DJ Shadow

The new(ish) single "Listen" from DJ Shadow's 2012 greatest hits compilation.

Obligatory Favorite Albums of 2012 Post

In no particular order, my 4 favorite albums of 2012 were:

The XX - Coexist


I can listen to this album on repeat for hours on end, the entire album is incredible. Further proof of their genius can be seen in their KEXP studio performance.

Grimes - Visions



Her KEXP performance and her show at Neumos made me appreciate her even more. After initially being drawn in by Genesis and Oblivion, my favorite became Be A Body.

Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d city



In an album full of gems, I overplayed The Art of Peer Pressure the most. When I got this cd I had to go on a road trip so I could listen to it a few times without interruption.

Kingdom Crumbs - Kingdom Crumbs  (SEATTLE)



These guys are making some of the most exciting music coming out of the city right now, they have great energy onstage and are constantly improving as artists. I enjoy Pick Both Sides Of My Brain and Red Cups the most, however, the album as a whole is worth paying full price for. You can find the album HERE. The video for Evoking Spirits is very well done and I look forward to hearing what these guys do next.

* Honorable Mention goes to Macklemore and Ryan Lewis - The Heist. Even though I don't enjoy listening to the album that much, I do appreciate what they have done for the city of Seattle and the music industry in general.

Stop Biting Beatmakers Compilation

Some of the Stop Biting djs from the Lofi's long running hip hop night have put together a beat compilation with an accompanying mini documentary about the djs themselves. The compilation is available for free download HERE.

The Documentary:

It is a pretty solid compilation but I enjoy the Arthur Russell Simmons track the most. He has another solo project available HERE titled Bitch Stingers.

If you appreciate Hip Hop in any of its forms, you should check out Stop Biting Tuesdays at Lofi.

Kashmere the Iguana Man

 

This beat is ridiculously good.

Jam Baxter

Watch "Jam Baxter - Brains (OFFICIAL VIDEO)" on YouTube

 

Jam Baxter is on High Focus Records, these dudes are killin it.

 

Jehst (UK Hip Hop)

Watch "Jehst - High Plains Anthem" on YouTube

Thanks to Pigeons and Planes I have rediscovered UK Hip Hop. The link takes you to the 20 British Rappers You Should Know About, this is one of my favorites.

The Weeknd

Watch "The Weeknd - The Zone feat. Drake (Official Video)" on YouTube
Courtesy of @DJHyphen

Mt. St. Helens Road Trip Top 5

In no particular order:
Kendrick Lamar- The Art of Peer Pressure
James Blake- Unluck
The XX- Tides
Heart- Straight On
Little Dragon- Feather

Thaddeus David

Watch "THADDEUS DAVID - BLANK CHECK (OFFICIAL VIDEO)" on YouTube

Kingdom Crumbs

The live @ KEXP videos always manage to capture how much the artists love the art they have created. These guys killed it @ Neumos on Friday. The talented Cloud Nice team is always worth watching out for.
Watch "Kingdom Crumbs - Pick Both Sides Of My Brain (Live on KEXP)" on YouTube

The XX

Watch "The xx - Chained (Official Video)" on YouTube

I am late to The XX fan club, but I'm on board now. Their new album Coexist is worth paying for and I actually did.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

These guys are blowin' up, their hard work and great attitudes are paying off. I just hope that they are able to profit from thier success.

Check out their new video for "Thrift Shop".

Grimes

This video is weird and fabulous like Grimes herself. I still prefer the version she did for Pitchfork's Yours Truly series that I posted previously but the new video is worth a watch.

Phonte

Banger

Danny Brown

Danny Brown is killin' it.

Katie Kate

Katie Kate with the Stephan Gray video! Once Stephan Gray gets involved, you know its good. Her "Constellation" video was pretty good but this new one is on point!

Drake

After careful consideration, I decided that Drake's Take Care album is pretty solid.

I love "Marvins Room", the video is aight but the song is best listened to on headphones in its full version.

I'm generally surprised when I like Young Money songs but "Take Care" is a winner too.

There are some other gems on this album but these are the two I have on repeat.

Little Dragon

A$AP Rocky

I can't help but pay attention to this dude, he first caught my attention with his "Purple Swag" song that reminded me of Mike Jones in the best way. GRILLZ!



I wasn't convinced that I liked him until I heard this new song yesterday called "Goldie," now I'm in; at least for today.



*UPDATE 12/23/12   My appreciation for A$AP Rocky was short-lived, however, I still like the Goldie track.

Thee Satisfaction

These are some high quality women who deserve all the success that has been coming their way. They were recently signed to Sub Pop Records who released their new album Awe Naturale and have been touring with Shabazz Palaces.

Lykke Li

I heard of Lykke Li awhile ago but I didn't really pay attention until I saw this video for "Sadness is a Blessing". It has a super long intro but it is worth the wait (song actually begins at 1:50).

There are other great songs on her album Wounded Rhymes, like "Get Some" and "I Follow Rivers", but "Sadness is a Blessing" is my favorite.

This is a great video of her and Bon Iver doing a live acoustic performance of the song "Dance, Dance, Dance".

Thundercat

I generally feel that there is a time and place for every song. Thundercat is for when it is time to get Back To Mine.

Champagne Champagne

Raphael Saadiq

He has been making great music for more than 20 years. We'll go backwards through time until we get to Tony! Toni! Tone! which I had on cassette when it came out.

Lootpack

Greedhead Music

Das Racist


Since I heard Das Racist for the first time, I've been wanting to hear more of what these guys have to offer. The album I first heard was Sit Down, Man, which was great because I had to listen to the whole album because I wanted to hear what they would say next. Usually, I don't pay much attention to what the rappers are saying (which is slowly fading) but they were so funny, I had to keep listening. I wish they would have made a video for "Fashion Story", it would have been hilarious.



Here is another song from this Sit Down, Man, I like this song and video because I like watching these guys. There is something very sexy about smiling rappers, just sayin'.



Then I found this "Huzzah Remix" song which is like a Greedhead posse cut, not surprisingly, I like the Das Racist part the most but the whole thing is worth watching, if only for great chair dancing.



The first single from Das Racist's newer album Relax was "Michael Jackson" which is entertaining but I can't stand actually listening to it. I do love the song and video for "Brand New Dance" because the video is more focused on them instead of being crazy theatrical like their first single.



Another great reason to love Das Racist is because they had a part in getting one of Seattle's most talented bands to their label.

Don't Talk To The Cops



Don't Talk To The Cops is DJ BlesOne AKA Bruce Illest, Emecks,and Larry Mizell Jr. I have mentioned most of these guys in this blog before so I won't gush too much about how great they are but I do think that Emecks is a great addition to the group because she is talented and cool as f*%k. These guys deserve all the success I hope is coming their way, they have been making music for awhile and are an essential part of the Seattle Music Scene. Here are a few examples of their music.

First Serve

I really wanted to like this new project by Plug 1 & Plug 2 from De La Soul. I don't really like the first video for "Must B The Music", visually it captured my attention but I find the beat and the chorus to be a little abrasive.



When I first heard about this project I was excited to hear that De La Soul feeling that I had grown accustomed to. While I appreciate artists building on their craft, sometimes it takes awhile to get used to their new sound. The track "Pushin' Aside, Pushin' Along" does manage to bring back that sound I was looking for.

SBTRKT

I only recently figured out that this artist's name is prounounced "subtract" which now seems obvious but I have been loving his music since I first heard "Wildfire" a few months back. I found it because I had been searching Little Dragon and their lead singer Yukumi Nagano does the vocals on this track. The song is incredible but the video is a little out there (which is good).



I recently heard some of the remixes of this song that feature Drake and while I sometimes appreciate Drake's talent, I think he subtracts from the overall effect of the song.

The self titled SBTRKT album contains quite a few gems including "Hold On" which features Sampha on vocals who I originally thought was an Aaron Neville/James Blake combo. The video is interesting but I prefer the song alone.



The song "Pharoahs" while not one of my favorite tracks on the album is still a solid track that actually shows some of the masks that are associated with SBTRKT. For a well-written article on this mask phenomenon, check out this article by Andrew Matson.



I also really love "Trials From the Past" featuring Sampha. SBTRKT's album can actually be listened to from beginning to end, which is quite an accomplishment these days.

Def Dee

I had already heard his work on Gravity but I recently heard his beat tape Cheap Heat for the first time. Skillz!

Thaddeus David

Thaddeus David recently put out a solo album called Maven.



He can also be found in State of the Artist, a Seattle-based hip hop group and in the collaboration with the infinitely talented Tay Sean under the name of Thadwick Tristen Trevor III & Swan Coltrane on the album called Adventures in a Helluvastate. This is one of my favorite videos from Maven. It is ripe with cameos from the Seattle hip hop scene.



Never Never is solid too.

Grimes

This girl is not for everyone, I like her because she is a one woman show and makes good music. This is the first Grimes song I heard, it was part of Pitchfork's Yours Truly series.



Then I found this next one called "Vanessa", the song is great especially at 2:26 when the beat changes up a little bit. Honestly, this video freaks me out a little bit but it is worth a listen.



Then I saw this video for "Oblivion" which adds so much to the song.



Her new cd is worth a listen, I actually bought it! Pitchfork gave it an 8.5.

Sebastian featuring Mayer Hawthorne

This video is highly disturbing but the song is incredible.

Grynch & Jake One

Solid.

Crazy Collaboration

A$AP Rocky & Lana Del Rey are doing a song together, that's whoa!

Azealia Banks

I was hoping that I would like some of her newer music, this hasn't happened yet but "212" is still great. If you are opposed to dirty words, you might not like this song.

Little Dragon

Incredible song made even better with this video from an old French movie. It is from their new album titled Ritual Union.



This is a collaboration between the singer of Little Dragon, Yukimi Nagano and SBTRKT. The video is kinda crazy but the song is solid.

Portishead

I can't believe I just saw this video today, it was made in 2009 for Amnesty International. I did see them perform this song recently when they played at the WaMu Theater.