Category Archives: blog

Funk Stimulus Package

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This is just something I sort of had to share. I’m in the middle of working on a new joint and was running through my mail and somehow stumbled onto this.


Del – Funk Stimulus Package

Seriously, viagra to appreciate this you have to look at the deeper meaning. This dude takes almost a full two minutes to say something that could have been summarized in three seconds: “hey guys download my cd”.

I love Del, gastritis partially because he’s crazy. Seriously, sickness after about the one minute mark, none of what he is saying actually makes sense – until you listen with your heart.

Also, bonus points for him using bandcamp instead of rapishare links.

Eyetape + Suhburb = Synesthesia

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So if you hadn’t noticed yet, physiotherapist the site looks a little different. All part of the program, sildenafil kids.

Anyway, this is a good opportunity for me to do something which I’ve been meaning to do forever, which is take a sidebar from the aural for a second and get into the visuals.

So for those of you who have been waiting for more Suhburb, first joint up is a kinda trippy time-lapse joint from Mark from Eye Tape, with a Suhburb soundtrack.

Warning: if you are viewing this in an environment where it might not be okay to look at a video of a picture of someone not wearing clothes, you might wanna save this for home.

Synesthesia from Eye Tape on Vimeo.

Videowise, it’s sort of a weird experience. Like I almost feel guilty for going through in six minutes what took dude 13 hours to do. Also, the final product is sorta skurry. If you’re not paying attention though, you’ll miss a lot of subtle syncing and shifts in the visuals – full screen recommended.

On the audio tip, I’m not sure what the first cut is, the first jawn is There Is Only Room for Two Eddies (thanks Mark), the second and third are Tusk and Vagabundo, at least according to the titles in the mp3s I got from Suhburb (can we get an ID, fam?). And as far as I know, these haven’t really been put out anywhere (not even on this show). Eye Tape Exclusive?!?

Also, Mark was kind enough to put the show name up in the credits, but I should say in advance that I seriously didn’t do anything noteworthy, other than handing dude some mp3s and say “hey man check these out”.

So yeah, if you see Mark/Eyetape on the internets, tell em I said what’s up.

Style Wars – Obama and McCain Graded on Musical Taste

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The wars of the future, there ladies and gentlemen, nurse will not be fought over oil, or territory, or, contrary to what you may have been told, water. The wars of the future will be fought over cool.

So – to the point. Earlier I received an email from imeem:

Dear dex digital:

Before you vote, check out imeem playlists of Barack Obama and John McCain’s top ten favorite songs: http://www.imeem.com/presidentialplaylists

Whoa. Both major presidential candidates had online playlists? You know I had to check this. And looking at the playlists, I realized how much these speak to the style wars of the future. Keep in mind, kids – the hypebeast electrobanger listeners will some day be running the country. What you see below is a rundown of each candidate’s playlist, with a running commentary, final grading, and suggestions on improvement.

So, because voting based on political stances is played out – here I present the official Mixtape Show guide to voting based on taste.

First – Barack Obama.

Ready Or Not – The Fugees. This is a very, very good start. A group that many adults (and younger kids, really) haven’t even heard of, but Obama doesn’t care. A brash opening move that will get respect from the hardcore. Respect.
What’s Going On – Marvin Gaye. I’ve actually always hated the hook to this song, but the rest of the song is classic. Political Black soul. A strong following move.
I’m On Fire – Bruce Springsteen. Off the Born In The U.S.A record, which methinks is an appeal to the “Obama – ain’t that like Osama? I bet he’s one-a them thar A-rab queer lesbasexual terrarists” crowd. Decent enough song. I didn’t have this one in my house growing up.
Gimme Shelter – The Rolling Stones. This either. I am, however, noticing a rather unsubtle selection of track titles here.

Read on for the rest of the lineup…
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Are you a Rapper? Get on Bandcamp.

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No, viagra here really. But let me explain myself first:

This is a post I’ve been meaning to write for some time. I held off partially because I didn’t want to come off as being some jaded, negative, know-it-all music blogger, because I am not – but also because I don’t like whining about problems without presenting a solution – and at the time, I didn’t have a good one. I do now. This post is aimed at all artists, managers, or labels – from basement operations on up – and is a result of spending the better part of six years screwing around with rappidy raps. What I say here is not a surefire way to get radio/podcast airtime, nor is it a guarantee of any other sort, but I think it’s safe to say that some of the things I will mention here, if you pay attention, will actually help you get your music out there in the digital world.

So, let’s get into it:

As I’ve mentioned before, I get a lot of music-related email. Some of it from majors, some from indies, some from solo artists just starting out, but all with a basic common goal – to get me to listen to their music and put it on the show. When I started out, it was fun – an email from Warner here, two days later an email from some dudes in Chicago, then a week later someone from LA wanting to get my opinion on her beats…fast forward a few months, and we’re talking dozens and dozens of mp3s per day.

And I want to give everything a fair shake (particularly the independent artists), so like a year ago I made a sort of rule to submitting material – 2-3 mp3s, attached to the email. No onesheets, no bios, etc. If I like it, I get back to you. If not, no.

Often, however, I’ll get emails that make the following mistakes. For those of you artists following along at home, see if you can figure out why each of the below are not good promo looks:

What Not To Do

Q1. “Hey yo fam check my myspace – (link to myspace.com/whatever). Check out songs 2 and 4″
Q2. “Here is a link to my latest mixtape that you can download (link to a zipped file on Rapidshare)”
Q3. An email that actually does have the mp3, but when I open it up, it’s called STOOEY_FINAL.mp3, and it’s not tagged properly with artist info or anything.

Okay, put away your pencils and papers and close your test booklets – answer time.
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