Friday Music Corner — And So It Begins

As I mentioned last week, in addition to the usual batch of mp3’s, I’ll be telling you about some of my personal favorite albums. The general rules are in last week’s post. Upon further contemplation and the advice of the readers, I’m not going to rank the albums in any particular order. No sense in trying to haggle over what is #13 as opposed to #15, right?

With that in mind, join me after the break for some free music and sappy reminiscing about my favorite music.

Some of these are going to be rather obvious. Others will be obscure. I have a strange, broad music collection, and if any of you are so inspired to check out these artists on your own, we all win. Except the terrorists. However, if you don’t listen to music, the terrorists win. Don’t let them.

Glue — Seconds Away

To this day, I’m still not exactly sure how I found Glue. They’re a relatively obscure rap group from the Midwest consisting of frontman Adeem, DJDQ, and producer Maker. You’ll never find them on mainstream hip hop radio or MTV. Resist the urge to compare Glue to Eminem — the similarity stops at the skin color, although both Adeem and Eminem have no problem letting you know about their personal insecurities. In Glue’s case, the lyrics read much less like hip-hop than prog-rock or even metal:

Flying to the top of the world baptized in the Chicago skyline
blindfolding my judgment and kissing all you socialites goodbye
There’s no reason to wait/doing it for sanity’s sake
pasting pictures under my eyelids and hoping never to wake up

Thanks to the lyrical perspective, it’s easy to feel like you’re along for the ride as these guys wriggle through the uncertainty provided by their own neuroses and the daunting task of building a hip-hop career in an often hostile environment. It sure beats the hell out of “This is why, this is why, this is why I’m hot.” The listener is talked to, not talked down to. Oh, and DQ/Maker’s beats are fantastically innovative without getting overly complex, even on the down tempo tracks. If you’re a casual hip-hop fan that misses the days of scratching and substance over style, give Glue a chance.
Download Glue’s “Haunt” and “Goodbye” from Run Up The Score.

Visit Glue’s official site, or purchase “Seconds Away” and listen to even more samples at Fat Beats Records.

RapRecords.com review of “Seconds Away”

Bishop Allen — Charm School

Bishop Allen’s Charm School strikes the perfect balance between quirky pop, lo-fi rocking, and indie awesomeness. By the first time you hear a lovely but imperfect female voice sweetly sing “We were throwing furniture off the roof, we watched shatter on the ground below“, you’re hooked.

mp3: Bishop Allen — Bishop Allen Drive

Charm School is just so unassuming, fun, and well-crafted. The band is cool enough to be favorites of the New York scene, but not in that arrogant, overplayed Strokes sort of way. The album is over before you know it — none of the 13 tracks are longer than four minutes — and your first instinct will be to press play again.

mp3: Bishop Allen — Things Are What You Make Of Them

Buy yourself some Bishop Allen, and check their tour dates. They’re covering most major American cities in September and October, including D.C., Philly, and a big chunk of Big Ten country.

Listen to more Bishop Allen on the Hype Machine.