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Watch: Kanye West and Jay-Z Live in Montreal

Unless you’ve been living underneath a rock for the past few months, you’ve probably already heard about the hip hop superduo of frequent collaborators Kanye West and Jay-Z and their first full album together, Watch The Throne. Well, now you can finally “watch the throne” in high quality from your very own home, as Montreality has posted HD footage of the duo’s energetic performance in Montreal.

After watching a few questions remain on my mind: is this mainly a Kanye show? Or is it Hov’s show? Was it worth such a high cost? And is Kanye wearing a skirt?

Check it out for yourself below.

Marissa Nadler Posts Two Free Covers

To kick off Thanksgiving, dream-folk artist Marissa Nadler has decided to give away two tracks off of her Covers Volume II album, which features Nadler’s beautiful renditions of 13 legendary songs. It’s always difficult to do justice through a cover and even more so when you’re covering such well-known artists as Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen, but Nadler’s melancholic voice adds a splash of personal sorrow to each song. Check out two songs below and if you like what you hear, be sure to check out Marissa’s Etsy store, where you can purchase the entire Covers album as well as her new self-titled full-length.

Motel Blues (Originally by Loudon Wainwright III):

Learning to Fly (Originally by Tom Petty):

Listen: WZRD – “Brake”

By way of Twitter, Kid Cudi and producer Dot Da Genius, known together as the newly-dubbed WZRD, revealed the very first single from the yet-to-be-named rock album. Set for a January 30 release date (Cudder’s 28th birthday), the upcoming album will have no profanity and will have a very uplifting sound. Today’s preview, titled “Brake”, has a completely different vibe from the previously leaked, woozy-sounding “Perfect Is The Word” (listen here). Heavily driven by hazy guitars, booming drums, and Cudi’s distinctive voice, “Brake” actually sounds pretty dark and brooding, perhaps even psychedelic at times.

MP3: WZRD – “Brake”

Thoughts?

The Wonder Years Release New Music Video

The Wonder Years have just released their music video for “Came Out Swinging”, the opening track ofSuburbia I’ve Given You All And Now I’m Nothing. You can check out the video below, which features a lot of The Wonder Years references like Hank the Pigeon. The Wonder Years released Suburbia I’ve Given You All And Now I’m Nothing earlier this year to critical acclaim and huge adoration from their fans. You can check out Frank’s review of the album here.

Listen: MadGibbs (Freddie Gibbs & Madlib) – “Thuggin'”

Freddie Gibbs and Madlib release their collaborative debut today with Thuggin’. The 6-track EP was originally announced and distributed at a recent Madlib show, immediately selling out 500 copies. Despite being over six months in the making, Thuggin’ has been a well-kept secret. The blogosphere was suddenly hit with a release date yesterday, finding out that the wait for a MadGibbs release would be short-lived. This sparked a craze within both artists’ cult-like followings, and for good reason. This EP is straight fire, pairing Freddie Gibbs’ intricate drug tales with Madlib’s trademark hypnotic loops. This is arguably the best work Madlib has done since 2004’s Madvillainy with MF DOOM, and Freddie Gibbs does the producer justice. Hear the excellent title track below, and purchase your copy in either vinyl or digital format here.

Freddie Gibbs & Madlib – Thuggin’ by Rappcats

Listen: A-10 & Young Brew – “Let You Know (Prod. By Keyyz McFlyy)”

Talent isn’t something that is defined by age. That’s something youngsters Odd Future have made clear in the past year, with the extremely talented, 17-year-old Earl Sweatshirt dropping nicer lines than rappers double his age. Today, I have a new track from the 16-year-old A-10, who hails from Durham, North Carolina. With his team, A-10 has been drawing attention for his clean flow and chilled-out sound, personally reminding me of a blend between Curren$y and Chip Tha Ripper. His upcoming mixtape is entitled The Cold and will be out at the end of this month. Check out “Let You Know” with Young Brew below.

‘Bon Iver, Bon Iver’ Gets Digital Re-Release

Bon Iver‘s critically acclaimed self-titled LP will be getting the re-release treatment on November 29th. The 10 track album will be released digitally on iTunes via Jagjaguwar and does not actually include any new songs. The caveat is that the re-release includes 10 short films, one for each of the album’s tracks. From the press release:

“Comprised of individual visual works that both complement and enrich the audio on the album, the video accompaniment was in itself another year in the making. Featuring work by Dan Huiting, Isaac Gale, David Jensen, JoLynn Garnes and Justin Vernon, the video work is meant to be consumed as a visual extension of the music, to enhance each listener’s experience with one of the year’s most acclaimed albums. While not music videos per se, these visual accompaniments are striking in their distinctive atmosphere, and compelling works in their own right.”

After the break, you can check out a 47 second long trailer. Powerful and deeply moving imagery combined with ethereal music from Justin Vernon and co. – what more do you want?

Watch: New WU LYF Music Video for “We Bros”

On June 13th, Manchester “heavy pop” band WU LYF (standing for World Unite Lucifer Youth Foundation) released their highly anticipated debut album, Go Tell Fire to the Mountain to much critical acclaim, and now, they have released a music video for the song “We Bros”. Check out the video below or go here to purchase the album.

Listen: Chiddy Bang – “Ray Charles”

“The song actually started out as a joke when my brother, Cheeseburger Don, got so high he fell asleep in the studio with his sunglasses on. I looked over and he reminded me of Ray Charles, probably because I was high, too. I started freestyling about him and we laid it down right there.” That’s what Chidera Anamege, the emcee half of Chiddy Bang had to say about their new single, “Ray Charles”. The song is taken from Chiddy and Xaph’s long-awaited debut LP, Breakfast, out February 28, 2012. Check it out below.

[Rolling Stone]

MiaoMix Monday #6 [Actor-Rappers]

With Childish Gambino and Drake releasing their new albums today, I thought it would be fun to make a playlist composed of actor-rappers. Interestingly enough, both of these artists began their careers as fairly well-known actors: Gambino currently acts on NBC’s Community, writes for 30 Rock, and more, while Aubrey Drake Graham famously got his start as a child actor on Degrassi. The following playlist contains some rapper-turned-actors such as Mark Wahlberg and Will Smith as well as other actor-turned-rappers like Method Man. You can listen to the full MiaoMix below. Some popular movies or TV shows that the rappers acted in are in brackets. Also, if you enjoyed Method Man’s “World Gone Sour (Lost Kids)”, you should check out the music video after the break.

Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch (Three Kings, The Departed) – Good Vibrations

DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, I Am Legend) – Summertime

Snoop Dogg (Starsky & Hutch, Down For Life)  – Gin and Juice

Ice Cube (Boyz n the Hood, Friday) – It Was A Good Day

Mos Def (Be Kind Rewind, The Italian Job) – Mathematics

Drake (Degrassi: The Next Generation) – Club Paradise

Childish Gambino (Community, Mystery Team) – Heartbeat

Method Man (The Wire, How High) – World Gone Sour (Lost Kids)