OUR FAVORITE NEW MUSIC & MOVIES! - Amoeba Music

Yvonne & Yvette –
The Siamese Twins 7” (NOrTON)
Yes they are connected at the top of the head.
These lovely ladies were once a sideshow act
until their church got them singing. Apparently
one was quite fun and had a boyfriend while the
other was bookish — or so they say. Anyway,
on this little piece of vinyl you get four tracks
from the twins and in that short time they could
almost make an atheist believe! Norton is working
on a scrapbook of press clippings and photos
of them too — so if this is your kind of stuff
there is more to come!
Shock Corridor (1963) –
Directed by Samuel Fuller
This just got reissued on Criterion for a second
time with some cool cover art. An investigative
reporter commits himself to a mental institution
to solve a murder mystery. This is a classic
piece of cinema that watches a man toe the line
between holding on to and losing his mind. Incredible
stuff!
Tip:
Check out Michael Hurley and Abner Jay releases/reissues
on Mississippi. Good stuff!
ESTEN
The Pyramids – King of Kings
(IkEF)
Miles Davis – Bitches Brew
(legacy edition)(COLUMBIA)
12 MUSIC WE LIKE H Spring/Summer 2011
Muddy Waters – Rollin’ Stone
- The Golden Anniversary Collection
(gEFFEN)
Marcus Shelby Orchestra –
Soul of the Movement : Meditations
on Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. (pOrTO FrANCO)
T. D. Skatchit & Company –
Skatch Migration (EDgETONE)
E. lIT
I’ll “Butcher Cover” your “Eastern Span”
Qwel & Maker – Owl (gALApAgOS4)
Hope you like wizard rock cuz. qwel is a relentlessly
intelligent rapper known for his intricate
flows and elaborate concepts, with a catalog
running over 10 albums deep and a devoted cult
following to prove it. Since his first recordings
in the highly touted Chicago rap group Typical
Cats, fans have come to know qwel for stepping
up the bar with each of his releases, and that
devotion towards his craft has never shined as
brightly as it does on Owl. Maker, for his part, is
one of the most noteworthy producers working
in underground hip-hop today, with production
credits covering a wide range of excellent releases
including tracks by grayskul, Chicharones
and Doomtree. Whether crafting memorable
cuts with his group glue or being recruited by
Stones Throw to rework their Now-Again catalog,
Maker always brings something interesting
to the table with his beats. Owl is the third collaborative
album between qwel & Maker, and
it represents the strongest work to date by all
parties involved. Qwel’s spitfire flow and creative
lyrics do damage over Maker’s extra raw
funk-influenced production. Super impressive
scratching by D-Styles, Dq, and DJ SpS as well.
Wise up: buy this album.
Dr. Oop – The Grateful Dread
(BLACkLOVEMUSIC)
Let’s make one thing clear about Dr. Oop Capone
right off the bat: this man is no amateur
when it comes to rapping. Back in the late-’90s,
Oop Doc was putting it down with acts like
Emanon and kankick, and had a well-established
name for himself in the LA underground. He’s
continued releasing albums under the radar for
years and has a wealth of quality material under
his belt, but The Grateful Dread marks his first
proper full-length in a minute, and boy does it
deliver. It’s amazing to hear just how good a rapper
Dr. Oop is on this album, as he’s perfected
his mellow style of MCing while offering up tons
of exceptional lyrics and content in every verse.
There’s a real gritty feel to the beats supplied by
EarDr.Umz that takes things back to the early
essence of hip-hop, which provides the perfect
backdrop for Oop’s seasoned rapping. Dr. Oop
keeps things interesting by touching upon everything
from African history to weed butter
recipes, but he still manages to tie the album
together with the central theme of being grateful
of those around you and loving your friends
and family. I’m grateful that rappers like Dr. Oop
are still out there doing their thing. You should
be too.
2Mex – My Fanbase Will
Destroy You (STrANgE FAMOUS)
Speaking of veteran rappers from Los Angeles
who deserve your respect, 2Mex’s first album
in a couple of years is a labor of love that combines
a lot of the best elements of his music into
a solid body of work. On an initial listen, My
Fanbase Will Destroy You might catch more traditional
2Mex fans off-guard by how strange and
experimental some of the songs are compared
to past releases, but the beauty of this album is
the way that it shows off 2Mex’s versatility as
an artist. The album features calm odes to classic
slept-on hip-hop albums, frenzied 2Mex-style
marathons that show off his trademark voice
and breath-control, sung love ballads, and even
a dubstep track at one point. It also features AFC
West, a killer project Blowed posse cut with blistering
verses from CVE and Ellay khule that will
get a thumbs up from even the stingiest of West
Coast hip-hop connoisseurs. The production is
a mixed bag of eclectic beats, ranging from the
bugged out electronics of Busdriver to the dark
sample-based production of Deeskee. 2Mex
riddles the album with numerous shout-outs
and dedications, which sometimes makes it feel
like he recorded this CD with his peers in mind
rather than his fans. But what doesn’t kill his fanbase
will only make it stronger. recommended.
Teebs – Ardour (BrAINFEEDEr)
playing this album while operating heavy machinery
is not advised. The tinkling percussion,
chopped up airy samples, and layered electronics
of Teebs’ 18-track opus Ardour almost put me to
sleep the first time I listened to it. Not because
I was bored, but because the atmosphere that
the music evokes is one of a dream-like state
that makes you drift. One could easily dismiss
it as “light” on a breeze through, but the truth
is that the depth and intricacy of the sounds
here merit the album at least a couple of spins.
This is music meant to be examined and studied.
Dub-driven brain food provided by the maverick
electronic imprint Brainfeeder. Flying Lotus
has been quoted as describing Teebs’ beats as
“sounding like what Avatar looks like,” but as
far as film comparisons go, Ardour probably
has more in common with artsy experimental
shorts than anything Hollywood-related. Fans
of the more light-hearted side of the LA beat
scene, such as Daedelus or Take, will probably
get a lot of enjoyment out of this album. Just try
not to listen to it in the car, or you might miss
an important light.
Xperience – William the VIII
(OLDOMINION)
xperience’s self-released sophomore album gets
a strong nomination for most slept-on hip-hop
release of 2010. It was sold almost exclusively
through xp directly, received zero publicity and
promotion, and is one of the stronger full-length
rap albums of last year in my book. xp is one of
the many overlooked talents of Seattle’s Oldominion
collective, which is home to such rappers
as Sleep, Onry Ozzborn, JFk and Boom Bap
project. xperience’s music has a rugged soulful
quality to it that at times reminds me of some of
goodie Mob’s recordings in a positive way. He
frequently alternates between rapping and singing
over the course of the album, which many
musicians fail at, but xp seems just as comfortable
crooning his heart out as he does spitting
tightly written bars. He also handles about half
of the album’s production, with Smoke, Budo and
A-plus of Heiroglyphics covering the rest of the
beats. William the VIII is loaded with stand-out
tracks that highlight every aspect of xperience’s
talents, and the sounds are versatile and original
enough to hold your attention the whole way
through. It’s only a matter of time before some
MUSIC WE LIKE H Spring/Summer 2011 13