Dirty Projectors - Rise Above

Very creative duo based in Brooklyn. Each track is unique on this album and they incorporate mad musical styles. Rise Above is the ultimate song of freedom that speaks to the human imagination. A protest song in friendly harmonies... "We are tired of your abuse. Try to stop us but it's no use." Just those 2 words... rise above... speak volumes. Think. Listen. One

Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust

Love this band live. I liked this album from the first listen. They kinda sold out for doing a song in English, but they pulled out some amazing music for this one. More upbeat but the same Sigur Ros feel. Also you have to watch Heima, a film they shot in their home country of Iceland. They play a marimba made of rock flakes with 100 year old rhubarb in an ice cave. Can't make this stuff up. Enjoi the new style for the casual listener.

Brooklyn Betty First Press T-Shirt

Message via Brooklyn Betty:
We have come up with the first shirt design and are going to get them printed very soon. The first shirt, of what will hopefully be a successful collection, will be printed on an american apparel 2001 Fine Jersey Short Sleeve T-Shirt, http://www.americanapparel.com/2001.html#iI . (Note: The shirt is Unisex) The color of the shirt we have chosen is New Silver and the design will be in black. The shirts will be $25 each, and I will be collecting the money after the printing is done and when the shirts are in your hands. Let me know (allread.dylan.c@gmail.com) if you have any other questions, and if you do want to reserve one let me know your name, address, and the size of the shirt you would like. Thanks for looking! Feel free to spread the word to anyone and everyone who you think would enjoy brooklyn betty and want to rock the T

Thanks,
Forest and Dylan

Lookin forward to the freshest Ts. So dope... Brooklyn Betty is goin global as I will def be rockin the T in Kenya. Passin the word along. Peace

Hudson Mohawke - Polyfolk Dance

Dopeness from U.K. beatmakers Hudson Mohawke. This is a nice EP from Warp Records, a label that hosts some of the most progressive electronic musicians around. Hip-hop and electronic heads will enjoi this number. I am looking forward to the full length from these cats. Comparisons have been made to Flying Lotus, Ras G and did I hear some Dilla influences in there? Some spaced out funk and heavy synth layered over crisp drum tracks make this a must for the headphones. Peace.

Hudson Mohawke - Polyfolk Dance

Blue Sky Black Death - Slow Burning Lights

Blue Sky Black Death are a production team from Seattle who have found a unique style combining heavy bass with raw samples and electronic music. They have collaborated with some of the best MCs in the underground, including Hieroglyphics crew and Wu-Tang affiliates. On this album the duo is fronted by female vocalist Yes Alexander, a newcomer in the Portland indie scene. There is an ambient feel to the album, creating landscape sounds with drum claps reminiscent of their previous release, Late Night Cinema. The difference is the amazing ability of Yes Alexander to use her incredible range to create emotion in the songs. Her voice has a very organic sound and you will probably be wondering why you have never heard of her before. Enjoi.

Blue Sky Black Death - Slow Burning Lights

Jazz Liberatorz - Clin D'oeil

Jazz Liberatorz are diggin those old jazz loops and laying down amazing beats with some of the best lyricists dropping vocals about the music that has influenced them. Take notes because the cats on this record breathe hip-hop and jazz music. Appearances from Tre and Fat Lip of the one and only Pharcyde, Sadat X of Brand Nubian and Buckshot of Black Moon. These groups laid the foundation for crate digging and beat production with jazz breaks, kick drums, high hats, snares, and of course razor sharp lyrics. The Jazz Libz carry on the intelligence that has always been a part of hip-hop but has been has been buried in the underground as of late. This album is about sharing a passion for hip-hop and jazz and creativity in all aspects of life. "If you down with Digable Planets you a hipster...." and you should be down with the Jazz Libz. One.

Jazz Liberatorz - Clin D'oeil

Buff1 - There's Only One

If you are a hip-hop fan who keeps his head in the underground then you should be well aware of the mark that Detroit has made on the game. J Dilla, the best beatmaker ever to live, had a huge impact on the lives of so many musicians and fans of hip-hop. His inspiration is all over these tracks and Detroit cats like Black Milk, Elzhi, and Guilty Simpson are carrying on his legacy. There's Only One hits hard with Buff1 rhyming over breakbeat Motown production from Black Milk. Buff1 has an ill flow and his style matches Black Milk's production amazingly well. Don't sleep on Detroit. J Dilla forever. Peace.

Buff1 - There's Only One

Fever Sleeves - "Futuristic Killings"

Music that everyone should have in their life.

Vetiver - Tight Knit

This is Vetiver's first album on Sub Pop. Heavily influenced by Neil Young's Harvest period, this album is very well produced and comes highly recommended for all fans of the new generation of folk musicians. Also check out their debut self-titled album.

Vetiver - Tight Knit

DJ Benzi & Diplo Present Paper Route Gangstaz - Fear & Loathing in Hunts Vegas

Diplo does it again with the Alabama crew Paper Route Gangstaz. Some grimy dance beats with crazy rhymes from the dirty south. The Diplo Remix of "Don't Go" featuring Wale is so nice. Full of club bangers and flows from the finest in Huntsville. Speaking of the dirty south, keep an eye out for a new U.G.K. album with unreleased material from Bun B and Pimp C. One.

DJ Benzi & Diplo Present Paper Route Gangstaz - Fear & Loathing in Hunts Vegas

Black Lips - 200 Million Thousand

New album from the Black Lips. I have been waiting for this one for a while. For those of you who still enjoi punk music and the sound of a real drummer. Unfairly marketed to indie kids at Starbucks, this band is just too raw for the average hipster, beanie wearing, coffee sipper. Black Lips gives us hope that there are still real rock stars out there.

Animal Collective - Sung Tongs

The buzz around Animal Collective has grown immensely since their latest album, Merriweather Post Pavilion. If you have not yet heard MPP, then you are missing out on what will probably be one of the best albums of 2009. For most people, their new album is more accessible, moving toward tribal rhythms and adding more song structure to the psychedelic folk sound that has defined them since the beginning. Since their critically acclaimed album Feels, Avery Tare, Panda Bear, and Geologist have only gathered more fans while their live shows are continually raved about all over the world. It is not easy to jump right into this band and love every album. It takes time and repeated listens. But eventually the odd rhythms, beautiful chants, and "freak folk" sounds blend perfectly. It is comparable to finding perfect understanding in a Coltrane solo or the logic of Monk's piano riffs. For those of you who have recently discovered AC, I urge you to get acquainted with this album as it remains, in my opinion, the best piece of work released by the band.I first heard this album when I was immersing myself in the free jazz movement that started in the late 60's. Sung Tongs is an album that sounds like chaos but if you have heard Eric Dolphy or late Sun Ra then you will be fully prepared to make order of this chaos. It is a treat to those who enjoy the folk artists who ignore standard song structure like Vashti Bunyan, Joanna Newsom, or Devendra Banhart. In my opinion, AC has not exceeded the musical creativity from this album but have succeeded in making albums that challenge the listener to think beyond traditional song keys and rhythms. If you are new to this band, throw on the headphones and enjoi.

Animal Collective - Sung Tongs

Care Kenya

Care Kenya was started by Dr. Bonyo Bonyo, a dedicated Akron physician who provides health treatment to the poverty stricken area of Ahero, Kenya where he grew up. Dr. Bonyo Bonyo and Care Kenya aim to provide medical care and HIV/AIDS counseling to patients as well as funds to maintain the health center. Physicians from Akron have been a big part of this program. I will be traveling with Dr. Bonyo Bonyo this summer to Kenya to get my first experience in Global Health. If you are interested in helping out in any way check the site

Ras G - Beats of Mind

Ras G has been a fixture on the underground Hip-Hop scene in Los Angeles since the early 90s. A carrier of the Backwoods, he is a founder of the ubiquitous Poo-Bahs Label, a bright light on the map of LA experimental music. Beats of Mind comes with laid back beats and jazzy loops, showing Ras G's skill on the MPC. An abstract excursion into the mind of Ras like Oliver Nelson blazed in a juke joint on the other side of Jupiter.

Ras G - Beats of Mind

Boards of Canada - Music has the Right to Children

The album that introduced me to electronic music. Boards of Canada set the standard for me and opened up a whole new genre of music. There was a time when I was working at a record store in Dayton where I wouldn't listen to anything but Radiohead and Boards of Canada. "Telepathic Workshop" keeps your head nodding. Enjoi.

Boards of Canada - Music has the Right to Children

Hell's Angels: A Strange & Terrible Saga

I recently finished Hunter S. Thompson's journalistic endeavor with the outlaw motorcycle gang the Hell's Angels, his first major book publication. This is the fifth book I have read by the Doctor (along with countless articles) and although it is not my favorite, I thoroughly enjoyed every moment. It is easy to tell he had not yet found his voice, a voice that would eventually require a new vocabulary to fully describe. There is a section in this book entitled "The Hoodlum Circus and The Statutory Rape of Bass Lake," which makes up the bulk of this story. Coincidentally I worked on Bass Lake, a small community just south of Yosemite National Park, for an entire summer and never heard the tale of the outlaws' run to this quiet rural vacation spot on July 4th, 1965. I highly recommend this book and anything else written by Thompson, who I would say is easily my favorite writer. I just wanted to leave you with a quote from the Doctor to show you the power of his words.

"But with the throttle screwed on, there is only the barest margin, and no room at all for mistakes. It has to be done right... and that's when the strange music starts, when you stretch your luck so far that fear becomes exhilaration and vibrates along your arms. You can barely see at a hundred; the tears blow back so fast that they vaporize before they get to your ears. The only sounds are the wind and a dull roar floating back from the mufflers. You watch the white line and try to lean with it... howling through a turn to the right, then to the left, and down the long hill to Pacifica... letting off now, watching for cops, but only until the next dark stretch and another few seconds on the edge... The Edge... There is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over. The others-the living- are those who pushed their luck as far as they felt they could handle it, and then pulled back, or slowed down, or did whatever they had to when it came time to choose between Now and Later. But the edge is still Out there. Or maybe it's In. The association of motorcycles with LSD is no accident of publicity. They are both a means to an end, to the place of definitions."

R.I.P. Dr. Gonzo

N.A.S.A. - The Spirit of Apollo

N.A.S.A is an ongoing creative collaboration between two lifelong music aficionados, Squeak E. Clean ad DJ Zegon, and their friends, friends of friends and musical heroes. While N.A.S.A. stands for North America/South America and contains a number of superstar artists from both coasts of the US, it is about as far from a tension-building geographical showdown as a record can get. Rather, their Anti debut The Spirit of Apollo was born with the righteous goal of bringing people together through music and art, and that is exactly what masterminds Sam Spiegel (Squeak E. Clean) and Ze Gonzales (DJ Zegon) have done. Brazilian funk provides the roots of the songs and binds them together into a cohesive whole, but from there, the imagination behind The Spirit of Apollo ranges far and wide. Unexpected collaborations abound on the eighteen track release. Tom Waits growls over Kool Keith, Karen O taunts while Ol' Dirty Bastard gives shout-outs to Wu Tang and N.A.S.A from the grave, and David Byrne, Chuck D and others expound on the evils of "Money." In spite of the range of performers, the pairings seem organic, inspired and make perfect sense on the first listen, never coming off as ironic or impulsive. Collaborations you only dream about. Big up to Anti- for the post.

N.A.S.A. - The Spirit of Apollo

Stag Hare - Black Medicine Music

I had to post this album simply because of the title. A very creative album from Adam Forkner's (of White Rainbow) Stag Hare using tribal rhythms and ambient drones to create music for those chill moments. Adam Forker has worked with the best names in music, including Dirty Projectors, Devendra Banhart, and Atlas Sound. This album is medicine for the mind. Enjoi.

Stag Hare - Black Medicine Music

Juana Molina - Un Dia

Incredible musician from Buenos Aires, blending electronic patterns with folk and South American influence. This is Juana Molina's fifth release and I hope we hear more from her. Very unique sound.

Juana Molina - Un Dia

Wavves - Wavvves

Very experimental with comparisons to early Animal Collective. Wide range of influence from the Beach Boys to Beat Happening. Nathan Williams, a San Diego surfer, has been selling out his cassette only releases and his singles are going for absurd prices on ebay. This album is an invested listen but it is well worth it.

Wavves - Wavvves

Flosstradamus feat. Caroline Polachek - Big Bills

More ridiculously good dance tunes from Green Label Sound. Chicago based Djs Flosstradamus featuring the talented voice of Caroline Polachek from Chairlift.

Darfur Now

The genocide is still going on. The International Criminal Court, the world's first independent criminal court, is pushing for the arrest of President el-Bashir. Get involved and help bring justice to this tyrant. Power to the peaceful.

Save Darfur

Biochemical Equation

This had to be my first post seeing as RZA graces the cover of this newly formed blog, I graduated with a degree in Biochemistry and currently studying Clinical Biochemistry in medical school. Biochemical Equation by MF DOOM and RZA is the high point of the album along with the collabo between Aesop Rock and Del. Definitely worth checking out if you haven't already. This album is far from my favorite but it represents the style of music I will be posting, mainly underground hip-hop and the latest in indie music so stay up on the blog. Peace.

Think Differently Music: Wu-Tang Meets The Indie Culture