January 9, 2010
Albums To Look Forward To In 2010
THIS WEEK IN HIP HOP
Wow. It seems like yesterday the world was freaking out about Y2K, and now in the blink of an eye, it’s 2010. The past decade treated me well, and I hope it did the same for everyone reading this, but frankly, it was not too good for the majority of the world’s inhabitants. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that in the next 10 años we make major improvements in the ways in which we treat each other. Anyways, that’s enough of me being thoughtful and preachy, let’s talk about music.
Quan, our other This Week In Hip Hop man, in his unpredictable top 10 list of albums in 2009 requested that I critique his selections, and provide my own. Although I felt that there were some questionable picks to say the least (Juicy J in the top 5?!?), I think his article did a great job of letting the world know that hip-hop as a genre is tremendously diverse, as is the taste of its followers. There is absolutely nothing wrong or contradictory about a die hard Wu-Tang fan enjoying Gucci and Wayne. Hip-Hop is not dead; in fact I think it’s the genre of music most oversaturated with legitimate talent. That’s why I couldn’t bring myself to make my own list of favorite albums from 2009. While I must admit that I did hear a lot of new music last year, I still don’t feel like I even scratched the surface of the quality content that was released. I unfortunately didn’t listen to the new Souls of Mischief, Zion I, Tanya Morgan, The Clipse, UGK, De La Soul, Slum Village, etc… so without experiencing those projects, I don’t feel like I can do justice to critiquing an entire year’s worth of albums. Sorry Quan.
On the other hand, I know that there is a lot of music that I am looking forward to in 2010, so without further ado, I want to let y’all know what I will be keeping my eyes and ears open for this year.
Black Milk, Sean Price and Guilty Simpson | Random Axe
You may already know that I am thoroughly impressed with the quality of music that Duck Down Records is putting out, and from the slew of projects they have slated for 2010, Random Axe is the one that I’m the most excited about. When I first heard that Black Milk, Sean Price and Guilty Simpson were collaborating, it seemed to good to be true, but after they leaked “Monster Babies,” it was official. This group is for real. Unfortunately, Black Milk’s hard drive crashed, and with it all of Sean P’s recorded verses were lost. To make matters worse, Kimbo Price only writes his verses on his cell phone, and he purchased a new one, so the written words were gone too. So it wasn’t released in ’09 like it was supposed to be. Instead, Duck Down is hoping to make Random Axe available to the masses in the first quarter of 2010. As long as Sean kept his morale high through the hardships and made sure to persevere, this album could be one we remember in 2020.
More on Albums To Look Forward To In 2010
Stream Another 17-Minute Memory Tapes Jam, “Walk Me Home”…It’s Halloween Spooky, And Leads To Fun Puns Such As “Monstrous Memory Tapes” or “Memory Terrifying Tapes” [Gorilla vs. Bear]
Nas Joins Courtney Love and Method Man On List of Musicians Who Owe a Shit-Ton in Back Taxes (For Nasir, $2.5 Million); Well, Life’s a Bitch (Eh? Get it?) [Prefix]
Stream New Of Montreal “Wet Butcher’s Fist” Off the HHBTM Single, Which Sounds Like It Was Recorded It Was Sounded Underwater, and Features Kevin Barnes Admitting to Wanting to be a Sex Offender [You Ain’t No Picasso]
Canadian Hardcore Band/Polaris Prize Winners Fucked Up To Release Singles Collection, The Two-Disc Couple Tracks; Released January 26 [Pitchfork]
Stream All of Devendra Banhart’s What Will We Be a Week In Advance of Its Release – This Album Isn’t Nearly Strange Enough; I Thought The Warner Bros. Were Supposed to be Pretty Crazy [Stereogum]
Animal Collective Joins Animal Rights…Collective, PETA, In Fight Against Bludgeoning Seals; If You Don’t Want To See a Seal Bludgeoned, Don’t Watch This Video [I Guess I’m Floating]
The Roots Push Baked Upcoming LP How I Got Over To Early 2010; Meanwhile, The Roots Still Playing on Jimmy Fallon Every Night, So No One Has Any Shortage of Roots (Except Licorice Root…I Can’t Get Enough of That) [Idolator]
Watch Norwegian Sleep-Folk Duo Kings of Convenience Play a Bunch of Songs in the Spin Studio Off Released-Today LP Declaration of Dependence; Grow Bored In a Matter of Seconds, Take Nap [Spin]
Madonna Getting Sued By Her Neighbor For Rehearsing To Loud; Shouts of “Damned Kids With Their Grasping at Straw Attempts at Former 80s Glory” Heard From Neighbor’s Apartment [NME]
Lego Freddy Mercury Will Appear in Lego Rock Band; Lego Moustache and Chest Hair Not Living Up To Precedent of Actual Moustache and Chest Hair [Idolator]
compiled by Max Sebela
Nas Writing New Album; Claims Hip-Hop Has Responsibility To “Keep Shit Crunchy” [Billboard]
Jay Reatard Thinks Pains of Being Pure at Heart is Boring and Therefore Hates Entirety of Brooklyn [Brooklyn Vegan]
Bring a Can of Squirt and See Girl Talk For Free (Wait, They Still Make Squirt?) [Pitchfork]
Nine Inch Nails’ Final Tour Announced – Four Confirmed New York Dates in August [Brooklyn Vegan]
Most Banal News Story of the Day: Panic at the Disco Re-Rename Themselves Panic! At the Disco [Idolator]
Scottland’s The Swell Season Record Announce New Album The Strict Joy [Spin]
Shellac(!), Crystal Castles(!), and Sufjan Stevens (!!!!) Added to All Tomorrow’s Parties New York [Brooklyn Vegan]
Leonard Cohen Feels “Hallelujah” Has Been Covered Too Many Times; Meanwhile, Some Highschooler Covers “Hallelujah” For Girlfriend [NME]Leon
Dinosaur Jr.’s Farm Recalled For Rocking Too Hard; Causing Deafness [Pitchfork]
Jay-Z Possibly To Release Book of Lyrical Explanations [Prefix]
Madonna Performs With Sunn O)); Picture is Unbelievably Awesome [Tripwire]
compiled by Max Sebela
Stream Austin Garage Rockers White Denim’s New Album Fits From NME [NME]
Leonard Cohen, Wolf Parade, Japandroids, and Fucked Up (?!) Long-Listed For Polaris Prize [Idolator]
Sigur Rós Wins Icelandic Game Show “Poppunktur;” Are Now Returning Champs [Pitchfork]
The Boss’s Blue Collar Looks a Little White, Withholding the Best Tickets From His Shows [NJ.Com]
Virgin Megastores Across the Country Officially Closed [Idolator]
Hip-Hop May Not Be Dead: Beastie Boys Duet With Nas at Bonnaroo [Pitchfork]
Lil Wayne Announces “Young Money Presents: America’s Most Wanted Music Festival” [SPIN]
Trent Reznor Retires From Live Music in the U.S. [NME]
Blur Finally Return to Live Stage [Pitchfork]
Michael Jackson Hires Lou Ferrigno, the 70s Incredible Hulk, as Trainer [Prefix]
compiled by Max Sebela
