ear candy: "little dragon"

 

 

 

sigh. i honestly dont remember how i found out about this band. but, man, i'm so glad i did. little dragon, is a quartet featuring singer yukimi nagano and her bandmates fred, erik and hagan. together the four of them create magic. a mix of hip hop, neo soul, reggae, indie pop and straight up glorified my favorite of all genres, trip hop, their debut album "little dragon" is one for the record books. definitely one of those albums you head straight to the record store to buy and play over and over again whether your drug of choice is analog or digital.

 

 

 

it's yukimi's vocals that take the cake for me. who sounds, on occassion, like a mix of missy elliot and amel larrieux (of groove theory fame). the comparisons don't even make up for what she brings to album.

 

 

 

my personal faves:

 

twice

recommendation

after the rain

wink

 

try it on for size and tell me what you think

 

jas

ear candy: oddisee's "odd seasons"

 

good rappers? so hard to find. one that produces their own beats? even harder. oddisee, DC-born rapper/producer does both. one of my favorite works by his is a project called, "odd seasons", which is a collective of his previous four mixtapes (which should also deserve a listen). a mix of classic '90s hip hop instrumentals and rhymes performed by the MC himself, "odd seasons" is 31 track conglomerate of head-bobbing, boom-bap, hip hop magic that flows effortlessly from one track to the next.

 

want just a taste?

 

check out some of my personal faves from the EP:

 

saw myself today

the blooming

the richers

in your eyes

enjoy the dude that might just bring hip hop back to its roots

 

jas

song to download: purity ring's "lofticries"

yay! so often do i find a new band to get excited about. this summer when perusing (yes. perusing) the blogosphere, i found out about the new band, purity ring. an electro-based band headed by singer megan james and producer corin roddick, purity ring is a great mix of house, dubstep, and pop and their single, "lofticries" has already been sampled by a pleathora of underground rappers. i love it and i can't wait to hear more for this duo.

enjoy

jas

listen here: Purity Ring - Lofticries

ear candy: "debut"

remember when bjork used to be good? yes, there was actually a time when bjork was sane and made good music. a time when her only claim to fame was not wearing a swan dress to the grammy's.  during my usual late night crate digging sessions on youtube, i found a video for bjork's song, "human behavior" and it was unlike anything i'd ever heard. the word, "groovy" came to mind. yes. "groovy." truthfully, the album as a whole this sensual production of electro beats and house grooves. yes. grooves. maybe, a little on the over-produced side, bjork's first album called "debut" is still a shock to my system. not because i like it. but because it's actually good.

 

for those who may not want to commit to listening to a whole album:

 

check out these songs from "debut"

 

human behavior

venus as a boy

one day

 

she may be a little eccentric. but the chick's got skills.

 

enjoy and tell me what you think.

 

jas