This is in no way a plug for XM/Sirius radio, but ridding in the car with a plethora of great stations at my fingertips is amazing. 9 times out of 10 I got it tuned to SOULTOWN, which plays non stop soul sounds from Motown and beyond. One of the other great stations I usually listen to a lot is XMU, which is basically college programing (god damn hipster kids). While mentioning the lineup for what should be a pretty amazing Cochella 2010 the XMU dj played "Stylo", The Gorillaz new track from their forthcoming album "Plastic Beach". The track has a 80's throwback feel to it and features not only rapper MOS DEF, but soul crooner BOBBY WOMACK to boot!! --nick in a post about rockers The Gorillaz I still find a way to connect the dots back to some funky soul music...here's a monster of a Bobby Womack cut!
The drought is over everyone! I’m not sure what we could attest to the lack of posts for the entire past week: work, school, extra-curricular activities, or maybe just another category, ‘other’? Most of my stuff will come at night because of circumstances and it will usually be something off the top of my head. First, I think we need to change the name of our blog because there is another “The Odd Couple” and we wont get any hits with the same name as them. The url can stay the same but we need a new name, if you have any suggestions/ideas, please please please let us know.
In the meantime, Madlib! The celebreated MC/producer/beatmaker will grace El Paso this Thursday, Feb. 25! The show’s at Dominic’s as part of their DJ sets, “Go Bang,” and they’ve already done good with bringing Peanut Butter Wolf. Now, we get another Stones Throw labelmate in town to show off his skills. Honestly, I think Madlib is the superior of the two, simply because of his skill and talent. His Quasimoto albums are all top-quality (check out the instrumentals too,) his Shades of Blue is an amazing combination of hip-hop and jazz, his collaboration with Jay Dee on Champion Sound is highly recommended and his work with MF Doom (now just going by the name of DOOM) as Madvillain, created the best hip-hop album of the 2000s with Madvillainy.
We’ll be there in full support of this exceptional music artist and if I get to talk to him, I will surely ask about the rumors that there will be a new Madvillain album out this year. In the meantime, here is the video to my favorite song off that aforementioned album, “All Caps”: - Bryan
You see, there’s just too much to be glad about nowadays. For one, the UTEP Miners’ basketball team is a C-USA best 10-1, with an overall record of 19-5! This is amazing for a program that saw two promising coaches come and go and which was on the rebuilding side for the past few seasons. Randy Culpepper was always a star but this time, they’ve amassed quite the team. This is one that should make the NCAA Tournament and they deserve our support. Gonna try to make it out to their last two home games, next Saturday Feb. 27 against lowly Rice and the closer, Saturday, March 6 against UAB. The latter is a good team that we beat earlier in the year on their home court but we can do it!
Next, electronic music: a genre that I fully respect and admire now. Back when I was still just a budding music listener, electronic music felt so cold and stale. There was a harsh disconnect but luckily, I’ve broken through. So many artists to name, 2010 has already started off with three amazing electronic albums. We have the new one by Hot Chip which is utterly moving, the new one by Pantha Du Prince who is a master craftsmen and now, Four Tet’s latest There is Love in You. It’s minimal, almost ambient techno but it’s also superb. He was been touted by the likes of Radiohead as a premier beat-maker and this new album is no slouch.
Here is a youtbue video to a brilliant song off the album, “Love Cry.” It’s made by a street photographer who captures the pictures and then finds music to match it with. The music is the star but the photos are a great montage too:
Enjoy and if you like what you hear or read, or even if you hate it, let us know! - Bryan
So I think all and all this product has been in the making for some time now. I'm glad we (myself and Bryan) finally got off our asses and enter the infinite sphere of bloggerdom. Cheers!!!.. to a long and succesful life here at the ODD COUPLE.
With that said, let us begin.
When was the last time you anxiously awaited the release of an album. And when it finally dropped you picked it up from your favorite music spot and took it straight home and listened it through and through. Well the last time that happened for me was for part 1 of Erykah Badu's album New Amerykah. Due to the birth of her 3rd child with Jay Electronica, part 2, entitled "Return of the Ankh" was postponed multiple times. So needless to say I was teased for 2 years with prospected release dates that never came to fruition. It was kinda tortuous waiting for the fallow up of what I consider one of the best albums of the past 5 years. Well the wait is almost over. New Amerykah Part 2 Return of the Ankh is set for a March 30th release, and you can bet that day Erykah and I are gonna have a long awaited date together! This is the first single, Jump up in the Air (and stay there) is pretty sublime, and yes features Weezy. This track was supposedly set to have something like 9 or more guest MCs on it. Instead we get one kinda lack luster performance from Lil Wayne. The rumor of this supposed plethura of MCs had everybody and their tias making lists of a neo-soul A list of MCs to accompany Ms. Badu on her first single. Well it didn't happen, but it doesn't take away anything from a bad ass track. -nick
As the first post to our very first blog I stretched too many ideas over the course of my head. We tried to come up with a name last night but certain experimentation and substances prohibited our conscious thinking. Ha, if that makes any sense - hopefully it does!
It'd be best to describe 'we' wouldn't it. For the moment, it's just me, Bryan, as I've taken the initiative in creating the actual blog here. But I've sent the other soon-to-be-admin of this blog, Nick, his proper 'invitation.' I suppose we will discuss many things here and while they may run the gamut and sprawling nature we aim for, we hope to avoid any pretentious talk all the way.
I think music will be a prevalent topic as Nick and I certainly love it. It's a passion yes, something we've both been in love with yes, and something that we each have a very special connection with. The title of the blog is "The Odd Couple" because we want to showcase our dissimilar styles (even if we occasionally/frequently blend the same side) and separate passions. "Odd Gila" is odd because everyone is odd and Gila is the name of Beach House's song, "Gila." And with that, here is a video (the original video will not allow it to be embedded but watch it too!) for that song, a psychedelic, intriguing trance of a song that will keep you sucked in, enjoy:
P.S. I clicked away because I am still lost on how to input items and I just wanna say, "Thank you autosave!" - Bryan
