NEW MUSIC: The Finger & The Moon – Budo

Budo - The Finger & The Moon

Budo’s new album, The Finger & The Moon, finds some things familiar and some things not. First, the self-produced LP is rich with sonic textures and (at times) dense fragments of musical thought that refuse to be beautiful at first listen, but reward later with repeated visits; it’s this ability that places the multi-instrumentalist in the category of musician rather than mere producer.

Secondly, Budo adds the “vocalist” tag to his repertoire, here singing on all ten of TF&TM‘s tracks. He doesn’t have a great voice — think of a sort of poor man’s Leonard Cohen for the millennial/internet set — but the combination of his spoken thoughts (which are often intensely personal) in addition to the musical help complete the whole picture.

Stream and download The Finger & The Moon below, and check out the video for the track “Fremont” below that.


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NEW MUSIC: “Treadin'” – Grynch (prod. by Budo)

Click for more info at Fin Records.

Click for more info at Fin Records.

Grynch and Budo collaborate for a special limited-edition vinyl 12″, distributed by Ballard’s Fin Records. More details if you click through the picture above and to the good folks at Potholes In My Blog who had the exclusive premier.

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VIDEO: “Against The Bottom” – Grieves & Budo

This is either an add for Gap clothing or footage from a party in Brooklyn I attended last weekend. I’m not entirely sure. In any case, it’s the closing track on Grieves & Budo’s recent Together/Apart, an album which represents the duo’s best work, by far.

You may hate and call this clip corny, but we’ve all had days just like this when every girl you met was your dream girl and it felt like the sun would never set.

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VIDEO: “On The Rocks” – Grieves & Budo

Together/Apart is the official Rhymesayers debut album from Grieves & Budo and it dropped this past Tuesday. It’s the best work yet from this duo who (I hear) are back living in The Six. Actually, I spotted Budo roaming the sidewalks of Capitol Hill just before last Saturday’s Blue Scholars concert at Neumos — I sometimes forget how small this Town is. Peep the video for “On The Rocks” off Together/Apart, above.

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VIDEO: “Bloody Poetry” – Grieves & Budo

It’s fresh to see two cats with strong ties to Seattle blow up something major the way Grieves and Budo are doing. Inking a deal with the best known independent hip-hop label in the country (Rhymesayers) will do that for you. The duo’s next full-length offering is titled Together/Apart and will hit the paved and dirt roads of all this land’s hamlets on June 21.

Click here to continue reading at SSG Music.

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VIDEO: “Suffer” – M.anifest

It’s rare that a hip-hop song is emotionally resonant without being corny. M.anifest’s latest track, “Suffer,” gets there. Budo’s in-the-wind composition and the MC’s ability to smile through the pain provide the levity for a song that is ultimately about redemption. An uplifting track for your Thursday.

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VIDEO: Knocksteady Live feat. Blue Scholars

Via the good folk at KNOCKSTEADY (make sure to check their quality hustle, here). Surfing the Land of Twit yesterday, I was happy to come upon a live UStream broadcast, hosted by Dumbfoundead, and featuring Blue Scholars. The crew performed a few new tracks off their upcoming Cinemetropolis and answered some questions from the viewing audience. The clip above is just a bit of that show.

(For more SEA love from KNOCKSTEADY, peep Grieves and Budo’s recent appearance, here.)

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VIDEO: “Lightspeed” – Grieves & Budo

#LatePass. Grieves talks about growing up in “Lightspeed,” the first single from Together/Apart, the forthcoming album from the emcee and his partner behind the boards, Budo.

“Hit the corner store for the new Fleer packs.” Yup, I remember that.

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