Ski Beatz x Mos Def - Cream of the Planet

Apparently '24 Hour Karate School' WILL be released on 7th September.

COMING SOON: Curren$y - Pilot Talk (2010)

I haven't really heard any of Curren$y's work before, but have heard his name before. He's due to release what will be his third official studio album on June 12th. Well I think it will be his third, judging from his RYM list of releases. He also appears on 3 tracks off the upcoming (will it ever be released!?) '24 Hour Karate School' from Ski Beatz (see the video for 'Go' below). Anyway, this album will be his first official release on Dame Dash's Blu Roc, which i think is the new resurrected Roc-A-Fella (if I'm wrong please comment below!). You can watch the videos for the Mos Def produced 'Breakfast', the Ski Beatz (I think so anyway!) produced 'King Kong', 'Life Under the Scope' below. Mos's effort is my favourite of the 3, but the other 2 are definite growers. The 'Go' beat is still a beast. This post was full of a lot of I thinks.


CURREN$Y - BREAKFAST from Creative Control on Vimeo.


Curren$y - King Kong from Creative Control on Vimeo.


Life Under the Scope - Curren$y from Jayuan V on Vimeo.

Ski Beatz - 24 Hour Karate School TRAILER/VISUAL MIXTAPE

This is one of the coolest ideas ever to build some anticipation of a new album/mixtape release! The tracks sound dope and the video is really entertaining! In case you didn't already know, Ski is a legendary producer who started out in the 80s as MC Will-Ski. After callign it quits on the rapping game, he decided to focus solely on producing and contributed 4 tracks to Jay-Z's 'Reasonable Doubt' ("Dead Presidents," "22 Two's", "Politics as Usual," and "Feelin' It."). He's also worked with the likes of Fat Joe, Camp Lo and AZ. Also check out the videos for 'Ariel' and 'S.T.A.L.L.E.Y.'  below and be sure to visit http://www.24hourkarateschool.com/, where you can download a snipper and watch more videos! The album/mixtape is due to drop 30th March.





'AERIAL' JIM JONES X CURREN$Y 24HR KARATE SCHOOL from Creative Control on Vimeo.

Gorillaz - Plastic Beach (2010)

The new album is out soon and has an impressive array of guests that include Lou Reed, Mos Def, Bobby Womack, De La Soul, Snoop Dogg and Mick Jones! You can listen to their new single, 'Stylo' on their official website. I haven't made my mind up on the track yet, but Mos and Bobby on a track together can't be a bad thing and I'll wait to hear it in the context of the full album.

1. Orchestral Intro (featuring Sinfonia ViVA)
2. Welcome To The World Of The Plastic Beach (feat. Snoop Dogg and Hypnotic Brass Ensemble)
3. White Flag (feat. Kano, Bashy and The National Orchestra For Arabic Music)
4. Rhinestone Eyes
5. Stylo (feat. Bobby Womack and Mos Def)
6. Superfast Jellyfish (feat. Gruff Rhys and De La Soul)
7. Empire Ants (feat. Little Dragon)
8. Glitter Freeze (feat. Mark E Smith)
9. Some Kind Of Nature  (feat. Lou Reed)
10. On Melancholy Hill
11. Broken
12. Sweepstakes (feat. Mos Def & Hypnotic Brass Ensemble)
13. Plastic Beach (feat. Mick Jones & Paul Simonon)
14. To Binge (feat. Little Dragon)
15. Cloud Of Unknowing (feat. Bobby Womack and Sinfonia ViVA)
16. Pirate Jet

Jay Electronica - Act II: Patents of Nobility (2010)

I have no idea what the official tracklisting is going to be for this upcoming release or exactly when it's going to be released, but from what I've managed to find and listen to, it should be pretty special! The rumoured tracklist is supposed to be:

Exhibit A (Transformations) (Prod. by Just Blaze)
Exhibit A (remix) feat. Mos Def (Prod. by Just Blaze)
Exhibit C (Prod. by Just Blaze)
Dear Moleskine (Prod by Just Blaze)
Untitled (feat. Nas)

 
Take a listen to the samples below! Dear Moleskine sounds incredible!

Piccadilly Records Top 100 Albums of 2009

I always love Piccadilly Records' end of year list simply because it's bound to be nothing like any of the other, more obvious ones (Pitchfork, Uncut etc). Every year, without fail, I read the list and am excited to listen to the albums I haven't heard (which is usually loads!). I was going to reproduce the list here, but it's much easier if you just check it out on their website:

Piccadilly Records Top 100 Albums of 2009

Pitchfork's Top 50 Albums of 2009

 
I won't bother ranting oer what's missing. Plenty of good albums included and plenty of great albums missing. Here's the list:

50 Woods - Songs of Shame
49 Cass McCombs - Catacombs
48 DOOM - Born Like This
47 Zomby - Where Were U in '92?
46 Dan Deacon - Bromst
45 The Mountain Goats - The Life of the World to Come
44 tUnE-yArDs - BiRd-BrAiNs
43 Cymbals Eat Guitars - Why There Are Mountains
42 A Sunny Day in Glasgow - Ashes Grammar
41 Baroness - Blue Record
40 Mos Def - The Ecstatic
39 Jim O'Rourke - The Visitor
38 Major Lazer - Guns Don't Kill People-- Lazers Do
37 The Antlers - Hospice
36 Dinosaur Jr. - Farm
35 jj - jj n° 2
34 Passion Pit - Manners
33 Bibio - Ambivalence Avenue
32 Bear In Heaven - Beast Rest Forth Mouth
31 Sunn O))) - Monoliths & Dimensions
30 Röyksopp - Junior
29 Yo La Tengo - Popular Songs
28 Micachu and the Shapes - Jewellery
27 Various Artists - 5: Five Years of Hyperdub
26 Bon Iver - Blood Bank EP
25 DJ Quik & Kurupt - BlaQKout
24 Bill Callahan - Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle
23 Memory Tapes - Seek Magic
22 Wild Beasts - Two Dancers
21 Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
20 Real Estate - Real Estate
19 The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
18 Atlas Sound - Logos
17 The Very Best - Warm Heart of Africa
16 Antony and the Johnsons - The Crying Light
15 Japandroids - Post-Nothing
14 Neon Indian - Psychic Chasms
13 St. Vincent - Actor
12 Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
11 Fuck Buttons - Tarot Sport
10 Girls - Album
09 Fever Ray - Fever Ray
08 Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
07 Bat For Lashes - Two Suns
06 Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest
05 Raekwon - Only Built for Cuban Linx... Pt. II
04 The Flaming Lips - Embryonic
03 The xx - The xx
02 Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca
01 Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion

Mos Def x Talib Kweli x Dirty Projectors x The Roots x Jimmy Fallon

I've been playing 'The Ecstatic' a lot this past week and it's definitely one of my favourite releases of the year. I just came across this performance of 'History' on Jimmy Fallon, performed with The Roots and the girls from the Dirty Projectors and it's legendary! CHECK IT OUT!

MWW FAVOURITE: Mos Def

Mos Def is one of my all-time favourites. So I thought I'd post a few videos to illustrate his greatness, taking in all of his albums. I know I did a single track MWW FAVOURITE on Sunday and I really could've done a full Wu post! ENJOY!


From 'Black On Both Sides':





From 'The New Danger':



From 'True Magic':



From 'The Ecstatic':


Mos Def - Supermagic from Burnocchio. Story. on Vimeo.

With DJ Honda:



Black Star:





And of course, BLACKROC: