Favorites from 2009 (so far)

It took me a while but I finally got around to posting them all.  In no particular order, here are my favorites from 2009, so far…

Phoenix
MP3: “1901
MP3: “Lisztomania

Dan Auerbach
MP3: “When The Night Comes

Grizzly Bear
MP3: “Two Weeks

Wilco
MP3: “Solitaire
MP3: “One Wing
MP3: “I’ll Fight

Quantic and His Combo Barbaro
Amazon: “The Dreaming Mind

Andrew Bird
MP3: “Oh No

Franz Ferdinand
MP3: “No You Girls

Doves
MP3: “Jetstream
MP3: “Kingdom of Rust

Yeah Yeah Yeahs
MP3: “Hysteric

Black Crowes
MP3: “I Ain’t Hiding

White Rabbits
MP3: “Percussion Gun

K’naan
MP3: “Take A Minute

Manchester Orchestra
MP3: “I’ve Got Friends

Mocky
MP3: “Birds Of A Feather

Kutiman
http://thru-you.com/

Black Moth Super Rainbow
MP3: “Born On A Day The Sun Didn’t Rise
MP3: “Twin Of Myself
MP3: “Fields Are Breathing

Animal Collective
MP3: “My Girls

Matt and Kim
MP3: “Daylight

Silversun Pickups
MP3: “Panic Switch

Curumin
MP3: “Compacto
MP3: “Salto No Vacuo Con Joelhada

Emiliani Torrini
MP3: “Me and Armini

Zion I
MP3: “Coastin

Junior Boys
MP3: “Parallel Lines

General Elektriks

MP3: “You Don’t Listen

St Vincent
MP3: “Strangers

Coconut Records
MP3: “Any Fun

Matisyahu
“One Day”

Method Man and Redman
MP3: “A Yo

Tosca
MP3 Link: “Joe Si Ha
MP3: “Fondue

The BPA
MP3: “Toe Jam
MP3: “He’s Frank

Bishop Allen
MP3: “The Ancient Commonsense of Things

—-

Newer acts:

Band of Skulls
MP3 Link: “Death By Diamonds and Pearls
MP3: “I Know What I Am

Empire of the Sun
MP3: “Walking On A Dream

One eskimO
Link to listen: “Given Up
MP3: “Givin Up (Don Diablo remix)

Nickel Eye
MP3: “Brandy of the Damned featuring Wale (Mark Ronson remix)
MySpace link to listen: “Bonnie and Clyde

Mayer Hawthorne
MP3: “Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out

Zee Avi
MP3: “Bitter Heart
MP3: “The Story

Passion Pit
MP3: “Moth’s Wings
MP3 link: “The Reeling
MP3: “Little Secrets

Fight From Above
MP3: “Between The Curves

Vosotros Presents: The Years
MP3 link: “Lose My Number
MP3 link: “Heartbreaker

Daniel Merriweather
MP3: “Change” featuring Wale

The Big Pink
MP3: “Velvet

The Temper Trap
MP3: Sweet Disposition

Thenewno2
MP3 link: “Yomp
MP3 link: “Give You Love
MP3: “Crazy Tuesday

Asa
MP3: “Jailer
MP3: “Subway

The Very Best
MP3: “Warm Heart of Africa

St Motel
MP3: “Dear Dictator

Danny Chaimson
MySpace link to listen: “This Is Life

Hey Champ
MP3: “Cold Dust Girl

Jaydiohead by Minty Fresh Productions
MP3: “Wrong Prayer

Asher Roth feat. Busta Rhymes and New Kingdom
MP3: “Lion’s Roar” produced by Oren Yoel

—-

Mixtapes:

Wale & 9th Wonder - Back To The Feature

TiRonKetchup
Miguel featuring TiRon – “Go”

MTV has music videos?

I know the last couple of posts have been more hip hop than anything else but I have to do it again.  MTV.com just posted the music video for the Asher Roth’s second single feautring Cee-Lo, “Be By Myself” produced by Oren Yoel.  The visual effects are pretty cool and Cee-Lo proves that he would be the coolest guy at any “white clothes only” party, no question.  MTV loves Asher Roth and I love Oren Yoel’s beats.  Done and Done.

MP3 link: Asher Roth ft. Cee-Lo – Be By Myself (produced by Oren Yoel)

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Weekly Dose (4/20/09)

I went out to Coachella this weekend and, for the most part, I wasn’t really that impressed.  A lot of acts just don’t know how to get the crowd going.  One band that is the complete opposite of this is Dr. Dog.  They were very impressive.  It was my third time seeing them and I was blown away, again.  They might be my favorite act out there right now.  Even when they were having some sound problems with one of the guitars on stage, it was still an awesome set.  I think their most recent album Fate is great, one of the best albums of 2008, but the songs sound so much better when they’re performed live (at least for me).  The band’s touring experience is starting to show and it makes for a great live performance.  ”Army of Ancients” is a perfect example of a song that is much better when it’s live (again, for me).  I still can’t get it out of my head.  ”The Ark” was another personal favorite of mine and also of a friend who hadn’t ever seen or heard of Dr Dog before.  They opened with a slightly sped up version which made the crowd go completely nuts and set the pace for the rest of the show.  Needless to say, my friend’s a fan now.

MP3: Dr Dog – Army of Ancients
MP3: Dr Dog – The Ark

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Asleep In The Bread Aisle hit stores today.  ”Lion’s Roar” is definitely a stand out track for me. Asher Roth comes pretty hard on it but I don’t think Busta Rhymes has sounded this good since Leaders of the New School and his early solo career.  With all the leaked tracks out there, by now you should know- if it’s a Oren Yoel production it’s gonna be dope.  And the smooth hook from New Kingdom’s Noah King ties it all together and makes it a song you want to rap and sing along to.  Oren Yoel’s also worked with another great up and coming hip hop artist in TiRon whose mixtape Ketchup is featured in the LA Times for the top ten best hip hop albums of the year.

Asher Roth ft Busta Rhymes and New Kingdom – Lion’s Roar (produced by Oren Yoel)

TiRon – Shine On (produced by Oren Yoel)

An interesting Nas remix album was released last month called the Far East Project.  From the name, it sounds like it’s a bunch of Nas tracks remixed by Asian DJ’s and producers.  Because “Far East” could mean Asian, right?  I’m not racist, I swear.  Anyway, I haven’t heard of any of the guys who remixed the tracks but some of them are really well done.

Mp3: Nas featuring AZ – Life’s A Bitch (Jugg remix)
MP3 SAMPLE: Nas featuring Amerie - Rule (Ajap S remix)

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Recently, I’ve had a couple of tracks sent to me via email and SoundCloud.com.  Some of the songs were actually really good.  I don’t know why I expected anything different but I was kind of surprised at how much I enjoyed these:

  • The first is “Folkie Song #2″ by Rosie and Me out of Curitiba, Brazil.  It’s indie, acoustic, folk music but it’s got a rock kind of edge to it.  And like all things Brazilian, I pretty much love everything about it.  It’s a very cool track they got here.  As if they didn’t even care when recording the song, you can even hear the microphone get bumped a couple of times, but it just makes the song sound cooler.  I’m really digging this one.
    MP3: Rosie and Me – Folkie Song #2
  • The second is by The Unravelling from their album 13 Arcane Hymns.  They’re a rock/progessive act out of Calgary and if you check out their myspace, you’ll hear some serious metal.  ”In The Safe House” isn’t exactly metal though.  It’s catchy and dark at the same time and it’s a really well arranged song.  Their other songs on myspace are well written tracks too.  These guys probably have awesome live shows with lots of energy and songs that build and really get crowds going.
    MP3: The Unravelling – In The Safe House
  • The last one is by a group called Pree.  These guys are from D.C. and their music combines a lot of elements from different genres that I like a lot.  Give the whole song a listen, it’s really impressive stuff.  The quality isn’t amazing, but the track is a great one nonetheless.  These guys have something very interesting going on and now I’m definitely paying attention.
    MP3: Pree – In The Parlor

 

Rosie and Me

Rosie and Me

The Unravelling

The Unravelling

Pree

Pree

New Asher Roth tracks

“Perfectionist” and “Be By Myself” were leaked today.  Both are from Asher Roth’s upcoming album, Asleep In The Bread Aisle.  ”Be By Myself” is the new single featuring Cee-Lo of Gnarls Barkley (and Goodie Mob) fame.  ”Perfectionist” is an Oren Yoel and David Appleton masterpiece of a beat.  The song features Beanie Siegel and Rock City.  Both songs should have everyone from real hip hop heads to MTV fans lined up to get a copy of the album when it’s released on April 20th…

Asher Roth feat. Beanie Siegel and Rock City – Perfectionist (produced by Oren Yoel and David Appleton)
Asher Roth feat. Cee-Lo - Be By Myself (produced by Oren Yoel)

Asher Roth live at the Key Club (4/5/09)


The video was shot by Tunji of Inverse fame.

And here’s Asher performing two unreleased tracks that will be featured on the album- “She Don’t Want A Man” and “Sour Patch Kids” at the same show, different director…

More

Asher Roth’s producer: Oren Yoel

Oren Yoel has always been talented.  No question.  It’s obvious when you hear his music.  He’s been perfecting his craft since he was 11 and his style spans a remarkable variety of genres.  He studied music theory and performance at USC but Oren is also a master of pretty much any music software and hardware you can name.  Oren’s performed all over LA- House of Blues, Viper Room, Knitting Factory, The Key Club, and many more.  His shows have always been events that his fans and friends never want to miss, whether it’s with his electro-rock group New Kingdom, or back in the day playing keys for friends Tunji of Inverse and TiRon.  Even if it’s just spinning records with his knowledgeable DJ/childhood friend Jordy J, there’s always something unique and great about the music Yoel is playing.  And Yoel is very prolific.  He has an impressive catalog of quality instrumentals reaching across a number of genres from hip hop, r&b, and neo-soul to electronic, rock, funk and even classical and cinematic music (listen to the track “Classic” below).  He is a forward thinking producer and even though Oren is more than capable of recreating already proven, successful styles, his real strength is his ability to create music that contributes something new and different to the bigger picture.l_15e2390f44f4dea2cab5335001dd1eaa

After producing 9 of the 12 tracks for Asher Roth’s highly anticipated upcoming debut album, Asleep In The Bread Aisle, Oren Yoel is now poised to have his name launched into an enormous audience and rapidly changing landscape of artists and producers.  His group New Kingdom is featured along side Busta Rhymes on “Lion’s Roar” (and this is an unbelievable track) on Asleep In The Bread Aisle.  Co-producing 3 of the tracks with Yoel is his long time friend and Appropriate Associates collaborator David Appleton, who Oren might introduce to you as “Snuff”.  With all the music out there these days, content is king and with Oren Yoel the music really speaks for itself.

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Oren Yoel – The BadMan

Oren Yoel – Classic

Asher Roth – Lark On My Go-Kart (produced by Oren Yoel and David Appleton)

Asher Roth Loves College

The music video for Asher Roth’s “I Love College” was officially released today.  The song and the video are hilarious.  Roth writes some funny stuff and he knows how to deliver it too.  People rap about partying and drinking all the time but the result with Roth is much more playful and enjoyable.  The song is immature, but it’s in a good way… like a youthful, harmless fun kind of a way.  And “I Love College” is definitely the next college anthem.  It’s already a hit with all the frats and freshman who’ve heard it.  And it’s a lot better than Andre Nickatina’s “Ayo for Yayo” which was the underground college anthem my freshman year.  That song sucks.  Yea, I said it.

Audio Absinthe

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