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Category Archives: Reviews
New Music: John Robinson
Carlos Niño & Lil Sci present What’s The Science? Elevation (Shaman Works) John Robinson Who Is This Man? (High Water Music) John Robinson I Am Not For Sale (Fat City, FCCD028) Who is this man, John Robinson? A veteran of … Continue reading
Vinyl & Stuff: Hudson Mohawke, Harmonic 313
(February 15 update: This post has been expanded from a stand-alone Harmonic 313 review.) Hudson Mohawke Polyfolk Dance (Warp, WAP 261) Hudson Mohawke is like a chipmunk soul on amphetamines. On Polyfolk Dance he not only speeds up the beat, … Continue reading
Posted in Reviews, Vinyl & Stuff
Tagged Harmonic 313, Hudson Mohawke, Mark Pritchard
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Review: Dr Who Dat?, “Beyond 2morrow”
Dr. Who Dat? Beyond 2morrow (Lex Records, digital album) With this review, I’m abandoning the rating system I’ve used during the past two years. I’m also tossing out the “Short Cuts†experiment that began last month with Mark Farina’s Mushroom … Continue reading
Vinyl & Stuff: Y Society, Johnson&Jonson and Shawn Jackson
This kicks off a new series of 12-inch reviews, courtesy of Tres Records. Unfortunately, I can’t post audio because, well, I just got a Sendspace warning about something else, so I’m a little skittish. And I don’t like using ZShare. … Continue reading
Posted in Reviews, Vinyl & Stuff
Tagged Blu, Damu the Fudgemunk, Insight, Mainframe, Shawn Jackson, Tres Records, Y Society
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Review: DJ Signify, “Of Cities”
DJ Signify Of Cities Bully Records On “Low Tide,” Aesop Rock portrays a Julius Knipfl character, a NYC hovel dweller afflicted by visions of Tawny Kitaen’s car hood-humping dance on Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again (On My Own)” video. “Built … Continue reading
The Plug One 50 2008: Top 30 Singles
Here are my picks for the top 30 singles of 2008. This list doesn’t have as much sturm und drang as my top 20 albums. However, I arbitrarily created some rules to make it interesting. I tried to make a … Continue reading
The Plug One 50 2008: Top 20 Albums
For the first two years of Plug One’s existence, I offered a somewhat exhaustive list of all the great hip-hop albums that had been released. In 2006, I made a list of the 40 best albums, and in 2007 I … Continue reading
2008: Producers still in the spotlight
By Max Herman In the past decade, producers have become much less of an enigma in hip-hop. Gone are the days when beatsmiths comfortably lamped in the shadows and the only thing fans knew about them was maybe their discography. … Continue reading
Review: Common, “Universal Mind Control”
Common Universal Mind Control Geffen Universal Mind Control may be the worst album of Common’s career, but it’s not for the reasons you’d think. It’s not bad because Common plays with the electro-funk sound that has overtaken dance clubs. There’s … Continue reading
Short Cuts: DJ Design, “Jetlag”
DJ Design Jetlag Look Records Keith “DJ Design†Griego’s Jetlag closes a circle first opened in the late 90s. Back then, as a player in Stones Throw’s formative San Francisco days, he produced tracks for that label (including rough rhymer … Continue reading
Short Cuts: Mark Farina’s “Mushroom Jazz 6”
Mark Farina Mushroom Jazz 6 Om Records In 1992, at the height of the acid jazz movement, Mark Farina organized the Mushroom Jazz parties in San Francisco. Years later, he began his Mushroom Jazz mix series for Om Records, memorializing … Continue reading
Mixtape Madness – October 24
The Fantastic JJ Project features Mattic, a rapper who resides in Normandy, France rhyming over beats from Dr. Who Dat?’s 2006 album Beat Journey. (Don’t worry — he rhymes in English.) It was apparently made with Jneiro Jarel’s blessing. If … Continue reading
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Tagged Charles Hamilton, DJ Skee, Dr. Who Dat?, Jneiro Jarel, Mattic, Mixtape Madness, Pugs Atomz, The Gent$
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Review: Cyne, “Starship Utopia”
Starship Utopia, one of two albums Cyne plans to drop this year, is a Japan-only release highlighting the Gainesville quartet’s strengths and weaknesses. Continue reading
Review: The Cool Kids, “The Bake Sale”
The Cool Kids’ long-awaited EP, The Bake Sale, gathers all of Mikey Rocks and Chuck Inglish’s online hits into a breezy portrait of middle-class aspirations. Continue reading
Review: Jackson Conti, “Sujinho”
Otis ‘Madlib” Jackson, Jr. and Ivan “Mamão†Conti join forces as Jackson Conti and produce Sujinho, a trip into classic brasilismo. Continue reading
Review: DJ Yoda, “Fabriclive.39”
Following in the footsteps of Diplo and Spank Rock, DJ Yoda creates a mix for the famous Fabric series, blending dozens of disparate tracks into a fun, party-rocking mash. Continue reading
Review: The Mighty Underdogs, “The Prelude EP”
The Mighty Underdogs, a Bay Area supergroup featuring Gift of Gab, Lateef the Truthspeaker, and Crown City Rockers producer Headnodic, preview their upcoming full-length with The Prelude EP. Continue reading
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Tagged Gift of Gab, Headnodic, Lateef the Truthspeaker, the Mighty Underdogs
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Review: Black Spade, “To Serve with Love”
St. Louis musician Black Spade releases an impressive debut in To Serve with Love, an idiosyncratic collection of hip-hop, funk, and soul. Continue reading
Review: Nicolay & Kay, “Time:Line”
Nicolay, the Dutch producer respected for his near-classic Foreign Exchange album, returns with Time:Line, a new collaboration featuring Kay from the Foundation. Continue reading
Review: Cadence Weapon, “Afterparty Babies”
On Cadence Weapon’s second album, Afterparty Babies, the Canadian hip-hop phenom tries to inject a little intelligence into the club rap fad. Continue reading