I’ve been gone all summer. Did you miss me? I missed you too. And yes, as usually happens when I take these long breaks, I have loads to tell you. I will probably get into it over the next few days about where I’ve been and what’s been happening. If you follow me on Twitter, or if we know each other in the real world, you may already know about the TV show and all the things surrounding it. More to come.

Tonight, Drake has dropped yet another cut from his forthcoming album Nothing Was The Same due on 24 September. This time out, he samples “It’s Yourz” and (as can be expected with Drake) goes deep on how he feels fortunate to be in the position that he’s in. I’m feeling the verses on this. We’ll talk more soon.

Drake – Wu-Tang Forever

[Pre-Order Nothing Was The Same (Dlx/Exp) from Amazon]

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When Shia LaBeouf emailed back in late October expressing interest in directing a short film based on the Future Unlimited single “Haunted Love”, I thought it was, at first, a prank. Things were quiet at that time & we had spent the better part of the year promoting their 2012 EP & the single “Lightweight Eyes”, so the email came as a huge surprise.

I was pleased to discover that the email was no prank, that the man at the other end was, in fact, Shia himself & that after hearing “Haunted Love”, he was moved to write a short film influenced by the timeless, epic qualities of the song. As a director, Shia has developed an impressive early body of work, including the short films Maniac (featuring Kid Cudi and Cage), “Born Villain” (featuring Manson), and the hilariously-biting HOWARDCANTOUR.COM starring Jim Gaffigan and Thomas Lennon. It was easy to say yes to his concept, one he told us was partially inspired by his work with Lars von Trier & partially from the cinematic genius of Ingmar Bergman, a mutual favorite (though in recent interviews, he now tends to cite Stanley Kubrick, David Lynch and Rembrandt — good inspirations to draw from).

Yesterday, the film ‘Haunted Love – Future Unlimited’ had its world premiere on Rolling Stone & the early responses have been overwhelmingly positive for both director and band. The allegorical narrative takes us through one woman’s journey into darkness, a fiery & passionate love relationship frought with abuses that leads to breakdown and revenge — a dish which, according to legend, is best served cold. The unerringly resplendent Mia Goth, Shia’s girlfriend & recent co-star in Lars von Trier‘s forthcoming Nymphomanic, portrays the central figure in the dreamlike tale opposite Future Unlimited’s lead singer, Dave Miller. It does contain some elements which would make it NSFW, so keep this in mind before you click play.

Check out the video & be sure to catch Future Unlimited at Jubilee Music & Arts Fest in Los Angeles.

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Easily the most infectious track on the critically-lauded 2012 album Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City, Kendrick Lamar‘s “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe” has a new video out today. I can feel the changes.

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So, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs is an artist whose music I dig that has slipped between the cracks while I was doing other things. “Warm Water” is a song he just produced for recording artist Banks. Listen & enjoy, and buy from iTunes here when it is released on 27 May.

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Dopeys unite, it’s official: Jo’zzy got next, y’all.

Ever since this Memphis native teamed up with master of the “dumb drums” Wizz Dumb, headed down to Miami to put in some work & then hooked up with Timbaland and Missy Elliott, everyone’s been looking forward to the album Twenty90s.

There have been a couple of sneak peeks leading up — “Tryna Wife” and “Voo Doo Doll” both getting a lot of love for their return to the classic Timbaland production style & song structures reminiscent of the best of 90′s R&B and hip-hop flows. Both of these are strong tracks & showcase Jo’zzy and Wizz’s perfect chemistry with creating songs that you can’t get out of your head.

But the coup de grace of the trio is the latest, in my opinion. The beats and the flows on “I Lay It Down” use the craziest sound effects to pull together a beat that makes the track jump off with precision. This track cements, in my mind, Jo’zzy and Wizz as more than just young proteges of two exceedingly important figures in hip-hop and R&B. This track proves them logical heirs to the mentors and influencers whom they’ve been making studio magic with.

So, about that album? The wait is over — you can download it for free direct from Dope By Accident right now.

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Sigur Rós have shared a lyric video for the song “Ísjaki” from their forthcoming release Kveikur. The album will release worldwide on June 17th and 18th.

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Kind of out of left field, Joy Orbison released the track “Donell” yesterday & it’s just managed to catch everyone’s attention. Near as I can tell on first listen, it seems to be a re-edit of “U Know What’s Up” by Donell Jones. Whatever it is, it’s nice to have Joy Orbison back on the radar screen.

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OG RON C stays chopping it up. Danny Brown stays being a lyrical beastmaster on the track. In a recent trip to Houston, OG RON C landed Danny with his very own chopped-up not slopped-up mix of Danny’s insta-classic “Blunt After Blunt”. Check it out.

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Talib Kweli‘s self-shot video for the song “High Life (feat. Rubix and Bajah)” takes us on a personalized whirlwind tour of South Africa from a hip-hop point of view. Look for an appearance by Solange Knowles & get ready for Kweli’s forthcoming Prisoner of Conscious due out on 7 May 2013.

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Southamptonite Chris Ward wears the moniker of Tropics with pride, having 2 critically-acclaimed releases under his belt & producing remixes for Little Dragon, M83, and Policia among others. His latest Home & Consonance EP is out on 29 April from Five Easy Pieces in UK. I’m really digging this particular track, featuring a heart-stoppingly beautiful guest appearance from Gavin Turek.

TRACK LIST
1. Home & Consonance
2. Courage feat. Gavin Turek
3. Don’t You Know
4. Fleeting Haunt

You can also get a free download of “Don’t You Know (Troy Gunner Remix)” from his Soundcloud, located here:

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Good as her word, at 7:54pm EST tonight, Kansas City soul powerhouse Janelle Monáe unleashed to the world her collaboration with soul music goddess number one, Ms. Erykah Badu. The song is a virtual tour-de-force which reveals a combination of styles in each section: power soul, orchestral disco, synth-laden funk and hip-hop.

The single, available now via iTunes, is the first off of Janelle Monáe’s forthcoming full-length The Electric Lady, the hotly-anticipated follow-up to 2010′s critical and commercial success The ArchAndroid.

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Remember this Record Store Day special release from Moby & Mark Lanegan we told you about? Here’s the B-Side remix of it, courtesy of Photek.

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Our friends in Memphis-based Fast Planet had quite a year in 2012: their debut album Jes was the beneficiary of considerable critical acclaim last year, not only for the songs on the album itself but the concept videos which came along with each single.

Since December, the guys have been working hard in the lab recording new material & decided they would roll new tunes out for the latest project bit by bit in order to give people a chance to truly hear every track on its own. “Mr. Conversation” is a chilled out without being chillwave: a laid back piece of electronic pop music, dabbed with whiffs of ambient sound, held together with the breathy tenor of Brandon Herrington’s effusive vocals.

For each release, there are a limited run of hand-screened posters & t-shirts which feature each single’s cover art. These are for sale exclusively at their shows and at their website while they last. Get your hands on one of these these limited edition items before they’re gone & you can now buy “Mr. Conversation” at iTunes. If you are in Memphis the next couple of weeks, the band’s weekly residency at The Blue Monkey continues every Tuesday in April at 10pm with no cover charge.

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Tomorrow — meaning Saturday, 20 April, 2013 — isn’t merely the day you stand in the park with your bros and chief out on sour diesel. April 20th, 2013 is the 2013 Official Record Store Day. The annual event helps to stimulate the music economy and promote awareness of our regional & local independent purveyors of vinyl records. Participating stores are loaded down with uniques, limited edition releases, give-aways, special appearances from performers & much more.

WHERE DO I GO? First off, here are the locations in the mid-south that are participating in Record Store Day. To search the full list, visit the Record Store Day Official Website.

:: MEMPHIS, TN ::

Shangri-La Records
Goner Records

:: LITTLE ROCK, AR ::

Arkansas Record-CD Exchange

:: NORTH MISSISSIPPI ::

Disc-O-Tech (Southaven, MS)
The End of All Music (Oxford, MS)
Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art (Clarksdale, MS)

WHAT SHOULD I BUY? Well, you should buy records, of course! The best thing about Record Store Day is that a lot of your favorite artists have special or limited releases coming out. Not every record store will be carrying every special release, but as many as were available were distributed to each participating store that ordered. For example: my friend Drew messaged me frantically the other day asking where I could assure him that he’d find a copy of the very limited-edition ‘Drive’ Soundtrack vinyl release & I had to write him back that I had no idea.

You have two options:

– contact the store today and ask if they’re going to have the particular release you want, though there’s no guarantees that they know or will tell you

– roll the dice and show up where you think you have the best shot to get the releases you want

WHAT IF THEY DON’T HAVE MY SUPER LIMITED-RELEASE EXCLUSIVE BLAH BLAH BLAH? Don’t be a dick — buy something anyways!! There are thousands upon thousands of records you haven’t heard. Buy a few of them.

WHERE IS THE LIST OF RELEASES? It can be found on the Record Store Day website, or just download the PDF with everything here. Due to the fact that I’ve got 400 other things happening & I didn’t have time to really break down the list this year, I know there are other music sites and blogs that have done in-depth reporting and recommends. We’d love to get one of these special make-your-own vinyl records from Third Man Records in Nashville, though.

Or perhaps you can just tell us: what will be in your bag tomorrow? Leave comments below and maybe we’ll select you for a Record Store Day Surprise Pack.

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Home to Berklee School of Music and a long history of musicianship and music artistry, the burgeoning Boston music scene has been known for coming together in a crisis. Allston Pudding, a Boston-based music blog and supporter of that scene, were direct witness to the tragic Boston Marathon bombings & they wanted to help in any way they could.

In light of the explosions in Boston that killed 3 people and injured more than 100 others Monday, the blog began accepting submissions from artists who wanted to donate their tracks in an effort to raise charitable donations.

Today, they culled together and released a 130-song mixtape with all proceeds going to The One Fund. Allston Pudding will donate 100% of the proceeds from the mixtape to The One Fund as a means to provide ongoing relief to those affected by this tragic incident. The One Fund is a non-profit relief organization created by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Boston Mayor Tom Menino specifically to assist in the recovery from the Boston Marathon explosions.

Enough jibber-jabber: head over to Bandcamp and spend the measly $1 to get this great mixtape & give legitimate support to those actively engaged in recovery efforts.

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