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

IN THE TUBE
For some reason the blogosphere was rich with a certain phenomenon this last week: videos of bizarre, ridiculous, and sometimes baffling cover songs. There was that clip of seminal jam band Phish doing a live cover of TV On The Radio’s “Golden Age” in Albany, turning a decent four-minute song into a boring ten-minute song (but not turning too many heads, because, besides the fact that this cover makes no sense, who really cares about Phish?)

There was that uncomfortable video of tabloid ruffian and Babyshambles frontman Pete Doherty (accidentally?) singing the Nazi-era German national anthem to a German audience (who greeted the song with a mix of cheers, boos and FUCK YOU’s).

And then there were the videos of some older looking band doing half-hearted live covers of Pixies songs on the The Tonight Show and Late Night.
More on IN THE TUBE: What the Hell Was Broadcast Over Thanksgiving?

Fiery Furnaces Will Release an Album of Covers. The Covers Will All Be Covering Fiery Furnaces Songs, Meaning Fiery Furnaces Remain the Most Despicably Annoying Band in All of New York [Pitchfork]

!!!, Maserati, and Holy Ghost! Drummer Gerhardt Fuchs Passes Away, Falling to the Bottom of a Brooklyn Elevator Shaft [NY Times]

Stream L.A. Girly Girls Best Coast’s New Single “When I’m With You,” Which Could Honestly Pass For the Vivian Girls, Only More Jangly, and Less Jersey (Also, Contains Simpler Chorus Than “Be My Baby” — “When I’m With You, I Have Fun”) [Gorilla vs. Bear]

Pavement Will Headline the Sasquatch! Festival in Washington; I Make Vow to Not Create Headlines Out of Pavement Headlining Festivals, as They Will Obviously Be Playing Almost Every One…Let This Sasquatch! Headline Blanket All Other Headlines [Pitchfork]

Watch Video For Blakroc (The Black Keys + MCs) Single “Ain’t Nothing Like You,” Which Is Appropriate to the Name, If the “You” They’re Referencing is a Remotely Entertaining Music Video; Also, C’mon Guys, Double Negatives Are So Not In [Prefix]

The Stooges Are Set to Record Unrecorded Material From the 70s, Which is Awesome Because Uhh…The Stooges, Fun House, and Raw Power Are Really Good Albums (Like REALLY Good!) [NME]

Thom Yorke Posts Blog Entry Against British Government’s Proposal For More Nuclear Power Plants, Under Extremely Inane Headline “Nuclear Power No Thanks;” Elsewhere, Remember When Thom Was Super Vague and Strange, and Consumed With Cartoon Cubes?…I Miss That Thom [Radiohead]

Watch the Pixies Perform Doolittle’s “Here Comes Your Man” on The Tonight Show, Which Sounds Exactly Like the Version on Doolittle, Except With Some Adult Contemporary Flourish; Speaking of the Pixies, Here’s a Free Pixies EP [NBC]

compiled by Max Sebela