Who wants to see a picture of Mr. Oizo instead of Uffie? No one..
I love Uffie for her bad attitude, bad fashion sense, and the way she spits like a dude. Mr. Oizo is the man behind Uffie’s single, “Ready to Uff” from a couple years back which you may have heard if you’ve ever come by our studio. The two have collaborated again on Oizo’s new album, Lamb’s Anger. I wasn’t sure what to think the first time I heard this track, but it’s really growing on me, as do all of Uffie’s songs.
One of my high school buddies, Logan, has been living in Chicago and playing drums in a funk band called Crystal Gravy for the past few years. Recently, we got together for a beer and identified the need for his band to utilize the merch table to generate funds. I quickly explained to him the power of branding and that his band needed an identity.
We decided the band’s logo needed to be fun and it needed to have the potential to sell a helluva-lot-of tee shirts. I’ve been jamming on logos for “Chicago’s Greasiest Funk Band” during my free time, bouncing ideas off Logan, and the above image is one of our favorite iterations so far. Crystal Gravy’s fans will be able to purchase stickers, tees, and albums with a tightened-up version of this mark very soon.
As a result of our recent design conversations, Logan mentioned that track #3 on their new album is going to be called Brown Gravy, Blue Diamond. Awesome.
Mike Skinner recorded this cover of Elton John’s Your Song for BBC’s Radio 1 last year and I’ve been trying to get a recording of it for the longest time. I’ve finally scored it and I wanted to share. How often does one of your favorite artists cover another favorite artist of yours? For me, this is really special.
The Killers are back guys. I haven’t listened to any of their material since that “I GOT SOUL BUT I’M NOT A SOLDIER” song and I’m glad to hear that their new stuff isn’t lacking in musical experimentation and execution. I love the arpeggios that you hear when the track cools down. Can you believe this song is a B-side that isn’t going to be released on their upcoming album, Day and Age? I’m actually looking forward to giving it my full attention on November 25th.
Seeing as how I love to criticize music and the music business, the Standard family invited me to be a guest writer/music editor on their new music blog, Listen Up! Check the site for constant updates, leaks, and reviews. We are going to focus on bringing you stuff that we like, whether it be major or an unsigned artist. And don’t worry. We’ll still be posting music here on Epidemik Coalition just as often.
As if The Twelves remix of my favorite Black Kids song wasn’t good enough; the Kickdrums dropped Lil Wayne on the track to give it new legs. The song is basically the same as the original remix until about the 2:00 mark, but it’s awesome!
Our buddy, Yuri, introduced us to Chicago’s Kid Sister a while back when he showed us her music video for Pro Nails. I’ve listened to that song so much in the past year that I know it by heart. Her new single, produced by A-Track and XXXChange, has just as much attitude and style as her first hit.
Diva will probably be a single off Beyonce’s upcoming double album. Apparently she recently gave herself the nickname, Sasha Fierce, which is also the title of the new album. Where I’m from, you don’t get to make up your nicknames. People give them to you. I guess if your boo is Jay-Z you can do whatever you want.
Anyway, Diva was produced by Bangladesh, famously known as the creator of Lil Wayne’s A Milli. You can kind of tell the similarities between Weezy’s track and this one. Will mainstreamers and hipsters jam out to this track simultaneously and embrace it similar to A Milli? You make the call.
Check out this song by British producer/DJ/musician, Wiley, who’s sign-of-the-times song really hits home with the downturn of the global economy. Besides, who doesn’t giggle every time they hear the word, “scrilla”.
Is Vampire Weekend as obsessed with Charles & Ray Eames furniture as I am? They recorded this track for the Juno 2, I mean, Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist soundtrack. Definitely easy on the ears for the Monday grind.
Here’s a treat for all the Lily Allen fans… and don’t say you don’t listen to her, because I remember her first album was everybody’s jam for a hot minute with all the design school kids. This is the first single off of her upcoming release, It’s Not Me, It’s You which is set for February 9th, 2009.
Lily’s new attitude is about pulling back from the all-nighters and designer drugs to focus on more meaningful stuff. This time around she had a hand in writing lyrics AND music. Before she was writing lyrics to tracks that were pre-made (lame). Speaking of designer drugs, do I smell a remix?
From the producer who brought you Lil Wayne’s A Milli - Bangladesh’s new artist Muffy Mommy hits you with her new single, DopeBoy. I feel like the overall concept of this song is a similar effort to Estelle’s American Boy except it’s an ATL girl singing about how she is in love with dudes with fresh sneakers from the mall. Very deep stuff. At the very least, it’s original, local, and not another M.I.A. rip-off.
I was recently lucky enough to receive a copy of Ponderosa’s newest album to preview. All I have to say is it’s great to know that there’s a band from Atlanta that is holding down the rock and roll scene with some class and authenticity. The track I’m posting is one of their slower/softer songs, but the breakdown in the middle that slowly builds back up is really one of the best uses of musical rests that I’ve heard in ages.
I know you can pick up their EP, and possibly this new album at their next show in town at the Star Bar on Saturday, November 1st. Do yourself a favor and go see Ponderosa.
Here are two more tracks that will be on Kanye’s new album, 808’s & Heartbreak, that is strategically coming out during the week of Thanksgiving 2008. The album’s release date has been moved-up from the previously announced December 16th date. Kanye has been quoted saying, “I want y’all to hear it as soon as possible”. He’s making it sound like he’s doing us a favor by pushing the album up, but he’s clearly trying to capitalize on psychotic Black Friday shoppers to increase his first week of sales.
Gone are the days of shutter shades. As you could’ve probably guessed, Kanye is still loving the auto-tuner as he continues to sing his way into a brand new genre of music: mainstr-emo-hop. Life can be sad when you’re a camera-smashing, sneaker-hyping, scarf-obsessed, robot from the future! No one understands you. Not even your legions of groupie-bots! Watch out Kanye, if you continue to encourage your fans to do more self-reflecting, they’ll start questioning their motivations to buy everything you put out.
There’s not much known about Mayer Hawthorne, other than a recently inked deal with every hip-hopster’s favorite record label, Stones Throw, and this killer motown/doo-wop track. I’m sure more info will come to light soon and hopefully a few more tracks of this nature. I’m eager to see if this will be remixed-ala-MSTRKRFT and be the new underground club banger this winter.
Georgios and I were lucky to score some press credentials to the Rehab show at the Tabernacle this weekend. One of the opening acts was none other than hip-hop legends, 8 Ball & MJG. I was able to snap a few decent photos from the evening that I’ll post really soon. But first, here’s one of the tracks 8 Ball & MJG rocked with a live band!
Athens darlings, Of Montreal, brought their carnival show to Roseland in NYC a little more than a week ago and were joined on stage for their finale by Andrew VanWyngarden of MGMT. Their cover of the 90’s anthem, Smells Like Teen Spirit was a little rough, but if you close your eyes while you listen to it, you can pretend like you’re a pony-riding, fluorescent vampire too.
Sopo Bikes‘ have uploaded their TV show’s first episode, called This Bike Could Be Your Life. This episode features local musical act,Batata Doce jamming out in the Sopo Bike shop. Also check out the show’s opening theme song by Judi Chicago. I’ll try to post the MP3 soon!
Here’s an interesting take on NYC’s hipster-friendly band of the year. Brazillian crew, The Twelves have done several great remixes in the past few months including The Black Kids‘ I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You which is my favorite; with this one coming-in as a close second.
This one is for all you folks that love rock and roll. I’m not talking about Hoobastank and Nickelback… I’m talking about real, down-home rock that comes from the soul. I want to introduce you to your new favorite rock band, U.S. Royalty. Hailing from DC, these boys don’t have problems on stage or in front of the camera. They are constantly scouted for fashion editorials aside from their talent for writing great songs. Check out this amazing new photo of the group taken by one of NYC’s freshest and finest photographers/party-animals, Brad Walsh, and this song off of their digital EP available on iTunes. I definitely can’t wait to hear the LP.
