In my opinion, 2013 hasn’t been a great year for hip hop music. I never once had hope for Indicud, Yeezus definitely was not a 9.5 out of 10, and delayed material from rappers like Danny Brown and Schoolboy Q has left me bored and somewhat uninterested in their future projects. But fear not, there’s lots of essential releases from this year below.
Let’s start with a Chicago dude every college kid should be listening to…. yes I’m talking about Chance The Rapper
I had to do this, go ahead and play this gem from El P and Killer Mike (Run The Jewels) synced up to the Jadeveon Clowney hit.
Mickalas Cage aka Mick Jenkins, another Chicago stud
We all need some bangin’ trap rap in our lives. Feel free to skip through French Montana and Trinidad James, everyone else is on point. Schoolboy kills it.
Earl has been impressive in 2013, no doubt
Big K.R.I.T. released his most unimpressive mixtape to date, but he’s still got the quality and class to be the king of southern soul infused hip hop
Joey Bada$$ and PRO ERA’s Summer Knights mixtape is solid
We all know what to do to this one, Flatbush Zombies deliver on this stone cold chiller
Action Bronson and Mac Miller have won me over with their recent releases
This snippet of ‘Man of The Year’ from Schoolboy Q’s upcoming release Oxymoron has me pretty excited. It needs to come out like now though.
Ancient Babes is the moniker of Sam King, a 26 year old dude who lives in Vancouver. Having been in various rock/shoegaze bands since he was 15, King finally felt that it was time to go solo, and boy has he delivered so far. “Smoked Halibut” features a very dark atmosphere crafted by David Lynch-like synthesizers and a steady drum machine beat. It’s a song that was really made to chill out hard to, and literally get lost in. Hazy vocals are introduced with a bit of reverb-tinged guitar that swirls into the picture, and the shoe-gaze influence really shines through. While not much else is known of the mysterious Ancient Babes, we know for sure that this is just the beginning for the wonderfully dreamy, psychedelic synth project. Check out another rad track, “Malcom X in the Middle”, below as well.
1. How Long by Mr. Airplane Man [01:15] 2. Silk & Honey by Honey Ltd. [05:00] 3. Hey Moon by John Maus [09:35] 4. Khala My Friend by Amanaz [13:38] 5. Share by Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers [17:18] 6. I’m Waiting Here (feat. Lykke Li) by David Lynch [19:55] 7. Baby by Donnie & Joe Emerson [25:05] 8. I Think Of You by Rodriguez [29:00] 9. Sleepwalk by Santo and Johnny [32:25] 10. Violets of Dawn by Ant Trip Ceremony [34:50] 11. Donna by Ritchie Valens [39:50] 12. Meet Me Here at Dawn by Cass McCombs [42:13] 13. Maybe by Jill Read [45:59] 14. Nightswimming by R.E.M. [48:45] 15. Time Was by Wishbone Ash [53:25]
The ‘Moonlight Drive’ mix was created about a month ago and released on our other blog, Surfing Saxophone. It’s meant to be listened to while driving under the warm glow of a summer moon. Download the whole mix through Soundcloud below, and feel free to express your thoughts and feelings about it via comment/tweet! Artwork provided by The Teenage Head, an awesome blog everyone should check out.
Boston-via-Austin band Silkies plays a brand of surf-pop that is far too often overlooked by the masses in today’s internet dominated world. On their brand spankin’ new EP Never Tell a Lie, Silkies take influence from classic 60’s girl groups (The Crystals, The Shangri-Las) and more modern post-punk influenced groups (Beach Fossils, Eternal Summers), creating a darker fusion of surfy riffs and lo-fi jangle, a sound perfect for an aimless late night drive or chillin’ with the moon out on a quiet Texas beach. “Walk at Midnight” definitley stands out as one of the more engaging tracks off the EP. An eerie female narration paints trippy images of lurking eyes, shiny knives, tiny mirrors hanging in hallways, and nodding off at shadows on the wall, which really captured my attention. The song creates a mysterious uncertainty for the listener that is often left out of a lot of today’s buzz-worthy beach-pop jams, and shows that not every tune in the so-called genre calls for a positive ode to sunshine in order to have that instantaneous catchy sound that we’re all searching for. Go download Never Tell a Lie now and put it on your summer playlist immediately!
It’s been a good month since our last post and I thought it would be a good idea to update readers with the current state of The Endless Bummer. Recently we decided to start a new project/blog called ‘Surfing Saxophone’, a site dedicated to music of the beach persuasion. We encourage all of our supporters to check that out at surfingsaxophone.com, we are still posting the great music but with a fresher theme that holds our interests more than the existentialist philosophy this blog was founded upon. Long story short, we will be putting more time and effort into Surfing Saxophone. However look out for occasional posts such as this from time to time. I’d like to thank everyone who has sent me their music in hopes of any kind of feature, and I apologize to those who I have not responded to via email (I’m lazy AF). Shout out to the all the twitter followers as well.
Now, I present to you some of my favorite songs from 2013 so far:
Coalition by Iceage
– So much angst and rage in this track. The Danish punks really make you just wanna go out and beat the shit out of something, and it makes sense that they tried to sell pocket knives with the ‘Iceage’ logo on them at their shows.
Hey Winnie by Cocktails
– “Hey Winnie” is a power-pop masterpiece. I often get caught daydreaming about what this song would look like if it were a person, I’m thinking something along the lines of a mix between James Dean and Mathew McConaughey’s character from Dazed and Confused.
Step by Vampire Weekend
– Vampire Weekend produce a modern pop classic in “Step” off new album Modern Vampires of the City, an album I’ve been comparing to The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds in terms of stylistic growth.
Blood Bubbles by The Orwells
– It’s hard to believe these Chicago kids are my age and make such high caliber rock n’ roll music. “Blood Bubbles” is off their new EP Other Voices which improves on the band’s amazing sound from 2012’s Remember When. Talent, talent, talent….. Check out the awesome video below.
Stand in the Sand by Twin Peaks
– “Stand in the Sand” is a product of Chicago dudes Twin Peaks, a young group of friends who dropped college in order to keep playing music together. While their garage rock sound has been done many times before, Twin Peaks manages to keep everything on debut LP Sunken fresh, progressive, and consistent. It’s pretty damn catchy as well.
No Stranger by Small Black
– “No Stranger” puts me into a comfortable place that reminds me a lot of the times when I would jam out to their ‘chillwave’ 2010 debut LP New Chain. Any song off Limits Of Desire is worthy of making this list, Small Black really perfects their dance-pop sound on this one.
Dream House by Deafheaven
– I was first introduced to the genre of ‘Black Metal’ during a spring trip to New Jersey through one of my cousins. I’ll admit it didn’t click with me at first listen, but after listening to Sunbather by Deafheaven in its entirety several times I was immediately won over. Any fan of Post-rock (Explosions in the Sky, Sigur Ros) should give this a go. Darkness surrounds “Dream House” but there’s something very pretty and comforting that lies in the center.
Betwixt by OMN
– I’ve always felt a bit distant emotionally from electronic music, but “Betwixt” by OMN has something that hits me hard. It’s the simple “I don’t think I can” vocal loop and huge cloudy production that lurks in the back of my head day in and day out.
It All Feels Right by Washed Out
– “It All Feels Right” feels so right in my life at this moment, it’s everything I love from Washed Out’s Life of Liesure EP combined with the refined production from the debut LP Within And Without. A perfect one for the perfect summer day.
There’s a few songs I really loved from the first half of 2013. Be sure to check out Surfing Saxophone http://surfingsaxophone.com/!
THE ENDLESS BUMMER 