Wale | Audio Absinthe

Spoon – Monkey Feelings
This is a semi-unreleased song ( I say semi because it was put on a companion CD/Single to was a limited release.) The song was released at the same time as the Gimmie Fiction album and has that same sound but is better then most any of the songs on the album in my opinion. Spoon always comes with the hits and this song is no exception.

Daniel Merriweather ft Wale – Change
Daniel Merriweather is a Mark Ronson produced artist along with Wale. Ronson has been doing a lot of work with these two individually and Merriweather appeared on Wale’s Mixtape About Nothing (which is excellent if you haven’t heard it.) The song has Ronson written all over it with the horns and big band sound. Wale comes in with a brief yet solid verse near the end. If you haven’t heard of Wale check him out for sure, I have both his mixtapes if interested. He’s the best rapper out there right now in my opinion that hasn’t blown up huge. Check it out…

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Weekly Dose (3/19/09)

“Hang You From The Heavens” and this cover of Gary Numan’s “Are Friends Electric” are brand new tracks from The Dead Weather, Jack White’s newest band (depending on when you read this). Even though he plays drums for the group, the distinctive Jack White sound is just as prevalent as ever. The Kill’s Alison Mosshart handles lead vocals with White’s fellow Raconteur bass player Jack Lawrence and Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Dean Fertita. The upcoming LP, Horehound, is produced by White and should be released this summer. According to Rolling Stone, the band formed shortly after White became ill and lost his voice on the Kills/Raconteurs tour- Mosshart helped out by singing tracks like “Steady As She Goes” which Jack White described as “reenergizing” the tour and soon enough The Dead Weather was formed and recorded their first 7″.
The Dead Weather – Hang You From The Heavens / Are Friends Electric

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A DJ/Producer named Tor sampled a bunch of Sufjan Stevens songs and created a pretty impressive album of hip hop instrumentals. Tor recently released the instrumental album along with a version of the songs with vocals from tracks and artists you may recognize such as Outkast, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Brother Ali, Grand Puba, Gift of Gab and more. And all of this is free. Check out the track list and a couple of the tracks below. Then go to the official website and download it all…

Tor / Sufjan Stevens – Star of Wonder / None Shall Pass (f. Aesop Rock)
Tor / Sufjan Stevens – Dumb I Sound / ATLiens (f. Outkast)
Tor / Sufjan Stevens – John Wayne Gacy Jr. / Specialize (f. Pete Rock & CL Smooth)
Tor / Sufjan Stevens – The Tallest Man / I Like It (f. Grand Puba)
Tor / Sufjan Stevens – Kill / Any Type of Way (f. Big Daddy Kane & DJ Premier)
Tor / Sufjan Stevens – Night Zombies / Talkin’ My Shit (f. Brother Ali)
Tor / Sufjan Stevens – The Dress Looks Nice On You / Make You Feel That Way (f. Gift Of Gab)

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This one is kind of weird. I kept hearing it on KCRW and finally I caved and bought it on iTunes. ”Sonnrise” is off Sonny J’s 2008 album Disastro and it sounds like Bob Dylan’s “Nashville Skyline Rag” meets Zero 7 using samples from Johnny Cash and Azymuth. Except it’s not all of that. It’s Sonny J.
Sonny J – Sonnrise

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Wale will occasionally come through with a great lyrical track. Here’s an example of that- it’s new one produced by 9th Wonder and it was released earlier this week. It’s called “Wordplay”.
Wale – Wordplay (featuring Curren$y and Tre) (produced by 9th Wonder)

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Weekly Dose (3/9/09)

Kutiman Mixes YouTube <—–Click that. It’s amazing. It’s the brand new project from Kutiman and, to date, it’s one of the greatest things that exists on the internet. I know it’s a bold statement, and I stand by it… one of the greatest things. He takes random YouTube clibs of people playing different instruments, or people doing things that create different sounds, and he cuts them up, and restructures them for a new, single song- and there are 7 songs. He samples YouTube to create his own brand of funky, soulful beats. It must have taken a very long time since he samples between 10-20 youtube videos for each song. A little personal history on Kutiman (this kind of ties it all together for me)- I bought his debut, self titled album back in 2007 and I loved it. It’s extremely funky and soulful and draws on hip hop, rock, and world music which creates a very mature, passionate overall sound. That’s why I was surprised to learn that Ophir “Kutiman” Kutiel was born in Jerusalem in 1982. He was 25 and his music sounded like it was made by someone who’s been making music for decades collaborating with people from all over the world. After this new project, all i can say is- what a talent. What a modern, musical genius.

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Don’t know much about this track. Haven’t really researched it at all. Found it, loved it, wanted to share it. It’s Nickel Eye featuring Wale- the Mark Ronson remix of “Brandy of the Damned”. And it’s pretty “damned” good if you ask me.
Nickel Eye – Brandy of the Damned Feat. Wale (Mark Ronson Remix)

Redman and Method Man are coming out with a new album. Awesome. I still play 1999’s Blackout and I think it would have to be in my top 20 best albums in hip hop. So when I heard these two tracks I haven’t heard before, I got a little excited about it all. They’ve always managed to combine hardcore style with goofy lyrics and the music is cool, fun, and has some serious mainstream appeal. At least it did. I’m not so sure Redman and Method Man’s new album will do that well but not because of the songs alone. It’s more because of the fact that they are old news in a world that’s overwhelmed with new acts everyday. Check out the new tracks.
Redman and Method Man – A Yo / Broken Language

I feel pretty bad that the last song is a Kid Cudi song and I’m not really going to talk about Kid Cudi. I picked this song to talk about Kanye West because Kanye bugs me. But he is a great producer and there’s no doubt about that. I just wish he would always let great emcees rap over his beats instead of saving the best beats for himself. I don’t think he’s a good emcee and he tries way too hard to be a rockstar for me to really like him. Kanye produced this new Kid Cudi track, “Sky Might Fall”. Kanye’s beat is only ok, but what’s great about it is that it’s sound really captures the style of the music of this decade- the 00’s. The sixties, seventies, eighties- when you think of the sound of music from each decade, certain songs stand out more than others. It’s similar to what happens with art and artists who become popular- and I hope I don’t get too into this for you- certain artists really capture something unique about a culture and time and they’re work becomes relevant and, in time, valuable. Seriously though, Kanye is a b.
Kid Cudi – Sky Might Fall

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Favorites from 2009 (so far)

Blips N Beats (3/30/09)

Weekly Dose (3/19/09)

Weekly Dose (3/9/09)

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