Whole Wheat Bread – Hearts of Hoodlums

At everydaymusic, we don’t usually give out dietary advice. Today’s different, though. Cameron feeds your ears some Whole Wheat Bread. We also are a blog for the people, by the people, so Cam did the unthinkable (gasp!) and switched up the rating system on me! And on you! Holy cow! Enjoy.

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Whole Wheat Bread is a band that formed out of Jacksonville in 2003 and was a band that didn’t really get much attention in Jacksonville when they first come into existence due to the fact that they played a genre of music that wasn’t anything that could really be categorized. Thus, they predominantly remained an underground stud, playing their style of music: Dirty South Punk Rock.

I grew up in Jacksonville, and didn’t hear about them until late in ’06 when my brother urged me to listen to this great punk band from Jacksonville. I was hesitant at first when he requested my ears, due to my wish-washy stance on punk music, finding some good and a large junk of punk music garbage. But Whole Wheat Bread, an all black punk band, incorporates heavily influences of rock, rap, and hip hop flavors.

The first song I ever heard from Whole Wheat Bread was “The Police Song” off their first album, Minority Rules, which made me more curious about the band and their album. Their debut album is solid with great songs such as “Old Man Samson” and the opening track of the CD, “Broke”. From this album, WWB grew on me and became one of my favorite, go to bands.

It wouldn’t be till late January of this year that their sophomore attempt would hit shelves, with that CD being Hearts of Hoodlums. H.o.H. has 12 tracks that show how WWB has evolved into true Dirty South Punk Rock, as they rep Duval, and blend Punk and Rock equally, with hints of Rap throughout. The album recycles some chords and beats from the previous CD, but if you didn’t listen to the previous album or listen to both Minority Rules and Hearts of Hoodlums as much as I did, then it could easily go unnoticed.

Here at everydaymusic, we like to keep it fresh and mix things up, so I’m going to offer a new rating system that will be me detailed in its critique of each song. The components will be Primacy, Uniqueness and Recency. Then the average these will be the PUR, or overall, Score. Primacy will refer to how the song rates the first time you hear it, Recency will be how memorable the song is and how its replay value stands, while uniqueness is pretty self explanatory.

Track 1: Bombs Away
This is the opening track of their album, and honestly I wish it wasn’t. Many people like this song, but I tend to think it’s not one of their best tracks. It’s a political and social commentary and if I could do one thing to make the record better, I would exclude this track, because it might be the lowest point of the album.
Primacy: 2½ Uniqueness: 3 Recency: 2½

PUR Score: 2½

Track 2: Throw Your Sets Up
This is where we start to get back to some classic Whole Wheat flavor. There is some decent punk going on, while the beat remains fairly rock solid and the lyrics at times blend reggae. The song has some solid reputation value as Whole Wheat Bread gives several mentions of Duval County. It’s fairly unique due to its Jacksonville rep, and its mashing of Rock, Punk and slices of Reggae. Listen to it here.
Primacy: 4 Uniqueness: 4 Recency: 3½

PUR Score: 4

Track 3: Girlfriend Like This
Whole Wheat Bread reverts back to its punk flow with some reasonably lyrics that can become easily relatable. The chorus keeps it fresh and the lyrics will definitely hit you the first time you hear it. “I don’t care if it burns when I piss, I aint never had a girlfriend like this. I don’t care what nobody say. If you don’t like her you’re probably gay.” Sums it all up. Every guy has been with that girl that all his friends told him to stay away from, and this song is the anthem to that relationship. Listen to it here.
Primacy: 4 Uniqueness: 4½ Recency: 4

PUR Score: 4

Track 4: Lower Class Man
“Lower Class Man” should be called “Broke 2″, as it is so sound. If you liked “Broke” on Minority Rules, You are bound to like this song. However, I feel the intro to the song is its strong suit and the song tapers off as it plays. Should have been the opening track on the album.
Primacy: 4 Uniqueness: 3 Recency: 3

PUR Score: 3

Track 5: I Can’t Think
Yet another song with a very fast paced tempo with punk flavor by the Whole Wheat Bread clan. The song has some catchy aspects to it, such as the middle of the song, where it swaps from punk rock to some rap and rock attitude. The song isn’t anything special, nor will it knock you off your feet the first time you hear it, but it doesn’t sour with time either.
Primacy: 2½ Uniqueness: 3 Recency: 3½

PUR Score: 3

Track 6: Ode 2 Father
The opening licks to this song is fantastic, but sounds familiar. That’s because a staple chord of WWB, and they used it in the opening bits of a Minority Rules’ track, “Feel Like Shit”. However, even recycled, it is still a dank chord that leads to a stud beat. This has to be one of my favorite songs on the album and although some may find the lyrics nothing special, they will stick with you and the beat will melt into your head. Listen to it here.
Primacy: 4 Uniqueness: 4 Recency: 5

PUR Score: 4½

Track 7: Staying True
Seems like Whole Wheat Bread might be slowing their jams down with this one as the solemn opening makes you want to skip to the next track to not kill your buzz. Decent lyrics with a decent beat and holy shit, is that piano at the end? Did a Punk Rock band just use piano? They did, cause they lulled you into this soft song and with one minute left on the track, they crank it up with a faster rhythm and punk attitude. Its highly likely you’ll skip this song before you get to the jam at the end the first time you hear the track.
Primacy: 2 Uniqueness: 4 Recency: 3

PUR Score: 3

Track 8: Blood Stains and Bite Marks
Green light says go as this may be the catchiest song on the record as its lyrics are fantastic and the punk flavor is uncharitably good. You will listen to this song several times in a row to figure out the Spanish in the song, and to try and get the song out of your head. Top notch work. Listen to it here.
Primacy: 4½ Uniqueness: 4 Recency: 4½

PUR Score: 4½

Track 9: Every Man for Himself
Yet another recycled chord, but again another goody. This seems like a song that would fit their last album, but the talent has evolved, even if the message remains the same.
Primacy: 4 Uniqueness: 2½ Recency: 4

PUR Score: 3½

Track 10: New Age Southern Baptist Nigga From the Hood
So you have tried punk, now its time for CRUNK. This is more a rap n’ rock song then anything and it doesn’t really fit the rest of the record.
Primacy: 3 Uniqueness: 2 Recency: 2½

PUR Score: 2½

Track 11: Catch 22
This begins the crescendo to the album and it’s a solid one. It will take you some time to switch gears from the rap n’ rock song in track 10, but you’ll surely enjoy this song. This is almost a treat to all the listeners who were patient to get this far in the record.
Primacy : 4 Uniqueness: 3½ Recency: 4½

PUR Score: 4

Track 12: Stuck in Da Dark
Hands down, the best track on the Hearts of Hoodlums. The staple of the song is catchy as anything and the beat blends with the track well, making it a classic. This is the definition of Dirty South Punk Rock. Rap, Rock, Punk and Hip Hop all make its way into the mix, but it is so expertly done that you’ll be more that satisfied. Unique and true, every punk band should aspire to have a song as good as this one. Listen to it here.
Primacy: 5 Uniqueness: 4½ Recency: 5

PUR Score: 5

Hearts of Hoodlums is a great album and has become one of my favorites of all time. It has great replay value and never sours. Even if you don’t like punk, check this album out, as you might be surprised to learn that you like punk, just Dirty South Punk Rock and not that other garbage. The record could be paced a little better with the removal of tracks 1 and 10, as these are the only low points. A more than average musical experience is what you’ll get from a very talented and under rated band.

Overall: 4/5

Illinoize

Let’s be totally honest with each other. I wasn’t planning on writing this. You weren’t planning on reading this. Then I found a dope and free Sufjan Stevens remix tape from Montreal’s own producer Tor. And everyone rejoiced.

It’s true, I wasn’t gonna write anything. I was planning on making some sort of bullshit veteran’s day excuse or something. It wasn’t going to be believable. Luckily, Ryan Lewis put the Sufjan remix thing up on the Twitter and singlehandedly saved tonight’s column. So, if you download it, thank Ryan Lewis. Better yet, go buy his latest album with Symmetry, which has dropped. Listen to it on his MySpace.

But, let’s get down to business. This column’s not about Ryan Lewis or Symmetry or Twitter. It’s about dank, free music. The remix is called Illinoize, and it’s seven tracks long. You can download it for free, right here. It’s quite a listen. The beats are dope, and the acapellas fit perfectly. Every artist featured is great, but I won’t spoil it for you. Check everything out for yourself. And while you’re at it, hit up Tor’s MySpace.

Download it.

This American Life

Some people like Halloween. Others like Labor Day. I like Veteran’s Day. So, in observance, today’s edition is not music. Just a statement that you should follow, if you don’t already.

Listen to This American Life.

Port Blue

You know Owl City. You love Owl City. I hate Owl City. But Adam Young is a musical genius. And Port Blue is a great example of that. It’s his other project, and in my opinion, his better project.

Recently, a friend of mine hooked me up with Port Blue’s The Albatross EP and five other unreleased tracks. I was pretty excited to listen to all this stuff, seeing as I loved the first Port Blue release I heard. It’s called The Airship, and you should listen to it. It’s ambient music, the kind of stuff you’d hear in airports and hotel lobbies. Young mentions that on the Port Blue MySpace, which has been untouched since February of this year. That’s a shame.

Either way, I listened to the Port Blue stuff I recently acquired, and it’s not that I was disappointed, but it just wasn’t as good as I expected. Young still demonstrates his musicianship quite amply, but it feels like there’s something missing. It felt like it was ever so slowly drifting into an Owl City direction.

One of the slight slip-ups of the album may have been the lack of vocal samples. The Airship used a good number of vocal samples, and I really liked that about the album. It added a whole new dimension to it, helping it tell more of a story. I feel like those vocal samples, though, are something you either love or hate. So, if you didn’t like the vocal samples, The Albatross EP and the unreleased tracks will be a treat for you. If you’re a lover of the speaking parts, like I am, you may be slightly disappointed.

Seeing how Adam doesn’t really seem to be interested in Port Blue anymore, I’ll try to spread the music, just so everyone can see the dude’s more than just Owl City. He’s a musician.

Download The Airship.

Download The Albatross EP.

DJ Alibi

So, I’ve been on the instrumental kick recently, listening to lots of different producers and lots of different hip-hop instrumentals and what not. Today, I’m talking about DJ Alibi, who now goes by The Hands of Stone.

I found out about DJ Alibi through Last.fm. There were multiple times where I heard fresh beats and found that they were by Alibi. I then decided to look up some more info about him and found out he was born in Russia. It was at that point that I decided his beats must featured.

I messaged Alibi on facebook, and he told me that right now he’s working on a project called The Hands of Stone. You can navigate that site by clicking on the different releases on the right hand side of the page. Each song usually features the instrumental along with it. It doesn’t seem like there’s too much stuff out there by The Hands of Stone, though so this post is gonna focus on DJ Alibi’s beats.

As DJ Alibi, he has gotten love from the Indiefeed community, with “Let’s Ride” for example, which featured Insight.You can check out DJ Alibi’s MySpace page to experience some of his beats. They’re definitely dope. The “Round and Round” beat is fresh, and it’s pretty sweet that Giant Panda is on it. “One Day” and “When The Lights Get Low” are the first two instrumental tracks I heard from him, and those are the ones that really made me decided to write this. Both are mad fun to freestyle over. The production value is off the chain.

Like I said, he’s more focused on The Hands of Stone stuff now, I think, and it’s equally as good from what I’ve heard of it. I just haven’t heard as much since I can’t find it anywhere. For now, look into buying DJ Alibi’s album One Day, which you can get at used from Amazon for like five dollars total. Totally worth it. Be it DJ Alibi or Hands of Stone, either way, he’s holdin it down in Toronto. Check him out.

Wale – Attention Deficit

Finally. A track-by-track review. This is officially the first one of these I’ve written since the 27th of August. That means it’s been over two months. Wowza. It’s Wale’s new album Attention Deficit.

So, this album was initially supposed to release in early September I think, and it ended up getting pushed back to this week. The reason for that is because Wale went on tour with Jay-Z, J. Cole, and N.E.R.D. Business-wise, definitely a good decision, but sort of frustrating for the fans. He kept us waiting and waiting, and then when the day came… well… keep reading.

Track 1: Triumph
This track sets a pretty good basis for the album, and Wale delivers a pretty solid message right off the bat. He recycles a couple rhymes from his mixtapes in the first verse, but that’s not really anything to complain about. All in all, it’s a pretty average track, and a decent choice to open with. 3

Track 2: Mama Told Me
The first of three tracks produced by Best Kept Secret on the album, and I’ve gotta say, all four of the beats are pretty solid, including this one. I’m not a huge fan of the hook, but the verses ooze lyricism as always. Again, a pretty average track, but Wale’s average is pretty far above most others’ averages. 3

Track 3: Mirrors (Feat. Bun B)
Right off the bat, I really like the stuttering thing he does. It gives the song a little bit more tension, and it works really well. This is the first track on the album that features another artist, and that artist is Bun B. All I can say is I’m glad that it happened sooner. That way I have more time to forget about it. 2½

Track 4: Pretty Girls (Feat. Gucci Mane and Weensey from Backyard Band)
This track is the third single off of the album and with good reason. In my opinion, this is the first above-average track, despite the inclusion of Gucci Mane, who I’m not a terribly huge fan of. The hook is definitely catchy. My sole complaint is the “ugly girls be quiet, quiet” part, but I also kind of don’t give a fuck. 4

Track 5: World Tour (Feat. Jazmine Sullivan)
A variation of the “Award Tour” hook is used in this track, and Wale actually manages to do this pretty tactfully. A pretty solid choice for the second single, especially with Jazmine Sullivan’s vocals added into the mix. It clocks in at 3:48, but feels a bit faster than that, meaning that the songs doesn’t get old. That’s a plus. 4

Track 6: Let It Loose (Feat. Pharrell)
When I first saw the track listing for this album, this was the track I was most excited to hear. I figured, I generally like Pharrell, I generally like Wale, so I’d have at least a slightly positive reaction to this track at the very least. Boy, was I wrong. After hearing this track, I was pretty disappointed, not gonna lie. It didn’t really have much real content, which may be good for being drunk to, but that’s not what I was doing. And then it’s almost five minutes long. Too much. My least favorite track on the album. 2

Track 7: 90210
The second Mark Ronson-produced track on the album (the first being “Mirrors”). Deijon helped with the production as well, so I guess it’s not just Mark, but I’ve gotta say the synth progression is really catchy, yet not completely predictable, which is a great formula. Lyrically, the song is pretty good, but the message is really the better part. From here on out, the album definitely began to step up. 4

Track 8: Shades (Feat. Chrisette Michele)
I love this track. Once again, the message is one I can get behind. Michele’s vocals really add to the track, and that seems to be the general trend on this album. If there’s a female vocalist, a whole new dimension is added to the song. The beat for this song is also incredibly dope; kudos to Best Kept Secret for that. 4½

Track 9: Chillin (Feat. Lady Gaga)
I’m not really feeling the “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” sample. Like, it starts to grows throughout the song, and kind of begins to work, but it just feels out of place to me. Honestly, this song just isn’t the type of song I like. It was the first single, so I assume they considered this one to have the most commercial potential. The weakest track on the second half of the album. 2½

Track 10: TV in the Radio (Feat. K’naan)
The ever-present K’naan is featured in this track, and he definitely adds to the lyrical value of this track, although I’m not a huge fan of the hook or the beat. After “Chillin” though, this is a welcome change. 3

Track 11: Contemplate
The beat definitely feels darker and heavier than most of the material on the album, and I think the female vocal hook works really well. That seems to be a successful method for Wale. The subject matter is good. It’s really all part of a building process toward the last track. 3

Track 12: Diary (Feat. Marsha Ambrosius)
Once again, we get to experience the “Wale + female vocalist” song formula, and yet again, it works. A bit into the second half of the track, Wale has a sort of spoken word poetic bit, and it’s done really well. It’s been impressive how Wale’s managed to show a different side of himself. 3½

Track 13: Beautiful Bliss (Feat. Melanie Fiona and J. Cole)
This track is better than the track before it, and it’s really nice how the album builds toward a really good ending. J. Cole’s verse is pretty hot, and the beat is well-crafted. The kick hits hard, and that really helps make the song. Wale’s “elastic is my wallet” bit is pretty clever, as is the part about “shifting keys” and getting the “capital raised up” (get it?). At 5:05, this is the longest track on the album, and it doesn’t disappoint. 4

Track 14: Prescription
A brilliant ending to the album. This is by far my favorite track. The beat is magical, and once again, crafted by Best Kept Secret. All the instrumentation works so well together. Everything adds to everything else, and it just builds a wave of sound, a perfect background for Wale to spit on. It’s really nice how it manages to tie in the whole “attention deficit” thing. There’s some spoken word type stuff going on at the end, and it’s a super effective way to end the album. “Prescription” is easily the best song on the album. Great ending. 5

So, what’ve we learned from this album? Well, when Wale works with female vocalists, the end result usually sounds a lot better than him doing the hooks himself. See, while I was really excited for this album, you could kind of already tell he popped. Maybe I’m giving Wale too much credit. Maybe not everyone know who he is yet. But he says his name so much, it’s hard to believe people haven’t heard of him. I think he can stop that by the way. I’ve yet to meet anyone who has pronounced his name “whale”. All in all, the album was kind of what I expected… a more mainstream version of the mixtapes.

Overall: 3/5

The Go! Team

If you like car-chase noises and stuff, you’ll like The Go! Team. Unless you’ve heard The Go! Team before and didn’t like them. Then you probably won’t. And if you already like them, why’re you reading this? Go listen to them. Unless you want to read about them. And if that’s your calling, well, lucky you… Chris wrote about them.

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Featured tonight is a trippy band from England called The Go! Team. Founded by Ian Parton and led by a broad named Ninja, the band combines live instruments with a slew of samples and, in live performances, chucks in some freestyle vocals. Did I mention there are two drummers? Because there are.

Ok, now that the cool/exciting hook part is over, I’ma let you in on some backstory. Way in the day, Ian Parton wanted to create some legit jamz that incorporate his favorite things: double-dutch and cheerleader chants, Sonic Youth-style guitars, car chase noises, and all things 70’s. It just keeps getting better, I know! He mixed all those ingredients together in his parents’ kitchen, then a couple chemical reactions and a small explosion later, the smoke cleared to reveal Thunder, Lightning, Strike – the first album from The Go! Team.

The album arrived in Europe in late 2004, and the industry straight ate it up. It still ranks high on Metacritic and Pitchfork all-time lists, and even earned the band a Mercury Prize nomination. In September 2007, they released their sophomore attempt, Proof of Youth, which also fared well with critics (including myself). This album expanded on the previous effort, including in guests such as hip-hop legend Chuck D and some of Solex’s ample samples. There are also harmonicas, melodicas, banjos, tambourines, and the glockenspiel – something for everybody.

But what’s for you? Start with “Friendship Update” and “Bottle Rocket” from their first album, then taste their second release with “My World,” “Patricia’s Moving Picture,” and “Flashlight Fight,” the final of which extensively features Chuck D. Live shows often differ vastly from their studio recordings (mostly due to Ninja’s improvising), so make sure to check that out as well. They’re currently working on their third album; some sort of further news is expected on it in 2009.

The Go! Team is one of my favorite bands – and probably my favorite instrumental/sample band, narrowly beating out acts like The Avalanches and Girl Talk. I encourage you check them out, if you’re into that hemisphere of music. If nothing else, it’s great tunes to do drugs to.

Sufjan Stevens – The BQE

Wale’s album Attention Deficit finally dropped. I’ve listened through it a couple times, and I think it warrants a full track-by-track review. So, I’m thinking about doing that for Friday. We’ll see. Today, though, it’s some Sufjan Stevens you may not have heard yet. The BQE.

I think that Sufjan is probably one of the most creative musical minds of our time. His album Illinois is definitely one of the top five albums of all time. Every song on it captivates me, and if I was to do a track-by-track of it, no track would score less than a four and half. It’s that good. Really.

That’s why I was psyched when my friend told me about some newer Sufjan material that’d been released. The project is called The BQE, and it’s pretty much a musical study of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. How much inspiration can you draw from a road? Your garden variety commuter might not get a whole lot from it, but Sufjan completely transforms it into a work of beauty. You can listen to and download an interview with him from WNYC’s Spinning on Air radio program. They cover quite a few topics and play some songs of his.

Interested in hearing The BQE? Well, you can download it right here. It’s well worth a listen, and while it may not be music to sing along with (cause there’re no words, get it?), it’s definitely well-composed music with lots of emotion. Get it.

Eminem – Exclusive Concert Coverage (Voodoo Fest 2009)

So, this past weekend was the Voodoo Festival in New Orleans. The festival had quite a variety of musicians ranging from The Flaming Lips to The Cool Kids to Justice to Gogol Bordello. Aditya was lucky enough to be able to go to first night of the festival… which included the return of Eminem. Here’s his take on it. (All the photos you see were taken by Aditya when he was at the show.)

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I should start this by saying that, for the purposes of this review, my name might as well be Stan.

Eminem has been absent from the touring circuit since Proof’s death.  In fact, his appearance at the Voodoo Festival in New Orleans on October 30th was his first real show since he cut the European leg of his Anger Management 3 Tour due to “exhaustion resulting from dependency on sleep medication.”

Needless to say, I was excited.  And so were the legions of other fans who braved hurricane-like conditions and total squalor for a chance to see Mr. Mathers return to the stage.  The audience is who you would have expected it to be.  It was mostly made up of 15-20 year-old white males with a certain affinity for New Era fitteds and oversized hoodies.  However, this was New Orleans’ Voodoo Festival, and this was a chance to see one of the most controversial figures in music return to the stage so there were many different kinds of people sprinkled throughout the crowd.  Generally speaking however, the crowd was filled with boys (men) who knew all the words to all of his songs.  The inclement weather conditions dispersed those that were merely “just curious.”

Keep in mind that this concert was on the infamous Devil’s Night, and Halloween’s eve.  Considering the topic matter of Relapse, it is pretty natural to conclude that the concert would have very dark themes and overtones, and the beginning did not disappoint.  Eminem’s live band and DJ Alchemist came on stage wearing glow-in-the-dark skeleton suits at 9:30 sharp.

The lights went off and a giant HD screen displayed a message of the escape of a mental patient in the New Orleans area who had ingested large amounts of psychiatric medication.  Then, there brief cuts of a remastered version of the “3 AM” video and the ominous drum roll yielded a refreshed and renewed Eminem dressed exactly as he was in the “3 AM” video, complete with bloody white t-shirt.  After a stirring rendition of “3 AM”, “Hello”, and “Business”, Shady went off-stage for a costume change and came back with D12.

D12 performed their songs on Eminem albums as well as their hit songs (“Purple Pills”, “My Band”), and a performance of “Fight Music” that I was really looking forward to.  Em has mentioned in numerous interviews that “Fight Music” is his favorite song to perform, but neither I nor the crowd was particularly moved.  For some reason when they were performing, I just felt really, really old.  As if I couldn’t believe that I used to like this music, and even more so, I started noticing how old the members of D12 actually were.  Bizzare is a 33 year-old man who still comes on stage wearing a shower cap.  Swifty came on stage looking a bit like a balloon dressed in a Fila sweatsuit.  Kuniva looked like he was 40. A notable exception is Kon Artis AKA Mr. Porter who was one of the most enjoyable parts of the show.  He has replaced Proof as Em’s on-stage hype man and held his own as a live performer.

The D12 portion of the concert was the natural lull at the midpoint of the concert as Em got the crowd back involved with “Kill You” that had active crowd participation.  It was pretty chilling to hear thousands of people chanting the chorus to this.  Em kept the crowd involved with a performance of “Cleanin out My Closet” complete with an obligatory “F**K YOU MOM!”

At this point, the concert took an ominous tone away from the horror-core theme towards a more focused and serious performance of his anthemic hits.  ”Superman” and “Sing for the Moment” were absolutely amazing to experience live with Eminem remaining on stage solely by himself and managing to keep the audience in the palm of his hand.  He then followed with a performance of “Stan” where he performed all of Stan’s verses (but not his own) with no reference track.  He changed his voice for the song, and it seemed like this was the only song that the audience stopped chanting the lyrics to just marvel at his ability to change his voice and become more meek yet make his words so captivating and powerful.  This was followed with an absolutely amazing rendition of “Beautiful” that made me re-appreciate the song and really understand the sincerity that he feels.  The line “one tough act to follow” live seemed to hit home with everyone in the audience.  He closed his set with a half-hearted and super quick one-verse renditions of “We Made You”, “Without Me” and “The Real Slim Shady” and exited the stage abruptly with a “Thank You New Orleans.”  The band remained on stage and the audience clamored for an encore.  The lights came back on with flyover shots of the city of Detroit and the familiar piano of the beginning of “Lose Yourself.”  Once the oh-so-recognizable guitar riffs came on, the audience erupted as Eminem rushed back on stage to perform the song of his career.

All in all, this was a “moment” for me and for every other loyal Eminem fan at City Park.  He is equivalent (to us) to Madonna, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z, etc.  He is a true icon and he performed like he missed it.  Aside from the D12-induced lull, and obligatory performances of his top 40-radio material, it was a fantastic return to form.  If you get a chance to see him: Do so.

Hidden Beach Recordings

Wait, what? It’s already November? That’s right. Everydaymusic is now in the fifth month of it’s existence. Still not hip enough to be picked up by Hype Machine, but that’s okay. We aim low. Today it’s the Unwrapped series from Hidden Beach Recordings.

A friend of mine showed me the Unwrapped series a few weeks ago, and I’ve gotta say, it’s pretty dope stuff. I have a strong affinity for jazz as well as hip-hop, so what I immediately liked what I heard. See, what Hidden Beach does is use the choruses of some classic hip-hop tunes, but instead of any verses, you get to listen to awesome jazz instumentals.

Right now I think they’ve got up through Volume 5 of these Unwrapped albums, and I believe Volume 6 drops in like a week. You can visit the Unwrapped page and investigate for yourself (the music that plays is coming from the player on the left hand side, in case you have trouble finding it). Drake’s “Best I Ever Had”, Beyonce’s “Single Ladies”, and T.I.’s “Live Your Life” are just a few of the tracks that are gonna be on Volume 6. Personally, De La Soul’s “Me, Myself and I” is the track I’m looking forward to the most. Check out the track listing.

They did a bunch of cool stuff on the first five volumes. Their version of Outkast’s “So Fresh, So Clean” is definitely worth listening to. “Forgot About Dre”, “Stan”, and of course, “Bonita Applebum” are all tracks you should hear. Honestly, you can just stumble around YouTube, sifting through the Hidden Beach videos. They’ll probably have done a couple of songs you like.

You can download a free mixtape of some of their work from the previous five volumes for free right here. You have to create an account, but after that, you can just click purchase. Don’t worry about entering any of your payment info, since it is free and all.

If you’re interested in purchasing anything, you can find links to download purchases or physical CD purchases on the right-hand side of the Unwrapped site. SadSteve doesn’t have much, but there is the Hidden Beach version of the ATCQ track “Electric Relaxation” which is fresh to death. You can peep that, and even download it for free if you so desire. Enjoy!