OK, not really, but stop getting down on The Roots for doing some pop-crossover junk. They are entitled to it every once in a while. Anyway, the new album is really good. Really heavy in featured artists - WALE, Common, Talib, Malik B, Dice Raw, Saigon… And the tracks are just really solid. Just listen straight through; the whole thing works well and doesn’t fall flat anywhere. But really, I have got to sit with this thing for a few days to really get a sense of it. Take this as a preliminary review.
I don’t think the album drops until sometime next week but the thing is all over the internet. I know, I am an asshole. Honestly, to be a complete hypocrite, I can’t think of a better group to support by actually buying the album. oh, but free is just so tempting…
An indie outfit out of Glagow, their new record, The Midnight Organ Fight, came out last week and it is really decent. I was turned on to them by these weekly Gumdrop e-mails from Stereogum. The torrent is kinda’ hard to find if you aren’t on Demonoid, so good luck. This, my friends, is a summer soundtrack.
And speaking of Demonoid, the greatest torrent tracker site on the planet (or perhaps any planet), is back online after having to relocate to Sweden. It was shut-down by Canadian authorities a few months ago after threat of litigation. It’s invite-only and I don’t know how generous they are being with subscriptions these days, but get your name in line soon so come new subscriber time you are in. Just looking out.
Article HERE. I was surprised to learn that Vuitton has made HUNDREDS of MILLIONS (!) of dollars by selling Murakami’s artwork(?)/murakami-designed merchandise(?) (and isn’t that the question?) since 2003. Anyway, I think I bothered putting up yet another Murakami post because the article was a refreshing alternative to the fan-boy delight most critics have recently taken towards the artist’s shows. Its nice to hear responses that aren’t so starry-eyed. Schjeldahl is honest. He doesn’t get it and doesn’t just want to give into it. That’s respectable.
Pitchfork.tv launched yesterday. Pretty nice UI and content so far. Their first piece of production basically involves following around Man Man for the afternoon as they run errands, answer questions, make music and set off fireworks. This is actually kind of what south Philly is like on a nice day with not much to do. Anyway, its pretty funny. I love how the cops care not at all that they are setting off fireworks in the street. Honestly, they’ve got bigger things to worry about. And I think pitchfork.tv will be pretty successful. They seem to have started out in the right place.
More like song of the last few months. Remember when this was a borderline music-blog? What happened? I kinda’ fell off this Song of the Week thing… but its back! This WALE track is so good. But I can’t help thinking that if they brought those drums out a bit and turned up those trumpets that this thing would have some radio play. It has a kind of Root’s Thought @ Work feel, it just doesn’t pop nearly as much. Who does this guy have producing for him? I think that’s probably his biggest issue right now… and storyline… who is this guy? Maybe in a year I will have a “Branding of WALE” post. Ha. Anyway, its still good. Stumbled upon it at Fader. Hear it here. Download it here. I think this might be my favorite by him. Catchy.
Caught this on psfk the other day and figured I’d throw it up. Not a big reader of Inquiringmind but the A-Life interviews are pretty quality and give an interesting look into the creative going-ons of the brand.
I had mentioned a few months ago the break of Nick Paparone with Art In The Age Of… Thankfully he didn’t run off to Brooklyn and instead threw himself into Print Liberation - a kind of Philly print-house/visual agency/brand development/clothing shop/all-around creative enterprise. They just came out with a bunch of new t’s and are dropping their “Print Liberation: The Screen Printing Primer“, which Paparone authors, in a few months. The book introduces the screen printing process to novices and gives some more advanced techniques to more experienced printers who are trying to hone their skills.
Amazon Description: Print Liberation is a comprehensive DIY guide to screen printing for both novice crafters as well as experienced artists. The book begins by giving readers a brief history of screen-printing while outlining the basic principles of the process including the equipment and tools needed to get started. Step-by-step instructions accompanied by full-color photographs show readers the various methods for making great screen prints and tips on how to avoid screen-printing mistakes. Information about printing on various surfaces from wallpaper to t-shirts, cylinders and more gives readers a general understanding of the various applications for screen-printing and solid information on how to turn their screen prints into a personal art or business. Bonus sample images formatted for screen-printing are included for readers to use in their own screen prints.
As to the shirts, really nice stuff. I love this Obama shirt, so obnoxious and awesome. See below for some other samples. Buy stuff here. Cheap. Good. Philly. Enjoy.
Last week The Roots held a listening party for their upcoming album Rising Down. (As a nerdy aside, I might be one of the only people on the planet who not only caught the reference to William T. Vollman’s 7-volume Rising Up, Rising Down, I also own it… sigh…). Anyway, so they had this listening party the other night for the album and I hear it was pretty awesome. One of their released singles off the album, Rising Up, features WALE, this DC rapper who I never thought would take off, even though everyone and their mother is like, yo, this guy is about to explode… we’ll see friends… we’ll see… But seriously, this is definitely a huge boost to a guy who has only released a (n albeit well-received) mix-tape of his stuff and has done a (great) D.A.N.C.E. remix.
Also, if you are in the Philly area - hell, if you are on the east coast - The Roots Picnic is on June 7th. $50. A little steep. But if you have a look at the line-up - The Roots, Gnarls Barkley, Sharon Jones + The Dap Kings, Santogold!, Diplo, Cool Kids… y mas - you can’t go wrong. Starts at 2 and should be a lot of fun.
So, check out the video below. The album drops April 29th, so we’ve got a few weeks.
