tFS Music Review: Sleep – Christopher
June 24th, 2009 by Russ
Sleep of Oldominion is, by reputation, a quiet, unassuming, family man by day and a hellacious lyric carpet-bomber by night. After releasing the critically acclaimed Riot by Candlelight in 2002, Sleep showcased his versatility in his eclectic autobiographical 2005 album, Christopher.
In Christopher, Sleep dials up the RPMs right out of the gate with some intense micro-machines-man-like verse loosing. What follows is a full-spectrum of sound ranging from traditional “Chicarone” style tracks, to techno-fueled raps, to more subdued instrumental ballads.
In Sleep’s own words:
There are some big differences between Riot and Christopher. Riot was an experimental project for me… Christopher is a more structured record and is mostly about the last two years of my life and also my past.
While the album’s final track, “Love it to Death” is nominally a cover of George Michael’s “Never Gonna Dance Again,” it unfolds as Sleep’s testimony to life as a hard-working, under the radar, working artist who can’t shake the bittersweet nature of his quest to be heard and appreciated. It actually seems to be more of an homage to Paul Simon’s “Have a Good Time” including a nearly identical closing saxophone solo.
One favored track is the penultimate “Dirt Interlude,” an old radio-serial style suspense bit in which some Sleep fans dupe Sleep and crew to the parking lot behind a performance to smoke some chronic. Amidst the puffing, the fans break out into an acapella cypher freestyle rap. Sleep knows he’s been duped again into listening to amateurs. That is something that listeners of Christopher should have no worries of. The old underground master has the tools and he has the talent.
Note: Sleep’s new album entitled Hesitation Wounds is scheduled to drop on June 30th under Sage Francis’ record label, Strange Famous.
After the jump, scope the official Hesitation Wounds intro trailer. It’s just enough to wet that salacious hip hop appetite of yours.
New Album from Del Drops Today and It’s Free!
April 7th, 2009 by RickThe President of Funk himself, Del the Funky Homosapien, founder of Hieroglyphics back in the 90s (for all those non-cookie cutter underground rap/hip-hop listeners) has a plan and a proposal for you!
In a time of funk stripped out of mainstream hip-hop, Del comes at us with a 13-point stimulus plan to bring back the funk! Dropping today is his FREE album, Funk Man with 13 funkadelic tracks. Those that never listened before might learn something from his sometimes crazy, sometimes profound, lyrical flow and become quick fans of the funky and sometimes jazzy beats. (See: Deltron 3030)
Getting the album is easy. When you go to download Funk Man, it will ask for your e-mail address. This does add you to Del’s mailing list but you can cancel at anytime. They also say that they do not give out third party information, which is always a good thing. After that you receive an e-mail giving you a link to download the free album. Click the link, and it will send you back to the album page and begin downloading a zip file. Unzip it, enjoy. (No, not that, the album.)
Asher Roth: The Daily Kush
November 7th, 2008 by Alex
This isn’t breaking news or anything, but ending off a week with some good beats is never a bad thing. There are a ton of rappers in the world that puff, but how many of them are white kids? And actually collaborate with Kanye, Pharrell Williams, Hi Tek and others?
Yea, that whittles down the list to one dude – Asher Roth.
He’s not everyone’s style, but we all know it’s easy to find haters on the internet… Instead, Asher put his money where it matters and dropped a sick mixtape called The Greenhouse Effect.
It’s free to download and hosted by DJ Cannon and DJ Drama – not bad company for a first drop. So, listen to something new on Friday and see if you like it. Or, get more Asher Roth news at The Daily Kush.
The Aristrocrunk Legacy … of Wackness
September 26th, 2008 by AlexI’m a fan of music. You could even say that me and music are best buds. Wherever I go, he goes with me. I’m also a fan of rap and hip hop, especially some nice West Coast talent – Blackalicious, Souls of Mischief, Visionaries, Lyrics Born, People Under The Stairs, etc… they drop ill beats with fluid rhymes. Makes my days infinitely better.
Then, there’s this shit you see above me. I don’t know what’s worse, there’s too many things to cover in a single post about how lame these guys are, but I’ll try and make a dent. Forget the fake aristocratic aspirations, forget the ridiculously wack outfits and the guy who looks like the Golden State Huffer. None of that matters because of one, indisputable truth…
Their rhymes suck.
Put them in a room with the Gift of Gab and he’ll tear them apart; lyrically abuse these weaksauce, shit-spouting posers who play dress-up to get on wax because their talent isn’t good enough to do it alone.
Instead of being laughed at and driven off the stage, they are being potentially approached to create a reality show that charts their daily lives. What the hell?
This is the life that we’re living,
life of permission,
life of decision,
it is the life that you’re missing,
taken what we’re given,
never working for a living.
Seriously? Those are lyrics?
It’s time for me to queue up some Heiro B-Sides and for these guys to put down the crack pipe.
[One more shitty video after the jump.]
The Dude is Back
September 16th, 2008 by Perry
Devin the Dude is releasing a new album called, “Landing Gear,” October 7th, 2008. You might not have heard of him and he’s probably not even in your collection of Limewire music. And that’s your bad. Devin is the man, check this song on YouTube out.
His albums never really did that well commercially but Devin is respected in the underground community and has worked with heavyweights like Snoop, Outkast and DJ Premier.
He’s not for everybody, but if you like the Outkast-type hip hop that has a slower, synthesized beat sound and enjoyed “Doobie Ashtray,” you might want to check out his MySpace page that has a lot of the songs playing from his recently released, “Greatest Hits” album.
