We started this blog to promote the show by
making some hip hop postings related to content on the air, but in the end we
wanted to post some original stuff, making an actual contribution to the
blogosphere (also, our show is over).
My first attempt at writing and also labeling
our post showed how much of an influence those damn blogs have on me, and as my
words closely modeled how other people talk about music and “Freeness from…”
was accidently copied from Word is Bond, which I noticed about a week later.
To ensure that I’m not infringing upon
anybody’s catch phrases or ideas, I journeyed deep into the realms of
obscurity, resurrecting a piece of technology that, despite its insistence on
being one of the cool kids that you hang out with all the time, is simply
somebody that you know and like but you never really see very much (yes, check
the punctuation, that entire thing was one sentence).
What I’m talking about is a Zune, which for
me has been a marvelous piece of technology (I have owned two Zunes (30 and
120), and one Ipod (30)) which is arguably equivalent in desirability to an
Ipod (for PC users) only because none of them actually exist (Microsoft spent
tons of money generating “community” features including wireless song transfers
between Zunes, sharing playlists online, etc).
Zunes are so obscure that I even stopped calling my own music playing
device a Zune because of puzzled looks that I received.
Because I don’t think that Zunes actually
exist, simply mentioning them anywhere in the title should be sufficient,
right? No. I don’t want to alienate our readers,
so I’m including a reference to something that they understand: iTunes. This further complicates things, because
besides the fact that I don’t even use iTunes (see Zune Usage above), putting
Zune and iTunes in the same sentence makes less sense than peanut butter on a burger with mayonnaise.
If you clicked on the link then you realize I’m referencing the Jiffy Burger
from the Blue Door which is unbelievably delicious. Alas, the Blue Door is a near sacred eatery,
and I refuse to acknowledge any delusion that this effort will be half as
amazing.
Despite the efforts to be original, this segment is inspired by the legendary but now discontinued What's New in Dart's Ipod segment (from Poisonous Paragraphs then Bloggerhouse).
Now that I’ve put all of my efforts into the
preamble, this first review will be astonishingly half-assed.
Soulcrate
Music – The Heartland Panic (2010)
First heard of these guys at Soundset, only
saw a few songs but they seemed pretty decent.
Somehow they were performing in Bemidji the next weekend, which is
exactly where I was gonna be. Show was
good, sharp and funny lyrics with a lot of energy. The cd is nice and jazzy. Oh, and they’re two brothers from South
Dakota.
Blueprint
– Adventures in Counter Culture (2011)
Meant to write a review on this a WHILE back
but never did (cuz I didn’t like it on 1st listen). Obviously, this isn’t your typical rap
cd. Print sings on two songs, which both
feature ‘80s type beats that are pretty bananas. Overall I thought this was an enjoyable
listen, although he seems to push it a little too far away from his comfort
zone in some places. Read a full review
from these fellas for a more positive vibe.
Blue
Scholars – Cinemetropolis (2011)
Started off dope and then ventured toward
average for a little bit. Was really
hoping for a lot from this, and I need a second listen to give it some real
judgment. * On second listen this seems like an above average release in the
realm of hip hop. More experimental,
electronic than I would have expected, but definitely check it out (especially
cuz its Sabzi and Geo).
Blitz
the Ambassador – Native Sun (2011)
Blitz shows a progression from his last cd in
rhyme skills, and his live band sounds amazing.
If you heard Stereotype, the
production sounds very similar. The
album plays like one long jam session, which makes it difficult to single out
particular tracks because they seem to run into each other. I enjoy this style of music, and this is
definitely work checking out, although the emphasis of African pride on this cd
sometimes gets derailed by “rhyming about rhyming” – K’naan.
Face
Candy – Waste Age Teen Land
Mixture of funny and ridiculous
freestyling from Eyedea, Kristoff Krane, J.T. Bates, Casey O’Brian with
live band goodness capturing the improvisational vibe brilliantly. This is my first experience with the group,
and while I may not purchase this album it may serve as some great background
music sometime. Or a lot of the time.
I promise this will be better next time.
