Professor O’blivion is an experimental project featuring John Deguide on bass guitar and Patrick Piper on drums, two hip boys rising from the depths of Barrington, Illinois. I’m big on supporting local and self produced music — “Think locally, fuck globally.” When I found out long ago that they had almost finished their first demo, I hassled John about it for months. I was extremely pumped to finally hear some local music that didn’t reiterate the stereotype of Barrington. Alas due to some problems they ran into, I was forced to be a patient crow and waited for my moment to strike.
This demo is exactly what I had hoped it would be: it’s creative and very experimental. The intro to the demo has the same kind of vibe as Old Gray‘s track “Instrumental”, even though the music overall doesn’t have the same Old Gray pop/emo feel. Professor O’blivion has a very heavy sound that is really raw, but in no way is it trashy noise-rock. They use a very deep bass, which in my opinion really rounds out and enhances the flow of the songs. The drums are sick and Patrick is a pretty hardcore drummer. Together, they equally create this hip underground sound that is Professor O’blivion.
The new demo is currently available for free on the band’s Bandcamp or you can stream it below. Be sure to also check out Patrick’s side project BlackWindom.
Demo 2012 Tracklisting:
1. Intro
2. Curmudgeon
3. John Haley
4. That Would Be The Closet
Hit-Boy‘s second song as a rapper is the long-awaited, often-teased “Old School Caddy” collaboration with G.O.O.D. Music fam Kid Cudi. This time, the producer-turned-rapper got behind the tables himself to churn out his own production, which fits perfectly with Kid Cudi’s energetic Man On The Moon/A Kid Named Cudi era flow. Cudi is actually only on the song for about 36 seconds (one short verse after Hit-Boy spits his two), but his presence is huge, especially since Hit-Boy still sounds like he’s trying to find his voice and lane as a rapper. I’ve heard criticisms about Hit-Boy’s laid-back flow and voice inflection since he appears a bit lazy at times, but I think it works much better on “Old School Caddy” than on his debut “Jay-Z Interview”. The song title is certainly better.
You can download “Old School Caddy” for free below, courtesy of Hit-Boy himself. What do you think? Can Hit-Boy follow in his mentor Kanye‘s shoes or should he just stick to production? On a side note, how about Cudi’s return to rap?
Now I’ve never been one to jump on new albums the second they come out. That’s mostly because I’m fairly lazy and don’t keep track of when certain things are actually being released. Wild Nothing somewhat recently released their second album Nocturne under Captured Tracks. I wasn’t too excited to jump right on this album because I can still groove to their first album Gemini released in 2010. So often, new albums ruin the band for me and I can just never dig the new music as much because the sound has always shifted. Yet at the same time I get frustrated when I see bands that don’t know how to change their sound one bit and basically reproduce the same song over and over. Clearly the way I look at music is logical. Yet either way, I was positive that Wild Nothing would bring some chill nostalgic vibes just like they did in songs like “Summer Holiday” and “Chinatown” from their first LP.
Gemini had some great stand out songs but as all together it lacked the beautiful flow that these guys have now brought into Nocturne. After several listens to the new album, no song specifically stands out as being better than the rest; every song is solid. The songs are still incredibly catchy beats that are perfect for summer days. And the album isn’t one hit surrounded by a bunch of filler trash either — it’s an experience of hip synth vibes and again, a really strong beat with the drums. That’s one thing that I notice the most in Wild Nothing: the presence in the drums becomes quite dominant, all of the beats are put together beautifully; they give the song it’s originality. You have to greatly appreciate the instrumental structure to their songs. Incredibly impressive are the variations of sound in songs like “The Blue Dress”, which feel so much heavier but never out of place on their album.
These guys have been recently touring with Diiv, who also recently released a new album that is worth checking out.
Check out the song “The Blue Dress” below, from their new album.
Nocturne Tracklist:
01) Shadow
02) Midnight Song
03) Nocturne
04) Through The Grass
05) Only Heather
06) This Chain Won’t Break
07) Disappear Always
08) Paradise
09) Counting Days
10) The Blue Dress
11) Rheya
PORTALS, a music community that produces a “Monthly Mixtape Series” have teamed up with Chill Mega Chill Records to produce a summer mixtape created through submissions from their community in limited edition cassette form. It is available both in cassette and mp3 form from both PORTALS’ and Chill Mega Chill’s bandcamps (here and here, respectively).
PORTALS “is a refuge for emerging talent, for the young artist who may have no other place to be heard, for music that is better than its ability to seem cool.” The mixtape is full of phenomenal indie, lo-fi, and experimental artists thus, this mixtape is a perfect accompany for a relaxed, ‘chill mega chill’ Summer. Stream it below.
On September 11th, the xx will release their second studio album Coexist through Young Turks featuring eleven brand new tracks. On lead single “Angels”, which will be the opener to the new album, the Londoners channel their indie contemporaries Beach House for a beautiful and blissful three minutes. Producer Jamie xx has mentioned that the new album would be a bit more dance-oriented and with roots in club music, but “Angels” is missing out on that sound and instead (and perhaps more approriately), the song is dreamy and angelic. Judge for yourself below.
Dispatch frontman Chad Urmston took to the band’s Facebook page to explain the story behind “Circles Around The Sun”, the band’s first single from their upcoming album of the same name. Circles Around The Sun, out August 21st, will be Dispatch’s first official studio album in over twelve years. Below, you can listen to the song and read Chad’s explanation.
“‘Circles Around The Sun’ is the legend of our friend Larry Perry, who passed away this past year. In the early 1960s the space race had captured America. Looking to outdo the Soviets without putting their necks on the line, NASA, in an unprecedented, controversial move, took a very disabled young man away from his family to ready him for space flight. Both the USSR and USA had sent dogs and chimps into space, but the USA wanted more. Larry cannot walk or speak but was in perfect health and, more importantly, in the eyes of the government, expendable. Unbeknownst to them, from a very young age, Larry had always been an adrenaline junkie and the scientists and government officials were actually fulfilling the biggest adventure he could ever dream – to be launched into space. To everyone’s surprise, Larry returns from space triumphant and smiling.” – Chad
It’s been a long wait for Passion Pit fans everywhere for the indie outfit’s follow-up to 2009’s Manners. Today, NPR’s First Listen gives us a full stream of Gossamer, which you can listen to below. You can probably imagine how difficult it is to top their breakthrough debut record, but somehow, the group manages to do so by being a little more reflective, a little less circumspect in their songwriting, and a whole lot more daring. Gossamer will see its official release on July 24th and if you preorder the record on iTunes now, you’ll receive bonus material that won’t be available anywhere else.
Can’t really complain when it comes to new music from Kendrick Lamar. To build up some more hype for his soon-to-be-released classic (fingers-crossed), good kid, m.A.A.d. city out on October 2nd, Kendrick let loose about his alcoholic past on some T-Minus crafted string and bass. As usual, the track is mixed by Ali from Top Dawg.
The week is just about over and once again, the GOOD Music family celebrates Friday by gracing our ears with a new track. Hungry as always, Pusha T deals another hearty serving of dope (pun intended there) and hops on fellow GOOD Music artist John Legend‘s single “Tonight (Best You Ever Had)”. The original was already a great listen and with an additional verse from Pusha, things only get better. Hard to argue with that.
GOOD Music’s collaboration album Cruel Summer will hit the streets August 7th.
Frank Ocean drops a new song today, just days after posting an extremely poetic clarification about his sexuality. The new track “Sweet Life” was co-written by Pharrell and will appear on Frank’s studio debut Channel Orange, out July 17th via Island/Def Jam. This is the first thing he has posted on his Tumblr since coming out two days ago. Listen and download the soulful new track from the talented Odd Future member below.
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