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single-phile: Jay-Z Runs These Charts

2009-08-26T04:36:11Z

single-phile: The latest singles, dissected and discussed

A savvy businessman, an industry player with an ear for up-and-coming talent, and, of course, one of the most quick-witted, silver-tongued emcees in the game, Jay-Z is many things -- and most of them are synonymous with hip-hop credibility (no matter how many times he "retires"). But Beyonce's (alleged) hubby is also one of the music industry's best and brightest pop stars, a label that has not so often been synonymous with hip-hop credibility. Which brings us to another of Hova's claims to fame: perhaps more than any other contemporary emcee (with the exception of Kanye, who helped orchestrate many of Jay's hits), he has managed to strike an impressive balance between chart-topping pop viability and hip-hop respectability, to prove over and over again that the twain shall meet (and that they weren't really all that disparate to begin with). This is a man who knows his way around a hook -- and isn't afraid to use it to reel you into his flow. On this week's single-phile, we take a listen to some of Jay-Z's biggest pop songs, including several high-profile guest shots and his latest, "Run This Town," off his upcoming The Blueprint 3.

]]> "Can't Knock the Hustle" (f. Mary J. Blige) from Reasonable Doubt (1996)
From the critically acclaimed debut album on which the then-young pup declared his takeover of New York's hip-hop kingdom (and really, the entire freaking hip-hop nation), "Can't Knock the Hustle" also established Jay-Z's claim to pop stardom. It didn't get far on the charts, but the easy, mid-tempo groove and poetic sass like "I got extensive hos with expensive clothes/ And I sip fine wine and spit vintage flows" draw you in even more than the Mary J. hook.

"Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)" from Vol. 2 ... Hard Knock Life (1998)
His first big hit (it peaked at No. 15 on the pop charts), "Hard Knock Life" in many ways epitomizes/anticipates Jay-Z as pop star: on one hand, it's a classic hip-hop coming-of-age story that finds Jay drawing comparisons between life on the streets (aka "the school of hard knocks") and his ability to come hard as an emcee (and doing it way more eloquently than many of his like-minded followers). On the other hand, dude, it samples Annie! Who else but Shawn Carter could pull that off?

"Heartbreaker" from Mariah Carey's Rainbow (1999)
This little nugget of candy-coated pop confection did double duty in a way that, once again, speaks to Jay-Z's double-edged super-power: it was his first guest shot on a bona fide pop star's single -- and arguably his poppiest (and let's face it, most adorable) rhyme to date. At the same time, his presence also legitimized Mariah's hip-hop diva aspirations in a way Diddy never could have.

"Izzo (H.O.V.A.)" from The Blue Print (2001)
In which we get thoroughly acquainted not only with Jay's self-appointed deified nickname, but also with one Mr. Kanye West and his penchant for deliciously theatrical beats. You can thank him for the fantastic Jackson 5 sample that is responsible for half of this track's pop-tastic infectiousness. As for the other half, you can of course thank Hova himself, whose buoyant rhymes make tough-talking braggadocio sound like, well, a Jackson 5 song.

"03 Bonnie and Clyde" (f. Beyonce) from The Blueprint 2 (2002) and "Crazy in Love" from Beyonce's Dangerously in Love (2003)
They still may not admit to their relationship, but with this one-two punch, hip-hop's super-couple introduced itself to the world. And come on, do we really need more confirmation than first Jay's and then B's rather passionate, totally aw-inducing declaration of their (non-)love?

"Dirt off Your Shoulder" from The Black Album (2003)
Compared to the rest of the selections here, this track is not particularly poppy. There's no pop diva to sing the hook, the beat is relentless and the lyrics are densely poetic, packed with references that whiz by faster than you can process them. And yet something pushed it to No. 5. We're gonna guess that "something" is equal parts Jay's attitude and, well, our by-then conditioned response to producer Timbaland's trademark trot. That, and the closest Jigga has ever come to instigating a dance craze (see: the shoulder-brush seen round the world, Obama's potential reference to the video on the 2008 campaign trail).

"Umbrella" from Rihanna's Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded (2007)
When "Umbrella" came out, it had been quite a few years since Jay-Z had lent his talents to any pop singer but Beyonce. And really, his cameo is small and (dare we say it) almost overshadowed by Rihanna's distinctive bleat (and our impending fascination with it). But Jay's appearance helped put RiRi on the path to superstardom -- and reattached him to the cutting edge of pop after his retirement and 2006's rather complacent, lackluster Kingdom Come.

"Run This Town," featuring Rihanna and Kanye West (2009)
This tune in many ways epitomizes Jay-Z as pop star: it features two of the biggest names in the game, both of which he helped introduce to the game (and boy is it nice to see Rihanna coming back in the company of these two big-brother types). It has almost cinematically dramatic beats courtesy of Kanye. And the lyrics address the undeniable influence these three artists have over the music industry. In other words, it's a song about being a pop star that also happens to be a self-fulfilling prophecy: "Run This Town" is Jay's biggest-ever hit (not including his cameo appearances), sitting pretty at #3 so far.

Honorable Mentions
"Can I Get A ..." (f. Amil and Ja Rule) from Vol. 2 ... Hard Knock Life (1998)
Jigga's biggest hit before "Hard Knock Life," this track is both a classic and a total late '90s relic (Amil anyone?).

"Big Pimpin'" (f. UGK) from Vol. 3: Life and Times of S. Carter (1999)
One of Jay's most commercial (and most memorable) songs, this Timbaland-produced track only made it to No. 18 on the pop charts.

Dancing Like It's 1999

2009-08-23T21:20:41Z

Ah, 1999, we hardly knew ye: we were so caught up in preparing for the looming millennial ball drop that we dropped the ball on savoring the waning days of a thousand-year stretch that began with the founding of Norway and ended, as usual, with Dick Clark holding court in Times Square, as I'm pretty sure he'd done every year since around the time of the Norman Conquest. (The big difference at 1999's New Year's Eve parties was that people seemed to be listening to a lot more Prince, for whatever reason.)

Blame the Y2K bug for our inattention. But at least we danced. Oh, how we danced. Basement Jaxx, Underworld, the Chemical Brothers, Moby and other relics of the rave era were enjoying proper pop credibility. Dr. Dre was "Still D.R.E.," while Britney was, well, still Britney, but without the "b*tch." Le Tigre proved that riot grrrls were down with the disco. And the underground was teeming with activity, from U.K. garage to minimal techno. Relive it all with our five-hour playlist of the best dance tracks that 1999 had to offer. Don't you deserve a break from the "oughts"? Thought so. Check a sampling below, and get the whole thing here at Playlist Central.

Q&A: 3OH!3

2009-07-31T06:33:39Z

From left: Nathaniel Motte, Sean Foreman

Colorado krunk superstars 3OH!3 have been on a collision course for success since an unforgettable performance on the Denver stop of 2007’s Vans Warped Tour inked them a spot playing every date of the tour in 2008. The same year, they signed to Photo Finish Records and released their debut album, Want. In the past two months, they’ve headlined the entire Warped Tour, and most recently, their debut single, "Don’t Trust Me," has gone platinum, becoming the No. 1 single in the U.S. Behind the aggression of heavy bass drops and Lil’ John-influenced beats, 3OH!3 bring humor to the rap game with line after line of infectious, tongue-in-cheek rhymes that have people hooked from coast to coast. The band took a break from the chaos that is Warped Tour and sat down with Rhapsody to discuss rumors about touring with Barack Obama and what it is like to have a No. 1 single. ]]> So Warped Tour has been going on for about a month. How has it been going so far?
Nathaniel Motte: It’s been great. Big crowds, main stage, fun time. The shows get bigger and bigger, and there’s so many kids. It's great. Warped Tour is a very communal, fun tour to be on.

How many times have you guys been on Warped?
Sean Foreman: This is our second full summer on it. We did one date on the 2007 one.

I feel like Warped Tour is the sort of tour that bands love to play, but at the same time hate so much because of the sweltering heat, lack of shade and no air conditioning. How do you guys feel about it?
Foreman: It is a brutal tour in the sense that the weather is so hot and you never know what time you are going to play, so you always have to leave early. And if you are a smaller band, you have to do it in a van, which I can’t even imagine how hard that is. Other than that, the perks of it are definitely unlike any other tour, too. The camaraderie you build with the other bands -- it’s such a summer vibe. It's like a summer camp for bands.
Motte: It's such a springboard for bands, too. So many bands have come up through the Warped Tour. For us it was everything. It was our first tour last year; it really helped us out and it still is obviously helping us out.

I think you are one of the first acts to bring the genre you’ve created to the punk scene. Can you comment on how you’ve sort of rebranded a niche for yourselves, where people come to Warped to see hip-hop- and pop-influenced bands like yourselves instead of punk bands like NOFX and Bad Religion?
Motte: It's crazy. I don't know how conscious it is. I think we just try to make music that sounds cool to us and definitely do what's comfortable and do what sounds good and feels good and is fun -- but seriously, it’s crazy to think that. It's very flattering.

Was it ever a thought to start a band with instruments and a drummer and stuff, or have you always been into making beats and doing hop-hop songs?
Motte: We both play instruments, and we actually just recently recorded a live session for iTunes.
Foreman: Our show here has a band, so we play with live music and stuff.
Motte: We're trying to meld the organic and the computerized.

So did you guys get started by doing remixes and mashups, or did you jump right into writing originals?
Motte: We jumped right into doing our own stuff. We didn't really start as DJs, so it was just kind of getting together and making fun music.

So the past few months have been pretty good to you. You guys exploded onto the scene and now have the No. 1 single in the country.
Motte: It's pretty crazy, especially since that song has been out for more than a year. It’s been a long, pretty cool climb.

Do you remember where you were when you heard you had the No. 1 single in the U.S.? Foreman: We were just starting this tour.
Motte: It was right at the beginning. I remember we were in L.A. doing a radio thing. It was edging up and up and up. So it was pretty amazing.

Since it happened, have you been getting a lot more publicity from people like me trying to get interviews?
Motte: Tons of chicks man. When you’re No. 2, there’s no chicks. But when you're No. 1, you're swimming in chicks.
Foreman: My parents have been calling me a lot.
Motte: I think our friends and family share very closely in what we are experiencing, so it's cool, too, but honestly, not that much changes. We keep playing shows and keep trying to slam out as much as we can and keep trying to make our shows as fun as we can.

You guys wrote an anthem for the Colorado Rockies. What is that about?
Foreman: Fox Sports Net approached us asking if we would do kind of an anthem thing. We grew up fans of Colorado sports like the Rockies, even though they sucked forever. We would go to games and it was always fun, so we just made a small little anthem for it that was kind of in the vein of what we do.
Motte: Yeah, it's like stadium techno.

Where can we hear it?
Sean: Online, maybe? I don't know if you can even find it online. We just got a copy of the video.
Motte: I know they air it on Fox Sports Net when the Rockies play, but I don’t know where else it's out. So you have to be a Rockies fan to hear it.

I heard you guys toured with Barack Obama during his campaign.
Motte: Yeah. We were his backing band.
Foreman: Haha. The only thing I can think of that would make that true is that we did this "trick or vote" thing at a show during Halloween, where anyone who went and canvassed to get people to register to vote would get into the concert for free. Oh yeah, and we played for Barack Obama. He rapped over one of our songs. He remixed it.

Does Barack bring the freshest rhymes?
Motte: He brings only the hardest raps ever. Haha. No, but seriously, I think we were both pretty vocal in trying to motivate as much as we could and support his campaign as much as we could, but we never actually toured with him. We did write some political stuff for some magazines and stuff, but that’s it. It would be sweet to do that, though.

You guys should call Kal Penn from Harold & Kumar; he works in the Obama Administration.
Motte: Really?

Yeah. Really.
Foreman: Wow.

So Want has been out for a year and recently has been really successful. Have you considered writing a new record, or are you going to put out more singles from this one?
Motte: I think the prolonged, crazy life of our first single extends our record cycle. We've been writing songs and are working on stuff, but we are honestly lining up a couple more singles off our first record. We remixed "Starstrukk" with Katy Perry recently and kind of made it a funner, better, bigger song. That will be our follow-up single as far as radio and T.V. and stuff is concerned. That should come out in a few weeks or so. I think we'll keep working on stuff, but I think it probably won't be until next year that we see anything new, though.

Have you ever considered doing remixes of your songs with artists like Lil Wayne and Kanye?
Motte: We were actually just in the studio a couple of weeks ago with Lil’ John, which was rad. We got hooked up through a producer friend of ours. It's amazing for me because he is kind of a musical idol for me and made me want to make beats in the first place. We got in the studio with him and worked on a track for his new record, and it was awesome. He was actually on the Warped Tour in New York and came out and sang "Chokechain" with us. It was awesome. Foreman: We did a remix of "Don't Trust Me" with KiD Cudi. He rapped on it.

You recently gave Ryan Seacrest a call.
Motte: I called him and left him a message.

Are you guys friends with Ryan?
Foreman: Uhhh ... yes.
Motte: Well, he was on the Barack Obama tour with us.
Foreman: Yeah. He played bass.

His birthday is coming up. You should play his birthday party.
Motte: Where is it?

Probably in New York or L.A. or something.
Motte: I’ll call up my man Barack and he’ll hook me up.

Ten Essential Warp Artists

2009-07-21T04:27:19Z

Jamie Lidell

What do hypersoul crooner Jamie Lidell, futuristic beatsmith Flying Lotus and psychedelic math-rockers Battles have in common? Aside from their shared penchant for turning traditional forms inside out, and the ability of all three artists to combine experimental-music rigor with refreshing good cheer, they all make their homes on Warp, the iconic U.K. label that turns 20 this year. Despite a roster heavy on electronic agents provocateur like Aphex Twin and Autechre, no single sound dominates Warp's catalog, which ranges from bleepy electronica to mind-bending hip-hop to smart, snappy rock 'n' roll. Here are 10 Warp artists you need to hear now.

]]> AFX
Released as a pair of vinyl-only EPs in 2005, Hangable Auto Bulb found Richard D. James shelving his Aphex Twin alias to pursue even darker, weirder material as AFX. Jungle's slice-o-matic beat science dissolves like a mercury spray of skittering beats and beatbox hiccups. Wags called it "drill 'n' bass," but that only held true if you considered tools of the Fisher-Price variety: the keening synth melodies and rubberized cadences never lost sight of Aphex Twin's most playful instincts, even on charcoal-coated, church-choir rave-ups like "Wabby Legs." This is one of experimental dance music's undisputed classics.

2. Squarepusher
Among his labelmates, Tom Jenkinson is in the running for more than a few superlatives: best beard (definitely), best name (maybe) and best slap-bass technique (infreakingdubitably). In keeping with its all-inclusive title, 2006's Hello Everything tosses together ideas with cartoonish aplomb, resulting in a cheeky and invigorating blend of jittery breakbeats, melodic synths and Weather Report-like jazz fusion. Just a Souvenir, from late 2008, generally has a slimmer, trimmer profile (with the exception of the odd noise-rock rave-up), the better to show off its nimble electric bass workouts and curious electro-acoustic sound design.

3. Jamie Lidell
What does it say about Warp that its most widely appealing artist -- he toured with Elton John, for crying out loud -- is also one of its weirdest? On stage, Lidell is a deranged entertainer who loops his own beatboxing into towering, top-heavy assemblages of postmodern soul. On record, he's a demure crooner channeling the spirit of Sam Cooke for the post-techno generation. Co-production from Feist collaborators Mocky and Gonzalez explains the sweetness of his 2008 album, Jim; the manic charm is Lidell's alone. Multiply Additions, meanwhile, collects remixes from Four Tet, Herbert and others along with two live recordings of Lidell at his unhinged best.

4. Flying Lotus
Warp has flirted with hip-hop over the years, but with Flying Lotus the label takes it to a very different place indeed. The L.A. musician (and nephew of Alice Coltrane) clearly owes a debt to Dilla in his off-kilter beats and unkempt sonics, and his zooming synths suggest affinities with dubstep's bass warriors. But the weird, wrinkled textures of Los Angeles are FlyLo's alone. A haze of static hangs over everything, with jazzy chords and Moog leads congealing in limpid pools. It's been a long time since hip-hop sounded this far out.

5. Prefuse 73
If you ask Guillermo Scott Herren what kind of music he makes, don't expect him to blink before saying "hip-hop." But his music (as Prefuse 73, Savath & Savalas and still other names) has never sat comfortably within any one corner of the genre. Flecked with filmic interludes, 2005's Security Screenings flows like a mix tape, though the only guest spot on this mostly instrumental album goes to fellow avant-beatsmith Kieran Hebden, aka Four Tet. Beats crumple like paper bags beneath zipping synthesizers and ragged samples sourced from jazz, folk and soul: it's head music for cobwebbed minds.

6. Battles
To gauge how far Warp has come from its early days pressing up acid-house white labels, look no further than Battles, a powerhouse quartet combining muscular playing and clever electronic manipulations into the 21st-century equivalent of progressive rock. Former Helmet drummer Jon Stanier provides the band's formidable backbone, while Tyondai Braxton, son of jazz legend Anthony Braxton, gives it an avant slant via slippery vocal modulations. (Post-rock veterans of Don Caballero and Lynx fill out the lineup.) Their debut album, Mirrored, is brute force meets high concept, with passages of hip-heavy boogie exploding into confetti-like clouds of tone.

7. Plaid
Greedy Baby, a 2006 collaboration between Plaid and the filmmaker Bob Jaroc, finds the ex-Black Dog duo burrowing down ambient rabbit holes reminiscent of tunnels dug by Biosphere, Sun Electric and Future Sound of London. Their shimmery touch is apparent on "The Launching of Big Face," with its Caribbean accents and bright, vigorous percussion; the web-crawling arpeggios of "Zn Zero" are typical of Plaid's balance of classic synth-pop (Kraftwerk, Yellow Magic Orchestra) with touches of modern-classical dissonance.

8. Nightmares on Wax
Maybe it's appropriate that Nightmares on Wax's music has such a vintage tint to it; the project, formerly a duo, has been working for Warp longer than any other act on the roster. (Their "Dextrous" was the label's second release, preceded only by Forgemasters' bleep classic "Track With No Name.") Originally purveyors of jacking, stripped-down acid house, Nightmares on Wax gradually slowed down and fattened up, taking on influences from Jamaican soundsystem culture and northern soul. On 2006's In a Space Outta Sound, tautly tucked guitar lines step and dusty boom-bap beats sketch the merest outlines, sopping up horns, keyboards and voices like watercolors in the empty spaces.

9. Broadcast
Inspired by a vision of unflappable retro-futurist cool, Birmingham started out on Stereolab's Duophonic label before moving to Warp. Their most recent album, The Future Crayon, brims with lucid vocals, tremolo flutter and layers of guitars as spongy and marbled as pound cake; '60s pop refracted through a tomorrowland prism, it's the perfect soundtrack for a monorail ride to the moon.

10. Maximo Park
Maximo Park suggest that beneath Warp's pulsing bleeps beats a traditionalist's heart. The Newcastle group revives jagged post-punk and power-pop jangle in short, sharp songs recalling XTC, Elvis Costello and the Jam. On 2007's Missing Songs, cuts like "A Year of Doubt" and "Trial and Error" show off songwriting far fresher than their retro sonics might suggest, while dizzying rhythmic changes give "I Want You to Leave" an unmistakably modern charge.

Bang Bang: Songs With Gunshots Shooting You Down

2009-07-15T02:51:35Z

Once upon a time, shotguns were not regularly considered a musical instrument. That's changed somewhat in the two decades, since gangsta rap took hold -- in fact, one of last year's biggest pop hits (M.I.A's "Paper Planes") used a gunshot for one of its most memorable hooks. So while there's plenty of violent hip-hop below, that's not all there is -- a few of these songs date back to the '50s and '60s, some task drummers for the gun sounds, and the playlist starts and ends in the Wild West. In all cases, standing out of the line of fire is strictly advised.

LOL @ LMFAO (NSFW)

2009-07-14T04:16:32Z

Is it just us, or is LMFAO's "I'm in Miami B*tch" a whole lot like the Lonely Island's "I'm on a Boat" -- except not as funny and not, frankly, as funky? But the QWERTY-loving gag-rap duo and their new album, Party Rock, got us thinking about other occasions where funk has been put into the service of humor, unwittingly or no. Featuring tracks from the likes of Blowfly, Too Short, Eddie Murphy, DJ Assault and, uh, Leonard Nimoy, this playlist takes in filthy banter, faux-gangsta boasting, good-natured absurdism and (just for good measure) everyone's favorite dancing-banana meme. Oh, and it's totally NSFW, as though you hadn't figured that out already. Listen to selected tracks below, and get the whole playlist here.

Concentric Pleasures: Major Lazer, Bjork, Animal Collective

2009-07-10T04:55:26Z

Irony Doesn't Kill People, Curmudgeons Do
Being allergic to most things ironic, I half-expected to get some kind of rash from rubbing up too close to Guns Don't Kill People, Lazers Do, Diplo and Switch's kinda-sorta concept album about a one-armed commando from Jamaica named Major Lazer. (It's all very Gorillaz meets, oh, I don't know, Dr. Alimantado or something, or Rex the Dog meets rockers uptown.) But the record's actually kind of awesome. The first track alone features surf guitar; horse whinneys and clip-clopping hooves; Nokia ringtones; cash-register bells; a hyperactive Santigold loop; and gruff, absurdist chat from Mr. Lex. The album's first half offers a solid stretch of dancehall bangers and earnest lovers' rock; Major Lazer achieve genius with "Baby," a 67-second sketch featuring the roly-poly-voiced Prince Zimboo waxing philosophical to a newborn. (The baby has "built-in Auto-Tune," wouldn't you know.) For all the goofiness, Diplo and Switch flex considerable muscle with tracks like the supercolliding "Anything Goes" and the martial, minimalist "Pon De Floor." To make the latter beat, one imagines the producers having rigged up a Whac-a-Mole game with those toy cans that moo when turned upside down. As The Hudsucker Proxy's Norville Barnes would say, "You know, for kids."

]]> Declare Independence
It's tempting to say that Bjork is the polar opposite of the zany Major Lazer, except for the fact that the Icelandic singer and conceptualist clearly values absurdity as much as they do -- just put toward more ambiguous and, in recent years, less populist ends. A new collection of remixed Bjork songs regards the dancefloor with equal parts desire and distrust. Tackling tracks from 2007's Volta, Voltaic: The Volta Mixes runs the gamut from Alva Noto's tilted pinball meltdown to XXXChange's no-nonsense punky electro disco. Matthew Herbert skulks past the DJ booth with a charred guitar amp tucked under his arm, while Modeselektor, Simian Mobile Disco and Sinden offer alternately sleek and bleepy variations on a techno theme.

If you prefer unadulterated Bjork, Voltaic attempts to capture the immediacy of her live show via a studio recreation. Fresh from her Volta tour, Bjork and backing musicians (including Mark Bell, Chris Corsano and a 10-piece brass section) set their stage show to tape in London's Olympic Studios. Putting a twist on live recordings -- of which she's created plenty -- the album reinterprets both classics ("Army of Me") and new material ("Declare Independence") with stripped-down urgency. Rebuilt from the ground up, many songs bear little relation to their studio versions, proving that the material has evolved on pace with the malleable singer.

Single File
Black Strobe's Arnaud Rebotini dusted off his collection of vintage analog synthesizers to make Music Components, a throbbing album of melodic techno that was banged out in five days of jamming. Tech fetishists might want to have a bib handy before they check the photos of the Parisian musician's gear on his MySpace page. Key cut: "CM."

Fans of Thomas Fehlmann are in luck. The revived R&S label has digitally reissued Good Fridge, a decade-old classic by the sometime Orb member and Kompakt signee. Recorded between 1990 and 1998, the 20-track collection spans lush ambient techno and glistening living-room rave music, and will please fans of Aphex Twin, Mu-Ziq and Sun Electric. Key cut: "Schizophrenia," featuring Basic Channel's Moritz von Oswald.

For the single-minded among you, a few new EPs worth checking: Ewan Pearson gives Junior Boys' "Hazel" not one but three remixes, spanning gooey disco, New Wave R&B and Lite-Brite house music. Animal Collective's "Summertime Clothes" gets a vigorous going-over by L.A. boogie funkster Dam Funk and dubsteppers Zomby and LD. If it's dubstep you're after, don't miss the new Planet Mu singles from Floating Points and Brackles. And new U.K. label Infrasonic makes a strong showing with their split EP from Ike Release and Hot City, two Londoners in love with the sounds of acid house and 2-step garage.

25 Great Singles At 2009's Half-Year Point

2009-07-01T22:38:08Z

Believe it or not, the year hits the six-months-gone mark this week. And while there's no point in claiming these are the absolute best singles of the first half of 2009 (left "Boom Boom Pow" and "Poker Face" off, for instance, figuring you already know what they sound like), they're still 25 really good ones. Lots of rap, lots of country, lots of soul. Not a ton of "rock", though -- maybe because most of the non-rock rocks just fine.

Get to Know the Street Sweeper Social Club

2009-06-25T21:33:18Z

As individuals, Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine, Audioslave, The Nightwatchman) and Boots Riley (The Coup) have caused quite a commotion. Together, as Street Sweeper Social Club, they're a revolution unto themselves, mixing Riley's sociopolitical jibes, sardonic quips ("poverty has just gone platinum") and fist-pumping commands with Morello's hyper-twitchy, pitch-shifting guitar rallies. We've chronicled the duo's journey from Rage and the Coup to this latest collaboration with loads of revolution-ready riffs and rhymes, exclusive video interviews and the band's debut album. Raise your fist and enjoy.

LISTEN: Play the debut album from Street Sweeper Social Club.

RADIO: Get inspired through speech and song with Rhapsody's Revolution Radio

WATCH: See Tom Morello talk about his favorite album with Rhapsody's On the Record.

LOOK: See Boots Riley talk about his favorite album with Rhapsody's On the Record.

RAGE: Rock out to Rage Against the Machine's entire catalog.

REBEL: Feel the rhythm with all of The Coup's revolutionary music.

Rhapsody Reviews: DJ Quik and Kurupt, Blaqkout

2009-06-16T05:18:54Z

It’s not entirely accurate to say that DJ Quik is underrated. Ask any hip-hop head who are the best producers off the West Coast, and Quik usually occupies the second slot (behind the good Doctor, of course). But the Compton producer had the misfortune of emerging before the era of the superstar producer, and thus he’s not exactly a household name outside hip-hop circles, though he's not without his commercial accomplishments. He produced for Pac, Snoop, Dre and Jay-Z. And his own '91 debut, Quik Is the Name, is a seminal G-funk album and went platinum. ]]> Quik’s latest collection, Blaqkout, is a collaboration with Dogg Pound's emcee Kurupt. Kurupt may have been born in Philly, but he became a West Coast staple in the early '90s when he and Daz played a major role on Death Row classics The Chronic and Doggystyle. He has a loose baritone flow that matches well with Quik’s juicy post-millennium G-funk. I’ve always thought that Kurupt needed a counterpoint, and Quik's helium vocals (he has the knack of sounding constantly astounded) help take the edge off.

There are many highlights. “Whatcha Wan Do” is an upbeat party jam with some pretty sick percussion courtesy of Quik and a great guest spot by the great West Coast femcee Yo-Yo. With its screeching harmonics and laconic funk, “Cream” is luxurious in the funkiest way possible. Kurupt and Quik generally rhyme about sex, drink, haters and weed, and, on an album like this, that’s not that big of a liability. But some of the beats do call out for a degree of lyricism that the pair can’t seem to muster. “Do You Know” is a nice and perhaps even beautiful track, but Kurupt and Quik don’t entirely do the production justice. Personally, I’d like an emcee who could match the sense of disenchantment and melancholy hiding behind those lush strings and falsetto squeals. But for the most part, these are minor quibbles, and this is a fun, summery album (check out the 808, ET bounce of “Jupiter’s Critic and the Mind of Mars”). It comes highly recommended.

Concentric Pleasures: Rye Rye, Franz Ferdinand, Mark Templeton

2009-06-06T04:38:57Z

When Baltimore's Rye Rye guested on Blaqstarr's "Shake It to the Ground," it wasn't what she sang but how she sang it that grabbed people's attention. High-pitched invocations to "Shake it to the ground/ Move it, move it, move it, move it" bobbed in the air like helium balloons weighted by lead ballast, imbued with the curious energy of the Chipmunks sucking on sizzurp. (It didn't hurt that Blaqstarr's woozy production served the weirdest aspects of the adolescent rapper's gangsta hiccup.) Rye Rye's distinctive delivery found its match on "Bang," a match-up with M.I.A. in which Blaqstarr's samba-school breaks spread like a nest around the singers' nasal birdcalls, and now Buraka Som Sistema and DJ Sega have remixed the track to sound even loonier. The "Buraka Carnival Remix" offers an explosive mix of soca-inspired drums, carnival whistles and gleefully cheesy rave stabs, while their "WTF I Asked for a Kuduro Remix" is a rave-y slab of breakbeat hardcore mayhem. Sega, meanwhile, strips back the backing track to nothing but rough-cut snares, the better to isolate Rye Rye and M.I.A.'s a cappella face-off.

Bloc Party's Intimacy Remixed shows how hard it is to give an entire album the remix treatment. For a band whose albums hew to the classic longplayer format, the piecemeal approach to different sounds — melancholy IDM, adrenaline-heavy electro, tech-y drum 'n' bass — is too disjointed. Face it: in the age of playlists, no one is going to listen to this thing all the way through.

Franz Ferdinand (pictured above) take a different approach with Blood: rather than recruiting a dozen buzz names to sex up Tonight, the band invited album producer Dan Carey to give selected tracks the dub treatment. If the resulting kaleidoscope of free-floating guitars, vocal fragments and echo-chamber drums recalls Mad Professor's elegantly convoluted rework of Massive Attack's Protection, No Protection, that's not entirely coincidence: Carey apprenticed with the respected dub figurehead. Eschewing teenage kicks, Blood invites a less frenetic engagement with the music, extending even to cryptic titles offering little hint as to the versions' respective sources. From the opening squalls to the final, fading echo, it's a surprisingly immersing listen, even (or especially?) for those who aren't necessarily fans of the Glaswegan dandies' jagged guitar sound.

Mark Templeton's Inland similarly gathers its full head of steam from the combustion of rock instrumentation meeting bewildering studio treatments. Electric and acoustic guitars and keening vocal harmonies turn to a fine mist when poured through the Canadian producer's software sieve; it's easy to hear references to Fennesz and Grizzly Bear in the songs' psychedelic high-tide lines, marked by a foamy trail of droning harmonies and glitched artifacts. It's just the latest in a line of excellent releases from New York's Anticipate label, which is responsible for albums from Nicola Ratti, Morgan Packard, Klimek and Ezekiel Honig. From this kind of digitally degraded freak folk to explorations of the Rhodes keyboard at its most liquid, all those releases are well worth your time.

Give In To "Boom Boom Pow" Before It's Too (Thousand And) Late!

2009-06-05T22:01:07Z

"Boom Boom Pow" by the Black Eyed Peas has now been the most popular song in the country for nine weeks and counting with no end in sight, making it the weirdest and most outlandish song to work up that kind of batting streak since ... what? "Hey Ya!" (nine weeks, 2003-2004)? "Macarena" (14 weeks, 1996)?? "Bette Davis Eyes" (nine weeks, 1981)??? Mighty impressive, either way, and what cannot be denied is that it is also the most shamelessly ridiculous and unabashedly catchy confection to hit the radio this year (only competition: "Poker Face"), and it's inescapable for primarily that reason.

So you know what? If you're not among the millions (if not billions) of human beings who've already surrendered to the song, you might as well. Otherwise, you'll certainly regret it 99 years from now (2108!), when you hear it on the intergalactic oldies station wired into the computer chip in your brain and it reminds you how life felt in the summer of 2009 the way no other song possibly could. And if that's not enough of a reason to embrace "Boom Boom Pow," here are 10 more.

]]> 1) People who think B.E.P. are "just trying to do what's popular" these days (as opposed to when they were, er, serious political artists or whatever) are nuts. If the group was merely trying to be popular, why would they come up with a song so over-the-top it's incomparable to anything else on the air? Doesn't make sense!

2) R&B and hip-hop artists are somehow under the insane delusion now that Auto-Tune is appropriate only for dreary "emotional" songs. Okay, maybe T-Pain's an exception when he rides on boats with the Lonely Island, but have you heard that Kanye album? Jeez. At least B.E.P. know how goofy funky robots are.

3) Speaking of robot funk, it's somewhat clear from the sound of "Boom Boom Pow" that B.E.P.'s "future" isn't so much 2108 as the freak-a-zoid early '80s glory days of "Planet Rock" and "Jam On It" and Zapp. Whose own electro-polyrhythmic future was, in turn, '70s Kraftwerk. Who just wanted to be the 1960s' Beach Boys but didn't know how, since they were German. Neat, huh? (Also worth a mention, since Will.i.am does: early '80s Detroit techno pioneers Cybotron.)

4) Chickens are jacking Fergie's style. Chickens! Real ones!! With beaks and feathers and everything! (Also, she used to be in Wild Orchid -- how cool is that?)

5) Nobody ever rhymed "8-bit" with "apes***" before, I don't think. Which pretty much cancels out the part where they quote Kanye quoting Daft Punk, right?

6) My wife opines that the Black Eyed Peas are now the B-52s of hip-hop, which is probably true when you think about it. She also says the beat of "Boom Boom Pow" reminds her of "Can't Do Nuttin For Ya Man" by Public Enemy.

7) Other people have compared the rhythm to the subcultural genres "hyphy" and "funky house." How about we just take their word on that one.

8) It was very courageous, I believe, to risk the shamrocks and shenanigans and drunken Irish-American hip-hop wrath of House of Pain by stepping on all those pesky leprechauns. Boom shalock lock boom indeed.

9) The phrase "boom boom pow" appropriately suggests something from a comic book. And honestly, has there ever been a bad "boom boom" song? Pat Travers' "Boom Boom (Out Go the Lights)"? Paul Lekakis' "Boom Boom (Let's Go Back to My Room)"? John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom"? Trio's "Boom Boom"? Outhere Brothers' "Boom Boom Boom"? Vengaboys' "Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!!"? The Jimmy Castor Bunch's "Bom Bom"? Living Things' "Bom Bom Bom"? Nope, those were all great, too!

10) This kid, who analyzed the song in even more detail than I have, is clearly wrong!

Concentric Pleasures: Playtime Playlists

2009-05-22T19:43:55Z

The official start of BBQ season cries out for just the right soundtrack, and Concentric Pleasures abides. From the hits of '89 to hipster-friendly disco, let these playlists put the fun in your social function.

Dance Hits: 1989. Properly applied, nostalgia is to social functions as lighter fluid is to a fat stack of charcoal. (Caution: in both cases, a little goes a long way.) So kick things off with a trip 20 years back in time. In 1989, disco balls spun fast and loose, beaming with positive vibes. In the U.K., rave's "Second Summer of Love" was in full swing. New York tricksters like the Jungle Brothers spoke in native tongues. Chicago's electric acid test was bubbling hot, and for a brief moment hip-house looked ready to take over the world. From Soul II Soul and Neneh Cherry to Lil Louis and Ralphi Rosario, 1989 was a shining moment for dance music at its most fun -- and most inclusive. Even the hatingest hater can't be mad at these feel-good grooves, up to and including "Batdance."

Dance Hits: 1989

Norwegian Disco Bliss. Of course, if your backyard is full of beards, you can play it cool -- or play at cool -- with a little Scandinavian oonce-oonce. For some inscrutable reason, the best disco is coming out of Norway these days. (Maybe it has something to do with dancing under the midnight sun.) Artists like Lindstrom, Prins Thomas and Todd Terje turn boompty beats otherworldly and put a curious, psychedelic twist on acts like Bebel Gilberto, Franz Ferdinand and Jose Gonzalez. If you dig the DFA, you'll flip for these starry-eyed soul providers.

Norwegian Disco Bliss

Tosca: Hassle-Free Beats. Finally, when the grill's burned down and the intimacy is heating up, cozy up with Vienna's Tosca. The duo of Rupert Huber and Richard Dorfmeister (of Kruder & Dorfmeister) don't break any sound barriers on new album No Hassle, but that's precisely the point. They've retained cruising speed for 14 years now, across the hills and dells of dubby downtempo, and No Hassle opens up an even wider vista, with live instrumentation misted with a subtle electronic haze. Along with selections from the album, our overview of the band's back catalog surveys 44 tracks from these mood-music mainstays, including remixes by Faze Action, Beanfield and Lindstrom & Prins Thomas.

Tosca: Hassle-Free Beats

Child-Rearing Tips from Marshall Mathers

2009-05-19T16:19:47Z

How appropriate is it that Eminem's new Relapse arrives midway between Mother's Day and Father's Day? Has the world of music ever seen a songwriter, in any genre, so obsessed with the day-to-day details of parenting -- both as a parent himself, and as somebody who was once parented? And Relapse -- featuring back-to-back numbers called "My Mom," about Marshall Mathers' mom, and "Insane," about Marshall Mathers' dad -- demonstrates that he's not yet ready to bury the theme in the back of his already-cluttered closet. In recognition of his preoccupation, then, here is a rundown of Eminem's more memorable koans on the topic -- many of which can serve as helpful advice for moms and dads everywhere!

]]> "99 percent of my life I was lied to/ I just found out my mom does more dope than I do." -- "My Name Is," The Slim Shady LP, 1999

"When I was just a little baby boy/ My mama used to tell me these crazy things/ She used to tell me my daddy was an evil man/ She used to tell me he hated me/ But then I got a little bit older/ And I realized she was the crazy one." -- "Kill You," The Marshall Mathers LP, 2000

"Don't blame me when little Eric jumps off of the terrace/ You should've been watching him/ Apparently you ain't parents." -- "Who Knew," The Marshall Mathers LP, 2000

"Yesterday I changed your diaper/ Wiped you and powdered you/ How did you get so big? Can't believe it, now you're two/ Hailie you're so precious, Daddy's so proud of you." -- "Kim," The Marshall Mathers LP, 2000

"When it's all said and done I'll be 40/ Before I know it with a 40 on the porch telling stories/ With a bottle of Jack, two grandkids on my lap/ Babysitting for Hailie while Hailie's out getting smashed." -- "Drug Ballad," The Marshall Mathers LP, 2000

"My baby girl keeps gettin' older/ I watch her grow up with pride/ People make jokes, 'cause they don't understand me/ They just don't see my real side." -- "Hailie's Song," The Eminem Show, 2002

"I'm a responsible father/ So not a lot of good I'd be to my daughter/ Layin' in the bottom of the mud/ Must be in my blood 'cause I don't know how I do it/ All I know is I don't want to follow in the footsteps of my dad/ 'Cause I hate him so bad." -- "Say Goodbye Hollywood," The Eminem Show, 2002

"I don't blame you, I wouldn't let Hailie listen to me neither." -- "My Dad's Gone Crazy," The Eminem Show, 2002

"These ideas are nightmares to white parents/ Whose worse fear is a child with dyed hair and who likes earrings/ Like whatever they say has no bearing/ It's so scary in a house that allows no swearing." -- "Sing for the Moment," The Eminem Show, 2002

"Put yourself in my position/ Just try to envision witnessin' your mama poppin' prescription pills in the kitchen." -- "Cleanin' Out My Closet," The Eminem Show, 2002

"When she colors her big brother and mother and dad/ Ain't no tellin' what really goes on in her little head/ Wish I could be the daddy that neither one of us had." -- "8 Mile," 8 Mile, 2002

"He's grown farther from home, he's no father/ He goes home and barely knows his daughter." -- "Lose Yourself," 8 Mile, 2002

"Father please forgive me for I know not what I do/ I just never had the chance to ever meet you/ Therefore I did not know that I would grow to be/ My mother's evil seed doing these evil deeds." -- "Evil Deeds," Encore, 2004

"Papa was a rollin' stone, mama developed a habit/ And it all happened too fast for either one of us to grab it." -- "Mockingbird," Encore, 2004

"If you don't understand, don't even bother to ask/ A father who has grown up with a fatherless past." -- "Mosh," Encore, 2004

"I was never the type of kid to wait by the door/ And pack his bags and stand on the porch/ And hope and pray for a dad to show who never did." -- "Beautiful," Relapse, 2009

"I want you to feel me like my stepfather felt me." -- "Insane," Relapse, 2009

"Cuticles get residue just from touching the bottle/ Never knew I could remind me so much of my mama." -- "Bagpipes from Baghdad," Relapse, 2009

"My mom my mom/ I know you're probably tired of hearing about my mom." -- "My Mom," Relapse, 2009

Pal Joey Loops D' Loop

2009-05-12T03:24:45Z

May is early -- pace Janet Maslin -- but never too early to be looking for the year's summer anthem. Jamie Jones' "Summertime" (Crosstown Rebels) seems to be the growing consensus pick on deep-house dancefloors, but allow me to offer a suggestion from two decades ago.

A few days back, I stumbled across a YouTube clip of Pal Joey's "Party Time." I'd never heard it before -- had never, in fact, heard much of anything by the legendary New York house producer, despite my best intentions -- but I found myself instantly transported to a rooftop party in midsummer, where colored lights and paper lanterns dapple an elegantly wasted crowd that bounces in slo-mo to a viscous, underwater groove. If that sounds suspiciously like a beer commercial, blame my own imagination's failure in the face of a song this perfect. You want a summer anthem so radiant it makes you a little woozy? This is it.

Joey's music of the late '80s and early '90s reflects a moment in the city when genres were particularly fluid, and "Party Time," released around 1990, is no exception. The eponymous vocal sample comes from the disco cut "Sixty Nine," by Began Cekic's Brooklyn Express; the swirling chords and brittle drum programming root a style that has since been adopted in turn by everyone from Mood II Swing to Lawrence, Pepe Bradock to DJ Koze. And Joey's hip-hop roots, making pause tapes before graduating to razor and reel-to-reel, are evident in the track's rough-hewn feel; the voice leaps out of the mix like a spark jumping off a power-pole that's got a street-corner sound system jacked into it.

"Party Time" comes off the second EP in Joey's Loop D' Loop series, and we've got the whole lot for your listening pleasure. Launched somewhere around 1990 -- Discogs doesn't say, and neither does the artist's own discography -- the label ranges from minimalist drum-machine workouts and disco edits to deep-hued garage, flush with organs and saxophone. Reflecting Joey's professional work in hip-hop and soul, producing and remixing artists like Boogie Down Productions and Sade, midperiod releases veer in a similar direction, with the occasional spoken phrase punctuating slowed-down boom-bap breaks and looped soul samples that recall DJ Premier or old Mo' Wax. For the final half-dozen releases, Joey returns to a kind of tribally deep house that will sound familiar to fans of contemporary house music: "Santeria Samba Groove," from #17, sounds not unlike recent Ricardo Villalobos slowed to -8, while the dreamy, uptempo skip of "Computer Love" sounds a whole lot like what labels like Buzzin' Fly are going after these days.

House is big on "DJ tools" these days, and in many ways, that's just what these laid-back, pared-back constructions are. But there's a wealth of ideas jumping out of these loops. If the voice of KRS-One takes you back, the immediacy of the whole thing zaps you forward; it's precisely the tracks' off-kilter futurism that makes them so classic. Check a selection of tracks below, and listen to the whole series in this massive playlist.