Video: Portugal. The Man. - "Guns and Dogs"

Religious/cultish symbolism is abundant in Portugal. The Man's 1940s silent-film treatment of "Guns and Dogs". Is it just me or are they acting like American Ghetto never happened?



MySpace: Portugal. The Man.

Kanye West - "G.O.O.D. Music Cypher" (feat. Pusha T, Big Sean, Common, Cyhi the Prince)

Kanye and his G.O.O.D fam preformed this round of freestyles at the BET Awards and now we get a quality MP3 of it so I can bring it along to parties, road trips, and b-boy nights with me. I tap Big Sean and Pusha T with the dopest bars here but I'd give a lot to say that any of these verses were mine.

Download: Kanye West - "G.O.O.D. Music Cypher" (feat. Pusha T, Big Sean, Common, Cyhi the Prince)

MySpace: Kanye West

Video: The Black Keys - "Tighten Up" (Live on Jools Holland)

Dan Auerbach makes up for the muddled drums (kudos to the d-bag who mic-ed the kit) by ripping out some bluesy riffs and letting his newfound falsetto meander. Gave Brothers a spin for the first time in awhile yesterday and there is no doubt this duo is making some of the best music out right now.



MySpace: The Black Keys

Lupe Fiasco - "The Show Goes On"

Kane Beatz adds his regal touches to Modest Mouse's "Float On" and lets Lu go wild on it. I'd tap this for the single off LASERS, which now thankfully has an official release date (March 8, 2011) I'm going to go ahead and guess I'll be listening to this non-stop for the next weeks/months/year.

Download: Lupe Fiasco - "The Show Goes On"

MySpace: Lupe Fiasco

Video: Circa Survive - "Tour Sequence 1"

Get a first glimpse at Anthony Green's newborn baby boy and the despair his papa feels having to go out on tour only four days after his birth. As the final clip states, you get a sense that these guys don't just play music...they live, breathe, and die with making it. Stay tuned.

And huge fucking kudos to whoever is shooting these...visually stunning doesn't even say the half of it.



MySpace: Circa Survive

Video: Lykke Li - "Get Some"

Swedish songstress Lykke Li pumps the video for her new single "Get Some" with some hypnotic visualizations that look like the byproduct of a threesome between a black hole, the Smoke Monster from LOST, and Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon album cover. Weird shit from a weird girl, but I'm digging the song's jungle rumble.



Download: Lykke Li - "Get Some"

MySpace: Lykke Li

Wiz Khalifa- "In My Car (Puff Bus)" feat. Juicy J

Wiz takes you on a ride in his puff bus and makes a stop to pick up Juicy J of Three 6. This one's really a perfect mix of Wiz Khalifa's dreamy styling and Juicy's southern bump. Bet these two could redefine the term "hotbox" if they did decide to go on a joyride together.

Download: Wiz Khalifa- "In My Car (Puff Bus)" feat. Juicy J

MySpace: Wiz Khalifa

Pusha T - "Start It Up"

Pusha T spits about his crack money, his rap money, and his 1996 Master P money in a verse inexplicitly cut from Lloyd Bank's "Start It Up". Bottom line: dude's got cash.

Download: Pusha T - "Start It Up"

MySpace: Pusha T

Video: Local Natives - "Who Knows, Who Cares"

Join Local Natives for some good ole' woodsy fun in their video for my personal favorite track of Gorilla Manor. The adventure continually escalates: moving from artsy food fight to psychedelic spirit quest, and finally climaxing (get it?) in a cultish fireside orgy. My kind of party....

Watch: Local Natives - "Who Knows, Who Cares"

MySpace: Local Natives

Underoath - "In Division"

The second cut off Ø (Disambiguation) is a brutal affair with sludgy riffs, chants for revolution, and relentless drumming via new stickman Daniel Davison (a.k.a the dude with the killer mustache). Consider me even more floored. Aaron Gillespie, who?

Ø (Disambiguation) is out Nov. 9th.


MySpace: Underoath

Wale - "Mike Tomlin"

Wale goes in over Wiz Khalifa's "Black and Gold" to positive results. I would've preferred something along the lines of "Burgundy and Gold" but I guess this will have to do.

Download: Wale - "Mike Tomlin"

MySpace: Wale

Video: Circa Survive - "Oh, Hello"/"Invalid Litter Department" (At The Drive-In cover)

Let me be honest: I literally screamed when I saw this. It's no secret that Circa Survive is one of my favorite bands and "Invalid Litter Department" might be one of my favorite songs off Relationship of Command, one of my favorite records of ALL TIME. Lots of favorites in there huh?

Dancing on the corpses' ashes...



MySpace: Circa Survive

Lloyd Banks - "Start It Up" (feat. Kanye West, Swizz Beatz, Ryan Leslie, and Fabolous)

Lloyd Banks has joined Pusha T in the league of MCs who have jumped their former ships to get their names associated with G.O.O.D. Music. If this sort of beat and guest list is what comes with that, the move is totally understandable. Banks and Loso throw in solid bars, Kanye offers some of his most classic lines, ("Beauty is why God invented eyeballs/her booty is why God invented my balls"), and Swizzy commands the hook. Don't know what to expect from Hunger For More: 2, but I haven't stopped listening to this cut for the past two weeks. Say enough?


MySpace: Lloyd Banks

T.I. - "Get Back Up" (feat. Chris Brown)

T.I. is headed back to prison for 11 months after violating his probation with drug possession charges. In response, he teams up with C-Breezy on a new track that stands as an apology, explanation, and "fuck you" all in one. It's clear the man is a talented and good-hearted dude...for fucks sake he talked down a potential jumper in Atlanta just a few weeks ago. So when he spits "no mistake is too great/to recover and bounce back", all we can hope is that Mr. Harris takes his own advice to heart.

Download: T.I. - "Get Back Up" (feat. Chris Brown)

MySpace: T.I.

Video: Brandon Flowers - "Only the Young"

Brandon Flowers love for Sin City and melodrama filters through this, as it appears he has borrowed both the set and dancers from Cirque de Soleil to create these stunning visuals. Clearly this is the only room they could find that would fit the song's massive chorus into.

Flamingo is out now and comes highly recommends from yours truly....



MySpace: Brandon Flowers

The Gaslight Anthem - Live at Nor'easter Festival

Boston music blog Visible Voice deserves a lot of love from everyone who couldn't make it to The Gaslight Anthem's performance at the Nor'easter Festival in Lincoln, N.H. VV is hosting photos, HD footage, and mp3s of the entire set for stream/download just for our little ears. Between the band's entrance with "Smooth Criminal" to Brian Fallon's chunky bark, this collection will make you feel like you're right in the middle of the raucously sweaty crowd singing your heart out. In other words: go get it.

Download: The Gaslight Anthem - Live at Nor'easter Festival

MySpace: The Gaslight Anthem

Andy Hull - "Rotten Black Root"

Andy Hull finger picks his way through a sorrowful acoustic number that's the latest in his series of summer demos. He hits the emotion within this one square on the head, alternating between a wobbly murmur and a blasting wail to punctuate every point of the introspective narrative. Man can do no wrong.

Download: Andy Hull - "Rotten Black Root"

MySpace: Manchester Orchestra

Kings of Leon - "Beach Side"

The title of this one is pretty spot on, although it's getting a little too chilly around here for summer jams. Paced by a substantive bassline, Caleb Followill's crackly soulfulness, and enough note bending to make you feel like you're rolling up and down a coastal highway, there's no doubt this is a winner. I've rediscovered Because of the Times in the past couple weeks, but judging from this and "Radioactive" I have a feeling Come Around Sundown will be replacing it in no time.

Come Around Sundown drops October 19th.

Kings of Leon - "Beach Side" by Some Kind of Awesome

MySpace: Kings of Leon

Consequence - "Take It to the Classics"

The Cons spits about as much legendary shit as you pack into 1:28. Kanye mans the boards for this one, due up off the upcoming Movies on Demand 2. What else do you need to know?

Download: Consequence - "Take It to the Classics"

MySpace: Consequence

Underoath - "Illuminator"

Consider me blown away. I didn't really know what to expect from an Underoath minus the drumming/clean vocals off Aaron Gillespie, but this song has quelled any worries I previously had. Both their instrumentation and Spencer Chamberlain's guttural blasts are as unrelenting as ever. More surprising is the way that Spencer uses an atmospheric wail to take charge of the more melodic side of Underoath's music himself. I can't even lie and say I wasn't excited for Ø (Disambiguation), but this one just sent my expectations from six to midnight.

Ø (Disambiguation) is out November 9th.

Myspace: Underoath

Video: Blu - "You'reMyBoyBlu"

Finally got my hand's on a quality copy of the theGODleeBarnes(lp) in time to also catch his first official video off it. Interesting that the B-l-u chose the bonus cut to feature, but no complaints here..it's sunny, soulful, and evokes all sorts of old school vibes (in more ways than one.) Mr. Barnes had some killer spots on The Roots latest, and rumor has it his buzz has earned him a spot on the Warner Bros. roster. Kid deserves it...one of the best young rappers out, hands down. You're my boy Blu!



MySpace: Blu

J. Cole - "Relaxation" (feat. Omen and Fashawn)

"Boy look, these niggas quote my lines like the Lord's Book". Omen and Fashawn deliver some clever lines, but there is just no keeping up with Cole at this point.

Download: J. Cole - "Relaxation" (feat. Omen and Fashawn)

MySpace: J. Cole

Video: Alexisonfire - "Dog's Blood" (Live)

Alexisonfire returns to the Great White North with a stunner. This, the title track of their upcoming Dog's Blood EP, is an epic 7-minutes of vicious riffs, thundering percussion, and the rare scream of two from one Dallas Green. I'm loving this despite the lack of clean vocals...and that's coming from someone who could listen to Dallas sing the entire Spice Girls catalog and still have a stiffy.

Dog's Blood EP will drop sometime in 2011.



MySpace: Alexisonfire

Drake - "I Get Lonely Too"

Drizzy gets extra mushy on the lead cut off his upcoming mixtape It's Never Enough, which will be Mr. Graham's first full foray into R&B. His pipes are smooth enough on this to piqued some interest even if it's doubtful Drake ever gets that lonely.

Download: Drake - "I Get Lonely Too"

MySpace: Drake

Video: Local Natives - "Wide Eyes"

Local Natives have found the solution to an cock-blocking, friend-stealing plastic shark: knife fight. This time man gets some revenge for Jaws, but I don't think there are much things worse than a deranged looking Koala Bear. Fortunately, I don't think there are much things better than this song.

Gorilla Manor is out now.



MySpace: Local Natives

Consequence - "Got Me Trippin"

The Cons spits some classic bars about his lady problems, which is becoming a growing topic over at the G.O.O.D. camp (or is it just me?) Q-Tip of Tribe fame injects his unique brand of intergalactic funk into the production and adds a couple vinyl scratches for good measure. Reunited and it feels so good...

Download: Consequence - "Got Me Trippin'"

MySpace: Consequence

Circa Survive - Daytrotter Sessions (9/27/10)

Long time, no see. What better way to make a return than with the boys of Circa. The guys stopped off at Daytrotter to lay down a session of re-worked songs off Blue Sky Noise. They seem to enjoy stripping these songs down more than their past work, giving a shifty 6-minute makeover to "The Spirit of the Stairwell" and double-tapping beats on "I Felt Free". I never thought I'd consider Circa Survive an indie band, but these cuts hint at their potential to venture across the Plaid Divide. Copyright that shit and get at this.

Download: Circa Survive - Daytrotter Sessions (9/27/10)

MySpace: Circa Survive