Kail: Bravado and Beats

MC/producer Kail claims to be on some straight “nigga shit.” But despite what the next-gen Project Blowedian may say, he’s just as nerdy as he is street.His full-length debut, True Hollywood Squares,is full of witty humor, battle bravado, and whimsical production. If it were anything short of classic, he wouldn’t have gotten Alpha Pup label head Daddy Kev’s support. Impressed with Kail’s self-released The William Thedford Invitational, Kev met with Kail and the two decided to do it bigger. Instead of pushing Squares hand-to-hand like he originally planned, Kail is now moving units worldwide.

“Kev is now responsible for spreading 47 percent more drunken nigga shit all throughout the world. And that’s the motive,” says the 25-year-old Los Angeles-based rapper.

Squares, a concept album built around his Tinseltown character rap, not only shows the not-so-glittery side of Hollywood but serves as Kail’s proper intro to the world. Kail handles the bulk of the beats on this album himself, with production as varied as his eccentric cast of characters (check the opening theme from Bullitt on “Sweet Dick Willy” and the Ice-T homage “Three in the Morning.”) While it’s now easier than ever for kids to play with their dicks and their hip-hop in their bedrooms, Kail is no MySpace rapper. Since 2002, he’s been sharpening his skills with the eight-man Customer Service crew at L.A.’s famed Project Blowed, the open-mic night that’s been an indie proving ground for everyone from Aceyalone to Busdriver.

Brash and slightly offensive (“Tell that Harajuku bitch to put the camera down,” he says in one skit), Kail departs from Blowed’s signature fast raps but he still slays with clever wordplay, adding a touch of West Coast grime to his syllables. Listeners can tell that he’s a bit of closet nerd, rapping over a Mega Man 3 sample and making references to Jean-Michel Basquiat.

Kail admits he’s still trying to refine his style. “This album was my rough attempt to build my own stepping stool,” he says. “It sounds so elementary to me, but I love that everyone has been able to bump my rookie shit-talk.”

Fujiya & Miyagi “Dishwasher”

Light Bulbs, the third long-player from Brighton, U.K.-based outfit Fujiya & Miyagi, is another installment of the classic pop sound that has propelled the four-man band (which originated as an electronic duo in 2000) to great heights. Although they have a style that’s all their own, the band’s press release does compare their sound as “James Brown on Valium.” We can’t exactly agree with this claim, but “Dishwasher” did put us in a pretty chilled-out mood, so pass those pharmaceuticals this-a-way.

Fujiya & Miyagi – Dishwasher

Butane Becoming

Renowned as the mastermind of the after-hours techno form, St. Louis native Butane cements his next place in dance music evolution with this minimal milestone. Taking a break from the busy studio life and moving his base to Berlin, Butane has gained new perspectives on his production after a six-month sabbatical. Keeping things dark and vibrant, the tracks here tell a melancholy tale laced with shimmering cymbals, cavernous bass bits, and haunting pads. Each track, from “Hallucinate” to “Wanderer,” reveals a bit of the late-night puzzle picture, containing heavily mixed and tweaked low-end grooves, completed with just a bit of simple, loopy drum work. Great for the ride home after an all-night crippler, these soothing yet tweaky mixes with make your head ring.

Neptune Gong Lake

One of the most bizarre and unique bands on the planet, Neptune is composed of three musicians: each blacksmiths, scientists, sculptors, electricians, and machinists. Taking all of their artistic and industrial endeavors into account, the Neptune fellas construct all of their own instruments, creating guitars, drums, and electronics from trash such as saw blades, bike parts, VCR casings, and gas tanks. With them they create an industrial post-punk noise-rock groove, all spastic guitars, heavy distortion, and tweaked vocals. Hardcore and aggressively agitating, this arrangement of instrumentation is hard on the ears yet clever enough to keep you interested. Expect to hear a fusion of Tool, The Chili Peppers and Autechre, with a noisy smash-metal twist.

Malente & Dex “Hyperactive (Bobmo Remix)”

More exclusive heat from Shir Khan’s trusty Exploited imprint! The Hyperactive EP, which marks the debut collaborative release from Malente & Dex, recalls those abandoned warehouse days of yesteryear, with a nod to the new fist-pumping electro generation. Already receiving support from a bulletproof list of DJs, including Surkin, A-Trak, and Erol Alkan, the EP comes complete with remixes from the likes of Bird Peterson, Riva Starr, and Bobmo, who all take the track in different directions, yet keep the focus on the dancefloor.

Malente&Dex – Hyperactive (Bobmo Remix)

Idyll

The video for Benoit Pioulard’s “Idyll” is, like the song itself, from another time and place. Glimpses of unpretentious industry from what appears to be ’70s archival film run beneath the retro folk-rock song. The hairstyles and clothing in this grainy footage complement the song’s gentle guitars and simple vocal harmonies perfectly. Lulu McAllister

East Village Radio Festival: Delayed?

Though many in New York are looking forward to the music, film, and gourmet food promised for the previously announcedEast Village Radio music festival, fans and music heads may have to wait just a little bit longer. An announcement from the organizers arrived today, explaining that the event could possibly be delayed due to the “heavy rains and gusty winds expected for New York City throughout Saturday.” Apparently the trouble is all the fault of tropical storm Hanna, currently moving up the East Coast.

The festival is slated to happen on Saturday, September 6 from 1 to 9 p.m., but it may be moved to Sunday, September 7, from 1 to 9 p.m. Organizers will evaluate the weather conditions and make a decision soon. An announcement will be posted on the festival’s site.

There goes nature again, trying to swoop in over our good times.

Tokyo Police Club “Juno (Ra Ra Riot/Andrew Maury Remix)”

Tokyo Police Club dabbled in aggressive hip-hop earlier this summer when Amplive remixed the band’s track “The Baskervilles,” but now, the Newmarket, Canada-based band is turning to prettier sounds. Fellow indie-rockers in Ra Ra Riot got ahold of the track “Juno,” off TPC’s Elephant Shell release, and turned it into a melody driven song where string arrangements soar and a crisp electronic beat plays out underneath. This one’s for fans of The Postal Service or The Ready Aim Fire, or for anyone who likes to feel melancholy (not me, I swear).

Tokyo Police Club – Juno [Ra Ra Riot_Andrew Maury Remix] master 1

eLZhi “Save Ya feat. T3 of Slum Village”

Detroit’s underground MC eLZhi’s latest release, The Preface, is a hip-hop album chock-full of other big names from his neck of the woods–J Dilla, Dwele, Waajeed (Platinum Pied Pipers), and, not least of all, T3 (Slum Village), who lends himself to the album’s first single, “Save Ya.” Over a rolling, low-key downbeat that feels perfect for a long, hot summer day in the city, this single contrasts an unwinding vocal hook, distorted to sound distant and unnaturally high-pitched, against a soulful female chorus. Meanwhile, eLZhi coolly delivers condemnatory lines like, “Infatuated with material things/You only see your feet in those shoes/Your ears in those rings /But, uh, you can come around on your best behavio /But sorry Love, I can’t save ya.” Gold diggers, beware.

eLZhi – Save Ya feat. T3 of Slum VIllage

Matthew Dear’s “Dog Days” Remixed

When Matthew Dear‘s Leave Luck to Heaven dropped on Ghostly in 2003, it was pretty much unanimously decided by the electronic music community that “Dog Days,” a punchy number featuring crisp beats and an arpeggiated synth melody, was the standout track on the release. Remix albums had yet to become the standard practice back then, and so we don’t have twenty versions of the track up on Discobelle, though Ghostly is about to change that with the September 9 release of Dog Days: The Robsoul Remixes.

DJ Sneak, Phil Weeks, and Chris Carrier, all members of the France-based label Robsoul, went to town on these versions of the original, and it’s nice to finally see how Dear’s famous track can be interpreted. Expect to wander up and down Collins Avenue at WMC 2009 hearing these tracks blasted from every roof party on the block.

Dog Days: The Robsoul Remixes
01 Dog Days (DJ Sneak’s 420 Dog Mix)
02 Dog Days (Phil Weeks Remix)
03 Dog Days (Chris Carrier’s Proplan Remix)
04 Dog Days (Chris Carrier’s Proplan Dub Remix)

Photo By Doug Coombe.

Page 2858 of 3781
1 … 2,856 2,857 2,858 2,859 2,860 … 3,781