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"Claiming you thorough, but don't want no drama/but say you wanna fight but then the first in flight like North Carolina"

http://www.sicksymphonies.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/chinoxl_90...

Orville and Wilbur Wright probably aren't head-nodding in their caskets right now, but if they were it'd be to this track by Chino XL.  Go 'head and count how count how many metaphors and similies and punchlines that Chino lets off in this 90 bar display.  Don't worry . . . I'll wait. 

Listen to "The Fresh Factory" this Sunday night from 12am - 2am to hear this and more from other generals of hip hop's literati.

A while back, some genius at Camp Lo's new record label (SRC/Universal) made the cruddy desicion to rename the group to The Lo.  The idea failed and was probably what jinxed them and led to their first single, "Lumdi", being virtually ignored by Top 40 radio and club deejays.  It was strange because, at the time that the song was released, it easily trumped any party/dance record that was out at the time.   

I like my music old and crusty.  Layers of dirt over scratched black vinyl only makes me want to play it more.  Small obscure labels with unknown bands etched into that vinyl makes me excited.  What does it sound like, how was it recorded.  Sometimes the sounds coming off the vinyl makes me cringe but sometimes this atheist finds heaven.

Regular listeners to my show (Tuesday 09:00 - 12:00 am) will know the section I play thrift store finds.  The sound quality may not be crisp and clean but the emotion expressed is the thing for me.  The sound of some spotty youth crying their heart out whether in anger or love, I don't care.  Raw, nasty and ugly is beauty to me.

I dj'd yesterday morning, and i have to say that Willie Nelson has returned to my personal listening rotation in a big way.  His new album, teaming up with Asleep at the Wheel, is really excellent.  Classic western swing songs.  My toe is still tapping.

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/node/148662

The divisiveness of 808s & Heartbreak is amazing... (so amazing... it's amazing...)  I'd like to hear from other people who've heard this record.  How many times have you heard it?  Is it a "grower"?  Do you find it therapeutic?  Most importantly, do you think 808s & Heartbreak can SAVE LIVES?  William Bowers' article has me thinking... with your emotional well-being in the balance, which way do you tip on Kanye's new album? 

Below are my top 10 (or so) released this year, in no particular order. It's been a pretty good year for music. I've especially enjoyed the reverby vocals of Blitzen Trapper, and the fun vocal mishmosh of Fleet Foxes. Seems that there have been all these bands with "woodsy" themed names in the past few years, just recently reaching a fevered pitch. To wit: Grisly Bear, Fleet Foxes, Department of Eagles, Silver Antlers, The Mountain Goats, Donkeys, Gregory + The Hawk. Many bearded men.

I dug these records this last year:

Thirteen of my favorite songs from last year.

1. "strange overtones" :: Brian Eno & David Byrne (Everything That Happens Will Happen Today)

2. "killa soundboy" :: Fort Knox Five (Radio Free D.C.)

3. "bob" :: Otto (What's Happening in Pernambuco)

4. "the whistling song" :: the Pinker Tones (Wild Animals)

5. "policia" :: Pistolera (En Este Camino)

6. "nouveau americain" :: Brazilian Girls (New York City)

7. "i hold the mic" :: Meat Beat Manifesto (Autoimmune)

1. Maurizio Bianchi...Symphony for a Genocide...Hospital - Created as a testimony to the atrocities of the Holocaust. Bianchi's abrasive electronics comprised of synthesizers and tape loops are incredibly black and devastating, with wailing alarm sounds, mechanized and annihilating beats, and a few broken vocal samples. As disturbing as it is amazing.

2. Dino Felipe...No Fun Demo...No Fun - Miami-based musician dabbles in experimental mind-melting noise-rock. Jaded, damaged and surprisingly danceable!

3. Circle...Panic ...Ektro - Thank the Gods for more NWOFHM !!! Warning: apocalyptic hardcore hatred and defiance lies inside this high speed album of piss and mayhem! More, more, more.

Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend                    Portastatic - Some Small History
Explorers Club - Freedom Wind                   All Girl Summer Fun Band - Looking Into It
Robert Pollard - Is Off to Business                    Boston Spaceships - Brown Submarine
Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now, Youngster               Oxford Collapse - Bits

1. Arthur Russell - Love is Overtaking Me (Audika, 2008)

2. Iron Curtain - Desertion 1982-1988 / Artifact (Pylon, 2007/8)

3. Das Kabinette - Spy Thriller (Minimal Wave, 2008)

4. VA - BIPPP:  French Synth-Wave 1979/85 (Born Bad, 2006/7/8)

5. Betty Botox - Mmm, Betty! (Endless Flight, 2008)

6. The Lines - Flood Bank / Memory Span (Acute, 2008)

7. Hercules & Love Affair - s/t (DFA, 2008)

8. Portishead - Third (Island, 2008)

9. Gang Gang Dance - St. Dymphna (the Social Registry, 2008)

10. Alex Moulton - Exodus (Expansion Team, 2008)