quick post

Hmmm.. I may convert this blog to become a blog about music I'm listening to, and also updates of Manchester United. My two strongest passions.

But before I get into a proper post, as I'm too far behind in my course to do so, I'll just summarise.

Lynwood Rose- inventive, creative, cool. Music from D'Angelo, Raphael Saadiq and Q-Tip. Catchy jazz-infused, melodic jams. 8/10

Busta Rhymes- Back on my B.S. Disappointment. So you wanted to try something different, fair enough. This effort though is kind of like the musical equivalent of a variety pack, where you only like 1 flavour. Uninspired, and Busta's flow is only good when he gets back to his standard rapid fire spitting. 3/10.

Ocean's 7- They released a mixtape. Promised much, but left underwhelmed. JD hogs the limelight too much on the mic. Some smooth moments, but too formulaic and pop. Still has potential, but the jury is out. 6/10

Currently listening to:

Quite Nyce "Hello...my name is Quite Nyce". Nicely chilled beats, good flow that isn't repetitive. Pays attention to the production level, which is always important in an up-and-coming. Has left me anticipating his forthcoming album, so the mixtape has done its job. 8/10.

Man Utd 2-1 Arsenal

We played terribly, started with Giggs up front with Rooney, though Giggs spent most of the game either on the left side or too deep. Rooney was essentially a lone striker. We were outplayed in most facets of the game, gave up possession too easily. Evra was our best player by far. Arshavin scored a mad goal, but we won due to a dubiously given penalty, and an unbelievable Abou Diaby own goal. No pressure on him, but I guess he was caught in two minds, whether to head it away from goal, or behind for a corner. So we chalked up an important but flukey victory.

Passions

-English Premier League

- hip hop. history/culture/position/music

- sport

- technology

- travel

- finding amazing and good, without subscribing to the common position that "the most expensive must be the best".

- discounts. cos retail is for suckers

One of the most random things I've ever come across

The link says it all.

http://www.thevine.com.au/entertainment/articles/air-sex-world-championships.aspx

There are of course numerous youtube clips. Also there are air sex GROUPS. That's rather a worry.

T.I.R.L

I'm bringin it back.

I like the sound of rain late at night. It's so peaceful and relaxing.

Music inspired

Heh i love a good pun- inspired. 

For a while I haven't been as heavily into music as I used to- the excitement of finding new artists/groups died down for a while as I stopped looking. But now... it's like a breath of fresh air. It feels good. Now I have so much new music that I'm genuinely excited to listen to I don't know how to fit it all in.

Shout out to Sharebee- so many great websites use this service to host files for free (legal!) sharing.

And for the first time, I'm gonna start giving ratings for albums. WOW, excitement. I can feel it.

Anyway following on from my previous post, listened to Kid Cudi's album "A Kid Called Cudi". It was a fairly solid effort, decent production values, but there aren't any memorable tracks other than the single "Day n Nite". A lot of mileage is taken from the same beat as well, which makes the album sounds a tad monotonous after a while. The singing-rap style Cudi has is fresh, but like milk left on the counter, only for a short dose before going stale. 6/10.

It may have taken me 2 whole days of searching, but I copped the Tanya Morgan album "Brooklynati". The trio members hailing from Brooklyn and Cincinnati (hence the album title), met through an online forum okayplayer.org. They hooked up back in 02/03 and have slowly been gaining momentum since then, with an EP release.

"Brooklynati" is hot. You can even take a tour of their virtual city here. Fresh beats, fresh rhymes with interesting use of jazz instrumentation, their flow is assured and addictive. Their sound stands out in today's hip hop market, by reaching out to the old school and encapsulating how hip hop used to sound like. Maybe because they're not constantly brand-dropping (hello, Kanye), and maybe because ADDITIONALLY, they've also avoided constantly talking up some fake braggadocio gangsta/hustla/pimp/smackin' bitches BS (ahem...Half a dollar...). The measure of a man isn't whether they're driving a Cadillac/Range with or without D's on that bitch, whether they're rockin' LV and Gucci. Man, these days rappers rap about what brands they can buy their GIRL (Usher's "Love in this Club" for example). 

TM's sound has been critically acclaimed as this decade's De la Soul/Tribe Called Quest. High praise indeed. It is no surprise then that their record is reminiscent of De la Soul and The Roots of the mid-late 90s. Production is very tight, and the key is that each song focuses on something different musically. Their use of instrumentation in their hooks- a horn section here, a bassline there, a different beat everywhere, is testament to their real talent and musicianship. Their rapping style is flexible and feels like the glove to the beat's hand, such is their flow. The album is diverse but subtly so. No pop formula here ie. here's the single, here's the slow jam, here's the gangsta song. The focus is on the music and the rhymes together, which is a weakness of alot of hip hop albums that focus too much on posing and spittin' game.

The one criticism that can be levelled at Brooklynati is that a lot of the songs are around the same mid-tempo beat. If you're not in the mood for this, then the album can grow tired after a while- like after listening to half the album. But I bet most people find a song that they will bang on repeat, and the funny thing is it will be a different song to other people's selections. My current faves are "On Our Way" because it draws you into the album, and "Bang & Boogie". Album of the year so far- 9/10.

Currently listening to-

Tanya Morgan- Brooklynati

Looking forward to-

Lynwood Rose (yep, haven't listened to it yet)

Ocean's 7 (a supergroup including Jermaine Dupri, Usher, Nelly, Trey Songz, Johnta Austin...) are releasing a mixtape at the end of the month. Youtube them. Hot.

Busta Rhymes- Back on my B.S.

Johnta Austin- will you ever release your album Ocean Drive?!?!?!?!?! FFS I got "Turn it Up" in 2006 and you still haven't released the album yet!

Musical update

But first, I finally know how to add stuff (ie. games) to my jailbroken ipod touch. After almost embarking on this uber convoluted way, I found a way that was super simple, literally one button. 

It's all good. Now I have to delete music off to make room for the games! Lol

Anyway, I'm excited because I've just discovered a new group that nobody else I know has heard of. They're originally from Ohio, US and have been around since 2003. Their sound is fresh in the hip hop world, distinctly chilled out and fusing jazz rhythms with faintly old skool beats. I found them while I was on a 9th Wonder/Common/Q-Tip/The Roots tangent. They have a new album called "Brooklynati" that I'll hopefully cop today if it's out. I have my doubts I'll find it seeing as it was only released in the US 2 days ago.

Call me late, but I'm discovering Kid Cudi now. Having only briefly heard of him via his hookup with a certain Kanye West on 808s' "Welcome to Heartbreak", I just started checking his 2008 mixtape released by West's label GOOD Music. 

Also (but wait, there's more!) found a side project composed of D'Angelo, Raphael Saadiq and Q-Tip! Mate, let me tell you. Fire. The production ability of that lineup alone is mindboggling, let alone the instrumentation and vocal talents. From what I've heard this is perfect for the evening. Apparently Common and Q-Tip are gonna collab together soon.

A new weblog called rockthedub is worth looking at. I'm digging the weekly downloadable playlists of the newest cuts, mixtapes and vids. Also, prohiphop and XXL are good to keep up with news. 

Currently listening to-

Kid Cudi

Tanya Morgan 

Lynwood Rose

Gotta find more- 

Little Brother

PS. Changed up the socks. No lesbian cloud for me. I want my money back.

random

I just realised that I own a pair of socks that are labelled L & R. Like holy shit! I wanna see if the world implodes or whether I get transported to a lesbian cloud where all the hot ladies are lesbian, but want to experiment with me, if I decide to wear the R sock on my left foot and vice versa! OMG!!!!!!!!!!

I nominate this as one of the most useless labels ever. 

In other news, I just jailbroke my ipod touch. Except now I have NFI what to do next! 

It's always disheartening to find out that someone close to you had doubts about you, whether they tell you straightaway, or whether you find out in retrospect. It probably hurts more finding out after the fact.

Sometimes I feel this is all wrong. I can't handle your detachedness when it's aimed towards me. If I can't seem to get that spark with you, then I may as well not...

And my head keeps spinning

Can't stop having these visions

I gotta get wit it

Chased the good life my whole life long

Look back on my life my whole life gone

Where did I go wrong?

Kanye West ft. Kid Cudi- "Welcome to Heartbreak"

Discovering hidden gems

On a whim, one day I decided to buy the DVD of "The Chris Rock Show" Seasons 1 & 2, which date back to 1997/98. While the comedic material is typical of American humour, sometimes hilarious, sometimes a chuckle, always loud, shouting and as subtle as a bulldozer moving fine china, the ridiculous lineup of RnB/hiphop musicians that played on the show is improbable in its depth, quality and taste. 

First up, the DJ/Musical Director that Rock signed up for his show was none other than Grandmaster Flash, one of the originators and innovators of the modern hiphop movement starting in the 80s, and an oft-cited inspiration or influence of modern day artists. Rock himself grew up listening to Grandmaster Flash, and Flash was the first person he signed to be on board his show.

But to the performing artists. The first artist to perform on the show was D'Angelo with Raphael Saadiq and ?uestlove (of the Roots). After that there was a slight misnomer with Cake performing "The Distance". But then, the following artists performed, in order WITHOUT skipping a single show:

-D'Angelo

-Cake

- Maxwell

-Erykah Badu

- Puff Daddy & Ma$e

- Wyclef Jean (only just having turned solo after the disbandment of the Fugees)

-KCi & Jojo

- Missy Elliott

-LL Cool J

-Busta Rhymes

-Bobby Brown

- Rakim

-Mary J Blige

- Usher

- Salt n Pepa

- LSG (featuring the renowned voices of Gerald Levert, Keith Sweat, Johnny Gill)

Remember this list of artists is compiled against the backdrop of 1997/98. All of them without exception are superstars of RnB, whether it be from the past (Bobby Brown, Rakim, LL Cool J) to present day superstars (Wyclef, Puff Daddy, Mary J., Usher, Busta, Maxwell...) Although Grandmaster Flash must have had a hand in the selections, but look how many of that list are now superstars of the present, back then only just getting established. People used to say Chris Rock's comedy was ahead of his time, but I figure his musical taste was ahead of its time.

While I'm at it, I can't believe the Roots are the in-house band for Jimmy Fallon on the Late Show. Fantastic! Love the Roots! I'm yet to watch a show seeing as I only realised this fact, but apparently they're going to cover lots of musical genres not just hiphop, to display their versatility. Should be an intriguing watch.

hmm

I don't like spending large amounts of money at once. I'd like to think I'm not a tight arse..people may or may not disagree. What I mean is that when it comes to buying anything that are say over $50 I always think twice, and I've already done research to see how cheap said item is. 

I am a sucker for discounts. This is a direct consequence of having gone shopping with my Dad as a kid, where we would literally wait til about 3.30pm on a Saturday to go grocery shopping. In the town we grew up in, the supermarket shut on Sundays, so all the perishable items like the bakery stuff and the meat would get severely discounted so they didn't go off or get thrown in the bin. Of course, everybody knew this fact so there would be literally a crowd of people surrounding the person with the discount tickets and the marker pen.

So I think what I gathered from that is, don't accept prices at face value. People are generally able to set prices at whatever they want. So most of the time, for any luxury purchases, with a little research, the power of your dollar goes much further. I mean, for God's sake, if you can get stuff at a supermarket cheaper than normal, you can get a $3000 TV reduced in price by a few hundred without too much fuss. I did, lol.

juxtaposition

Just had this song come up on a Genius playlist on my ipod.. I really dug the beat then I realised that it was a song about getting over a break up. That seemed weird to me.

Ne-Yo- Go on Girl

off the album "Because of You"