarah Assbring (that's her government; I couldn't make that last name up if I wanted to), whatever love is, it definitely ain't pop. This isn't the first EPDM album we posted, and I've been jamming this one since it hit the internets last year, but considering the type of day I've had, I felt that this drop was appropriate. If you bang with Lykke Li, you'll appreciate this fellow Swede. (They collaborated on this album as well.) Click the album cover to download. Disfruta.

Blame The Blow

Thank Ms. 808sandcupcakes for motivating me to dig this one up off my hard drive. Many moons ago, I dropped a single by Coco Sumner, progeny of seminal British rocker Sting. It wasn't as slept on as I thought, since I find myself running into people here and there who think the track is just as dopamine as I thought it was when I first heard it. Still, not enough people are familiar enough with her nor her music. So late last year, ya boy made a mixtape of singles and demos by the raspy contralto as an introduction before her major-label debut this year, but I never posted it. (Sad to say, it's not the only project I neglected to post, but I digress...)

This mix has 13 tracks that capture the startling breadth of the 19-year-old singer/songwriter. I wish I could write like her when I was that age. (Shit, I wish I could write like her now, at 25.) It's pop, but in the best sense of the word (because it's smart too). And regardless of your aural predilections and aversions, you're gonna fuck with this one. Disfruta.


DOWNLOAD

and btw, her first single is out too.

Pot of Gold

It's Stevie. It's live. It's 1970's Stevie. Actually, it's just a couple years before he released Songs In The Key Of Life, which means it's Stevie when he had so much mojo he didn't even need to see.

You're pretty much required to download this if you don't already have it. Odds are, you don't. I even found a better bitrate version than the one I have. For you guys. You're welcome. I love you too. Click that album cover. Happy Thanksgiving.

Fantastic Planet

To celebrate Music Monday, I figured I'd continue my present audiophile series and blow the dust off another obscure cult-classic. Back in the day when I was young, I'm not a kid anymore but sometimes I sit and wish I was a kid again a "soundtrack" wasn't just some haphazard compilation of songs from a label's artist-roster. Soundtracks were albums that actually featured original music from a movie.

This soundtrack was produced entirely by the composer Alain Goraguer for the French film La Planete Sauvage. It's a perfect meld of 70's funk, hippy psychedelia, and French je ne sais quoi. The movie is a classic in its own right--even more so than the soundtrack--so if you've never seen it, find it. It's 1970's intellectual sci-fi. In other words, drugs were involved. (Don't believe me check out the trailer.) This notwithstanding--"accordingly" mighta made for better word choice than "notwithstanding"--, the soundtrack has inspired countless hip-hop producers. Quasimoto's Madlib-produced "Come On Feet" is probably one of the most notable--and drug-induced--examples. Check that one out after the trailer. Then head back up and click that album cover to download. Disfruta.

Viva Brasil

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You'll be happy you clicked the cover. Arthur Verocai's self-titled album is a classic that should be in the library of any person claiming to be an audiophile. And I don't mean "classic" the way niggas just throw that word around nowadays. The album is almost 40 years old--37 to be exact--but it stands the test of time. Consider this my gift for being away for so long. Don't sleep, or else I'll be the one to say I told you so months later when you get it from somebody else tryna get their brazilian music game up before the World Cup.

You're welcome.

New Wave

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I've literally been meaning to post this album for about 2 years, so I'm glad I finally got to it today. The group and album's name are the same. They're French, but don't worry, the songs are all in English. If you listen to more than just hip-hop, then you'll recognize that these are all covers of some classic songs by some cult-classic bands: Joy Division, Depeche Mode, The Cure--just to name a few. But rather than just do simple covers, they're reinterpreted with some brazilian bossa nova flair. So songs like "Love Will Tear Us Apart" lose some of the languidness of the original and sound almost happy, and definitely sexy. You'll dig it, or your money back. Get to clickin'. Disfruta.

Are you in the mood for slow jams? Cuz I am!

Everybody remembers KP & Envyi's classic club track "Shorty Swing My Way." Fewer remember the sexied-up, slowed-down remix though. Whereas Envyi held it down in the background of the original version, they actually let that white girl tear it up here. This was my JAM back in the day. I've been meaning to put this on a mixtape (it'll prolly make it on one eventually), but i'm presently in the mood to give, so do as usual: disfruta.


KP & Envyi - "Shorty Swing My Way" (Remix) |Aqui|

Wee Small Hours

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Bad dreams suck. Hope everybody enjoyed your Independence Day festivities. I managed to hit the beach long enough for minimal sun burnage and got back to Philly in time for a 4th of July party with this guy at what amounts to an inner-city mansion. From the roof deck I watched fireworks in Camden, Penn's Landing, Northern Liberties, and, of course, the Art Museum simultaneously. It was nice. What sucks is when I finally got to sleep, your boy had the goonies show up in his dreams. (Not really, but I had some disturbing dreams.) Needless to say, I woke up a lil shooken. To calm my nerves, I had to holler at my boy Chet.

Chet Baker was a legendary jazz trumpeter. He was also a vocalist in his own right and this album is nothing short of classic. I'd actually planned on posting this jawn a while back, but never got around to it. I guarantee you'll enjoy it or your money back. Disfruta.

Poseidon, Look At Meeeeeeeeee

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This is my gift to those who live under rocks, boulders, and other geological masses. Andy Samberg, et al have been killing it for a while. I first caught wind (no flatulence) of dude with his "Chronicles of Narnia" sketch on SNL a few years back, and everybody remembers "Dick In A Box," but this Jew went in with his boys and made a complete album of original, hilarious songs.


Aside from declaring the death of autotune well before Jay (and in a much more nuanced way), "I'm On A Boat" might be second on my list of summertime bangers after The Clipse's "I'm Good" (which is currently enjoying one-song playlist status right now.) Here are two more standouts off the album:





Click that album cover and disfruta.

Windows

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Back in April, we gave yall For All I Care. If you never downloaded it, then you'se a bamma. These dudes are truth-incarnate. This is one of their earlier ones, featuring a cover of Nirvana's most iconic song (you know exactly which one I'm talking about). Disfruta and you're welcome.

At the Coffeeshop

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I picked this up at the beginning of the year and have been enjoying it. It's part of a double CD but to be honest I think I only picked up the second one so that's the one I'm throwing out to yall. This one is all instrumentals tho so if you want lyrics, get on your boards and get to web surfin. To prepare you, it's definitely in the demographic of white ppl who listen to NPR and hang out at coffee shops all day, which, in this case, is a good thing. You know what to do. Disfruta.

Hilarious sidebar: So right now, i'm actually blogging around the corner from the crib at a coffee shop on my laptop b/c my home computer has swine flu mixed with full blown AIDS. While uploading the album cover, a mustachioed white guy with dark plastic-frame specs (read: typical NPR/coffee shopper) looks at my screen, smiles, and says randomly, "That's a great album."

Point proven. Click it and get it.

The Prequel

I've introduced a number of you to a few artists via the vault. I chose breadth over depth, but since I'm dropping RNLC5 tomorrow I'm gonna go ahead and pass these out to those who didn't find or look for them elsewhere cuz they are some of my personal favorites. Click the album covers to download. Links are stolen from the greater interwebs, but if you won't say anything, I won't either.

This chick is bad. Word to Penelope.

The first great album (cover) from two of Norway's coolest.

Más o Menos

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I'm giving out huge gifts right now. Hope yall aren't sleeping on these...

Riots of Convenience

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This is definitely not the one to play after Bun B and Pimp C (or maybe it is), but I've been sitting on this for a while. Plus, I needed to reup on quirk. This oldie but goodie dropped in 2004, but you know great albums are beyond time. Kings of Convenience is 2 dudes from Norway. Google can tell you everything else. All that's important is that this album is great. And did I mention it features a couple joints with Feist? So yeah, if you haven't already clicked the album cover, get to clickin!

*Ahem!* I mean, disfruta.

Sidebar: If I ever were a recording artist, my album covers would look just like theirs. Might post their first jawn later.

Lie and say you been had it

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Tomorrow, Wale officially drops his first single. It features Lady Gaga.

Roots: Jefferson County, Kentucky

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This album is one of my top 10 favorite albums ever. And Playa's prolly my favorite R&B group (nhjic?). When it dropped, I was already a huge fan of Timbaland cuz he was a dude from VA with ridiculous beats. (Mr. Garr is from the "V" of the DMV.) But then Playa was from Louisville, Kentucky. (Mr. Garr's family is from *drumroll-rimshot* the Derby City.) It was like what dual citizenship must feel like. I was proud.

Plus, every song--except for that last one with Foxy Brown--was straight bananas and platanos. These guys were the folks penning and producing a few of the biggest hits of the late 90's. (Almost anything from Aaliyah had at least one member's name in the song credit.) Were the internet what it was then what it is now, they mighta had more luck. In spite of that, its redemptive fortune is that, like Complex Simplicity, it now holds a place in the genre as an album that captures the essence of the best true R&B at that particular moment in the genre's evolution. It's like DNA. Get. To. Clickin.


RIP Static

EPDM > EPMD

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Sike nah... The vault is still open folks. El Perro Del Mar is the name of the group and the album above. (Chick's real name is Sarah Assbring tho. No joke.) Album released back in '06. Some of you may need an open mind for this one. ha. You've been warned. Just found myself to jamming to this and figured I'd turn up the blog's quirk factor for a quick sec. You know what to do. Disfruta.

Limited Time Only

CD 1 | CD 2
EDIT: Links are closed.

I'm only keeping these links alive for a limited time so get 'em now. This compilation from British DJ Gilles Peterson is a cult classic. It was released in 2005 (which seems like a really long time ago) and featured live acoustic performances from artists spanning almost every genre, but with an overall jazzy vibe. The Roots, Beck, N.E.R.D., Bjork, Bilal, Dwele, and even the then-unsigned Jazmine Sullivan are some of the artists featured on this double CD. In other words: you want this.

You may or may not have noticed that this and some other drops have been labeled "The Vault," as I've been liquidating some of my music library holdings like it were WaMu stock. It's my gift to the faithful readers and fodder for the casual browser. Plus, the biters always need something to chew on. I've said enough, it's a double CD so click the links under the CD cover already. Disfruta.

An Apple A Day

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I borrowed a track from this album last year on RNLC3. It's claim to fame is another track though, "New Soul," which Apple co-opted as part of their ad campaign for the MacBook Air last year. Yael is French, but is also Jewish. Likewise, the songs are in French, Hebrew, as well as English. I found myself listening to this one on the ipod this morning while on an overcrowded trolley and figured I'd pass this oldie but goodie to those who never heard of her or don't have the album. Click and get. Disfruta.