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The Cleveland Steamers are a triumverate of hip hop artists out of Portland, Oregon. What sets them apart from other artists in the conscious hip hop arena is the rhythm of their flow. There is nothing unique about the subject of their politically charged words, and without this lyrical edge, they would fade into the underground hip hop oblivion.

A little about the artists individually, borrowed from their myspace profile…

“In imagining the standard, stereotypical hip-hop group, listeners will find that the Cleveland Steamers are anything but. Comprised of Mic Crenshaw, a Portland, Oregon poetry slam champion and national finalist, Gen.Erik, a satirical lyricist with the ability to transform into a hip-hop DJ and producer, and DJ Aero, who has toured the world with Tommy Lee, as part of Methods of Mayhem, and with Tony Hawk’s Boom Boom Huck Jam, the group’s creative cohesion has mesmerized numerous crowds since the three members decided to form a union. Although each member of the Cleveland Steamers is a veteran to the music industry, they have emerged as a group, combining Crenshaw’s socially conscious clever lyricism and Gen.Erik’s thought-provoking wordplay with DJ Aero’s melodic, head-nodding beats.”

Fists High
The Decider
It’s My Life

This is quality hip hop worthy of a listen. If you like what you hear, you can download the album from CD Baby.

Cee-Lo is a figure of grace, a pillar or strength, a reviver of faith. When I listen to him sing, I remember that after pain there comes pleasure. After death, new life. That there are countless unwritten chapters to look forward to.

Cee-Lo humbles me. His words guide me. Lately I’ve had his “best of” album in heavy rotation, especially on good days. Listening to it recharges me emotionally, and reminds me that there are so many things much bigger than I.

I’m standing on the other side of a great deal of pain, looking back on it with new eyes. If only we had the perspective of hindsight in the midst of coming unhinged. I was too sensitive and self absorbed by what I was going through to see straight. Too self righteous to be patient. With my new eyes, I can embrace this and forgive myself.

Many of you may be familiar with Cee-Lo’s project Gnarles Barkley (w/ Dangermouse.) I’m drawn to the complexity of his rythym and the soulfulness of his voice. By a simple change of tone, he can make you feel his heartbreak, or just as easily his brightest moments with the same intensity that he does. He sings like that of an angel.

The Art Of Noise - ft. Pharell
Gettin’ Grown
Living Again

And for something a little more edgy:
Closet Freak
I’ll Be Around - ft. Timbaland

Mophono was the first Pandora recommendation to really catch me. This duo sprang from San Francisco with their debut release “I Cry” in 2004. They have yet to produce another album, but I’m hoping it’s shortly in the wings.

I Cry traverses many different musical styles. The tracks range from hip hop to downtempo to IDM. In them, I hear influences of DJ Shadow, Aphex Twin, Booka Shade, Four Tet and maybe even a little Wax Tailor.

Idiom Creek Remix
Lily
I Cry
Shredding

I’ve posted the album in its entirety for those of you who are interested. It won’t take much digging for you to find it.

This last track falls outside of everything else I’ve heard from them. You can find it on the Golden Gate Breaks compilation. Here’s to feeling free, and many joyous days to come.

Sun Power

Hi kids!  I know it’s been a long time since I’ve posted, so I hope you’re all still with me.  It’s been a tumultuos month, but I think I’m coming out the other side now.  Atop all of the madness, a good friend of mine passed about three weeks ago.  This one’s for you, Frank Crist.

I’ve been using Pandora for music discovery as of late. I entered in all of my favorite hip hop artists and I’m amazed at the bulk of music that is similar to my tastes that I’ve never heard before. I don’t think I’ll ever hit the ceiling.

I have a backlog of music that I want to write about and thought it might be fun to give you a grab bag of tunes that have been rockin’ my world to tide you over. 

I Know I’m Bad - Arrested Development
North By Northwest (Jake One Remix) - Blue Scholars
Live Human Break 7 (DJ Centipede Remix) - Mophono
That Night - Atmosphere
Testify (Live) - Common

Christ all-mighty, I’m stumped.  Wax Tailor’s music embodies so many things to gush about that I don’t even know where to begin.  I have to give all the credit to Jason (and dude’s got some street cred, yo) for turning me on to him.

His tracks possess both elements of hip hop and downtempo. I haven’t heard someone do this so well since DJ Cam was at his peak in the late 90s. The music is haunting. It echoes, resonates, churns. He uses a lot of samples from old movies, which only enhance its malefic sound. If they aren’t samples, he constructs them well enough to have me absolutely fooled into thinking they are.

His new album, Hope & Sorrow, is ridden with flirtatious female vocals and a few tracks with great hip hop flow. Although I like it tremendously, I find it a little less varied and original than Tales of the Forgotten Melodies. I’ve posted tracks from both albums for your enjoyment because though they are very different animals, they are both gems.

Hope & Sorrow:
The Man With No Soul
Positively Inclined - ft. ASM & Marina Quaisse
House of Wax - ft. The Others

Tales of the Forgotten Melodies:
Que Sera
Hypnosis Theme - ft Marina Quaisse
How I Feel

Glitch is the perfect marriage of hip hop and breaks. It appeals to me because I’m a jaded old raver turned hip hop fanatic. It satisfies my liking for two genres at once, in a no nonsense sort of way. Glitch is muddy, chunky, sexy and relentless.  It requires a lot of effort from the listener because it’s texture rich, and the landscape of the tracks change a lot. Don’t even bother if you don’t have a good woofer or a good pair of headphones.

There have been two great glitch releases of note in the past month from Modeselektor and edIT.  I heard this genre for the first time at Burning Man in 2006, and lost my head on the dancefloor to a Bassnectar set.  These days, I love listening to it, but it tends to be too slow for me on the dance floor. To my disappointment, Bassnectar has failed to impress me each time I’ve seen him since that night on the playa, even at Burning Man this year.

Another recent release of note is a remix album from Kraddy.  It’s mostly old material, but you get the full tracks, as opposed to snippets of them like in the sets posted to his site. I like him the best of the bunch because his beats tend to be a lot more high energy.

Modeselektor:
Hyper Hyper
The dark side of the sun - ft. puppetmastaz

edIT:
Artsy Remix - ft. The Grouch
Sunshine (Mos Def) - this isn’t new but I thought I’d post it

Kraddy:
The Next Episode (Dr Dre & Snoop Dogg)
Forgot About Dre (Dr Dre & Eminem)

Kraddy also does a great remix of Get Yer Freak On by Missy Elliot. If anyone knows where to find that track unmixed, let me know.

I’ve been meaning to post for a while, but most of the month of August was devoted to preparing for Burning Man. This was my 9th year on the playa, and certainly the best time I’ve had there. Someone set the man on fire during a lunar eclipse Monday night. There were maybe 2k people awake for it and definitely the most intimate burn I’ve experienced. I thought this was the perfect thing to shake up the festival a bit and I hope that BMorg doesn’t try to prosecute to the fullest extent. Depending on what they do, I may or may not go back again. I’ve enjoyed watching the festival evolve over the last decade, and feel that it just keeps getting better.

I have to admit that I was a bit apprehensive about the new Kanye West album after hearing the first few singles and not loving them. Generally, I’ve taken to everything he’s released immediately and love everything he’s produced. Stronger and Can’t tell me Nothin’ were, in my opinion, bad introductions to this album. When I heard them, I was afraid Kanye West had shifted into the category of mastubatory rappers who like to talk about how badass they are.

After giving Graduation a few listens, I love it. I wasn’t stunned like I was with the new Common album the first time through, and there are definitely tracks I don’t like. Regardless, I think kanye west has done it again and pulled of another solid release! My favorite lyric is “Everything I’m not made me everything I am”. It resonates very much with me and where I’m at with my life.

I’m going to focus on his new release in this post, and perhaps do a followup with my favorites from other albums, and the production work he’s done over the years.

Good Morning (intro)
Champion
I Wonder
Homecoming

I heard some early outtakes of Common’s new album several months ago and braced myself for another disappointing release. Once I got my hands on the final cut, I was blown away. Finding Forever is his sexiest and most heartfelt album since One Day It’ll All Make Sense. Each track is soulful and flawlessly arranged. He has evolved as an artist and yet, has returned to his roots to put out his best album in 10 years.

Kanye West contributed greatly to the production of this release. I like that I recognize his production style less on this album than in other works he’s been a part of over the last few years. Perhaps the chipmunk voices phase is finally over (not that I hated it or anything, it just got old). He’s got an album coming out in September, and I can only hope it’s as brilliant as this one.

Finding Forever:
I Want You
Drivin’ Me Wild - featuring Lily Allen
Misunderstood
Forever Begins
So Far To Go - This is actually a J Dilla track, and I enjoy the version that was released on The Shining last year better.

One Day It’ll All Make Sense:
G.O.D.
Retrospect For Life
Stolen Moments Pt. 3

Some other favorites:
The Light
The 6th Sense
Ressurection

I grew up on 60s and 70s rock, and have been on a quest to find hip hop tracks that sample classic rock.  I’ve assembled a small playlist, but can’t seem to find much.  One of my alltime favorites is the Grey album, which is a mesh of the Beatles White Album with Jay-Z’s Black Album. 

Of the songs I know, these are my favorites:

Rabbit Hole - Living Legends (Jefferson Airplane, White Rabbit)
Hip Hop Is Dead - Nas (Iron Butterfly, Inagaddadavida)
Public Service Announcement Jay-Z/Dangermouse (The Beatles, Long Long Long)

I’d love to hear from anyone who knows of more like this!

Many of you may know of Will.i.am from the Black Eyes Peas. Discovering that he produced my two favorite tracks on the new talib kweli album motivated me to do some research into his other work. You can download both of those tracks, Say Something and Hot Thing, from my Talib Kweli post on June 28th. His impressive portfolio also includes work with Nas, Common, Lupe Fiasco, John Legend, Macy Gray, Amerie and Rihanna. I’m saving the Nas track “hip hop is dead” for another post I’ve got in the works.

A Dream - common
Colors - common
Gotta Work - amerie
Save Room - john legend

I’ve been a fan of the Black Eyed Peas since Elephunk was released, and after listening to will.i.am’s other production work, I’ve realized how instrumental he has been in developing their sound. I’m in awe of his talent.

Some of my favorite Black Eyed Peas tracks:

Hands Up
Like That
Weekends