The War On Drugs- Future Weather (2010)

Reccomended If You Like: Kurt Vile, Real Estate, Beach House, The Velvet Underground, Bob Dylan

Just when I was ready to start drawing up my best of 2010 list, along comes The War On Drugs’ new EP Future Weather. The War On Drugs play a unique blend of shoegaze that draws on Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen as much as it does My Bloody Valentine. Listen to cuts like “Taking the Farm” or “Barrel of Batteries” from the band’s 2008 debut LP Wagonwheel Blues and you’ll hear frontman Adam Granduciel’s abstract, colorful lyrics layered over warbling, fuzzed out guitars and the frantic pounding of the rhythm section.

Wagonwheel Blues found a lot of its strength in the spectacular guitar playing and songwriting of Kurt Vile, one of the group’s founding members, who has a burgeoning solo career and is the writer of one of my favorite songs ever. Vile doesn’t play on Future Weather, something that made me skeptical at first, but makes the record all the more impressive. Comparing Wagonwheel Blues with Vile’s solo work, one can tell that despite the strong similarities in style, albums like Childish Prodigy and Constant Hitmaker have a distinct singer-songwriter feel to them not found on Wagonwheel Blues. Vile’s absence on Future Weather allows Granduciel to invoke that same singer-songwriter feel.

Bahamadia- Kollage (1996)

Recommended If You Like: Gang Starr, A Tribe Called Quest, Erykah Badu

Fellow Woosa author (though he sure hasn't posted in a while, hint hint) Connor recommended Bahamadia's Kollage to me a few months back. For a while, I only rocked "Uknowhowwedu" and "Rugged Ruff" because those were the two beats that stuck out to me the most. But I listened to the whole album today and it's all top notch. Bahamadia is a female rapper out of Philly and judging by the guest features and production on Kollage, she held a solid place in the burgeoning hip-hop scene of the mid-90s. Her flow and clever lyrics certainly suggest the same, fitting perfectly over the production work of DJ Premier on tracks like"Rugged Ruff," which samples Nas' "Halftime,"and "3 The Hard Way." Also present is the other half of Gang Starr, Guru, who introduces Bahamadia on one of the albums "Interlude" tracks and produces the beat to the first proper song "WordPlay." Other highlights are "Da Jawn," which features fellow Philly natives The Roots, and the soulful "Biggest Part of Me."

I've never really dug female rappers, save for maybe frequent DOOM collaborator Empress Stahhr, who's flow is similar to Bahamadia at points. But Bahamadia's style is pretty undeniable and the beats behind her are just too dope to ignore. Click the album artwork to sample Kollage.

Tyondai Braxton- Central Market (2009)

I don't know how it took me so long to grab this one by Battles' former front man Tyondai Braxton considering that Mirrored is one of my favorite albums of all time. On Central Market, Braxton utilizes the same palette of sounds we heard on Mirrored: piercing whistles, grinding gear noises, loud yelps. But Central Market is definitely more of an orchestral album. Swooping violins weave in and out of the absolute chaos of frantic drum loops, thunderous brass and other indistinguishable noises. The album's standout "Platinum Rows" has this heavy-as-fuck electronic breakdown thing that keeps recurring throughout the song's ten and a half minutes. In-between these meticulously timed blasts of vocals and noise, trumpets, violins and xylophones schizophrenically dance the line between familiar melody, symphonic beauty and absolute tonal anarchy.

"Platinum Rows" serves as a sort of dividing line for the album. It features the zany, bubbly arrangements of the first half of the record, but also the dark, evil sounds that appear more prevalently in the record's second half. "Unfurling" is a droning menace, building suspense and then destroying it with unpredictable firecracker blasts. "J. City" is the most traditional sounding song on the album, pushing Braxton's impressive vocal range to the front over crunching, dissonant guitars. Album closer "Dead Strings" is as horrifying and nerve racking as its title, layering quivering violins over the creeping footsteps of the rhythm track before breaking out into an off-tempo barrage of drill noises.

The Strange Boys - Be Brave [2010]

With the release of their second album, "Be Brave" The Strange Boys have been under the radar for some time, before, however, they were dubbed as one of the best performances seen at SXSW. Putting on a 'Dylanesque' vibe and time traveling you into what could possibly be the sounds coming from a dirty dive bar in Austin, twenty years ago, it's easy to picture their sound as 'bar music', but bar music is even an understatement. All of the crooning and echo-chamber from their first album gave us an idea of how their next album would be, but little did we know that "Be Brave" would essentially top their predecessor albums.

Listen to "Night Might" here.

Twin Shadow - Forget [2010]

The guitar in "Castles In The Snow" towards the end. Wait for it. That's all i'm saying

Cold Cave- "Life Magazine" (2009)

Ugh, I know I have been terrible about posting and I wish I had a legitimate excuse to give you, my few readers. But I don't. But I'm going to be better I promise. And to the artists who sent me music, don't worry! I'm going to post about it soon I promise!

But as for today, I bring you a great track from Cold Cave's awesome, overlooked 2009 release Love Comes Close. The track is called "Life Magazine," I believe they came out with an EP for the track this year that featured a bunch of remixes. Love Comes Close finds its strength in its variation. It jumps from slow moving drone, to bouncy shoegaze, to buzzing synth-pop, all within the first three tracks. "Life Magazine," the third of the aforementioned tracks, is the hybrid of the glitchy beeps of Crystal Castles and the driving dance punk of Death From Above 1979. Female vocalist Jennifer Clavin's voice bears a striking resemblance to Lisa Lobsinger of Broken Social Scene. Wes Eisold, formerly of American Nightmare and Some Girls, split's vocals with Clavin and is the mastermind behind the group. And though Cold Cave retains some of his punk and hardcore roots, their music is much more experimental than anything he has done previously. Check out the fantastic "Life Magazine" and Love Comes Close if you have a chance.

Cold Cave- "Life Magazine" (via Stereogum)

Mac Miller

Whoa, sorry for the month long hiatus. Now that I'm back at school, I should be posting more regularly. Today, I'm here to bring you two fresh tracks from Pittsburgh's Mac Miller. This kid is only 19 years old and he's already been featured on a Wiz Khalifa track. His lyrics and flow definitely borrow from Khalifa (he loves to sing about weed), but there's also elements of Big L and Curren$y in there. Check out these two dope tracks from his K.I.D.S. (Kickin Incredibly Dope Shit) Mixtape, out now on Rostrum Records and available for free download over at Datpiff.com. "Nikes On My Feet" might be one of the illest beats I've heard this year.