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New XV – “Words I Never Said (Freestyle)”
XV has taken to his Twitter account again, releasing a brand new freestyle. This time, XV goes in on Lupe Fiasco‘s “Words I Never Said” (without the Skylar Grey hook), the second single from Lasers, released via Atlantic Records today. I’ve heard numerous comparisons between XV and early Lupe, so it seems fitting for Vizzy to flip the single on the album’s release date. Download and stream below.
XV’s Warner Brothers debut The Kid With The Green Backpack is set to be released later this year.
Rooney Announce Headline Dates
LA indie rockers Rooney have announced dates for their “Not In My House” headlining tour. The band just completed a headline tour with Eisley this past February, but will continue to tour in support of 2010’s Eureka. If you haven’t listened,Eureka is Rooney’s third album, completely self-produced and an extremely fun listen, infusing West Coast breeziness with insightful lyrics.
Check out the tour dates below.
Tour Dates:
Apr 15 – Minneapolis, MN – University of Minnesota- Morris; Edson
Apr 16 – Iowa City, IA – Blue Moose Tap House
Apr 17 – Bowling Green, OH – Howard’s Club
Apr 19 – New York, NY – The Gramercy Theatre
Apr 20 – Baltimore, MD – Bourbon Street
Apr 21- Charlotte, NC – Amos Southend
Apr 22 – Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse
Apr 23 – Little Rock, AR – Juanita’s
Apr 24 – Dallas, TX – Trees
Apr 25 – Baton Rouge, LA – Varsity Theater
Apr 26 – Houston, TX – Warehouse Live
Apr 27 – Austin, TX – Emo’s
Yuck Frontman Announces Oupa and New Track
Daniel Blumberg, the frontman of Yuck, is working on his debut solo LP titled Forget under the name of Oupa. The 7-track album is set to be released in June 2011. You can listen to “Forget”, the brand new title track of Forget, right here.
Oupa will be making his first live performance at SXSW this year at the Transparent x Gorilla Vs Bear showcase. After, he will be touring in the UK, New York, and Tennessee. Check out the dates below.
Oupa Tour Dates:
03/17 Austin, TX Transparent / Gorilla Vs. Bear SXSW Party
03/25 London, UK St. Pancras Old Church *
04/03 London, UK Blue Flowers (Curated by Oupa)
04/07 New York, NY Glasslands *
04/09 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom #
04/11 Nashville, TN The Basement *
* = w/ Porcelain Raft
# = w/ Sebadoh
We Are The Ocean Announce Album and Tour
We Are The Ocean will be releasing their second album Go Now And Live on April 25, 2011 via Hassle Records. You can listen to the band’s first single from Go Now And Live, titled “What It Feels Like”, right here.
During the end of April and early May, We Are The Ocean will be heading off on a headling UK tour. You can check out the dates below.
We Are The Ocean UK Tour:
April 27 – Cardiff, Millenium Music Hall
April 28 – London, Electric Ballroom
April 29 – Manchester, Academy 2
April 30 – Glasgow, Garage
May 1 – Newcastle, Academy 2
New: Pusha T – “Cook It Down”
Eughk! Clipse‘s Pusha T has released another song from his upcoming Fear of God mixtape. This one, the third song released from the mixtape so far, is titled “Cook It Down”. You can listen to it below and if you haven’t already listened to his version of “Lost In The World”, you can do so here.
Download GAYNGS-Doomtree Regrind/Remix EP
GAYNGS have released a new seven-track remix EP titled Affiliyated for free download and streaming. The project features seven songs “regrinded” by members of the Minneapolis hip-hop collective Doomtree who randomly chose 10 stems from the album and then created something entirely new and unique.
You can listen or download the EP in its entirety below.
“To create the GAYNGS’ Regrind EP all of the stems from the bands debut album,Relayted, were arbitrarily named and compiled into a list … [A] collection of producers and musicians … were then instructed to choose only 10, without knowing what songs they came from or what instruments they contained. One could choose anything from four sax solos and six bass lines, to eight keyboards and two background vocals. The combinations that could be chosen were indefinite…the only certainty was that the parts would all be set to the tempo of 69 beats per minute.
From there, the re-grinders were free to chop, pitch-shift, and otherwise pulverize the stems into a new, cohesive song. The only rule was that they must use all 10 stems they were given, and that the tempo must remain at GAYNGS’ standard 69 bpm.”
The Gaslight Anthem Acoustic in Australia
Brian Fallon of The Gaslight Anthem performed an acoustic live session with triplej, performing “Bring It On” and a cover of Jack Johnson‘s “Sitting, Waiting, Wishing”. Listen to the interview and performance below.
Track: Frank Ocean – “Novacane”
Track: “Novacane”
Artist: Frank Ocean
Release Date: February 18, 2011
Label: Self-released
Contrary to what you may have heard, hip-hop collective OFWGKTA are an incredibly diverse group of musicians. The debut release from Odd Future’s Frank Ocean, titled Nostalgia, Ultra., makes this point undeniable; Frank Ocean’s music centers on his smooth, groovy vocals instead of rapping like the rest of the crew. “Novacane”, a standout from the incredibly ambitious self-released record, features Frank Ocean wearing his heart on his sleeve, spinning a tale of his confusion and frustration with a woman aspiring to become a dentist; hence the title of the song and chorus lines “Novacane, numb the pain.” Pitchfork compares his loverboy, R&B persona to that of Drake – Frank Ocean is raw, honest, and can sing his heart out. Stripped down to the core, the youthful spirit and self-confident “swag” of Frank Ocean embody everything that Odd Future represents, even if the music is noticeably different.
“Novacane” is from Nostalgia, Ultra. out now. You can download it for free here.
Rating: 9/10
New: Pusha T – “Lost In The World”
GOOD Music’s Pusha T (of Clipse) has released his version of Kanye West‘s Bon Iver-sampling “Lost In The World”. The new song will be included on Pusha’s highly anticipated new mixtape Fear Of God. It’s the same Pusha T we’ve grown to love and expect, adding his touch to Yeezy’s masterful beat. Eughk!
Kanye West and Mos Def Freestyle at Blue Note
Kanye West and Mos Def kicked a freestyle on Sunday night at New York’s Blue Note, performing with the help of Robert Glasper and his Robert Glasper Experiment. Kanye’s verse was extremely impassioned, including references to the 2009 VMA incident between him and Taylor Swift.
Check out the performance below, courtesy of CiscoNYC.
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