March Hip-Hop Recommendations

[Rex Grossman]

I'll admit I like El-P. Plenty don't, but I do. I love Funcrusher Plus and Fantastic Damage (and fandamplus).

Well, this is out this month…

Tracklisting…

Please Stay (Yesterday)

Sunrise Over Bklyn

Get Your Hand Off My Shoulder, Pig

Get Modal

Intrigue In The House of India

Something Is Wrong

When The Moon Was Blue (feat. Harry Keys)

Please Leave (Yesterday)

Bonus Interview + Documentary (CD version only)

I listened to this the other day.

First time in ages. It still rules. I don't want to call it a concept album, but it sort of is. Far greater than the sum of its parts.

[Lovelyman]

I bought the GF the new Outkast CD in ASDA yesterday. I am going to give it a listen on my Ipod tomorrow at work.

Sorry if that's a little late!

[Fusty Gusset]

RE:

QUOTE (esar @ Mar 1 2004, 10:05 AM)

Is it good, i've been looking forward to this?

It's cool as,...in fact it's all I've been listening to for the last week and a half pretty much.

Also, if anybody's having beef withdrawels here's new Dre/50 signee Game goin off at Joe Buddens...It's no Ether but funny none the less...

GAME dissin Buddens

the link can be a little sensitive so try again later if there's a prob...

[esar]

I'll admit I like El-P. Plenty don't, but I do. I love Funcrusher Plus and Fantastic Damage (and fandamplus).

Well, this is out this month…

Tracklisting…

Please Stay (Yesterday)

Sunrise Over Bklyn

Get Your Hand Off My Shoulder, Pig

Get Modal

Intrigue In The House of India

Something Is Wrong

When The Moon Was Blue (feat. Harry Keys)

Please Leave (Yesterday)

Bonus Interview + Documentary (CD version only)

I listened to this the other day.

First time in ages. It still rules. I don't want to call it a concept album, but it sort of is. Far greater than the sum of its parts.

I had you written off as an El-p hater Ben!

Let me just put on my backpack then....thats better. I find Def Jux stuff a bit hit and miss but I love El-p and Company Flow (i've just recently been listening to Funcrusher Plus again as i posted in last months thread), I didn't even know about this release.

Is it instrumentals?

The reason I ask is that i've recently been listening to instrumentals of his stuff for Can Ox and Mr. Lif and unlike usual hip hop tracks these are songs in themselves, they're amazing - highly recommended if you're into Warp Records stuff.

And Mr. Lif, I never bought the LP as i'd bought a few duff Def Jux releases and didn't want to waste my money but I got the 'New Man Theme' single cheap the other week and its amazing, just my type of thing, political and conscious but super funky as well.

It looks like i'll have to buy the LP now!

@Fusty Gusset

I look forward to hearing the yakballz, apparently i've got that LP and the new Swollen Members LP sitting at my ex-girlfriends house waiting to be picked up

[WesT]

Not really a recomendation, but just a talking point, i was listening to 1xtra homegrown last night like i usally do on a sunday night, and they had iceberg slim on, and he was getting some hammer for rapping in a US accent off of the presenter, as well as the texts coming through, then when he thought he'd explained it was his choice and he wasnt trying to crack america, the presenter brought it back up again, he sounded well pissed off.

what everyones opinion here about uk artists copying the US style?

pointless if you ask me, its half the appeal of the uk scene to me, the british accent.

[esar]

what everyones opinion here about uk artists copying the US style?

pointless if you ask me, its half the appeal of the uk scene to me, the british accent.

UK artists putting on US accents is shit just for the reason that they sound like they're putting it on.

But is it any different that someone like Jehst who comes from Huddersfield, raps in a London accent?

[Rex Grossman]

UK artists putting on US accents is shit just for the reason that they sound like they're putting it on.

But is it any different that someone like Jehst who comes from Huddersfield, raps in a London accent?

I don't think it is any different.

I think it happens because of what people are used to hearing when they grow up. Places like France have an advantage over the UK because they don't share a language with the US. That means it's easier to create an identity.

[Rex Grossman]

I had you written off as an El-p hater Ben!

Let me just put on my backpack then....thats better. I find Def Jux stuff a bit hit and miss but I love El-p and Company Flow (i've just recently been listening to Funcrusher Plus again as i posted in last months thread), I didn't even know about this release.

Is it instrumentals?

The reason I ask is that i've recently been listening to instrumentals of his stuff for Can Ox and Mr. Lif and unlike usual hip hop tracks these are songs in themselves, they're amazing - highly recommended if you're into Warp Records stuff.

And Mr. Lif, I never bought the LP as i'd bought a few duff Def Jux releases and didn't want to waste my money but I got the 'New Man Theme' single cheap the other week and its amazing, just my type of thing, political and conscious but super funky as well.

It looks like i'll have to buy the LP now!

@Fusty Gusset

I look forward to hearing the yakballz, apparently i've got that LP and the new Swollen Members LP sitting at my ex-girlfriends house waiting to be picked up

What I know about the El-P CD…

The wait is just about over, so go ahead and breathe a sigh of relief. Anyone who's checked out the 10" single "Sunrise Over Bklyn" won't be surprised to find that 'High Water' is a crucial step in the evolutions of both El-P and the Blue Series. Moody, beautiful horns and piano intertwine with El-P's lumbering beats and deft touch, applied with a surprising subtlety and sensitivity. (with Guillermo E. Brown, Roy Campbell, Daniel Carter, William Parker, Matthew Shipp and Steve Swell)

That's from the web site of the label, Thirsty Ear.

I Phantom is awesome. It really is. You must check it out.

[jrisgod]

I Phantom is a work of genius, probably the most consistently great hiphop album of the last 3 years. Lyrically and musically superb. I prefer the Insight and Edan produced tracks to the El-p ones though.

Buy it now, get his Emergency Rations Ep as well. Fantastic.

For a recommendation of my own, check the Majesticons album - Beauty Party. (Here - Beauty Party

[Sir DangerM]

For all you Ugly Duckling haters, here are their UK/Europe tour dates:

MARCH

Thurs 11 Bournemouth Uni

Fri 12 Belgium

Sat 13 Academy Bristol

Sun 14 Univ Surrey, Guildford

Mon 15 Jazz Cafe London

Weds 17 Rock City, Nottingham

Thurs 18 Event 2, Brighton

Fri 19 Sankeys Soap, Manchester

Sat 20 club 2000, Penzeance

Sun 21 rubadub, Stenglade Copenhagen

Mon 22 Oxford Zodiac

Tues 23 Original Heroes, Leeds

Weds 24 Southampton Soul Cellar

Thurs 25 University, Cardiff

Fri 26 Ether, Taunton

Sat 27 Sugar, Leamington Spa

Sun 28 Edinburgh

Mon 29 Lava, Aberdeen

Tues 30 Tuesday club, Sheffield Uni

Weds 31 Galway, Ireland

APRIL

Thurs 1 Limerick Granary, Ireland

Fri 2 Ri Ra, Dublin, Ireland

Sat 3 Gothenburg Sweden

[Calashnikov]

Yeah, so that Ninja Tune night at QMU ended up being pretty good, you know. The laptop set of Coldcut's allowed them to have like uber mixes of various tracks. There was Rakim vocals all fucked up with touches of Wu-Tang, reggae and crazy drum and bass type shenanigans. It was quite interesting, if not completely my cup of tea.

Kid Koala on the other hand was fucking special. I don't know if any of you guys have ever caught him live. He opened his set with that sultry jazz number that Jessica Rabbit sings. He was scratching up her voclas over an instrumental of the track. It sounded well mellow and lush. An unusual way to start your set, I'd have thought, but it was jaw dropping stuff.

Lots of other mad shit ensued. You know that creepy Bjork song with the cool video about the story book and the theater and shit? All that got cut up to fuck with 'Hand on the Pump' by Cypress acappella'd over the top. It went down really well. There was a wee scratch sample of a guy going "So, your friends are at the bar when all of a sudden you are surrounded by ninjas. Don't panic! Remember: no ninja can resist..." and on that he kicks in with Shadow's "You Can't Go Home Again" which eventually doubled up in time and turned into Hey Ya. The place went fairly mental, as I'm sure you can imagine. There was lots of cool mash ups and the like. One thing that blew my mind was when I noticed that it was all done without the use of headphones.

All of his cutting and scratching was completely incredible. It wasn't the wanky turntablist exhibition that DangerM had me fearing. The set was rocking. That it featured AMAZING turntable gymnastics over the top was just a bonus.

[Liquid Myth]

I am very fucked off.

I've just got Kanye's "College Dropout" album from Amazon, only to find that it's the censored version.

Somebody's laughing at me right now. Probably more than somebody.

[Fusty Gusset]

UK artists putting on US accents is shit just for the reason that they sound like they're putting it on.

But is it any different that someone like Jehst who comes from Huddersfield, raps in a London accent?

such a valid point it needs quoting.

[Sham]

I am very fucked off.

I've just got Kanye's "College Dropout" album from Amazon, only to find that it's the censored version.

Somebody's laughing at me right now. Probably more than somebody.

nice bunch of Kayne West stuff here....

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...3&category=1569

[Hoop]

Yeah, so that Ninja Tune night at QMU ended up being pretty good, you know. The laptop set of Coldcut's allowed them to have like uber mixes of various tracks. There was Rakim vocals all fucked up with touches of Wu-Tang, reggae and crazy drum and bass type shenanigans. It was quite interesting, if not completely my cup of tea.

Kid Koala on the other hand was fucking special. I don't know if any of you guys have ever caught him live. He opened his set with that sultry jazz number that Jessica Rabbit sings. He was scratching up her voclas over an instrumental of the track. It sounded well mellow and lush. An unusual way to start your set, I'd have thought, but it was jaw dropping stuff.

Lots of other mad shit ensued. You know that creepy Bjork song with the cool video about the story book and the theater and shit? All that got cut up to fuck with 'Hand on the Pump' by Cypress acappella'd over the top. It went down really well. There was a wee scratch sample of a guy going "So, your friends are at the bar when all of a sudden you are surrounded by ninjas. Don't panic! Remember: no ninja can resist..." and on that he kicks in with Shadow's "You Can't Go Home Again" which eventually doubled up in time and turned into Hey Ya. The place went fairly mental, as I'm sure you can imagine. There was lots of cool mash ups and the like. One thing that blew my mind was when I noticed that it was all done without the use of headphones.

All of his cutting and scratching was completely incredible. It wasn't the wanky turntablist exhibition that DangerM had me fearing. The set was rocking. That it featured AMAZING turntable gymnastics over the top was just a bonus.

Just like to add that I saw Coldcut in Bournemouth last year, and they really are something special. They started (well I say 'they' but it was only Matt Black there) off flittering between quite soft songs, but then ripped into 'One Blood' and the place went mental

[Magoo]

All of his cutting and scratching was completely incredible. It wasn't the wanky turntablist exhibition that DangerM had me fearing. The set was rocking. That it featured AMAZING turntable gymnastics over the top was just a bonus.

Seconded, he was absolutely blinding I'm no DJ but placing the record head on a certain part of the record to play a triplet of notes in tune with "Moon River" was unreal. It was a shame about some c**t setting off the fire alarm, students aren't they just hilarious .

Enjoying Gang Starr's 'Hard To Earn', how is it seen in relation to their other albums? I may look into their other stuff but I was too tight to buy 'Full Clip'.

[Fusty Gusset]

Pete Rock - Soul Survivor 2

Bloody good stuff, tonight I got a CD sampler from a friend and I can definitely recommend it. The CL Smooth tunes are bananas, but there's a Mad Skillz track has me hitting rewind over and over and over...such a pleasent return to form.

Official US release is apparently late April sometime.

[Rex Grossman]

Pete Rock - Soul Survivor 2

Bloody good stuff, tonight I got a CD sampler from a friend and I can definitely recommend it. The CL Smooth tunes are bananas, but there's a Mad Skillz track has me hitting rewind over and over and over...such a pleasent return to form.

Official US release is apparently late April sometime.

Oooh… You've got me excited now…

[Rex Grossman]

Enjoying Gang Starr's 'Hard To Earn', how is it seen in relation to their other albums? I may look into their other stuff but I was too tight to buy 'Full Clip'.

All the albums are good. Just buy them all. If you like one you should like the rest. Some are better than other, but you should pick them all up. Even Full Clip. Has stuff not on any of their albums.

[Fusty Gusset]

More Nas Info...

Nas Looks Back To 'Illmatic' With Reissue, DVD

Rapper Nas will celebrate the 10-year anniversary of his landmark debut, "Illmatic," with a double-disc edition of the set. Due March 30 via Columbia, "Illmatic Platinum Series" features a remastered edition of the original album, a million-seller best known for the hits "It Ain't Hard To Tell," "One Love" and "The World Is Yours."

A second disc adds four new remixes: "Life's a Bitch," produced by Rockwilder; "The World Is Yours," produced by Vibesmen; and "It Ain't Hard To Tell" and "One Love," produced by Nick Fury. Also featured are the new studio cuts "On the Real" (produced by hip-hop legend Marley Marl) and "Star Wars" (produced by Large Professor).

The same day, Columbia will issue the DVD "Video Anthology Vol. 1," featuring clips for "Illmatic" favorites plus later tracks like "Hate Me Now" featuring Puff Daddy and "You Owe Me" featuring Destiny's Child and Ginuwine. Explicit versions of "Got Ur Self A..." and "Made You Look" are also included, as is audio commentary for every video.

Nas is working on a new album, "Street's Disciple." The double-disc set is expected to be released this summer.

[Das]

UK artists putting on US accents is shit just for the reason that they sound like they're putting it on.

But is it any different that someone like Jehst who comes from Huddersfield, raps in a London accent?

He was born in Sussex, moved to Huddersfield then moved back to London. He's not a Northener. If you listen to Premonitions he clearly has a southern, sussex kind of accent, it has developed into more of a London twang lately but he's got no reason to have a Northern accent, he just lived there for a while.

[Das]

And Ben, Great shout on I Phantom. Huge Lif fan, have been since Triangular Warfare. And El-P also, really looking forward to hearing the new stuff. Is it like Fantastic Damage or has he gone back to his more head-nod stuff? I did like FD but much prefer his Co-flo days. Saw him and Lif at the ICA a year or so ago, one of the best gigs I've seen to date. It was a little while after I Phantom was released.

[esar]

He was born in Sussex, moved to Huddersfield then moved back to London. He's not a Northener. If you listen to Premonitions he clearly has a southern, sussex kind of accent, it has developed into more of a London twang lately but he's got no reason to have a Northern accent, he just lived there for a while.

Really, I didn't know that, i'll let him off then

After seeing Pete Rock & CL last week i'm really looking forward to the new LP.

There's an excellent interview with Pete Rock in the new issue of Wax Poetics if anyone's interested.

[Rex Grossman]

And Ben, Great shout on I Phantom. Huge Lif fan, have been since Triangular Warfare. And El-P also, really looking forward to hearing the new stuff. Is it like Fantastic Damage or has he gone back to his more head-nod stuff? I did like FD but much prefer his Co-flo days. Saw him and Lif at the ICA a year or so ago, one of the best gigs I've seen to date. It was a little while after I Phantom was released.

I haven't heard the new El-P and don't know anyone who has. I'm guessing it'll be quite leftfield going by the label.

I saw Mr Lif in 98 supporting Co Flow and wasn't fussed at that time. He's grown on me since then. Home of the Brave is near-classic.

[Calashnikov]

I am very fucked off.

I've just got Kanye's "College Dropout" album from Amazon, only to find that it's the censored version.

Somebody's laughing at me right now. Probably more than somebody.

What do you make of it, apart from all the "cuffs" and "ish"? I've been toying with the idea of getting it. His stuff seems slightly overproduced and glossy, but I think I'm in need of some light hearted background stuff.

[Dr Seedyman]

Got a couple of gems to reccomend this month.

Firstly I have been listening to the new Babu album

- Dj Babu: Duck season Vol 2

Its got some great Mc's on there like Talib, Prodigy and the legend Krs one.

Some excellent production and some really smooth flows, Its not quite as good a mix tape as "Music for the mature B-Boy but excellent never the less.

- Funk Master Flex: 60 minutes of funk volume 3

A top notch Mix tape with some exceptional freestyles.

Best of the bunch would have to go to The Blast Master.

Pick them both up NOW!

[Calashnikov]

- Dj Babu: Duck season Vol 2

Its got some great Mc's on there like Talib, Prodigy and the legend Krs one.

Some excellent production and some really smooth flows, Its not quite as good a mix tape as "Music for the mature B-Boy but excellent never the less.

I've heard varying reports about this one. I think it was Das Tapen who slated it in last month's thread. One thing I do know, however, is that it includes Jay Dee and Madlib's "The Official" from the Jaylib LP 'Champion Sound'. That is an awesome track. I can't imagine the mixtape being as bad as Das made out. Not if it includes that track as well as tracks from Kweli and KRS.

Possibly on a similar tip, has anyone managed to check out Tony Touch's Piece Maker 2 yet? It just came out I think. The first one got a LOT of play on my stereo. I hear Raekwon's guest appearance on the new one is hot. I couldn't find an image of it to post.

[Fusty Gusset]

What do you make of it, apart from all the "cuffs" and "ish"? I've been toying with the idea of getting it. His stuff seems slightly overproduced and glossy, but I think I'm in need of some light hearted background stuff.

Do yourself the biggest favour in the world and download Jesus Walks before your purchase...

[kerraig UK]

The only new hip hop i've heard in the last cuppla months is 'Bazooka tooth' by aesop rock. On a par with labor days if you ask me, though it never reaches the heights of 'No regrets'.

[Calashnikov]

Do yourself the biggest favour in the world and download Jesus Walks before your purchase...

?