They kicks the mad style, so step off the frankfurter.

Photo by Arno

A Tribe Called Quest will probably always embody, to me, what I love about Hip-Hop: grooves and cuts sampled from the classics of the day, jazzy east-coast flavor, raps that flow...their music just makes you feel good.  People's Instinctive Travels still feels relevant today, even though it was released over 20 years ago.  Eminem can't even say that about his last record.

Last Thursday Chole and I went to a Sundance screening of the new documentary by actor Michael Rapaport about Tribe, titled Beats, Rhymes, and Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest.  Michael started out just wanting to do a history of the band and get some interviews from Tribe as they played the Rock the Bells tour in '08, but he stumbled upon an opportune moment (for a documentarian) while the group was coursing headlong into the fan that Old Shit was about to hit.  This film shows you a lot about the people that Q-Tip and Phife are.  Ali and Jarobi are there too, but definitely to a lesser degree.

Stylistically the doc doesn't break any new ground, and that's okay.  The people and situation are interesting enough, and not just for fans.  Chole only knows about Tribe from what I've made her listen to (including heavy rotation on a month-long road trip), and she really enjoyed watching. The film follows the chronology of the group, from rapping together in high school right up to where they stopped filming last year.  Interviewees like the head of Jive Records and De La Soul talk about the genesis of Tribe, and The Roots and Common talk about the importance of Tribe's music in making hip-hop what it was and is.

There has been some drama around the release of the doc as Q-Tip spat some poison at it shortly before its premiere here at Sundance.  Turns out some of the included footage was a little too real or was put together in a way that put a less than flattering light on what happened towards the end.  Michael Rapaport gave a Q&A at the end of our showing and was cautious not to reveal any specifics about Tip's disapproval.  Phife attended the premiere and gave some emotional commentary.



You probably won't be able to see this film for a while.  They don't have distribution yet, but I have no doubts it will come.  Some critics are even calling for a short theatrical run.  I just wanted everyone to know about this film and get hyped.  Go sign up for updates on their website and tell your friends.  The more buzz there is around this movie the sooner you'll see it.

Memory Tapes - Today is Our Life

Yesterday Memory Tapes released a happy little pop tune called Today is Our Life with links on their blog.  You can download the song at Gorilla vs Bear.  Today they released a montage vid culled from old Hollywood dance films. Generally I think montage vids are weak, but this one fits pretty well with the lighthearted mood of the song.  Check it!

Memory Tapes : "Today Is Our Life" from Jamie Harley on Vimeo.

Some Albums I loved in 2010

Yo, this post has been a month in the works.  By now most people have forgotten about what came out last year and moved on to what's coming up.  I'm late with that list, too.  I promised myself that I would get this up, so I've truncated or eliminated my lame comments.  I'll let you listen to the music instead.

Massive Attack -- Heligoland

Massive Attack's return after a near seven-year radio silence seems to me a perfect way to come back.  It's not trying to be an enormous answer to '98s Mezzanine, the album that any album by the group would be compared to (and had been in the case of '03s 100th Window).  Heligoland forgoes the monster bass and thick sounds for space and precise songwriting.

The Roots - How I Got Over

Glasser - The Ring

White Hinterland - Kairos

Maybe it's just the pre-loaded suggestion of the band name going into each listening, but the combination of Casey Dienel's clear voice, sparse but effective arrangements, dubby beats and bass, and judicious use of reverb puts alternating images of icy fields and close crops of snowy trees into my head. I don't think any other album this year did more with less.

65dos - We Were Exploding Anyway

The National - High Violet

UNKLE - Where Did the Night Fall

Land of Talk - Cloak and Cipher

I enjoyed their 2008 release Some are Lakes but the only tracks that stood out past the standard indie sound of throaty guitar and bash-y drums were the fantastic It's Okay and the end track Troubled. These songs hinted at some great songwriting potential that I was hoping to see on their next release. I wasn't expecting to have a beginning-to-end solid record that impressed on every track.


Awesome singles of the year

jj - Let Them

The pauses totally make the song, kind of how the pauses work on Freetime by Kenna. This was pulled from jj's mixtape Kills. I think I like the mixtape, released on Christmas Eve, better than their album No. 3, also released this year.

Robyn - Dancing On My Own

Dance track of the summer, for real. We listened to Body Talk pt.1 like 10 times driving from UT to SoCal and back.

HEALTH - USA Boys

The beat and arpeggiation on this track are crazy, thundering sex. Don't expect me to say that again.


Live Performance of the Year

Florence & The Machine - Dog Days Are Over (Live VMA 2010)

Seriously.  She straight killed it.  I don't care that it was on the VMAs.  Her voice fills entire days.