Archive for the ‘rap’ Category

best album covers of 2011

Thursday, January 5th, 2012

I’ll never stop loving the beauty of a physical album. Everything gives meaning from the scent of a new vinyl, to the magic of reading the lyrics and seeing the images inside the insert, to the touch of the glossy, matte or recycled paper, and the most important factor — the cover art of the actual overall masterpiece.

Here are 25 of the best album covers of 2011. It’s easy to see in all of these artists, that there was an actual thought to the structure of not only their music but how it visually sounds. Enjoy!

Artist: The Antlers

Album: Burst Apart

Record Label: Transgression

Designer: Zan Goodman

Listen: I Don’t Want Love

Artist: Beastie Boys

Album: Hot Sauce Committee Part Two

Record Label: Capitol

Designer: Mike Mills

Listen: Don’t Play No Game That I Can’t Win (ft. Santigold)

Artist: Bill Callahan

Album: Apocalypse

Record Label: Drag City

Designer: Paul Ryan

Listen: Baby’s Breath

Artist: Bon Iver

Album: Bon Iver

Record Label: 4AD

Designer: Gregory Euclide

Listen: Perth

Artist: Braids

Album: Native Speaker

Record Label: Kanine

Designer: Marc Rimmer

Listen: Lemonade

Artist: Bright Eyes

Album: The People’s Key

Record Label: Saddle Creek

Designer: Zack Nipper

Listen: Shell Games

Artist: Coldplay

Album: Mylo Xyloto

Record Label: Capitol

Designer: Tappin Gofton

Listen: Every Tear Is A Waterfall

Artist: Cults

Album: Cults

Record Label: Columbia

Designer: Dave Bett and Jeannette Kaczorowski

Listen: Abducted

Artist: Cut Copy

Album: Zonoscope

Record Label: Modular

Designer: Alter

Listen: This Is All We’ve Got

Artist: DJ Shadow

Album: The Less You Know, The Better

Record Label: Island

Designer: Tony Papesh

Listen: Scale It Back

Artist: Explosions In The Sky

Album: Take Care, Take Care, Take Care

Record Label: Bella Union

Designer: Esteben Rey

Listen: Trembling Hands

Artist: Fleet Foxes

Album: Helplessness Blues

Record Label: Bella Union

Designer: Toby Liebowitz, Sean Pecknold and Dusty Summers

Listen: Grown Ocean

Artist: Friendly Fires

Album: Pala

Record Label: XL

Designer: Phil Lee

Listen: Blue Cassette

Artist: Gillian Welch

Album: The Harrow & The Harvest

Record Label: Acony

Designer: John Dyer Baizley

Listen: The Way It Goes

Artist: The Horrors

Album: Skying

Record Label: XL

Designer: The Horrors and Alison Fielding

Listen: Still Life

Artist: Iron and Wine

Album: Kiss Each other Clean

Record Label: 4AD

Designer: Sam Beam

Listen: Tree By The River

Artist: Jay-Z and Kanye West

Album: Watch the Throne

Record Label: Def Jam

Designer: Riccardo Tisci

Listen: Primetime

Artist: Kasabian

Album: Velociraptor!

Record Label: Columbia

Designer: Aitor Throup at A.T. Studio

Listen: Rewired

Artist: Liam Finn

Album: Fomo

Record Label: Transgressive

Designer: Sarah Larnach Design by Anna Taylor

Listen: Cold Feet

Artist: The Pains of Being Pure At Heart

Album: Belong

Record Label: PIAS/Slumberland

Designer: Winston Chmielinski

Listen: Heavens Gonna Happen Now

Artist: Radiohead

Album: The King of Limbs

Record Label: XL

Designer: Stanley Donwood

Listen: Codex

Artist: The Strokes

Album: Angles

Record Label: Rough Trade

Designer: Guy Pouppez

Listen: Machu Picchu

Artist: SBTRKT

Album: Young Turks

Record Label: Rough Trade

Designer: Matt de Jong

Listen: Hold On

Artist: Vetiver

Album: The Errant Charm

Record Label: Bella Union

Designer: Nathaniel Russell

Listen: Can’t You Tell

Artist: Washed Out

Album: Within and Without

Record Label: Domino

Designer: Ernest Greene and Jeff Kleinsmith

Listen: Amor Fati

DOWNLOAD ALL TRACKS (.ZIP)


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radiohead fusealage mixtape

Thursday, July 14th, 2011

Created as a mad fun-house and disaster zone by UK beloved artists, the Unfairgrounds entranced those looking to escape from the chaos of the Glastonbury Festival this past weekend and buy a ticket to enjoy themselves in a plane and car crash, zombie-filled carnival.

Thom York and Nigel Of Radiohead joined in on the fun, and played a surprise guest DJ set to the limited amount of people that decided to cross over to the dark side. Below is a personal message from Thom, and a mixtape of what was heard during those 4 hours of their DJ set. Please enjoy!

~*~

mmm you know away from the celebrity media circus on the other side of the valley, the OTHER glastonbury happened.
the one you aren’t reading much about, the one they couldn’t hang.
the fun, chilled out and insane one.
the one that couldn’t give a flying toss who you are really. the one we went for.
the one around the stone circle, and under the flags. in the rabbit hole. in the darkest depths of shangri-la.
around the van de graff lightning generator crackling through in soaking sky,
and in a crashed aeroplane fuselage where we and our friends were.. nigel and i Djing.. until dawn
here’s a selection of what we played.

radiohead fusealage mixtape :: download entire mix (.zip)
01. get off (rob3 remix) by blaqstarr & diplo
02. madame hollywood by felix da housecat
03. raid by madvillain and medaphor (and madlib)
04. quiet dog by mos def
05. pon de floor by major lazer
06. on a ragga tip by sl2
07. fog bank by boy 8-bit
08. feral (lone remix) by errr us and lone
09. seamonkey (untold rmx) by moderat
10. kill bill vol 4 by modeselektor
11. undoing the laces by nathan fake
12. mad again by boy 8bit
13. organ donor by dj shadow
14. original nutter by uk apache with shy fx
15. i can’t stop this feeling (pangea rmx) by untold
16. why by pangea
17. night of the living baseheads by public enemy

(Note: Track 08 will be coming soon
when the Lone remix of Radiohead’s Feral
has been officially released. Thank you~)


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this time won’t you save me

Wednesday, January 12th, 2011

i drove for miles just to find you and find myself
only screams all these voices in my head
you gave me strength gave me hope for a lifetime
(i never was satisfied)

listen:: save me by nicki minaj [pink friday, 2010]

photography thanks to burning man


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best songs of 2010 mixtape

Thursday, December 30th, 2010

happy new years eve! this is my own personal collection of my favorite songs of 2010. it was a tough decision to narrow down the best from out of 500 tracks, but the below addictions (in no particular order) seemed to take over my speakers for the most of this year. a collection of everything from indie rock, pop, r&b, soul, hip hop, electronica, and acoustics that made music in general feel good again. personally this year was a rollercoaster of happy emotions from moving to florida to starting a new line of jewelry to beginning new friendships to renewing a relationship with my own father, and sad feelings of my own health scares to feelings of uncertainty to an unfortunate loss of family members.  from the bottom of my heart, thank you to these artists who kept on inspiring the love of making and sharing beautiful sounds for those of us who truly needed it to get through this year. may 2011 bring us new special memories of music, art, love, light, and joy!

♥♥♥♥♥

artwork by natalie shau

be sure to check out some of these amazing 2010 lists: gvb, stg, mdm

the 50 best songs of 2010 mixtape

janelle monae – cold war

the black keys – howlin’ for you

kanye west – monster

lcd soundsystem – dance yrself clean

robyn – dancing on my own

arcade fire – we used to wait

broken bells – the ghost inside

kid cudi – ghost!

deerhunter – helicopters

crystal castles ft robert smith – not in love

bonobo ft andreya triana – stay the same

sleigh bells – rill rill

ariel pink’s haunted graffiti – round & round

the national – terrible love

sufjan stevens – i walked

erykah badu – window seat

four tet – angel echoes

caribou – jamelia

james blake – limit to your love

twin sister – i want a house

beach house – silver soul

sade – soldier of love

crookers ft rye rye – hip hop changed

massive attack – paradise circus (gui boratto remix)

mumford & sons – little lion man

lali puna – remember

tame impala – solitude is bliss

broken social scene – all to all

best coast – boyfriend

the knife – colouring of pigeons

yeasayer – o.n.e.

gorillaz – on melancholy hill

lykke li – get some

alicia keys – try sleeping with a broken heart

sharon jones & the dap kings – the game gets old

flying lotus ft thom yorke – and the world laughs with you

sharon van etten – love more

the walkmen – angela surf city

adele – rolling in the deep

cee lo green – fuck you

foals – spanish sahara

cut copy – where i’m going

the drums – down by the water

iron & wine – walking far from home

morning benders – excuses

warpaint – undertow

tennis – marathon

wolf parade – semi precious stone

laura marling – alpha shallows

the coral – 1000 years

♥♥♥♥♥

download mixtape zip of all songs


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janelle monae :: cold war

Wednesday, December 8th, 2010

I’m trying to find my peace
I was made to believe there’s something wrong with me
And it hurts my heart
Lord have mercy, ain’t it plain to see?

This is a cold war
You better know what you’re fighting for
This is a cold war
Do you know what you’re fighting for?

mp3: Janelle Monae – Cold War
(The ArchAndroid, 2010)


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i like the way it hurts…

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

after just getting out of summer college classes, i haven’t spent as much time as i’d like to research good music and discover new things of what i like.  lately all i’ve been able to do is listen to is old mixtapes or pop songs on the radio. when the duet of eminem and rihanna performing “love the way you lie” came out, i couldn’t help but give it a few listens. of course, by the first i knew there was an intense hook to it but didn’t realize just how emotionally important it felt until the second listen.

videos seem to always showcase the complexity behind a song. actors megan fox and dominic monaghan sure provide a powerful display of how difficult it is to be in an abusive relationship. in my own opinion, the fire that grows throughout the video acknowledges how passion mixed with rage and anger only leaves a beautiful disaster in the end. some publications have displayed dislike for this song, for the video, and for the awareness of domestic violence. yet, it’s important for more to be seen of just how serious this matter is, and how it’s not okay for it be ignored anymore.

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summer songs: airplanes

Saturday, June 5th, 2010

can we pretend that airplanes
in the night sky
are like shooting stars
i could really use a wish right now

~*~

listen: airplanes by b.o.b. ft hayley williams and eminem

art: chloe earley

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beyonce versus lady gaga

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

Although most believe pop music is indeed sh*t, when it comes down to Beyonce and Lady Gaga, there’s an entertainment line to cross.  The two teamed up to create two songs together. In their latest videos, Beyonce and Lady Gaga both showcase their true performer persona’s, highlighting their showmanship with sensual dance moves, hypnotizing beats, and colorful images that are out of this world.

BEYONCE FT LADY GAGA – VIDEOPHONE

LADY GAGA FT BEYONCE – TELEPHONE


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crookers :: tons of friends

Thursday, March 25th, 2010

From Italy, Crookers presents their debut album Tons of Friends on Southern Fried Records. Filled with different collaborations between the likes of Miike Snow, Roisin Murphy, Rye Rye, Yelle, Kelis, Soulwax, and Major Lazer, Crookers combine a blend of downtempo beats, hip hop swagger, and twists of electronica that mix for an eclectic experience.

LISTEN

Crookers featuring Rye Rye – Hip Hop Changed


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