Psalm One Drops "Woman at Work"

The wait is finally over. Earlier today hip-hop artist Psalm One, the self-proclaimed "fuck a fem-cee", released her first set of tracks in a promotional series, titled "Woman At Work" Vol.1. Since the release of the critically acclaimed "The Death of a Frequent Flyer" in 2006, Psalm has left the ears of fans hungry for more. Thus, this FREE 10 track mix-tape is designed to satisfy fans as she works on her next commercial release from Rhymesayers Entertainment. The mix-tape features catchy tunes such as "Pyro", "Open for Business" and "Bucket Song", which was featured in an earlier post as the grand prize winner of the 'Chicago Public Library Sound Off Music Contest.' One album reviewer said, "It doesn’t sound like Psalm One needs to work very hard to deliver eerily sensual grooves like “Stuff,” which is part of the reason why she’s so cool. And why a full record of the hard-hitting efforts could be dynamite." So, if you are interested in paying zero dollars to hear some brand new, top quality hip-hop, "Woman at Work" is available for free download here.

Del Performs Live at Higher Ground

Before performing at Element Night Club last Wednesday night, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien stopped by Higher Ground Clothing Gallery in Victoria to meet some local fans, sign some autographs and drop some rhymes. Del spoiled his fans with a free live performance in which he played an old favourite, "Boo Boo Heads" and freestyled along with Bukue One, Cody the Catch and another talented MC.

For those of you who didn't get a chance to stop by, here are two videos I filmed of him performing live at the shop:

Top 10 Mash-up Albums

The best thing about a mash-up album is that they are usually free to download. This is simply because you can't really re-sell other people's music, unless it's your music of course. So I realized that in this new age of mass DJ population, I have sat back and thought, "Hmm... there's quite a few of these mash-up albums out there now, so why not showcase the greats?" I know mash-ups are a love/hate style, but there are a few out there that really make sense, and sound pretty awesome. So here's a list of a bunch that I thought you should hear:

(Click the links to download)

10. Q-Unit - Greatest Hits - G-G-G-G-G-UNITT!! and the seducing voice of Freddy Mercury have been smooshed into this. Its worth a shot if your a Fitty Fan, but personally I'd rather just stick to straight up killer Queen.

9. Raekwon Vs. Mobb Deep - Hells Kitchen - DJ Chong Wizard had a vision of Raekwon and Mobb Deep combining their music, so he made it happen. Haha. That was so lame; anyway check out this mash, it'll do the job.

8. The Rise and Fall of Thuggy Stardust and the Hustlers From Mars - This is actually a pretty sweet mash, it's David Bowie's classics mashed with your favorite hip hop lyrics to create a sound you know, but don't! OOOOH, WOO WOO WOO!!

7. Notorious vs. Sinatra - New Yorks finest dual from the grave. Their greatest hits combined makes everything so much easier, especially if you want to listen to Biggie and Sinatra at the same time (which ALWAYS happens to me, because they remind me of each other...?).

6. The Kleptones - A Night at the Hip Hopera - With a mixture of classic rock tunes and hip hop's great lyricists, 'A Night at the Hip Hopera' gives it a shot. The outcome is pretty good, but you give it a listen. It's one giant track so you can't miss anything. Oh, also, most of the rock is Queen. Thumbs up.

5. The Beastles - Let it Beat - DJ BC introduces the fab four to the new age fab four, 3 MC's and 1 DJ....I'm setting you up. Anyway, great mixture of tunage that takes you to the roots of music and back. A solid masher that does a great job in intertwining tunes to sound so entertaining that these guys made this together... in the 60's....or the 90's.... I'm confused.

4. Wu-tang Vs. The Beatles - Pretty self-explanatory, unfortunately they've taken down the link for this one, but I'm sure you can find it if you look harder than I just did. But it's definatly worth listening to. Never thought The Beatles could be so hardcore.

3. Adrian Champion - Stars & Stripes: The White Stripes Reimagined - An amazing mix of some of rap's greatest songs, dubbed on White Stripes hits. This is a definite listen. It's a wicked combo of new rock with new/not-so-new hip hop that will catch your ears. LISTEN TO THIS.

2. The Jay-z collection - The Grey Album, Jay-Zeezer, Jaydiohead, Collision Course, The Double Black Album etc. - If you've been a Jay-Z fan, or even a newbie to his track list, you've probably heard (or must hear) these albums. Apparently DJs these days have a fetish with 'The Black Album' because they all seem to want to re-produce the classic. The Grey Album is probably the highest quality album out of the group. Mixed by DJ Danger Mouse (of Gnars Barkley, and Jay's own DJ), he succeeds to throw the Beatles' 'White Album' in the mix, hence 'Grey Album'. Then there is Jay-Zeezer, which is a combo of HOVA and Weezer. Jaydiohead is another high-qual album, putting Radiohead into the picture makes it all make sense. Collision Course was the Linkin Park colabo that was personally made and rerecorded by both artists (no freebies there). And for all those die hard Metallica fans who are too embarassed to tell people that you like rap, there's some Jay for you on 'The Double Black Album'. Lots of music to check out.

1. Amp Live - Beats, Remixes & A Side of Mashup's - Amp Live of the 'Zion I' franchise, has delivered the highest quality remixes, mashes and his very own material, for that matter. The man has great taste when it comes to choosing his 'mashed' music. Everyone from Atmosphere to The Rolling Stones, this is a solid mash album. Mash-bum? Mmm... The best way to stay up-to-date with Amp, is to check out his Myspace page, where he releases mashes and remixes quite regularly. A good one that he has on his page right now is Tokyo Police Club mashed with Aesop Rock. This is a must-listen. One of the greatest producers, Amp Live directs you to a library of music that is creating the new sound for hip hop/rock. Get it on.

If you have any albums that you think I missed or you're choked because you don't like any of these, leave a comment and I'll fight you later.... Enjoy.

Run With The Heard

The Heard or sometime known as Run With The Heard are your new favourite band that you don't know yet. They are a genre-less collective of talented musicians and emcees from Vancouver. With a blend of hip hop, electronic, dance, alternative and grunge, these guys master it all before smashing it together to create something so very refreshingly new and original. Innovative to say the least, a regular part of their live performance includes a modified Guitar Hero guitar, three emcees, a bass player, two producers and a guitar/singer/drummer. They manage to weave this all together into a high energy, explosion of a stage show.

Now as amazing as these young cats are, they have yet to release a full length album. Spending most of there time winning over fans one by one. They found time to record and release a crazy new single off their upcoming album. Titled 'Invincible' its a little less hip hop but a little more more dance and is a perfect example of the high energy experience these guys provide.
Check out their Myspace page for the new single...  
www.myspace.com/runwiththeheard

The Heard will be LIVE in VICTORIA April 29th @ Sopranos
Come check 'em out!

Heidi Montag Wants to Make a 3D Movie Where her Breasts Kill a Shark

Yep... that pretty much tells it all. I just wanted to prove that she is as stupid as she looks.
As much as I'd like to say this is fake movie news, it isn't. Montag recently told People's PopWatch, "I am making the first 3-D beach comedy about a shark that attacks a small beach town and I save the day with my 3-D boobs. I've even written a role for Dolly Parton to play the town mayor!" Yes..you read that quote right. Heidi Montag is actually writing the script HERSELF. Ugh... what is the film world coming to?
Just when you thought the torture would end along with the cancellation of The Hills yesterday, she decides to take that torture to the extreme by bringing it to the big screen... in 3-D!

Maybe she just wants a chance to show off all of the new dimensions to her body that were artificially constructed earlier this year...? Regardless, please, please, PLEASE do not support the madness and stupidity of this movie and Montag's career by buying tickets to it, or in any way supporting it. Thank you.

The Final' American' Album

In celebration of his 78th birthday, Rick Rubin has released the final chapter in Johnny Cash's legendary music anthology of the 'American' Series. 'American VI: Ain't No Grave' is a final ballad of Cash's most death relevant song writing (and covering) abilities. Most tracks are slow yet re-assuring everyone that when he dies, everything will work out for the best. He talks about his life, and reflects on his accomplishments. Kinda weird to hear him talking about this kind of stuff, but I'm sure Rubin pretty much planned it that way. Most of these tunes were recorded after the death of this wife June Carter. So in a way these songs are for June, but in our ears they reflect on Cash. If you haven't updated your Johnny Cash library in the past 16 years, here a brief run-through:

- The 'American' series started in 1994, when he signed on with Rubin's American Recordings label. The first release, 'American Recordings', was based on Cash recording all acoustic songs, all recorded in his Tennessee cabin. Most of the tunes are covers (Tom Waits, Kris Kristofferson, Leonard Coen), but most critics will argue that Cash's versions are more powerful and clear. They offer a simple, yet emotional sound that Cash's voice manages to perfect. Cake Picks: Delilia's Gone, Redemption, Bird On A Wire.

- The follow-up album 'American II: Unchained'(1996) had a bit more of production to it; Rubin decided to add a band to back up Cash's voice and guitar. So he went out and got Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers to give him a hand. It's pretty interesting to hear such a powerhouse band back up one of the most distinct voices in music history. The album includes, again, well done covers from Soundgarden's 'Rusty Cage' to Beck's 'Rowboat'. A bit faster paced, I would favour this piece of Cash's work from the 'American' recordings a personal favorite. Cake Picks: Rowboat, Rusty Cage, Country Boy, I've Been Everywhere.........man.

- 'American III: Solitary Man' was recorded just after Cash was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. The mixture of great covers, with slow emotional songs and upbeat tunes, gives the album a feeling of confusion. From happiness to the thought of death, Cash takes you through a playlist of great quality music. Again having his good friend Tom Petty helping him out and also backing him up in vocals. He manages to cover Petty's 'I Wont Back Down", Neil Diamonds 'Solitary Man', U2's 'One'(which I strongly prefer over U2's version) that will make you think differently about each song. Another solid album to add to the legends body of work. Cake Picks: I Wont Back Down, One, The Mercy Seat.

- Voted by many critics as the greatest music video of all time, Cash's version of Nine Inch Nail's 'Hurt' might have given Cash the title as best cover of all time. 'American IIV: The Man Comes Around' gave the world a new look at Cash's struggle with his life, and his choices to cover songs that include such relevant lyrics. His covers include NIN's 'Hurt', Depeche Mode's 'Personal Jesus', The Beatles' 'In My Life', Sting's 'I Hung My Head', The Eagles' 'Desperado' and even Hank Williams 'I'm So Lonesome, I Could Cry'. Once again, a must hear track list, the covers just give you such an amazing sound that Cash has converted. Cake Picks: Hurt, In My Life, Desperado, Bridge Over Troubled Water (with Fiona Apple on back up vocals)

- This is the first album release after Cash passed away in 2003. 'American V: A Hundred Highways'(2006) was a collection of tracks that Cash had only recorded vocals for, back in 2003. Rick Rubin then added overdubs to create an album that would add to the ongoing anthology of Cash's life. The album was such a success that it reached #1 in the Billboards for top 200, Country Album and Internet Albums. 'God's Gonna Cut You Down', the title track, won a Grammy for best short form music video and Cash's biopic 'Walk the Line' was released the year before and was nominated for multiple Oscars. It was the year of Johnny Cash; if you didn't know who he was, you best be doing your homework because he owned the charts, and he wasn't even alive. The album included covers of Gordon Lightfoots 'If You Could Read My Mind', Bruce Springsteen's 'Further On Up the Road' , Hank Williams' 'On The Evening Train'. Cake Picks: God's Gonna Cut You Down, Like A 309, Further On Up The Road.

Cash also released a similar series of albums called 'Unearthed'. He does a lot of great covers on those albums as well. So you best be checkin that out too. Anyway, make sure you listen to these if you're interested in this type of music; if not, then stay tuned, because we might be able to help you out in your music knowledge Plus you might find something that will change your life.....foooorrreeeevvverrrrr

Beanie Sigel and Freeway rip a strip off of Jay-Z

The new Beanie Sigel/Freeway collabo album has hit the streets and a certain tune has stirred up some bad blood. Track 12 entitled 'Average' on the 'Roc Boys' release clearly states their hatred and sore feelings for the HOV. The duo explain how much Jay has changed since his Roc days. Stating that hes not about the streets anymore, also something about an incident where he called the cops on them. Anyway, check it out as these angry people express their true emotions...very deep...