Posted by Frank Wu

Mixtape: Kool A.D. – The Palm Wine Drinkard

Last year, New York rap trio Das Racist promised solo mixtapes from each of its members in early 2012. Today, we get the first of three, The Palm Wine Drinkard from Victor Vazquez, better known as Kool A.D., with DR emcee Heems‘ Nehru Jackets following soon after. Surprisingly, there isn’t a whole lot of rapping on the tape and most of it just Vazquez singing non-sequiturs over some really great production. Below, you can check out a few songs and also grab the entire mixtape.

Download: Kool A.D. – The Palm Wine Drinkard

MP3: Kool A.D. – “The Palm Wine Drinkard”

MP3: Kool A.D. – “Girls And Women”

Watch: Iron & Wine – “Godless Brother In Love”

Iron & Wine‘s folky, sun-soaked “Godless Brother In Love” (off 2011’s Kiss Each Other Clean) has received a set of visuals courtesy of director Claire Marie Vogel. The video, which features slow-motion cuts and a group of friends enjoying the beauties of nature, matches the song quite well, adding dimension to Iron & Wine’s calming vocals. Check it out below.

Listen: ASAP Rocky – “Pretty Flacko”

ASAP Rocky and the rest of the A$AP Mob aren’t taking any days off this holiday season preparing for the forthcoming release of the yet-to-be-titled A$AP Mob album in February. To kick off the new year, Rocky and producer SpaceGhostPurrp team up to bring us the trillwaves on “Pretty Flacko”.

And talk about New Years resolutions… Rocky also posted on his Tumblr that in ten years time, ASAP will be on a yacht and will still be on top. Long live A$AP.

MP3: ASAP Rocky – “Pretty Flacko (prod. SpaceGhostPurrp)”

LITS’s Top 25 Albums Of 2011

2011 was a great year for music and if one thing’s for certain, it’s the fact that there is always a constant stream of new artists and new music to listen to. In fact, if I had to give 2011 a tagline, it’d be “The Year of the Newcomer,” a title that’s also quite fitting for our list of the top albums of the year. Our list, as voted by our editorial staff, is full of new artists that surprised us with their craft, some of which was actually self-released for free through outlets like Bandcamp. It’s crazy to think that in an age that is so densely packed with new releases and new information, so many of our favorites come from such humble origins. It almost makes you feel like you’re lost… lost in the sound. And that’s something I’m completely okay with.

Here are our favorite albums from 2011. We hope you find something you enjoy just as much as we have over the past twelve months.

25. St. Vincent – Strange Mercy

24. Moon Duo – Mazes

23. Owen – Ghost Town

22. Beau Navire – Hours

21. Caroline – Verdugo Hills

20. Wilco – The Whole Love

19. Death in Vegas – Trans-Love Energies

18. Belong – Common Era

17. SBTRKT – SBTRKT

16. Leann Grimes – Leann Grimes

15. M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming

14. The Roots – Undun

13. Radiohead – The King of Limbs

12. ASAP Rocky – LiveLoveA$AP

11. The Horrible Crowes – Elsie

10. Arrange – Plantation

09. Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues

08. The Wonder Years – Suburbia I’ve Given You All and Now I’m Nothing

07. Beach Boys – The Smile Sessions

06. The Rosebuds – Loud Planes Fly Low

05. James Blake – James Blake

04. Kendrick Lamar – Section.80

03. Drake – Take Care

02. Bon Iver – Bon Iver

01. The Weeknd – House of Balloons

 

Mixtape: Clams Casino – Instrumentals (Mastered)

I’m a few days late on this one, but here’s a Christmas gift from standout producer Clams Casino. In 2011, Clams went from being Lil B‘s best producer to becoming one of the most talented producers in the game today, period. To thank all of his fans for getting to him to where he is today, Clams released a completely remastered, high-quality (320kbps) version of his mixtape, Instrumentals, one of my personal favorite releases this year. If you haven’t heard it already, or even if you own the old version, make sure to download the mixtape below.

DOWNLOAD: Clams Casino – Instrumentals (Mastered)