I wasn’t planning on writing a “Best Of” list this year, seeing as no one asked me to (What’s up with that?) Fine, I’ve never been all that interested in these things anyway. But as I’ve read list after list these past few weeks, I noticed that few of the albums that impressed me this year were being acknowledged by other folks. Since I don’t get to write about other music styles as much as I get to write about rap, I thought I’d throw together a list of my favorite albums without any rapping on them. I’m not saying these are the best records of the year, in this order: they’re just the ones I listened to and enjoyed on a regular basis. I wouldn’t want to altogether leave hip-hop out of the discussion so I’ll be back with a shorter, all-rap list shortly. (Click on album titles to stream music)

HYPNOTIC BRASS ENSEMBLE—S/T (Honest Jon’s)

Hypnotic, the world’s best post-hip-hop family brass band, has had a number of full-length, slim-case CDs for sale for years, but, until now, they’d never made a proper album. Recorded in several days for Damon Albarn’s Honest Jon’s label (Hypnotic are said to be featured musicians on Albarn’s next Gorillaz LP), this 11-song LP finally captures the majesty of their remarkable live performances on record. With the group having reportedly put their street performance career to bed, it’s a much-needed document. Read the rest of this entry »

With Beanie making questionable moves, and Young Chris probably placing too much faith in Hov, Freeway is showing that he might have the most common sense out of State Prop’s big 3. He’s playing the fence in the Beans/Jay game, and embracing reality by targeting the backpacker demographic: The Stimulus Package, an upcoming album with producer Jake One on dorky rap label Rhymesayers, was just given a February release date. Despite the dated title, it looks promising, as these two have already proven that they work well together.

Jake One also brings all the beats on The Beat Made Me Do It (Download the No DJ version here), a Don Cannon mixtape-slash-”album before the album.” Read the rest of this entry »

I spoke with Dam-Funk in January for what was supposed to be a very short piece in XLR8R but dude was such a good interview we turned it into an eight-page spread, which ran in their May issue. Since then, Dam’s Toeachizown has blown up—from a regular old debut album to a 2.5-hour, five-LP package that’s being teased via digital releases of the five volumes—and so has he. Certainly his remix of “Summertime Clothes” by my old college roommate Noah’s group, Animal something or other has raised his profile. Read the rest of this entry »

Apologies for another post drought. Here’s links to some work I’ve published recently:

Review of Bronx hip-hop pioneer Disco Wiz’s autobiography, It’s Just Begun, in this week’s Time Out

Review of Cam’s Crime Pays in last week’s Time Out

Profile on Dam-Funk in the May issue of XLR8R

Q&A with U.K. Afro-club producers Radioclit in the May issue of XLR8R

Review of Tanya Morgan’s Brooklynati from May 7 issue of Time Out

Random travel article on New Haven, CT that I wrote for Time Out Read the rest of this entry »