Number Forty Seven
One of the best rap albums last year was Run The Jewels' self-titled debut album. But it wasn't the first time the two members of the group had worked together. EL-P and Killer Mike are a killer combination.
This post is just on EL-P, though. There'll be a Killer Mike post if/when he releases some new stuff. He's great too. EL-P is a rapper based in Brooklyn and has been around for a long time, first dropping his debut album "Fantastic Damage" in 2002. He's released some pretty great albums since then, and in 2012 made his best album to date, titled "Cancer 4 Cure".
This album is hard-hitting (as all New York hip hop usually is) but brainy and thought-provoking as well. EL-P's in-your-face flow is effective, and his lyrics are at their best on top of the beats heard here. He also has a fantastic, sick sense of humor that is shown on songs and videos like "The Full Retard".
I'll link a few songs and videos below, hope you like it.
EL-P - Stay Down (Official Video)
EL-P - The Full Retard (Official Video)
EL-P - EMG
Favorite song: The Full Retard
Related artists: Killer Mike, Eminem, Pro Era
Number Forty Eight
How to describe Kayo Dot.
Kayo Dot is an anomaly. Formed by Toby Driver after the break-up of Maudlin of the Well in 2003, a group somewhat similar to Kayo Dot in sound, they've been releasing albums fairly steadily since then. The reception to their sound has been polarizing. They are nothing if not unique.
Kayo Dot is easiest to describe as an avant-garde black metal band, but really they incorporate an incredible amount of genre-bending sounds into their output. Incorporating sounds from rock, folk, drone, noise, jazz, thrash and doom metal as well as spoken word, Kayo Dot is a hard sell.
Their newest album, "Hubardo", is a return to form after the very strange and confusing "Gamma Knife". It came out of nowhere, and the scope of the project is enough to turn many people away. A double album containing 100 minutes of music, delving into mysticism and religion as well as dark, violent topics, frequently all at once, is a challenging listen. I highly recommend it.
PS: Kayo Dot has just announced a new album to be released on October 16. Get ready.
I'll put some songs from "Hubardo" and "Choirs of the Eye" in full. Enjoy...?
Kayo Dot - Crown-In-The-Muck
Kayo Dot - Choirs of the Eye (Full Album)
Kayo Dot - Passing the River
Favorite song: Passing the River
Related artists: Maudlin of the Well, Swans
Number Forty Nine
More on Zach Hill. Hopefully you're not sick of him.
Technical playing is often overlooked in music. And Hella is a very technical band. Made up of Zach Hill on drums and Spencer Seim on guitar, they've been around for a while and have been releasing loud, fast, and disorienting rock albums.
Hella's most distinctive trait is the seemingly non-existent attention span of the group- they start an idea, use it for a few seconds and then totally try something else. And some of these songs last up to seven, eight minutes. This disorienting approach pays off on almost all of their songs.
Their newest album, Tripper, is exactly that: trippy. It's some seriously weird stuff. I don't have a lot to say on it, other than listen to it and see what you think.
I'll put one album in full as well as some songs below. Hope you like it.
Favorite song(s): Been A Long Time, Cousin/Biblical Violence
Related artists: Lightning Bolt, Black Pus
Number Fifty
This post is on Cloud Nothings. They're an indie-rock band from Cleveland, Ohio, fronted by singer/songwriter Dylan Baldi. Their first releases, especially their self-titled album, had a very light quality to them and was just sort of fun to listen to. Then, in 2012, they released "Attack on Memory", a fantastic change of pace for the band and a more substantial rock album.
This year they released "Here and Nowhere Else", an album that blends the light quality with the new, darker ones. Overall, it's a very good mix. On tracks like "Now Hear In", the chorus is catchy but the cymbal-accentuated verses have the same energy that "Wasted Days" or "Cut You" had in 2012. The last song and the first single to drop from the album, "I'm Not Part of Me", is also a great example of the new blend.
Their music videos are pretty good as well. Their newest one, for "I'm Not Part of Me", is funny and menacing at the same time. I'll link that, as well as some other songs, down below. They sound great live as well, probably better than on recordings.
Favorite song: Stay Useless
Related artists: The Strokes, Destroyer
Number Fifty One
This blog now has fifty one little entries. It grows up so fast.
This post is on another New York rapper, but a much calmer, more collected, colder, and almost more menacing one. Kaseem Ryan, going under the name KA, has essentially come back from the dead. After forming some underground groups in the late 90's, he returned in 2008 with a new album and a great collaboration with GZA.
In 2013, KA released "The Night's Gambit", a fantastic album that is cold and calculated, like hearing someone who's escaped from a lifestyle tell you secrets about it in a hushed voice. His voice is soft throughout the entire album giving off tension as well as easing you into the world. It's an immersive listen in the same vein as Black Milk's "No Poison No Paradise".
He released an EP this year that was pretty good as well, produced entirely by Preservation. I'll link some songs and "The Night's Gambit" in full below. Hope you like it.
KA - Cold Facts (Official Video)
KA - The Night's Gambit (Full Album)
KA - Still Heir
Favorite song: Our Father
Related artists: Roc Marciano, Shabazz Palaces, Billy Woods
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