sorry i didnt post it on friday as usual…i had to switch to the safari browser Much better anyway), firefox is being weird… till this friday, enjoy!

watch “in due time” here

As music lovers everywhere flocked to Greg Gillis’ myspace and or website illegalart a couple of days ago, buzz is all that followed. Reminiscent of the night radiohead performed their “pay what you want” marketing genius on consumers, people have been paying. This method, works I tell you! 11 dollars here, the minimum 5 dollars there..

on to the record.

When I was first introduced to Girl Talk, my idiotic self did not really dig it. I deleted it after I heard it, giving it a “meh”. (I did the same thing with neon bible from Arcade Fire. It’s now one of my favorite indie albums) Nevertheless when I came back to Night Ripper, I had my favorites. My most memorable for that album was when he put Fergie’s “my humps” over Annie’s “heartbeat” and when he put Warren G’s “regulate” over Ying Yang Twins…those were moments I wish he had left it to play longer instead of doing his usual 4 to 30 second glitch switch up,..luckily I have acid pro for my sets, so no biggie anyway.

With THIS album, everything somehow seems even more seamless. Metal and rap on top of each other. Faith Evans and Fatman Scoop. E-40 and Tears for Fears.

I could go on and on about this release, but you just need to download it. And if you can put some money on it. Then play it at a party to get it poppin’, while doing laundry, with your kids at a barbeque…

*personal favorite songs: “Here’s the thing”, “let me see you”

rating: 2.7/3.0

the old conservative folks here in Angwin would crap a brick over this group if they ever came across ‘em.

The video this week comes from the geto boys, a no-holds-barred Houston trio whose rhymes spent a considerable amount of vividly-penned focus on misogynist themes and extreme violence scenarios. Their so-called vulgar “horror-hop” banter made them targets of disgusted politicians, parents and music journalists, but the imagination (and beats) behind those records (not to mention their showing of strong rap talent from the Southern region) earned them critical praise as well. Such positive acclaim would reach an apex with 1991’s incredible “Mind Playing Tricks On Me”.

watch “mind playing tricks on me” here.

*props to http://90srbjunkie.blogspot.com for providing inspiration (and the commentary) for this week’s video of the week!

The video this week comes from Paramore, a band originally formed in Franklin, TN.

“How on Earth did this become music video of the week?!” You might ask..well…

I was in the car with a car full of girls coming from a graduation party. This song then came on the ipod and this chick in the back went crazy, saying she listened to it all day a while ago. I didn’t think anything of the song at the time, but later on that night, the song got stuck in my head..and i’ve come to really love this song! the bridge, the chord progressions,..yeah. They did this song justice. And the lead singer, is cute♥

watch “crushcrushcrush” here

Of all the hip hop producers I’ve had the privilege to get to listen to, diversity has always been a long standing asset i look for. That’s why David “Odd Nosdam” Madson, of the anticon collective, has pretty much taken my standing as favorite producer (other than DJ Premier, of course.) The man has remixed Method Man, Boards of Canada, pulled off a project known as cLOUDDEAD, and now comes with his second album of the compilation/instrumental type.

Pretty swell explode is a vast array of re-edits, remixes of indie bands such as Hood’s Bracken, Alias and Tarsier, Black moth super rainbow, Jessica Baliff, and more. Starting off the the heavy ethereal dub of “Untitled three brings us in with the vocals of Jessica Bailiff guiding: “children in your eyes/my mind expands…” a re-edit of boards of canada’s “Dayvan cowboy”, gives the “boom-bap” hip hop perspective over a short ambient line throughout. Alias and Tarsier recieve the short collage treatment, as Tarsier’s airy light vocals are chilled over deep reverb of drums and the hazy warmth of vocals spread out.
Though his approach is always changing, Nosdam’s “techinique” if you will, never does. Thats why he seems to always infuse new life into a remix. His influences, range from Prince Paul (producer of the most influential hip hop album to David, De La Soul’s “3 feet high and rising”) to Salvador Dali, to Monty Python. I’m currently listening to “Forever heavy” (the Pitchfork aptly named “shoegangster” remix) and so far enjoying every blip of what im hearing. And you will too I’m sure if you should pick it up.

“Pretty Swell Explode” drops tomorrow on Anticon records.

rating: 2.6/3.0

Hello lazy afternooners,

I thought I’d write another quick post just officially announcing some changes around riotlabel.com. The first (and most obvious): I’d like to formally introduce our newest writer: Andre Sanchez (Ackronym). He has signed on to write a weekly music review and continue his own tradition of a video of the week. He will post the reviews on Mondays and the video on Fridays. He’s been at it for a few weeks already. Check it out.

That indirectly gives away the secret for the next update. We will now be doing music reviews as well. Andre’s doing a weekly review—look for Aaron and I to occasionally chime in with a review of our own.

And finally—I can’t say too much about this one just yet. We’re going to start having some contests (w/ prizes). I’ll let you speculate on what you think the prizes will be.

My first time hearing ladytron was by luck. i was looking for songs to play at a halloween party and was myspacing artists only to come across “destroy everything you touch”, by the 4 piece group ladytron. Using Analogue equipment for most of this album, ladytron seem to have the aura of a “goth” assortment in their usual dream-pop namesake, but in fact, Ladytron have been making music now for close to ten years. Delivering a few full lengths, singles, and countless remixes to the pop music world.

“Velocifero” is the fourth full length record, and embraces the electro pop that they’ve been known for making while attempting to progress their “goth-tro” sound a little more. And it works. Opening the album is “Black Cat,” With pounding electronic beats and building synths, and sung in vocalist Mira Aroyo’s native Bulgarian vocals overlaying the music. Very fitting. For me, the rest of the album held very well, no duds or filler.  When i think of the shoe-gaze influence with 2005’s “Witching Hour,” the songs here are endowed with menacing synth lines and punctuated by fierce drum kicks,  The dancier beats of “They Gave You a Heart, They Gave You a Name” and “I’m not scared” could end up in any DJ-set, while “Runaway” is paired against the industrial clang of “Deep Blue,” though elsewhere, in-between songs like “Burning Up” and “The Lovers” are more or less interchangeable. Dark yet delectable, “Velocifer” suits Ladytron just right.

As for the upbeat aspect, The downfall of dance music can be that club beats can become repetitive. For Ladytron, monotony creeps in about midway through the record, but the music’s saving graces are the new wave ’80s vibe and Aroyo’s sexy words of bitterness or indifference. On “Burning Up,” she starkly repeats: “I wrote a protest song about you, about you/Set off on a long march without you, without you.” It’s these moments that make joining her protest feel worthwhile, and, ultimately, there are enough infectious, impassioned points–lyrically and musically–to make “Velocifero” a nod towards a purchase.

(note: from now on, rating will recieve a 1-3 rating, 1 being poor, and 3 being “riot-worthy”. Decimal increments will be used as well. Changes will probably be made, but for now…

Rating: 2.4 out of 3

The video this week comes from lil wayne, who is EVERYWHERE in the industry these days: the song is “everything” from his album “lights out” (great album by the way)

People say in this video, you can see Lil Wayne kissing Bryan “Baby” Williams (AKA Birdman) at 3:53-3:54 mark…should we gag, or go “awwwww?”

watch “Everything” here

[currently listening to: B.G.- Chopper city in the ghetto]

I’m hardcore busy right now (trying to graduate from college and all), so this is a short post.

I predict in the next year or so…

All those nerds who call themselves VJs (video jockeys) will get some friends. I think that, with digital DJ-ing picking up, traditional DJs are getting bored with the old music-only routine. Now that they don’t have to spend all of their precious time beat-matching, they have to show off their largely non-existent dancing skillzzz. (Beginning DJs—please, learn to beat-match…not dance. You don’t have to beat-match live…but you must know how to do it). So yeah…DJs will be VJs. Let the videos flow. There is a hefty influx of VJ software available. And if you’re running short on visuals…stock video is great. You don’t have to be part of a struggling ad agency to take advantage of stock video anymore.

Here’s a gem—www.artbeats.com. They’re like the industry standard in stock video. Of course, there are millions of stock places. istockphoto.com also has video and flash stuff at great prices. Treat yourself. Do something VISUAL.

Or…if you’re one of those ambitious people—shoot your own stock footage/animate your own flash bits. And then hit up riotlabel@riotlabel.com and tell us about it.

I’m so excited. It feels like the early 80s again—video is about to be a big deal in music.

Remember back in the day when you would make a mixtape to give to that special someone? Then they would listen to it and be all, “Oooh…you’re so sweet. The third song is my faaavourite.” And you smile and promise to make another for your anniversary four months later that blossomed from the third song on that first mixtape. Yeah, me neither. Of course, it became more difficult with the introduction of promiscuity…so many tapes flying around that they started carrying STDs. Mixtape culture had seemingly become just a fond memory.

Being a child of the mid-80s, I have no recollection of mixtapes in their prime. I’ve only heard about their greatness and I really like High Fidelity. My first dabbling in the concept of mixtapes was during the mix-CD boom of the late-90s/early-2000s (naturally, with a sony portable CD player with G-shock technology). I remember making my first mix-CD. It started with R. Kelly’s I Believe I can Fly and ended twelve songs later with a gem from Will Smith titled Men in Black. Remember? Life was good before MP3.

I won’t even talk about iTunes and their magical little playlists because I don’t think they’ve ever really caught on. I might actually go so far as to say that smart playlists almost put the stake in the heart of the mixtape ideology. “I don’t need to think about picking songs…iTunes can do it for me!” Don’t get me wrong—I love iTunes and smart playlists. But…

Mixtape—meet your new best mate. It goes by name of the “internet.” In fact, I bet you two will get along so well that we’ll change the spelling of your name. How about we call you muxtape. That’s cute and catchy, right? Hipsters all over the world will love it. The mixtape for the internet generation is here—muxtape.com.

You can create a mixtape to easily share it with all of your lovers (…or the whole world!). I recommend you click your way over there and look around for yourself. Once you sign up, you can upload up to 12 MP3s to create your first “muxtape.” The songs you upload will be available on your personal muxtape page (your_username.muxtape.com) for others to listen to. Make sure everybody on your buddy list has your link. Haha.

With its direct rejection of flashy/beautiful/commercial(?) web design, Muxtape is perfectly suited for the internet hipsters/alternatives. Basically, if you have ever read/enjoyed hipster runoff, then chances are good you’ll like muxtape (plus, you can find enough electro to ooze into and then back out of your ears). The screen shot below shows what a muxtape actually looks like. I love the over-sized counter on the now-playing song.

But, please, don’t limit your imagination to simply making a quaint little playlist to share with your friends. Musicians—anybody thinking about free promotion, yet? You’ve just found a place that will host your music indefinitely. It is definitely a hand-made solution…but it works. Or how about the possibilities of finding new music? Clicking on random muxtapes is sure to find you some music you have never heard. It’s like manually running last.fm. And, as more DJs catch on and start uploading their mixes and remixes—yeah? you see where I’m going? Killer.

I’ll leave you with links to the muxtapes of the writers for riotlabel (even though aaron hasn’t signed up yet to my knowledge)

Andre: ackronym.muxtape.com

Bradley (me): lyndon.muxtape.com