Visual Aid | “Treat Me Like Fire” - Lion Babe
What happens when you take one dash Erykah, and one scoop Rihanna?
You get a half lioness, half funkalicious momma who just so happens to be Vanessa Williams’ daughter.
I’m sprung from the first listen, how bout you guys? Comment below.
Visual Aid | “Say That” - Toro Y Moi
Chaz Bundwick keeps on keepin on with being the absolutest coolest dude outta Carolina this side o’ James Brown. I love how dude always looks like hes about to bust out laughing when hes singing to the camera, but he also looks really sincere because of his words.
The visuals are pretty darn cool, and unique, taking you through a forest scape and other random spots in what looks like Columbia, SC (maybe i’m wrong). This was shot on Super 16mm and directed by a team I’m just learning about called the Harry’s who also were responsible for Toro Y Moi’s last clip “So Many Details” which is actually even cooler than this one.
I’ve been listening to his new album Anything in Return (due out Jan 22), non stop, which leaked a few weeks ago, but your darn well sure Im bout to buy this, maybe even on wax. I’m proud of every step this dude takes, maybe cause I have the SC connection to him, but I think more so because I feel like hes one of the most challenging and honest musicians out there, and he’s just damn dope. I fux wit it.
Visual Aid | “Get Free” - Major Lazer
How would the world end in your imagination? Would the sun crash into the earth? Would it be by man’s hand, the planet going up in one big nuclear mushroom cloud of ecstatic oblivion? Or maybe a gigantic asteroid will suddenly drift into our orbit and cut right through the to the core, flooding the oceans drowning us all…..
But since none of that shit is going to happen, enjoy the song of the year everybody.
Visual Aid | “Sail to the Sun” - Wavves
A Really fun song from the new project from these guys. Directed by Black // Doctor , shows the double life of a pastor, i fux wif it.
Visual Aid | “Chum” - Earl Sweatshirt
The best video released today was NOT that new A$AP Rocky Joint, as hard as you might be feeling it.
It’s interesting to see Earl Sweatshirt and the team stray from the chaotic yet loving aesthetic of the Odd Future brand, but I think it serves the point of what OF is, a group of individuals not followers. This is a lyrical dense piece, a minimalist beat, but there is a lot of soul, a lot of soul bearing, and a lot of fucking great cinematography going on in this colorless clip. Thebe’s new project is my next hotly anticipated LP, for whenever it drops, I can only assume to be as impressed by his effortless dexterity with words and imagery on a large scale.
VIsual Aid | “Tiny Tortures” - Flying Lotus
This dude stays throwing me off my feet. This video, starring Elijah Wood has some of the absolute sickest motion graphics I’ve ever seen in musical videographia. Truth be told I want to go to the world where the 2nd half of this video exists. Just sick, watch.
Jam of the Day | “Same Ol’ G” - Ginuwine
Getting lost in Youtube’s endless nostalgia and the channels of excellence that it provides. I wasn’t even conscious of Ginuwine, or music of this ilk, but waving through seas of hyperlinks, much in the way that one can start wikipedia-ing the Civl war and end up at Michael Jackson somehow, I have arrived at this jam. New for me, maybe old for some of yall, but I promise, cross my heart and hope to die, to always keep it as G as the shiny jump suit/wall mural in the above visions. Let’s dance.
Visual Aid | “BKNY” - Fat Tony (ft. Old Money)
With all that’s been happening in this region, it seems natural to politicize the shit out of this blog space, but my hearts just not in it. In fact I need to get back to purveying ye old funk in order to stabilitize my own mind, and certainly yours as well. Reading another awesome Vice article about a party in Brooklyn that makes me pine hard for greener pastures led me to the visions we see above. I can confirm in my short time that Brooklyn is everything that this video is cracking it to be, and probably infinitely more. Only problem is now I have another new young dope up and comerer to delve into, ain’t nobody got time for that!
Sidebar: What fruit are these dudes spiking in the picture above? Looks tantalizing
Visual Aid | “Feels Like We Only Go Backwards” - Tame Impala
I’m not the expert on what psychedelic rock has been over the past few years, I can’t even put my finger on a band right now that would place itself as such that wasn’t floating itself into other musical genres. There are many jam bands out there, there are many indie acts that experiment heavily across their albums and reach that psychedelia that Jimi, Cream, The beatles and others helped birth. And the synthesizer is the trendiest instrument going out there so its always going to be in the mix, combined with the popularity of hallucigenics thats only rising (Colorado! Washington! Massachusetts!)
But I don’t think I’ve seen it being taken back to its “roots” in such a fashion while being able to keep its foot in the door of modernity and originality until Tame Impala. They impressed the feces out of me with their debut Innerspeaker in 2010, which my inital reaction to was “Damn this is The Beatles if they had been thrown into a cryochamber and melted down for the Internet enjoyment”. The vocals will always be Lennony, and they continue to be on this album, but with their embracing of synthscapes and other new instruments on this new LP Lonerism, these Aussies have sealed the deal in my opinion as the face of all things paisley and kaleidoscopic.
And this video is fucking cool dude, really fucking cool. Checkuh-check-it out.
Visual Aid | “Heartbeat (Quadron Remix)” - MeLo-X
My melo, my melo my man, my melo my man. Man Melo always fuckin shit up, orchestal masterpieces of interfunkular design, pulling from every side of the R&B Galaxy for this one, with CoCo doing their usual thing of caressing my earlobes. Recognize this cat. *sidebar* Flat gyrating choreographed ladybellies aren’t necessary to life, but I sure do fucking appreciate what they do in this video.
Melo-X
Visual Aid | “The Baddest Man Alive” - RZA & The Black Keys
Off that new Man with the Iron Fists soundtrack, which is a star studded a fair. I love with musicians have a sense of humor in the work, this shit is fucking good, and fuckin funny (Dan Auerbach vs. a trout wielding RZA, classic).
Visual Aid | “Stay Down” - El-P
Senior Def Jux soy locos por las colores marviloso. New single off Cancer 4 Cure, a must listen to album if your into apocalyptic def slam poetic industrial wisdom over equally world ending earth shattering, bass knocking beats.
Visual Aid | “About That Life” - Diplo (ft. Jahan Lennon)
I know, I know. What’s going on over there? I was hitting a hot streak getting those mixes out updating daily, but alas, a hard drive failure, and just simply living the hell out of my remaining vacation hours has torn me a sunder. Please excuse my transgressions everyone who peruses this here blogrolly (both of you).
And yes, there’s a trend going on in my selections for these little features, namely anything and all Mad Decent related, and very often with it’s founder Diplo. But name me many other cats who are pushing the walls of genre to their outer limits, and breaking them dams down so that the rivers and juices can pour flowingly into each other like an aural primordial soup dish (I swear I’m not high, just without sleep).
So what we have here is what seems to be dude’s forray into somewhat uncharted territory. The son of a Beatle, Check. Misleading song title (given what similar titles would have you listening to) . Check. Harmonious nostalgic sounding guitars, Indian flourishes, flutes, and other such quirks, Check. I mean son really, I’ve heard of diversity, but this dude goes from making songs like this, and then weeks later the grooviness I just bestowed upon you above.
I’m bout bout it Diplo, keep it moving brotha.
Visual Aid | “Set It Off’” - Diplo (ft. Lazerdisk Party Sex)
The motherfucking king of all things hot right now just released this video a week ago. And yes, more trappy sounding things, can’t be helped. Too many great things happening in this fucking jam of a summer. 2012, the year EDM finally became not just tolerable, but great, and I love every minute of it .
Visual Aid | “Thrift Shop” - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Bout time someone made a video about this. Rap can be such a formulaic genre some times, and that’s not always a bad thing, but when a song and video is actually original, has something to say, and doesn’t take itself to seriously (all while being actually good), yeah should pay attention to this dude.
