Felt (Slug & MURS)

We haven't done much on rap or hip hop lately here, so that's where I'm headed with my post today on the group Felt. Once again this isn't anything new, but rather a group I only just discovered within the last few months. What makes this kind of odd is Felt is made up of artists I already knew of, just never knew they worked together. So what is felt? Its a collaboration between Minneapolis based MC Slug of the renowned group Atmosphere and LA MC MURS. I've known both of these artists separately for a long time, but was surprised and also impressed when I found their 2005 collaboration Vol 2: A Tribute to Lisa Bonet.

A little background - Felt started as a collaboration between Slug and MURS after arguing about who could hook up with Christina Ricci first. That argument spawned 2002's release A Tribute To Christina Ricci, which I haven't listened to as of yet (mostly out of laziness to go and download it). Anyways, a subsequent argument involving Lisa Bonet of The Cosby Show fame led to their latest album. The difference from their first album was that Ant, the DJ and other half of Atmosphere, signed on as producer. This in effect made the album an Atmosphere release plus the addition of MURS.

Atmosphere is good. MURS is good. Put them together and you get something really good right? Well, in a way - yeah. I wouldn't say that this stuff is a lot better than anything either artist has done separately, but I think its on par with their other stuff. One of the things I've never loved about Atmosphere is that its just one MC, Slug, and they rarely use guest MCs. People make fun of rappers for having a ton of guest artists on their albums, but there's a reason (besides just trying to make more money) behind it. I think that it has to do with the way a single rapper on a song can become monotonous, so it helps to have that second or third voice. In this case, MURS provides the perfect foil to Slug. His laid back west coast style contrasts really well with Slug's aggressive midwest delivery, a staple of Minneapolis hip hop style he helped craft.

There's a couple weaker trackers on the album that I find myself skipping occasionally, but overall its a really good album. I had some trouble deciding which tracks to actually post. Both artists stay true to their identities; MURS constantly chasing women, and Slug with his self destructive behavior. The beats laid down by Ant are pretty similar to his Atmosphere stuff, and does a nice job of varying up the songs. To be honest, if these guys decided to make this collaboration their priority rather than their separate groups I would be all for it. I doubt that will happen, but at least they've managed to put out some quality music, and hopefully they'll get together for another album in the near future.

Felt - The Biggest Lie


Felt - Marvin Gaye


Felt - Dirty Girl


With that I leave you in hands of my trusted assistant Kyle. I'm off to dance Tangos and eat cheap steaks in the beautiful country of Argentina for 2 weeks.

- Alec

ps - the new Atmosphere cd comes out April 22nd.

Alberta Cross

I hope everybody's Easter was great and that you are all pumped to be able to wear t-shirts outside pretty soon. I am actually in Mexico right now for the first time ever, chilling in my room after a long day of work meetings and eating interesting food. As for music...

Lately I've been putting my iPod on at a few chill parties and it never fails...somebody always comes up and asks me, "Hey, who are these guys?" when Alberta Cross comes on. In fact a few times, the same person asked that question during multiple Alberta Cross songs. I'm pretty sure they rarely remember the name after the drinks start flowing, but their EP The Thief and the Heartbreaker has been a pretty popular disc around here.

What they bring to the table is a roots-y style of rock with an edge of psychadelica and a tinge of alternative country straight from London. The title track begins slowly with the bass and drums, kicks in a little guitar line, and then opens up into a slower psych-rock feeling. The strained singing cuts over a hushed band, and then the choral harmonies take over with the band returning in full force. It's really cool to hear how they transition and crescendo between song segments. The second track, 'Lucy Rider' is the one people ask about most of the time. A swinging guitar line starts it off, and then the song glides comfortably along with the familiar high-pitched singing. It's a very simply written verse-chorus-verse kind of tune but it's incredibly effective. Next time you're hanging out with some friends on the patio with a couple of beers, pop this 7 song EP in. And then....get ready for questions.

Alberta Cross - The Thief and the Heartbreaker


Alberta Cross - Lucy Rider

Slender Means

Hailing from the musical hot bed of the northwest, Slender Means is one of the latest in a long line of successful music acts from Seattle. The group has been around for a couple years now, but I just recently discovered them. Their discography is pretty limited so far, consisting of just a debut album, Neon & Ruin (2005), and an EP, Rock&Roll Machine (2007), but the stuff they have put out has caught my ear.

The band's claim to fame is simply their song writing abilities. Their style of indie rock is simple and sweet, lacking the big time production effects of popular music, and the avant garde experimentalism of much of indie music. It's your basic indie rock, although I think the catchy hooks and melodies implored give it a slightly poppy side. There's a retro feel to their sound, kind of an oldies feel (almost like "Buddy Holly" by Weezer, but less cheesy) that mixes with a more aggressive tendencies to create an interesting dynamic. But even with the music picks up and the emotion rises, lead singer Josh Dawson seems to always remain calm and under control, just letting the music come to him.

As I said before, they really rely on the strength of their songs. Despite using traditional instrumentation, and not really pushing the musical envelope in terms of styles, they manage to write songs that are catchy yet unique. Its solid music that will entertain without overstimulating and stick in your head without annoying you to death. So check out Slender Means.

Slender Means - Telepathic Lovesick Heart


Slender Means - The Clerk


Slender Means - Foreign Legion



Happy Easter
-Alec

Tony Joe White

So I'm starting to get excited. Baseball is almost here, the weather is starting to get nice, and I'm about to move cities once again. All good things. I can't wait to grill that first brat of the season. But onto the music, which is what all 3 of our regular visitors come here for.

Imagine yourself in a tiny, smoky club with all the regulars. Then this funky bass rhythm kicks in, a low voice starts growling lyrics about having soul, and everyone stops sipping their drinks and turns their heads to listen a bit closer. That's the feel I get when you pop in Tony Joe White's disc, Black & White. His voice is low and has a little croon to it, his wah-guitar makes you want to shake a little bit (but not too much), and the simpler songs bring you in real quickly.

The first tune is called 'Soul Francisco'. It begins with a little guitar wail and then kicks into Tony's dreams about going to San Francisco. The clicking of the hi-hat mixed with the congas keeps it low, but Tony's guitar always threatens to break the song open just a little bit. Then, just as low-profile as it came in, it fades away. The second tune 'Don't Steal My Love' mixes rhythm guitar with mini-solos. Tony finally begins to break open a little bit when he yells "Don't Steal My LOVE!", but then he fades back into the mist with his guitar. Incorporating a little harmonica in 'Scratch My Back', Tony showcases a few more of his talents. I love how the drummer rides on the cymbal during the harm solo and keeps pushing the tune right along. Enjoy!

Tony Joe White - Soul Francisco


Tony Joe White - Don't Steal My Love


Tony Joe White - Scratch My Back

Concert Review: Dear and the Headlights

This is gonna be a two part post since both of the things I'm going to write about are fairly short.

On Friday I was able to catch Track Nine's discovery of the year for 2007, Dear and the Headlights, live at a show here. This was the second time I've seen them now, as some of you might recall Kyle and I caught them in Pittsburgh back in August. These guys are still a very young band, and they've come a long ways in 6 months. Back in August I thought their live performance lacked confidence and cohesion, basically they looked like a band that hadn't played much together.

That wasn't the case Friday, as they gave an energetic and tight performance in front of a hometown crowd, and overall really just put on a good show. They also played quite a few new songs which will be appearing on their next album which I believe they've already started recording. The new songs sounded good on first listen, nothing too surprising, although it sounded like their next album will be a little more experimental.

They're hitting the road with Jimmy Eat World soon for what should be a good tour. Check the dates at their myspace page.

The show itself was a local showcase so most of the other acts were pretty unknown. We missed the first 3 acts, but still managed to catch 4 (why anyone would put 7 bands on a bill I have no idea, but that's besides the point) of them. Of those the only band that I saw some potential in was an indie group Yellow Minute. Their performance was a mix of indie, electronica, and pop stylings with a little acoustic flair thrown in, and I thought they played pretty well. The only 2 songs on their myspace page are acoustic ones so that doesn't give you a real good idea of their performance, but I believe they're working on an EP right now, and I think there's some potential down the road for these guys.

Ok the other thing I am going to post about was from Sunday when I went to see the movie Semi Pro starring Will Ferrell. It was your basic Will Ferrell movie in which they script the whole movie around some goofy character they invent for him, and all in all it was pretty bad, but I had low expectations so I didn't mind. But there was a bright side, in that it featured a great soundtrack full of soul/funk tunes. Since I didn't have any songs to post from the earlier part, I'll just share a few of my favorite tracks from the movie.

Tower of Power - So Very Hard To Go

In all honesty not one of my favorite Tower songs, but still a good one. I've been getting into these guys a lot lately, and hopefully I can dedicate a full post to them sometime in the near future.

Curtis Mayfield - Move On Up

This is a classic, and even if you don't recognize the original, you'll most likely recognize it as the sample from Kanye West's song "Touch the Sky".

Sly & The Family Stone - Que Sera, Sera (Whatever will be)

I know everyone knows the song, but I had never heard this funky version from Sly and friends. One listen to their soulful rendition of the chorus had me hooked.