The Week of New Music
This has been a great week for me for new music. It’s been so long since I’ve gotten some new music, so I’ve been keeping my ears busy with CunninLynguists’ Dirty Acres and Wyclef Jean’s The Carnival II. This week I downloaded three really good albums from the iTunes music store.
Tonedeff – Deffinitions
This album is a compilation of instrumentals by the very talented Tonedeff. There’s really nothing this guy can’t do. He is an amazing emcee, a wonderful singer, and a very underrated producer. This compilation is a collection of some of his best production. I really don’t know how he narrowed it down to the tracks featured on this album. He could release 3 or 4 albums of his best production, which I guess this is why it’s Vol. 1. Some of the stand out tracks are Stomp, Don’t Do It, and Route of Evil. If you like to hear multi-layered hip hop production that are more orchestrations than beats, check out this album.
Del the Funky Homosapien – 11th Hour
Del is back with a solo album after an 8 year absence. If you liked any of his previous work, you’ll love his Def Jux release. It’s more raw than his previous albums, showcasing more of his flow and lyrics than some of his previous albums. While I do miss the wonderful compositions by Dan the Automator that appeared on his group album Deltron 3030, it’s nice to hear something that focuses more on Del and his great voice and flow than the beats. Some of the stand out tracks on this are Raw Sewage and Naked Fonk.
Gnarls Barkley – The Odd Couple
True to the album title, Cee-lo Green and DJ DangerMouse certainly are an odd couple. They took the world by storm with the first joint album as Gnarls Barkley in St. Elsewhere. Well, the chemistry that made them a hit last year is back in The Odd Couple. This time there seems to be a bit more substance in the album. While it doesn’t have a stand out single like St. Elsewhere’s Crazy, there are plenty of great tracks on this album. Whereas Del’s album is more simple in production, we get the same great multi-layered production that we come to expect from DangerMouse. While this album is less of a dance album, you will still find yourself nodding your head to every track. It’s great to see so much creativity in music, especially after listening to carbon copy music on the radio time after time. Standout tracks include Neighbors and Who’s Gonna Save My Soul?”
All three of these albums can be found in the iTunes Music Store. I suggest you buy all three.