Free Music Friday: The Spurty, Japanese Boat Loving, Acidy, Swedish, Circus Freaky Edition

First off, a HUGE tip 'o the hat to my foxy partner-in-crime, Megan Terrible, for doing all the heavy lifting this past week whilst i was away on business (and temporarily snowed out of DC, stuck in Salt Lake City). It was a LOOOONG week, but i'm back in the saddle now, as it were, so here we are.

The good news for you kids is that i've had a decent pile-up of tracks with which to share with you on this, the most holy of holies, some random Friday.

Otnorot Recordings has hipped us to the even hipper sounds of GuSHee. Comprised of Cheldon Paterson (production duties, knob twiddling, etc) and Vanese Smith (vox, button pushing, etc), you might recognize the sound, as we've highlighted Paterson's Pro~Ef more than once here. Think of this as Soul II Soul for the Tens.

mp3: When I Think of You...Sunshine (GuSHee from GuSHee, out March 8, 2011)

Speaking of the spoken of before, Junk Culture recently dropped another track from his latest, Summer Friends. Man behind the plan Deepak Mantena seems to be going the Baths route, utilizing a more pop-oriented sound and structure for his otherwise beat driven tunes.

mp3: Weird Teenage Vibes (Junk Culture from Summer Friends, out February 2011)

Since we seem to be on a groove, now would be a good time to mention that Emay has dropped a new EP for our listening pleasure. This kid's sound continues to evolve, and in good ways, too. Hip hop melded with more nuanced beat music. What's not to like?

mp3: Iron Pulse "Starboy" (Emay from Mind Altering Dynamics)

And now, for something completely similar. When i got an email promoting "hippie-hop," my first reaction was "i'll pass." Thankfully, the fact that the band was from Stockholm enticed me to give it a try anyway because i am addicted to Scandinavians for some unfathomable reason. What we've got is a pretty damn good combo sound that's equal parts Doors, Beck and Digable Planets.

mp3: Wonderland (Wonderland 1) (Sidewalk from the Wonderland Sessions)

mp3: Four Roses (Wonderland 2) (Sidewalk from the Wonderland Sessions)

On the opposite end of the email enticement spectrum, as soon as i saw that someone naming himself "Sleepyvillian" had sent something to me, i was immediately intrigued. i first thought it was going to be some Madvillian knock-off or the like, but the email note went on to tell me i had so, so much more on my hands. Sleepyvillian is one Portland, Oregon artist who spent the past few years traveling with Barnum & Bailey Circus as a musician. Fuck me with a lightsaber, i thought, that's audio gold right there, son. His is a sound reminiscent of an even ghostlier TV on the Radio.

mp3: Soft Shoe (Sleepyvillian from his Band Camp)

mp3: Swoon City (Sleepyvillian from his Band Camp)

And that, ladies and gents, is enough to send you on your merry way.

More of the Hippity Hoppity

While i'm clearly addicted to instrumental beat music, i'm surprisingly middle of the road on actual rap music. As far as i'm concerned, the genre died an inglorious death sometime in the late/mid-90s and remained a steaming pile of nerf herding crap for the better part of the next ten years or so. Fortunately, there's been a genuine resurgence in the music as it seems to grow further away from the mainstream spotlight it secured 15 or so years ago. Sure, it's the crap that still sells, but for those in the know, it's the underground and offbeat stuff that's where it's at. What the hell was my point before this pseudo-tirade began? Oh yes, as luck would have it, a number of actually good rap numbers have made their way into ye olde inbox, so let's have at it, won't we?

i've remained purposefully mum on the new Kanye CD because, quite frankly, i don't think too highly of the guy. While i certainly don't need my artists to be picture perfect facsimiles of myself, i need to have some common ground to get into the music, and 'Ye is approaching Prince levels of weirdness. All that being said, this track, released a few weeks back during one of his Good Friday dumps, is a fucking beast, with guests including Bon Iver, Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj and Rick Ross. West's verses are better than average (call my misogynistic, but the lines "Have you ever had sex with a Pharaoh/I put the pussy in a sarcophagus/Now she claiming I bruise her esophagus/Head of the class and she just want a swallowship" crack me up) and Jay-Z's are lackluster, but Nicki Minaj absolutely steals the show on this one. i've been hearing certain folks call hers the verse of the year. While i still don't see the allure of her mixtapes and won't even bother with her debut, if she can go this strong here, she clearly has talent to spare. Now only if she'd show it elsewhere. Anyway, if you want to hear more about KW's latest epic affair, the infallible Passion of the Weiss dedicated enough column posts to the thing for a damn book. My final thought--it's the type of CD you listen to once, pull out a couple of tracks (maybe), and then never listen to again. Or maybe you like egregiously over-hyped epics that go on and on and on and on and on and on, etc.

mp3: Monster (ft. Nicki Minaj, Jay-Z, Rick Ross & Bon Iver) (Kanye West from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy)

i'm glad that Damu the Fudgemunk is as good as he is, because with a name that excellent, there was no choice but for me to write about him. He just dropped his Supply for Demand a couple of weeks ago, and here's a taste. And would you look at that, it's ABOUT D.C. FROM A D.C. LOCAL ARTIST!!! Don't tell me LET is only for Nigerians and Estonians.

mp3: DC Joint (Ward 4 Version) (Damu the Fudgemunk from Supply for Demand)

While we're on the local front, here's another joint produced by Oddisee, this one fronted by Stik Figa. Seriously, i have got to get a rap name.

mp3: From the Top (Stik Figa and Oddisee from Helpless Dreamer)

For today's uplifting track, LET fave Emay takes on the persona of a white racist in an effort to show what hate sounds like. It's a powerful message and a dope tune, but it might have been funnier if he got Clayton Bigsby to spit a few verses.

mp3: Racist on Purpose (Emay from his Bandcamp)

And today's closer could be perhaps my favorite music story of the year. As would any good younger brother and best man , England's Prince Harry knew he was responsible for the bachelor party of all freaky royal bachelor parties for the elder and recently betrothed Prince William. To best accomplish his goal, Hal reached out to none other than Snoop Dogg. In Snoop's own words: “When I heard the royal family wanted to have me perform in celebration of Prince William’s marriage, I knew I had to give them a little something. ‘Wet’ is the perfect anthem for Prince William or any playa to get the club smoking.” In true Snoop fashion, he debuted the following at 4:20 pm. Now, while i'm normally not a fan of the heavily autotuned, i must admit, this one here has club anthem written all over it.

mp3: Wet (Snoop Dogg from upcoming Doggumentary Music)