To wrap up 2010, I decided to lump together a few of my favorite dance/house, electronica, folk, jazz and latin songs. Not that these genres don't deserve their own articles, but I'm out of time!
1. Gotta Get Your Love (Kenny Dope Remix) | Gary Davis | Chocolate Star | Dance/Alternative
2. A Sunday Smile | Beirut | The Flying Club Cup | Folk
Thanks to everyone for their feedback on my 2010 picks--I definitely picked up a lot of great recommendations from all of you! We'll do it again next year...
I spend a lot of time "digging in the crates" for classics of all genres. With the advent of the music sampling Android/iPhone app Shazam, my ability to find rare music on the fly has increased 10 fold. So picking my favorite vintage songs (released before 2000) was more difficult than ever, but "here it go"...
1. No Stronger Love | The Floaters | Float On | R&B/Soul. If you dig the Floater's 70's slow jam Float On, then you need to pick up their love ballad No Stronger Love from the same album. Powerful stuff.
2. Up All Night | Boomtown Rats | V Deep | New Wave. I don't recall ever hearing Up All Night during the 80's, but I certainly seemed to hear it everywhere in 2010--by the pool at the Mondrian in Miami, in IKEA, on 80's stations, etc. I was suddenly unable to resist singing the chorus every time I was out in the streets too late.
3. Soul Food | Goodie Mob | Soul Food | Hip-Hop. Soul Food's metaphor for good music is still tasty today! Totally forgot how ridiculous this track is and how talented Cee Lo was/is even back in the 90's. Why doesn't this song get more play on DJ's old school sets?
4. Front Door | Gregory Isaacs | Love Songs | Reggae. Many of us combed our Gregory Isaacs collections when he passed away last year (R.I.P.), but DJ Ms. Nix put me up on Front Door in her shout out to the "Cool Ruler". Can't seem to stop playing this song...
5. 360 Degrees (What Goes Around) | Grand Puba | Reel To Reel | Hip-Hop. Back in the 80's and 90's, there wasn't a bigger Grand Puba fan than me. After the Masters of Ceremony and Brand Nubian albums, I was so amped to hear Grand Puba Maxwell's solo album and for a change, the product lived up to the hype. I remember staying home to watch the premier of 360 Degrees on Yo! MTV Raps and jumping around the room like a damn psychopath! When I dug up this CD last year and played this song again, it had the same effect! Best line in the song: You know the Flaaaaaav! Yes, I do, Puba. Yes, I do... ;-)
6. Sunshine | Earth Wind & Fire | Gratitude | R&B/Soul. EWF ignites memories of my early childhood, hanging out at my grandparents' house and sneaking into my aunt and uncles' house parties. I distinctly remember the older kids going crazy whenever they threw on an EWF record and that feeling of excitement and adoration has stuck with me over the years. Everyone knows the EWF standards, but Sunshine is a personal favorite that blows my mind every time!
7. Early to Rise | Nice & Smooth | Nice & Smooth | Hip-Hop. While not considered a N&S classic, Early to Rise invokes a memory of cracking the plastic on this CD, anxiously throwing it in the player and absolutely losing my mind when I heard the ill Fat Albert sample, Greg Nice's simplistic and fun banter and finally, Smooth B's lubricated flow. A perfect start to a great 90's hip-hop album! (Can we please talk about the uncomfortable exchange between N&S at the beginning of this video? Hilarious!)
8. Pregnant (Baatin) | Slum Village | Fantastic, Vol. 1 | Hip-Hop. I finally got around to tracking down the elusive first Slum Village album/demo Fantastic Vol. 1 (Vol. 2 was officially released first) and I was surprised how many songs I hadn't heard yet! Most of these songs are snippets and clock in at under 1:30, but Pregnant (Baatin) was too dope to resist! R.I.P. Baatin & Dilla--Slum Village forever.
9. Nao Tem Nado Nao (I and II) | Marcos Valle | Previsao Do Tempo | Bossa Nova. My man Madlib exposed me to the world of Brazilian jazz, bossa nova and funk when he teamed up with Ivan "Mamao" Conti of the Brazilian super-group Azymuth to form the band Jackson Conti. I was listening to Nao Tem Nado Nao by Jackson Conti last year and discovered that it was a cover of an old Marcos Valle bossa nova hit from the 70's. The original, split into two parts--a vocal and an instrumental, is bananas and makes me appreciate the artistic license Jackson Conti took with their cover.
10. Never Stop Loving Me | Curtis Mayfield | Something To Believe In | R&B/Soul. I finally completed my Curtis Mayfield collection last year! Never Stop Loving Me was one of his hits that I was the least familiar with and firmly reminded me why Curtis Mayfield is one of the silkiest, smoothest soul brothas of all time.
11. Invitation | Norman Connors | Invitation | R&B/Soul. After tracking down Mos Def's Brown Sugar, it occurred to me that I wanted to know what song he sampled. That's when I found Invitation, an awesome baby-making jam by Norman Connors (of You Are My Starship fame).
13. Similak Child | Black Sheep | A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing | Hip-Hop. I dug out A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing to see if that album was as hot as I remember. Oh, it was. I actually think the classic The Choice Is Yours is average compared to the rest of the album! Similak Child, Black Sheep's ode to shapely women, used to be a favorite of mine back in the day.
14. (Lay Your Head On My) Pillow | Tony! Toni! Tone! | Sons of Soul | R&B/Soul. I always likedTony! Toni! Tone!, but never quite loved them--except for when they sang (Lay Your Head On My) Pillow. This is the song that began my devotion to Raphael Saadiq's work.
15. Ex Girl to Next Girl | Gang Starr | Daily Operation | Hip-Hop. Like most of you, when Guru passed away, I started diggin' through entire my Gang Starr collection. While Guru blessed many of my favorite songs in my collection, Ex Girl to Next Girl is that Gang Starr classic that I can still recite from start to finish. Perfect lyrics, perfect delivery, perfect production. R.I.P. Keith Elam aka Guru.
16. Oh Bumbo Klaat | Peter Tosh | Wanted Dread And Alive | Reggae. I actually had this strange idea at the beginning of 2010 that maybe Peter Tosh wasn't as great as I remembered. Wrong again. Listening to Oh Bumbo Klaat was like a shock to the system!
17. Baby Be Mine | Michael Jackson | Thriller | R&B/Pop. MJ's Thriller had 9 songs and all 9 are indisputable classics. DJ Ms. Nix reminded me during one her DJ sets that Baby Be Mine was the sleeper on the album!
18. Starálfur | Sigur Rós | Ágætis Byrjun | Electronica/Downtempo. I stumbled onto Starálfur (translation: Staring Elf) while surfing the web and fell in love with it. Sure, they are singing in Icelandic, so I have no idea what Sigur Rós are saying. But it's undeniably beautiful and you should feel free to play this at my funeral.
19. Thorn In My Pride | The Black Crowes | The Southern Harmony And Musical Companion | Rock. I remember listening to the Black Crowes in the 90's and being taken back to my days of living in the Panama Canal Zone, hanging out with the older military kids, and listening to Creedence Clearwater Revival. Thorn In My Pride is a sweet, Southern rock song that still touches my soul.
20. When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What's Still Around | Police | Message In A Box | Rock. I was completing my Police collection in 2010 when I ran across When The World is Running Down. While by no means the best Police song, it was a lot funkier than I remember. But could they have come up with a shorter song title?
21. Seedy Films | Soft Cell | Non Stop Erotic Cabaret | New Wave. I thought Soft Cell was a one-hit wonder with Tainted Love, but I was mistaken. They were a two-hit wonder because Seedy Films was fire! I don't remember hearing this song at all as a kid, but I'm glad I finally found it...
22. Trippin' | Adriana Evans | Adriana Evans | R&B/Soul. I remember thinking in 1996 that Adriana Evans was going to be a huge star and I was going to marry her one day. Strangely, neither happened. (She did put out a couple of solid albums after, but without much fanfare.) Trippin' was one of many great songs from her debut album.
23. Nao Vem Que Nao Tem | Wilson Simonal | Samba Soul 70! | Bossa Nova. Another great Brazilian bossa nova discovery by Madlib from his Madlib Medicine Show #2: Flight to Brazil compilation, Nao Vem Que Nao Tem is sexy and irresistible. Is it just me or can you hear this song being played on an Austin Powers' movie soundtrack?
24. Smokey Room | Max Romeo | War Ina Babylon | Reggae. I've had Max Romeo's I Chase the Devil in the iPod since Kanye sampled it for Jay-Z's Lucifer, but never bothered to listen to the rest of the War Ina Babylon album. This is yet another one of my life's many mistakes. Lots of crucial reggae sounds on this album, but Smokey Room was so damn good that I almost ordered a few pounds of Dutch spacecakes!
25. One of These Things First | Nick Drake | Five Leaves Left | Folk. While watching Seven Pounds for the 20th time, I fell in love with a song from the soundtrack called One of These Things First by Nick Drake. Nick's story is a tragic and familiar one and his genius is only being realized today. I would highly advise you to grab all of his albums--they will become treasured items in your music collection.
And with the next article, we will conclude with my favorite dance, electronica, jazz and another other miscellaneous stuff from 2010.
Ok, time to throw on your favorite fitted and lace up your Adidas because here are 20 of my favorite hip-hop songs from 2011 (not in particular order). My apologies in advance if you were looking for more familiar artists--I hardly listen to any mainstream radio, so I'm quickly becoming pop-culture-ignorant!
1. Didn't Mean 2 Hurt You | Consequence ft. Spree Wilson | Movies On Demand. 'Quence delivers yet another solid album/"mixtape" with Movies on Demand. Like his first two albums, he is backed up by top-notch producers (e.g., Kanye) and guest appearances (e.g., Asher Roth, Q-Tip)--but for some reason, there is little to no fanfare (which means very few sales). What a shame. Hopefully his forthcoming Cons TV album (produced by Kanye and Q-Tip) will do better. Anyway, there are quite a few bangers on this album, but Didn't Mean 2 Hurt You's lyrics really hit home with every man who has been in a relationship that was in a "grey area".
2. Papermill | Madvillain | Adult Swim Singles Project. Cartoon Network's Adult Swim has always been a big supporter of "off brand" music, particularly MF Doom and Madlib. Last year, they released singles from a number of quirky artists, the first being an ill Madvillian (which is Doom and Madlib, flippin' back and forth on rhyming and production) tracklet called Papermill (from their forthcoming album--can't wait). This song doesn't have any purpose but to remind us how bizarre these guys are and I frickin' love it!
3. Luther | Capone-N-Noreaga ft. Raekwon. I get a lot of hip-hop joints from my man Schott Free's "Frozen Files" radio show. One of the many songs that he put me on last year was Luther, a laid back head-nodder from CNN, with classic rhymes by The Chef. Rest in peace, Luther Vandross.
4. Taxi | Ski Beatz ft. Mos Def & Whosane | 24 Hour Karate School. The Mighty Mos Def and Whosane absolutely murder this sick track by Ski Beatz! Please wear a neck brace before you listen to this--you've been warned! A song of the year candidate, fo' sho'...
5. Think Good Thoughts | Drake ft. Phonte & Elzhi | Comeback Season. As an old guy, I have a hard time believing that I can like most of today's rappers. But Think Good Thoughts made me realize that I better start paying attention to Drake. Now I have his other mixtapes and his album, but this is still my favorite Drake song! "Y'all don't really know me like you think you know me!"
6. Nighttime Maneuvers (Remix) | Little Brother | Chitlin Circuit. Last year, I was saddened to hear that Little Brother (LB) was breaking up and Phonte, one of the best lyricists of the last decade, was leaving hip-hop behind altogether (for now). After realizing that LB slipped the Chitlin Circuit pass me a few years ago and listening to 9th Wonder's remix of Nighttime Maneuvers, I was reminded how much hip-hop will miss them. "...Phonte--best kept secret since the AIDS cure..."
7. Hagler | Jay Electronica ft. Che Grand | Jay Electronica On The Come Up - Part 2. You won't be dancing to Hagler, but Jay Electronica's lyrics and delivery are so profound that I found myself playing this over and over again.
8. Long Life | Dela ft. Talib Kweli | Changes of Atmosphere. I've been digging through all of Parisian producer Dela's records and I was definitely impressed. On Long Life, Dela's stellar production is on full display and brought to life by the incomparable Talib Kweli.
9. Just Begun | Reflection Eternal: Talib Kweli & HiTek ft. Jay Electronica, J. Cole and Mos Def | Revolutions Per Minute. I was excited to see Reflection Eternal united again and when I heard Just Begun, that excitement went through the roof! While not a club banger, it's more a lyrical storm featuring some my favorite current and up-and-coming wordsmiths: Jay Electronica (top 5), J. Cole (potential top 5) and Mos.
10. Love It Then | Camp Lo | Another Heist. I don't think I've heard a Camp Lo album that I didn't like and Another Heist doesn't disappoint. I thought I would get tired of their "formula" (which has never changed), but Love It Then makes me feel like I did when I first heard Luchini!
11. Alleye Need | Tanya Morgan | Brooklynati. When I picked up Tanya Morgan's Brooklynati in 2009, I'm somehow completely missed the banger Alleye Need. After much airplay in 2010, this is now my favorite song on the album!
12. Fake Love (Yes Men) | Statik Selektah ft. Reks, Kali, Termanology & Good Brotha | 100 Proof (The Hangover). Super-producer Statik Selektah is now available for hire by the best in the game, but I still feel like he does his best work with his partner-in-crime Termanalogy. In Fake Love, Term and his boys teach you how to weed out "yes men" from your hip-hop entourage--which has been a problem I've had all of my life... ;-)
13. Hood Sentence | Guilty Simpson | OJ Simpson. Madlib (real name Otis Jackson) and Guilty Simpson once again joined forces for the OJ Simpson album (get it? Otis Jackson + Guilty Simpson?) Hood Sentence is both grimey and smooth--just how I like my hip-hop on Fridays!
14. Our Dreams | Method Man, Ghostface & Raekwon. Another classic joint from the Wu! Johnny Blaze, Tony Starks and The Chef set fire to this smooth track and make you feel like it's 1993!
15. Chittlins & Pepsi | Strong Arm Steady ft. Planet Asia | In Search Of Stoney Jackson. On Chittlins & Pepsi, Strong Arm Steady (Phil da Agony + Krondon) and Planet Asia pontificate on the relationship between men, women and... food? Yes, it sounds strange, but it's really amusing!
16. Asian Girl | Murs & 9th Wonder | Fornever. It's about damn time someone wrote a decent anthem for guys with an Asian girl fetish! Ni Hao!
17. You Should Go Home | 1982 ft. Bun B & Masspike Miles | Statik Selektah & Termanology are 1982. Statik and Term reunited once again last year to form 1982 and the results were ridiculous. Lots of burners on this album, but You Should Go Home was a nice radio-friendly song that I frequently put on repeat.
18. Classic | MED ft. Talib Kweli. I can't get enough of Karriem Riggins' production, so I jumped on Classic even before I realized that MED and Talib were torching the track. A Classic indeed...
19. Popular With The Ladies (Single Version) | Pittsburgh Slim ft. Dirt Nasty & Rare Formula. *** GUILTY PLEASURE ALERT *** Popular with the Ladies reps everything that I hate about popular music today: It has terrible lyrics over a contrived track using a beat stolen from a recently released song (Acceptable in the 80's by Calvin Harris). Of course, I got hooked! Damn you, Simon Rex (aka Dirt Nasty)! This ain't the first time you got me and it might not be the last...
20. Slow Down | Fat Joe ft. Young Jeezy | The Darkside. Joey Crack made his triumphant return to the game last year with Slow Down. I could do without Jeezy, but this one kept my head nodding every time my friends forced me to go to a nightclub. :-D
Next article, I'm going to take you back--way back--with my favorite throwback/vintage/classic (pre-2000) songs of 2011.
Now it's time to look at my R&B/Soul discoveries from 2010. Don't be surprised that you didn't hear most of these joints on mainstream radio-- you already know about those songs and I'm trying to give you something different! Let's check 'em out...
1. Windows Seat | Erykah Badu | New Amerykah Part Two: Return Of The Ankh. To be honest, I'm not sure if this song is on the list because of the song itself or the controversial video. You decide...
2. Feels Like The First Time | Corinne Bailey Rae | The Sea. I'm really ashamed to say that, despite her obvious talent, I'm super late to the Corinne Bailey Rae experience and The Sea was my first album. (I know! Shameful!) Feels Like The First Time was the first song of hers that hooked me, but I'll definitely be coming back for more...
3. Detroit Sunrise | Dwele (feat. Monica Blaire & Lloyd Dwayne) | Wants, World, Women. It was great to see Dwele release yet another solid, soulful album and I debated which song to include on this list. Detroit needs as much help as we can give them, so I felt that it was apropos to showcase Dwele's tribute to his home town. 313 stand up!
4. Celebrate | Eric Roberson (feat. Sy Smith) | Music Fan First. Eric Roberson's Left album was major turning point in his creative journey and Music Fan First was another step in the right direction. Lots of great songs on this album, but I was really moved by Celebrate, dedicated to the people that have passed away and influenced the makeup of Eric's musical DNA.
5. Can't Hardly Wait | N'dambi | Pink Elephant. Man, N'dambi really captured something that every woman can relate to with Can't Hardly Wait. And don't be fooled by the title--it's not that obvious! Be sure to check out the actual song vice the video--it comes a little stronger and makes a world of difference.
6. Right Where You Are | Amp Fiddler | Afro Strut. I know Amp is a Detroit legend, but I've rarely liked any music that he's produced for himself until Afro Strut. Right Where You Are is a great dance song that finally made me a fan!
7. It Makes a Difference (DK Edit) | Kim English | Lust - Art & Soul. A Personal Collection By Louie Vega. You probably have heard one or more of Kim English's house songs over the last decade, but when Louie Vega showcased It Makes a Difference on his 2006 "mixtape", I finally took notice. (Lust - Art & Soul has a phenomenal number of good songs and well worth the download on Amazon or iTunes.)
8. Shine | John Legend & The Roots | Wake Up! Please don't hate me when I say this, but I didn't exactly love Wake Up! It wasn't a bad album-- I just didn't seem to connect well with most of the songs. But then there was Shine, John Legend's uplifting song about educating our youth--definitely a candidate for song of the year.
9. Love Conversation | Jose James | Blackmagic. I waited anxiously for jazz impresario Jose James' second album and fortunately, he successfully avoided the sophomore jinx. Blackmagic is a R&B/Jazz/Electronica hybrid that effectively displays the depth and range of the most unique voice in all of music. (Yeah, you heard me right.) For couples looking to make a baby this week, I would recommend that you throw on Love Conversation and tell me--is this the song of the year?
10. The Sky Is Ours | Dam Funk | Toeachizown. Dam Funk continues to channel the 80's Funk Gods with The Sky Is Ours. It's still hard to believe that his songs weren't originally recorded Steve Arrington!
In my next posting, we will take an extensive look at my Hip-Hop picks of 2010.
Welcome back to my annual roundup of music findings for 2010! I'm honored and privileged that of all of the crap you could be reading on the Internet, you are taking the time to read MY crap. Muchas gracias.
This year, instead of a list of top 50 songs, I'm going to give you my picks from various genres of music. Why? Because I'm lazy and oversubscribed. I strive for efficiency and looking at each genre was alot easier and faster to do. Also, while I love most music genres, I'm clearly biased towards certain ones. This approach allows me to give fair "airtime" to multiple genres and makes me appear more worldly and diverse-- which is a great segue into the Rock category...
Note: These songs are not in preference order. Also, these songs are not necessarily new in 2010--some were released sometime in the last 5 years. I will have a separate posting for my favorite "old school" music that I discovered in 2010.
1. Kandi | One eskimO | One eskimO. Kandi is a pseudo-cover of Candi Stanton's cover of Patsy Cline's He Called Me Baby Baby. Got it? This is one of those rare songs that physically pulls and tugs at my heart every time I hear it and that makes me very uncomfortable. It also makes Kandi probably my favorite song of the year.
2. Diplomat's Son | Vampire Weekend | Contra. I'm somewhat loathe to put this song in the Rock category and anyone familiar with Vampire Weekend understands why. Unfortunately, I don't have an African-Indie-Pop category, so we'll have to keep it here. Like most Vampire Weekend songs, I don't exactly know what they are singing about and I don't care because Diplomat's Son makes me feel like I'm having a good day even when I'm not!
3. Bury Me In Smoke | Burnt Ones | Black Teeth & Golden Tongues. This grimy tune might be the only song in this list that could truly be called "rock and roll". I explored alot of glam and garage rock in 2010, but I found myself repeatedly banging my head on the steering wheel every time Bury Me In Smoke came on in my car. If I only had long hair to thrash to and fro...
4. Bonny Doon | Gamble House | Gamble House. I really love how Gamble House mixes multiple styles and melodies in this song. It's all over the place, yet still holds together well. Sure, its questionable to call this rock, but Bonny Doon is unquestionably superb.
5. Leo | Barb | Barb. Uhhh... errr... I don't know how to explain this song or this twisted video. My understanding is that it's a young fanboy's expression of admiration for Leonardo DiCaprio. The lyrics are so ridiculous, yet serious, so it's hard to tell if Barb is making fun of the boy, themselves and/or the talented Leo. Inexplicably, this quirky track got lots of play on my iPod and PC and will continue to do so...
Posts
