New Music/ Music Videos

[John Gratton]

So I am really interested in what everyone on here is listening to,
and since I haven't there haven't been many threads focused on this I
decided to start one.

Vanilla- Found this guy while randomly listening to different artists
on bandcamp. I can't seem to find anything who he is or where he is
from (except that he might be from the UK), but his music is
fantastic. For fans of J Dilla/ Madlib. You can download his album
"High Life" here, http://vanillabeats.bandcamp.com/album/high-life

Samiyam- This guy just put out a new album on Flying Lotus' label
Brainfeeder. Samiyam takes the deep rugged sonorities commonly found
in dubstep and hardstyle electronic music, but created something much
more relaxed and (to me) more hip-hop. You can listen to his new album
"Sam Bakers Album" here http://www.npr.org/2011/06/28/137377307/first-listen-samiyam-sam-bakers-album#playlist

Austin Peralta- Also on Brainfeeder, Peralta is the prodigy son of
skateboarding legend Stacy Peralta. Simply an unbelievable piano
player. Also I find it interesting that he is a jazz piano player who
happens to be on an electronic music label. This got me thinking about
an article I read in the Journal of Musicology (I hear that it is
called the JM in the industry) by Justin Williams titled "The
Construction of Jazz Rap as High Art in Hip-Hop Music." Williams
writes, "the parameters of timbre, instrumentation, and performance
approaches are arguably more important to jazz identity than
syntactical processes (melody, harmony, and other musical features
that can be represented in score notation).” I am interested to see if
listeners who are able to wrap their head around the dense textures
and timbres of an artist like Flying Lotus are able to listen with the
same ear to jazz music. Perhaps Peralta is tapping into a new market
for jazz, and maybe new jazz fans will find new ways to perceive the
music. Check it out here, http://www.myspace.com/austinperalta/music
(I would recommend "Capricornus")

I also found a couple of music video I find really interesting.

The Avalanches- Frontier Psychiatrist: I always loved how the
avalanches found vocal samples that all worked together to create a
new cohesive set of lyrics. I don't know if i feel that this video
pushes that idea forward, but I find it interesting never the less. I
am also interested to see if the idea of sample eventually spreads out
to effect other artfoms besides music. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLrnkK2YEcE

The Greeks- Is Tropical: I thought this would be a good video to post
here considering the debate being had about OddFuture and their
violent lyrics, as well as the discussion as to what should fall under
the umbrella of art and be defended. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwrbyVaC6EU
(I wouldn't say this is NSFW, but you probably wouldn't want to watch
it with your kids).

Please feel free to discuss any of this here or share any other music
you feel is worth listening to.

[justindburton]

That Samiyam album is pretty sick. His synthy bass melodies are going to be in the regular car rotation for me. Vanilla I think I would've enjoyed more had I not listened to Samiyam first...

The Avalanches video made me think of the Demers essay in the latest JPMS (which is open for discussion in the "On Meaninglessness" thread) - it's either the most meaningful or most meaningless thing I've seen this week. There are just endless ciphers of race, ethnicity, gender, genre, age, and discipline floating through it. But I'm not sure if they do anything more than float around each other...which is perfectly okay. I sure did just post it to facebook.

The Greeks video is fairly impressive, I think. The concept itself is pretty heavy-handed, and executed differently, I think I would just feel preached to. But the animation is kind of delightful, despite the subject matter, which means that Megaforce and Seven have nicely balanced playfulness with seriousness. 

I just checked out the new Pharoahe Monch album, W.A.R. (We Are Renegades), which is not disappointing, if also not mind-blowing. Monch is Monta Ellis for me - a very good rapper whose occasional flashes of brilliance make me lament his failure to be consistently brilliant. The third and thirteenth tracks, "Evolve" and "Still Standing," are the standouts for me, but the whole album has a solid vibe.

After hearing "Wildfire," I was really excited to listen to all of SBTRKT's eponymous album. It's fine, but nothing really comes up to the level of "Wildfire." It probably won't be in heavy rotation for me in the coming months.

Speaking of heavy rotation, this is not a particularly new album, but I can't stop listening to the Beastie Boys' Hot Sauce Committee Part Two. I've always had a distant relationship with the group, and I listened to Hot Sauce mostly out of professional obligation, and now I can't stop listening. This has to be the best music of their career, as it manages to sound classic (it's obviously the Beastie Boys) and fresh at the same time. Anyone else enjoying this one? Or can someone tell me why I might be crazy for loving it so much?

[justindburton]

Incidentally, the sample in that Avalanches' video, "That boy needs therapy," sounds really familiar. Any idea where that's from? Or if it's appeared in another song?