Free Music: Diplo - Chasing The Dragon

Diplo is the production maestro best known for spinning the masterful Clash-sampling beat behind M.I.A.'s "Paperplanes" and more recently as half of the zombie-reggae-dancehall-electro project Major Lazer with fellow producer Switch.  Playing notoriously raucous shows and remixing everything from Peter, Bjorn, and John to Daft Punk and Black Lips, he has established himself as an essential element in the producer/DJ crowd, even starting his own label, Mad Decent.  This new mixtape spans lots of different types of psychedelic bluesy jams but definitely has a groovy Diplo feel to it.  And did I mention it's FREE?

Download it now at Some Kind of Awesome's Soundcloud.

Or

Stream it now at Mad Decent's site.

New Feature and New Review: Rusko - O.M.G.!

You would think that after doing legal writing for 48 hours straight I wouldn't want to do any more, yet here I am.  Gotta spread the gospel friends.  If you look to the right side of the blog you will see a new feature that I am going to do every Monday.  It's a ten song playlist courtesy of our friends at grooveshark.com that I will compile based on my favorites of the past week plus some artists who will be coming into San Diego.  Throw it on at work, home, or if you are a DJ up in tha club.  I'll try to mix it up and I hope you enjoy it.

This isn't the first time I've thrown some dubstep production on here and it certainly won't be the last if the music continues its sludgy evolution into deeper and wonkier bass that makes the booty go 'woah'.  Alongside other genre mainstays like Skream and Benga, the latest dubber most consistently spitting out my speakers is Rusko.  The one-time Englishman now lives stateside up in Lost Angeles playing the electronic festival circuit all over the U.S. this past summer.  Rumor has it he is even producing some tracks on the new Britney... Spears... record...  I'll just pretend I didn't hear that actually.  Regardless of his future plans, his current beats are bumpin', kinda glitchy, and combine the best elements of modern dubstep with the best elements of 90's breakbeat and early 90's electronica.

Releasing only two EPs previously, O.M.G.! is Rusko's debut LP and it really does push dubstep into a new level that it had not previously touched.  Rusko successfully shows the range that is possible within the confines of the 'womp-womp-womp' that is the spine-crushing beat present in every dubstep track.  Some songs definitely even have an air of those block rockin' hip-hop anthems that they used to make those music videos for with all the people in the hood dancing in the street waving their shirts in the air (when you listen to "Scareware" tell me you don't think of Petey Pablo's "Raise Up"). 

Key tracks on this one are: "Hold On", "Dial My Number", "You're On My Mind Baby", and "Raver's Special"

Get it son.

Mayer Hawthorne - A Strange Arrangement

Sitting in the shade of lemonade stand on Day 3 of Coachella, outside of the Gobi Tent I tried to take a nap. I failed to sleep not because I wasn't exhausted and probably dehydrated, but because the music that began coming from the tent was great and I didn't want to miss it. Mayer Hawthorne, and the County, his touring band, play a brand of soul music that is more suited to the 1960s than the early 2010s. Coming from Detroit, Michigan, Hawthorne has soul in his bones and his label, the always pressing good records, Stones Throw, has really tapped into a great new artist in a genre that they don't generally produce.

Like the Hipstones, Jamie Lidell, Sharon Jones, Black Joe Lewis, and JC Brooks, Mayer Hawthorne doesn't make music to dance to he makes music to groove to. The neo-soul movement is refreshing at a time when popular music is generally made up of the same four chords, and a lack of any meaningful sentiments other than 'let's pop bottles!' or 'i luvs california girls!'. Not that Hawthorne doesn't have a sense of humor with regard to the popular stuff as his concerts often include live sing-a-longs to Biz Markie's "Just a Friend".

The tracks generally all have the same message of love lost, found, misplaced, or underestimated, and he has the soulful chops to make the proverbial panties get wet. Play this one on an early Sunday drive or a lazy afternoon and I promise your day will immediately improve upon hearing Hawthorne's smooth delivery. Key tracks are 'Just Ain't Gonna Work Out' (which has a GREAT music video), 'Your Easy Lovin' Ain't Pleasin' Nothin', and 'Shiny and New'.

Concert Calender July 2010 - San Diego and Los Angeles

It's been quite some time since my last post, but seeing as I'm not getting anything done in summer school right now, here's my picks for what's good in Southern California this July.  A summer of great music (and some comedy) is ahead of us!
Also, for those of you that don't already use it, please check out the good folks over at Grooveshark.com they are now the preeminent source of streaming music now that LaLa has been shut down by Apple and shit do they have EVERYTHING. Use it now while it still exists.

7/9 - Kings Of Leon and Built to Spill @ Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre (SD)
7/10 - Harlem @ Bar Pink (FREE!)
7/15 - MGMT @ SDSU Open Air Theatre (SD)
7/17 - Slightly Stoopid and Cypress Hill @ Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre (SD)
7/18 - Zane Lampry (Comedy) @ Belly Up (SD)
7/19 - The Dead Weather @ The House of Blues (SD)
7/19 - Jamie Lidell @ El Rey (LA)
7/23 - Pinback @ Del Mar Racetrack (Free with racetrack admission) (SD)
7/24 - Boris @ Casbah (SD)
7/24-25 - Aziz Ansari (Comedy) @ The House of Blues (SD)
7/25 - 311, The Offspring, and Pepper @ Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre (SD)
7/31 -Wolf Parade @ The Wiltern (LA)

May 2010 Concert Calendar - San Diego

April hasn't quite ended yet but it almost has and seeing as I will be locked in a room with law books for the next 3 weeks, here's May's schedule a little early.

5/1 - Busdriver @ Winstons Beach Club
5/4 - The Hold Steady @ Belly Up Tavern
5/5 - Mastodon, Baroness, Between the Buried and Me, and Valiant Thorr @ House Of Blues
5/6 - MONO @ The Casbah
5/12 - The Besnard Lakes @ The Casbah
5/13 - Tortoise @ The Casbah
5/20 - Caribou @ The Casbah
5/22 - Minus The Bear @ SOMA
5/23 - The National @ Spreckels Theatre
5/24 - Nada Surf @ Belly Up Tavern
5/26 - ISIS @ The Casbah
5/27 - Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings @ Belly Up Tavern

BBC Radio 1 Essential Mixes - Streaming Archive

Ever since the 1993 Essential Mix, a two-hour radio show on the BBC 1 radio station in the UK has brought the best DJs in the world into their studio or to play live.  The DJs mix their 'essential' favorite tracks into one seamless mix for you to groove to.  A while back I found this website that has the streaming recordings of every essential mix dating from the present all the way back to 1993.  It's A LOT of music, and what's more, it's free!  On there you can check out mixes by Flying Lotus, Faithless, The Twelves, Boyz Noize, Four Tet, Deadmau5, Tiesto, The Stanton Warriors, John Digweed, Bassment Jaxx, and Armin Van Buuren among hundreds of others.  I'll try to find a site where you can actually download these for free but until then...

Essential Mixes . net

AoC Plans Your Coachella Weekend

 Conflicts got you down?  Worried about your bad ankle when having to run from stage to stage?  Worried about not even finding the stage because you took too much (insert chemical of choice here)?  Well I've got you covered.  Here's my line-up of must sees for this coming weekend.  See you all out there in the hot-as-shit best weekend of the year.

FRIDAY:
1:00 pm @ Mojave - Jets Overhead
1:30 pm @ Gobi - P.O.S.
2:00 pm @ Mohave - Baroness
2:20 pm @ Outdoor - Deer Tick
3:00 pm @ Main - Wale
3:20 pm @ Outdoor - The Avett Brothers
4:20 pm @ Mojave - Yeasayer
5:15 pm @ Sahara - Aeroplane
5:45 pm @ Outdoor - She & Him
6:35 pm @ Main - The Specials
7:20 pm @ Outdoor - Passion Pit
7:50 pm @ Main - Them Crooked Vultures
8:30 pm @ Mojave - Grizzly Bear
9:05 pm @ Main - LCD Soundsystem
10:00 pm @ Outdoor - Vampire Weekend
10:50 pm @ Main - Jay-Z
12:00 am @ Sahara - Deadmau5
1:00 am @ Campgrounds - Bassface Sessions w/ Daedelus and The Gaslamp Killer

SATURDAY:
12:25 pm @ Outdoor - RX Bandits
1:05 pm @ Gobi - The Almighty Defenders
2:15 pm @ Gobi - Portugal. The Man
3:10 pm @ Mojave - Camera Obscura
4:00 pm @ Outdoor - The Temper Trap
5:10 pm @ Outdoor - Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
6:25 pm @ Outdoor - The XX
7:00 pm @ Mojave - Dirty Projectors
7:40 pm @ Outdoor - Hot Chip
8:50 pm @ Outdoor - MGMT
9:40 pm @ Main - Muse
11:05 pm @ Outdoor - The Dead Weather
12:00 am @ Main - Tiesto OR @ Sahara - 2manyDJs
1:00 am @ Campgrounds - Bassface Sessions with Flying Lotus

SUNDAY:
12:00 pm @ Mojave - One EskimO
12:55 pm @ Mojave - The Soft Pack
1:30 pm @ Gobi - Hypnotic Brass Ensemble
2:10 pm @ Gobi - Local Natives
3:00 pm @ Sahara - Rusko
3:50 pm @ Main - De La Soul
5:00 pm @ Main - Yo La Tengo
5:35 pm @ Mojave - Julian Casablancas
6:30 pm @ Main - Spoon
7:10 pm @ Outdoor - Phoenix
8:05 pm @ Sahara - Orbital
9:00 pm @ Outdoor - Thom Yorke and Atoms for Peace
10:30 pm @ Main - The motherfucking GORILLAZ

Coachella Artist of the Day #3 - B.o.B.

Rap is getting some good love at this years Coachella with Jay-Z, Dirty South, P.O.S., and the occasionally hip-hop minded Gorillaz all playing.  Also playing is the mixtape maestro (no not Lil' Wayne, he's in jail) known as B.o.B.  The Atlanta rapper has his debut 'The Adventures of Bobby Ray' about to drop on April 27th and he has put out around 5 or 6 excellent mixtapes in the past couple of years.  Notably B.o.B. has excellent samples, such as his use of the Beatles' 'Eleanor Rigby' and The Foundations' 'Build Me Up Buttercup'.  You can find links to download those tracks and more below at Muzjiks.  Just right click the links, and save em to your desktop, drop em into itunes and enjoy!  See you in the desert in 9 days!

http://muzjiksradio.blogspot.com/2010/04/bombs-over-bobby-ray.html

Coachella Artist of the Day #2 - Hot Chip

I don't really know what to make of these guys.  Some of their songs really get on my nerves but others are quite good.  People who wear bow-ties are inevitably weird so maybe that's it.  Supposedly their live show is amazing and pending their performance in the Sahara Tent, this could be an act not to be missed.  Check out their new video for the single 'I Feel Better' off their newest release 'One Life Stand' (link below).  Also, a warning, this music video is weird as fuck.  Like Jesus coming back to life and dancing the macarena with Hitler weird.

Hot Chip - I Feel Better

Coachella Artist of the Day #1 - Local Natives

With only 15 days left until my favorite weekend of the year, I've decided to count down the last couple of weeks with a little feature each day on some of the lesser known acts of the festival.  First up are the Pitchfork'd Local Natives.  Although many people rail against the aforementioned site, 80% of the time they give a great artist or group their big break (i.e. Vampire Weekend, Fleet Foxes, Titus Andronicus, Surfer Blood, and of course Animal Collective).  Local Natives are at the cross-roads of Fleet Foxes falsetto woods-folk, and Band of Horses space-folk, but with more electric guitars and at times more angst.  If you are a fan of either of those bands I guarantee you will love Local Natives debut 'Gorilla Manor'.  Stoked to check them out in a few weeks.


Here's a track:

Wide Eyes - Local Natives

April 2010 Concert Calendar - San Diego

Sorry there was no update for March, but law school was busy bringing the pain so I forgot.  Here's what's good in April a little early.

4/5 - RJD2 and Busdriver @ The Casbah
4/8 - Citizen Cope @ The Wave House
4/12 - As Tall As Lions @ The Loft
4/14- Retribution Gospel Choir @The Casbah
4/15 - A Place To Bury Strangers & The Big Pink @ The Casbah
4/16, 4/17, 4/18 - Coachella
4/19 - Jeff Beck @ 4th and B
4/21 - Japandroids @ The Casbah
4/24 - Daedelus & Free The Robots @ The Loft
4/25- High on Fire @ The Casbah
4/27- Rogue Wave @ The Belly Up
4/28 - The Antlers @ The Casbah
4/28 - The Mary Onettes @ Soda Bar
4/29 - The Avett Brothers @ House of Blues
4/30 - Dark Star Orchestra @ The Belly Up

Foals - Spanish Sahara

Foals are a group out of England who sound like what Bloc Party sounded like back in 2005 (aka "the good years"). Their first album 'Antidotes' was one of my favorites of 2008, sounding like the love child of the aforementioned era of Bloc Party and Minus the Bear. Kinda math-rocky but not in a pretentious way, which us lesser beings always appreciate. Their second album 'Total Life Forever is out on May 10, 2010 and should be top notch.

Below is their video for the slow building epic "Spanish Sahara".

MpFree Tuesday! 3 New Tracks From The Black Keys, Holy Fuck, and The Glitch Mob

Continuing in my 1 month old tradition of scouring the internets to find some groovy free mp3's to download, today here are 3 tracks from artists with upcoming releases

First we have the always dependable Black Keys.  The blues duo consisting of Dan Auerbach on guitar and Pat Carney on drums have become a rock n' roll staple over the past 8 years with high energy live shows, hip-hop collaborations (Blakroc), and side projects in the form of Patrick Carney's band of all drummers, aptly named Drummer, and Dan Auerbach's most excellent solo blues swamp-romp 'Keep it Hid'.  The boys are back together to bring us some new tunes with their new album 'Brothers' out May 18.  Although this album is mainly self-produced, the lead single 'Tighten Up' is produced by everyone's favorite everyman producer, Brian Burton AKA Dangermouse who produced the band's last album 'Attack & Release'.  Download 'Tighten Up' HERE.

Second we have instrumental the  Canadians in Holy Fuck.  Don't be deterred by the ridiculous name, because on their newest release, 'Latin' out on May 11, these 2008 Polaris Prize Shortlist finalists are further refining their sound bringing us more members (now at 4 plus touring rhythm section), and more psychotic, psych-out voice-less jams.  Download the lead single 'Latin America' HERE.

Third is the electronic glitch/break collective The Glitch Mob.  Although The Glitch Mob has not yet released a proper album, they've gained quite a cult following in the past 3 or so years touring relentlessly, releasing a free, and excellent mixtape 'The Crush Mode', and remixing artists like TV on the Radio, Jamie Lidell, and STS9.  Their first full length 'Drink the Sea' is out May 25 and you can download the first single, 'Drive It Like You Stole It' over at XLR8R over HERE.

Happy listening my friends.

MGMT's new album 'Congratulations' available streaming now

Amble on over to http://www.whoismgmt.com/ to check out their new sound.  Definitely won't be dancing to this one.  Sounds like 'Low'-era David Bowie recording with a commune of hippies singing as choir... while on mushrooms.  Why not give it a try?  And yes that is the cover art.

Maserati - 'Inventions for the New Season'

It's no secret that Maserati is one of my favorite bands, so please forgive my endless endearment.   I can't help it.  For those of you that don't know, Maserati is a (currently) 5-piece instrumental post-rock band from Athens, Georgia.  The reason I say currently 5-piece is that their former drummer, an amazing musician by the name of Gerhardt "Jerry" Fuchs, fell down an elevator shaft to his death this past fall.  If it truly is better to burn out than to fade away, the great Mr. Fuchs made one hell of a performance on Maserati's last proper album in 2007, 'Inventions for the New Season' their 3rd proper album.  Although only having 3 legitimate LPs the band has a pretty prolific discography when considering the vast amount of singles, splits, and most recently an excellent rarities collection 'Passages' released last year just before Fuchs' death.

'Inventions for the New Season is literally dripping with more beautiful delay pedal-work than The Edge can hide under his skull cap.  Guitarists Matt Cherry and Josh McCauley create an electronic synth-like rythym, seamlessly intertwining their melodic riffs over Fuchs expert drumming.  The music has frequently been called "danceable", which I cannot dispute because I often find myself at least marginally bobbing when listening to fast paced tracks like 'Synchronicity IV' or 'Show Me The Season'.  The opener, 'Inventions' bubbles and builds over the course of it's 9 minute plus track length to cresting tsunami-heights, before crashing down, receding, and crashing down again. And again. And Again.  It reminds me of STS9 at their most frenetically paced, yet darker and with less electronic flourishes.  Also, if you know who the Coma Lilies are, this band is the love child that they never knew they had.

I love this album to no end, and while it does seem to lose a little of the heavy steam by the time the final notes echo to black, there is really nothing to complain about because the album is perfect in all other respects.  This band and album is, well, to put it in the words of the band themselves, "Maserati is as sleek and sexy as the legendary Italian sports it takes its name from".  Enough said.

Stream Gorillaz - 'Plastic Beach' RIGHT NOW! ! !

In anticipation of their forthcoming 3rd album, 'Plastic Beach', the entire album is currently being streaming over on NPR.  The album features the likes of Snoop Dog, Little Dragon, Mos Def, Lou Reed, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, and De La Soul and after my first listen I am utterly blown away by the quality of the production and the all-around greatness of my visit to the Plastic Beach.  The album proper drops in just 8 days on March 9th.  Their Coachella set, their first performance in over 5 years is going to be a sight to behold that's for sure, so if you're headed to the desert this April get excited.

Listen Here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124114812 (click the link at the top)

Tracklist:

1. Orchestral Intro (feat. Sinfonia ViVA)
2. Welcome To The World Of The Plastic Beach (feat. Snoop Dogg & Hypnotic Brass Ensemble)
3. White Flag (feat. Kano, Bashy & The National Orchestra For Arabic Music)
4. Rhinestone Eyes
5. Stylo (feat. Bobby Womack & Mos Def)
6. Superfast Jellyfish (feat. Gruff Rhys & De La Soul)
7. Empire Ants (feat. Little Dragon)
8. Glitter Freeze (feat. Mark E. Smith)
9. Some Kind Of Nature (feat. Lou Reed)
10. On Melancholy Hill
11. Broken
12. Sweepstakes (feat. Mos Def & Hypnotic Brass Ensemble)
13. Plastic Beach (feat. Mick Jones & Paul Simonon)
14. To Binge (feat. Little Dragon)
15. Cloud Of Unknowing (feat. Bobby Womack and Sinfonia ViVA)
16. Pirate Jet

MpFree Wednesday: New Tracks from Portugal. the Man and Broken Social Scene and Flying Lotus

Look! Free music that requires no piracy! With forthcoming albums from all three coming in the next few months, Broken Social Scene and Portugal. The Man are offering the seemingly now obligatory free Mp3 downloads of the first single off each of the their albums, and in FlyLo's case 3 non-album tracks just for shits and hyyyyyype.

The Broken Social Scene track is 'World Sick' off the May 4th release 'Forgiveness Rock Record' and it is one hell of a song.  Very epic and very Canadian as one would expect from these guys.  It's been 5 years since their last proper album and the upcoming one should be excellent featuring the likes of members of Stars, Metric, Tortoise, and the lovely Leslie Feist (the "1-2-3-4" chick you remember from the colorful square iPod mini commercial).

Get that track HERE in exchange for an e-mail address.

The Portugal. The Man track 'The Dead Dog' is off their upcoming 'American Ghetto' to be released on March 2nd, their 5th album in 5 years (not bad!).  Nothing bad can really be said about this band, they're great people as well as great musicians.

Get their track HERE in exchange for an e-mail address.

Lastly, head on over to the excellent blog Brooklyn Vegan to peep a 3 track zip file of non-album tracks in anticipation of Flying Lotus's 4/20 release (sweet date bro... hey... could you pass that?) 'Cosmogramma'.  As expected the tracks are wonky as hell.  No e-mail address required.

Enjoy everyone!

Stardeath and White Dwarfs - 'The Birth'

At a free show the Flaming Lips played last August in Del Mar, CA on the infield of the horse-racing track I showed up early to catch the opening band with the interesting name.  The first sounds that came roaring out of the speakers when they started to play was familiar to me.  It was Black Sabbath's 'Sweet Leaf' a song I never dreamed to hear played live.  They had my attention and kept it through the entire set, melting the crowds faces with 10 minute jams of 3 minute songs.

Stardeath and White Dwarfs, headed by Lips' lead-singer Wayne Coyne's nephew, Dennis Coyne, are almost constantly written off as a band hyped only because of their relation to Wayne and his shameless promotion of them as the opening band at Flaming Lips shows for the past couple of years.  What those who ignore the relevancy and quality of this band fail to realize however is that the Flaming Lips, who could fill their undercard with any number of top-shelf acts, chose not to, and instead have time and again given the spot to their one-time roadies (and still sometimes roadies) Stardeath and White Dwarfs.  This is no accident.  This band is neo-psychedelic goodness at work.

Having only previously released one quality EP, 'That's Cool' in 2005, their debut LP, 'The Birth' shows the signs of a band emerging from the womb of the Flaming Lips school of rock.  The influence of the Lips is all over this LP but not in the sense of copy-catting their work, but rather using their template to begin a new generation of bands that are following in the Lips footsteps; creating weird psychedelic rock tunes that evoke imagery of Martian desert landscapes and ganja-smoke filled back rooms.  Invariably some people will point to the similarity of Dennis Coyne's falsetto to that of his uncle Wayne but it fits the music well.  Other influences such as the aforementioned Black Sabbath and Crazy Horse-era Neil Young show through on many tracks quite clearly.

As a cohesive piece of music, the album feels a bit disjointed but the standout tracks like "New Heat", "Those Who Are From The Sun Return To The Sun", and "Smoking Pot Makes Me Not Want To Kill Myself" more than make up for the albums low points.  Casey Joseph the band's bassist really provides a solid backbone for the songs, giving them a surprisingly upbeat feel especially on "New Heat" which is the first single off the album (and my favorite track).  Some songs are ballad-like such as the aptly named "Country Ballad" but even there and at other slow-paced moments on the album, you can tell these guys are trying to create an ebb-and-flow type of sound like the tides of the beach.

Lyrically, the band explores similar a similar psychosis that the Flaming Lips reverted back to this past year with 'Embryonic'; lyrics about death, boredom, and the introspective nature of the universe abound.  It's about what one would expect from an album like this and there are seldom any lyrical marvels to be found, but it doesn't really detract from the music which is the real draw of the album.

And if you enjoy this album then I also highly suggest you check out their cover collaborations with, The Flaming Lips; a cover of Madonna's 'Borderline' that was released for last year's Record Store Day, and most recently their cover of Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon' also featuring Peaches (...) and Henry Rollins (! ...) which was played in it's entirety at their joint New Year's Eve show in Oklahoma City and will be played in it's entirety again as THE highlight at this year's semi-flacid Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tennessee.


I highly recommend you travel the cosmos Stardeath and White Dwarf's on this album.  Their young and full energy and worth every penny if they come to shine the light of their dying sun on your city sometime soon.

-Zach Jaffe

Bonnaroo 2010 Lineup

For those of you that are interested the Bonnaroo 2010 lineup is being announced as we speak, one artist at a time, every 5 minutes or so, for the rest of the morning until the line-up is complete.  Head on over to their Myspace page to watch in real time with some cool CooCoo clock animations and floating lightbulbs with hands for wings.  Trippy brah!

The lineup so far is...
The Flaming Lips and Stardeath & White Dwarfs performing 'Dark Side of the Moon'
Weezer
The Avett Brothers
Phoenix
Cross Canadian Ragweed
John Fogerty
Ingrid Michaelson
Medeski, Martin, and Wood
The XX
OK GO
Bassnectar
Norah Jones
Wale
Regina Spektor
Mayer Hawthorne and the Country
Jay-Z


...Thus far, looks like Coachella only worse and with more shitty piano folk chicks.


Coincidently, my review Stardeath & White Dwarfs' stellar debut will be posted later today.  Good year coming up for those guys.

The Chinese Democracy of Rap: Dr. Dre's 'Detox'

It took Axl Rose 15 years to shit out the steaming pile of crap that is Chinese Democracy.  15 years is a long time.  The band that began to the record the album was the band that released the album in name only; the original Guns n' Roses members have long since gone out to shittier things like bands named after fabric-embossed revolvers and providing color commentary on VH1 countdowns.  Any modern musical work of art that spends that long in gestation is destined for irrelevancy and a suck-factor of 11 on a 1 to 10 scale.

It has been over 10 years since Dr. Dre dropped '2001' on the world.  Contrary to many people's memories, and conveniently for Dr. Dre, the album was released in 1999, not 2001.  What started as maybe the most anticipated rap album ever, 'Detox' is turning into the Chinese Democracy of rap.  Recorded, re-recorded, re-re-recorded, scrapped, recorded again, and probably smoked up in an accidental blunt fire and recorded once again, the album is now being delayed until... Well who the fuck knows.  Dr. Dre himself doesn't even seem to know. Talking to SLAM magazine recently he said, “Well, I’m working on it, but also I’ve been working on other people’s projects; you’ll probably hear something in a year or so.”  A year or so.  This means 2011 and at this point quite conceivably beyond.

Let's face it, the man is now 44 years old, and while Jay-Z has certainly show that hip-hop moguls can rap with the best of them into their 40's, Jay-Z has at least been keeping 'in the game' during the past 10 years.  If Dre decides to release the album in 2011 he will be 45.  If you have seen that Dr. Pepper commercial that included mere seconds of Detox, you noticed the dude looks OLD.

Now I hear the argument constantly that Dre is focusing on his production for other artists like The Game, Eminem, Raekwon, etc. but even those artists who work closely with Dre on a day to day basis fail to provide an adequate explanation for what the hell is taking so long.  The Game told XXL Magazine in November 2009,

"I know it seem like he be taking forever with these albums but if you think about the time that passed between the Chronic and 2001, I think Detox is just about due. So it's not about him just making us wait, it's his format."

So let's get this straight, the 7 years between 'The Chronic' and '2001' are somehow just like the 10 years that have thus far elapsed since '2001' and... well and nothing, he has nothing to show for 10 years of work yet besides an advertising deal with a crappy soda you used to drink when the first '2001' came out.  Sure, "Crack A Bottle" had a classic great Dr. Dre flow on it, and there have been some stand-out 50 Cent and other Aftermath artist's tracks, but it's still not what we are all waiting for.  The danger of going back to the lab and perfecting the beat for over 10 years is that when it all finally comes together, whenever that may be, is that it won't come even close to living up to the hype. 

The great irony of 'Chinese Democracy' wasn't just the title of the album, but that people could actually expected a Chinese democracy to come about before the album would.  The great irony of the title 'Detox' is of course that it will be Dr. Dre's final album, likening his career arc as a rapper to an addiction which he will finally purge upon this release.  It will also be a great catharsis to the rap world that has sunk to levels that involve Lil' Wayne attempting a rock album.  But it could also be a bomb that implodes upon it's own supposed greatness and signal the end of an era in rap music.  But I guess you gotta give the man credit where it's due.  He must know what he's doing.  After all, he is a doctor.

-Zach Jaffe

Zomby - "Where Were U in '92?"

“What the fuck is this shit?” was the my initial reaction to dubstep when a friend first turned me on to it in 2006, playing Burial’s self-titled album for me.  Made up of tracks wump-wump-wump-wump bass throbbing your subs and ghost-like vocal samples, dubstep is a relatively new evolution in the ‘idm’ (intelligent dance music) genre.  While classic idm artists like Aphex Twin used glitches and breaks to get the hipsters feel a’movin’, more current dubstep artists, while still staying true to the glitch/break formula of their predecessors, are adding more wordly influences like Jamaican dancehall (where the ‘dub’ comes from) and sounds not out of place on tracks by underground hip-hop producers like the late-great J Dilla and Madlib.  The label Hyperdub, out of the United Kingdom, imprint of the aforementioned Burial, has a plethora of dubstep artists oozing out of the London and Bristol undergrounds.  One of the freshest sounds of any of these has to be that of Zomby.

After a series of 7” and 12” vinyl releases to ramp up the hype as is customary, in 2008 Zomby dropped his debut full length, “Where Were U in ’92?”  This album is good.  It’s not great, but it’s certainly very good.  The reason I say this so early on in this review is to emphasize the fact that if you have not listened to this style of music before, at first listen it can be quite abrasive (read: rave air horns echoing in and out on the majority of the tracks).  This is not to suggest that I have some sort of keen ear more attuned to the nuances of Zomby’s music any more than the next schmuck out there, rather, to the contrary, that I am just the next schmuck out there and it took me a couple of listens to really get a feel for it.

But onto the music.  The title of the album is an allusion to the UK rave culture that was burgeoning at the dawn of the 1990’s.  Zomby by all accounts, although his identity is mostly secret, was most definitely around only 6 or 7 and not participating in the scene.  So wherever he was in ’92 he almost certainly wasn’t raving.  Although he was not yet at the age of majority where he could enjoy the new culture of ecstasy poppin' and 20-somethings sucking pacifiers while dancing until dehydration, he certainly appreciates the music of the era which provide the pallet from which he paints his musical portrait. 

The album kicks off with the aptly titled, “Fuck Mixing, Lets Dance”, a breakbeat 8-bit jam full of symbol crashes and air horns.  The song is actually a relatively benign beginning to what amounts to a complex dance album.  Later on tracks like “Daft Punk Rave” Zomby samples in part of the repetitive chorus of “Harder Better Faster Stronger” and filters it through the grimey strain of the United Kingom’s best scene.  One of the standout tracks, “Tears in the Rain” hammers hard with a pulsating bass beat that never lets up and of course, the obligatory rave horns.  Other cuts like “Float” feel like mid-90’s RnB that your older sister probably got freaky to in high school.  Of course, no album paying tribute to rave culture would be complete without an ecstasy song.  Here, “Pillz” features samples asking “Is you rolling?” and responding with “Shhhhs, I might” followed by “Girl, he geeked up”.  Not exactly an original statement for anyone familiar with the thizzin’ culture of Bay Area rap, but as the song progresses you can almost feel the transition from your Nintendo playing childhood to your booze swilling early twenties when the break abruptly shifts the direction of the song.  Another that is sure to be a fan favorite is “U Are My Fantasy (Street Fighter II Theme Remix)” which is pretty much as it sounds, a remix of the Street Fighter II theme song, but it also really shows his roots in the dubstep culture.

Running at just under 40 minutes, “Where Were U In ’92?” is an enjoyable romp back in time in a glitchy, tweaked-out sort of way.  While most dubstep sounds like the future, Zomby sounds like the future sprinkled with the past.  Zomby is to dubstep, what Peanut Butter Wolf is to hip-hop, a producer mining the early 90’s for inspiration, an era most popular culture has resigned to belonging solely to Nirvana and Pearl Jam.  In any case, fuck mixing, let’s dance.

-Zach Jaffe

Quicksilver Messenger Service - "Comin' Thru"

Raised on Classic Rock, although not of the generation, I will always revere the era as the Golden Age of music (call me biased).  And even as there was a plethora of high quality music at the forefront of this movement, much of its less popular musiq can go un-listened. I give you Quicksilver Messenger Service - Comin' Thru.

A band known for their formation during the sixties with helping the onset of the psychedelic scene, Quicksilver Messenger Service’s seventh album (first with keyboard player Chuck Steaks), Comin’ Thru is brain child of guitarists Dino Valente and Gary Duncan. Although the band’s most notable albums such as their self-titled album (1968) and Happy Trails (1969) show progressive notions of San Francisco’s psychedelic scene, Comin’ Thru shows more of the band’s musical influences of blues, jazz and folk. This album doesn’t follow the typical Quicksilver song montage of congruent jam followed by heavy psychedelic ambient structure (or lack there of). However don’t get me wrong, Comin' Thru still holds true to the psychedelic rock ideas of say the Dead or Jefferson Airplane.

The album’s front runner, "Doing Time in the U.S.A.," a song chronicling different themes regarding broken law has an almost bleeding southern rock feel to it, often resembling tones made famous by Duane Allman and Dicky Betts.  "Doing Time in the U.S.A." gives an ode to the Rolling Stones when Dino Valente recites in his most Jagger-esque voice, “…I can’t get no, satisfaction;” this being ironic seeing as how the band’s former organist, Nicky Hopkins, had recently left to do work with the Rolling Stones. Whether or not this is an actual response to the Stones classic is unknown, but in a genre where underlying song connections run wild, one can only imagine.  Quicksilver’s jazz influences are recognizable within moments of the first horn solos found on "Chicken". Sonny Lewis (saxophone) and Pat O’hara lay down dueling solos of high spectral pitch that make this soulful jam extremely tight. cAs always the bands twangy-blues guitar riffs are found throughout, most present on "Mojo" and "Changes".  "Mojo," a song about what else than a man’s swagger/libido, has the psychedelic song formation most notably found in their earlier albums.  Ending the song via a line-up of solo’s starting from guitar to trumpet to bass followed by keyboard, the band obtains a type of “jam status” rarely seen on their studio albums.  Stressing the difference between this album and their popular titles is the production of keyboard player Chuck Steaks.  His approach to keyboard is much more up tempo and “wild” compared to a more classically trained Mark Naftalin.  The albums organ solo’s often resemble contemporary solo work by (Cha Boi!) Bernie Worell, most recognizable on "Doing Time in the U.S.A" and "Don’t Lose It."

Many regard Comin’ Thru as a lesser work of Quicksilver Messenger Service since the band would fall apart near the end of the decade and many of the original members were not part of the album’s production (John Cippollina, David Friedberg & Jim Murray).  An album that holds two opinions, Comin' Thru (as many albums do) plays both poles of the spectrum: Some critics feel the horn work and heavy piano/keyboard influence is used to compensate for a less talented band, while others state it was merely innovative thinking. Let’s not hang signs, just listen.

-Max Smith

***Note: Lala's selection is decidedly limited to only certain QMS songs so the one posted here is not off of this album.  Sorry for any inconvenience in listening this may cause.

2010: The Year Of Madlib

Madlib is for lack of a better descriptive phrase, mad prolific.  The infamous Stones Throw beat-maker is setting up to have one hell of a year in 2010.  First off, the Stones Throw site states that Madlib's newest incarnation 'The Madlib Medicine Show' will have 12 volumes (!) to be released one a month for the duration of the year 2010.  The first, 'Mablib Medicine Show No. 1 - Before the Verdict feat. Guilty Simpson' is out now with the 2nd volume 'Flight To Brazil' to be released before the end of February.

Now, as if this project were not daunting enough, Madlib is also gifting the world with some of his jazz pseudonym projects, starting with The Last Electro-Acoustic Jazz & Percussion Ensemble 'Miles Away' and Young Jazz Rebels 'Slave Riot'.  Both albums are spin-offs of Madlib's trilogy of albums under the name 'Yesterday's New Quintet' which were collections of jazz made by imaginary jazz groups that were in fact just Madlib making stuff up.  Two of the imaginary groups, those aforementioned, both now have their own releases available now.  The Last-Electro-Acoustic Space Jazz & Percussion Ensemble previously released two 30-minute 'suites' 'Summer Suite' in 2007 and 'Fall Suite' last yearALSO, Madlib recently produced an album for Strong Arm Steady entitled 'In Search of Stoney Jackson' that is also excellent.  AND he and rapper/evil mastermind extraordinaire, DOOM (formerly MF DOOM) have a sequel to their 2004 classic Madvillian - 'Madvilliany' in the works.

To recap, that makes for 4 releases before February 1st, 11 more planned in the Madlib Medicine Show series, and possibly Madvilliany 2, plus lord knows he will throw in a couple more spin-offs of the Yesterday's New Quintet series.  Madlib doesn't eat or sleep.  He just makes beats.

NEW (Yes, NEW) Jimi Hendrix - Valleys of Neptune

For the 40th anniversary of Jimi Hendrix's death, 2010 is going to be the year of Jimi, with remasters on CD and Vinyl, a movie, and other stuff to get us all 'experienced' by the time it's all said and done.  Oh, and this also includes a new album.  Yes, a new album from arguably the most influential guitarist of the modern era.  Go to Spinner right now to hear the first taste of 'Valleys of Neptune' with the title track.

CLICK HERE

Thanks to CoS for heads up.

Free mp3 single from Yeasayer

Amble on over to http://www.yeasayer.net/ to download the free single, "O.N.E." off Yeasayer's forthcoming 2nd LP, "Odd Blood.

Easily my favorite song right now.  It's like a tropical rockin' dance party with the Bee Gees underwater.  These guys are going to be huge this year.  If you enjoy it, also go on over to jambase and check out their 2-page front page spread on the band. 

It's FREE. What have you got to lose by giving it a try?

February '10 Concert Calendar - Arizona

Tucson:
Wednesday Feb. 3
Bowerbirds and Julie Doiron @ Club Congress

Thursday Feb. 4 - Saturday Feb. 6
6th Annual Tucson Gem Jam featuring EOTO, BoomBox, Telepath, and Pnuma Trio @ Rialto Theatre

Tuesday Feb. 16
Les Claypool @ Rialto Theatre

Thursday Feb. 18
Al Di Meola @ Rialto Theatre

Friday Feb. 19
DeVotchKa @ Club Congress

Sunday Feb. 28
Sound Tribe Sector 9 (STS9) and Emancipator @ Rialto Theatre

Phoenix:
Tuesday Feb. 2
Bowerbirds and Julie Doiron @ The Rhythm Room
 
Tuesday Feb. 11
St. Vincent @ The Rhythm Room

Wednesday Feb. 17
Alice in Chains @ Dodge Theatre

Monday Feb. 22
Brendan Benson @ The Rhythm Room

Tusday Feb. 23
We Were Promised Jetpacks @ The Rhythm Room

February '10 Concert Calendar - San Diego

Monday Feb. 1
Bowerbirds and Julie Doiron @ The Loft

Tuesday Feb. 2
The Soft Pack @ Tower Bar

Thursday Feb. 4
Telepath @ Winstons Beach Club

Sunday Feb. 7
The Thermals and Thao with the Get Down Stay Down @Belly Up Tavern

Tuesday Feb. 9
Editors and The Antlers @ House of Blues

Wednesday Feb. 10 
St. Vincent @ Belly Up Tavern

Wednesday Feb. 10
Garaj Mahal @ Winstons Beach Club

Thursday Feb. 11
Sound Tribe Sector 9 (STS9) @ House of Blues

Friday Feb. 12
G. Love and Special Sauce @ House of Blues

Wednesday Feb. 17
Medeski, Martin, & Wood @ House of Blues

Saturday Feb. 20
P.O.S. @ The Loft

Tuesday Feb. 23 - Wednesday Feb. 23
Al Di Meola @ Anthology

Willkommen!

Welcome to Ahead of Center. Although I'm sure you are well aware, this is clearly a music blog. Considering that we as a society outsource much of our technical labor to India or sweatshops Laos we figured outsourcing music listening is also possible. To avoid any confusion we have taken the liberty of answering any and all questions that you might have about our site for you.

What sort of music will be written about here?
-Good music generally. Sometimes it might be bad, but mostly it will be good.

Is there a specific genre I can expect to see?
-Yes, you can expect to see every genre of music. So no, don't expect any specific genre.

Will it be all new music?
-Sometimes it might be new, but most of the time we simply hope that it will be new to you.

Where can I find some of this music for purchase since much of it seems to be obscure as all hell?
-We will do out best to post links to where these albums may be purchased when a review is posted although we apologize if some of it is hard to track down. That's part of the fun.

Will there be other stuff on here?
-Yes. Concerts local to the Southern California and Arizona areas will frequently be posted so you can get out there and see some shows, brah! And sometimes music news/blurbs/tweets/other verbal vomitus will also appear.

Yours musically,

Max and Zach

St. Petersburg Ska-Jazz Review - "St. Petersburg Ska-Jazz Review"

For lack of a better phrase, “Great horn sections make me wet.” Divulging a little more, I’ve always been one for great Trombone, Trumpet, French Horn, Tuba etc. combos. Even the simplest of melodies composed can be made “Golden” by a great horn section. Besides, I find brass just makes people happy. And in my musical experience Ska makes the happiest of brass (Big Band Brass a close 2nd); the very reason I bring up St. Petersburg Ska-Jazz Review’s “Self-titled” Album.

This side project to the Russian Ska-Punk band Spitfire (with members from the Afro-Reggae group Markscheider Kunst) began little under two decades ago. The St. Petersburg Ska Jazz-Review (SPSJR) began, as many bands do, as a secondary or third project for many of its musicians touring only locally on the Russian Night Club Scene. As popularity grew, so did the interest of the musicians partaking. SPSJR’s self titled album, released on Russian Indie Label Zvezda Records, is the epitome of instrumental ska (and damn good instrumental ska at that). What this band lacks in vocal montage, they make up in musicianship. “St. Petersburg Ska-Jazz Review,” their first album, holds most staples you would find on a typical Skankin’ album: Walking Bass Lines, Upbeat Melodies, Melodic Upstroke, Caribbean Mento, the use of small percussion instruments (Triangle, Washboard, Shakers, Wood & Mallet, Cow Bell, Cabasa).

Incorporating heavy jazz improvisations (without drowning out the harmony) and brass orchestral pieces are what sets this band apart, shown on such tracks as “Trip Back to Childhood” and “Pollution.” SPSJR’s improvisational prowess takes a true ska classic to the Two-Tone hall fame in a cover of the Skatalites, “King Solomon.” The album also features a quirky cover of the Sex Pistols “Anarchy in the UK.” If you’re one that needs the goofy bang-a-rang lyricism that only ska can provide, don’t trip. Such banter (banter being a good thing) is covered on the heavy reggae influenced track “John Johnes” and a track originally titled after the band itself. Overlapping horns and the use of polyrhythm in songs such as “Four” and “Corcovado” exemplify SPSJR’s mastery of the genre.

“St. Petersburg Ska-Jazz Review” is a genre mutt mash-up of Jazz’ influence on Skanky-Calypso driven rhythms. I hate to build expectations so high especially when dealing with elements of Jazz so please don’t anticipate the ska version of “Kind of Blue” or “Blue Train.” All I’m saying is, if Ska puts a dimple in your cheek, peep this shit.

-Max Smith

White Denim - "Fits"

I want to go to Austin, Texas. Personally, I’ve never much been a fan of the Lone Star State or any of its inhabitants, which appear, at least from what I’ve seen on TV, to be “longhorns”, “cowboys”, “mavericks”, and people named Bush. It’s also a bitch to drive through. But a state that encompasses nearly 270,000 square miles is bound to have at least one bright spot. Austin appears to be that bright spot, at least in the musical world, giving us such events as South by Southwest and Austin City Limits, and current artists such as Ghostland Observatory and Okkervil River as well as classics like Buddy Holly and Stevie Ray Vaughn). Another band I think is destined to be a part of the pantheon of great ‘Austinites’ (?) is White Denim.

White Denim is a 3-piece group that has a sound that is unlike anything else out there. Writing this it was impossible to try and come up with one type of music in which to pigeonhole their sound. I’ll just call it punkjazzsoulpsychedelicbluesfusion. On their latest album ,“Fits”, their third, James Petralli, Joshua Block, and Steve Terebecki pull off the hat trick. Petralli sounds like a cacophonous, ragged-voiced Frank Zappa wailing through the lo-fi production. From the moment Terebecki’s bass drives and Block’s beat up drums (held together with silver duct tape when live) kick on the lead track “Radio Milk How Can You Stand It” you are immediately propelled into a psychedelic blues freak-out that continues for the length of the song, and bleeds in and out of every track on the album.

The second track “All Consolation” is a perfect example of how much this band can fit into a single song. By the time it’s over, White Denim has jammed through more styles than you can count. With an average track length of only about 3 minutes, there are surprisingly layers upon layers of sonic tastiness to slather on your aural canals. They also have the most inspired cowbell use since Will Ferrell was in the Blue Oyster Cult.

Throughout the rest of the album the band dips their feet in the each of the stylized rock schools of the past 5 decades, at some times sounding like a soul band playing the blues at a Mexican wedding (just listen to “El Hard Attack DCWYW”). One of my personal favorites on the album is “I Start To Run” which sounds like The Black Keys crossed with the White Stripes and given an 8-ball of cocaine to record with; it’s speedy and off-kilter. Another, “Mirrored and Reverse” is a psychedelic journey through the canons of late-60’s pschedelia and mid-70’s blues with a light thumping bass line and guitar that slowly builds into a jam not out of place on a Zeppelin album.

The rest of the album traverses the musical universe with standouts like, “Paint Yourself”, with Americana-tinged vocals similar to M. Ward, the mellowest track on the album, and old school Mo-Town soul meets experimental jazz contributions like “I’d Have it Just the Way We Were” and “Regina Holding Hands”. And although I haven’t mentioned it, they are pretty competent lyricists as well.

With so many styles and levels to the music I often wondered how the sound translates to the live stage, because although they clearly have the energy, all too often music like this can become muddled and messy out of the confines of the studio. But fear not, Petralli’s vocals/guitar virtuosity, Block’s behind the beat drumming, and Terebecki’s thumping bass stay wildly intact under the bright lights as I witnessed this past week at the Casbah in San Diego. Hear them, see them, watch for them, because White Denim rocks.

-Zach Jaffe