Well, we're about a week out from Drake's "Thank Me Later". It'll be interesting come June 15th to see how the album is received. Although a lot of singles have been released over the past few months and the full album being leaked about a week ago, I'm gonna hold out till that Tuesday to give it a proper listen.
I was sorting through a number of tracks in preparation for a new mix and keep coming back to this Caspa remix of an old Art Of Noise song, Moments In Love. I only recently found out that this track was originally released in the early 80's and that blew my mind. The synthpop group from London has elements of hip-hop and industrial electronic that had me assuming that this was a current group when I first heard it. Unbelievable.
The Caspa remix only very subtly changes from the original and shortens the 10 minute opus a bit; however it's still repetitive and over 5 minutes long. I love the duality of the quiet droning reflective half interrupted throughout by the epic industrial thumping sections. This was really a perfect backdrop for Drake's single, Over, where his loud rhythmic braggadocio verses are tempered with a reflective, sloppy chorus inside of his head. Hope you enjoy!
Drake's second single is out from his upcoming June 15th debut, "Thank Me Later". Produced by Kanye West, the track showcases the R&B half of Drake roaming around the industrial thumping we've come to know from West ala "808's & Heartbreaks". The two were reportedly working together in Hawaii recently and Drake then went on to Jamaica to shoot the video. Reactions?
Drake - Find Your Love
As a bonus, I've included an obscure Drake track from a few years ago that features Dwele and Little Brother... can't really lose with a lineup like that.
Drake - Don't You Have a Man ft. Dwele & Little Brother
2009 was a really great music year for me. Amidst recording a handful of DJ mixes, I discovered a lot of great new music representing all genres. I haven't been this in love with my headphones and great albums since high school bus trips on the soccer team where I spent a lot of long hours on school nights traveling with my Sony Discman.
I've compiled a synopsis of my favorite albums that were released this last year and hope that you'll take time to enjoy them as well. I love perusing people's "album-of-the-year" lists and discovering new music and am excited to sit with band such as Animal Collective, Bat For Lashes, DJ /rupture, Jason Lytle, Neko Case, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Raekwon, The Swell Season, Thieves Like Us, and Volcano Choir. All have released great albums in 2009 which I've either overlooked, need to give a second listen or are completely new to me.
Freelance Whales - Weathervanes
This band out of Queens has really excited me this last year. I was fortunate enough to get to see them live at the Rickshaw Stop and I'm so thankful. I don't know that I've ever seen a band so joyful, humble and thankful. At only ten bucks, I felt like I was almost stealing from them. Glad to report that they've just been signed with Frenchkiss/Mom & Pop Records.
Fanfarlo - Reservoir
I went to the ten buck concert to see the Freelance Whales and stumbled upon Fanfarlo! Really great surprise and I've been listening to their new album on repeat ever since. Although on the border of too "tortured, hipster" band, at least they're from London, so they dress different than the hipsters here.
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
2009 was the year of Phoenix for me. I got to catch them live at the Warfield, which although I was stuck in the rafters, was loud, flashy and full of aisle dancing. There new album is close to perfect and has also helped shoot this French band into the mainstream spotlight. Rock on, rock on.
Drake - So Far Gone
I've written in depth about Drake in the past and shared some of my excitement. I probably listened to this mixtape more than any other album this past year and am curious to see if he can capture that magic again in 2010 with his debut with Cash Money Records.
The Antlers - Hospice
I stumbled upon the Hospice album during my weekly NPR podcast listen and was haunted by it. This is a headphones album and I've enjoyed getting lost in this ode to the passing of a close friend. Downside: always come away a bit solemn.
Passion Pit - Manners
I've previously written about Passion Pit in my ode to painful vocalists. Manners ended up carrying through the months for me and It's a really comfortable blend of pop/rock/electronic that I tend to gravitate toward.
Great Lake Swimmers - Lost Channels
I thought no one had heard of the Great Lake Swimmers until I tried to go to a small show her in the city at a very low-key venue and got turned away by a sold out show. This album is beautiful in a spacey, folky sort of way. I wouldn't be surprised to see these guys show up at events like Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in coming years.
Wilco - Wilco (the album)
I've spent a lot of time with Yankee Hotel Foxtrot over the years, as have every college student, and this new album has got me re-excited about Wilco. Every time one of these songs plays I feel like Jeff Tweedy is sitting on my sofa singing, maybe even with his family as backup vocals.
Today, Drake finally signed to Lil Wayne's label, Young Money, as part of Universal. This deal, after a massive bidding war, is not only a milestone in his relatively young career, but a picture of the music industry today. In the past 3 years, this Canadian rapper has steadily built a successful underground following with his four mixtapes, culminating in this year's So Far Gone. An incredible mixtape, and one of my favorite albums of the year thus far, So Far Gone has helped launch him into almost unprecedented unsigned stardom. His current single, Best I Ever Had, could potentially become only the 2nd #1 song in history by an unsigned artist (he currently has songs at #3 and #10). So far this year, he's performed on various TV shows, awards shows and on tour, selling out shows all well before the release of his first studio full-length album.
The situation is unprecedented, but I foresee it becoming more and more common. With an increasing divergence from an upfront consumer exposure being controlled by corporate music industry, the underground indie artist is gaining power (albeit still relatively capped). This is evident in Drake's success with So Far Gone. As a free album, the buzz that it's generated and the opportunities that it's led to demonstrate the power of the listener to reward quality material as well as the true money-making potential for an artist in everything but album sales.
All that said, it's impossible to notice two things. Firstly, Drake was basically adopted by some powerfully mainstream mentors. Along with getting public praise and facetime with Jamie Foxx, Kanye West and Jay-Z, Lil' Wayne has been grooming him for success for several years now. This manifests itself in So Far Gone with four songs featuring Weezy himself. It's close to impossible to avoid success when your chummed up with the best-selling artist of last year. Most recently, the two performed two songs and sat together on the front row of the BET awards.
I'm excited to hear his upcoming major label debut, but I'm nervous. Part of what has made Drake so interesting for me thus far has revolved around his ability to speak openly and smartly. Amidst hints of the nonsense of a stereotypical hip hop extravagance, he always mixes in reflections on something of emotional depth. In the same verse that he talks about a freak-show tour bus, he details crying with his mother after he catches her trying to literally desert him as a young boy. This is all coupled with a great restraint in the musicality. Much of So Far Gone is slow and moody, finding ways to re-imagine popular indie songs from the likes of Lykke Li and Peter, Bjorn and John. I hope that his marriage to Lil' Wayne doesn't begin to corrode this style. Weezy, although somehow managing to make almost any song sell, has a tendency to digress into a cracked-out randomness in his lyrics in a way that bends more towards disturbing than metaphor to me. Insert "A Milli" here.
Can an artist really have a chance at consistent mainstream success without eventually being tied to a major label?
Drake - Say What's Real (Warning: Explicit Lyrics)
