K-Os - "Emcee Murdah". With Joyful Rebellion, Canada's foremost "conscious" hip-hop head is back. The album's getting props all over, and to my great surprise, he's even charting - JR had the highest debut ever for a Canadian "urban" artist. (Argh. I hate the quotation marks. By "conscious," I mean that K-Os willfully positions himself in oppposition to the rap mainstream, framing them as poser-thugs, him as honest-poet (this of course is bullshit); by "urban," I guess Billboard means "black".) His success is certainly being propelled by "B-Boy Stance," a fine first single that's even making inroads on MTV2. Like Kanye before him, K-Is is mixing party with thinky, to some considerable success. Joyful Rebellion isn't groundbreaking, but it's heads and tails above the last time I heard him. "Emcee Murdah" opens the album. K-Os is more Wyclef Jean than The Streets, but the song reminds me somehow of "Turn the Page." Perhaps it's the strings, perhaps it's the seriousness, the stony gaze. Guitar loops like the opening theme for a California private-eye, violins lay out the stakes, and Spanish guitar strums out the chorus, blossoming in the final minute. K-Os swings from desperation to determination, pleading and berating. His rhymes aren't exactly Ghostface or MF Doom, but - again like Kanye - there's an eloquence in his simple honesty. "We love hip-hop / stop / please stop / please." [buy]
Capstan Shafts - "Posters for Cats Disappeared". Brad sent me an email, telling me about this strange one man band.
An immaculately packaged mp3 by this band appeared at my college radio station office with no explanation or documentation but I threw it on the cd player and man it COOKS. When I wrote him some fan mail he responded by just sending more cd-rs. Apparently he has released a full length and three 6-7 song eps this year which is completely fucking crazy considering the quality of this lo-fi pop music. Anyways we here in little ol' Geneseo NY are completely enamoured by this guy (and his magnificently packaged full length is only 4 dollars!!)...I'm inclined to agree: this song does, uh, cook. It's the best use of hiss-distortion since the Daft Punk remix of "Take Me Out" (or maybe Bright Eyes' "If Winter Ends"): the drums crackle like collapsing fences, Dean Edwards Mill's voice sweeps through like a brisk wind. It's bedroom pop with the windows wide open, noise splashing down to the street. Sloan recording in a shed; Beck and Spoon playing broken equipment. Catchy nonsense, a wiggling VU guitar, a bass-drum that leaves you room to hand-clap. A country sock-hop gone wrong. Yes, all this and more. (From the Ample Tribes for Sullen King Pounder EP, which you can email him about. Or order the full-length Chick Cigarettes from Asaurus, for four dollars.)
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Stypod is the fantastic new mp3blog by the makers of Stylus Magazine. Catch the fine Skitz (ft. Wildflower, Tempa, Estelle) track.
And Orbis Quintus is excellent and new, from badgerminor + pal. The Borges reference makes me glad, and the politics make me cheer. Also: Les Georges Leningrad!
Posted by Sean at September 7, 2004 2:48 AM
and it will begin playing. All songs are also available to download: just right-click the link and choose 'Save as...'
