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Negroclash!, New Music, R&B, Rock/Alternative

Album Preview: Janelle Monae Just Dosen’t Give a F#%k

www.myspace.com/janellemonae

[mp3]http://www.thecouchsessions.com/media/Violet-Stars-Happy-Hunting-.mp3[/mp3]
Janelle Monae - Violet Stars Happy Hunting!

(fyi…I’m experimenting with MP3 players so if this song doesn’t play bear with me)

Remember Janelle Monae?

Most people will remember her as the girl from the Idlewild track “Morris Brown” as well as from Big Boi’s Got Purp Vol 2 (”Time Will Reveal”, “Lettin’ Go”). At the time, she got some mixed reactions. Most people I talked to thought she was okay, but as one person put it, she was “tryin’ to out-Kelis Kelis.” Word?

At first, Monae’s fate was uncertain, and personally I thought she was left for dead like most Dungeon Family (esque) projects, like Sleepy Brown, Joi, and Cool Breeze. However, I’m glad that ol’ girl got her business together and is releasing an “suite” next week entitled Metropolis under the alter-ego Cindi Mayweather who according to her is “the biggest star in cybersoul, is on the run from the Metropolis Execution Force” (yes, I do understand that you might have to be under the influence of drugs to understand this, but bear with me.) Instead of a full album, there will be a new suite released every 3 months or so with a new account of Cindy’s struggle.

Having that said, the first single is pretty cool, nothing overly special, but it manages to be outside the box without trying too hard. I’ve listened to some other cuts and they’re pretty dope too, but I could do without the whole cyberstory thing though. Although it won’t win her many fans, I gotta respect a Black artist who’s willing to think outside the box. She doesn’t seem like an artist that’s begging for your approval. What do y’all think?

Preorder Metropolis at the Janelle Monae store. (props: Concrete Loop)

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Hip-Hop, Negroclash!, Rock/Alternative

Blipster of the Week: A Race of Angels

myspace.com/araceofangels

A Race of Angels - Last Days On Earth
A Race of Angels - The Main Attraction

If you haven’t heard about A Race of Angels, check out my review of his EP that I did back in 2005. My recommendation to buy this bands EP still stands.

Not much is known about A Race of Angels. What is known is that the band is comprised of UK expatriate Yeofi and a mixture of Black musicians from L.A.’s alternative urban scene. But other than that, information about the group is few and far between.

AROA is a little bit of everything, drawing influences from R&B all the way to the likes of Portishead and Tricky. But the key to Yeofi’s soulful yet understated voice that penetrates throughout all of the songs. AROA has been making waves in the Southern California hip-hop community, getting praise from such Couch Sessions’ friends as J*Davey and Sy Smith. (Couch Sessions alum Autumn Caviness interviewed Yeofi back in ‘05 on her radio show).

AROA is starting off 2007 on a good foot with a new EP, entitled Sunship Eusebea. The newest singles “The Main Attraction” has already started floating around the Internet, most recently on The Fader’s February podcast. It’s definitely different from his other work, but I’m slowly getting into it. As for his other songs, check them out on the AROA MySpace page and let me know what you think.

Buy Broadcast No 1 from iTunes

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Couch Sessions Appoved Artist, Hip-Hop, Negroclash!, Rock/Alternative

Videos: The Carps - Compton to Scarboro

Of course I had to post this video to support my homies from up North. “Compton To Scarboro” is the title track off of The Young & Passionate Days Of Carpedia that I blogged about last week. I’m gonna be a little bit biased, but the video is off the chain for me. What do y’all think?

And if you live in Canada do these dudes a favor and call/email Much Music to get this video into heavy rotation.

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Hip-Hop, Negroclash!, Rock/Alternative

Approved Artist: The Carps

myspace.com/thecarps

The Carps - All The Damn Kids
from The Young & Passionate Days Of Carpedia (Buy from Couch Sessions Store)

I gotta apologize to The Carps. I’ve been diggin’ this duo since I saw them at the Afropunk New Years almost 2 years ago and I haven’t posted about them since. We were supposed to hook up when they were in Philly to record a Podcast at the Roots’ studio, but again, no dice. So my bad on that.

The Carps are a Toronto based band consisting of only a bass guitar and drums. At first you might be scratching your head, but the combination proves to be some of the most powerful rock music that you’ll hear today. That’s if you can call it rock. It’s more like rock flipped with some hip-hop swagger. Lead singer Jamal Tonge ’s voice reminds me of straight up 90’s era R&B and their music has more of a hip-hop edge than most “rap” being produced today. Check “All The Thugs I Know” and “Compton to Scarboro” as references.

Their first EP, The Young & Passionate Days Of Carpedia was released this year after what seems like a myriad of struggles with their label. I have been bumpin’ these songs for what seems like ages now and they never get old.

The Carps recently played New York last weekend and will be hitting up venues in Toronto and NY this summer and fall. These guys are a must see if they come through your neighborhood.

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Hip-Hop, New Music, Remix, Rock/Alternative, UK Sounds

For the Hipsters

http://www.myspace.com/specboogie

Peter Bjorn and John - “Amsterdam” (Loosie remix)
LCD SoundSystem - “New York I Love You” (Loosie remix)
Mark Ronson - “Oh My God” w/ Lily Allen (Loosie remix)

Spec Boogie is back on the grind with remixes of hipster LCD Soundsystem, Peter Bjorn and John, and your girl Lily Allen. Enjoy.

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Hip-Hop, House/Electronic, New Music, Nightlife, Rock/Alternative

Party People: Just Another Night In DC

So if y’all didn’t realize, I don’t get out that much lately. Blame it on work as always. I’m slowly starting to get out to people’s gigs, and since Miss Lady Glock is in town from London, this weekend seemed better than ever to reintroduce myself to the DC nightlife scene.

Only problem is…I was working all day. So if you saw me Saturday night, I was probably sleeping standing up.

Anyway, first stop was DC9 to see our homies in Lucky Bastards and Indigo Son perform. Earl and Indigo Son killed it as always and although we had to cut our stay there short, The new songs from Lucky Bastards were . I can never get a good picture at DC9, so this was the only one I was able to salvage.

Next stop was Wonderland for Bang Bang featuring Dave Nada, FreshDipt and Rome. Every DJ that night killed it. Seriously, DC has a good thing goin’ with the DJ talent we have. The set went from old skool to new skool, to B-More Club, to Dancehall and everything in between. The 80s babies were definitely represented. Every time I roll into Wonderland I run into someone I know and Saturday night was no exception. I even ran into yet another fan of the Podcast. People, I gotta say, I get a little flattered when I meet my “fans”. If you meet me in person I might get rendered speechless for a few seconds, but that’s just me getting used to this whole new found popularity thang. (More pics from Bang Bang @ Better Than Yours)

And I will leave this post on this note: Some people in this world were not meant to dance. Actually, what surprises me are the people who are proud of the fact that they cannot dance. I know it’s a DC hipster thing, but still…..it’s not a good look.

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Album Preview, Hip-Hop, New Music, Rock/Alternative

Late Pass: Gym Class Heroes

Gym Class Heroes - Its Okay, But Just This Once

I’m really not a big fan of nerd rap. You would think that being a nerd (computer programmer) that I would be all over that ish, but for the most part, I find most of that stuff trite and boring. Okay, I find most music these days trite and boring, but there is just something about listening to most nerd rap (sans Lupe Fiasco, of course) that almost puts me to sleep.

However, having that said I finally got a chance to listen to Gym Class Heroes’ As Cruel as School Children after seeing their badass performance on the MTV U Woodie Awards. The album is one of those genre mashups of pop, hip-hop, and indie rock but manages not to f*ck it up in the process. Credit this to lead MC Travis McCoy, who is a battle tested MC and is a more prolific that most MC’s in this subgenre.

All I gotta say is: cop this! Who cares if its suburban whiteboy Nerd rap. I mean, if you’re looking for gangsta, this definately ain’t it. But still, this is probably one of the more refreshing albums that I’ve heard all year. It’s probably not the best album I’ve heard in 2006, but it’s getting more and more spins on my Ipod every day so who knows.

More Info
Gym Class Heroes @ MySpace
Official Site

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Crunk/Hyphy, Hip-Hop, House/Electronic, Negroclash!, New Music, Rock/Alternative

Hollywood Holt: Is Chicago on this Next Ish?

Hollywood Holt - Bang That
Hollywood Holt - Freshman

So there was a slight possibility that I would be writing this post from Chicago right now. Back in the day, (like 3 months ago), I was dating this girl and she mentioned that we should move to Chicago together. At first, I was hesitant, but the next day I was bout it. Of course, that would’ve been the worst decision of my life, but hey, what can I say…..Chicago is on fire right now.

Rome called it. Chicago is on some next level ish right now. First Kid Sister, now I’m stumblin’ over Hollywood Holt from a profile that I read at Scattermish (which has easily become one of my favorite blogs right now). Anyway, is this a new Chicago sound? I would try to compare it to Baltimore Club, but it doesnt focus on breakbeats at all. It sounds more like Detroit electoclash mixed with ATL crunk and Miami Bass.

This is quality right here. The same people behind Hollywood Holt produced some tracks for Lupe Fiasco, but they don’t say what tracks they produced or even if they made the final cut, so I’m skeptical about that claim. Also, the dude was on So You Think You Can Dance, which may lessen his street cred, but that never stopped Tupcac. The beats are tight though, and I’m going to slip these tracks in at my next party to get some reactions.

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Album Preview, Hip-Hop, Negroclash!, New Music, Rock/Alternative

Quick Takes: J Dilla, The Roots, El Nino, Kings of Diggin’

J Dilla - The Shining (preorder at Amazon)

With two posthumous releases already in 2006, and two more coming down the pike, you are already seeing the evolution of hip-hop greatness at a level we didn’t see when he was alive. You know where I’m going with this. If Tupac is the new Elvis, then J Dilla is the new Tupac.

But with Dilla, that’s a good thing. Although the man had a production catalog that would rival the elite in the game, the dude pretty much went unnoticed for most hip-hop heads throughout a majority of his career. His death, however, has brought us a new revelation of a master producer who deserved more respect when he was alive.

The Shining, which Dilla never completed, is a testimony to the dude’s greatness. Unlike the beats that drove the instrumental album Donuts that was released earlier this year, the instrumentals on the Shining seem warmer, and more inviting, and remind me of his production on Champion sound. Busta, Common, MED , J Rocc, and Dwele provide their vocals to the project to varying degrees, however, the Common rap on “So Far, So Good,” probably stands out as the dude’s best rap of the past 5 years.

The Roots - Game Theory (preorder at Amazon)

When The Roots moved to Def Jam, many fans predicted the group’s eminent demise. And honestly, when they released “Don’t Feel Right” as the first single I was singing the tune of doom and gloom myself. However, once you get past that track and dismiss it as a business move to entice the Hot 97 crowd, you get to see that the Philly based group has put together probably one of the best albums of their career. The only problem with Game Theory is that it is heavily crafted around samples. In the end makes it better, but of course it defeats the purpose of having a band, doesn’t it?

Ocote Soul Soundz & Adrian Quesada - El Nino Y El Sol (buy at Amazon)

El Nino y El Soul, the new collabo from Ocote Soul Soundd and Adrian Quesada landed in my mailbox at a time when I was getting ambushed with non-stop hip-hop and pop ish. El Nino y El Sol goes in the other direction. The disc starts off a little rough, but makes up for it towards the middle and the end and is definitely more on the afrobeat/latin jazz tip with some hip-hop elements on the side.

Funny thing is, the thing started because Martin Perna’s car broke down in the neighborhood of Adrian Quesada’s hometown of Austin during a road trip. The result was the experimental collaboration of El Nino y El Sol, which is fictitious movie about a boy trying to journey to the sun, recorded in Quesada’s home studio during those two weeks. The foundations for songs like La Lucha Sigue and Divinorum draw heavily on instrumental hip-hop, with Divinorum getting the nod from DJs such as Bobbito Garcia.

El Nino Y El Sol drops on August 8th from ESL Music.

DJ Muro/Kon and Amir - The Kings of Diggin (buy from Amazon)

Kings of Diggin is not really meant to be understood by the general public. The creators of the compillatioon know this. America just dosne’t want to listen to rare and random songs from old school artists that they’ve probably never heard of. That’s not a sexy marketing theme.

However, this compilation appeals to the crate diggers out there. The 1% of us who crawl basements, old music stores, and back alleys for an obscure drum break here or a R&B hook there. These DJ’s crawled out of the way places from all over the world to come up with the songs from this compliation, and the result is an interesting, albeit random collection of 60s and 70s soul. There’s some tunes that you’ll probably recognize, but many of these songs weren’t even popular in the decade they were produced, so your parent’s may not even know about them.
It’s a good look.

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Rock/Alternative

Negrotronix: In Search of the Black Hipster

This is what it is people…Negrotronix: In Search of the Black Hipster is a project that I’ve wanted to create for the past 8 months. This essence of the project is a musical complilation with music collected from black artist that push the boundaries of hip hop, r&b, soul, etc. Or as Jay Z would say “some other sh-t”.

People who read this site faithfully (or those who are similar to myself and have exqusite taste) I am asking for your suggestions, mp3s, vinyl recommendations, whatever it may be to put this project together. So far I have everything from Sa-Ra to Spank Rock to Aloe Blacc and tons of other artists on deck, but hey you can never have enough to pick from and other people can always put you onto something new.

Get at me people and lets make this happen!!!

Stone can I get a Couch Sessions co-sign?

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