Review: Chance the Rapper - Acid Rap
^^ Here’s my take on Acid Rap. Because the internet definitely needs more Chance the Rapper reviews.
Noname Gypsy - Paradise
Decent video here from Noname Gypsy, following up her standout verse on ‘Lost’ from Chance’s Acid Rap. She’s got a mixtape, ‘Telefone’, out in July, which based on this video and the few scraps of music I’ve heard I think could go either way. Still, I’m hoping it’s good - she’s really likeable.
Download: Tree - Sunday School II
This is probably the release I’ve been looking forward to most all year. I’m almost nervous to listen to it.
Deniro Farrar - Big Tookie
Deniro Farrar went and made a video for my favorite song off The Patriarch. This is the song where the conflict at the heart of his music is most stark, with Ryan Hemsworth’s wistful beat the delicate cushion to Deniro’s tough-as-hell verses and perfect, Stanley Williams-referencing hook. In somebody else’s hands this beat could have been another pleasant, but forgettable weed song (because we need more of those right?), but Farrar’s menacing take on it is enough to send shivers down my spine.
Red Bull Lecture: El-P
This is like 2 hours long, but these Red Bull Lectures are always worth watching if you’re a fan of the artist.
The recent history in the beginning feels a bit familiar, but it touches on some really interesting ideas once they start delving back.
Tree - Devotion (Get It)
New music video from Tree AKA rap game Tom Waits.
Sunday School 2 drops in a couple of weeks - lookout for my interview with Tree shortly before, or after, or sometime soon anyway.
Twista - Adrenaline Rush (1997)
In honour of his verse on the new Chance the Rapper tape. Or just because it’s a fucking jam and we should all listen to it every single day for as long as we live.
Review: Reincarnated (Snoop Lion documentary)
^^ Here’s an article I wrote about Snoop Lion. It’s mainly focussed on the Reincarnated documentary and why the whole project is a waste of time.
Jonwayne - Cool Runnings Feat. Zeroh
Knocked out a little blurb on this for Drowned in Sound’s ‘best of April’ digest. Check it here alongside picks from DiS’s other columnists.
The Uncluded - Delicate Cycle
I’ve been listening to this Uncluded record a lot over the past couple of weeks, trying to work out what I think of it. Truth is, I still don’t really know - but it’s at least starting to grow on me.
As a big Aesop Rock fan I was always likely to find something to like in this record, but Kimya Dawson’s direct style is not something I always get on with. With Aesop too, I think his music is generally better when it feels like he’s gone inside himself and pulled something out from deep within, so collaborations aren’t often his best outlet. Having said that, despite what the cynical part of my brain might recognize as flaws, there’s something about this relationship which I find heartwarming.
Not every creative idea works for me and the mix of styles isn’t always a happy fusion, but there are times when their friendship translates into this unique musical chemistry. In these sort of fleeting incidences I get the sense that they are helping each other to understand the world; Dawson with her offbeat poignancy, and Aesop with his imaginative metaphors and lyrical flights of fancy.
All in all, its not likely to be an Aesop project that I return to often in years to come, but it’s an interesting diversion after a heavy project from him last year. Having lived inside Skelethon for nearly a year now it can be quite a dark place to be even for the listener - perhaps draining for some, but probably the very reason why I love it. While he’s still free to get dark with Kimya at his side, at least there’s somebody there to help him shoulder the burden.
