Copped Santagold and Radiohead off emusic yesterday. Don't know what I think yet. The Radiohead joint is the new one, In Rainbows. It's almost too accessible for me. I know that sounds strange. Anyway, anyone got any thoughts? I know I posted about Santogold before, but this is the first time I've listened to the whole album.
UPDATE: Guys lets open this up and make it a general music thread. These are some great comments. I'm interested in what else folks are listening to. I'm a huge TV on the Radio fan. Any thoughts on what I should be vibing off of? As for Santagold, I haven't decided yet. Like CeezDiem, I love L.E.S. Artistes. But my better half made a similar point to Ceez, noting that if she was 17 she would be in love with her. It's interesting.
Also, anyone here with kids? I had a nice discussion with my eight-year-old son about Lil Wayne's "Lollipop." Fun! Fun! Gotta talk about it though. Don't want him getting his facts from his idiot friends.
The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood 
I like "In Rainbows" a lot - it's certainly of a certain piece with the rest of since-"Kid A" Radiohead, but has a different kind of emotional resonance. Different mood - it's a less tense and angular than "Hail to the Thief," definitely less angst so maybe that's the same thing as being too accessible.
Pretty much all of the songs worked extremely well in concert, "House of Cards," "15 Step" and "All I Need" especially being far better, even, and I'd put "Reckoner," "Nude" and "Videotape" immediately at the top of my list of favorite Radiohead tracks.
I don't really understand the Radiohead album, anymore than I've understood why anybody cares about their previous stuff. I've consigned myself to a lifetime of Not Getting It.
Santogold, on the other hand: Awesome. I was nervous when people called her "the next M.I.A." but it turns out those people were idiots.
The Santogold stuff along with J*Davey and Janelle Monáe I find pretty thin. I can't quite put my finger on it but there is something disingenuous about what they do. I can understand the desire of black folks of a certain age to want a subcultural adolescence outside of hip hop and soul. I also see many people find these eighties aesthetics so appealing (many of us felt left out or too insecure to be involved at the time). However, Grace Jones, Fishbone, The Untouchables, Prince etc. already did this stuff thoroughly, in context and fully valid. These groups are too heavily style and fashion centric and come off a bit like a new wave karaoke costume drama and a high end talent show with an African-American twist. Not that everything has to be completely new and ground breaking but an attempt would be nice.
you know, i would really like to hear what you think of santogold...
we miss your music reviews here in dc..
The Santogold joint seems to come with an age cap. My little cousins love it unconditionally. It can do no wrong. It's super duper original and bla bla bla.
Anyone over twentyyyyseven, let's say, either hates it, or likes it just enough to not burn the cd just to break it in half.
I like it, but much like aLOT of music these days, I only mess with a couple cuts, not the whole jont.
Electro-ey stuff ++++
Rockish stuff ----- (except for LES Artistes, which i like)
The Santogold joint seems to come with an age cap. My little cousins love it unconditionally. It can do no wrong. It's super duper original and bla bla bla.
Anyone over twentyyyyseven, let's say, either hates it, or likes it just enough to not burn the cd just to break it in half.
I like it, but much like aLOT of music these days, I only mess with a couple cuts, not the whole jont.
Electro-ey stuff ++++
Rockish stuff ----- (except for LES Artistes, which i like)
With respect to reccomendations......
The most recent Portishead I think is great. It is a more honest record than their last in that it's grounded in a wealth of far flung influences much like their debut. For some people they either like it or not depending on how deep their own taste and knowledge of underground music goes. For me it's an inherently 2008 record, harsh, pulsing, and sublime and really speaks to where my head is at right now.
Also, the Green Lantern/Nas Nigger tape is heavy albeit uneven but I've gotten used to that from him. Still, he always moves forward and is thoughtful and poetic in a way few in hip hop even come close to. I've been bumping it non-stop.
I don't listen to a whole lot of stuff like TV on the Radio (or maybe I do and I'm just not thinking of them right now), so the best I can do is list what I've been listening to lately. I love the new Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. It's libidinous and ill-tempered and boozy. It's a great album if you're driving on your to a party. And the last track, More News From Nowhere, is the best comedown song I've heard all year.
I really like both Fleet Foxes releases, but that's pastoral and folksy, so it might not be up your alley. It's gorgeous. Neon Neon, that's Boom Bip and the lead singer of Super Furry Animals, is awesome. It's a concept album about DeLorean, and I'm not sure if they did but it's like they conspired to make an album using only instruments that were available in DeLorean's '80s heyday. It's a weird trip to that era but it sounds amazing.
Wolf Parade has a new one coming out tomorrow that I plan on downloading promptly. Actually - they are in the ballpark of TV on the Radio - especially their portentous lyrics and herky jerky rhythms.
I've heard there's a reggae version of Radiohead's OK Computer. I've listened to a bit of Radiohead but haven't got into like I want to. I will some day. Same with Death Cab For Cutie.
Until then, I'm still bumpin' Scarface - Made, Nicolay & Kay -Time.line, Black Milk - Popular Demand, Dwele - Some Kinda, Strange Fruit Project - The Healing, Little Brother - GetBack, Snoop - Ego Trippin' (I'm from Cali dude. What do you expect?) and Beck - The Information.
Good stuff man. Good summer music.
Ooh ooh ooh. These too:
Panacea - The Scenic Route
Cunninlyguists - Dirty Acres
Erykah Badu - New Amerikyah
Pete Rock - NY's Finest
Quasimoto - The Further Adventures of Lord Quas
You must listen to these albums, no excuses:
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Portishead - Third
Shearwater - Rooks
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Hmm... I guess those first 3 are kinda dark. I'm pretty high on Phantom Planet's Raise the Dead, but I realize it's kinda lowbrow (and sacrelicious!)
Also enjoyed eMC's The Show, and Ratatat's 2nd Mix Tape (which is legal to download...)
Moderate recommendations:
Adele - 19 (pop)
Guillemots - Through the Window Pane, not Red
Pete and the Pirates - Little Death
Kathleen Edwards - Asking for Flowers, Back to Me (alt/adult/country)
Frightened Rabbit - The Midnight Organ Fight
Vetiver - Thing of the past
Basically, metacritic.com is the best thing since sliced bread. They do have a bias towards established musicians though (*cough* Nick Cave, Coldplay)
Ok the Radiohead cd came out last year so I'm already kinda over it. I really liked Thom's solo cd. They always kick butt live! I do not like the new Portishead and was afraid it was gonna suck for me. They were never a good live act to watch and I was a major fiend back in the day: saw them in LA, listened to them on KCRW when they broke here in the US and Dummy was an import, saw them in NYC including the infamous Roseland ballroom concert - who knew! I like Santogold but because Gwen Stefani and all of them have taken all the best samples and swiped the style it doesn't sound so fresh. But....I am very hapy to see a Black girl rocking it and there's no hair weave or video ho moves in sight! YEAH! I love the current Erykah Badu cd...saw her concert and it was....meh. She was trying to be too artsy and interrupted the flow and I've seen her numerous times so I'm not sure what she was trying to achieve. I highly recommend the Robyn cd though it came out in Sweden 2 years ago. It still holds up very well. Ray LaMontagne will be releasing his 3rd cd very soon and I can't wait!! I just got the Skye cd - former lead singer of Morcheeba even though it came out 2 yrs ago. One of her songs is featured in a Nivea commercial and I had to listen to it. Saw the video - it is gorgeous! It's a location shoot with lots of beautiful brown people featured. I can't believe I let that one slip through the cracks, but I was never a huge Morcheeba fan I just always liked her voice.
Gotta disagree about the age cap on Santogold: I've been enjoying it greatly. The MIA comparisons are understandable, but 1) she's not mastered the sonic overload that MIA has and 2) she's doing a lot of other things, too.
Off the top of my head, I hear bits of B-52s (spy guitar things on "Say Aha"), Kelly Clarkson, even Laurie Anderson, along with the MIA-style rapping and the occasional broken reggae beat. It's the sort of record that I enjoy a lot while thinking that the next album is likely to do all this a lot better.
Plus, it's been a nice break from the odd, near-nonstop back-and-forth I've been having on my iPod among Rick James, Donna Summer, and (here's where it gets weird) the Kills.
New Portishead is really great. Not as immediately enjoyable as the first two (or the live one), but I would agree that it's very much a 2008 sound, to Portishead's great credit.
Let me put in a word for old-man rock - the new R.E.M is really fantastic. Just about each song is loud, fast,short and angry without being a drag, with lots of Mike Mills backing vocals (has there ever been a better background singer??? Never, I say!).
Only Keef, and maybe Emmylou Harris . . .
I'll also second brendan's recommendation of "Accelerate" from R.E.M. Really solid record.
Additionally:
if you've not checked out Andrew Bird - esp. "Armchair Apocrypha" - you should.
Still waiting for that new Martina Topley-Bird record to hit stateside. What I've heard off that I'm really liking.
Still waiting for that new Martina Topley-Bird record to hit stateside. What I've heard off that I'm really liking.
Ta-Nehisi-
Check out my music sometime. I have no idea if you would like it, but hey why not ask you to look into it?
Peace!
-F
www.polyrhythmatics.net
I'll second, third, or fourth (where are we now?) the Nu Badu recommendation. It's not quite as good as Worldwide Underground for me, but it's still high quality greatness.
The reggae Radiohead that Groove metioned is called Radiodread, and it's by Easy Star All Stars. It's pretty fantastic; I was pulled in by the translation of the guitar riff from 'Paranoid Android' into a delicious horn section interlude. Easy Star All Stars also do a Dark Side of the Moon cover called Dub Side of the Moon which is fine but not as stellar as Radiodread.
These guys haven't had anything new in about 18 months, but I still love Antibalas. They're most often compared to Fela Kuti; favorably, I would say.
This one will probably be cliche in no time, but I dig the Cool Kids, as well.
I've also been bumpin the new Nappy Roots mixtape (Cookout Muzik), which is easily and freely downloadable on the interwebs. They've been helping my 24-7 David Banner feenin.
Finally, if you're into mashups, I enjoy Best of Bootie, which is a compilation of some of the best mashups in a given year. If you check out bootieusa.com you'll find sets from 05, 06, and 07. There's a particularly inspired mashup of Big Pimpin and Big Shot on 2005 that always brings a smile to my face.
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Thanks,
Nathyrortsose