New Music: A.Dd+ - 'Genocide'

Dallas natives A.Dd+ are back today with another 'loosie' from the recording sessions for their upcoming EP, throwing out some free crumbs to whet your appetite for the main course.

After dropping the excellent Black Milk-produced 'Insomniac Dreaming', Paris Pershun and Slim Gravy have moved in a different direction with 'Genocide'.

The press release describes it as "aggressive" and "futuristic". That works for me. But describing music is all relative innit? So why not take a listen below to what my definition of "aggressive" and "futuristic" is:

Genocide (prod by Brain Gang Blue & co-prod by Picnictyme) by A.Dd+

A.Dd+ is putting the finishing touches on their new EP, which will include production from Black Milk, S1 and Picnictyme. More on that when it comes to hand.

For now, if you missed it last time make sure to check their excellent debut, When Pigs Fly, which you can download for free here.

New Music: Tall Black Guy - 'The Return of the Here and Now'

The latest single from Tall Black Guy Productions (a.k.a. Terrel Wallace) has been on heavy rotation for the last month here in GOMWAB-ville (that sounds like a rather annoying Facebook app for people who should know better, doesn't it?).

But I can't expect you to guess what I've been listening to now, can I? So pardon me while I play catch up, putting finger to keyboard on this find weekend morning to share a little P-Funk-esque bomb - 'The Return of the Here and Now'.

TBG has been winning friends in high places for a while now, with the Detroit producer having one of his tracks, the excellent 'Water No Enemy', included on Gilles Peterson's latest Brownswood Bubblers compilation (up to volume seven already? Watch out Now That's What I Call Music).

Now, TBG has linked up with First Word Records to release a nice follow up double-sided single (available here in digital and 7" vinyl formats).

First tune 'Dance Forever' is a laid back hip hop number, but it's the dance floor-friendly 'The Return' which gets my vote. Check both tunes out here (embdedded link is playing up, ya'll), and follow the link above to pur-chase.

New Music: The Roots - 'Make My' (feat. Big K.R.I.T.)

Well, this sure makes me feel old. The Roots, the tireless road warriors of the hip hop world, are set to release their thirteenth album later this year. And I pretty much remember them all.

Thirteen albums? Seriously? Pass me my zimmer frame, sonny boy.

The pride of Philadelphia are keeping things tight for lucky (?) number thirteen, which will be known as Undun and will boast a lean, mean 10 tracks.

So, what's the word on Undun? Apparently the album focuses on the life of Redford Stevens, a man who died at the age of 25 in 1999.

Over to The Roots' main man ?uestlove: "Undun is the story of this kid who becomes criminal, but he wasn't born criminal. He's not the nouveau exotic primitive bug-eyed gunrunner like Tupac’s character Bishop in Juice...

"He's actually thoughtful and is neither victim nor hero. Just some kid who begins to order his world in a way that makes the most sense to him at a given moment... At the end of the day... isn't that what we all do?”

I can relate. I'm not a criminal, but my iTunes is immaculately ordered. I'm down for the cause.

The first track to see the light of day from Undun is 'Make My', a smooth track featuring Big K.R.I.T. This is fresh off the press, so rather than try to dissect it for you, I'm gonna let you make up your own minds:

The Roots "Make My" featuring Big K.R.I.T. by okayplayer

Undun will be released on 6 December this year.

New Music: David Dallas - 'Feel Like Oasis'

Nu Zulland rapper David Dallas' free LP The Rose Tint got some solid play over here in GOMWAB™ land.

It seems that I wasn't the only one giving it a spin or two, too, with many a fan and critic praising the Duck Down-signed MC for his work.

Now, with that praise still ringing in his ears, Dallas has decided to give The Rose Tint the deluxe re-release treatment.

What will make you spend dollars/pounds on an album that you can get for free in it's original form. A few new cuts as well as the album’s instrumentals, that's what.

To get you in the mood, DD has dropped one of the aforementioned new joints for your downloading pleasure (wait, we're giving away the new stuff for free?).

He's drawn in bright young things Tayyib Ali and The Kid Daytona to join him too, with the trio turning in a cut called 'Feel Like Oasis', a slow rolling tip of the cap to the brothers Liam and Noel and their uncanny ability to be... ummm... 'confident' in their own abilities.

You can download or stream 'Feel Like Oasis' by David Dallas featuring Tayyib Ali and The Kid Daytona below:

David Dallas - Feel Like Oasis ft. Tayyib Ali & The Kid Daytona by David Dallas

The Rose Tint [Deluxe Version] will be in stores in the US from 8 November, and in New Zealand/Australia from 14 November.

New Music: Black Milk & Danny Brown - 'Zap'

More newness from Black Milk today, who follows up last week's dope collaboration with A.Dd+ with another joint project.

This time it's fellow Detroitian (not a real word, I'm fairly sure) Danny Brown on vocal duties. The tune in question is 'Zap', one of the early offerings from a new EP from the pair which is coming on 1 November.

What's the name of the new EP? Take a guess... for those of you who came up with Black And Brown - the name of the pair's previous tune from Black's Album Of The Year LP - well, you can feel justifiably proud of yourself.

Back to 'Zap'... the beat is spacey, Danny sounds out of it... it's what you'd expect, really. Unless you haven't heard much of Brown.

If that's the case, you should get your Google on and brush up on his work. For now, you can stream or download 'Zap' below:

Black Milk and Danny Brown - Zap by BLACK MILK

Video: DJ Shadow - 'Border Crossing'

Earlier this week, DJ Shadow released a new LP, The Less You Know, The Better. I got it. I started out writing what was going to be a long review. Then I stopped.

Don't get me wrong... it's more than worth reviewing. I'm a fan. In fact, I can see myself listening to this regularly both now and in the future (which I can't say for Shads' slightly inconsistent - but nonetheless overlooked - last album, The Outsider).

But after navel gazing for 30 minutes while trying to make in depth comparisons between The Less You Know and every other album in Shadow's arsenal like every other reviewer (let it go, guys... he's not going to make a carbon copy of Endtroducing), I got bored.

So instead, I'm going to take the lazy way out and post up a new video for 'Border Crossing', a heavy rock workout that is one of The Less You Know's stronger cuts. Watch it below, then go and buy the LP. It's good. 'Review' over*.

*Okay, so I read this 'review' again, and it seems even lazier second time around. But in my defence, I have a three week old son. Priorities and all that.

New Music: Kendrick Lamar - 'Cloud 10'

Every hip hopping man and his break dancing dog has been talking up Kendrick Lamar over the last year or two, with the Compton native earning quite a reputation as one of the ones to watch out there in rap land.

It seems that even Bill Gates is high on young Kendrick, with the Microsoft man hand-picking him to appear in the 'Window Me' series.

Okay, okay... that's most probably a lie. It's more likely that someone in Bill's 'let's get down with the kids' marketing department gave Kendrick the tap on the shoulder to record a song for the series designed to heap praise on the Windows Phone.

But it's a match made in heaven, don't you know. You see, according to Microsoft, Kendrick LOVES the Windows Phone! Apparently, "Kendrick uses his Windows Phone to go onto Zune Marketplace and listen to music, including his own critically-acclaimed album Section.80.

"Always writing lyrics on tour, The Pocket Voice Recorder app on Windows Phone allows Kendrick to record rhymes and melody ideas whenever he wants." Sounds like a match made in heaven! Excuse me while I wipe the vomit off my sleeve.

But enough with my corporate cynicism, because what's most important is that the track which Lamar has recorded, 'Cloud 10', is actually quite good, with Los Angeles electronic producer Nosaj Thing turning in a nice beat to boot. Check it out below:



You can also see how the magic happened in the studio in the video below. While you do that, I'm off to buy up all the Zunes I can find before they become collectors items... or not.

New Music: Common - 'Blue Sky'

Common is a rather busy chap these days, isn't he?

Not content with hitting the New York Times best sellers list with his recently released autobiography, he's also flexing his multi-tasking skills by preparing his next album, The Dreamer, The Believer at the same time.

First single 'Ghetto Dreams' saw Com link with Nas for what is a bad (meaning good) tune, which was accompanied by an equally bad (also meaning good) video to boot.

Now, the pride of the Southside of Chicago is back with the second single for TDTB. Like 'Ghetto Dreams', 'Blue Sky' is also produced by Common's old running mate No I.D, who chops up a big slab of a ELO's 'Mr Blue Sky' on the beat front.

While the track isn't amazing, musically speaking (let the drums drop, please!), Com shows that he's on form on the lyrics front, turning in another solid performance. Granted, 'Ghetto Dreams' is a lot stronger in my humble opinion, but as a package, this ain't half bad.



Update:

The official video is now embedded above after the  bootleg version was taken down from YouTube. Also, you can get your download on over at Nah Right if 'Blue Sky' floats your boat. The Dreamer, The Believer drops November 22.

New Music: A.Dd+ - 'Insomniac Dreaming' (Prod. by Black Milk)

What happens when you combine two of the freshest M.C.s in the big, bad state of Texas (Dallas, to be precise) with one of Detroit's most respected producers? A dope hop hop song. Plain and simple.

'Insomniac Dreaming' is the sum of the afore-mentioned parts, with wordsmiths Slim Gravy and Paris Pershun - known collectively as A.Dd+ - teaming up with the mighty Black Milk to create what is a mid-tempo heater.

Over to A.Dd+ to drop some science on the track: "We went to Detroit to work with Black Milk on a few joints for our next project.

"We wound up recording four songs in less than three days; one will be the EP intro, and the rest are joints, like this one, that we'll release along the way."

"This song is us dreaming in reality," the pair continue, "the things we think but can't always express in regular conversation." Make up your own mind by streaming or downloading 'Insomniac Dreaming' by A.Dd+ below:

If you like what you hear, make sure to check out the duo's excellent debut EP, When Pigs Fly, available to download now via their Bandcamp page.

Video: The Stepkids - 'Legend In My Own Mind'

The Stepkids' self-titled debut LP dropped earlier this week, and as those of you who checked the first two singles, 'Shadows On Behalf' and 'Legend In My Own Mind' will most probably attest, it's been worth the wait.

Now, in order to help propel The 'Kids into top album lists for the big 1-1 (scary to think that we're getting to that stage of the year already, isn't it), the trio have put together a rather good video for 'Legend'.

Anyone who has had the pleasure of being accosted by artisans selling their wares outside of Fat Beats in NYC (or any other hip hop record store for that matter) will know the scenario played out in the video well.

Well, you'll relate to the first part of the video, at least. Maybe not the part about inhaling smoke and turning into a bonafide b-boy and hanging out with people with painted faces. Actually, I guess it depends on what's being peddled outside said record store - beats or buds.

But I digress...watch on below:



The Step Kids' self-titled album is out now, available from all good music stores or StonesThrow.com, where you can also download 'Legend In My Own Mind'.

Gig: Beats, Rhymes & Life documentary screening + Phife Dog live, London

Here's one for the ravenous golden age hip hoppers that line the streets of London Town.

I'm know I'm definitely not alone in wanting to check out Beats, Rhymes & Life, the much-discussed documentary on every one's favourite three-or-maybe-four-man-group.

And now, thanks to the tireless efforts of local promotion luminaries The Doctors Orders, LDN folk will be able to watch the doco in the manner director Michael Rappaport originally intended, with a special session on the big screen at Koko in Camden.

That would probably be enough for most fans... but not for the good Doctor and his merry crew.

In order to mark what will be an auspicious occasion, the one and only Phife Dawg - who may or may not be the only Tribesman who hasn't expressed some bitterness towards the warts-and-all-film - will be taking to the stage immediately after the screening to remind all in attendance why we love the Tribe.

At a measly £15.50 for the film and the live show, this will sell out quick smart. Check the details below:

Monday 21 November 2011 (not 22 like the poster says)
KOKO, 1a Camden High Street, NW1 7JE, London
7pm-11pm (Screening commences 8pm, Live show 9:30pm)
Screening + Show £15.50
Available from: www.thedoctorsorders.com

For those of you who haven't seen the Phife the five foot assassin in action, check out one of my patented shaky-hand videos from a show a year or two back.
 
The man knows how to command a stage, as he shows by ripping through a ton of Tribe hits such as 'Can I Kick It?', 'Scenario' and 'Check The Rhime'... miss this at your peril, folks: