Kanye West - All Falls Down (feat. Syleena)
There are points in my life when I look back to when I first really started to get into Kanye. It was just before Graduation came out. I downloaded all the Kanye I could and let it roll on repeat for weeks. Then Graduation came out and I let that roll on repeat, pretty much until My Beautiful Dark Fantasy came out. I sometimes miss his straight up hip-hop.
Graeme
Fred Penner - The Cat Came Back
Last night I went to a concert. That concert was Fred Penner. See I didn’t think I was gonna see a concert better than Born Ruffians this weekend. When I saw Born Ruffians I thought I was at my peak of concert going. I was wrong.
My roommate got some email from the University about a conference or talk that Fred is doing and as a side mention the email says, Fred Penner will be playing Chainsaw on Mar. 25. So we call and ask what time. In 20 minutes doors open. We quickly get ready and get there shortly after the doors opened. The bar was pretty full, but we could still find a table. An hour later and I don’t know if you could pack anymore people into the place. We sat and drank beer for a while. We joked that maybe it wasn’t actually Fred Penner but a band just named after him. We had no idea what to expect. Then the opening act got on. Tra La La. We couldn’t here what they were saying, no one was interested at all, and all you could hear was the normal hum of a busy bar.
Then Fred got onto the stage at around 9 o’clock. Silence commanded the stage and captured the audience like you would never believe. Suddenly everyone was listening. He joked about crawling through a log to get there and pulling “this” instrument out of the case. Waves of childhood memories flooded the bar. He had everyone in the bar singing along to “Take Good Care Of Each Other”.
Then it came to story time. I don’t think he could get over the venue. He joked that, “I bet this is the first time that anyone has ever had ‘Story Time’ in the Chainsaw”. He told this awesome story about his daughter learning to ride a bike, he got us to call out how many fingers he was holding up, and ran in slow motion. Then it all came down to swearing that we’d never ride a bike, or any other vehicle for that matter, with our eyes closed.
He referenced K-OS in the middle of the “Cat Came Back”, he had everyone singing along to “Sandwiches”, and slammed the Canadian government on multiple occasions claiming, “I don’t wanna get political”. All in all this was the most amazing thing I have ever seen, and I’ve seen the Roots. The way he commanded the audience and had everyone engaged, my roommate didn’t even know who he was, but found himself having an amazing time.
The best part was I left feeling really great about myself and everyone around me. There is no one like Fred Penner. NO ONE!
Graeme
Lil’ B - Base For Your Face (feat. Jean Grae & Phonte)
Well, if you haven’t discovered Lil’ B yet, then well… here ya go. He’s barely older then myself at the age of 21, and he has over 1500 tracks. Now you can imagine with that much music there is a lot of crap, but every once in a while something floats to the top (please excuse the analogy). This track is one of them. Here is some Base For Your Face! Start Cookin’!
Graeme
Born Ruffians - What to Say
We’re going to see Born Ruffians and First Rate People tonight. I’m pretty stoked about it, I’ve been a pretty big Born Ruffians fan for a while now, and obviously I’m stoked to see FRP. Haven’t seen those guys in a minute. It’s a small world actually, my cousin went to school with Born Ruffians, Steven Hamelin at least, and he remembers them dropping out to take their band full time. Now they’re touring with a band that I have worked with and have close ties to. Funny how life is.
Anyways, this is a track from their newest album, Say It. It was released last year and it is quite the delight. I suggest you check it out.
Graeme
TV On The Radio - Will Do
Do you like Virtual Reality? Do you like TV On The Radio? Well, this is the perfect video for you.
TVOTR videos never let me down. I have never actually seen one that I didn’t really like. The only thing is I don’t understand what just happened in that video. Was she dead? Or did she just leave him? Who knows.
Graeme
Gil Scott-Heron & Jamie XX - NY Is Killing Me
Sorry, I haven’t posted for a week. I haven’t been near my computer at all, which means no music.
There was one good thing about being away from my music for that long, and that’s that I found this song. Got in the car with my family and this track came on, I was loving it and then my Dad changed the channel… as usual. So, I kept it in mind and told Michael about it and he informed me that it’s an entire album! So I looked it up and yes, it’s an entire album of remixes that came out on Feb. 21. Check it Out!
Graeme
Mos Def - World Premiere
New Mos Def that is actually good. My life is complete.
Graeme
Magic Bullets - Lying Around
I dunno about you, but where I am the weather is bloody awful. Snow and rain and cold. It’s the worst. So I’ve been spinning summer jams to keep my mood up.
This was my ultimate jam last summer. Make it yours this summer.
Graeme
Childish Gambino - Be Alone
Aiight, I’m gonna throw down some Donald Glover. Of course you know him from the hit NBC show Community (is it on NBC?), but did you know that he is also a rapper? I listened to his mixtapes and his LP, they were good, but nothing to write home about. So, yesterday he released his self-titled EP, and I downloaded it. Gotta say, I’m a pretty big fan, I listened to it 3 times in a row. His references are on point, his flow is smooth, and his beats are decent. All in all worth the download and listen.
Graeme
Post Script. I seem to have a theme of musicians that are on TV
Wild Flag - Glass Tambourine
PUT A BIRD ON IT!!
I’ve been watching Portlandia with my roommate Eric lately. It’s such a quality show. What does this have to do with anything? Well, this is Carrie Brownstein’s band. I read that she was in a band and I was quite curious as to what they sounded like, since they hadn’t released anything yet. Well, over on good ol’ NPR they’ve been streaming this single. So, come April 16 (Record Store Day) this lil’ 7” will be released.
To be honest though, this song sounds like it could be from Portlandia. A sketch about a generic Psychadelic band. I mean, it’s called Glass Tambourine. I posted it for your and my curiosity.
Graeme
Radiohead - Give Up The Ghost
I dunno if you guys have heard this album yet. I got really pumped for it when I heard about it, then I kinda forgot about it. So then I downloaded it and gave it a listen. It’s good, but so is everything else they do. So there is no change, which basically just makes it another album. It could be there best album yet, but they’ve done this sound a lot. So, I think after a few more listens I might be able to judge it more fairly.
Graeme
The Rural Alberta Advantage - Stamp
Today this album is released. Today I am a very excited individual. From being introduced to them last August I have been a gigantic fan of this band, and I have listened to their first album, Hometowns, more times than I know (30 according to my iTunes). Well, what are you waiting for? Go buy Departing.
Graeme
TV On The Radio - Will Do
I’m so fuckin’ pumped for this album. I was worried that the time off was gonna affect their album, but that was only for a split second, cause this band DOES NOT DISAPPOINT! So watch out for this album on April 12!
Graeme
