I wrote a review of Gil Scott-Heron’s I’m New Here for today’s Washington Post. I think it may be the best album of the young year. (I didn’t bother to listen to many January releases, so I can’t say this with certainty). After a veritable drought recently, this week’s new release schedule is full of good stuff to listen to: I recommend the new Sade and Jaheim albums, though I haven’t had the chance to spend much time with either yet. One release that I have jammed quite a bit is Galactic’s Ya-Ka-May, a great, sprawling and accessible overview of New Orleans music in all its variations, which I covered in a Post profile that ran on Saturday. Read the rest of this entry »

Only the first one gets a pic this time

DJ QUIK AND KURUPT—BlaQKout (Mad Science)
This was the year of the “temporary” rap duo, as declining record sales and other factors led everyone from EDO.G and Masta Ace to Buckshot and KRS-One to pool their resources into one-off collaborative albums. BlaQKout was easily the most revelatory of these releases, a decidedly un-gangsta, throw-everything-in-the-kitchen-sink type party album that works from start to finish. Kurupt sounded reinvigorated in his role as hype man and pinch hitter while Quik continued to quietly elevate his production and mic game, almost 20 years in. Read the rest of this entry »

R.I.P. King Floyd.

(Cam’s “Silky (No Homo)” starts 2:45 into this video, for “Cookies and Apple Juice”)

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