Ninja High School

Continuing with our goof-hop weekend here at the Hive, ladies and gentlemen…introducing Ninja High School. Self-proclaimed “positive hardcore dance rap,” Toronto-based NHS go out of their way to avoid hip-hop clichés pulling from post-structuralist theory and art criticism. Sure it sounds heady, but Ninja High School’s got mad skillz at breaking down grandiose ideas into catchy, party-perfect, sing-along choruses. It’s up to you whether or not you tap your local lit department for your next Barthes party.

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Danger Doom

Danger Mouse, MF Doom, and [adult swim] — arguably the dopest producer, MC, and television block of irreverent cartoon programming out there — joined forces to create the ultimate theme album. Now, not all dream teams play out as well in real life as they do on paper (sorry, Yankees fans), but this one lives up to its full potential. [adult swim] players pop in and out of the album’s loose narrative while Doom and DM take their goading, goofing, and gabbing in stride. And what an ill stride it is…

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The Chicharones

The Chicharones — the Vancouver, B.C.-based duo of Josh Martinez and Sleep of Oldominion — are the self-proclaimed Simon and Garfunkel of rap. I can’t really argue with that description. This joint feels like that broken-in Stussy hoodie I just found at the bottom of my drawer: familiar and frrrrresh!

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MC Frontalot

Emmett’s been on my back to post MC Frontalot, the self-proclaimed “world’s 579th greatest rapper.” I’ve been putting off Frontalot for two reasons: 1) he’s got A LOT of songs to choose from, all available for free download, and 2) I can’t tell if he’s for real, or if this is all just a way for some Cal Tech computer science Ph.D. candidate to let off some steam. Regarding the latter, the obvious next question is, “Does it even matter if he’s legit?” At least I’ve come to a decisive “Hell no” answer to that one. So here’s the nerdcore hip hop, ten songs worth. When you’re done laughing at the silliness you get here, go ahead and download the other 52 songs available at www.frontalot.com. Or, you could buy his record, I suppose.

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Blackalicious

More like Sickalicious! The world would be a sorry place without Xcel at the board building timeless beats, and Gab, schooling us with his warm rhymes on how things are and how they ought to be: namely, one world, one people, grooving together to their finely-honed craft. Sure it’s been a long three years since their last album, but cut ’em some slack, they’ve been punching the clock after hours working on Maroons, Gab’s solo record, and introducing the world to the likes of Apsci, Curumin, and General Elektriks.

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Run DMC

Almost three years ago, Run DMC lost their “one-man band” Jam Master Jay to a fatal shooting in Queens. In his memory, I’m posting one of the remixes available on the recently reissued Run DMC catalog and sharing my first memory of Run DMC… It all began in Mr. Beasley’s music class, sixth grade. Realizing that we weren’t about to get our song books out and sing “Kookaburra” anymore, Mr. Beasley started taping “MV-60,” an early MTV-like music video show, and playing it in class. Among the other videos that left an impression — Yaz’s “Don’t Go,” Herbie Hancock’s “Rockit,” Art of Noise’s “Close to the Edit” — was Run DMC’s “Rock Box.” Mr. B also let students bring in their own records once a week, which is how I heard that first DMC record. It was so raw and real from end to end. By contrast, Sugarhill Gang was disco and Run DMC was rap. Thanks to Run DMC, my ears we ready for Big Daddy Kane, Eric B and Rakim, Public Enemy, among others. Come to think of it, thanks to Mr. Beasley as well: you were a good music teacher.

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Pedestrian

Two tracks from the essential Pedestrian album, Volume One: Unindian Songs. It mashes up modern day happenings and old school beats. The first cut an obvious homage to the Breakin’ films of ’84. Which films, our friend Matt Workman recently pointed out, were just released on DVD.

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Kid Koala

The first time I saw Kid Koala spin was at the Wetlands in NYC at a Ninja Tune night some years back. He plowed through a crate of novelty records and hip-hop classics with the glee (and haste) of a two year old, mouthing the words to every last cut and leaving a pile of used vinyl on the floor. The first time I saw Kid Koala perform was at the El Rey in Los Angeles a couple years later, when I saw him recreate his turntable masterpiece “Drunk Trumpet” on stage. He used the pitch control slider to extract different notes from a single horn part on a jazz record as our collective jaws hit the floor. “Skanky Panky” is a similar experience, in that it needs to be seen and heard. Fortunately for all who haven’t had the pleasure, you can do just that on his CD/DVD, Live at the Short Attention Span Theater.

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The Free Design

Early in its conception, Seattle-based, Light in the Attic Records acquired the re-issue rights to The Free Design, an obscure pop band straight outta the ’60s. Over the past year the label has offered up 12″ remixes by the likes of Peanut Butter Wolf, Super Furry Animals, and Stereolab. After completing the three part series you can now find all the remixes and more on one CD: The Now Sound Redesigned. This is some of the best remix curating I’ve heard in a long while and available just in time — before summer ends…

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Koushik

Remember trip-hop? Anyone still out there doing it well? Massive Attack, Portishead and their Bristol neighbors usually got stuck with the moniker, but artists such as Caribou, Four Tet, and their buddy Koushik are tripping out hip-hop with their own set of sound biases (psychedelic melodies paired with slowed-down funk rhythms — imagine Greyboy remixing The Byrds, or early [good] Bee Gees).

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