Cristil Flow & D.Glass.B - Straight Goods

A little while back I found a mixtape in the inbox titled “Straight Goods” from the rapper/producer combination of Cristil Flow and D.Glass.B. Since it had such a good name and they hail from Toronto, I gave it a run through right away – I’m glad I did. Cristil Flow’s line to line, laid back, rap keeps things relaxed throughout the mixtape, and the instrumentals do nothing but help. On select tracks Straight Goods also brings in a vocalist, Kyla Charter, to provide the hook, which adds even more soul to this duo’s sound. This is a cause I’ll easily lend my voice to, as it’s always good to find some solid core talent surfacing out of Toronto. Chris Stiliadis (Cristilflow) let me know the tracks below headlined the Straight Goods mixtape, but don’t hesitate to grab the full thing for yourself.

Straight Goods (Cristil Flow & D.Glass.B) – Where My Hand Sits (featuring Kyla Charter)
Where My Hand Sits feat. Kyla Charter by CristilFlow

Straight Goods – Don’t Know
Don't Know by CristilFlow

Straight Goods – One Shot (featuring Kyla Charter)
One Shot ft. Kyla Charter by CristilFlow

Gotye - Making Mirrors

It’s time to get a little eclectic again. Gotye’s been finding his way into my ears lately, with his hauntingly intense indie rock seeming to catch on repeat quite easily. Gotye (pronounced Gaulthier) is Wouter "Wally" De Backer, a Belgian-Australian, multi talented musician that creates instrumentals to brew like a quiet storm, adding his vocals to pierce and contrast perfectly. Gotye always seems to stay reserved while still having a gripping amount of passion, which is an unlikely combination…. But really is more common than you think.

Gotye released his third album, Making Mirrors, at the end of the summer and it has only seen positive reception so far. Gotye even got himself into the splendor in the grass music festival in Australia, which featured Kanye, Coldplay, The Mars Volta, PNAU, and Foster the People just to name a few. Fuck, should have got a plane ticket. Two tracks I find myself frequenting include Somebody That I Used to Know and his older Learnalilgivinanlovin’, which have both been remixed to perfection at this point. Always seems to happen with this core Sufjan Stevens/Animal Collective style of music.

Gotye – Learnalilgivinanlovin’

Gotye – Eyes Wide Open

Gotye – Somebody that I used to know (featuring Kimbra)
 

The Naked and Famous - The Sun

Disclaimer: This song isn't all that new

I feel like there were a lot of people out there like me who heard the first couple singles from the Naked and Famous and appreciated them but kind of dismissed them as some kind of MGMT knockoff or whatever. A few weeks ago I finally put the time in to get their first album, Passive Me, Aggressive You and it was the best decision I've made in a while. In particular, one song has been an obsession for me over the past month or so. Just listen to the melody that comes in at 54 seconds into track 5 - The Sun and tell me its not addicting.

The Naked and Famous - The Sun

Video: Black Keys - Lonely Boy

New Black Keys video! Its no secret that I like the videos the Black Keys make, combine that with new material and you can bet I was pumped when I saw this one. Lonely Boy is the first single off the Black Keys upcoming album El Camino which is available December 6th. After my first two listens, my first thought was 'thank god, they didn't let the fame mess with them'. I hate to be the guy that gives up on artists once they get some mainstream love, but with the amount of tv shows and commercials that have used the Black Keys' music over the past 12 months, I was a little bit worried. Thankfully the blues rock duo has remained true to its roots. Check out the video below, and get your pre-order in asap and they'll hook you up with the mp3 for Lonely Boy.

P.S. How unreal are this guy's dance moves? Check that Michael Jackson leg kick at 1:34, you can't teach that kind of rhythm

Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa - "Young, Wild and Free"

Good to have the boys back supportin' SGM, it was getting a little quiet there for a while. I picked up a new track to share yesterday after it immediately blew up on hype machine, and I mean with Snoop, Wiz, and Bruno Mars in the title, it's bound to attract a wider audience than usual. It's good to see Bruno with some subtext that might not actually be all over the radio... but who knows he is right in the main stream so he does still have those powers. This song was actually released today for something completely different though, as it's the single off the soundtrack of a video Wiz & Snoop are creating called Mac & Devin Go To High School.

Look for that goodtimes film to come out in early 2012, with Snoop playing the cool kid and Wiz playing the nerd. Should be fun for both us and those two stonerbros. The soundtrack (and hopefully a trailer) drops on December 6th, mark it down.

Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa - Young Wild and Free (Featuring Bruno Mars)

Common - Blue Sky

The comeback!! I just noticed that the judge is back in action, time for the boys to take the load of of surebuds' shoulders. Predictably, my first post since who knows how long coincides with my first trip to the library since I used to come here for the free wireless. I've been wanting to post a song for a couple weeks ago but none of the music I've been hearing lately has been all that inspiring, until I heard this song. Leave it to one of the vets to come through in the clutch for me. This track is from Common's upcoming album The Dreamer, his 9th, which is produced entirely by No I.D. Hats off to the guy because this beat on this song is more addicting than any hip hop production I've heard on the blogs for the past few weeks. The whole song has a very Kanye-ish feel to it, from the layered vocal samples to the distortion on Common's voice during his third verse. Just listen to his delivery on that third verse, I can't help but hear Kanye. Am I losing it?

Common Blue Sky

Kids These Days- "Clear Eyes" + Video

My jesus it has been too long since I have posted my musical obsessions onto the interwebs. As much as I would like this return post to be an absolute banger, I have been forced to bring you something chill for this beautiful Sunday afternoon. Its not my fault though, blame the musical genius that is The Kids These Days, who bring us their new track "Clear Eyes". As I sit back and relax to this track I get lost in the melodic brass sections and J Dilla feeling beat that flows ever so nicely. These kids have mass amounts of talent and have yet to disappoint me with any of their releases... enjoy

Sleeping Giants Revisited

It's hard to be caught up with everything these days. I posted the Sleeping Giants a while back when they first sent in their music, and the crisp flow and samples they took left me wanting more. Well the duo has kept working, and I have it on good authority that they now have enough music stacked up to drop their debut mixtape in the coming weeks, so keep your head up.

The Sleeping Giants' songs that have been released to this point come with varying tempos, showcasing their ability to adjust to different styles and samples as they come. The samples that the duo use need to be talked about once again, as they continue to find their backdrops from abstract venues... for example the songs below feature Into you by Cinematic Orchestra, a rendition of Ariel Pink's Round and Round, and Telepopmusik's Breathe as samples respectively. The way they approached Breathe should be mentioned separately though, as a stunning vocalist, Mary Zheng, is also brought in to lend the hook some life. Follow the Sleeping Giants on those tracks below, and look for their mixtape to be featured here when it's official.

Sleeping Giants - So Much Better Here

Sleeping Giants - Round We Go Kwa-I.L.L

Sleeping Giants - Just Breathe (featuring Mary Zheng)