Audio Absinthe

First song this week is a great track from back in 2002.  It’s “Cry Baby” by Spiller.  The Italian producer/dj has been around since the 90’s but his music is usually more pop/electronic than hip hop/electronic like this track sounds.

Spiller – Cry Baby

Second song is by David Holmes and it’s off of the Ocean’s 12 soundtrack that, along with Ocean’s Thirteen, he scored.  The track is called “$165 Million + Interest (Into) The Round Up” and it’s a great one.  He’s always got a great combo of jazzy, funky bass lines and edgy guitar riffs with funky, hip hop-ish sounding drums and this song clearly illustrates that.

David Holmes – $165 Million + Interest (Into) The Round Up   (Click Here if the link is not working)

Third song is “Slow Bullet” by People Under The Stairs and even though it’s only 1:20 seconds long, it’s amazingly mellow and definitely my favorite interlude.  Thes One produced this track and, along with Double K, PUTS included it on their 1999 release The Next Step.  I wrote a little bit about them a couple of weeks ago so if you haven’t checked them out yet, you’re kind of blowing it.  Thes One is a great hip hop producer and the way he turns the Bob James/Earl Klugh sample in this song into a downbeat instrumental interlude is a little piece of genius. 

People Under The Stairs – Slow Bullet    (Click here to sample the song)

First and Second songs are new tracks from the Kings of Leon upcoming album,Only By Night.  “Use Somebody” and “Manhattan” really make me think this album is going to be a huge hit.  Kings of Leon have already started exploding in terms of popularity.  They’re selling out shows nation-wide, including the occasional arena show.  And the new, leaked songs from the upcoming album have definitely proved that, in the long run, these guys are worth it.  Does it matter or is it really sad that I’m impressed by artists, like KOL, who follow up a successful, impressive album with another one?

Kings of Leon – Use Somebody

Kings of Leon – Manhattan

Third song is “Gorgeous Behavior” by a relatively unknown group, Marching Band.  A friend at work showed me the album a couple of weeks ago.  Spark Large was released on August 5th and everyone in the indie pop-rock/alternative world has been giving great reviews about it.  Check it out if you like this track.

Marching Band – Gorgeous Behavior

Fourth song is “Wucan” from Black Mountain’s January 2008 release In The Future. Back in January, I heard it on the radio and I thought it was another new Damon Albarn collaboration project (because this wasn’t too long after The Good, The Bad, and the Queen- check that out if you haven’t).  I don’t know, I think it’s got his style, not sure if you’re gonna be with me on that..  This is a great track and it’s off a cool album you might want to check out too.

Black Mountain – Wucan

Fifth song is a new one from People Under the Stairs, one of my favorite Los Angeles underground hip hop crews, called “Anotha (BBQ)”.  Eric sent it to me earlier this week and I am loving it.  I haven’t been into a lot of their new stuff but this song makes me happy that we’re all still able to see them put another good track out there.  If you like hip hop and haven’t heard of PUTS, you need to check out these three albums as soon as you have a chance: Question In The Form Of An Answer, The Next Step, and O.S.T.

People Under The Stairs – Anotha (BBQ)