musical notes

i was listening to music today, and thought i'd post up like tim duncan and let you know what i'm groovin on right now. some of it's new, some is a little older.

del the funky homosapien - del's been around for quite some time, and he's a great illustration of what hip hop is. tight rhymes, good beats, and flair. he's also a bit of an oddity because he's pretty much straight up hip hop in an almost east coast style but he's from the west coast, specifically bay area, and he's ice cube's cousin and so sometimes that sort of gangsterish feel slips in. right now, as i type this post up i'm actually listening to his album 'both sides of the brain' which is sort of geared to really illustrate that dichotomy.

tokyo police club - brian put me onto this canadian band. they're very nice indie sound. if they have a full length album out, i don't have it. i do have their ep and a single. how to describe them? well, whatever band indie band that is making waves right now, e.g. vampire weekend, sucks in comparison. well, perhaps that's unfair and inaccurate. but they've got nice booming bass, synths at times, thoughtful lyrics, guitars that wail. if you like bloc party, tv on the radio, or rademacher. check them out. if you don't like any of those, well, i don't know what to do with you.

swollen members - these guys are veeeerrrrrrry nice. west coast hip hop, with roots in l.a. and vancouver. i was riding my bike earlier listening to their first album, 'balance.' i've also got their later releases, 'bad dreams' and 'black magic.' all are good.

brother ali - nick put me onto brother ali. i've mentioned getting brother ali here before, but i thought i'd put it out there again in brief fasion. i've got his 'champion ep' and 'shadows on the sun'. both are worth picking up. east coast hip hop.

ted leo and the pharmacists - justin first into'd me to them, but i actually got into them when the last album came out. i saw him playing a live set (on tv), just him and an electric guitar all fuzzed out. crazy good and rockin. felt like a full band his sound was so big. his albums hold up to that, only actually with a full band. he sort of reminds me of weezer's first album, maybe even their second album.

blu & exile - i heard about these guys through mike oz from the bee. not directly, like we were talking or something, but through a column or something like that. well, i should have gone and seen them @ starline when they were here. but, i was lazy and didn't. oz described them something like 'a new version of tribe called quest.' i don't know if that's exactly what he said, and i'm too lazy to find it now, but it's pretty spot on.

so, what have we learned today:
i like hip hop
i like indie rock
you can download all those groups on emusic.