eppjones's Last.fm Journal

I Know I'm An Emotionally Disturbed Person.

Thu, 24 May 2007 11:46:17 +0000

Stats: A Brief Exercise In Narcissism.

Wed, 23 May 2007 20:01:21 +0000

Lately I've been messing around with Last.FM Graph which is an excellent program that creates graphs from your Last.FM listening data.

First off I wanted to know how the amount of music I listen to has changed over the two years since I registered. I guess the conclusion that can be drawn from this graph is that I listened to slightly less music my second year.

Secondly I wanted to investigate fluctuations in the genres I listen to. I quickly discovered that in these stats a lot of genres are correlated. For example I rarely listen listen to outright jazz and blues artists yet these tags are present in my stats as sort of sub-tags under the singer-songwriter umbrella. This of course causes the curves for these three genres to be almost identical so I had to be careful with picking genres that actually represent what I listen to.

As seen in the second graph the hip-hop genre is dominant in my profile so I decided to break it down a little by comparing it to stuff tagged as underground hip-hop. This is of course by it's nature kind of uncertain data but it seems that the underground stuff has been in a slightly more decrease in comparison to other hip-hop music.

Finally I wanted to check out some artist data. The only artists who I've listened to constantly are Bob Dylan and Tom Waits. All others had gaps over the years. I also included three artists who I hadn't listened to previously to signing up on this site: Lupe Fiasco, TRAE and Cyne. It was pretty cool to see the exact periods when they released their albums and I started listening to them.

Thoughts.

Wed, 14 Feb 2007 21:38:04 +0000

FIRST THOUGHT:
An anniversary! It's been two years since I registered on last.fm. Almost perfectly synchronized with this I also hit 50k scrobbled tracks last week - that's a pretty massive chunk of behavioural data. Looking at my overall artist chart today I have some mixed feelings, one thing that is clear to me though is that part of what you felt represented yourself just a couple of years ago now feels very distant. But, enough of that - the track of choice for my milestone 50k scrobble was Tangled Up in Blue and Blind Willie McTell. I'm linking both. Because I can.

SECOND THOUGHT:
Since it was pretty well received the last time that I posted an instrumental hip-hop mix I'm posting another one. Just like last time it's comprised of twenty-something instrumental tracks from 2006. It also still comes with a disclaimer that it's not some professional type of mix, just something I usually put on my portable MP3 player but it works as a nice way to check if you have missed out on any dope instrumental stuff. DOWNLOAD: [removed]

THIRD THOUGHT:
Some days I don't shower, I don't wanna be clean. Joe Budden is my favourite new artist that I've started listening to within the last six months. My late pass was officially stamped last fall when I downloaded a "Best Of" mix. Earlier today I was listening to his song 10 Mins and it just struck me that this is the type of shit that makes you feel ashamed to have ever listened to any other music. Dude is currently only at #50 in my overall charts, mostly because his songs are quite long resulting in lesser amount of plays but he will probably stay climbing the charts in 2007.

FINAL THOUGHT:
To end this entry let me post my favourite music video from last year:

Trae - Restless

Tue, 13 Feb 2007 20:52:31 +0000

TRAE - Restless (2006)

I had previously only heard TRAE on his cousin Z-Ro's brilliant song 1 Night (feat. Trea of Abn) from the 2005 album Let The Truth Be Told (a song btw which is pretty indicative of the sound of this record). So after hearing good things about Restless and again being impressed by an extremely dope album cover I decided to check it out and was happy to find that TRAE shared alot of the qualities which made me a fan of his cousin like being an excellent mix between tough guy and depressed introvert.

The CD starts of kind of slow with some of the opening songs having kind of generic production but starting from track six (the title song) it really starts picking up with some of my favourite beats of 2006 and more introspective type songs. The overall mood of the music can be described as nighttime, listening to this with the sun shining seems like an impossibility to me. Perhaps because I associate the album so strongly with the video for the original Swang:

As I mentioned above, that ^^^ was the original Swang. Unfortunaly the sample have been replace for the album but it's still a very good song. Other standout songs besides the two already mentioned are The Rain (feat. Dallas & Shyna, Song Cry, Pop Trunk Wave (feat. Fat Pat) and perhaps the second best song on there No Help (feat. Z-Ro) with a guest appearance by Z-Ro. There are also a few duds on here which brings down the overall rating a bit but it's still a strong recommendation.

Rating: 78%

Albums That I Rate 100% (Part Four)

Tue, 5 Sep 2006 22:48:10 +0000

Tom Waits - Closing Time (1973)

I had my first harsh introduction to Tom Waits a couple of years back listening to the (I now realise magnificent) song Hoist That Rag. As I listened to Waits hoarse vocals over the music I thought to myself "This shit is just too goddamn rough and distorted, why am I listening to stuff like this?". For some reason I really vividly remember that phrase going through my head, just one thought out of billions that I guess my subconcious found worthy of keeping. Little did I know at that time that thirty years earlier this same guy had made the album that I had always been looking for.

Either way it was kind of a fluke that I would come across this album because as you might've noticed I didn't at first enjoy his latest album. However I did listen all the way through it and ended up loving the last track Day After Tomorrow and wondered to myself in my boredom if he had anymore songs of this more low-key nature? So I went over to the excellent RateYourMusic to check out his discography and, like any normal person, promptly downloaded the album whose cover I liked the most. There was really no competition: "Lonely Guy By Piano In Dark Room At 3AM". A clear winner. And to my delight the music sounded exactly like the cover looked and it just immediatly clicked with me in a way that albums as a whole very seldom seem to do.

I've heard some people critize this album for being to sappy. It might be, but really, I like sappy. Some of my favourite songs on the album (like Martha and I Hope That I Don't Fall in Love With You) are some of the sappiest tracks on there. If I had to point out any flaw it would be that "Ice Cream Man" sounds a bit out of place on the album moodwise, but even so the album is perfect and has pretty much unlimited replay value for me. So the score is ...

Rating: 100%

A Short Introduction To ... (Part One)

Thu, 31 Aug 2006 16:46:13 +0000

So since the point of this site is to help people discover new music I figured that I'd make an entry where I'll post short introductions, in both text and MP3 form, to some dope but unknown-outside-the-inner-circle type of rappers. This might very well be the only installment but maybe I'll do a few more later on if I feel like it.

Insight is an multi talented boston-based hip-hop artist who besides rhyming also handles his own production and DJing when he's not helped by people like Shin-Ski and DJ Real. In 2002 he released his first album called "Updated Software v2.5" which was a double cd with the first disc being normal songs and the second instrumentals. Besides that second cd he has released two more instrumental joints but they're more like beat-tapes then on some full-fledged DJ Shadowesque type of instrumental tip. Anyway, the year after his debut he released "Targeting Zones" and "The Blast Radius" which opened up alot of peoples eyes to his work. His latest two albums (Soloplexus and ShinSight Trio) have been Japan-only releases but apparantly his Japanese label are setting up distribution in North America so I guess those releases will be more easily available too soon.

TRACKLIST:
01. Should I Letem In?
02. Bother Me
03. Evolve
04. Under A Spell
05. Me Her (feat. Insight)
06. Daily Routine (DJ Real mix)
07. Respect Life
08. Early Dayz Amazement

DOWNLOAD: [removed]

Wordsworth is a New York rapper who is best known as a great storytelling and freestyle MC who's able to come up with entire storytelling tracks of the top of his head. His earliest claim to fame was being part of The Lyricist Lounge and being half of the Punch & Words duo who for example appeared on both A Tribe Called Quest and Black Stars albums in the late nineties. They also released a self-titled album together in 2000. Four years later Wordsworth finally released his solo full length debut called "Mirror Music" which had a guest appearance from Masta Ace (who by the way are currently working on a group album together with Punch & Words and Strick) as well as production by Ayatollah and Oddisee amongst others.

TRACKLIST:
1. One Day
2. Evol (feat. Justin Time & Masta Ace)
3. Apartments
4. Block Episode (feat. Punch & Words)
5. People, Places & Things (feat. Chubb Rock, Wordsworth & MF DOOM)
6. Freestyle over J. Rawls beat
7. That Way
8. Shoulder

DOWNLOAD: [removed]

An (Almost) 2006 Instrumental Hip-Hop Mix.

Tue, 11 Jul 2006 17:34:02 +0000

This is just some shit I put together for myself to have on my portable MP3-player, originally it was meant to be all 2006 stuff but I ended up including a few songs from last year too. Since I haven't posted a journal entry on here since forever I though I'd share this.

TRACKLISTING:
NAG Champa (The Intro), The Comeup (the Come Down), Wins Tonz, 88 To Rochelle, Love Is True, Open, Understanding (Comprehension), Elephant Strut, Two Timer (the Pimp), Better Than (Beat Break), Ike's Mood I, A Tribute To Troy, 1974 (Funkin' Peace Choir), Ventanas De Hielo, So Fly, It's simple, Thats Reality, Boombox, Coffee Cold Feat. Fergus Macroy, The Gathering (Reprise), Chopstyle (Suey Blast), Fragments, Silver Moon, Big City Boy, The Great Divide, Memento, Days Are Years

Total Time: 67 minutes

DOWNLOAD: [removed]

2005; Top 30 Songs.

Mon, 1 May 2006 17:34:03 +0000

Compiled from my charts as of May first.

01. (113) Tonedeff - Porcelain
02. (92)CunninLynguists - The Gates (feat. Tonedeff)
03. (83)Slum Village - Giant
04. (81)Sufjan Stevens - Casimir Pulaski Day
04. (81)Atmosphere - Little Man
06. (70)Living Legends - Never Fallin'
07. (67)Pigeon John - Nothing Without You
08. (63)Soloplexus - Me Her (feat. Insight)
09. (61)Reanimator - Live Session
10. (57)Cage - Hell's Winter
11. (54)CunninLynguists - What'll You Do?
11. (54)Slum Village - 05
13. (49)Glue - Early Morning Silence
14. (48) Three 6 Mafia - poppin my collar
15. (47)Songs: Ohia - Coxcomb Red (Joe Beats remix)
16. (46)Asamov - Hookslide
17. (45)Soloplexus - Should I Letem In?
17. (45)Cage - Shoot Frank (feat. Darryl Palumbo)
18. (44)CunninLynguists - Brain Cell
19. (43)Cyne - Rappin'
20. (39)Cyne - Subtle Art of the Breakup Song
21. (38)CunninLynguists - Caved In (feat. Cee-Lo Green)
22. (37) Edan - Promised Land
22. (37) Cyne - Automaton (Four Tet remix)
24. (36) Grayskul - Secret Wars
25. (34) Grayskul - Prom Quiz
25. (34) CunninLynguists - Hourglass
27. (33) Eligh - Desperation (feat. Scarub & MURS)
28. (30) Sufjan Stevens - John Wayne Gacy, Jr.
28. (30) Glue - Still Eyes feat. Paul Morton
30. (29) Three 6 Mafia - Stay Fly (Ft.Young Buck Eightb

The italic numbers are total listens.

My favourite non hip-hop release so far this year.

Tue, 21 Mar 2006 15:46:30 +0000

Destroyer - Destroyer's Rubies (2006)

I won't go into detail because I feel kinda out of my element trying to review indie rock stuff but I just wanted it noted in my journal that I'm really feeling this album. Especially the opening title track is beyond greatness.

Rating: n/a

Top 10 Illogic Songs.

Tue, 21 Mar 2006 15:45:32 +0000

01. Hate In A Puddle
One of my all-time favourite songs.

02. Tale Of A Griot
Maybe this will sound kinda strange considering the chaotic nature of the beat but I've always found this song to be extremely elegant. It also has the ability to always put me in a good mood even though it's really not supposed to be that type of song.

03. I Wish He Would Make Me
This can be seen as kind of a sequal to Hate In a Puddle. It's the song where he talks most openly about his faith.

04. Sand (Feat. Slug of Atmosphere)
Is really called Stand but whoever first ripped the CD named it this way and it seems to have stuck (even here on Last.FM). The song itself works as a conversation between SLuG as the father and Illogic in the role of the son who is questioning ol' Sluggos behaviour as of late.

05. Write for What ?
His best spoken word track, maybe it's threading a little too close to sounding pretentious but I still really enjoy it.

06. 1000_Whispers
The imagery in the lyrics on this song just blew me away the first time I heard it. Like that shit about voicebox turned into a cauldron, saliva boils and then thoughts are vapor.

07. First Trimester
When this song on the subject of abortion first came out I read that some people thought that "Common has already done this song". That doesn't really make any sense to me, why couldn't there be more then one song on this particular subject? Either way this song is really dope.

08. War Ft Davu
Another track from the same EP. About the US vs. Iraq war seen from the point of view of an american soldier and iraqi boy. I used to like this more then I do now but it's still pretty dope.

09. I Am Not Strange
From the first Write to Death EP, which contrary to this songtitle is kind of strange. Like the majority of the songs on there this is done in a spoken word style over a really slow but dope beat. Blockhead later reused the same sample on another Illogic song called An Ocean.

10. The Missing Pieces
The ending track from his latest CD, pretty straightforward. I know most people probably wouldn't put this in their Top 10 but I've always liked it.