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Rezin Tooth

Rezin Tooth | Rezin Tooth | 3hive.com
Rezin Tooth | Rezin Tooth | 3hive.com

Rezin Tooth is the secret dub project of Seattle’s Nathan Spicer along with most of his fellow bandmates from Polyrhythmics. Their self-titled debut is the “never meant to be released” album that somehow Wax Thématique is magically releasing at the beginning of 2020.

We are honored to premiere their debut single “Dub Crater” (below). It’s a laid-back, dub-filled jam flavored with hints of the funk and groove goodness Polyrhythmics are known for.

Rezin Tooth lands on January 10 and is one hell of a way to kick off the new decade. Enjoy.

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Select Level

Select Level | Select level | 3hive.com
Select Level | Select level | 3hive.com

Seattle multi-instrumentalist Andy Sells has been doing his thing for quite some time, (all in bands that I need to/ will be checking out) including playing bass for Nosretep, drums for Afrocop and being part of the electronic outfit FCS North.

Sells’ new project (with Joel Cuplin, Noel Brass Jr. and Jason Powell rounding out the band) is Select Level. Their upcoming self-titled album is a funktastic, 8 song romp of post-punk meets disco-groove goodness – seriously, these guys aren’t messing around, this is a solid contender for album of the year.

Give album opener “The Race” a spin (below), it’s just a small sampling of the groove packed into this album.

Select Level drops on June 21 and is available for preorder now from Wax Thématique, you should preorder this. We will also have some copies at the 3hive Record Lounge as well. You don’t want to miss this one.

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Sam’s Faves of 2018

It’s time for my annual blog post…

Without further ado, my favorite albums of 2018:

Khruangbin Con Todo El Mundo (Dead Oceans)
Durand Jones & the Indications self-titled (Dead Oceans)
Bodega Endless Scroll (What’s Your Rupture?)
Jean Grae & Quelle Chris Everything’s Fine (Mello Music Group)
Janelle Monae Dirty Computer (Bad Boy)
Altin Gun On (Bongo Joe)
Smokescreens Used to Yesterday (Slumberland)
Idles Joy As an Act of Resistance (Partisan)
Low Double Negative (Sub Pop)
Cut Chemist Die Cut (A Stable Sound)

I encourage you to enjoy these on vinyl (link will go here as soon as I get off my butt and update the online store).

And because 2018 offered so much more music than can fit neatly in a Top 10 list, here are my 23 favorite songs of the past year…

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Durand Jones & The Indications

Durand Jones & The Indications | 3hive.com

Durand Jones & The Indications | 3hive.com

Shout out to Sam for getting the debut Durand Jones & The Indications’ record up on our Co-op Shop. Sam’s on point description: “Pure, timeless soul — rugged and raw enough to help ease the pain of losing Charles Bradley last year.” was all it took to get me to check this out.

Durand Jones & The Indications is an outstanding soul record that’s 100% percent worth your time. Although it’s only 8 tracks deep, the amount of groove packed into this bad boy is huge. Give “Groovy Babe” and “Tuck ‘N’ Roll” a spin (below) to see for yourself.

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Khruangbin

Khruangbin | Con Todo El Mundo | 3hive.com

Khruangbin | Con Todo El Mundo | 3hive.com

Houston, Texas trio Khruangbin (for the phonetically challenged like me, it’s pronounced KRUNG-BIN) came together from a common love of ’60s, ’70s and ’80s Thai funk and soul music (you can listen to their “Essential Thai Funk Mixtape” here). Their new album Con Todo El Mundo is a smoking hot, groove-filled slab of funk, psych and soul. Give “Maria También” a spin below for a sample – you will not be sorry. Con Todo El Mundo is out now via Dead Oceans and I can not recommend it enough. Enjoy.

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Favorite Releases of 2017 (Sam’s List)

Better late than never – my auditory loves of 2017, in rough order…

Thundercat Drunk (Brainfeeder)
Intoxicating, weird, vulnerable, and soooooo damn funky. My Album of the Year if I had to pick one.

Slowdive Slowdive (Dead Oceans)
The comeback album of our collective dreams.

Trementina 810 (Burger)
If this hadn’t been The Year of Slowdive’s Triumphant Return, I’d like to think this gorgeous offering of dreamy shoegaze from Chile’s Trementina would’ve been the talk of the town.

The xx I See You (Young Turks)
Now that producer Jamie Smith, aka Jamie xx, is getting his due as the driving force behind The xx juggernaut, I might be able to stop raving about him. But why stop now?

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings Soul of a Woman (Daptone)
What a force. What a voice. What a loss.

Big Thief Capacity (Saddle Creek)
This album has quietly slipped on to a bunch of Best of 2017 lists because it is just that: a quiet album of incredible strength.

Grandaddy Last Place (30th Century Records)
“Even still the rockers are…”

Mountain Goats Goths (Merge)
A wonderfully engaging concept/tribute album – whether you are, were, or have ever loved a goth.

Boris Dear (Sargent House)
Rumored to be a farewell letter to their fans, it’s a welcome return to the nuanced take on sludge/drone/doom metal that first lured me in almost 20 years ago.

Fazerdaze Morningside (Flying Nun)
Nearly perfect bedroom pop.

Moses Sumney Aromanticism (Jagjaguwar)
All the feels.

Molly Burch Please Be Mine (Captured Tracks)
A sparse, timeless album that allows nothing to interfere with the purity of Molly’s hypnotic voice.

Doug Tuttle Peace Potato (Trouble in Mind)
Hypnotic psych pop with enough ragged edges to keep you awake.

Homeboy Sandman Veins (Stones Throw)
Based on record sales in the “>3hive Co-op Shop, not everyone agrees – but I think he’s one of the best, most versatile MCs around.

Waxahatchee Out in the Storm (Merge)
Katie Crutchfield finds her sound and voice amidst the rubble of a failed relationship.

Honorable mentions: Iron & Wine Beast Epic [buy vinyl], Protomartyr Relatives in Descent, LCD Soundsystem american dream [buy vinyl], Destroyer ken [buy vinyl], Open Mike Eagle Brick Body Kids Still Daydream, The Courtneys II [buy vinyl], King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard Murder of the Universe [buy vinyl], Jonwayne Rap Album Two, Priests Nothing Feels Natural, Robyn Hitchcock Robyn Hitchcock [buy vinyl]

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ot to, not to

When James Blake first came on the scene, he was exactly what I needed to resolve my schizo relationship with modern R&B: tuneful and earnest with just enough glitch to appeal to my appetite for imperfection. Then he relied too much on his formula, as have numerous followers on, and things became predictable once again.

Along comes Ian Mugerwa – a/k/a ot to, not to – and his debut album of intimate, deconstructed R&B “experiments”, Goshen, on Nicolas Jaar’s Other People label. The compositions take turns evoking dirt-floor blues, avant-garde jazz, even Pablo-era Kanye. The unifying thread is Ian’s vocals which read as personal, hypnotic journal entries, sung/muttered/chanted as he carries us through his coming-of-age years.

This nuanced, eclectic effort could’ve easily veered into self-indulgent territory if it didn’t so clearly yearn to connect. It’s soul music in the most literal sense of the word. In fact, when recommending Goshen to a friend I said, “Listen closely.” It’s the best (and only) way to appreciate this album.

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Blktop Project

I’ve been a fan of Tommy Guerrero since I was 13 years old, 1987 – the year I picked up on skateboarding. The Bones Brigade were in their prime and Guerrero was my favorite skateboarder. During that year my friends and I watched The Search For Animal Chin at least 100 times. His flaming dagger deck was one of my very first rides.

Flash forward to 2004 when I was reintroduced to Tommy Guerrero as a musician on this very site in a post by site founder Sean. Now, 12 years later Tommy is still at it with his new band BLKTOP PROJECT featuring Josh Lippi and fellow skaters Ray Barbee, Chuck Treece and Matt Rodriguez.

Recorded live over two days, their new album, Concrete Jungle is a loose, grooved-out, rocker of a record with a great jam session feel to it. Check the stream of “A New Line” below for a taste. It’s a real rump shaker.

Concrete Jungle is out today through Guerrero’s own Too Good records and available to buy from his Bandcamp page.

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Woods

Brooklyn’s Woods are back with their outstanding 9th LP, City Sun Eater in the River of Light. Taking the best parts of almost every genre of music out there and adding it their already wonky, folk-psych sound, Woods have created a groove-driven (dare I call it “groove-psych”), psychedelic rock masterpiece.

Check out the head bobbing beat of “Can’t See At All” (below) for a mere sampling of how cool this album is.

City Sun Eater… is out now and available on whatever media suits your fancy from WOODSIST Records – I highly, highly recommend it.

Woods – Can’t See At All from City Sun Eater in the River of Light (2016)

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The GTVs

Philadelphia rock ‘n’ soul combo The GTVs just dropped their newest instrumental, organ-driven, rump-shakin’ single, Organ Donor b/w Here’s A Thing on Hidden Volume Records. You can stream it’s goodness below.

I highly recommend getting your hands on the 7 inch as Hidden Volume has raised the bar when it comes to the vinyl/packaging experience. Also included below, for your listening pleasure, is “Sh’Bang!” from their debut LP with Teen Sound Records.