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  • 808s & Heartbreak: Kanye West’s Headphone Masterpiece

    This was not set up to be a good move. Kanye West had made three of the finest hip-hop records of the past half-decade. Despite limited lyrical skills, he used relatability, a way with a punchline, and strong production values to make three classic or near-classic albums.

    I think it was Neil Young who coined (or at least inspired) the term “going straight from the middle of the road into the ditch” to be used whenever an artist with commercial success makes a serious left turn away from the sound that brought them accolades-think Young going from folk-rock to experimental electro and rockabilly, or Prince going from Purple Rain to Around the World in a Day.

    For his fourth album, Kanye promised to shake things up. Kanye singing? Using Auto-Tune throughout the entire album? Either West was seriously on some other shit or he was hell-bent on completely obliterating his audience.

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  • FORTY-FIVE REVOLUTIONS PER MINUTE #13: Road Atlas Shrugged

    GOLDEN PALOMINOS  “Omaha” b/w “I.D. (Like A Version)” (Celluloid Records SCEL 56, 1985)

    It’s a long-and-winding story with lots of stopgaps, but I’ll try to keep it short.  Winter, 1981.  Found an album called Memory Serves by a group named Material in the jazz department of my local record shop.  Bought it on-sight, simply because I noticed that Brian Eno played gong (or something) on one track.  Dumb reason to buy an album, right?  Well, just know that at that moment I was searching for something more, whatever that may have been.  Anyway, upon hearing the album, I was floored by the rich, heavy, dub-influenced basslines emanating from the fingers of one (check the record sleeve)…Bill Laswell.  OK, well suffice to say that over the next few years I spent much hard-earned money on anything with his name on it.  That list grew & grew, but one of the finer things I discovered was, in early 1985, this thrilling little single by Golden Palominos.

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  • MC Breed (1972-2008)

    It was reported over the weekend that rapper MC Breed (Eric Breed), most famous for the song Ain’t No Future in Yo Frontin’, passed away from what I believe to be injuries related to kidney failure. He was in the hospital earlier in September of this year after collapsing because of kidney failure.

    Rapreviews.com has a statement up from Breed’s family and management.

    We are saddened by our great loss. More than just an artist, we mourn the loss of a beloved father, son, brother and friend. We are overwhelmed by the tremendous outpouring of love and support during this difficult time. We are thankful and blessed to have been in his presence and want him to be remembered for his creative, caring, talented and hard-working spirit.

    Personally, I remember 106.1 KMEL (San Francisco) playing Ain’t No Future in Yo Frontin’ like crazy and it really became an anthem at the time. You couldn’t go anywhere without hearing that song. Gotta Get Mine came out a couple years later and featured Tupac Shakur right as he was really blowing up. The latter song reached a new audience in 2002 when it was featured on Eminem’s second soundtrack to his movie 8 Mile. It’s the third track on More Music From 8 Mile which also featured music by some heavy hitters of early 90s rap.

    I’ve included the videos to both songs.

    Ain’t No Future in Yo Frontin’

    Gotta Get Mine