I love letting other people see what tracks I listen to and I love being able to find artists similar to what’s on my playlist, that is why I love last.fm. Even though I don’t use my MacBook for listening to music much, when I do I still like to scrobble, or submit, the tracks. My problem has always been finding a good Mac client to do this. I used to use Menuet, but every time I right click the icon in the menu bar it crashes. So, I’m saying goodbye to that. I downloaded and installed the official client from last.fm and that was deleted almost instantaneously. The client gives you the option to place an icon in the menu bar but doesn’t give you the option of hiding it on the dock when it’s open. I don’t want it on my dock. At all. Deleted. So, right now I’m trying iScrobbler. We’ll see how I like this one when I’m actually able to listen to music. Does anyone have a suggestion for a last.fm app? Do you use something you think is better? If so, let me know.
You know, it’s funny what a young man recollects. ‘Cause I don’t remember being born. I don’t recall what I got for my first Christmas and I don’t know when I went on my first outdoor picnic. Oh wait, that was Forrest Gump, not me. It really is funny what you do remember though. The past couple nights I’ve fallen asleep listening to music. Then I remembered something that for some reason always in the back of my mind. When I was really young I remember being at my Grandma and Grandpa Schepker’s house. They had cable and we didn’t. I remember watching MTV. Now, I couldn’t have been any older than 9 at the time. I was probably younger. I remember watching a black and white music video there. What stuck out in my mind about it was how the video was shot. Not only was it in black and white, but there were a lot of unfocused close-ups and what I would now call “lazy” camera work. This was intentional. In fact, it reminds me a lot of the same style of camera work that made the tv show NYPD Blue famous. Those things, and not who was on the video, made an impression on me. Years later, after seeing that video again, I realized that it was a video for a song called “Brenda’s Got a Baby” by Tupac Shakur. Those who know me know I’m a huge Tupac fan. It’s funny how I was connected with him that young, years before I became a fan of his music and it’s funny that I would still remember seeing a single video over fifteen years ago. It was a good video though.
I don’t listen to rap. I used to. In the ’90’s I listened to Tupac, Snoop, Tha Dogg Pound, etc. That time has come and gone. I still will listen to rap from the 1990’s. It was a good era, in my opinion. Today’s rap sucks. It’s the commercialized bubble-gum, carbon-copy crap on every station. I am an elitist. I’m not afraid to admit it. Yes, I think everything I listen to is better than what you listen to. If you listen to something I do, then I’m still more hip than you because I listened to it sooner. Yeah, I know. I just can’t help myself. I love to recommend good music and show off my superior musical taste.
In conversations when asked what I listen to I always answer, “Underground hip hop.” I have to make sure to set myself apart from the heard of crappy rap listeners. I don’t listen to underground just to be different. Not at all. I’ll be the first to say I think an underground artist sucks (sorry Immortal Technique). If the artist doesn’t have good lyrics, flow, and production, then I’m not going to be a fan. Just because you’re underground doesn’t mean I’ll automatically like you. These people are just the same as people who follow the mainstream rappers blindly. Then I came across this post in the QN5 forums that sums up these thoughts perfectly. It was written by Kno of CunninLynguists:
Stereotypical “Underground heads” generally don’t take to QN5 well.
Many of them listen to “underground rap” simply because its the antithesis of whats on the radio and they have some friends that are into it so they aren’t completely alone.
So…whats the opposite of super clean, crisp beats with rappers with little to no substance but great flow and charisma rapping about rims?
Super muddy, overly-wordy, poorly delivered raps about science over crusty boom-bap…so thats what they go for, regardless if its dope or not. Many “underground heads” are just as much sheep as your average pop radio listener, truth be told…and your average underground rapper is just as much of a gimmick as their mainstream counterparts. If you’re biggest selling point is “you ain’t like that mainstream shit” you need to stop rapping immediately.
QN5 is crusty BUT clean, substance-filled BUT not TOO over-your-head, charismatic but not ALL swagger. Complicated lyrics but…pop-worthy hooks? It makes your average “followers” head explode, honestly.
QN5 appeals to people with their own personal tastes who simply like good rap music, period. Not many of those left.
This is the music I’m gravitating to more and more. QN5 is a high quality label that puts out amazing music, and to be honest, they’ve turned me on, directly or indirectly, to other music, most not even hip hop. Other underground artists were/are like that too: Jurassic 5, Binary Star, etc.
I’m not totally turned-off by mainstream rap. Kanye has some really good songs that convey the same things as my underground favs. The thing is, I’ve noticed that some of my past underground favs I’m no longer enjoying. I guess my musical taste is changing with age. I used to be a huge fan of Tech N9ne. I still think he can make good music and will still buy his music, but I don’t feel the excitement I used to feel with his music. I don’t know. Why can’t the world be more like QN5 and their passionate artists?
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.
I really love the band Flogging Molly. I’ve been a fan of them for years, since I heard their album Drunken Lullabies. Ever since I picked up that album I’ve been following their music career as closely as possible. I’ve purchased all their albums and enjoy them. Their latest album Float is a superb album. Anyone who is a fan of good punk rock, especially Irish-American punk rock, needs to listen to this. From their website:
Flogging Molly’s latest album, Float, recorded in King’s native Ireland, delivers still another iteration of the band’s sonic evolution. More mature yet retaining the immediacy that marks all of their work, Float may find the widest audience acceptance of any Flogging Molly album. Hard charging tunes “Paddy’s Lament” and “You Won’t Make a Fool Out of Me” give way, as listeners have come to expect, to more sober ruminations on tracks like “Float.” The overall effect is a symphonic layering of sound that possesses a unique rhythmic flow from boisterous to bereaved and back again. Long time fans and new discoverers will be equally astounded.
My favorite track from the album right now is “Requiem for a Dying Song.” It’s the first track on the album and sets the pace for what is to come on the rest. Enjoy.