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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 HeemsNehru 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)”

Preview “Fresh” by 23

 

Update: 23 has finally released the entire track, which you can download here. If you want to listen to it on Youtube, check out this link. Enjoy!

Listen to a preview of “Fresh” by dubstep artist 23. “Fresh” is used in the commercial for VBlast which features NBA player Tyreke Evans. He will be releasing the full track later today and I will update when links are up.Watch the commercial and listen to the preview of the sick track below.

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)

Interview: Baby Giraffe

As the modern day music scene develops, it’s becoming more and more common for people to self produce all of their music. As we take a look inside the mind of Baby Giraffe, we see how beautifully crafted melodies can lie behind a bedroom door just as often as they do inside of a professional studio. From an independent and unsigned artist, we can also see large differences in their perspective of the music scene.

What is your name and band name?

Baby Giraffe: My name’s Michael and I’ve been recording under the moniker Baby Giraffe since the mid 2000’s.

Can you explain the reasoning to why you chose the name “Baby Giraffe” and what it means to you?

Baby Giraffe: It was a name that was associated with me when sme old roommates of mine were playing a game of “what animal do you look like.” I’m fairly tall, gangly, docile and my hair used to naturally tuft a bit at the top so I figured it was appropriate.

 What is the music scene like in Ontario, Canada?

Baby Giraffe: Being from the largest city in Canada, we have quite an amazing scene. A lot of acts have broke through from here in the last decade in one incarnation or another. It’s important to note that there’s at least a handful of good, accessible venues if you’re not already an established act to build from. Places like the Rancho Relaxo, the Garrison, the Silver Dollar, etc., are all venues you can find some great young artists at. No pay-to-play bullshit, although the city does have some of those promoters as well. (more…)

Listen: The xx – Open Eyes (Demo)

Following a critically acclaimed debut album and a fantastic year for their percussionist/beatmaker Jamie Smith (Jamie xx), The xx have finally returned to the studio to work on their second currently untitled album, and have released a demo for “Open Eyes” and a video with it for Christmas. The song, which you can check out on their blog or below, features singer Romy Madley Croft over an atmospheric and hazy backdrop. Although not much information on their sophomore album has been released yet, it should presumably be out mid 2012.

MP3: The xx – Open Eyes (Demo)

 

Watch: Jónsi – Gathering Stories

Jónsi has released the music video for “Gathering Stories”, which was written for the We Bought a Zoo OST. The movie We Bought a Zoo, starring Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson, came out in theaters on December 23 and its director, Cameron Crowe, specifically asked Jónsi to do the soundtrack. We Bought a Zoo OST (which you can buy here) features new original music, old songs by Sigur Rós, and songs from Jónsi’s debut solo album, Go. Watch the video for “Gathering Stories” below:

La Dispute Offer Full Discography for Charity

For Christmas, the post-hardcore band La Dispute, who recently released their newest LP, Wildlife, have their entire discography on a free/donation basis on their Bandcamp page. Starting at midnight EST time tonight and lasting until midnight EST tomorrow (the whole of Christmas day), you can grab all ten of the band’s previous releases. All donations made through the Bandcamp page will be donated to 826michigan, “a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting students aged 6 to 18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. 826 opened its doors in June of 2005. Since then, it has been blessed with students, tutors, and volunteers overflowing with enthusiasm.”

If you’re completely new to the band, I recommend starting with Somewhere at the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair, which in my opinion is their best release so far. If you’re more into punk and not lyrically up for fables about love and broken hearts, download Wildlife, which is their matured more punk-esque sounding sophomore release. Their split with Touché Amoré and their Untitled 7″ are also good listens, which you should definitely consider as they contain some of my personal favorite tracks. Just a reminder though before downloading, La Dispute are an acquired taste, with Jordan Dreyer’s emotionally driven vocals coming out as wails at times, combined with spoken-word poetic lyrics. Be sure to try this band out though because all the donations go towards a good cause!

The Front Bottoms Cover “Christmas Wrapping”

For the holiday season, The Front Bottoms covered The Waitresses‘ classic Christmas song, “Christmas Wrapping” in their own acoustic punk style. If you liked their self titled LP which was released earlier this year, you will definitely enjoy this cover. Brian Sella’s vocals add the emotion that is pretty much expected in any song released by the band. In the spirit of Christmas it is up for free download below, along with a music video created specifically for the song.

MP3: The Front Bottoms – “Christmas Wrapping (The Waitresses)”