The Flavr Blue with a luxurious new electro-scape… Is that even a word? Anyway. Check the pristine beat, synth and vocals of “Feathers,” which premiered on Variance Magazine a few days ago.
Insert coffee to begin.
VIDEO: “The Only Dance There Is” – Kublakai (dir. by Mark Mathias Sayre)
Kublakai collaborated with longtime friend Mark Mathias Sayre for the visual explosion that is the video for “The Only Dance There Is,” from Kub’s 2014 compilation album Kubi Zoo. Rachel Gavaletz contributes guest vocals.
AUDIO: “Jock Me” – Joey Ka$h (feat. Nacho Picasso; prod. by Rob Skeetz)
Rapper Joey Ka$h enlists the help of Moor Gang’s Nacho Picasso for “Jock Me,” the new single from Joey’s recent album, Paid the Cost. Rob Skeetz on the beat.
VIDEO: “Water” – Jarv Dee (dir. by Timslew)
Jarv Dee, under the threat of surveillance by the police state, turns himself into “Water.” Become the cup; move like fluid through the streets. From Jarv’s recent Satellites, Swishers and Spaceships.
VIDEO: “The Current” – Campana & Nia Ilyssa (dir. by Chris Volckmann)
Rapper Campana and vocalist Nia Ilyssa teamed up with director Chris Volckmann for “The Current,” an elegantly staged, narrative-driven visual allegory that traverses the linear path of aging, and the unbounded sense of loss and love which knows no such strictures.
This clip reminded me of “Never Catch Me,” the song and video by Flying Lotus and Kendrick Lamar. Both videos capture the beauty that ultimately arises in the dispassionate wake of the Black American experience. We’re lucky to have these artists around who illuminate it in such affecting detail.
“The Current” is from Campana and Nia’s recent EP, Spoke Fiction.
AUDIO: Space > Pod < Memories – Astro King Phoenix
Astro King Phoenix — rapper, photographer, video director — puts OCnotes’ Rap Loops instrumentals to good use on Space > Pod > Memories, a fleeting collection of lyrical excursions over beats that range from lush, to skeletal, to abstract futuristic. The 12 songs are gone before you know it but the whole thing makes for a nice snack.
ALBUM REVIEW: The Cigar Room – Neema (prod. by Keyboard Kid)
I wrote an album review of Neema and Keyboard Kid’s new record, The Cigar Room, for City Arts. Click through to read it: “Deep Decadence in Neema’s
VIDEO: “Mind of A Mack” – Porter Ray (dir. by Malcolm Procter & Astro King Phoenix)
Porter Ray on his Veuve Clicquot, model intellect shit. Get it… “Model” intellect? From last year’s more than decent Fundamentals tape.
AUDIO: The Turntable Doctrine EP – Blues
West Seattle native Blues is hustling to make a name for himself in Seattle rap. His The Turntable Doctrine EP adheres to a classic throwback (read: early- to mid-90s) recipe, which fits just fine with Grynch who shows up to guest turn on “Just One Night,” an appealing party-starter.
Check out the full album and video for “Just One Night,” below.
AUDIO: SuperSquare – Amos Miller
Amos Miller — area eclecticist and frequent collaborator with such Town rap stalwarts as Gabriel Teodros and Macklemore — recently released a solo album called SuperSquare. It’s 22 tracks long, composed mostly of brief, interlude length songs that are each packed to the brim with musical ideas. SuperSquare plays like an aural sketchbook, pulled from the shelf of an artist with a far afield, wandering mind.
Hip-hop, folk, electronic, R&B, neo-soul — all of these genres play together beautifully on SuperSquare, albeit with a smart pop sensibility. Low-fi record scratches adorn one track, only to be supplanted seconds later by high-def synth and futuristic thump. And is that a processed didgeridoo on the tracks “Crystal” and “Conflict?”
A grip of collaborators including Jake One, Evan Flory-Barnes, Adra Boo, and Aaron Walker-Loud lend a communal feel to the record which, despite its tracks’ short attention spans, never feels rushed or scattered which is due to the tightly executed transitions between songs. “Ascent” is one of only two that extends beyond three minutes: sonar pings, laser gun synth, coasting jazz high hats, and what sounds like a live upright bass back Amos’s pitched raps that slide from visceral poetic ruminations on artistry, to lamenting the prison industrial complex.
SuperSquare keeps you in the listening moment by engaging your ears and mind with big concepts over short ranges of time; and as the songs fold into each other, your brain keeps working, imagining what might have come next.
A SEATTLE HIP-HOP BLOG 