Happy New Years!

A new year means a clean slate. A chance to start off on the right foot. It also means new music, books, and movies!

Here's the top ten things I am most looking forward to in 2011

10. The Green Lantern Movie

At one point this would have been number one on my list. After watching the trailer to the film, I have a feeling that all that CGI crap might get in the way of good storytelling. Also, I just don't like the graphics. Honestly, it feels kind of rushed to me. A film that utilizes this much CGI should have taken much longer to produce. Whatever. As long as they have Ray Romano's brother from "Everybody Loves Raymond" play Kilowog then I'll be satisfied.

9. Talib Kweli's "Gutter Rainbows"

Although I doubt it will top the Reflection Eternal album he dropped with Hi-Tek in 2010, I am still eagerly awaiting this release. I haven't really liked a Kweli solo album since "Quality" in 2002 (Damn, I was a sophomore in high-school!) but "Revolutions Per Minute" reinvigorated my love for the BK MC.

8. The Film Adaptation Of Haruki Murakami's "Norwegian Wood"

Although not my favorite Murakami novel (so far it's "After Dark"), "Norwegian Wood" is by far one of the best coming-of-age stories I've ever read. Inspired by The Beatles song of the same name the novel follows Toru Watanabe, a freshmen student at a Tokyo college in the 1960's. Amidst the turmoil of the student movement, Toru deals with college, growing up, and falling for two girls--the socially outgoing Midori and the emotionally scarred Naoko. The novel perfectly captures both the anxiety of growing up and falling in love. So far the trailers I've seen are quite promising.

7. The Walking Dead Season 2

A television show about the zombie apocalypse that is both viscerally entertaining and intellectually engaging? Yup, that's The Walking Dead. The television adaption of Kirk Kirkman's seminal comic-book series is as smartly written and engaging as anything on HBO and is filled with enough "that's-fucked-up" moments to keep any die-hard zombie fan satisfied.

6. Jay Electronica's "Act II"

It took me a while to fully believe the hype, but after loving his verse on Reflection Eternal's "Just Begun" and the way he looped the and rapped over the "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" soundtrack (featured below) I became a believer. Combining esoteric rhymes, street appeal, and a deeply conscious style, Jay is one of the more interesting emcees to come out in years. Now signed to Jay-Z's Roc Nation and with a Mountain Dew commercial hitting the tube soon, his debut album has garnered plenty of attention. 2011 might see a new hip-hop star.

5. The American Release of Haruki Murakami's 1Q84

With a film-adaptation of his coming-of-age classic "Norwegian Wood" and an English translation of his 2009 bestseller on the way, 2011 seems like a big year stateside for the Japanese author.

4. Nas' "The Lost Tapes 2"

Yes, I know that it's 2011 and that means I could probably find a way to download all the songs that will be featured on this album, but it's still cool to have a follow-up to "The Lost Tapes." If LT2 comes out banging then I will know that one fact is for certain--Nas is one the greatest hip-hop lyricists ever but one of the worst editors of his own albums.

3. Lupe Fiasco's "Lasers"

Honestly, I'm surprised how high (or is it low?) this album ranked on my list. It's probably because he's one of the few real lyricists getting any significant radio play and I'm just pulling for the guy. After squabbling with his record label over the substance of his music, Lupe has come out unscathed and dropping some dope hip-hop. Although his first single was obviously geared toward the radio, it's still heavily-conscious. Here's to conscious hip-hop!

2. Blu's "No!York"

This should be no surprise to anybody who's ever read my blog before. Since dropping the instant classic "Below the Heavens" Blu has not stopped creating music. The follow-ups have both been collaborative projects--C.R.A.C Knuckles (with Ta'Raach) and Johnson&Johnson (with Mainframe). So far this is his first official "solo" album. From what I've heard it's a far departure from BTW. That isn't necessarily a bad thing. Although I hate the musical genre known as "electro rap", Blu's new electronic-centered musical approach isn't that bad. It's actually quite refreshing. So far I'm anxiously awaiting this one.

1. Mad Men Season 5

There's not much to say about this show if you haven't watched it. It's a brilliant combination of nostalgia, history lesson, sociological study, and soap-opera. Plus, it's plain ol' pretty to look at. There is so much depth to this show. Whether you're interested in American culture in the midst of great change, the rise of marketing and consumer consumption, 60's idealism, feminism, or existential suffering, Mad Men is a blast to watch.

364 Down, 1 To Go

It's almost over! Before you go out tonight, drink yourself into a stupper and make awkward sexual advances at your hot second cousins, let's reflect on the year that was.

Uhm. That'll take too much time. Instead, here's a .gif of one of my favorite moments of 2010.

Yes, I have problems.

As you have noticed this blog has a new title. With the new title comes a slightly different format. Don't worry, it will still be mostly about music, but I wanted to incorporate other facets of my life as a way to vent. It's cheaper than a shrink.

So back to 2010. This was a weird year. It was stressing. I studied a lot. A lot. I finally finished school and made some awesome friends along the way. I had my ups and downs with my girl but we've managed to get through it. I was unemployed (an loving it) for three months. I binged on junk food. I listened to plenty of great music. I had fun with my family and friends. I've also learned a lot about myself .

2011 seems like it will be a bitch.

I plan to attend Grad school next Fall so that means I have about eight months to work and save up money. That means I have to get a better paying job for the meantime. Damn, I hate being an adult. Can't I sit around in my Spider-Man underwear and color while watching Saturday morning cartoon?

Back to 2010.

I could sit here and type away about my thoughts on this year's music but I'd rather not. I will say this though, The Root's "How I Got Over" was my favorite album of the year.

Hands down.

Also, I got into a really diverse range of music. Two new bands that I really enjoyed are Real Estate and Tame Impala. If you like twangy, guitar-driven rock then you'll dig Real Estate. If you like trippy, acid-fueled, psychedelic rock them you'll dig Tame Impala.

Oh, and I've also gotten into Afro-Beat! And by that I basically mean Fela Kuti. Just think Jazz, rock, and Africa. That's Afro-Beat.

I also liked the Broken Bells album. That was tight.

That's basically all I want to say at the moment. I hope 2011 brings me more music and more chances to grow and become a better person.

2010 is almost gone so have fun! I know I will. I'll be the one dancing like this.

Lates.

Blogging in DC Comics Pajamas

I don't have much to say at the moment. I'm just waiting for my clothes to finish drying up so I can take a shower. I tried Googling an image of my pajamas so I can post it on here but all I found were kids pajamas. SMH. This is what I'm currently listening to right now.

It might sound kinda weird but it's actually pretty dope. If you're not familiar with Trojan Records then let me school you. Trojan Records is a British label that puts out a crazy amount of reggae compilations on the regular. The comps are comprised of obscure records from the past. They drop comps according to a theme or subgenre, such as Rocksteady, Roots, Lovers Rock, or Motown covers. This particular comp is pretty interesting. Here's a couple of vids.

Kinda cool, huh?

I gotta thank my girl for getting me this awesome Christmas present. So far I'm only on disc one of three.

I think my clothes are dry now.

Later.

The Blu Stannery Continues

This is a video of the Blu show I went to last week. Blu brings out Pac Div, TiRon, U-N-I, J*Davey, and some other cats to perform a remix to "Doinnothing(Keep It Going).

Blu Interview w/ L.A Stereo

Blu hooks up with L.A Stereo and talks about his new album, writing rhymes, electronic hip-hop, and working with The Roots. Check it out.

Bumpskies for a Rainy Saturday Evening

Here's a mix I created for your listening pleasure. The mixing is kinda shitty but fuck it. Hopefully you'll catch something you haven't heard before. Hopefully I'll get better.

Rainy Day Mix (Click to download)

1. "The Good Shepard" by The Niceguys

2. "Speakers on Blast" by Skyzoo & Illmind

3. "Suit & Tie Theory" by Consequence

4. "Going Home" by Fashawn

5. "Drawbar 1-2" by 7L and Esoteric feat. Evidence and The Alchemist

6. "Blind Love" by Emanon

7. "You're in Shambles" by Del The Funkee Homosapien

8. "Johnny Ryall" by The Beastie Boys

9. "What?" by A Tribe Called Quest

10. "3 Days Later" by A Tribe Called Quest

"Throw Your Hands in the Air, and if That's Too Demanding You Can Stand There and Stare"

Warning: This is mostly a rant. You have been warned.

I hate when artists perform unreleased music. I'm not talking about a song or two. I'm talking about an entire set. I'm talking about songs from an unreleased album that you haven't heard, which means there's the possibility that they won't be any good. There's the possibility that you won't like it. I don't like spending money on things I don't like.

First off, It's super awkward. How are you supposed to react to it? I've always felt that shows are a personal experience. You go to listen, dance, and sing (or rap) along to your favorite songs. At least that's what I do. When a new song is being performed all you are able to do is stand there and awkwardly wave your hands in the air like you just don't care, but you

actually do. If it was up to you your hands would be in your pockets fumbling through change

or updating your Facebook status on your cell phone ("At show."). Hands can be utilized for other useful endeavors besides being suspended in the air against their will. If my hands are going in the air there should either be (a) a gun to my back or (b) my jammy-jam bumping though the speakers. my hands up just because, homie. I ain't putting Also, what if it's wack? The crowd would look like the following picture.

The reason I bring this up is because I went to a Blu show and he performed only new material from his upcoming albums called "No!York". Don't get me wrong it was a dope set, but it would have been nice for him to give his fans what they paid for (to be fair he did perform "Blu Colla Worker"). Although some fans were yelling out "Below the Heavens" (which I will get to later), the man didn't budge. He kept on going through his set.

Typically I'm a pretty rational hip-hop head, which means that I understand it would be fucking mind-numbingly boring to perform old material strictly to please the masses. I understand that. I honestly do, but I still think artists have an obligation to give the fans what they want. I think an artist can create music that doesn't compromise their artistry just for the sake of giving fans what they're already familiar with and still make them happy. Take Nas for example. Artistically Nas is always pushing the envelope, but the three times I've seen him (in three different years) his sets hardly changed (except of course for whatever singles he had out at the time). Although he still puts out great albums, he knows why the fans are there. They wanna hear Illmatic. That's what pays the bills.

But really, I understand. Artists have to grow. Blu doesn't want to be known as the Below the Heaven guy or that dude that did that album with Exile. He wants to expand artistically. The reason Nas has embraced peoples love affair with Illmatic is because it is a cornerstone in hip-hop music. It's hard to ignore that album. It will forever define (but not necessarily limit) Nas' career.

Now, the fans. Some fans are just assholes. Although I specifically go to shows to listen to my favorite songs, I know that the artists is gonna play whatever the hell they want. Some fans think the're in a fuckin' jukebox. Although I hate to stand through a set of new music, I don't think I'll become that idiot in the crowd screaming "play folk music!" When Dylan performed in the 1965 Newport Folk Festival they weren't ready for his hybridized version of folk and rock. His fans were outraged. But in the end what ensued was a revolution.

Sometimes new isn't that bad.

College: A Retrospective (Part 2)

Sophomore Year: 2006-2007

Musically this was a very uneventful year for me. That isn't to say that there wasn't any good music out, but I don't think my life was altered in any significant way by the music I was listening to. Honestly I was way too busy for music. I had an awesome girlfriend that I was rapidly falling in love with, I was working more hours (as a manager), and I was starting to take school seriously. In order to explain why I think music didn't play a pivotal role in my life this year I first have to (painfully) revisit my high-school days.

I hated high-school. It was probably the worst four years of my life. Part of it was my fault. I thought everybody was stupid and not worthy of my time. Who knew that would make me unlikable. I was like a less witty Mexican version of Daria. I was an underachiever and I felt misunderstood. But really, that's an entirely different blog entry in itself so I'll keep it moving.

In order to prevent myself from wallowing in my own pity, I drowned myself in music (which is also an entirely different blog entry in itself). For most of my adolescent life I used music as an escape. When shit was going down between my mom and dad at home I threw on Illmatic, grabbed my headphones. When I had a rough day at school I went home and bumped every Roots album I owned. If I was feeling depressed I let Tribe relax me electrically. You get the point, right. Well, my second year of college (I was 19 years old by the way) was the first time in my that I felt comfortable with myself and my life. Because of this I didn't really need music.

Not a lot of music from this year stands out to me. I was bumping Lupe Fiasco a lot in the beginning of the school year. Food & Liquor had just dropped. I wouldn't say it affected my life in any significant way but it was by far the best hip-hop album I was into throughout that entire year.

See, during my first two years of college I was working at an Ecko Unltd. retail store and we played a lot of current (as well as old-skool) hip-hop. Because I worked a lot I felt like I got my fix while working. The Roots' Game Theory dropped that year and we damn-near played every song on that mug. It took a while for me to really get into that album but when I did I realized how amazing it really is (which is also an entirely different blog entry in itself).

Like I mentioned earlier, I started to get into other genres of music by the end of my freshmen year. This carried into my sophomore year. For Christmas my girlfriend bought me an iPod. It was my first MP3 player and I was in love.

With the iPod mostly, but also with her ( I kid, I kid). Obviously this allowed me to download more music. I started to get into The Smiths, Sonic Youth, Radiohead, and a bunch of other non-hip-hop shit. These were gateway bands because they eventually led me deeper into the rabbit hole and I discovered all kinds of other crazy shit.

Oh, I forgot one thing! I was bumping this 2Mex song pretty heavily that year. I knocked this song almost everyday on my way to school and replayed it several times.

College: A Retrospective (Part 1)

After five long years I am finally done with school! It was hectic at times but I got through it. One of the things that helped me through college (aside from my girl, family, and friends) was music. Instead of simply reflecting on my years in college I decided to explore some of the music I listened to and how it affected my life. Sound interesting? Well, you have no choice fucker. Read it or die. This is the first part and I will be updating on the daily (hopefully). Instead of

exhaustively listing everything I listened to, I only wrote about the music that I would say shaped my life or left a lasting impression on me.

Enjoy.

Freshmen Year: 2005-2006

This was a weird time for me. That past year a close friend of mine, Alex, had passed away and that really fucked me up. This was the only person that I knew that loved hip-hop as much as I did. Although I continued to listen to hip-hop I don't think I had the same zeal for it that i did during high-school. Because we were so similar I felt as if I had lost a part of myself. It sounds corny but it's true. At this point I was confused. I didn't know who I was or who I wanted to be.

By the time I left high-school I didn't know what the hell was going on. I had a pretty fucked up relationship with a girl (an ex with a kid but we still liked each other), I wasn't getting along with my parents, I wasn't sure college was going to work out, and I felt isolated from my friends. The music I listened to reflected this sense of isolation and frustration. This was when I started getting into Atmosphere.

I had God Loves Ugly in my car cd player for the entire Fall semester. I understood Slug's hate toward Lucy. It became the soundtrack to my life. I was in my full-blown "angsty-teenager" phase.

I don't think this album ever left my car. I listened to it on my way to school nearly every day of fall semester. At this same time I was also really into 2Mex. I haven't really listened to 2Mex in a while (except for The Look Daggers shit from a few years back), but I was a BIG fan. I mean BIG. Aside from my Atmosphere CDs, 2Mex is all I bumped throughout the Fall quarter. If you listen to the song below you can probably get a glimpse at my psyche at the time.

Pretty depressing, huh?

Because I was going to college and many of my friends weren't I felt as if I couldn't connect with them. I was trying to make my life better by going to school and they were doing the same shit. Also, I thought that by going to college I was going to meet plenty of new friends but that wasn't the case. I met a few cool people here and there during my Freshmen year but I've lost contact them. Actually, I became closer friends with people I worked with. And of course I was dealing with the pressure of studying and passing my classes. Well, things got better after Winter Break.

By the start of the Spring quarter things started to change. First off, I started to get over my ex. I started to hang out with my friends and getting drunk on weekends. Whatever works, right? This is when I started to listen to other genres of music aside from hip-hop. By this time I started to get bored of hip-hop--at least that was my explanation. Now that I look at it I think that I was pushing hip-hop away because it subconsciously reminded me of Alex. I jumped into the Arctic Monkeys, The Velvet Underground, and Le Tigre. What really opened up my appreciation for rock was the first Interpol album.

Honestly, as depressing as that album can be at times it really helped me feel better about my future. I remember one time I had to drive to the L.A Zoo for an Anthropology assignment and I was playing this album. For some odd reason it made me feel happy. I felt as if everything was going to work out for me. Every time I listen to that album it reminds me of that moment in my life. That's when things started to clear up for me. That's when I met my beautiful girlfriend, Brooke. I started going out with Brooke toward the end of Spring. At this time I was also being promoted at my job. And of course I was finishing up my first year of college. Things were getting better. She was more into commercial hip-hop so I started to school her. Now I find myself asking her to lend me borrow some CDs!

I Have a Confession to Make...

I have never listened to Common's Resurrection in its entirety. Does that make me a poser? Are you disappointed? Filled with anger? Are you gonna run into my house and burn that motherfucker down? Please put down your pitchforks and torches and let me explain myself.

Why haven't I? That's a good question. My reasoning for never listening to this album is that I never felt I needed to. Sure, it has some classics on there ("I Used to Love H.E.R", "Resurrection") and it's an important album in his discography, but it is by no means his best work. Like Water for Chocolate is. It is by far his most cohesive work to date. Being that LWFC was the first Common album I heard, I never felt that I had to dig into his previous records. I feel the same way about One Day It'll All Make Sense and Can I Borrow a Dollar (which aside from a few joints bore me to death). Of course I've heard the singles and skimmed through the album once or twice but I wasn't feeling it.

Honestly, I've never felt that Common was ever one of the most lyrical MCs out there. As a straight spitter he isn't that great (save for "Making a Name for Ourselves", where he holds his own next to a in-his-prime Canibus. He does murder him in his own track, but he did that to everybody. Sorry. I digress.). What does make him great is ability to write cohesive songs about a specific topic. Just look at his history: "I Used to Love H.E.R" (hip-hop), "Retrospect for Life" (abortion), "The Light" (love), and "The 6th Sense" (hip-hop and the hood) among many others. I don't mean to talk shit about his straight spitting tracks (without them we wouldn't have gems like "you rhyme like a nigga with his nipple's pierced"), but Com is at his best when he focuses in on a subject.

So what does this have to do with Resurrection? Well, that album is just Com getting his fliggidy-riggidy flow on. Yeah, it has some bangers, but he was still developing his style as an MC back then. It sounds super outdated compared to his next couple of albums.

Whatever. I'll give it a shot. I borrowed my girlfriend's copy (who is steadily becoming a bigger hip-hop head than me. What?) I'll listen to it and get back at you guys in a couple of days.
Peace.

Guess Who's Bizzack?

Yeah, I know. It's been a long time and I shouldn't have left you without a dope post to step to. It's been about two years and a half since I last updated this blog and a lot of good hip-hop has been dropped. A lot of tears have been shed. A lot of cheeseburgers have been eaten. A lot. Too many actually. But fear not faithful reader I am back.

So why haven't I been blogging you ask? Well, to quote Mr. Kelvin Mercer: "life can get all up in your ass, baby, you betta work it out." You gotta prioritize and I honestly haven't had the time to commit to a blog over the last two and a half years. Hopefully that will change.

Hip-hop and I have have had a very strained relationship throughout the years. As I've grown older and matured I feel that hip-hop has somewhat stayed the same (and at times regressed). Throughout the last three or four years I became tired of listening to how dope an MC is, how many mics he kills, and how many bitches he fucks. I thought it was time to grow up and I wanted substance. Aside from this many of my favorite artists began to dumb down their music or cater to the lowest common denominator in order to become successful instead of pushing their art forward. I wasn't feeling it. After realizing this I started to explore other music. I delved into indie rock, prog rock,and other rock subgenres and found I lot of stuff that I truly dug. But really, my heart has always been in hip-hop.I though that hip-hop had changed but then I reazlized that I had.

These last couple of months have seen me go back to that music that I spent most of my adolescent years loving. What happened? The Roots dropped a new album.

I had forgotten how much I loved The Roots and How I Got Over reminded me of that.

The Roots have always been a big part of my life. They were the first (real) hip-hop group that I listened to and the reason why I fell in love with hip-hop in the first place. It's not their best album but it is definitely their best work since Things Fall Apart. This isn't supposed to be a review of the album so I'll skip on describing it for now, but all in all this is what a hip-hop album should be. Black Thought has definitely grown as an MC (he actually raps about things besides rapping now!) and the band's sound is so intricate and nuanced that they are really starting to transcend genres now. It's a mature hip-hop album for somebody who has grown up with hip-hop. It is exactly what I needed.

No matter what hip-hop is always gonna be about having fun. You can't over think it. For every dude that's trying to be Talib Kweli you have fifty who are trying to become Jay and 50. My problem was that I was forgetting why I loved hip-hop. I forgot that when it comes down to it it's just about dope rhymes and dope beats.

Artist to Check out
The name of today's group is The Doppelgangaz and they hail from Australia (I think). They remind me quite of Artifacts. They have a really dope, throwback to the mid 90s, boom-bap sound. Here are a couple of videos. Hope you enjoy. Peace.

The Doppelgangaz-Digging


The Doppelgangaz-La La La