The End, kind of....

Yeah I'm stopping 72ways. Its been fun, a cool learning experience in terms of dipping my toes into this online world of music fandom. I learnt some stuff, mostly in that my strengths don't really lie in long form music writing. As such I think its best that I try my hand at tumblr instead. Its pretty much what I was doing anyway; some content I thought was cool and a few words here or there. Might be a better fit. But I wanna keep going and engaging with the world of modern music and criticism.

So yeah, if you dug 72 ways, please join me over at my new one danceyourselfclean. The dancing and lack of proper spacing remains, the change is because 72 was originally gonna be a new djing name for me before I decided to stick with Sleepyhead and well, I fucking love LCD Soundsystem. So yeah, hopefully I wont fall down the hipster rabbit hole too far and come up with some cool stuff. Thanks for reading!

Regards,
Cale

CyHi Da Prynce - Whoopty Doo (Ft. Big Sean)

This is fantastic. Smoothest beat that doesn't have Curren$y currently spitting over it (though he totally needs to). No ID and Kanye have whipped up something that to me is reminicent of old Tribe Called Quest, with jazzy sample, laid back feel and catchy chorus. CyHi and Sean compliment each other well here, letting the beat do most of the work, peppering it with their signature shit talk. Its nice to see weed-carriers have some success.

Neither of these two have ever really inspired me to become good fans of theirs, but they both have their moments. One of my favorites was from "Take It For The Team", where CyHi more or less clowns Big Sean with a story rap about how he tricks him into taking this girls ugly friend. Would be awesome to hear an EP of them going back and forth insulting each other. I think it could be pretty entertaining. Hip Hop needs some more humour in it, and not just punch lines. Just my thoughts...

CyHi Da Prynce - Whoopty Doo (Ft. Big Sean)

The Rapture - How Deep is Your Love?

This track is astounding! Seriously, I really hope an MP3 version of this becomes available in the next few weeks. I have a support slot for Doc Daneeka thanks to bassey house and beat juggernaut that is Don't Sleep and I reckon this would go down a storm if dropped at the right time. I'm a big advocate of mixing DFA style stuff with the bassey house of the UK and the more vocal the better.

The bands been working with Phillipe Zdar, one half of French house duo Cassius and production genius. And if he can create even half the magic he did with Phoenix's last effort, this new Rapture album is sure to be something special.

Anyways, Modular have been kind enough to post a CDQ stream, which while lacking the hilarious vibe of the that disco ball video, makes up for it in terms of being able to clearly hear the track. Check it out HERE!

Big K.R.I.T. - Country Shit

If there is any justice in the world, let this song become a massive smash. Let Def Jam let Krit be Krit. May hellfire and brimstone rain down on Atlantic. Thanks....

Talking Heads - This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)

Can't stop listening to this. I have a problem...

Dr. Octagon - Blue Flowers

Used to listen to this album all the time back in high school. Kinda forgotten about it. Just a thought, but I'd love to hear Rick Ross over this beat. How awesome would be be if after all of this opulence rap, Rick Ross got weird? Like reallllly weeeeeeeirrrrd.

Sleepyhead - History's Greatest Monster

History's Greatest Monster (Tape for TTN) by Sleepyhead__ on Mixcloud

This is a mix a did a lil while back for a local Perth thing. My mixing wasnt the best, but I think its cool in terms of track selection. Trying to go for a more dancey, party thing, it's a blend of bass music, DFA cowbell rock and weird pop. Got tracks from Odd Future, Fergie (yeah, you heard me), Pearson Sound, Maximum Balloon, Tempa T (TEMMMMMPPPZZZZ), French Fries and The Rapture. Check it out, and enjoy!

Dope Songs of 2011

I'm not big on mid year ish, but i figured i should prolly collect my thoughts on whats been dope so far this year.

Adele - Rolling in the Deep (Jamie XX Remix)
Huge tune, not much more to say. Funky with the hand claps, soulful on the vocal, heavy on the bass. BIG!

Frank Ocean - Songs for Women
Could have easily picked another Frank Ocean song, but this ones been favorite. R&B with personality.

Tyler, The Creator - Yonkers
Self explanatory really. Regardless of your opinion on Odd Future and Tyler, this song is a serious achievement. Love it.

Cut Copy - Need You Now
Could have easily picked Take Me Over or Pharaohs and Pyramids instead. This is a band that's on top of its game and is probably the best Australian band right now. Too fucking good.

The Weeknd - The Party
Wow Frank Ocean AND the Weeknd. God I'm such a fucking hipster/cultural tourist. But fuck it, its what I've been listening to and geeking out over too. Probably should go back and listen too more Beach House I guess, but its a masterful sample flip. It has me doing my shitty falsetto singing along in the car. Which is horrible. And given how often I was playing it, far too often...

Arctic Monkeys - Suck it and See
I wrote about it the other day, read it again i guess. Alex Turner conjurs up esoteric and wildly clever imagery with the best of them (Matt Berninger and Ghostface Killah)

TV on the Radio - Second Song
This probably should have gone to Killer Crane, but the moment that the guitar and drums come in gives me chills every times. Very few other songs have given me this feeling this year.

Hercules & Love Affair - Painted Eyes (In Flagranti Remix)
Sounds like if The Avalanches made super funky disco. A must have.

Tune-Yards - Gangsta
Sounds like if Dirty Projectors started hanging out with Ratatat. Seriously fun song, seriously cool album. I refuse to the do the capitalization.

Pusha T - Raid
Mixtape is hit and miss. This song is one of the hits.

Cassie - Me & U (Brackles Remix)
This one always gets a spin when I'm DJing. Love it to bits.

Fleetwood Mac - Dreams (Rocco Raimundo Edit)
Yeah this is from last year, but I really only appreciated it this year. 9 minutes of pure bliss. Soundtracked most of my hungover drives home.

Dangermouse - Moment of Clarity

Grey Album > Black Album.

Blasphemy? Probably yeah, but that just how I feel. Like don't get me wrong, there are amazing songs on the original Black album. 99 Problems, Lucifer, PSA, My 1st Song. However there are duds. Allure, Threat, Justify My Thug, Moment of Clarity.

Actually to call them duds would be inaccurate. The raps on these songs are fine, but the production is lackluster. Allure is probably one of the worst beats I've ever heard. The lyrical content is heavy, but the beats don't match. Its like Jay had been working on the album in his head for years, but the producers weren't on the same page.

What the Grey Album has (after the novelty of the Beatles samples has worn off) is cohesion. It shapes the feel of the song around the content of the raps that are already there so it starts to take shape. Even the use of the Beatles as a sample source gives the album a sense of weight and gravity to match the importance of the lyrics. This is Jay 'retiring', summing everything up and stepping away. It has a reverence to material that the original album didn't have.

This could also just be a product of context. I heard alot of these songs for the first time in the Grey Album form and got chills. When I heard the originals, I was underwhelmed. But thats just me. I don't expect to change anyones mind on this, just my thoughts...

But srsly, the Neptunes version Allure is garbage, so I'm also posting the awesome Ratatat version below. Enjoy.

Jay Z - Allure (Ratatat Remix)

Arctic Monkeys - Suck it and See

"and those other girls are just post-mix lemonade"

God damn Alex Turner's got songwriting chops. I'm liking the new album so far. Bit less murky than the last album which is good and yeah, pretty enjoyable. Its pretty clear now that they're thouroughly dis-interested in going for massive songs and trying to re-create their debut. I'm fine with this. We'll always have "Whatever People Say I am..." and meanwhile we get to watch this band mature and write really cool songs. Good job.