Silence Nogood

Pass Out (Chiddy Bang Freestyle) by Chiddy Bang

Cory Zechmann — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 20:18:13 +0000

We just had our one year anniversary on the 3rd, so we decided to take a trip to Chicago and check out the North Coast festival. We’ll cover the festivities in the next post, but first we wanted to talk about the theme song for that week.

Chiddy Bang wasn’t at the festival, but I finally got my hands on their mixtape, Air Swell. The mixtape was put together to promote themselves throughout the UK, which contains samples of famous UK artists. It contains samples of famous UK musicians and I actually thought they were based in the UK until I found out that it centers around London.

I had to check out their remix of “Stylo” by Gorillaz, first, but wasn’t all that impressed with it. However, I did find a song that was impressive: “Pass Out” quickly became a great song to pregame to (just what I needed). With an electro-rock theme, I’m becoming more and more impressed by the combination of an electric guitar behind some fine MCing.

Check it out and get ready for Chiddy Bang’s album, The Preview, which is set to release October 11 of this year.

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Pass Out (Chiddy Bang Freestyle) Info.:
Album: Air Swell
Release Date: April 8, 2010
Download Link: hit me up

New Atmosphere EP Just in Time for Tour

Cory Zechmann — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:53:01 +0000

Atmosphere’s latest EP, To All My Friends, Blood Makes The Blade Holy: The Atmosphere EP’s, is set to release Tuesday, the 4th of September. Just in time for their summer end tour.

Two songs have already been released off the EP, “To All My Friends” about two weeks ago and “Freefallin’” just today. The two have a similar vibe with a laid-back country, summer-daze and a smooth hittin’ beat. Slug lays some reflective lines on both, which, if not like always, seems to be a theme for the EP. Like his music, he seems to be maturing with age, bringing on a new style any fan will come to appreciate.

Alright, I’m off to the North Coast festival this weekend. Can’t wait to see Pretty Lights live for the first time! Maybe I’ll hit up Atmosphere’s Madison set on the 8th, the first stop on the tour… I wish.

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
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Freefallin’ Info.:
Release Date: September 7, 2010
Album: To All My Friends, Blood Makes The Blade Holy: The Atmosphere EP’s
To All My Friends Tour on Rhymesayers.com
Buy Links: Amazon MP3

Monster by KanYe West

Cory Zechmann — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 23:06:36 +0000

A couple weeks back I heard Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) was working with KanYe on his new album, Dark Twisted Fantasy, due out in mid-November. A collaboration with Vernon is just what KanYe needs, especially after hearing Vernon’s work on GAYNGS.

A preview of what’s to come was posted yesterday on KanYe’s blog. The new mix, “Monster” shows some promise for these two, especially when you throw Jay-Z into the mix. Unfortunately, the two others featured, Rick Ross & Nicki Minaj, aren’t as promising.

Not just 24 hours ago, I was listening to MTV – we all have our guilty pleasures at 4 am (usually infomercials for me) – when I heard Sean Kingston’s “Letting Go” featuring Nicki Minaj. It just reminded me of how much shit still gets promoted on the airwaves these days – and how thankful I was to avoid it (thank you, Internet)! But I guess I’ll have to endure it this time. Fortunately, after listening to “Monster” a few time, the two didn’t completely ruin the track.

Although, KanYe’s lyrics are quite becoming of a megalomaniac, his GOOD Music sound is still as present as ever (though, more so in “Power”). Vernon & Jay-Z kept the song strong, giving some breathing room between two other ‘step-children’ of the song. I guess “Monster” is just a good indication of what the album will be like – a mix of the best and worst from the industry.

Question: What do y’all think of Nicki & Rick’s contribution? Am I just overreacting because of my dislike for mainstream garbage – especially from the wanna be Lil’ Kim :)

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
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Monster Info.:
Album: Dark Twisted Fantasy
Release Date: November 16, 2010
Featuring: Jay-Z, Rick Ross, Bon Iver, Nicki Minaj

Deja Vu by Analyrical

Cory Zechmann — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 21:19:45 +0000

I was gonna feature “Deja Vu” back in November of last year, but I thought I’d wait till the album was released. Well, I still haven’t listened to the album, so I thought I’d drop this before I do.

What hooked me to Analyrical – other than his Minnesota ties – was his style. Lately I’ve seen the majority of Minneapolis MC’s gear their style towards the lyrically driven East Coast. And as much love as I have for it, over the years I’ve gone Westward bound towards the more laid-back, soul/funk driven style.

Now, I wouldn’t say Analyrical has a West Coast style, just more west in his Midwest style. Give “Deja Vu” a listen and tell me what you think of it. I’m still trying to figure out the whole classification thing, though it’s becoming more & more obsolete these days.

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
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Deja Vu Info.:
Album: First Date
Release Date: December 19, 2009
Buy Links: Amazon MP3 | iTunes

A Strange Arrangement by Mayer Hawthorne

Cory Zechmann — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 21:26:46 +0000

I’m starting to realize that new styles of music takes some getting use to. You can’t just jump right in and expect to ‘get’ it -- you gotta get a feel for it first.

At first I wasn’t feeling Mayer Hawthorne’s album, A Strange Arrangement, back when it came out in Sept. of ’09. Didn’t really think it was my kind of music, so I let it go. Then I saw the music video for his song, “Your Easy Lovin’ Ain’t Pleasin’ Nothin’” (featured below), on a blog I frequent, and liked it so much I thought I’d give the album another go.

Although I’m still getting use to his pop-style R&B, Hawthorne’s lyrics are smart and fun to sing a long to… too fun to sing to (it’s still stuck in my head!). The entire album may not be full of entirely catchy tunes, like “Your Easy Lovin’ Ain’t Pleasin’ Nothin’” & “A Strange Arrangement” have, but it’s still good easy listening. Plus those high notes he hits are ear-catching, for better or worse.

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
Download: A Strange Arrangement | Your Easy Lovin’ Ain’t Pleasin’ Nothin’

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAxBdYM8opg

A Strange Arrangement Info.:
Release Date: September 8, 2009
Buy Links: Amazon | Amazon MP3 | iTunes

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Ill-Oet: The Last Element by Libretto

Cory Zechmann — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 14:37:17 +0000

When I first heard Lifesavas around five, six years ago, I liked ‘em so much I had to find anything else like ‘em. That group was Libretto or so I thought. For all these years I thought Libretto was a group, but now that I researched a little, I find out the ‘group’ was actually just one person. I guess it just shows what I thought a group could do one man pulled off.

What he pulled off would be the funkalicious album, Ill-Oet: The Last Element, back in ’04. Libretto’s also releasing some new singles soon, but until we can get our hands on them we’ll stick with his first album.

Ill-Oet: The Last Element has the quality of a Lifesavas album with two exceptions. Lyrically, Libretto doesn’t stack up to what Vursatyl & Jumbo, the two MC’s of Lifesavas, can do. Libretto’s Ill-Oet: The Last Element also doesn’t have the consistency that each Lifesavas LP does. He may not have the amount of hits that Lifesavas does, but he does have a few. Check out the two best, “Last Drop” & “Volume” – the latter actually features Lifesavas, and see what impressed me so much by this one-man band.

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
Download: Volume | Last Drop

Ill-Oet: The Last Element Info.:
Release Date: October 12, 2004
Buy Links: Amazon | Amazon MP3 | iTunes

Far Away Trains Passing By by Ulrich Schnauss

Cory Zechmann — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 22:45:42 +0000

If you’ve got time, listen to Ulrich Schnauss’s “Between Us and Them” all the way through. The song is a growing sequence that builts on top of it self, and doesn’t flourish until well into the second half. It’s best listened to in the darkness of the night or, better yet, out in the open summer’s sun (ok, just in a quiet place). Either way it’ll put your mind at ease… which will help me offset all the dubstep I’ve been listening to.

As for the rest of the album, it carries on with the same vibe as “Between Us and Them”, but doesn’t hit the highs that the featured song does. It, however, is still an excellent collection of soothing ambient sounds. If you really need to get out of your head for a while, this will get you there.

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
Download: Passing By | Between Us And Them

Ulrich Schnauss Info.:
Styles: Electronica, Ambient Techno, Shoegaze
Hometown: Kiel, Germany
Born: 1977
Aliases: Ethereal 77, The Extremist, Hexaquart, View To The Future
Member of: Hair, Police In Cars With Headphones, Tinkabell
Albums: Far Away Trains Passing By | A Strangely Isolated Place | Missing Deadlines: Selected Remixes
Similar Artists: Ian Pooley | TM Juke | Emancipator | Jon Hopkins | William Orbit
Links: MySpace | Facebook | Last.fm | AllMusic

Far Away Trains Passing By Info.:
Release Date: June 26, 2007
Buy Links: Amazon | Amazon MP3 | iTunes

Starfucker by Starfucker

Cory Zechmann — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 22:35:44 +0000

The only reason I listened to these guys, initially, was their name – Starfucker. I thought it was the coolest band name I’d heard in a while, but I also thought it was meant as a metaphor for “fucking” a star (like the ones in the sky), not the more obvious fucking a star (like the ones in the movies). I’ll admit, I wasn’t as impressed, but the name still rolls off the tongue nicely – or maybe that’s just my fascination with the word, fuck.

Aside from Starfucker’s name, their first album, also called Starfucker, was a pleasant surprise – I’m not that into indie rock, yet, but I really enjoyed a few songs off this. The album had a nice blend of electronic instrumentals with an indie rock vibe. It resembled Broken Bells, which whom I’ve really gotten into lately.

The top songs I picked, if you’re not playing them already, are “Florida”, “Gregory Erickson the Second” & “German Love”. I read on a forum that “German Love” is a true story about a guy from Germany who made sex tapes with his girlfriend but didn’t exactly tell her about making the tapes. Well, he put up a site with the videos (also called a porn site) and it blew up in popularity. She found out and dumped his ass, and so the rest of the story goes. Who knows if it’s true, but it’s a good story to tie along with the song.

Let me know what your favorite song is out of these three.. or any other Starfucker song, if you’re into ‘em…

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
Download: Florida | Rawnald Gregory Erickson the Second | German Love

Starfucker/STRFKR Info.:
Styles: Indie/Alt Rock, Indie Electronic
Origin: Portland, Oregon
Members:
Joshua Hodges: vocals, keyboards, guitar, drums
Ryan Biornstad: guitar, keyboards, vocals, turntables
Shawn Glassford: bass, keyboards, drums
Keil Corcoran: drums, keyboards, vocals
Formerly: PYRAMID, Pyramiddd
Label: Old Wave Records
Albums: Starfucker | Jupiter
Similar Artists: Broken Bells | SOLID GOLD | Passion Pit
Links: Wikipedia | MySpace | Facebook | Twitter | SoundCloud | YouTube | Last.fm | AllMusic

Starfucker (album) Info.:
Release Date: September 23, 2008
Buy Links: Amazon | Amazon MP3 | iTunes

To All My Friends by Atmosphere

Cory Zechmann — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 22:00:42 +0000

“To All My Friends” originally debuted at Soundset 2010, but was officially released today to kick off Atmosphere’s To All My Friends tour.

The song has a laid-back vibe reminiscent of the group’s latest album, When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold. Leave it to Slug to lay down some sentimental goodness. He talks about his earlier years, wanting to be an artist: painting & drawing, but dropped it after he fell in love with the turntable. Somehow he’s stayed humble through it all and sure shows it through his lyrics.

The tour runs through September into October mostly covering the West and Midwest areas. Hopefully, I can hit up the Chicago set, there isn’t anything in Minnesota this time around (I guess we have it good enough).

On a side note, what do you all think of FELT? I can’t seem to get into ‘em like I do with Slug’s & Murs’s other projects…

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

To All My Friends Info.:
Release Date: August 13, 2010
To All My Friends Tour on Rhymesayers.com
Buy Links: iTunes

Ryan Olson Interviewed on The Local Show

Julian Appel — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 14:50:43 +0000

This last sunday, The Local Show with David Campbell on the Current did an interview with the mix mastermind, Ryan Olson – founder of GAYNGS, co-founder of Mel Gibson and the Pants, and occasional bass player for Building Better Bombs. I posted it up on here because I’ve been lacking on the interviews, so I thought I’d do the next best thing, steal one!

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
(I would’ve embedded it from The Current, but it wasn’t working)

When you start listening to the interview, you begin to realize Olson’s voice doesn’t sound quite right; that’s because he auto-tune’d it. It sounds strange (and stupid, to be honest), but after a couple of minutes it’s kinda funny (and still stupid). The interview covers a little about Olson’s past, some talk on GAYNGS and a lot about what he’s currently up to. At least half the show is taken up by Olson’s favorite music from the Midwest – a good eclectic taste. I cut out the second half of the show because Olson’s interview is only the first half. If you want to listen to the second half, go to The Current – more good tunes.

I took a couple of Olson’s best and featured ‘em below: two from Mel Gibson and the Pants and one from GAYNGS. Let me know what you think of each song and the diverse sound Olson producers.

It was my original intent for this site, and always will be, to promote Mel Gibson and the Pants, along with a handful of others – and growing each day.

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
Download: Cry | Volatile Mixture | The Slippery Slope of Giving Up

“Well I’m sure having fun, chasing after oblivion.”
- Harold Sanders Jr.

Ryan Olson Info.:
Hometown: Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Member of: GAYNGS | Mel Gibson and the Pants | Building Better Bombs
Co-founded Record Label: Totally Gross National Product

If you’ve got any more details on Ryan Olson comment below, I couldn’t find much :(

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The Black N Gold by Wale, better than Sparro’s?

Cory Zechmann — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 14:26:37 +0000

Sam Sparro’s “Black and Gold” was the theme song of my travels throughout the UK – “Area Codes” by Ludacris was a close second (inside story). So when I heard Wale was doing a remix of the song, I had to take a listen.

At first I was skeptical of a rap artist remixing an electro-R&B song (or whatever the hell genre it is). But after listening to it a couple times, it does a good job of taking the original and carrying its own, not just simply rapping over the same beat. It may not be as good as Sam Sparro’s, but it’s still worth mention.

As for the rest of the album, it’s got some decent tracks and I’m starting to dig Wale’s flow, but none of them stood out like “The Black N Gold”. Other than the remix of “Black & Gold”, the best thing about the album was its Seinfeld samples, fucking hilarious – check out the full album to catch these.

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
Download: The Black N Gold | Black and Gold

The Back N Gold Info.:
Album: More About Nothing
Originally by: Sam Sparro
Featuring: Sam Sparro
Mixed by: DJ Omega
Download Links: MediaFire | MediaFire 2

Baby, I Love Your Way (Live) by Peter Frampton

Cory Zechmann — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 03:50:45 +0000

I’ve been lacking in the classic rock listening lately, so I thought I’d feature one of my favorite love songs. Maybe this will rekindle my interest in good ol’ rock.

With classic rock songs, usually the live version is better than the recorded – I think the crowd brings out the passion in the musician. Frampton’s lyrics in “Baby, I Love Your Way” may be simple, but that’s what makes it so sweet. The song gets me all mushy every time I listen to it. Hell, it makes me wanna be Frampton’s baby… for the song. I wouldn’t go as far as saying this is the best love song of all time, but it’s in the top two (Atmosphere reference) – at least the live version is. What’s your favorite love song?

A funny/random side note – at around 40 seconds in, he sings, “far away from the city”. Every time I hear him say “city”, it sounds like he’s saying “shitty” – kinda like the owner of City Wok (Shitty Wok) from South Park (the Chinese dude). I get a good chuckle every time I listen to it.

* If you’re interested, here are the other Know Good Classics… here.

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
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Baby, I Love Your Way Info.:
Album: Frampton
Release Date: 1975
Buy Links: Amazon | Amazon MP3 | iTunes

Get Low by Nuttin’ But Stringz

Cory Zechmann — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 06:09:24 +0000

Nuttin’ But Stringz was nuttin’ like I expected. About a year or two back, someone had posted up on a forum about a rap duo who played violins. I love when hip-hop brings on classic instrumentals; strings just sound so good with a baseline and an MC that can flow.

Unfortunately, the duo didn’t stack up as I had hoped. Their use of the violin is definitely their strong point, but anything past that just seemed second-rate. Fortunately, I managed to pull a song that’s good for a party mix, which I didn’t expect from a group that’s highlighted for their violin playing – let’s just say I expected more of a classical vibe.

The duo seems to be leaning towards pop – just saw them on Dancing with the Stars (on a YouTube clip) – but their talent for the strings will hopefully push them back into the art sometime in the future.

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
Download: Get Low

Nuttin’ But Stringz Info.:
Genre: Hip-Hop, Classical, R&B, Rock
Hometown: Jamaica, Queens
Members:
Damien Escobar
Tourie Escobar
Label: NBS Entertainment, Koch Records
Albums: Struggle from the Subway to the Charts
Links: MySpace | Wikipedia | NuttinButStringz.com | Facebook | Twitter | Last.fm | AllMusic

Get Low Info.:
Album: Struggle from the Subway to the Charts
Release Date: October 3, 2006
Buy Links: Amazon | Amazon MP3 | iTunes

Picking a Lock at the Speed of Light

Cory Zechmann — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 17:32:47 +0000

I’ve been so obsessed with SOLID GOLD lately that I’ve started to listen to their opening acts – or anything else from Minneapolis. These Modern Socks’s style may not be my usual preference, but then again neither is SOLID GOLD.

Picking a Lock at the Speed of Light, These Modern Socks’s latest album, didn’t seem like anything special at first – none of the songs hit the spot, and I really wasn’t use to their style. But before giving up on these guys, a song caught my ear. “To NASA” seemed to be more rich in electronic instruments than the previous songs, which is what got me into current indie rock in the first place (i.e. SOLID GOLD), so I decided to listen to the album one more time through – usually it takes me a couple plays through before I break into a new sound. The album still wasn’t anything mind-blowing, but I managed to pull a couple tracks off of it.

Let me know what you think of these guys or if you know any other solid groups from Minneapolis.

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
Download: Picking a Lock at the Speed of Light | To NASA

These Modern Socks Info.:
Genre: Indie Rock, Electro, Pop
Hometown: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Members:
Corey Palmer: Vocals, Guitar, Keys
Nick Tveitbakk: Back-up Vocals, Keys, Samples
Aaron “Al” Bergstrom: Bass, Back-up Vocals
Park Evans: Electric Guitar
JT Bates: Drums
Alex Oana: Mastering, Mixing
Matthew Friesen: Artwork
Adrian Suarez
Label: Dead Electric Records
Albums: These Modern Socks | Picking a Lock At the Speed of Light
Similar Sounds: Solid Gold | Little Man | Friends Like These
Links: TheseModernSocks.com | Facebook | Twitter | Last.fm | AllMusic

Picking a Lock at the Speed of Light Info.:
Release Date: May 20, 2008
Buy Links: Amazon | Amazon MP3 | iTunes

Blazing Arrow by Blackalicious

Cory Zechmann — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 03:16:29 +0000

I haven’t heard anything that breakthrough in hip-hop lately, so I thought I’d dig through my collection and find something noteworthy. Blackalicious, along with the rest of the Quannum crew, were a main reason for my first interests in hip-hop. Their West Coast, laid-back vibes made me rethink what hip-hop was all about. Nia may have had some killer tracks, but Blazing Arrow created a vibe that marked the Blackalicious sound.

Blazing Arrow may not be the most acclaimed album of its time, but it had a strong following and pushed hip-hop forward across The Bay. Gift of Gab put out some cunningly crafted rhymes, but without the backup of Chief Xcels beats, his words wouldn’t have flowed so freely. I put up some of the best from the album, but its entirety is well worth a listen.

If you’ve got anything fresh that reminds you of these two, post it up in the comments below.

On a side note, in case some of you’ve notice my site has been down for a couple of days. I’ve resolved the issue with my host and hopefully this shit doesn’t happen again. It was a pain in the ass, and I’m hopin’ for some smooth sailin’, at least for a while.

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
Download: Make You Feel That Way | 4000 Miles | Brain Washers

Blazing Arrow Info.:
Album: Blazing Arrow
Release Date: April 30, 2002
Buy Links: Amazon | Amazon mp3 | iTunes

4000 Miles Info:
Featuring: Chali 2na & Lateef the Truth Speaker

Make You Feel That Way Info.:
Anthony Coleman: Trumpet

Brain Washers Info.:
Featuring: Ben Harper
Juan Nelson: Bass
Leon Lewis Mobley: Drums
Oliver Charles: Rhodes, Clavinet
Also contains cuts by Cut Chemist