The View

Devandra Banhart & The View

For all of you who like music like Jose Gonzales, Elliot Smith and Iron and Wine you really have to check out Devandra Banhart. Especially the album ("Cripple Crow) I bought yesterday at my favourite stor "Record Hunter".
He's catigorized as some sort of folk/indie/americana/psych ispired hippie but I don't know, it doesn't quite sound like anything I've heard before.
It's filled with joy, but still lots of depth. It's dark, but you I would not mind listen to it a nice summer day.

He was born in Houston, raised in Venezuela, and he has lived in San Francisco, New York and is currently living in LA. Since his debut album in 2003, "The Black Babies" he has released 11 albums. According to the guy at Record Hunter the one I bought is known to be the best...

So check it out!
Website



Album number two I want you to know about is The Views "Hats of to the buskers". It's their first album, released in January '07, and it's awesome!
They have been the opening act to Babyshambles but the shambles are way behind these scotish rockers! Filled with passionete explosive kick ass music it's clearly one of my favourites this year!

Give it a listen if you like The Libertines, The Strokes and that kind of stuff!

Spice 1 - Spice 1 (1992)

Coolin on the corner with the cellular phone

you can tell that the East Bay was his home

More mail than the rest of the pushers

cuz he’s got a technine in the bushes

Spice 1 self titled record is by many considered a classic, with good reason. How often can you listen to an entire disc from 1992 without feeling atleast some of the tracks sound a little bit dated? Till last week I hadn't listend to this record in, eh, a long long too long time. One of those records I used to bumb the shit out of when I was younger, had even less benjamins to spend on music and didn't know sheit about computers.


Point is nowdays I tend to never listen to the same album as much and so intense as I did as a younsta, there's to much music to here and to little time. I wish the week had 12 days and each day 40 hours, then I'd prah'lee even have time to learn listening to all that brit pop and drum n bass or whatever my friends tryn' tell me about haha.. Anyhoo, Spice 1's selftitled album is one of those albums I grew up with, I listend to it 24/7 for weeks, months. Whenever I didn't listen to it I might have listend to a Biggie Smalls or Eazy-E record, but that was it. So this a littlbe bit of my childhood I'm giving you.

Actually thinking of it, do I like this record so much because of how much I've listend to it or because it's jammin? Not so sure. To the music. Spice 1's Spice 1 is the first real full length album from the Texas born rapper and truly I have no idea how big this record was back then. I was six when it dropped and honestly I hadn't found out about bay area gangsta rap. Shit I couldn't even speak English back then. This record might be all over the web or more or less unknown, I really don't know.

Spice 1's deliverly is hard as hell. He's vicious gangsta rapper and this record is seriously some of the most gutter shit I've ever heard. He raps about violence, prostitution, the dope game and he does it without analyzing too much. He's more kinda accepting and bitter over the common every day life of the young black ghetto resident. With an ironic tone too it. Eh. Short spoken, shit that sounded amazingly hard and facinated the my young mind. I still feel the early 90's west coast gangsta rap was some of the realest most authentic music ever. It doesn't feel like a trick to sell records or anything. Which does kinda matter.

Oh, if anything is misspelled, it's 'cause I'm a hip hop head. We don't learn grammar in the south ye heearr... haha

Beatwise it's some funky hardcore shit. Legendary bay area producers Ant Banks and E-A Ski does most of the work. Other production credits goes to Black Jack, CMT and Spice 1 himself. Best tracks: 183 Proof, East Bay Gangster, Welcome To The Ghetto, aahhw shit the whole reocord is dope. Give this a listen. I have to go back to work. Peace

I couldn't find my copy of the disc at home so I can't say who produced which track, but I'll be sure to edit the post once i find it!

Spice 1 (1992)

Tracklist:

1. In My Neigborhood
2. 187 Proof
3. East Bay Gangster (Reaggae)
4. Money Gone
5. 1-800-Spice
6. Peace To My Nine
7. Young Nigga
8. Welcome To The Ghetto
9. Fucked In The Game
10. Money Or Murder
11. City Streets
12. 1-900-Spice
13. Break Yourself

Internet:
http://www.myspace.com/spiceone

New contributor, new post

Yesterday I asked my friend Hugo the Dude if it would be alright with him for me to write a little bit here every now and then. Needles to say, he welcomed me with open arms!

Altough I'm a bit of a HipHop fan (Cunninlynguists, Wordsworth, Gangstarr etc.), I'm more into pop/rock and singer/songwriter kind of music. So for me it's sort of a perfect week to start writing here since two of my favourites are releasing new albums on wednesday 26/9: Jose Gonzalez and Iron and Wine.
Jose the bigger star despite the fact he has only one studio album released, the massive hit "Veneer", and Iron and Wines "The Sheperds Dog" becoming his fitfh since the very mellow and beautiful debut "The Creek Drank the Cradle.

After buying at least Joses "In our Nature" I'll post a review for you to read.
Until then you might want to check out Elliott Smith, Jack Johnson, The Shins and one of my alltime fovourite albums, Rolling Stones "Beggars Banquet"!

Buy it and support the artists!
Listen now!
Jose Gonzalez at Myspace where you can listen to "In our Nature"

Peace
Fredrik

Baby Blak - Once You Go Blak (2003)

First time I heard this was about a year ago. I bought used after some dude at my local record store recomended it to me. Before that, never heard of the dude. I guess you could call that guy a real life music blog or something. Wait isn't that kinda twisted? Shit it's not a good thing when meeting acutal people with an real interest in hip hop is so seldom it seems, well I don't know, just unusual. Well, nuff about me. I don't have time for this anyway, Barcelona is playing Lyon in like 30 minutes and that I can't miss...



So I guess I'll just rush this post, this one too...



Baby Blak is a Philly native and hip hop veteran. Until 2003 and releasing this record he was part of the duo ILL Advised with Mr. Lish. Apparently this group is quite well known among hip hop heads, minus me. I had never heard of them before reading up about Baby Blak right after I bought this disc. Searching the web for info didn't make me much wiser, this kid don't even have a wikipedia page it seems. Which is quite suiting for me since I don't have that much time posting anyways (shit I really should post more, and mos def don't complain about time shortage when I do post - fuck it I do what I wan't it's my blog....). Anyhoo, seems his been working with philly legend DJ Jazzy Jeff a bit, appearing on some record of him. I guess some of you will remember him from there.



All you really need to know is something you going to have to take my word for, this is a skilled lyricist! His flow is crazy and from what I guess is a small budget he shows real talent in picking beats! He managed to get dope beats from jazz hip hop pro Kev Brown, Jay Ski, Soul Supreme (first time I post something by a swedish artist!!!) and a whole bunch of banging beats from calis DJ Revolution. And some beats from to me unkown producers, see tracklist. Most of the beats are just crazy, I'm writing i twice so you know I mean it! And they're so suting for his smooth voice.

Alright. So I didn't manage to finish the post before the game last night, so I'll just try and finish it here at work. Kinda fun actually cause I have to sneak with it and make sure my boss don't catch doing some private blog shit at work, I'm not sure how he would react to that. I'm supposed to be printing bills.

Well, back to music. Topicwise he starts out rapping about groving up in Philly, street life and such. Every track is like it's own little tale in which he pretty much tells us about his life. Struggling as a starving artist and going to Cali to record music. Good story telling with nice wordplay. Back to work. I'll just post it like this, hope someone will enjoy! Peace/hugo

Baby Blak - Once You Go Blak (2003)

Tracklist:

1. Intro (prod. DJ Revolution)
2. Once You Go Blak (prod. Rob Dinero)
3. Wake Up (prod. DJ Revolution)
4. Tables Turn (prod. DJ Revolution)
5. Fallin' Down (prod. Joey Chavez)
6. Friends (prod. Jay Ski)
7. Economix (prod. Kev Brown)
8. Tasters Choice (prod. Nucleus A.Burton)
9. Crazy (prod. Jay Ski)
10. The Youth (prod. P-Smovah
11. Starvin' Artist (prod. Street Orchestra)
12. Firewater (prod. Soul Supreme)
13. So Many (prod. Nucleus A.Burton)
14. Peace feat. Mr. Lish (prod. Jay Ski)
15. No Coast All Stars feat. Planet Asia & Obie Trice (prod. DJ Revolution)
16. Daddy Dearest feat. Lady Alma (prod. P-Smoovah)
17. Diamonds (Diemon) (pord. Sat 1)

On da net:
http://www.myspace.com/babyblakkat

The Last Mr. Bigg - Trial Time

So I couldn't get this thing to work posted in the same post as the Mr Bigg text and album.. Check that post below for mor info..

If you've been around the blogworld for a minute you might have seen this video before, first time I saw it it was posted on www.cocaineblunts.com and I've also seen on some other blog I can't remember..

The Last Mr. Bigg - Only If You Knew (2000)

Honestly, I don't know a whole lot about this guy - so prah'lee it won't be a long post this time. The Last Mr. Bigg (a.k.a. Diamond Eyes, real name Donald Maurice Pears) is from Alabama somewhere and his been releasing records since sometime before 2000 I'd guess. I've been havning problems finding out when he dropped any of his discs. His first disc only if you knew (which I'm posting today) dropped 2000 and his second disc the mask is off dropped 2003, according to his wikipedia page, that's all I know. His wiki page also lets us know he's been featured as the choir singer on 3-6 Mafias big hit Poppin My Collar and Project Pats Tell Tell Tell and a couple of other songs from 3-6's 2005 big release Most Known Unknown. That's pretty major right? And here I thougt he was practicly unheard of... Maybe he'll get his big break within soon, he definatley got talent and a character which should be able to break him threw commercialy nation- and worldwide. So why isn't this guy famous?

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If you thougt that was a question I asked just to answear it right after I'll have to disapoint you. I really don'y know... Perhaps it has something to do with him being shot a few years back in the head while riding his car somwhere. That could probaly scare some A&R's and record company folks away. I wouldn't know. Anyways it might just be a matter of time before he breaks threw big time. Apperently he's got an album on the way called The Worlds Greatest Shit Talker which I'll mos def will be on the look out for.

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An other thing worth mentioning is that the diamond in his eye he's been wearing ever since he got shot there is worth a 100 grand or so.. That's hood rich I guess, or something.

About this album. First of all go listen to the youtube video I'll post in a minute (finally figuered out who to do that, alltough I couldn't get the video to work posted in the same post as the text...). Then you'll get an idea of what this album is about, no real lyrical monster or anything. Which in my opinion isn't needed to make a great ablum. Just great storytelling and hardcore swagger and great choir singing by Mr Bigg himself.

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Downside is some of the beats, and some ot the tracks alltogeather who just isn't very good. Even tough it's already a kind of short album it could have gained as an album if tracks like Sick-n-Tired and Dopeman Bitch was left out. There are a couple of guest rappers on there, I don't know any of them. I know Mr Bigg has done music with rappers all over the south, from Texas to Tennesse and home state Alabama so it could be just anyone.

Best tracks: Trial Time, Traffic King (reminds me of some old Sho & Willie D song), Hoe Check and Only If You Knew. Enjoy!

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Last but not least. Thanks to anybody reading and giving props! I'm sorry for not posting more often. And I'm sorry for posting these rushed togethear posts when I post, hopefully they're well written enough to convince you to download and hopefully buy these records I post. Support the artist. I might just do another Mr. Bigg post by the way, atleast just give you a link because all his records are worth a listen.

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The Last Mr. Bigg - Only If You Knew

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Tracklist:

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1. Sick-N-Tired

2. Traffic King

3. Trail Time

4. No Mo'

5. Dopeman Bitch

6. Rev Rolex

7. Hoe Check

8. Laughin' Murderah

9. What About Us

10. Time Served

11. Rainy Dayz & Nights
12. Only If U Knew

13. Trial Time [Radio Edit]

14. Outro

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The Last Mr. Bigg on the net:

myspace

Website