Chiddy Bang‘s debut album Breakfast is set for release at the end of this month, and so far, we’ve already heard the poppy lead single “Ray Charles” and a brief snippet from the album’s trailer. As a thank you for all the support they’ve been receiving thus far, Chiddy and Xaph decided to release a video for a brand new song that actually won’t make the album. “By Your Side” features reflective rhymes from Chiddy, all anchored by a soulful, melancholic beat from the extremely talented Xaphoon. If this didn’t make the album, I can’t even begin to imagine what Breakfast will end up sounding like. One thing’s for sure, it’s definitely time for breakfast.
Well, I guess this right here was inevitable. Kanye West and Jay-Z‘s Watch The Throne megahit “N*ggas In Paris” now has a seizure-inducing music video, composed mostly of live footage from Kanye and Hov’s recent US tour. Flashing lights, mirror image effects, Kanye and Jay dancing… it’s all there.
Thoughts?
If you aren’t feeling creative, feel free to copy and paste one of the following suggested comments:
That shit cray!
Ball so hard…
I don’t even know what that means.
blah blah blah something about the Illuminati
If you just so happen to be named Aubrey Drake Graham, you can use this one: “I’m just feeling like the throne is for the taking… watch me take it!”
Big day for Oakland rap duo Main Attrakionz! Just after releasing the dates for their first ever US tour, MondreM.A.N. and Squadda B posted up a new song produced by Tyler Bisson, the twinkling, hypnotic “Focalin”. It’s quite similar in style to 2011’s free full-length 808’s and Dark Grapes II, one of the best mixtapes released last year (even including a lone feature from Harlem’s ASAP Rocky). You can check out “Focalin” and the group’s tour dates below. Over the next two months, the California natives will make their way across the country into New England and into the South before wrapping everything up at this year’s SXSW.
2/10 @ Pomona College – Claremont, CA
2/19 @ Grand Central – Miami, FL
3/1 @ Middle East Upstairs – Boston, MA
3/2 @ Connecticut College – New London, CT
3/3 @ Sarah Lawrence College – Bronxville, NY
3/4 @ Glasslands Gallery – Brooklyn, NY
3/5 @ Webster Hall Studio – Manhattan, NY
3/6 @ Strange Matter – Richmond, VA
3/7 @ Longshanks – Greensboro, NC
3/8 @ Proud Larry’s – Oxford, MS
3/10 @ 35 Denton Festival – Denton, TX
3/12-17 @ SXSW
A couple of days ago, pictures of Dance Gavin Dance singer Jonny Craig abusing heroin surfaced online. There have been a number of drug-related controversies surrounding the young singer throughout his career: Craig was arrested last October for the possession of narcotics and other drug-related items, but was released on bail. However, he has been reported to have violated his parole conditions and is once again wanted by the authorities.
Many have speculated that Craig’s band, Dance Gavin Dance, have removed the troubled singer from their line-up once again, due to plans to embark on a US tour without him. However, the band have released a statement confirming that Craig has not been kicked out.
“As some of you have heard today, Jonny Craig will not be doing the upcoming tour with Dance Gavin Dance. Jonny is very sick right now, and needs to do what he can to get better. Being on the road is no place for someone in his position right now. He needs to focus on fixing himself. He has NOT been kicked out of Dance Gavin Dance, but we cannot tour with him in the current state he is in. We still want to continue being productive and playing music that we have so much passion for, which is why we decided to continue with the tour without Jonny. We love Jonny and we hope that Jonny can do what he can to get better, because we have done everything that we can to try to get him clean.
For this upcoming tour with A lot Like Birds, we will be joined by Kurt Travis and Matt Geise to fill in on vocals. We will be doing something that we’ve never done before, and thats preforming songs from all 4 full-lengths. For the time being, keep your eyes peeled and your ears piqued for new Secret Band music! See you all out on the road and make sure to come up and say hi to us at the merch table!”
Both Travis and Geise have previously worked with the band. Travis had been the band’s singer from 2007 to 2010, while Geise having been featured on the song “Rock Solid” off the band’s self-titled record. Secret Band is a side project started by the members of Dance Gavin Dance (excluding Jonny Craig). So far, they have released one four-track EP.
Ryan Thomas Schmale recently released his second album under the moniker That Ghost. Rosalind EPhas a very dark tone compared to the more catchy bedroom lo-fi vibes that were present on Young Friday. Schmale looks to the past for his inspiration, whether it be cinema or pictures of historical figures. In his words: “Each haunting melody elicits ghosts past, fading memories, and memories that were never our own.” This album, appropriately, is in honor of Rosalind, the woman featured in the album cover, and can be purchased on the Two Syllable Records Bandcamp. You can stream the entire thing below.
After being reportedly stuck in a Samoan camp for quite some time, it appears that Odd Future‘s Earl Sweatshirt has finally come back home. The young rap prodigy, most known for his fantastic mixtape, Earl, created both a Twitter and Tumblr account, and has also released a youtube video teasing new material in return for receiving 50,000 followers. Upon reaching the milestone, Earl tweeted a link to his new website, Terttlefer.com (turtle effer?), which contained a new song fittingly titled “Home”.
The Los Angeles based hip hop skateboard collective, who have a busy year ahead, also released the album art (shown above) to OF Tape Vol. 2, which fits into their established style and features OF collaborator Lucas Vercetti. Check out the music video for Earl Sweatshirt’s “EARL” below.
On Valentine’s Day, Denver husband-and-wife duo Tennis will release their sophomore effort, Young & Old, via Fat Possum. With Patrick Carney of The Black Keys manning the boards for the entire album, Tennis seem to have mastered their sound, resulting in another fun, relaxing record of indie-pop jams. You can listen to the ten-song record, in full, below.
Tennis 2012 Tour Dates:
02-09 Paris, France – Point Ephémère
02-10 Amsterdam, Netherlands – Paradiso
02-11 Ostend, Belgium – Zwerver Cafe
02-13 London, England – Hoxton Bar And Kitchen
02-16 Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater
02-22 Omaha, NE – Slowdown
02-24 Madison, WI – High Noon Saloon
02-26 Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
02-27 Indianapolis, IN – Radio Radio
02-28 Cleveland, OH – Grog Shop
02-29 Toronto, Ontario – Horseshoe Tavern
03-02 Allston, MA – Brighton Music Hall
03-03 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
03-05 Music Hall of Williamsburg
03-06 Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer *
03-07 Washington, DC – Black Cat *
03-09 Chapel Hill, NC – Local 506
03-10 Atlanta, GA – The Earl
03-11 Orlando, FL – Orange You Glad Festival
04-24 Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge
04-26 Seattle, WA – The Crocodile
04-27 Vancouver, British Columbia – Biltmore Caberet
04-28 Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge
04-30 San Francisco, CA – The Independent
05-02 Los Angeles, CA – Troubadour
05-03 San Diego, CA – The Casbah
05-04 Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom
Malcom Lacey, who graced us with one of 2011’s best albums, Plantation, under the moniker arrange, has launched a Kickstarter to help press his upcoming EP, New Memory, on vinyl. In order to do so, he needs to raise $2500; so far he’s raised $1072. There are a variety of fun rewards for pledging such as an early digital download of the EP, signed copies of it on vinyl, even living room shows for the most generous. So, in short, donate!
Below, you can watch Malcom’s Kickstarter announcement video and also listen to a sampler of New Memory.
This past Friday night, Justin Vernon and his fellow Bon Iver bandmates made an appearance on Saturday Night Live to perform two tracks from their fantastic 2011 record Bon Iver, Bon Iver, one of our favorite records of last year. As expected, the band launched directly into the ethereal, Grammy-nominated “Holocene”, but then surprised the audience when they began playing the opening notes to the highly-divisive, cheese-filled “Beth/Rest”. Personally, my favorite version of the song is still the solo piano version Justin did for NPR World Cafe, which you can listen to right here. Be sure to check out the videos from SNL below.
So apparently, Curren$y woke up yesterday morning and instead of getting ready for the Super Bowl like much of the world, decided to record and release a new five track EP for free. Spitta’s always been known for his diehard work ethic, but this seems to be an entirely new level for the woozy-flowed rapper: recording, preparing, and releasing an entire project in just a few hours. After numerous releases in 2011, Here is Curren$y’s first project of the year and hopefully the first of many. You can download the entire thing for free here.
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