Bon Iver is dropping their new EP Blood Bank in less than a week and if they don’t hit a sophomore slump, hopefully it signals another strong full length to come later this year. Those not familiar with their hauntingly beautiful debut album For Emma, Forever Ago should make a point to check it out. I’ve always had somewhat of a taste for more downtempo & mellow grooves, but over the last year this has been taking me in more of a shoe-gazer / indie-rock direction. So in the spirit of sort of slow and haunting tunes on these cold and dark days, I wanted to share a couple tracks by the Engineers, M83, and Air (Virgin Suicides anyone?). And just to add a little quirkiness too, Bon Iver mixes things up a little with a live cover they did of the Outfield‘s (one?) hit Your Love. Continue reading…

I wish I could say that I grew up listening to hip-hop, but I didn’t. Back in San Francisco, I went to a small school where you had to listen to Pink Floyd and the Grateful Dead to fit in (don’t hate!). But when the spacey, meandering jam sessions and 11 minute guitar solos got, well, boring, it wasn’t long before my friends and I ventured into the universe of George Clinton. I can almost imagine myself hearing Atomic Dog for the first time in middle school and going, So THAT’s what a beat sounds like!

Fast forward a few years, during which I’m sleeping on every great hip-hop artist to come up in the Bay, and a Deadhead friend introduces me to George Clinton’s Greatest Funkin’ Hits. I remember very clearly listening to Flashlight and wondering who the hell that dude was with the crazy smoove and yet nasal voice. Did he have a cold or was that, like, his thing? Either way, I shamelessly began asking people my age if they knew who A Tribe Called Quest was and if they were any good. Hooked.

George Clinton was undoubtedly my bridge to hip-hop. I used to get so geeked every time I’d hear a sample, whether it was on The Chronic or Del’s more brazenly titled I Wish My Brother George Was Here (produced by none other than his cousin, Ice Cube). Might I even propose that the G in G-Funk doesn’t stand for Gangsta? Wow, I kill me. With that, I present to you a couple of George’s collaborations with four rap giants of the day. Continue reading…