// archives

kanye west

This tag is associated with 62 posts

Watch The Throne Snippets

joomplu:113

A little less than three hours to go until the release of Kanye West and Jay-Z‘s collaborative album Watch The Throne arrives exclusively via iTunes. If you’re as excited as we are, you can help pass the time by checking out some song snippets below. The two trailers for the album, which reveal very little but are still pretty interesting to watch, can also be seen below.

 

 

Kanye West and Jay-Z Announce Tour Dates

joomplu:113

In preparation for the release of Watch The ThroneKanye West and Jay-Z have announced that the two have formed a duo called The Throne and will be embarking on a massive North American tour together this fall.

Kanye and Jay-Z also announced that Watch the Throne will be released on iTunes on August 8th. The album will then be available on other physical and digital retailers on August 12th.

The tracklisting and full tour dates are available below. You can listen to “Otis” here.

Listen: Kanye West & Jay-Z – “Otis”

 

joomplu:285

Since “H.A.M.” is now only a bonus track on  Kanye West and Jay-Z and’sWatch The Throne, our first official taste of the new album is “Otis”. The song just made its debut, thanks to Hot 97′s Funkmaster Flex. Featuring a sample of Otis Redding‘s “Try a Little Tenderness”, “Otis” features the two rap superstars dropping one-liner after one-liner over a soulful Kanye beat. Wild.

MP3: Kanye West & Jay-Z – “Otis”

Watch the Throne will be released online on August 1st and physically on August 5th. Check out the tracklisting after the break.

(more…)

Interview: fun.

Nate Ruess, vocalist of fun., took some time to talk with Lost in the Sound. fun. is currently on the Vices and Virtues tour with Panic! at the Disco and Funeral Party. Two years after releasing critically acclaimed album,Aim and Ignite, the band is finally working on a sophomore album. Nate talked about the current tour, the new album, and more. Check out the interview below.

LitS: Nate, right now you’re in the middle of the Vices & Virtues tour. How has that been?

Nate: It’s been really fun. People are super nice and there’s been nothing to complain about. A very stock answer, but true.

LitS: You always describe fun.’s live shows as a “whirling dervish” of music. Has anything changed from these live shows over the years?

Nate: No. It still feels kind of the same. There’s still a kind of raw energy to the shows where we’re always smiling.

LitS: Are there any differences between your live shows with fun. and The Format?)

Nate: Yeah, of course. There’s been different songs and a whole different bunch of things. Aside from me, everything is totally different. (more…)

Watch: Kanye West and Jay-Z Perform in NYC

On Tuesday, Kanye West and Jay-Z performed at NYC’s MOMA. The two are currently working on their joint album Watch the Throne, out sometime this year via Def Jam Recordings.

You can see the performance below, courtesy of NYClout.

12 Good Looking Album Artworks (Post-2000)

Album artwork made its first appearance in 1938, when Alex Steinweiss introduced artwork over the previously, plainly labeled covers. This “invention” provided every album with its own unique identity and images that fans could associate their music with. When we think of an album, the first thing that often comes to mind is the cover; it’s become a peripheral of music that no album, EP, or single can do without, remaining with us even in the digital format.

The following twelve album artworks are not ranked in any particular order.

Fall Out BoyInfinity On High

The flying sheep and dream-like atmosphere are this cover’s best features. The artwork has depth and gives you plenty to look at, especially the various contrasts that coexist (moon/wall and crow/wall with light and dark values, closet interior/wall with temperature values). The artwork just has a unique dream feel.

Brand NewDeja Entendu

I have no idea why the astronaut is there, but this cover just looks, to put it simply, cool. Contrasting temperatures result in an odd feel that absolutely fits Brand New’s distinct rock sound. This feel is further expressed by the textures of the water and sky.

Death Cab For CutieNarrow Stairs

No stairs here to reflect the album title, but the cover looks fantastic nonetheless. The multi-hued red, green and blue colored strips of paper being layered have great visual texture and the fact that no two strips share the same tone (more or less) gives this cover a lot of interest.

Radiohead – In Rainbows

This pop art styled cover designed by Stanley Donwood, who has done every Radiohead artwork since 1994, looks like something created digitally when in fact it (surprisingly) isn’t. It features a galaxy photograph layered with paint and interesting type that looks simple and fits Radiohead’s style of experimental music. The variety of color also serves to reflect the album title itself.

MGMT – Congratulations

‘Psychedelic’ just about sums up this cover. Odd colors, an i-don’t-know-what’s-going-on scene, and the cartoony style makes the cover seem like it’s something you’d see in a weird dream or trip (drugs are bad for you, kids).

Jay-Z – The Blueprint 3

Clean cover, with something other than the generic rapper’s face or body photograph. From a distance, the red bars have strong dominance and clearly indicate the cover is of the 3rd installation of Jay-Z’s ‘Blueprint’ records. Closer up you notice the objects piled up which adds complexity and depth.

Delphic – Acolyte

The artwork is absolutely amazing. Great photo-manipulation of the band members and the smoke they fade into. It’s something you definitely won’t mind looking at on your ipod.The background may be a tad simple when the complex photomanip is placed on top, but the Delphic typeface works to ease the  combination.

Jimmy Eat World – Chase This Light

Beautiful photograph with vibrant colors, giving insight to what the music itself is like. Nothing really much to say, just a wonderful looking cover.

The Killers – Hot Fuss

Smoooth. A soft blue dominates the cover (plus hints of red), and gives off a fuzzy, mellow feel. The Killers’ logo typeface fits well too, although I’m not sure I can say the same for the buildings lining the bottom…

Kanye West – Graduation

The cartoon style of this artwork by Takashi Murakami is great and the colors are extremely eye-catching. The illustration features West in a teddy-bear form (known as “Dropout Bear”, referencing an earlier record) being shot out of a colorful, vectorized who-knows-what. This is one creative rap album cover that sets it apart from nearly every other.

Passion Pit – Manners

Green paint, white text. What else do you really need?

Pendulum – Immersion

The feel of this cover is great. This artwork by Polish artist Valp is mysterious and just seems to fit the sound of Immersion. The colors are great, using a majority of cool green and blue while adding hints of warmer purple and red to increase interest. There is just so much going on here that some may not notice all the subtle elements of the art from a quick glance or from their music player screens.

New: Childish Gambino – “Break (AOTL)”

Childish Gambino, also known as Donald Glover, dropped a new track today entitled “Break (AOTL)”, flipping Kanye West‘s “All Of The Lights”. The newest song will be included in Donald’s upcoming project IAMDONALD. Gambino’s signature flow, witty punchlines, and an interesting acoustic twist on the song make this track a must-listen.

Listen or download below.

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!

MP3: Pusha T – “Lost In The World (Remix)”

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.

New Kanye This Summer

A few hours ago, Kanye West announced via Twitter that he will be releasing a new album this summer. The two tweets can be seen here and here.

His newest album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, was recently certified platinum eight weeks after its release.