Listen To This - Walkin' Large ft. Black Thought

Heavy rotation right here.  Definitely gonna make an appearance on the upcoming mix.

The Slave Puppeteer

Taking a moment away from music, for better or worse...

This is the way we command our lives.  What a blessing--to have a soul, to be entrusted with what we know to be the most valuable resource in the universe, day-in and day-out...We have to embrace this pressure in order to live comfortably, one way or another. 

It's easy for the pigheaded to be confident, because in our lives confidence is seen as the absence of noticeable internal dissent.  Really, there are people who live their whole lives and never second-guess themselves, never take a step outside their own bullish movement to look around and take note of those factors which incite humility...

But what happens when you're living on the other end of the spectrum?  Recently I've taken stock of the puppet master above me as well as my own little play-toy existence, and instead of feeling relaxed and at-home with the whole process I feel lost and frustrated...even though I know it's more-than-likely the only method of orchestrating a meaningful life.  In this many-mirrored existence of ours, I feel profound pressure to produce the most beautiful minaret I can, while dancing merrily enough to appease the string-pullers who actually are, themselves, the catalysts for my action.  Down here in the rural South, there's a lot of sentiment to cut these strings above, avoid society, part with the whole fucking game and bask in the petrified freedom of their own minds, their own puppets.  It's a very paranoid and insecure perspective: don't like the way things are?  Just literally cut and run, escape to the dusty confines of your very personal ways and limit your scope of affect to a select group of people (or animals, or digital avatars) who you can control. 

To me, focusing on your puppet, alone, is indeed a refreshing experience but ultimately it's scarring and fallacious.  Because the ties you think you've cut are infinite.  They do not just fall with the swing of whatever freeing blade you employ...You've just tricked yourself into thinking they have.  And what could be more pigheaded than that?  To invest your entire life behind your own views and then to take many intentional strides away from the inevitably sharp and jerky critiques of the bustling societal fingers above you...it just seems foolish.  Curling into your chrysalis and claiming sanctuary is fucking pathetic. 

So this entire post has been tethered to metaphors and I haven't taken the time to slow down and use any examples to back up this rationale, but I'm not interested in slowing down tonight.  I guess to wrap this all up, I'll go ahead and make up my mind here: I mean to state very unequivocally now that your involvement in society (college, work, family, taxes, car payments, rent, etc., etc.) is what exposes your thought process to the beautiful (though occasionally nefarious), undulating forces acting above you.  Bravely engaging the game set up before our time (which will also exist well after our time) gives us the wherewithal and the resources to manage our own private endeavours, whatever they may be.  Escape, by its very definition, is cowardly and eventually it is also self-destructive.  A well-adjusted puppeteer appreciates his status and applies the truths he can absorb to his own artistic process.  Act within the boundaries so you actually know where they are, then play outside them, confident that you can and will return as many times as is necessary.

Shad - The Old Prince

Genre: Hip-Hop

{Sample}

1. Intro: Quest for Glory
2. I Don't Like To
3. What We All Want
4. Brother (Watching)
5. Now a Daze
6. The Old Prince Still Lives at Home
7. Out of Love Pt. 2
8. The Last Three Years (Interlude)
9. I Heard You Had a Voice Like an Angel/Psalm 137
10. Compromise
11. Exile
12. Get Up
13. Outro

This album has won all sorts of accolades, but Shad really does shine here.  His rhymes go from hilarious to super-sincere, and he keeps your mind jogging with smart punchlines and fully functional rhythms.  He has a very honest and pure voice.

Download Link: http://www.mediafire.com/?2qysomonlqo

Breakage - Foundation

Genre: Dubstep

{Sample}

1. Open Up
2. Hardcore Music
3. Hard
4. Digiboy Radio (Interlude)
5. Old Skool Ting
6. Squid Bass (Interlude)
7. Temper
8. Over
9. Higher
10. Foundation
11. Justified
12. Vial
13. Speechless
14. If (Interlude)
15. If

Breakage is the freshest, darkest breath of air in the world of electronica.  This album is ill underlined, with pulsing, scary basslines rumbling beneath some of the most breathtaking clap snares you've ever heard.  Superior "get-shit-done" music.

Download Link:  http://hotfile.com/dl/32928830/75b2080/RDF62BreakageFoundation2010.rar.html

  

Damu is the truth

I can't put my love for this kid into words.  I'd put up an album of his, but his body of work really warrants your own passage for discovery.  This might seem a little lazy on my part, but I wouldn't want to take away any of your many inevitable Eureka! moments with Damu the Fudgemunk.  Explore and enjoy.

http://damuthefudgemunk.bandcamp.com/

Sinuous Productions - The Jazz Council

Genre: Jazzy Hip-Hop

{Sample}

1. Street Musicians
2. All the Finest Things
3. Watcha Step
4. Up in the Spot
5. Keep it Moving
6. Analyze Da Prize
7. Try to Knock my Hustle
8. Fiend for a Pen
9. One for the Money
10. No Introduction
11. Baby Please Come Home
12. That's Bad
13. Make Way
14. Mixed Emotions
15. Everybody
16. We Came Here to Get Down
17. Whispers from the Dark

Excellent jazz hop from Sinuous Productions.  Mellow, laid-back beats and respectable flows all throughout this album...it's another one you can listen to all the way through.

Download Link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=HHLHFS1H

Arts the Beatdoctor - Transitions

Genres: Hip-Hop, Beats

{Sample}

1. Blending Quality
2. The Anthem ft. Pete Philly
3. Laughs, Drinks, Jokes, Tricks
4. Revolve ft. Esther
5. Crazy Times ft. Skiggy Rapz
6. Split Personality (Part 1) ft. Sense
7. All of Us ft. Pete Philly
8. Fragments
9. Decreasing Daylight
10. Transitions ft. The Proov
11. Irreversible
12. Remember
13. Reprise
14. Mellow Drama
15. The Zone ft. Pete Philly

One of my favorite albums...It's just very, very well-mixed; the Beatdoctor molds each tune into the next so smoothly, and the dark, hopping-city-feel truly achieves a unique and powerful effect.  Something for your headphones late at night when you're walking home from the bar or cruising the streets with someone you trust. 


Download Link: http://rapidshare.com/files/76531476/Arts_the_Beatdoctor_-_Transitions.rar

Lord Finesse - The Awakening

Genre: Hip-Hop

{Sample}

1. Da Sermon (Intro)
   
2. Time Ta Bounce


3. True an Livin


4. O Lord


5. Brainstorm/P.S.K. (No Gimmicks Remix)


6. Taking It Lyte


7. Gameplan


8. Words From Da Ak


9. Flip Da Style


10. Showtime


11. Speak Ya Peace


12. Food for Thought


13. Da Kid Himself


14. Hip 2 Da Game


15. No Gimmicks


16. Actual Facts

Classic album from the 90's...Lord Finesse was the Captain America of D.I.T.C., which might have been the best rap crew from their era, certainly worthy of superhero-status.  Finesse is a good MC and an even better producer.


Download Link: http://www.mediafire.com/?pdgxldzctd9

Dorian Concept - When Planets Explode

Genres: Beats, Experimental

{Sample}

1. Clap Beep Boom
2. Freehanded Monkey
3. Color Sexist
4. Mesh Beam Splitter
5. The Fucking Formula
6. Fort Teen
7. You Tiresome Thing
8. When Planets Explode
9. Her Marshmallow Secret
10. Two Dimensional

Dope, weird stuff from Dorian Concept...Hard to describe, but these beats absorb every little moment you might've had with video game music where you thought "hey...that's kind of cool" and clumps them all together over hardass drums. 


Download Link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=0ELCTQKQ

Desmond Williams - Delights of the Garden

Genres: Downtempo, Electronica, Chill-Out

{Sample}

1. Um Favor
2. Cadence
3. First Touch
4. Theme From a Dream
5. This Morning
6. Dread A the Roughest
7. Spy Glass
8. Saturday
9. Delights of the Garden
10. Oxygen
11. High Speed Drift
12. For the Trees
13. Brooklyn Blues
14. Wilcher Waltz

Desmond Williams is one of the chief driving creative forces behind Thievery Corporation, and you can definitely hear how his sound influences their music.  He calls on reggae and dance-hall vibes to harvest the amazing tracks on this album. 


Download Link: http://rapidshare.com/files/10151584/DESMOND_WILLIAMS_-_DELIGHTS_OF_THE_GARDEN__2002_.rar

Jay Dee - Vintage, Vol. 2

Genre: Instrumental Hip-Hop

{Sample}

1. It's Dope
2. Kamaal
3. Doo Doo
4. The Skip
5. Get Down
6. Dreamy
7. Coastin'
8. The Dee
9. Earl
10. On The 1
11. Circus
12. Grannie
13. Trashy

Straight-up magic from the late great J Dilla.  These beats show you just how tapped into the flow this producer was.  "Dreamy" and "Doo Doo" are huge highlights, but the whole album just rolls through your speakers like hip-hop-flavored rain.  Classic material.


Download Link: http://rapidshare.com/files/349400865/J_Dilla_-_Vol._2_Vintage_-_2003.rar

Jazz Liberatorz - Clin d'oiel

Genre: Jazzy Hip-Hop

{Sample}

1. Clin d'oeil
2. Ease My Mind
3. I Am Hip-Hop
4. When The Clock Ticks
5. Genius At Work
6. Indonesia
7. The Process
8. The Return
9. U Do
10. Cool Down
11. Take A Time
12. Vacation
13. Speak The Language
14. Qidar

This album is everything that a jazz-hop album should be: self-assured, slinky, hypnotic, seemingly effortless...Plus the guest artists are sick: J-Live, Asheru, J. Sands, Sadat X to name a few.  This is the pinnacle of jazz-hop production, nasty from start-to-finish.

Download Link: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=QSPBRRJP

DJ Primate - The Beast Tape

Genres: Hip-Hop, Beats

1. Czech It Out Y'all (ft. Noraa)
2. Have You?
3. Black Belt Jones
4. Superman! (Bill Cosby Interlude)
5. Back When (ft. Audio McSwagger)
6. Primate's Theme
7. Czech It Out Y'all (Extended Instrumental) (Bonus)

This one was a really nice surprise-find on Bandcamp.  Pop this in at a house party, during a study session, when it's sticky-green time up in bad traffic...whenever.  The sound is gritty and raw, yet still soothing and laid-back.  Ill piano samples, and the backbeats do not disappoint.



Download Link: http://djprimate.bandcamp.com/album/the-beast-tape-ep

Kruder & Dorfmeister - Conversions

Genres: Liquid Drum & Bass, Electronica, Downtempo, Dub

{Sample}

1. Dat's Cool, DJ Unknown Face
2. Searchin, Dead Calm
3. Come On (Simon Templar Remix), The Ballistic Brothers
4. Nu Birth of Cool, Omni Trio
5. One and Only, PFM
6. Find Me, Skanna
7. Speechless Drum & Bass, Count Basic
8. Visible From Space (Aquasky Remix), Hunch
9. Time Zone, Space Link
10. The Lick, Earl Grey

No music blog that I made would be complete without this mix album from legendary DJs Kruder & Dorfmeister, so let's just get this out of the way on Day 1!  Something in this collection of songs always rings the low-pitched calm bell between my ears; it's a really vibrant and playful set that showcases K & D's superior technique.



Download Link: http://rapidshare.com/files/26271398/Kruder___Dorfmeister_-_Conversions__A_K_D_Selection_.rar

Kuroisoul - How Will I Make It

Genre: Instrumental Hip-Hop

{Sample}

1. Be The One
2. How Real
3. A Moment
4. Aim High
5. I Don't Mind
6. A Chance
7. Wondering Why
8. Feeling Again

This is the illest set of instrumentals I've heard from anybody in a long time!  I originally heard Kuroisoul's "Listen To Me" off one of musicalscizophrenia's mixtapes...got blown away, and after a little digging I found this nugget.  It's just dope; he never lingers too long on a beat, laces his samples nicely around smooth, rhythmic basslines, and his mastery of the sounds in his head is really stunning.  Tasty urban warmth, dotted with just the right assortment of snares and booms.  

Download link:
http://www.mediafire.com/?4s6c372c7i2i483

Lighthouse

Admist all the swirling vacuous currents of bullshit which wrap themselves around us every day, there are some few beacons which can withstand the wind.  Some.  Even rarer are those who lean out of their lives to get a closer look at these bastions of awesomeness.  A strong percentage of the world's most beautfiul things are ignored on a regular basis just because we refuse to see them.  But that's where you and I come in. 

Really, this is all so much blahblah.  The real reason I'm starting this blog is because I was beginning to act like something of an infection on facebook.  That and the 420-character thing...well...it's not enough for me; I like to ramble.  But in keeping with the web-friendly spirit of brevity, here's what we're gonna do, team: hip-hop, strange news stories, and whatever else I think is interesting will find its way here.  Like Tidus said: "This...is my story."  Heh.  The nice thing for you, dear reader, is you get to decide which strand of my insanity to focus on...if you choose to focus, at all! 

But I will assume, especially just starting out here, that no one is looking at any of this.  For the next few months, I'll be like a wild Neanderthal-age man, barking madly in his cave by himself.  If any of it sounds melodic or intriguing to you, then hey.  We've both accomplished our missions!  Hurray for the digital community!

Dope tracks that I love are listed in gold.  Now hop in the minecar and let's go!