What we listened to this week and why.
ALBUM: Freddie Gibbs & Madlib, Piñata (Madlib Invazion, 2014)
I didn't start out the week by listening to Piñata, but rather with Madvillainy, Madlib's classic collaborative LP with DOOM. It dropped almost exactly a decade ago (March 24!), and still stands as one of my favorite albums ever. It's because there's an electricity that surges through playback. Madlib crafts a blistering patchwork of infective soul, and DOOM slathers it with rhymes that come across as stream-of-conscious but are actually meticulous constructions, strings of idioms and clichés that could cross your eyes. And it's why I waited until Madlib's full-length collaboration with Freddie Gibbs officially released to give it a spin. Madlib has attempted projects with other MCs, namely with Talib Kweli's Liberation and Guilty Simpson's O.J. Simpson, but never actually matched the potency of Madvillainy. That is, until now.
Piñata is brusque, crinkly, menacing and soothing, all at once. Madlib's productions are stiffer than on Madvillainy, and tracks don't end before they feel they're supposed to. But that's a beauty mark on the LP—it feels like an actual album than a perfect sequence of perfect vignettes. And while I didn't think Gibbs would be able to flourish in a Madlib world, he goes beyond and enriches it. He's a quiet master of meter and rhyme scheme, and spins cinematic street tales of spanning rolling up to dealing. This is the first rap album to grab me in however long, because it's filled with so much soul, both lyrically and sonically. And it feels so good, and it feels so bright.
SONG: Miguel featuring Wale, "Bennie and the Jets" (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road Deluxe Edition, Island, 2014)
Um, did you know that Elton John is celebrating the 40th anniversary of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by releasing a deluxe edition featuring nine covers from popular artists including Ed Sheeran, Fall Out Boy, Emeli Sandé and more? Neither did I. That is, until Miguel's cover of "Bennie and the Jets" exploded into my timeline this week. I was entirely skeptical, and not just because it features Wale. It takes a true artist to tackle such an invigorating pop classic, and while I've never doubted Miguel, I just wasn't sure he could pull it off. But he does with stars and stripes. Those harmonies, that sound-clash instrumentation, the emphatic grunts—it's all perfect. Now, all we need is a version with Wale's verse removed and we're golden.
Thursday this week marked the official first day of spring, which brought brief joy to my heart until I came down with literal spring fever the following day (because apparently my body won't let me enjoy nice things). I type this on my deathbed but the sun is peeking through my blinds and despite momentary spasms of wanting to curl up and die, I am grinning like a fool with a newfound excitement for life (I may also be hopped up on meds right now). I spent my sick day listening to our spring mix, fever-dreaming of cruising around with the Beach Boys and skipping through fields of flowers with The Rolling Stones. This is surely the beginning of my salad days! (Well, after I recover, that is.)
SONG: Lily Allen, “Air Balloon” (Sheezus, Parlophone, 2014)
Lily Allen proves that beneath her trademark snark (which has come back to bite her in the ass a few times), she's more than capable of writing beautiful pop songs. While we're on the subject of discussing perfect springtime songs, might as well throw this one into the mix. "Air Balloon" is pure, unadulterated bliss. Let her float you away on a bed of clouds.
ALBUM: Tycho, Awake (Ghostly International, 2014)
Ghostly International founder Sam Valenti once said that the staying power of the label is that it's never had a major hit to skew expectations, allowing a slow and steady build in scope and profile. Though that may be true, the closest Ghostly's come to a full-fledged crossover is Tycho's 2011 album Dive. For his follow-up, Awake, Tycho's brought in several studio musicians to help round out the sound, giving it a crisper sheen and a greater emphasis on the guitar than Dive. Still, it sounds like Tycho, and it sounds like Ghostly. That's not a bad thing by any means, but if you're looking for a radical deviation in style, you may be left a little disappointed.
MIX: Richie Hawtin vs. deadmau5 (aka testpilot) – Live @ SXSW 2013
At last year's SXSW, Richie Hawtin and deadmau5 sat down for a Q&A and back-to-back DJ set that became the most talked about dance music-related news bite to come out of the festival. Sure, both of these superstar DJs hailed from Canada, but that's about where the similarities ended—Hawtin was an underground techno DJ tiptoeing the mainstream, while deamau5 was a commercial dance DJ who once upon a time tiptoed the underground. How on Earth would a back-to-back set work between these two? Fast-forward a year, and mau5 has crowned a new alias (testpilot) with a minimal techno single on Hawtin's Plus8 label, indicating that they might be a little more in common than we though. And just when it seemed like this back-to-back set would never the light of day and fade into SXSW lore, Richie Hawtin posted it online.
To listen to the mix, click here.
Last Week on Shuffle Board: J.Lo’s Man Candy, Prince B-Sides and Lazy Mase
.
Discover more exclusive content, music, videos and mixes.
