15 posts tagged “last.fm says”

Top Artists this Week (see more)

23 Mar 2008 – 30 Mar 2008

1		Rhymefest
2		Gnarls Barkley
3		Danity Kane
4		M.I.A.
5		Madlib
5		Ghostface
7		Day26
8		Chris Joss
9		Jamie Lidell
10		MF DOOM

Last Week's Purchases/Pick-Ups: DAY26's self-titled debut and

A Little Better

Gnarls Barkley

1 comment

Since the logic of Gnarls Barkley’s lyrics is often framed in contradictory terms, why not begin discussing The Odd Couple with the last song. “What would be on your mind if you knew you was dyin’?”, Cee-Lo posits on “A Little Better”.  The listener is left to answer: Regret? Pain? Relief? Joy? Funny how by simply removing the punctuation, those words cease to be four questions but one answer.  Gnarls Barkley toils ever so soulfully in this complex confluence of emotions on The Odd Couple, their extraordinarily brazen follow up to 2006’s St. Elsewhere.

- Review by Christian John Wikane, Popmatters, 03.25.08

And, like Kyle suggested in his post today, I'm going to start spending more extended time with the music I purchase. I do this with albums that hit me immediately (most recently Burial's Untrue and Rhymefest's Man in the Mirror mixtape) but I buy an awful lot of music that doesn't get enough dedicated ear time. I go through once and rate as I'm a slave to my smart playlists but in the age of the individual song, that also means I rarely hear full albums with the songs in order as intended. So, this week, we're digging in to The Odd Couple. I'm on my second round right now.

Last.fm recommended: K.C. Accidental but I never did get a chance to listen so no last.fm randomness this week

Song of the Week:

I'm The Reason

DAY26

I was a sucker for Danity Kane before them so why would I jump off the Making the Band train now? Of the two heavily produced albums, I think DAY26 has some really appealing and more likely hits than DK. I don't think it's as cohesive as Welcome to the Dollhouse but considering how calculating the process was for developing both of these new releases (which we got to see in all it's glory on the show) that's not saying much. Neither of these groups got to inject much of their own sensibilities as artists/musicians into the records released under their name. I'm not still naive enough to believe in the myths of pop music but that doesn't mean I like knowing that it is much more about the business than it is the music. Diddy and his Bad Boy brethren brazenly brandish their business acumen like a badge of honor. I might like these kids but, come on, let's not remove all the soul. 

Top Artists this Week (see more)

16 Mar 2008 – 23 Mar 2008

1		Danity Kane
2		José González
2		Zero 7
4		Ghostface
5		Talib Kweli & Hi-Tek
6		Elisabeth Withers
7		Madvillain
7		Jamie Lidell
9		Chris Joss
10		Talib Kweli

Last week's pick-ups/purchases: Ghostface Killah's Big Doe Rehab, Elisabeth Withers's It Can Happen to Anyone, Jamie Lidell's Jim (Thanks Felicia!), Lupe Fiasco's The Cool, Super Cool: California Soul 2, Zap Mama's Supermoon, and

Is Anybody Listening

Danity Kane

Hoping to get to know each other better, the guys and girls jump in a limo for a night out at on the town. The drive is filled with awkward silence, but once at the club, everyone starts to loosen up. After a round of shots, Aubrey and Donnie start dirty dancing and Dawn and Qwanell get flirty. Stay focused, guys!

The next day brings all the Making the Band 4 participants back together for the first day of recording. The girls nail a song called "Is Anybody Listening," proving that they already have a winning formula in place.

Last.fm Recommended:

I Like Giants

Kimya Dawson

Kimya Dawson is most famous (in my mind) for being the fantastically charismatic folk singer from Olympia who once photographed her own poop and posted it on her MySpace. She's also an honest and bright songwriter who plays joyful acoustic guitar while singing optimistic and sometimes weird songs. While you drive to Kent, think of the opening lines to "I Like Giants"—"When I go for a drive/I like to pull off to the side/of the road/turn out the lights/get out and look up at the sky/And I do this to remind me that I'm really, really tiny/in the grand scheme of things/and sometimes this terrifies me."

- Road Trip by Megan Selig, The Stranger, 10.24.07

Song of the Week:

Another Day

Jamie Lidell

With all the music I bought last week in a sneeze-filled haze, the song of note comes from an impromptu video chat with Felicia and her gracious file sharing. I remember being underwhelmed with Jamie Lidell's Multiply so I was prepared to find his new album nice but forgettable. This track is far from that. A bright and shiny blast of soul, this is a song you put on first thing in the morning. I might have an inexplicable love for my Danity Kane girls but I know serious music when I hear it and this is mixtape worthy now and will likely be 5 years from now.

Wake up!

Top Artists this Week (see more)

9 Mar 2008 – 16 Mar 2008

1		MF DOOM
2		J Dilla aka jay dee
3		The Go! Team
4		Cee-Lo
4		Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins
4		wale
7		Lupe Fiasco
7		Burial
9		Jay Dee
10		Justice

Last week's purchases/pickups: ...and all the pieces matter, Five Years of Music from The Wire and

Surgelator Action

Chris Joss

Joss’s crisp and clean songs have a throwback feel and could easily be mistaken for some loungin’ oldies but goodies from the ‘60s and ‘70s, but his technical trickery keeps him firmly in the future. He seems to be inventing new hybrids by sampling different vocal textures and playing with tempos and styles that are supposed to be disparate. “Atomic Tape,” for example, melds rockabilly guitar warbles, hip-hop scratches, sitar riffs and samples of sneering young voices. And it all seems to make sense.

- Chris Joss, 'Teraphonic Overdubs', Metromix Chicago, 02.11.08

Last.fm recommended (we're going to go back a couple weeks since I missed last week): Camera Obscura, The Noisettes, Lil' Mo, Mick Boogie & Little Brother, Menomena, and

Black Mags

Cool Kids

From their forthcoming Totally Flossed Out, "Black Mags" starts with a deep, slowed-down voice like the one on another album track, "Gold and Pagers" (which itself opens like Fabolous' "Diamonds"). Here the Cool Kids rap laconically about their bicycle, managing to tie in "MacGyver" and further the Pack comparison with a shout-out to Nike. As usual, the beats are laid-back and streamlined, the bass burbling.

- Pitchfork Forkcast, Pitchfork, 05.17.07

Song of the Week:

D-D-D-Dance

Micatone

1 comment

or maybe it was:

D.A.N.C.E.

Justice

Whatever it was, we danced it out.
 

Top Artists this Week (see more)

17 Feb 2008 – 24 Feb 2008

1		Rhymefest
2		Janet Jackson
3		Michael Jackson
4		Justice
5		Common
6		M.I.A.
6		wale
8		MF DOOM
9		Jaylib
9		Maxïmo Park

Last week's purchases/pickups: slow children playing and ...

The Feeling Is Mutual

The Manhattens

The fourth volume in our Eccentric Soul series examines the oil stained underside of the Motor City sound. There are no gold records, million dollar buyouts, or quaint museums at the end of the story, just a handful of four figure 45s, a box of photographs, and a condemned building. If Detroit was once an ocean of soul, the Big Mack label was certainly an island.

- The Numero Group

Last.fm recommended: Five Deez and...

Habit Pt. 1 (feat. Kay)

Butti 49

Song of the Week that wasn't from the Rhymefest Mixtape (seriously that's all I listened to it seems but this track is still, in my opinion, one of the sexiest songs of creation. Baby making music if you will):

Any Time, Any Place

Janet Jackson

Top Artists this Week (see more)

10 Feb 2008 – 17 Feb 2008

1		Rhymefest
2		wale
3		Maxïmo Park
4		M.I.A.
5		Feist
6		Tilly and the Wall
7		Burial
8		Amerie
8		Justice
8		Iron & Wine

Last week's purchases/pick-ups: Jazzanova & Dirk Rumpff ...Broadcasting and...

Mike The Mentor (Rhymefest ft Michael Jackson)

Rhymefest

Rhymefest is able to do what major label marketing firms have failed at doing, and that's trim Jackson of the tabloid drama and bring the focus back to his music. Rhymefest sets out right away to humanize Jackson, and bring him down to earth, portraying him as a simple man from Gary, Ind., one who still has the power to unite a desperate community (see "Mike the Mentor"). He also inter-splices the album with brief, but always humorous, "conversations" with Jackson, in which Rhymefest's inserts himself into dialogue from Jackson interviews.

- Grammys Don't Need Michael Jackson by Todd Martens, Extended Play (LA Times), 01.29.08

Last.fm recommended: nobody new

Song of the week (that wasn't from the rhymefest mixtape):

Lovesong Of The Buzzard

Iron & Wine

1 comment

Top Artists this Week (see more)

3 Feb 2008 – 10 Feb 2008

1		Jay-Z
2		Little Dragon
3		Burial
4		wale
4		Waldeck
6		Björk
7		Diplo
7		M.I.A.
7		Death Cab for Cutie
10		J Dilla

Last week's purchases: Waldeck's Ballroom Stories, Cult Cargo: Belize City Boil Up, and...

Forever

Little Dragon

Straight out of Sweden come Little Dragon with their self-titled debut album. Featuring the vocal talents of Yukimi Nagano, Erik Bodin on percussion, Hakan Wirenstrand on keys and Frerick Kallgren on bass, these guys are definitely ones to keep an eye out for. Nagano has kicked around the Swedish nu-jazz scene for years, previously working with Koop and featured in the stunning Keep You Kimi from Nordic wunderkind Hird. Nagano and Bodin have also been touring with stable mate Jose Gonzalez of late and alongside Wirstrand all appear on his recent album In Our Nature.

- In The Mix

Last.fm recommended: Kid Sister, Guster, The Loose Salute, and...

Pioneers

Mystery Jets

Song of the Week:

Pack Up Remix (feat. Evidence & KRS One)

Lyrics Born

Top Artists

1		Björk	559
2		Jay-Z	509
3		Common	440
4		NPR	438
5		Madlib	365
6		Talib Kweli	350
7		Little Brother	345
8		Sufjan Stevens	312
9		Mary J. Blige	276
10		J Dilla aka jay dee	273
11		De La Soul	271
12		Incognito	264
12		Jay Dee	264
14		Zero 7	256
15		Murs	237
16		Miguel Migs	227
17		Evidence	225
18		Oh No	216
19		The Arcade Fire	211
20		Joss Stone	210
21		Justin Timberlake	209

*plus 1 because I don't really count NPR as a music spin.

Top Tracks

1		Björk – Innocence	50
2		The Arcade Fire – Black Mirror	42
2		Kate Havnevik – Unlike me	42
4		UGK – International Players Anthem (f/ Outkast)	38
5		Incognito – Always There	37
5		José González – All You Deliver	37
7		Justin Timberlake – My Love (ft TI)	34
7		DangerDoom – Vats of Urine	34
7		Bonde do Role – Melo do Tobaco (Paul Devro Sweet Mango Mix)	34
7		Timbaland – Give It To Me (f/ Nelly Furtado & Justin Timberlake)	34
11		Mary J. Blige – Free (Interlude)	33
12		Zero 7 – Crosses	32
12		AYA – 45 Parade Place	32
12		The Foreign Exchange – Foreign Exchange End Theme	32
12		Incognito – Raise	32
16		Dilated Peoples – Back Again	31
16		Talib Kweli & Madlib – The Show	31
16		Sleater-Kinney – Modern Girl	31
19		J-Love – Return Of The Theodore Unit (f/ Ghostface, Sean Wiggs and Trife Da God)	30
19		Björk – Aeroplane	30
19		Terry Callier – Just As Long As We're In Love	30
19		The Foreign Exchange – Be Alright	30
19		Madlib – Tape Hiss (Dirty)	30

Top Albums

1		J Dilla aka jay dee – Donuts	272
2		Incognito – Bees + Things + Flowers	198
3		Jay Dee – Ruff Draft	157
4		The Arcade Fire – Neon Bible	149
4		4hero – Play With The Changes	149
6		Robin Thicke – The Evolution of Robin Thicke	127
7		Brother Ali – The Undisputed Truth	122
8		Jaylib – Champion Sound	119
9		DangerDoom – The Mouse And The Mask	118
10		The Foreign Exchange – Connected	110
10		Björk – Volta	110
12		Common – Be	104
12		Mark Ronson – Version	104
14		Sia – Colour the Small One	90
14		Sufjan Stevens – Illinois	90
16		José González – Veneer	84
17		Mary J. Blige – My Life	83
18		Common – Like Water for Chocolate	81
19		Björk – Vespertine Live	80
20		Mary J. Blige – Love & Life	79

*note - just like last year, I'm not so sure about the albums list although it looks more accurate. That said, half the albums in my critical top albums list are no where to be found on the full chart despite what I know about my listening habits the second  half of this year.

More in depth discussions begin in the morning.

Top Artists this Week (see more)

18 Nov 2007 – 25 Nov 2007

1		OutKast	17
1		Jay-Z	17
3		Feist	15
4		Madlib	12
5		4hero	10
6		De La Soul	8
7		Band of Horses	6
8		Justice	5
8		Iron & Wine	5
8		Little Brother	5

The album that has been dominating my life the past 2 weeks has been  Jay-Z's American Gangster.  While, it doesn't really hold onto the idea of being a concept album throughout, the 70s soul & funk can't be denied and Hova is having fun here. My favorite track, Party Life, has a great hook and the rhymes are hella clever. Although, I always enjoy when the Jigga-man gets mackadocious. I'm still amazed that this is mostly Diddy production (and, RPM, I haven't forgotten about sending you my extra copy).

Outkast gets top billing off of me re-finding Aquemini (which I still believe is their finest album). The title track bubbled up on Shuffle one day  and I immediately jumped to the full length. I suggest you do the same.

Most of the rest of the list (Madlib, Little Brother, and De La Soul excluded as they regularly bubble up in my weekly spins) is the result of me starting to focus in what I think are the best albums and songs from the year. I know what tops my list -- the artists behind #s 1 and 2 are both in my top ten here -- while Justice remains controversial in my head.

I haven't been exceptionally happy with my last.fm recommendations of late but these two recent additions to my library are highlights:

A Window

The Radio Dept.

Red Wine, Success!

Cold War Kids

Or, maybe just have one.