Video of the Day: 'CounterClockwise' by Oddisee

As the excitement builds for the launch of Oddisee's new album 'The Good Fight' (out on May 5th), this new video has just been released. Shot over a few nights around New York, the backwards / forwards video brilliantly reflects the music and lyrics. Check it out, my favourite bit is the guys taking the garbage out of the truck and putting it back on the street.

A tale of two rap albums: 'To Pimp A Butterfly' vs 'Mr. Wonderful'

In the past couple of weeks two completely different but great rap albums have been released - Kendrick Lamar's 'To Pimp A Butterfly' and 'Mr. Wonderful' by Action Bronson. You've probably seen a lot of reviews of them, especially the former which a lot of people have already crowned the album of the year, so rather than do another straightforward review I thought I'd compare the two (not entirely seriously). Whether you like one or the other or both, it's good to see rap music in such rude health at the moment.

           

Location:

West Coast                                                 East Coast

Themes:

Black Consciousness                                  Food
Racial Equality                                            Women
Politics                                                       Transport
Sex                                                            Sex

Musical influences:

George Clinton                                             Billy Joel
70s Funk                                                     80s soft rock
Jazz                                                            Some weird Turkish stuff

Collaborators:

Flying Lotus                                                 Mark Ronson
Snoop Dogg                                                 Chance The Rapper
George Clinton                                             Party Supplies
Thundercat                                                   Zane Lowe
Dr. Dre  

Likelihood of winning a Grammy next year:

100%                                                           0%                      

Best tracks:

The Blacker The Berry                                  Baby Blue
How Much A Dollar Cost                               Easy Rider
King Kunta                                                   Only In America

Most likely to say:

"I'm black, deal with it"                                "I'm hungry & horny, feed me or fuck me"

Austerity Audio 2015.3

The third instalment of Austerity Audio for 2015 is finally here! What more could you want at Easter than 10 prime slices of new music (apart from a vomit-inducing quantity of chocolate eggs)?

As usual, all of the tracks are available for free and legal download from the internet (you might have to rummage around for some of them, but that's part of the fun). If you find something that you really like then all we ask is that in return for this lovely free mixtape you buy a track or two from one of the artists involved. That way they make a crust and can keep producing lovely music for us all. To download the mixtape just right click on the image above and 'save as', or left click on it to listen to it first. Here's the tracklisting:

1. Fluida - Deep Down (Dub)
2. Tame Impala - Let It Happen
3. Roger Sellers - Waves (Corduroi Remix)
4. Ratking - (Steep Tech (Feat. Despot & Princess Nokia)
5. Rome Fortune+ Ceej - Blacktop
6. Deech - Hi-end Babe
7. Outfit - Genderless
8. Ibeyi - Ghosts
9. Buddy Banter - I Miss You
10. Torres - Strange Hellos

Video of the Day: 'Valentina (feat. Smoke Fairies)' by Public Service Broadcasting

As we've come to expect by now, each video that comes out from Public Service Broadcasting is a treat. This one is a little more gentle and a little less frantic than the previous two from 'The Race For Space', telling the story of the first woman in space with some lovely and atmospheric footage of her. It's a fitting tribute to a lady whose role in the space race is so often overlooked.

Recommended music: 'Living Fields' by Portico

Billed as the debut album from Portico (following three previous releases as Portico Quartet) this continues Portico's move towards electronica, and this time includes weighty contributions from three guest vocalists - Jono McCleery, Joe Newman (from alt-J) and Jamie Woon. But this isn't one of those crap r'n'b records full of tracks 'feat.' people you've never heard of. Instead the three singers have been an integral part of the recording process, and in fact all have previous history of one sort or another with the group. And while it's fair to see that your enjoyment of the album will depend on how you feel about their choice of vocalist (particularly Newman's distinctive voice) for me this is a great record. From the opening, Haxan Cloak-esque sound of the title track, 'Living Fields' will drag you into a dreamy and sometimes dark world, full of atmosphere and (unusually for a lot of electronica) warmth. McCleery has the lion's share of the vocals and perhaps because of that his probably work the best overall - I could see him becoming a full time member of the group quite easily.

If the album has a shortcoming it's that it doesn't particularly carve out a niche for itself in the electronic market - it strays into a lot of other territory, from Darkstar to Mount Kimbie to Everything Everything without really setting out its own stall.But that's a small gripe about a hugely enjoyable record that I think will be on repeat for many weeks to come.

Track of the Day: 'Choose Your Enemy' by Thee Faction

Political agit-pop of the highest order, reminiscent of bands from The Redskins through to The King Blues. The perfect antidote to the Leaders Election Debate on the TV right now.

Remix of the Day: William Onyeabor's 'Atomic Bomb' by Hot Chip remixed by John Talabot

Hot Chip's version of 'Atomic Bomb' was one of my favourite tracks from my purchases on Record Store Day last year. Now, fresh for Record Store Day 2015, comes this remix of the track by John Talabot, and it is indeed the bomb. This is going straight on my shopping list for April 18th.