These “original” tracks feature some swell breaks ‘n’ beats ‘n’ what-not but, to be honest, the Kleptones aren’t nearly as interesting when abiding by copyright laws… This post is merely an excuse to plug their new mash-up-and-more theme album, A Night at the Hip Hopera. After giving the Flaming Lips a b-boy makeover with Yoshimi Battles the Hip Hop Robots, the audio kleptomaniacs are back at it with a similar tribute to Queen. To have a listen, head over to Waxy.org, where you’ll find the complete album for download as well as a collaborative dissection of the countless samples used therein.
Approach
This one’s for my Mizzou people, you know who you are. Not only is Approach the best MC ever to hail from Kansas City, he swings a nice lisp (especially audible on “Hey Y’all”) and makes his own funky beats. This is straight-up party fodder for your mind à la J5, Lyrics Born, Talib Kweli — and ya don’t quit…
Tommy Guerrero
Like his Southern California counterpart, Ray Barbee, Tommy Guerrero is a skateboarder turned musician, using simple, 4-track technology to capture his loose, laid-back grooves. Between the two they’ve practically defined a new genre: skate-soul.
Headset
Allen Avanessian (Plug Research) and Jimmy Tamborello (Dntel, Postal Service, Figurine) hit the lab with a hard drive full of devolved beats and glitch-and-paste collages, then invite a who’s who of electronic and hip-hop innovators to muse over the sparse foundation. The result ranges from head-nodding to chin-stroking; this track, featuring verbal gymnast Subtitle flowing over what sounds like a dying music box, exemplifies the latter.
DJ Zeph
Raashan Ahmad unleashes a brief history lesson of dance moves whilst Zeph moves the crowd with his disco flash production.
Babbletron
Instrumentally sparse, lyrically thick head-nodders that — while decidedly unpretentious — exude the confidence of b-boys who know they’ll be around for a while.
babbletron.com
Variable Unit
Sinewy, smokey grooves bob and weave to Azeem’s verbal left-right combos. Major league hip hop at home in the underground.
Oddjobs
While their older material was oddly bouyant conscious hip-hop, Oddjobs’ latest (“Hypnotize”) turns down a dark alley toward straight-up griot poetry.
Sixtoo
Halifax’s art-hop pioneer evolves his doomsday mic checks into full-blown audio armageddon (see “Storm Clouds & Silver Lining”) for his Ninja Tune debut.
Heiruspecs
Not rap, not jazz, not spoken word — at least not as you know it. Refreshingly tight live sessions that manage to reference Run-DMC and Mother Goose in the same verse with only a slight smirk.