Straight to Tape by Pan Amsterdam

I don’t know who this Pan Amsterdam fella is but golly gee his music is brilliant. Maybe not the Daniel Johnston of hip hop but most certainly the Jad Fair. He’s going “Straight to Tape” and straight to the top of the charts and our hearts. His latest EP is another look inside the mind of a bonafide weirdo philosopher. His music is avant-garde in the least pretentious way. If Busdriver makes you think you should read more, then Pan Amsterdam makes you think you should’ve rented more movies at Blockbuster when you had the chance. His comedic timing is nothing short of golden. “You’re the wolf of Walmart, sell me this pen.” Pan (can I call him Pan?) is a savant of bogus poetry. A beautiful genius at that. “More kosher than gefilte fish.” Picking up where Das Racist left off, Pan Amsterdam has filled the void for stream of consciousness free jazz rap. “Straight to Tape” has been playing on repeat and I’m just now seeing that it’s only 12 minutes. Re-playability is hard to do in the land of drive thru’s and infinite possibilities. Pan Amsterdam creates a world you can get lost in. Not some fantasy planet either, this world’s like yours just slightly different. Instead of 2001: A Space Odyssey, you’re really into Mars Attacks. You listen to Beck’s anti folk albums instead of Radiohead demos. Whatever mad scientist laboratory accidentally birthed this album should win the Oscar.

Listen/download over on Pan Amsterdam’s Bandcamp:

http://panamsterdam.bandcamp.com/album/straight-to-tape

Album Announcement FAIL! by Trauma Lavern

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The following is an automated debt collection message.

Today I’m here to tell you about a great little album called “Album Announcement FAIL” by Trauma Lavern. I know what you’re thinking, that’s an odd thing to title an album, but I tell you what, if it ain’t odd, I don’t like it. They could’ve called it ‘Back For The Very First Time’ or ‘Where do we go when we sleep?’ (We go to dream land, you fucking morons) they could’ve called it ‘The Carter 9’ or ‘Butter Jewels’ who gives a gosh darn. I don’t know where Langley is but god bless it, cos it seems to have inspired the second track. This could be a huge hit if we were still in the early 2000’s, this song reminds me of my childhood but not in a nostalgic way, that’s for dorks. This reminds me of a childhood I’ve heard about but never experienced.

Colin Swegman (am I saying that right?) is a poet in a good way though, not the ‘poetry is my life’ type of way. That would be sad and I wouldn’t wanna be his friend. Thank god he’s a poet in a sense that he writes novels now but his early collection of poetry is revered. Colin aka PT Burnem (one half of Trauma Lavern) feels music and language in every fiber of his being, this album is from the depths of his soul. I don’t know what the hell he’s talking about sometimes in person, because he genuinely cares so much and I’m a morbid asshole, but on record I understand it all. No word is wasted, there I said it, now Pitchfork can hire me. There’s not enough decimals for this album score, well there might be but I’d need a calculator.

“250cc Revelation” is my favorite song on this album, because he’s singing about riding a motor bike (much more than that too, I’m sure) and it makes me think of Daniel Johnston’s “Speeding Motorcycle”, also my favorite band 10cc. This is 25 times 10cc so you could only imagine my excitement. I’m talking from a mathematical standpoint of course. Colin came right out of an early western, he stepped out of the TV, dripping wet in his cowboy regalia, took off his shoes, and said to me, “to those that are about to rock, I salute you.” Then he grabbed an axe and totally shredded. Another favorite of mine is “Bad Medicine” this is classic bad boy rock n roll, a cool motherfucker singing about someone named Johnny. Probably could be licensed to Guitar Hero even. I mean that in the sweetest way possible, I love it. If this was on the Madden soundtrack, I’d be pumped as hell.

This album has so much potential to be universally loved and critically acclaimed. Trauma Lavern should be so popular, I loathe them. But lucky for us, it’s underground so the outsiders and weirdos can enjoy it. What a great name too, Trauma Lavern. Sounds like a private detective who hunts and kills nazis in a dystopian future. Now that’s a real job. I love music like this, somehow anchored in the past and future at once. Outer space caveman music is what I call it. (That’s a copyrighted term, please use wisely.) This album is like the moment that 2pac song plays in Django Unchained meets the end of Prometheus. Far from failure, so I guess I don’t get the album title after all. 

Listen/download over on Cold Rhymes Records Bandcamp:

http://traumalavern.bandcamp.com/album/album-announcement-fail-2

Too Busy, by LBT

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Jazz/HipHop collective LBT (Live Beat Tapes) blesses us with an amazing new 5-track project “Too Busy”. Impressively diverse jazzhop with lots of emotion and musicality. Featuring a rotation of vocalist, giving the instrumentals a healthy variety and room to explore sonic possibilities. Next Lifetime has become an instant favorite of mine, big badbadnotgood vibes on this one. Hope this one gets a physical release sometime in the future, but for now enjoy the digital edition via bandcamp…

Lofi January from Hanimo

Very excited for upcoming tunes from German producer Hanimo – he has given us a Beta Preview via Soundcloud

DaP Station & Zypher Unlabel Compilation 4

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DaP Station Records and Zypher Unlabel have teamed up yet again for a bonkers compilation of spaced-out beats! Continuing the tradition begun years ago of creating genre-defying collections of music, this compilation acts as a reunion of sorts, bringing those producers still active back together for another sonic feast!

Of course there is a shameless plug for my own track in there, but the rest of the album is equally amazing with some truly gnarly beats and treats. Did I mention there is a cassette version which sounds great? Give it a listen…

Ain’t A Game, by Fnesse

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Fresh riddims from DIRTY//CLEAN. Some truly great tunes within.

We are pleased to present you with “Brang It Fast,” the lead single from D//C019 – “Ain’t a Game” by Fnesse.

www.dirtycleanmusic.com

Production – Fnesse
Additional Production on “Brang It Fast” and “Brang It Slow” by Mark Mont

Mixing/Mastering – Jeremy Cox – jeremycox.us

Art Design – CREAM – www.cream3d.com

released April 14, 2017

when they benefit [NWOB-1], by echochamber

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echochambers latest release is part of the label New Worlds latest cassette-tape-box-set project dropping in a few days; when they benefit is an excellent long-player of stellar beats and melodies. Blurring the line between hip-hop beat mentality and vaporwave sonics, echochamber masterfully crafts these 20 tracks into something equally addicting and satisfying. I particularly enjoy his choice of synth tones and overall mixing, all with a subtle nostalgic sci-fi tone.

You can pick up the album digitally today for only a buck! Or you can wait until the 7th when this tape along with 4 others will be available in a limited edition box-set from the label.

echochamber:

twitter.com/ninejp
echochamberjp.bandcamp.com

Spacedtime on the Beat (Vol. 2), by Spacedtime

Big collection from one of my favorite producers Spacedtime. Over 20 tracks of recent productions featuring tons of great emcees.