Once every three months I list the best of what I heard in albums/songs/remixes for the quarter. I do this to personally keep up with all the awesome music I hear, as it ultimately helps me at the end of the year when I do my overall listing for the previous twelve months. I also do it to introduce you cool cats to tunes you may have missed independently.
Hey guys! Remember when I had a blog? Seems like forever ago. School has run me rampant recently, but I’m on somewhat of a fall break for the time being, and that means the oft-delayed Quarterly Review is coming soon, as well as….hopefully….regular posting. In the meantime, here’s a really old track from Purity Ring, a remix of the awesome “Belispeak” featuring my new favorite rapper Danny Brown. It’s only about a week old, but in Internet times that’s like a million years, and, hey it’s new to me! I’ve been super duper busy. Also: Fun Fun Fun Fest in two weeks! Get amped. Danny Brown will be there.
There are few acts playing Fun Fun Fun Fest this year that I’m more excited about than Danny Brown. Simply put, the guy is one of my favorite new rappers of the past few years. His cadence, his wit, and his unmistakable voice have made him a hot commodity. Here he spits some NSFW rhymes about his libido. The Gesaffelstein remix below isn’t too bad either. This single’s out August 20th.
Yours Truly and Adidas Originals recently got together for a Songs From Scratch music series, releasing new original tracks from buzzed-about groups. Danny Brown and araabMUZIK got together for the first time ever for such a track, a quick one called “Molly Ringwald,” which you can stream below. It will be released through Yours Truly and Fool’s Gold records via the Love Letters Ink imprint as a 7-inch and part of a Loosies comp, respectively. Here’s hoping we see these two tear this track up together in November at Fun Fun Fun Fest, as both artists are part of the stellar lineup.
Once every three months I list the best of what I heard in albums/songs/remixes for the quarter. I do this to personally keep up with all the awesome music I hear, as it ultimately helps me at the end of the year when I do my overall listing for the previous twelve months. I also do it to introduce you cool cats to tunes you may have missed independently.
This year’s Free Press Summer Fest has been announced, and, wow, I must say I am impressed. Snoop Dogg, The Avett Brothers, Primus, Big Freedia, Danny Brown, Jeff the Brotherhood, Willie Nelson, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Flaming Lips (performing Dark Side of the Moon), Wavves, Diplo, Best Coast, Major Lazer, Turquoise Jeep! I’m gonna have a hard time avoiding the miserable Houston heat this summer!
For those who truly choose to recognize it, three major shifts happened in 2011. Â The first, as is apparent during this year’s Listmas (and will be apparent on my year-end lists as well) is the resurgence of irreverent, smart hip-hop and what is half-mockingly referred to as PBR&B. Â The introspection of 2010’s hottest rappers (you know, when Eminem got all mature and serious and junk) has caused a shift in the landscape. Â As rap has been semi-tossed aside in the pop world in favor of the Eurodance craze, rappers have become more….sad. Â And real. Â And risk-taking. Â And progressive. And brilliant. Â Drake crooned, the Weeknd swooned, Big K.R.I.T., Danny Brown, Kendrick Lamar, and A$AP Rocky all impressed.
The second one is more important to the industry as a whole: Spotify. Â Its launch in the US has caused nothing short of a revolution: millions have signed up for the service, initiating a preference for a streaming-based distribution model over downloading iTunes files. Â Spotify isn’t the first of its kind, but certainly its connections and marketing have made it the poster-child for what many are calling the next pivotal shift in how we listen to music. Â A vibrant, passionate discussion has formed from the company’s popularity; the service has caused its share of controversy and criticism regarding royalties and high-profile artists like Coldplay and the Black Keys opting out. Â Certainly the model isn’t perfect, but could it be the new blueprint? Â One thing is for sure: the business of digital music is crazy exciting right now.
The final shift in 2011 happened to me personally, it really wasn’t an event, more of a realization. Â I became aware of my adulthood, I suppose, probably for the first time ever, and it has affected my listening habits and preferences. Â Not that I’m listening to “mature” music now….quite the opposite, in fact. Â I guess I just finally decided life is too fucking short to be pretentious, and that we should just listen to whatever we want. Â Though I suppose I’ll always have these so-called “hipster tendencies,” I’ve begun to embrace my love of escapist music, of pop, of rap, of dance, of strong melody, of hooks. Â Because, to me, music is probably the most important thing in my life, and it is meant to be stimulating, challenging, but also, prominently, and this is the part we forget in college, kids, it is meant to be enjoyed. Â And if I sit around listening to shit I don’t like all the time because I was told it was awesome or groundbreaking, I will die a sad, pompous, stuck-up old man. Â So live your life, and stick to your guns. And dance if you want to, damnit. Â And listen to music that makes you feel good. Â Because this is your life, and you only get one.
One other thing I would like to mention that 2011 will likely be remembered for, but is of no consequence to me: this is the year Adele took over. Â And so emerges another AC-friendly artist that the world adores, but I am left all by my lonesome to proclaim: “Meh.” Â And look at that: I’m bored already just talking about her. Â Damn, there I go again! Hipster tendencies…..baby steps.
So here is the blog schedule for the remainder of 2011. Â Stick around and be prepared to disagree! Â Should be a grand old time.
December 15: My Year In Live Music
December 16: Most Overrated Albums of 2011
December 17: Most Disappointing Albums of 2011
December 18: Top Music Videos of 2011
December 19-23: Top 200 Songs of 2011
December 24: Top 20 Remixes of 2011
December 25: Honorable Mention Albums of 2011
December 26-30: Top 50 Albums of 2011
December 31: Top TV Shows of 2011
January 1, 2012: Quarterly Review
