Intuition- I Ruined These Songs For You Too

A year after his first stab at ruining gems from Amy Winehouse, The Black Keys, Portishead, and Grizzly Bear, emerging Los Angeles MC Intuition is back with a brand new bag of unauthorized collaborations. Instead of tackling obvious trendy remix bands like Toro Y Moi and Little Dragon, Intuition challenges music nerds of all shapes, sizes, and external hard drive capacities by manipulating more obscure songs from Jai Paul, Icona Pop, Javelin, and Jessica Lee Mayfield and putting his own spin on less celebrated cuts from headliners such as Sublime, Erykah Badu, The Strokes, and Raphael Saadiq.

Ruined or renewed? You be the judge.

Download: Intuition- I Ruined These Songs For You Too

Track List:
01. Jai Paul - BTSTU (feat. Intuition)
02. Icona Pop - Manners (feat. Intuition)
03. Phantogram - When I'm Small (feat. Intuition)
04. Sublime - Get out (feat. Intuition)
05. Neon Indian - Deadbeat Summer (feat. Intuition)
06. Javelin - Susie Cues (feat. Intuition)
07. Frank Ocean - Swim Good (feat. Intuition)
08. Jessica Lea Mayfield - Our Hearts Are Wrong (feat. Intuition)
09. The Strokes - Under The Cover of Darkness (feat. Intuition)
10. Raphael  Saadiq - Good Man (feat. Intuition)
11. Erykah Badu - Soldier (feat. Intuition)

Kev Brown- Instrumentals Vol. 1

Earlier today, Low Budget All Star Kev Brown released Instrumentals Vol. 1, a 14-track odyssey through a portion of Kev's career that is now available on Bandcamp for free or more.

Download: Kev Brown- Instrumentals Vol. 1

Free Indie Rock Album: Turning Torso- Walker

Turning Torso is the instrumental rock project from an unknown 20 year old guitarist/producer from Mexico named David Sánchez. On his debut album, Walker, David mashes up waves of dreamy guitar notes with islands of digital drums and psychedelic noises, forming a serene instrumental experience comparable to the breakdowns of Minus the Bear, Explosions in the Sky, and Bibio.

I think what the young David Sánchez created in his bedroom studio with an electric guitar and modest recording tools is intriguing and full of potential. This album is a small moment in music where we can thank technology and embrace what it can do for emerging musicians on a budget.

Listen to Turning Torso on BandSoup

Free Album Download: Turning Torso- Walker

Free EP: Cute Attack- Self Titled

Dropping gems in a studio that's nestled in between Bellingham Bay and Lummi Island is a new trip hop duo made up of producer Chance Random and folk singer-songwriter Jenni Potts, better known as Cute Attack. Their new self titled release, which is now available on Bandcamp with a name your own price tag, is a short, simple, and sweet ride through a lost and forgotten world of what I call therapeutic hip hop, known to many as trip hop.

Haunted by Jenni Potts' vocals, Chance Random's beats creep cautiously around her lyrics, but find solace in her warm breath, embracing each note thoughtfully. The chemistry between the two is obvious, and while the length of the record might shock listeners the first go around, they will soon find the perfection in its editing and the beauty in its clarity.

Download Album: Cute Attack- Self Titled

Stream/Track list on the flip side.

1. Birds Intro

2. Silver Padded Box

3. Movement One

4. Found My Way

5. Movement Two

6. Over Here ft. Chris Willis

7. Movement Three

8. Unreal

Iz-Real & Icky Slick- The Izslickulus Package?

Atlanta, Georgia spoken word poet/MC IZ-REAL will make your head spin. Combining a Breeze Brewinesque delivery with an electric mic presence, IZ's tracks take numerous spins to absorb but will always buzz the brain the same. On The Izslickulus Package?, Iz connects with fellow weirdo MC Icky Slick to drop deviant rhymes over subterranean soundscapes from DJ Dredi. 

Sidenote: For all you old underground heads reading this, does anyone get that same nostalgic feeling by listening to Iz-Real's stuff? It could easily be mistaken for a late 90's underground demo tape. 

Free download below.

Download: Iz-Real & Icky Slick- The Izslickulus Package?

1. Izzy Icky

2. Organ Donors

3. Hang It Up

4. Skit

5. Space Debris

6. IZSLICKGLYPHICS

7. Problem Hero

8. Skit

9. Feeling Rain Again

BLKHRTS- BLK S BTFL

FOE, Karma, and Yonnas Abraham are BLKHRTS, three of Denver, Colorado's finest hip hop artist with flows as smooth as onyx stone and a sound that is way before its time. Combining a gothic ethos with loud, futuristic production, the BLKHRTS free EP, BLK S BTFL, is a moody body of work that will have your head nodding and heart pumping with intrigue.

With this release, the Denver trio has unabashedly pushed the envelope of what hip hop should sound like. This is an experiment gone right and if you open up your ears long enough, even you might find that BLK is BTFL too. Peace to @KidHum and his rave reviews.


Download: BLKHRTS- BLK HRT, BLK CITY
Download EP: BLKHRTS- BLK S BTFL

Hit the flip side for full album stream.

Free Indie Rock Album: The Juliets- Self Titled

I don't post much indie rock on here, but I came across this band while doing some stuff for the other site. Good stuff out of Detroit.

Fronted by pianist Jeremy Freer and supported by a classical collective made up of violinist Sara Myers, cellist Kaylan Mitchell, bassist Ashton Hopkins, and drummer Jax Phillips, The Juliets are the new pride of Detroit and the emerging Michigan music scene.

Read More/Free Download on the Flip Side

After being formed in late 2008, The Juliets began to construct classically influenced pop songs over bottles of red wine. Within the fermented grapes they found truth in sound and began to lay down their debut self titled album. The debut, which was released in February of 2010, is one of the indie pop genre's most slept on albums of the year; a flawless unveiling full of infectious melodies, masterfully designed compositions, and sublime strings. A true masterpiece that is tragically unknown.

What makes The Juliets' self titled album an even more powerful piece of work is its ability to cover every human emotion cohesively. From sweet and hopeful to glum and forlorn; from confident and full of pride to fearful and disgraced; from a place of love to a house of hate-- The Juliets make schizophrenia sound both beautiful and persistent, making the mad houses contained in our brains erupt in joy as the record spins and spins.

What The Juliets have accomplished in their first outing as a band is triumphant. Their gallant and flourishing ornamentations go unmatched throughout the industry and soon enough their brave explorations in sound will be lauded and these baroques with backbone will be adored.

Free Album Download Where It Says "Artist Link"

Retrospek- Boom Bap and Beyond EP

In 2009, a Boston, Massachusetts based trio sent over their SomeShytWeDid EP and I immediately saw potential. Made up of two MCs, JuneLyfe and A. Spendacash, and one producer, Rah Intelligence, Retrospek collectively represent raw, boom bap rooted hip hop with an eclectic and modern edge.

Recently, Retrospek released another free EP entitled Boom Bap and Beyond. It went under the radar in the blogosphere, but the trio were kind enough to remind me of its late December release so I could post it up.

Here is the free download to the EP below, as well as two of my favorite tracks to get you better acquainted with the group and commit to a download. Happy belated Christmas and New Year from Retrospek?


Download: Retrospek- Down


Download: Retrospek- Take Notes
Free EP Download: Retrospek- Boom Bap and Beyond

Insightful- The Flowers in My Mind

San Diego hip hop producer Insightful has just dropped a gem on us. His new album, The Flowers in My Mind, is a 28-track instrumental album full of pure electronic enlightenment that slowly scales buildings built of binary code, blows through gardens of fiber optic flowers, and swirls through the back of your eyelids like blessings from Buddha.

Smooth, sleak, and surreal-- this is what 2011 should sound like.

Download: Insightful- The Flowers in My Mind

Stream it on the flip side.

Beat Maker Beat (aka Spacekid)- Paramind

Russian producer Beat Maker Beat (aka Spacekid) released one of the more underrated records of 2010 in MacroKosmos (peep our coverage here). A few days ago BMB added another flawless 2010 release before the new year cut off, which might sneak him up a few notches on my end of the year list for producers.

Paramind features BMB's signature spaced out production that is always pregnant with fuzzy samples, infectious waves of trippy electronica, and synthesized sex. The free download is below via bandcamp or sharebee. You can also purchase this 19 track banger for 1 measly buck (or more if you wish). It's worth it.

Download: Beat Maker Beat (aka Spacekid)- Paramind // Sharebee

01 ‘Move’ – Devonwho (BMB aka SpaceKid Rmx)

02 Delahaze

03 BlueMoonShine

04 Million Miles Fr.The Earth – (Dev’who tribute)

05 100%COCAO

06 Likeubrowneyes

07 WinterMood

08 Shining

09 Mix2RaMa

10 AmourContact

11 Keep on! (ft.Bandjy)

12 Spacechord (interlude)

13 Katamaaran

14 King-KongWeekend

15 Roc’n'it! (dirt.Interlude)

16 Gamma

17 DayBeforeYesterday

18 Russhh

19 Polyphoniclove

IZ-REAL- Paint & PistolS + More

Atlanta, Georgia spoken word poet/MC IZ-REAL will make your head spin. Combining a Breeze Brewinesque delivery with an electric mic presence, IZ's tracks take numerous spins to absorb but will always buzz the brain the same.

Recently, IZ released his @IZREAL mix tape featuring numerous guest spots from his Strange Gibberish family. The download below contains the new mix tape, along with a bonus track "Paint & PistolS" (which we have streamed below), and a download for his free EP with Mark Aubert.

Here are three of my favorite tracks below to get yourself familiar.


Download: IZ-REAL- Paint & PistolS (Wild Styles)

Download: IZ-REAL- Warhead ft. Lil Prince & O-Slick

Download: IZ-REAL- Blessings and Curses
Download Mix Tape + Bonus- @IZREAL

Pease- Familiar Feelings

A member from Cleveland hip hop group Keyel, Pease (aka Pablo Amor), has just released his latest instrumental project, Familiar Feelings. This 17-track freebie was constructed by Pease during emotionally  inspiring times and hopes the listener can feel his experiences and emotions through his fleeting compositions.

Download: Pease- Familiar Feelings

Stream on the flip side.

J-Zen- The Sextape

With a stack of dusty VHS tapes, French producer J-Zen has constructed hip hop's first beat tape made of music and vocal samples from 1970's porno films. In between the moans, screaming orgasms, and fuck me in my ass taunts, J-Zen's ability to flip cheesy funk, earthy flutes, and casio stabs into head noddin' hip hop beats is just as astounding as the size of 1970's bush and areola.

Download: J-Zen- The Sextape

1. ZENight begins

2. Ginger

3. Amber

4. Kayla

5. Shauna

6. Nikki

7 Jimmylingus

8. Ashlynn

9. Christy

10. Orgybeats #1 #2 #3

Free Album: Open Mike Eagle- Art Rap After Party EP

"Everybody's rapping, everybody's selling clothes, everybody's picture taking, shooting videos...everyday in the city of L.A. is everybody's birthday," goes the first hook on Open Mike Eagle's "Art Rap After Party EP" -- a record that solidifies the Chicago-born Angeleno-based rapper as arguably the finest (and funniest) chronicler of the seedy and mustache-marred L.A. underworld.

The follow-up to this year's stellar "Unapologetic Art Rap," Mike Eagle II rambles through the dregs of his new home's coked-out, jungle-juiced wastelands, getting wasted to stay sane. He sarcastically compliments a girl on her asymmetrical haircut, telling her that he hopes she stays ahead of the trends. Then he tells her that she dresses like the Macho Man, Randy Savage.

Those with one-dimensional interpretations might wrongly brand this hipster rap, but Mike is no hipster. He dresses more GQ than Vice and boasts a surliness that could get him tossed from Intelligentsia. Rather than stridently complain, he fulminates against his targets with a caustic wit and an ironic sense reminiscent of a less solipcistic Das Racist. Indeed, Eagle's tangents are even more searing and cogent. He attacks racists for assuming he's going to play 2Pac on a jukebox when he just wants to play "Rock the Casbah." He creates an absurd cosmology -- a 100 proof nightmare filled with wanna-be nabobs and those who have read too much Nabokov.

Balancing his smarts with endearing self-deprecation, he never lapses into self-seriousness. Eagle mocks himself for sending out embarrassing texts, scheming on unfortunate women, and for his own hypocrisy. Mush records has given Pop & Hiss permission to give away the EP for free for the next two weeks. Open Mike Eagle does the dirty work-- throwing Art-Rap after-parties so you don't have to. After all, it's far preferential to eat hummus in solitude. (Be forewarned, the download contains some salty language.)

Download: Open Mike Eagle- Art Rap After Party EP (Left Click, Save As)

Track Listing

1. Everybody's Birthday

2. Haircut

3. Someplace Quiet

4. Four Years Old

5. Last Night

Oddisee & Stik Figa- From the Top EP

I've been pumped for this collaboration project since Stik Figa told me about almost a year ago. A taste of what's to come in 2011:

Riding the success of "From The Top," the first single from the Mello Music Group compilation, Helpless Dreamer, and his mini-documentary released earlier this week, Stik Figa is treating fans with the release of the Oddisee produced From The Top, a brand new five-track EP - for free.

Matching Stik's stylings step for step, Oddisee continues to show off his wide ranging production abilities, utilizing dusty drums and string, horn, and guitar chops throughout to create a multitude of mood-altering backdrop for Stik's musings. "The production Oddisee provides makes these moments fully realized moments," says Stik. "I'm excited for people to hear it, it's somewhat of a coming out party."

Stik Figa and Oddisee will also be releasing their own currently untitled album together in 2011. Stick Figa is also working with long time collaborator D/Will to release their album together titled, Crown & Coke.

The download below contains HQ clean & dirty versions of the tracks, instrumentals, and acapellas. I also added my favorite track, Bucket.


Download: Oddisee & Stik Figa- Bucket
Download: Oddisee & Stik Figa- From the Top EP

Roc C & Soul Professa- SOULROC

Roc C hooks up with producer Soul Professa (Lloyd Banks, Diamond D, Cappadonna, M.O.P, Chino XL, Big Shug, JR Writer, Fashawn, Cali Agents, and more) on the latest 14-track freebie to give the internet whiplash, SOULROC.

Hit the flip side for the bandcamp stream/download and track listing.

Chuuwee- Sunday Afternoon EP

Ever since Chuuwee flipped every up and coming youngin' on their ass and sent them 6 Feet Deep, I have been hooked on his golden era ethos and work ethic. Judging by his output over the last month, Chuuwee isn't here to pound his chest and rest easy over a few blog posts and props. He remains ravenous, aggressive, passionate, and in tune to the talent he possesses, which can be heard in every freestyle and leak he has dropped thus far. This rare mix of desire and effortless aptitude reminds me of another recent Northern California MC success story, but before I make that bold comparison I will let you listen to Chuuwee's latest free EP and form your own opinion.

Sunday Afternoon is a Mini-Tape Chuuwee compiled in one evening. The Tape follows the timeline of how long it took to record and finish each track and features what the 19 year old Sanchez Rivierra does best-- murdering beats while brewing scalding cauldrons of early 90's nostalgia.

This gives away my "bold comparison" from earlier, but-- imagine the possibilities if Chuuwee could find his Exile? (Lee Bannon?). Celebrate another section of hip hop's new youth movement with the free download below.


Download: Chuuwee- Get Out the Fuckin' Car
Download Album: Chuuwee- Sunday Afternoon

Hexsagon Presents- The Charlie Parker Beat Tape

915-- stand up!

El Paso, Texas born producer, Hexsagon, has channeled the infamous 'Yardbird' Charlie Parker to construct one of better tribute beat tapes to come out in 2010. The Charlie Parker Beat Tape features various loops and samples of Parker's most influential work as one of the greatest jazz saxophonists to ever live. The 14-track beat tape flows seamlessly with beautiful song sequencing, blends, and interview clips with Dizzy Gillespie, Jay McShann, and Chan Parker, making Hexsagon's beat tape a well constructed, cohesive piece of work, rather than a haphazard compilation. 

The free download is available to you below via Bandcamp.

Brooklyn beatsmith Bagir-Ba is also featured on the tape. You can peep his free EP Yello-21 that we posted earlier this year here.

Download: Hexsagon Presents- The Charlie Parker Beat Tape

Vinyl Frontiers- Unreleased EP

The european production crew known as Vinyl Frontiers have just launched a new label (iMake Records). To celebrate the launch they have released a free EP full of unreleased collaborations and remixes with various North American artists that have yet to see the light of day. The Unreleased EP will also give a small glimpse into future projects with Canadian producer/MC Muneshine and California MC Trek Life. VF explains more below:

“We've met a lot of artists during European tours and through the internet. Producers usually have to settle for just production credits in a booklet, but we have been blessed in a way that all these artists are willing to let us release this music ourselves. So expect a lot of EP's/albums from Vinyl Frontiers within the next year. The first EP will be made with Canada's Muneshine, followed by Cali's own Treklife."

Despite great cuts from popular underground acts like Sean Price, Muneshine, Reef and Oddisee, I was more impressed with the single from legendary Dutch MC Redlight Boogie. I added his track "Betrayal" below, as well as his video with Sean Price from earlier this year, "Heat Rock".


Download: Redlight Boogie- Betrayal
Download EP: Vinyl Frontiers- Unreleased EP

Tracklist:

01 Dj Friss intro

02 Redlight Boogie – Betrayal

03 Maffew Ragazino – Pale Moon Light

04 Muneshine – What Now (feat. Sean Price & Termanology) (Vinyl Frontiers rmx)

05 Treklife – Always Together

06 Reef – You Gotta

07 Oddisee – Such Is Life (Vinyl Frontiers rmx)

08 Kaimbr – Raw Music

Pat Van Dyke & 8thW1- Lux DeVille EP + Smile

I first discovered 8thW1 in 2007 after getting a hold of his future classic debut LP, Love, Money and Music, and have been hooked ever since. 8th's nonchalant nerd-swag has always mixed well with mellow production and my theory proves correct on his latest project with drummer/composer/producer Pat Van Dyke. PVD and 8thW1's new EP, Lux DeVille, showcases the talented New Jersey bred MC connecting more with his emotions than witty punchlines over a streamline of colorful keys, crisp drum breaks, and a myriad of horn loops that will have true schoolers drooling.

The EP will be available as a free download for a limited time only for one week and then will be available on iTunes. Spotted at PHIMB.


Download: Pat Van Dyke & 8thW1- Smile
Download EP: Pat Van Dyke & 8thW1- Lux DeVille EP

1. The Biz

2. No Excuses

3. Free

4. Smile