ChordStrike

Summer Camp

 

May 27-29, 2011

Chillicothe, Illinois

Now in its tenth year, Summer Camp has become the premier Midwestern festival for the aficionados of “jambands” and other staples of the American music scene as well as bands pushing the boundaries of their respective genres. Festival attendees virtually double the population of Chillicothe over the course of the three-day event, which is held at Three Sisters Park and features on-site camping and over 65 bands on five stages.

From hip-hop to bluegrass and everything in between, Summer Camp has it all. Daytime shows run into the night and for those who wish to keep the party going, late-night shows push into the early morning hours.

moe., Umphrey’s McGee, Widespread Panic, STS9 (Sound Tribe Sector Nine), Bassnectar, Cypress Hill, The Avett Brothers, Girl Talk, Yonder Mountain String Band, Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Slightly Stoopid, Lotus, Wiz Khalifa, Skrillex, EOTA, Conrmeal, Punch Brothers, Daedelus, The Pimps of Joytime, Ryan Montbleau Band, Paper Diamond, and dozens more…

Summer Camp Official site

Summer Camp Twitter

Summer Camp Facebook page

SoundUnwound's editorial team write about the latest big music news and quirky stories which catch the eye. We also post a selection of these news stories on Chordstrike; for much, much more, visit SoundUnwound.com, the new music site from IMDb and Amazon. Follow us at twitter.com/soundunwound.

Have the Grammys Lost Their Credibility?

The Grammy Awards are out of touch, contradictory and hypocritical a longtime music marketing executive asserted in this past Sunday’s New York Times. The charges were printed in a full page letter written by Steve Stoute wherein he criticized The National Academy of Arts and Sciences (NARAS), who presents the Grammy Awards.

"Over the course of my 20-year history as an executive in the music business and as the owner of a firm that specializes in in-culture advertising, I have come to the conclusion that the Grammy Awards have clearly lost touch with contemporary popular culture… Where I think that the Grammys fail stems from two key sources: (1) over-zealousness to produce a popular show that is at odds with its own system of voting and (2) fundamental disrespect of cultural shifts as being viable and artistic."

Of particular contention to Mr. Stoute are the Academy’s snubs of hip-hop artists and cultural phenomenons. Wrote Stoute, "We must acknowledge the massive cultural impact of Eminem and Kanye West and how their music is shaping, influencing and defining the voice of a generation." Further querying, "How is it that Justin Bieber, an artist that defines what it means to be a modern artist, did not win Best New Artist?"

Anyone who watched CBS leading up to the Grammys saw these artists in commercials, and Stoute condemns the Awards for understanding “cultural relevance when it comes to using Eminem's, Kanye West's or Justin Bieber's name in the billing to ensure viewership and to deliver the all-too-important ratings for its advertisers,” but not acknowledging their critical or commercial successes.

Lastly, Stoute challenges artists to refuse to be used for ratings, and to stop accepting invitations to perform until the Academy begins to uphold “its mission for advocacy and support of artistry as culture evolves.”

-Court @ SoundUnwound

SoundUnwound's editorial team write about the latest big music news and quirky stories which catch the eye. We also post a selection of these news stories on Chordstrike; for much, much more, visit SoundUnwound.com, the new music site from IMDb and Amazon. Follow us at twitter.com/soundunwound.

53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards: Performers, Quiz, and Store!

 

In preparation for the 53rd Annual GRAMMY® Awards on February 13th, SoundUnwound has created a Grammy-nominee quiz. Here’s your chance to test your knowledge of the music before the show and challenge your friends. Click here to give it a try!

As reported back in December, this year Eminem leads the pack with ten nominations, followed by seven nominations for Bruno Mars, and six nominations for both Lady Gaga and Lady Antebellum.Last week, the performers for the telecast were announced. Country darling Miranda Lambert and Indie heroes Arcade Fire will take the GRAMMY® stage for the first time ever this year while Cee-Lo Green, Katy Perry, and Eminem return for encore performances on the show.

Need to brush up on your nominees knowledge? Head over to Amazon.com’s GRAMMY® store to shop for all of the year’s best music and add to your collection.

**UPDATE: Rolling Stone and The GRAMMY's twitter account are reporting more performers including: Bruno Mars, B.o.B, Janelle Monae, Muse, Usher, and Bieber!

-Erin O. @ SoundUnwound

SoundUnwound's editorial team write about the latest big music news and quirky stories which catch the eye. We also post a selection of these news stories on Chordstrike; for much, much more, visit SoundUnwound.com, the new music site from IMDb and Amazon. Follow us at twitter.com/soundunwound.

Die Antwoord Enter The Guggenheim

(Warning: the above video is pretty weird; and it contains some swearing)

“Zef Side,” the premier viral communiqué from the enigmatic South African rave-rap trio Die Antwoord, was shown at New York's Guggenheim last week as part of a global video art competition titled YouTube Play.

Though the band’s name translates to "the answer" in Afrikaans, their cultivated mystery leaves one with an abundance of questions. Given the group’s pre-Die Antwoord past as members of a jokey “corporate” rap group and an experimental music collective, when Ninja, Yo-Landi Vi$$er and DJ Hi-Tek preach ghettofabulous Afrikaner “Zef” to the world: Are they being sincere?

They’ve grown comfortable fueling the confusion. “It's alien, all right?” Vi$$er said to LA Times. “It's not really our problem. And not everyone's confused.”

Yet it’s this obfuscation that causes critics to wonder if Die Antwoord is punking the world, similar to Ali G, if they’re akin to discovering some new music species, or if they’re a conceptual art project. Their haunting video “Enter the Ninja” racked up 11 million YouTube views, and their controversial “Evil Boy” video, which features talking breasts, an explicit rap verse about male circumcision and an overabundance of penile imagery, was removed.

One thing is certain: whether it’s an installment in the Guggenheim or their considerable internet presence, Die Antwoord has become part of a cultural conversation that we can scarcely ignore.

--Court @ SoundUnwound

SoundUnwound's editorial team write about the latest big music news and quirky stories which catch the eye. We also post a selection of these news stories on Chordstrike; for much, much more, visit SoundUnwound.com, the new music site from IMDb and Amazon. Follow us at twitter.com/soundunwound.

Alpine Kat's Large Hadron Collider Rap

Few things go as well together as hip-hop and science. The lexicon of bleeding-edge theoretical physics is practically overflowing with rhyme-ready particles (real, virtual, anti-, and otherwise), and from Dr. Octagon to The Sounds of Science, the rap canon abounds with more-or-less learned verses.

So if you're like me and have trouble finding enough to time in your life to nurture your twin loves of hip-hop and quantum cosmology, let Alpine Kat grab the mic for a minute. Science writer by day and science rapper in her spare time, Alpine Kat has recorded a number of "science raps," the most notorious of which serves as a primer on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), an immense subterranean machine on the Franco-Swiss border designed to slam protons together at near-light speeds in order to see what happens.

If you like what you hear, check out more of Alpine Kat's science raps.

Either way, let us know about the best science-based hip-hop we might have missed...

     --Jason Kirk

The Stimulus Package: Best Album Art of 2010... So Far

Leave it to Rhymesayers to lead the charge in putting off the obsolescence of physical music. Last year, we made a bit of adoring noise about the very cool packaging of P.O.S.'s Never Better (in additional to naming it one of the Best Hip-Hop Albums of 2009, So Far and the 49th Best Album of the Year.. So Far), but this year, whoever's running design over at Rhymesayers has absolutely outdone her- or himself.

Freeway & Jake One's The Stimulus Package is a marvel. The music itself is definitely worth a listen if you're into hip-hop, but the design is a straight-up object lesson in concept art for music. That plastic card you see in the video below? It's got a code to download the whole album's instrumentals for free.

Back to school, designers:

     --Jason Kirk

Can You Master The SoundUnwound Genre Quiz?

Hi there!

SoundUnwound is the new music website from IMDb and Amazon. We are primarily a music database, which is editable by all users, but moderated to help keep data quality high. Recently we’ve been adding a few extra features for a bit more fun. We know some of the Chordstrike team have been enjoying them, so we thought we’d let you know too.

We’ve made use of Amazon's vast library of 30-second song samples to put together five genre quizzes which test your musical knowledge, and your reaction times. Do you think you know about pop, rock, indie, country or hip-hop? Can you tell the difference between Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato? Pearl Jam and Soundgarden? Modest Mouse and the Manic Street Preachers? Toby Keith and Brad Paisley? Jay-Z and Ludacris?

 

Yeah, of course you can! But can you make your choice within a few short seconds, before you've heard their voices? The longer the clock ticks, the less points you win for answering correctly. We’ve already seen some users rack up impressive scores. Can you join them on the individual genre leader boards, or on the overall board?

And once you’ve mastered your own specialist subject, why not try the quiz of a genre you know less about? Everything you hear is shown with links to the main SoundUnwound site, so you can find out more about any new discoveries, or add them to your SoundUnwound library.

We have to warn you: please make sure you’ve already done your homework, washed the dishes and put the cat out, because these quizzes can be addictive!

We’d love you to try them out and, if you’ve got any comments on the quizzes or on the rest of the site, please let us know in the comments here, or by sending us feedback.

Ed @ SoundUnwound

Hip Hop Putin Don't Stop

If you follow the movements of certain international politicians, you may have noticed that Vladimir Putin has been polishing his image of late, as evidenced by some widely-distributed photos of the Russian prime minister in recent months. We've now seen this rugged man of the people shirtless with gun, shirtless on horseback, fishing shirtless, and of course flexing on his own Judo DVD.

Last week, Putin covered his famous pecs with a turtleneck and appeared at a hip-hop show to warn his younger countrymen about the dangers of drugs and alcohol. At a music contest aired on Russia's Muz TV, the prime minister stood stiffly between his nation's young b-boys and b-girls, and as they danced and swayed around him, he clapped off-beat and looked somewhat uncomfortable. After the rappers performed, ABC News reports that Putin shared some thoughts about hip-hop culture:

“Street rap may be a little bit rough but it contains social meaning, raising social problems. Graffiti has become a real elegant art, break dance is something special. It is really a promotion of a healthy lifestyle. It is hard to imagine break dance being combined with alcohol or drugs."

Watch the Reuters video of the event below.

-- Courtney Powell

Say it Loud, I'm a Geek and I'm Proud

Favorite quote: "I'd rather raise nerds than raise gangstas."

-- Courtney Powell

The Best Music of 2009

It may feel a little early for this sort of thing, but we on the Amazon music team have pooled our collective knowledge and taste to determine the best music of 2009.

We spent 2009 soothed by Neko Case's wail, moved to dance by Yeah Yeah Yeahs' turn towards big beats, intrigued by Somali hip-hop Troubadour K'naan, and ready to hear three key words from neo-twangsters the Avett Brothers.

On the songs side, French popsters Phoenix went nutty for a composer and we went nutty for Phoenix. La Roux made us feel invincible, Jay-Z officially crushed an awful trend, and Passion Pit sent us reeling.

Voting with their wallets, our customers told us they really like U2, as it was both our bestselling CD and MP3 album of 2009. Black Eyed Peas also popped up in plenty of playlists, as they locked down the top two slots on our songs chart.

Every year, great albums slip through the cracks. This year, our editors wanted to save some from that unfair fate. We shine a spotlight on excellent underheard CD and MP3 albums across all genres, and we've even made a playlist featuring a single song from each record, so you can sample 'til you find something you like.

Dig into the lists and see which lists line up most closely with your personal tastes:

Best Albums of 2009

1. Neko Case - Middle Cyclone
2. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - It's Blitz!
3. Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
4. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
5. the Avett Brothers - I and Love and You
6. Girls - Album
7. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
8. K'naan - Troubadour
9. Jay-Z - Blueprint 3
10. Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career

> See all top 100 best albums of 2009
> See the list at Amazon MP3

Best Songs of 2009

1. Phoenix - "Lisztomania"
2. La Roux - "Bulletproof"
3. Jay-Z - "D.O.A. (Death of Autotune)"
4. Animal Collective - "My Girls"
5. Neko Case - "People Got a Lotta Nerve"
6. Passion Pit - "The Reeling"
7. Girls - "Lust for Life"
8. Grizzly Bear - "Two Weeks"
9. The Avett Brothers - "I and Love and You"
10. Lily Allen - "The Fear"

> See all top 100 best songs of 2009
> Sample songs 1-50
> Sample songs 51-100

Bestselling CDs of 2009 (through October, including pre-orders)

1. U2 - No Line on the Horizon
2. Susan Boyle - I Dreamed a Dream
3. Diana Krall - Quiet Nights
4. Bruce Springsteen - Working on a Dream
5. Bob Dylan - Together through Life

> See all 100 bestselling CDs of 2009

Bestselling MP3 Albums of 2009 (through October)

1. U2 - No Line on the Horizon
2. Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown
3. Jay-Z - Blueprint 3
4. Paramore - Brand New Eyes
5. Lily Allen - The Fear

> See all 100 bestselling MP3 albums of 2009

Bestselling Songs of 2009 (through October)

1. Black Eyed Peas - "Boom Boom Pow"
2. Black Eyed Peas - "I Gotta Feeling"
3. Flo Rida - "Right Round"
4. Miley Cyrus - "The Climb"
5. Pitbull - "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho"

> See all 100 bestselling songs of 2009
> Sample songs 1-50
> Sample songs 51-100

Outstanding 2009 Albums You Might Have Missed

1. Throw Me the Statue - Creaturesque
2. Mt. St. Helen's Vietnam Band
3. The Legends - Over and Over
4. Lushlife - Cassette City
5. Point Juncture, Wa - Heart to Elk

> See all 100 2009 albums you might have missed at Amazon MP3
> Sample songs from albums 1-50
> Sample songs from albums 51-100

Head over to our best music of 2009 store to find complete lists, plus the best in everything from Latin music to Gospel to comedy and all points between.

We're aware there's still a decent chunk of the year left. We'll be adding a latecomers and honorable mentions feature over the next few weeks. Hit the comments, let us know what we missed, and perhaps it'll make an appearance.

-- Jeff Reguilon

Mariah Carey: The Accidental Comedienne

 Mariah Carey is the Rainman of pop music. Focused, blank faced and sometimes capable of genius. Each toothpick lying on the diner floor is a hit song; each cheese puff is a music video featuring a greased-up, jiggling Mariah bearing an expression that translates to either a)Tabula Rasa; or b) “I’ve had too much turkey dinner.” I can’t tell. My Latin ain’t so good.
It goes without saying that Mariah Carey is an undisputed talent who has achieved greatness. She has a reported 5-octave voice and has sold something in the neighborhood of, what – like 200 million records?  Amazing! I used to get chills listening to she and Whitney Houston dominate radio in the early 90s with pop songs that showcased considerable soul and range. Like major powerhouse vocal business. It just knocked me to hear voices like that. Whitney disappeared from the scene and Mariah stole it, supplementing her vocal range with some kind of fantastical Hip Hop genie oil that, when applied directly to skin, creates MTV and radio perfection. A quick scan through music video history finds Mariah in all manner of locale (a school, a countryside hoedown, in water, in posh cars, on various silk beds, in her knickers, in bikini in front of Vuitton luggage, in mansions, etc.), jiggling awkwardly and touching herself prettily while wearing a bloated, vacant smile that reminds me a bit of Patrick Swayze’s smile in Ghost when his spirit left Oda Mae for the last time. Perhaps the smile is just a way of coping with the interminable breeze that seems to follow the poor woman around onscreen (it’s always windy in her videos, which is perplexing considering many of them take place indoors.).  A couple vids from the early years are below, but the new ones, the really gross/awesome ones ("Don't Forget About Us," "We Belong Together," "Say Somethin'," "Touch My Body"), cannot be shown here, sadly. "Embedding disabled by request." (Sigh*).

"Someday": (School):

"Dreamlover" (Countryside): 


The lips parted, peekaboo glances and self love that mark her music video performances could be almost lovable if there were something substantial -- like her shining TALENT, for example -- to anchor it. There's not. The last few albums have been produced within an inch of their digital lives, her vocals seemingly quadruple tracked and Pro-Tooled to bits, only to be ultimately sidelined by Hip Hop glitterati guest appearances. I’m all for double-tracking vocals (Dave Gilmour in Dark Side of the Moon, anyone?) and collaborating with your buddies but at some point it becomes a major bummer. 
The vocal legend’s latest (with its straight-faced title), Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel, provides no reprieve on the bummer front. More breathy vocal business. More songs with barely any sung words. More tiny dresses fit to burst. More indoor breezes. More self-conscious touching of the face and hair. More lazy grins. More killer song titles like “Angels Cry” and “H.A.T.E.U.” (although to be fair, "H.A.T.E.U." is  one of the finest songs on the album). A quick aside: while Memoirs… came close to winning the award for Best Accidentally-Comedic Album Title, the trophy still stays safe in the harbors of Mariah’s 2008 release, E=MC2.
I know the new album has sold a quarter of a million and that my opinion may elicit derision from some, but folks - please be gentle. I am an imperfect angel; Don’t H.A.T.E.ME. Love me, love me…

--Leslie Beattie

The 100 Greatest Live Albums of All Time

There are plenty of live albums issued solely as afterthoughts or contract fulfillments, but there are plenty that are as transcendent as the best in-person concert experiences, only with zero lines at the bathroom. For this particular list we came up with the following criteria:

• Only one album per artist.
• Albums were been performed live in front of an audience, but don't necessarily have to be culled from a single performance.
• No EPs or singles—this list is about albums
• We decided to limit this list to music, which means no comedy. We wanted to save those records for a separate list for laffers.

Of course, we exercise their judgment regarding quality and/or historical significance. If you disagree with our choices (and there's a good chance you will), let us know in the comments.

Here goes:

1. James Brown - Live At The Apollo, 1962
2. Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison
3. Frank Sinatra - Sinatra at the Sands
4. Bill Withers - Live at Carnegie Hall
5. Judy Garland - Judy At Carnegie Hall
6. Bob Dylan - The Bootleg Series, Vol. 4: Live, 1966: The Royal Albert Hall Concert
7. Ella Fitzgerald - Ella in Rome: The Birthday Concert
8. Led Zeppelin - How The West Was Won
9. MC5 - Kick Out the Jams
10. Keith Jarrett - The Koln Concert
11. Neil Young - Live Rust
12. Otis Redding - Live in Europe
13. Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense
14. Nirvana - MTV Unplugged In New York
15. Bob Marley - Live
16. The Rolling Stones - Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out
17. Roy Orbison - Black and White Night
18. The Who - Live at Leeds
19. Simon and Garfunkel - The Concert in Central Park
20. Jimi Hendrix - Live at Monterey
21. Cheap Trick - At Budokan
22. John Coltrane & Thelonious Monk - At Carnegie Hall
23. Paco de Lucia, Rodrigo, and Orchestra De Cadaques - Concierto de Aranjuez
24. Maceo Parker - Life On Planet Groove
25. Portishead - Live: Roseland NYC
26. Elvis Presley - From Elvis in Memphis
27. Leonard Cohen - Live in London
28. Kiss - Alive!
29. Eric Clapton - Unplugged
30. Queen - Live Killers
31. Nina Simone - Nina Simone at Town Hall
32. Gram Parsons - Live 1973
33. Jeff Buckley - Live at Sin-é
34. U2 - Under a Blood Red Sky
35. Lucinda Williams - Live at the Fillmore
36. Thin Lizzy - Live and Dangerous
37. Dead Can Dance - Toward the Within
38. Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band - Live in New York City
39. BB King - Live at the Regal
40. Aretha Franklin - Live at Fillmore West
41. David Bowie - Stage
42. Miles Davis - Miles Davis at Fillmore: Live At The Fillmore East
43. Art Blakey - A Night At Birdland, Vol. 1
44. Ani Difranco - Living in Clip
45. Mavis Staples - Live: Hope at the Hideout
46. Muddy Waters - At Newport 1960
47. Depeche Mode - 101
48. Deep Purple - Made in Japan
49. Isaac Hayes - Live at Wattstax
50. Sam Cooke - At the Copa
51. Parliament - Live: P-funk Earth Tour
52. Grateful Dead - Europe '72
53. Laurie Anderson - United States Live
54. Alison Krauss and Union Station - Live
55. Velvet Underground - 1969
56. Pink Floyd - Pulse
57. The Roots - Come Alive
58. Bill Evans Trio - Sunday at the Village Vanguard
59. Sarah Vaughn - Live At The 1971 Monterey Jazz Festival
60. George Harrison - Live in Japan
61. Peter Gabriel - Plays Live
62. Erroll Garner - Concert by the Sea
63. Thelonius Monk - Thelonious in Action: Live at the Five Spot Cafe
64. Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds - Live at Luther College
65. Janis Joplin - Janis in Concert
66. Peter Frampton - Frampton Comes Alive
67. Willie Nelson - Stars and Guitars
68. John Coltrane - Live at the Village Vanguard
69. The Clash - From Here To Eternity Live
70. Eartha Kitt - Live from the Café Carlyle
71. Ravi Shankar - Live: Ravi Shankar at the Monteray International Pop Festival
72. Wilco - Kicking Television: Live In Chicago
73. Neko Case - The Tigers Have Spoken
74. Judas Priest - Unleashed in the East
75. Jay-Z - Unplugged
76. The Orb - Live '93
77. The Ramones - It's Alive
78. Etta James - Rocks the House
79. Soweto Gospel Choir - Live at Nelson Mandela Theatre
80. Pearl Jam - Live on Two Legs
81. Björk - Live Box Set
82. Kraftwerk - Minimum-Maximum
83. Radiohead - I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings
84. Lou Reed - Rock 'n' Roll Animal
85. Jill Scott - Live in Paris
86. Carole King - Carole King The Carnegie Hall Concert June 18, 1971
87. Alice in Chains - Live
88. John Denver - The Wildlife Concert
89. Eva Cassidy - Live at Blues Alley
90. Stevie Ray Vaughan - Live at Carnegie Hall
91. Rush - Rush in Rio
92. Police - Live!
93. Daft Punk - Alive 2007
94. James Taylor - James Taylor Live
95. Neil Diamond - Hot August Night
96. Guns N' Roses - Live Era '87-'93
97. Lyle Lovett - Lyle Lovett Live In Texas
98. Blue Oyster Cult - Extraterrestrial Live
99. Aerosmith - Live! Bootleg
100. J. Geils Band - Live: Blow Your Face Out

-- Jeff Reguilon

Best Black and White Album Covers

As an incidental result of listening to a lot of Brother Ali's Us, R.E.M.'s Accelerate, and the Beatles' Revolver this week, my coffee table happened to be strewn with these three great black-and-white albums covers.

There must thousands more out there, but what are the best?

I've already got a graphic artist interested in putting together a collage of these, which is where you come in. Leave comments with your suggestions for great black-and-white album covers. I'll collect them and--eventually--post the artist's finished collage.

     --Jason Kirk

Singles Report: Foo Fighters, Consequence, Melissa Laveaux

Foo Fighters - "Wheels"
Even though their last couple albums have been spotty enough to make me almost lose interest, I've always felt like the Foos had it in them to assemble a pretty stacked greatest hits collection, which they've VERY CONVENIENTLY done just in time for the holidays. Unfortunately for us, the band tacked on two new jams, of which, "Wheels" is one. Listening to the beginning, I felt like the MP3 was mislabled and I accidentally downloaded some Keith Urban. What followed was a generic smear of limp, slick, unfortunate, late-period Tom Petty impersonation. I'm not against the new stuff, but I'm pretty sure I would have been happier if they had clipped this from the tracklist in favor of "I'll Stick Around" or "Walking After You."

Suggested if you like: Tom Petty, an extremely competent cover band performing Tom Petty songs, "mediocre-of" material appearing on a "best-of"
Rating:  13/69 Full Moon Fevers

Consequence (feat. Kanye West and John Legend) - "Whatever U Want"
Because he has but one flow and a steadfast refusal to vary his rhyme schemes, Consequence is best taken in small doses. For a number of IMMA-LET-YOU-FINISH-related reasons, our old pal Yeezy has, as of late, also been getting his mail forwarded to an address in the best-in-small-doses zip code. As such, you'll be satisfied to know that they're each limited to four bars at a pass in this slinky Gin and Tonic of a tune. With its low-key vibe and 2:37 run time, it feels more like the suggestion of a song than an actual song. Still, I've listened to it five times in short succession, mostly because I'm left wanting more each time. When was the last time you could say that about anything involving any of these parties?

Suggested if you like: "I'm Good" by the Clipse, "Love Hangover" by Kidz in the Hall, surprise awesome
Rating: 26/30 prefunk cocktails

Melissa Laveaux - "Crazy in Love"
I have no idea who this person is and I'm generally against covers of songs I like (TWO STRIKES, LADY), but this thumpy, acoustic reinvention of the Beyonce ultrajam is-- no exaggeration-- the best new song I've heard in months. Should you decide to scoot over to her MySpace page, you can listen to, along with some of her originals, another unique cover, this time of Elliott Smith's "Needle in the Hay." Her version of "Crazy in Love," however, is so good I don't even miss the Jay-Z verse. A++++ NEW ARTIST. WOULD BUY FROM AGAIN.

Suggested if you like: Lykke Li, Emiliana Torrini, making a great thing even better
Rating: 93/100 oh-no-nos

-- Jeff Reguilon

KRS-One: "Def Jam singlehandedly destroyed hip-hop."

KRS-One weighed in on Def Jam Records' legacy (which he believes "sucks, straight up") at last week's filming of the 2009 Vh1 Hip-Hop Honors--an event honoring the legacy of Def Jam Records. Watch the video (via xxl):

While Kris somewhat confusingly flips back and forth between harsh words and claims of love and respect for Def Jam, his criticism rings much more sincere than the praise he uses to pad it. It seems everybody likes to point the finger at someone else for killing hip hip--even the man who released an album entitled "Hip-Hop Lives" in 2007 as a sort of retort to Nas' 2006 "Hip-Hop is Dead."

Jeru the Damaja handled the subject with a bit more elegance on 1996's Wrath of the Math, blaming Sean "Diddy" Combs and his Bad Boy Records imprint for the decline and commercialization of hip-hop in the 90s. In the storytelling lyrics of "One Day," hip-hop is kidnapped by the Bad Boy crew, dressed up in a Versace suit and fake alligator boots, and forced to quaff Cristal with the likes of Foxy Brown... who was actually a Def Jam artist at the time. So maybe The Teacher has a point.

Is hip-hop dead? Alive? Did Def Jam kill it? See what other hip-hop recording artists think of the label when Vh1's celebration airs on Tuesday, October 13th, at 9 pm ET/PT.

-- Courtney Powell

DJ Roc Raida, 1972-2009

The hip-hop community suffered another tragic loss this weekend with the untimely passing of one of its best turntablists: DJ Roc Raida of New York City crew the X-Ecutioners.

Born Anthony Williams in 1972, Roc Raida made his first indelible stamp on DJ culture as a young competitor in the DMC World DJ Championships, an international competition that challenges beatmasters to test just how far the turntable can be pushed as an instrument. Each year competitors lift the disciplines of scratching, mixing, beat juggling and body tricks to ever-higher levels. In 1995, ten years after the competition began, Roc took home the champion's spoils: gold turntables and hip-hop infamy. In recent years he has been better known as Busta Rhymes' tour DJ.

Those who were lucky enough to play shows with Roc Raida say he was as humble as he was skillful - always the nicest guy at the party.

His family released the following statement on Saturday: "Anthony Williams... has passed away unexpectedly today, September 19, 2009. He is survived by his wife, three lovely daughters, mother and friends. Raida was recently in a mixed-martial-arts accident, something that he has been practicing for several years. Although he had undergone two surgeries with great success, was released to an inpatient physical therapy facility and was in great spirits the past few days, this morning he started to have complications and passed. The family asks for privacy at this time."

Check out Roc Raida's championship-winning 1995 battle routine for some stunning examples of turntable science. RIP.

-- Courtney Powell

Speech Debelle Wins 2009 Mercury Prize

London rapper Speech Debelle is the surprise winner of the 2009 Mercury Music Prize. Her debut album Speech Therapy won the award, which is given to the best album of the last 12 months by a British or Irish artist according to a panel of judges. The prize comes with a check for £20,000 ($33,000), and it will give a huge boost to her profile. Reportedly, prior to its nomination Speech Therapy had sold only 3,000 copies. After nomination she was quoted as a 15/1 long-shot, though odds had shortened nearer the ceremony. She told the BBC after winning: "It feels so much better than I imagined. I don't really get emotional but I'm emotional now. This proves that if you believe in something, you can achieve it." Speech Debelle's victory was a big surprise, with several better-known names also in the running. Florence and the Machine were favorites, thanks to debut album Lungs, while Glasvegas, Kasabian, Bat For Lashes and Friendly Fires were also all widely tipped. Last year's award was won by Elbow's fourth album, The Seldom Seen Kid.

So what do you think - do you agree with the judges' choice? Here's a few videos of the budding star to help you decide:

"The Key" is available as a free download from Amazon here, and British fans can download the entire album for £3 from here.

--Ally @ SoundUnwound

SoundUnwound's editorial team write about the latest big music news and quirky stories which catch the eye. We'll be posting a selection of these news stories on Chordstrike every week; for much, much more, visit SoundUnwound.com, the new music site from IMDb and Amazon. Follow us at twitter.com/soundunwound.

KRS-One Preaches "New Religion" of Hip-Hop

Boogie Down Productions' legendary rapper KRS-One has never been afraid to get on his pedestal and preach, in his lyrics or in interviews. Now he's gone even further than ever before: he's written a 600 word book, called it The Gospel of Hip-Hop, and declared it to be the start of "a new religion on the earth." In an interview with AllHipHop.com to promote the new book, the man known as The Teacha said: "It explores the spirituality of Hip-Hop, the divinity of Hip-Hop... I think I have the authority to approach God directly, I don’t have to go through any religion [or] train of thought. I can approach God directly myself and so I wrote a book called The Gospel of Hip Hop to free from all this nonsense garbage right now. I respect the Christianity, the Islam, the Judaism, but their time is up.” The book is structured like the Christian Bible and offers practical advice about life, as well as philosophical discussions on morality and spirituality. "I’m willing to go beyond my born culture to create a whole new civilization," KRS continued, "[I] happen to be one of the first citizens of this new culture, new civilization called Hip-Hop. In a hundred years, everything that I’m saying to you will be common knowledge and people will be like, 'Why did he have to explain this? Wasn’t it obvious?'" The book is due to be published in the fall, but here's The Teacha's "Outta Here" in the meantime...

--Ally @ SoundUnwound

SoundUnwound's editorial team write about the latest big music news and quirky stories which catch the eye. We'll be posting a selection of these news stories on Chordstrike every week; for much, much more, visit SoundUnwound.com, the new music site from IMDb and Amazon.

Black Eyed Peas Set Record: Really?

According to this Associated Press article, the Black Eyed Peas have just made history--Billboard history, that is.  Fueled by the success of their singles "Boom Boom Pow" and "I Gotta Feeling," (both off their newest album The E.N.D. (The Energy Never Dies) the Peas have set a record for the longest consecutive stay at number 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart (20+ weeks). 

I am, quite frankly, surprised by this. "Boom Boom Pow" and "I Gotta Feeling" are good songs, but really?  Number 1?  Record-breaking?

Don't get me wrong--I like the Black Eyed Peas' music.  I just don't get why these songs have such broad appeal.  Yes, they're good party songs, and they're fun to dance to.  Is this why people like them so much?  

I personally prefer the Peas' more socially-conscious early work, like their debut album, Behind the Front and their sophomore title, Bridging the Gap.  I like music that explores social and cultural themes, that touches me in some way, that makes me think.  But I admit that too much thinking can get old.  Maybe, when it comes down to it, most people just want to forget everything and dance--hence the Peas' most recent success on the charts. 

--Bri Nguyen

Out This Week: Good New Music You Might Have Missed

Zero 7 - "Medicine Man"
Suggested if you like: Solange, Janelle Monae, mixology

Christina Courtin - Foreign Country
Suggested if you like: Madeleine Peyroux, Jolie Holland, sweet tea

Speech Debelle (feat. Micachu) - "Better Days"
Suggested if you like: Estelle, Roots Manuva, hip-hop from over there

Kleerup
Suggested if you like: Robyn, Lykke Li, flashing lights

Drug Rug - Paint the Fence Invisible
Suggested if you like: Apollo Sunshine, Beachwood Sparks, sweet ponchos

Los Pikadientes de Caborca - "Billie Jean"
Suggested if you like: this M.I.S. cover of "Bittersweet Symphony," unlikely tributes

-- Jeff Reguilon