Little Brother has released “Curtain Call,” the first single from their forthcoming and final album, LeftBack.  The track features a rad ’80s sample, embellished with synth drum fills and a smooth bass line.  Lyrically, “Curtain Call” has got to be one of their finest efforts.  It’s littered with the kind of witty punch lines and awesome references (”Not even Clarissa could explain it all”(!)) that make the best hip-hop joints worth re-listening to.  And it shows how far Rapper Big Pooh and Phonte have come as emcees; they’re definitely at …

Canadians and American hockey fans often fret about the state of the NHL, particularly the financial health of the league’s Sun Belt franchises.  If you watched any of the Olympic hockey tournament, you probably heard a commentator or interviewee talk at some point about how the Canada-U.S. gold medal game would be ‘good for the game,’ as though the sport was on the brink of irreversible obscurity and needed a 21st-century Summit Series or Miracle on Ice to get Americans to finally pay attention.
This narrative has taken hold in the …

This makes me extremely happy: Aziz Ansari, of Parks and Recreation fame, is releasing a mixtape under his alter ego, Raaaaaaaandy (who also happens to be the character he played in Funny People).  Produced by Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio, the mixtape was supposed to be released in February, but that date has reportedly been pushed back.
In the meantime, the first track has been leaked and it’s awesome/hilarious.  It’s called AAAAAAAANGRY, and it’s a diss track aimed at all the emcees who didn’t deliver verses for the song.  …

The blog Real Hip Hip Since 79 has posted the original studio recording of ‘The People’ from Common’s album Finding Forever.  The main difference between this version and the final cut is the hook, here sung by Common himself.  Dwele’s take, used for the album, is obviously more polished, but it’s nice to hear Common’s genuine, if shaky, effort.
DOWNLOAD: Common – ‘The People’ (Original recording)
‘The People’ is a classic, and was my favourite track on Forever.  Common’s lyrics are mostly good.  His rhymes touch on a variety of social justice …

While we don’t normally offer a lot of architecture coverage, this story seemed too good/bizarre to pass up: the firm Fitzsimmons Architects recently posted photos of Wayne Coyne’s new Oklahoma City home.  Coyne, who is the frontman of ‘space rock’ band The Flaming Lips, is a strange and imaginative dude, and his new house certainly embodies those characteristics.  According to Pitchfork, while the house “looks like a simple brick house from the outside,” … it “turns pretty phantasmagorical once you get inside.” 
Indeed, as you’ll see in the photos, the house …

99problems.org, the news website of The League of Young Voters Education Fund (LYVEF) - an American organization dedicated to empowering ”young people nationwide to participate in the democratic process” – has launched a new “online intiative”  to educate urban youth about the importance of the 2010 Census.  According to a press release, the campaign will feature

a viral video PSA series hosted by DJ Willie Shakes (Core DJs, Star Trak’s Chester French) … [that] will enable each featured interview (sic) to give their own spin on why the 2010 Census is important to them, as well as the …

In anticipation of the upcoming season of the animated series Boondocks, Dub Floyd and Wally Sparks have put together an ‘official’ mixtape for the show, featuring some choice cuts from Tanya Morgan, Phonte, Asheru, Skyzoo and more.  Check out the tracklist below, then head over to 2dopeboyz to download it.
01. Asheru – The Boondocks Theme (Season 2)
02. Metaphor The Great – Hip Hop Docktrine 2 Theme (Prod. by JJ The Genius)
03. Phonte & Chaundon – Hip Hop Docktrine 2 (Promo)
04. Metaphor The Great – The BoonDoctor (Prod. by JJ The …

In addition to sporting events, this year’s Winter Olympics will feature a large and surprisingly diverse schedule of free concerts.  Being held at two ‘LiveCity’ venues in downtown Vancouver, the concerts will span the length of the games and represent an excellent opportunity to take in high quality music for zero dollars.  Here’s a sampling of some of the performers who will take the stage:

Wilco
DJ Spooky (!)
Matisyahu
Deadmau5
Jully Black
Damian Marley
Blue Rodeo
Jets Overhead
Buck 65

Not bad at all.  I plan on seeing several of these shows, if not all of them.  And here’s …

Little Brother unveiled today the album art and tracklist of their next, and reportedly last, album. Called LeftBack, the album is set for release on April 20.  According to a press release, the album will “feature production from the likes of Khrysis, Denaun Porter, Zo!, Symbolyc One, J. Bizness and King Karnov, [and] is poised to take listeners on an epic auditory adventure.”  Guest-spotting on the album are Jozeemo, Yahzarah, Chaundon, Bilal, Darien Brockington, Carlitta Durand and others.  Sounds dope.
Although I wasn’t the biggest fan of their last album, it’s …

Yesterday, we posted that Blogger had rather surreptitiously shut down several popular music blogs.  Today, Pitchfork is reporting that Blogger has issued a statement in its defence.  In the statement, the Google-owned service explains its policy for enforcing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (the controversial American copyright law), noting that when it receives multiple DMCA complaints about the same blog, and has “no indication that the offending content is being used in an authorized manner,” they will remove the blog (italics mine).
In other words, the burden of proof is on the blogger.  The …