Artist: Eric Lau
Album: Makin’ Sound
Track: “Home Run”

I’ve been digging on Eric Lau’s work over the past few years, adding his tunes to a couple of my monthly mixes (although only the August Mix is still up). He’s a smooth hip-hop producer, very much in the P.D. style but he definitely stands on his own as a top-notch sound maker. He put out an E.P. earlier this year, Kilawatt V2 that featured Muhsinah and Oddisee, among others) and he produced of the doper odes to Detroit, featuring Guilty Simpson on the mic (a song from a favorite compilation of mine, Producer No. 1).

I think he wants to fly under the radar, even amongst the underground hip-hop crowd. Because he’s really damn good and he seems like the kind of guy who has hundreds of beats laying around that are better than 90% of even the “real” hip-hop productions we hear today but that’s probably not the point. So here’s Makin’ Sounds his latest release. 20 unreleased, soulful instrumental beats from his back catalog. They’re all good. And I’ve been listening to the album on repeat while on my school grind this weekend. Highly recommended.

*The file quality is only 128 kbps. It’s a vinyl-only release, limited to 500 copies. Check out Killawatt if you’re interested. Which you should be.

Tracklist:

01. What The World Should Be
02. Cruise Control
03. Some Time
04. What’s Going Down
05. Lil’ Chop
06. Home Run
07. PPG
08. Warp
09. Bendy
10. Dreamsville
11. Change
12. Give Light, Give Love
13. Militant
14. Minnie
15. Love, Love, Love
16. Watcha Doin
17. Noma (feat. Ben Hadwen)
18. The Bed
19. Nadir
20. Stand Bye

Artist: Delay Trees
Album: Delay Trees
Track: “Gold”

Ed: The site is back. I’ve pretty much removed all the old links, so I hope you got ‘em while they were hot! Remember, click on the album cover…

In my reality, this is what “Pop” music sounds like. This is the stuff that endless numbers of people could enjoy because it’s lush enough, catchy enough, simple enough. This album, the debut by Helsinki’s Delay Trees, isn’t mind-blowing, but it’s not supposed to be. It’s a wonderfully constructed study of real pop music, ostensibly based on rock. At it’s core, though, it just sounds really nice and light, like falling for a girl in 45-minutes on a sunny day in autumn.

Tracklist:

Artist: Indigo Pyramid
Album: Indigo Shades (2010)
Track: “and then”

Some of those “ones to watch,” a compilation of six dope producers form around the world. Gettin’ together to put out a free comp under a united front, Indigo Pyramids.

Tracklist:

1. Indigo In
2. sefffy numix
3. untitled ish
4. 2in5four
5. funk junk
6. still
7. when i think about you
8. $130,000 Quartet
9. trying to remember
10. Lover’s Defect
11. ish
12. olulu
13. and then
14. Broken Wing
15. shoot the beam
16. Pit Stop (part.1)
17. remember 2 bounce
18. Better than Stonehenge!
19. Healiaum
20. Pyramid Out

Track Credits:
Nigel One: 2, 3, 11,
Infinite Potentials: 2, 8, 16, 18
B$Q: 7, 8, 17
0: (zeroh) 5, 10, 12, 19
eLan: 4, 13, 15, 18
10th Letter: 6, 9, 14,

Artist: The Besnard Lakes
Album: The Besnard Lakes Are The Roaring Night (2010)
Track: “Chicago Train”

Realized that in my sporadic posting I’ve neglected the “new releases” posts which I wanted to do every Monday/Tuesday when new albums drop. So…

I posted The Besnard Lakes’ debut earlier, and it’s still on rotation even after almost three years! I haven’t had enough time with this one to give it a fair shake, but so far so good. The song titles are ridiculous, the album cover is really cool, and I’m super excited to go through this one a few times.

This one drops tomorrow.

Tracklist:

01. Like The Ocean, Like The Innocent Pt. 1: The Ocean
02. Like The Ocean, Like The Innocent Pt. 2: The Innocent
03. Chicago Train
04. Albatross
05. Glass Printer
06. Land Of Living Skies Pt. 1: The Land
07. Land Of Living Skies Pt. 2: The Living Skies
08. And This Is What We Call Progress
09. Light Up The Night
10. The Lonely Man

Artist: Alice Coltrane
Album: Huntington Ashram Monastery (1969)
Track “Turiya”

I’m enjoying digging into the musical history of Alice Coltrane. Her primary instruments are the piano and harp. Her’s is the type of music that words cannot possibly do any justice to on almost any level. I’ll call this one a “jazz” album, but it’s so much more and I’ll leave it at that. If you don’t feel it right away, give it some time and a few more listens and put yourself in a mindset to let the waves flow in.

This album is a gem, but you can miraculously download it for a agreeable price with the Amazon link above. I suggest you do that right away.

Tracklist:

01. Huntington Ashram Monastery
02. Turiya
03. Paramahansa Lake
04. Via Sivanandagar
05. IHS
06. Jaya Jaya Rama

Artist: Gillian Welch
Album: Soul Journey (2003)
Track: “No One Knows My Name”

Sunday afternoons are a good time to connect with Gillian Welch’s expressive singing. Soul Journey is a rustic slice of Americana, from the fiddles and twang to her sweet voice on traditional guitar-picking. It’s her “departure” album in that it has more of a “band” feel than her previous ouput, but really it’s another outpouring of classic American music from a timeless artist.

Tracklist:

01. Look At Miss Ohio
02. Make Me A Pallet On Your Floor
03. Wayside / Back In Time
04. I Had A Real Good Mother & Father
05. One Monkey
06. No One Knows My Name
07. Lowlands
08. One Little Song
09. I Made A Lover’s Prayer
10. Wrecking Ball

Artist: Flying Lotus
Album: 1983
Track: “Orbit Brazil”

Flying Lotus. He’s emerged as one of the great sound-pushers of the last several years. Hell, we could even get all superlative-y and be like “one of the best of the decade! or century! or millenium!” It’s true. The L.A. music scene has really set the bar for production innovation - in both idea and execution form - and Flying Lotus is probably deservedly crowned as its king.

This is his first proper release, then, via the very dope label Plug Research. It stands at an understated 34-minutes. No filler. You should already know his catalog… If you’re not necessarily into this stuff yet, I’ll give you a late pass. But it expires real soon.

His third full-length Cosmogramma due to drop this spring. On 4/20. Hah.

Bonus: Download A Decade of Flying Lotus mixed by The (Mother Fucking) Gaslamp Killer.

Tracklist:

01. 1983
02. Sau Paulo
03. Bad Actors
04. Orbit Brazil
05. Shifty
06. Babble
07. Pet Monster Shotglass
08. Hello
09. Untitled #7
10. Unexpected Delight
11. 1983 (Daedelus Odd-Dance Party Remix)

Artist: J Dilla
Album: Donuts (2006)
Track: “Two Can Win”

Today is J Dilla’s birthday and all month long, musicians and fans alike have been celebrating “Dilla Month.” In reality, every month is Dilla month, but it’s nice to see all the outpouring of support and love for the man, his legacy, and his impact on music today. It’s a shame that such support wasn’t so obvious during his tragically shortened life. That’s neither here nor there, this is about celebration.

Do yourself a huge favor and click on the link above to get the album through iTunes.

Long live the G.O.A.T. and the King of Beats.

Tracklist:

01. Donuts (outro)
02. Workinonit
03. Waves
04. Light My Fire
05. The New
06. Stop
07. People
08. The Diff’rence
09. Mash
10. Time: The Donut of the Heart
11. Glazed
12. Airworks
13. Lightworks
14. Stepson of the Clapper
15. The Twister (Huh, What)
16. One Eleven
17. Two Can Win
18. Don’t Cry
19. Anti-American Graffiti
20. Geek Down
21. Thunder
22. Gobstopper
23. One for Ghost
24. Dilla Says Go
25. Walkinonit
26. The Factory
27. U-Love
28. Hi.
29. Bye.
30. Last Donut of the Night
31. Donuts (intro)

Artist: Q-Tip
Album: The Renaissance (2008)
Track: “Gettin Up”

I had a conversation on Facebook with a former English teacher and mentor of mine the other day that prompted me to want to post this album up. Basically, he was lamenting the lack of new Jamiroquai and D’Angelo music and wishing they’d each go on tour (true and true… please). That prompted me to link to a new (?) D’Angelo track that had, as a matter of fact, hit the web a couple days prior. The track is “1,000 Deaths” and it sounds pretty demo-y, maybe unmastered, but hey - any unheard D’Angelo is good by us! My teacher then asked if I had heard the joint he did on Q-Tip’s The Renaissance to which I replied, of course, “What good is a ear if a Q-Tip isn’t in it?”

This album, to me, is severely under-appreciated. It’s super consistent and properly understated in the right ways. There isn’t any filler and the guest spots are… uhh… spot on.

I jammed on this album for several months after it came out on quite the consistent basis and it still finds its way into my rotation pretty regularly.

In my opinion, an ear isn’t that good if a Q-Tip isn’t in it.

Tracklist:

01. Johnny Is Dead
02. Won’t Trade
03. Gettin’ Up
04. Official
05. You
06. We Fight, We Love ft. Raphael Saadiq
07. Manwomanboogie ft. Amanda Diva
08. Move
09. Dance On Glass
10. Life Is Better ft. Norah Jones
11. Believe ft. D’Angelo
12. Shaka

This album is really personal for me. I was in Chicago in the fall of ‘08 and really down on myself. To say I was in a funk would be an understatement. It was almost winter and the prospect of the winter cold and dark approaching while I was already really depressed made things even worse.

In addition to that, I was in a very weird transitional stage in my musical journey. On one hand, my music consumption over the prior year - especially with regards to hip-hop and associated or spin-off genres - had opened up literally a world of new sounds and artists and sounds to discover. On the other hand, I was lost as to where to go and felt myself on the cusp of immersing myself in new musical forms but in such unfamiliar territory. My day-to-day feelings and the music in my head and from my speakers was so volatile.

Normally, when I’m not in a good state over time, one or two albums become particularly important in getting through that, to the point that I almost exclusively listen to them. Example: Blood On The Tracks is almost unlistenable for me… yet it ranks as maybe my “favorite” album ever. The emotions and memories evoked that are tied to when it finally clicked during a particular period of being kicked to the curb by a loved one are almost too intense for me to open it back up.

This funk was not only deep, but the musical stability - the thing that normally accompanies and helps me through - was gone. There was nothing I could fit in to that aided my feelings yet I knew there was something new and discoverable that could help. The prospect of finding that new to help guide me was utterly overwhelming. I flew through albums, back catalogs, and discographies of artists, mostly stuff unheard by me.

I made frequent trips to Dr. Wax in Hyde Park that fall. I remember going through the same hip-hop/soul vinyl and CD sections every time I went. Sometimes I would be there for 2 hours. Sometimes I was high. On a regular basis. I was looking for something, anything, and looking to be schooled as well on forms brand new to me. I would stand by as customers went in and out, conversations from one knowledgeable patron to the next with the guys behind the counter. Taking it all in but so utterly lost in what I was doing.

I’m not sure which track it was, but one time I was in there, an album came on and it was literally like a real-time exposition on what was going on with me psychologically and emotionally. Questions I had and artists I was looking into and styles I was coming upon. And there seemed to be answers or observations or thoughts that I needed to connect coming out of the speakers as I was thinking about them. I don’t know what to call that… maybe I was in tune or on some radiant level with the store, and the people inside it… maybe it was a coincidence. Maybe it was planned.

I went to the counter and asked “what is this playing,” barely being able to get out that sentence because of how much “Little Bird” was speaking to me, right then and there. “It’s the new Jazzanova,” he said, and I requested a copy.

I played this as my only album for quite some time after. At home. In my car. On constant repeat. Jazzanova is a Berlin-based collective, but the guest spots crystalized the various sound directions my interest was heading. Phonte (of Little Brother) opens the album with his singing persona and comes back several tracks later with his classic rapping. I can’t say enough about Paul Randolph’s several contributions to the album, like he’s pushing you, the listener, past your level of interactive comfortability but somehow comforting. The legendary Leon Ware and Dwele channel Marvin Gaye on “Rockin’ You Eternally.” Taken as a whole, rarely does is an album with so many features, multi-national at that, form such a cohesive unit as this one.

It’s really hard for me to write about, with regard to the lyrics, exactly how they make sense to me. But I feel it. I did in the fall of 2008 and I do now. Somehow it’s served as a sort of guiding compass for my artistic exploration, a boundary pushing work that also serves as comfort food and an ally through ups-and-downs.

Tracklist: