Terrible Chris' Fave Albums of 2010, Part Trois

Ready for some more? The build-up is orgasmic, isn't it?

11. Autolux, Transit Transit--Sure, i would have liked to have heard this a few years ago, too, but that doesn't make it any less impressive.

mp3: Supertoys (Autolux from Transit Transit)

12. Baths, Cerulean--Yet another kick ass beat CD.

mp3: Lovely Bloodflow (Baths from Cerulean)

13. jj, Kills Mixtape--A free mixtape that stacks up with some of the best of the year. Take that, you RIAA motherfuckers.

mp3: KILL THEM (jj from Kills Mixtape)

mp3: NEW WORK (jj from Kills Mixtape)

mp3: HIGH END (jj from Kills Mixtape)

14. Liz Phair, Funstyle--Fuck you, Bitch Spork, this thing had plenty of moments.

mp3: Oh Bangladesh (Liz Phair from Funstyle)

15. Vampire Weekend, Contra--While my esteemed contemporary at Berkeley Place felt much differently, i thought this was a nice, light hearted pop affair that holds up after multiple listens. If nothing else, it shows how to use Autotune correctly.

mp3: Horchata (Vampire Weekend from Contra)

Beat Week: Dubiously Titled Mixtapes

When i think "mixtape," i'm still envisioning a cassette tape of various different artists you put together for someone else, but the definition obviously has expanded to the point where it's a catch-all for any grouping of songs an artist puts together for the masses. Hey, as long as the music is fine, i'm good, so let's get into a couple of these so-called mixtapes, shall we?

Yes, it came out on Christmas Eve, but you're going to hear it today. Some of our favorite Swedes, jj, put out a mixtape of them doing their particular form of rocking out over various hip-hop samples (Dre, 'Ye, M.I.A.). Truth be told, it's one of the best CDs i've heard this year, mixtape or not. Spoiler alert--this one definitely will be making one of my year-end lists, no doubt.

mp3: KILL THEM (jj from Kills Mixtape)

mp3: NEW WORK (jj from Kills Mixtape)

mp3: HIGH END (jj from Kills Mixtape)

WEDIDIT Collective member, Zeroh G7, just pulled a similar feat with his G7 University. Instead of ethereal chick vocals, however, he drops dope verses which he occasionally augments with some vocal distortion over others' beats. Wisely choosing from amongst some of LA's hottest producers (Teebs, Flying Lotus, Juj), Zeroh's skills are enough to add layers to the songs as opposed to simply sounding like somebody with a karaoke machine. OFWGKTA may get all the hype, but i'm telling you, WEDIDIT has even superior skills.

mp3: Almighty Mnd (Zeroh G7 from G7 University)

As long as we're talking mixtapes that make heavy use of sampling, we might as well throw new comer ::M∆DE::IN::HEIGHTS:: into the mix. Interestingly enough, their Winter Pigeons (Songs to Raise Your Dead Spirits) falls perfectly between the two previous, with ghostly female vocals playing over recognizable loops. Is that Sufjan Stevens alongside Tchaikovsky? Yes. Yes, it is.

mp3: Skylark Interabang!? (::M∆DE::IN::HEIGHTS:: from Winter Pigeons (Songs to Raise Your Dead Spirits))

And we'll close today with a mash-up of two of my other favorite CDs this year. Wick-It the Instigator heard Brothers and Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son Of Chico Dusty and decided The Brothers of Chico Dusty must be made. Who am i to argue?

mp3: Everlasting Shine Blockas (Wick-It the Instigator from The Brothers of Chico Dusty)

mp3: Black Bug (Wick-It the Instigator from The Brothers of Chico Dusty)

(Ed. note: Thanks to the always stellar Potholes in My Blog for hipping me to those last two, dude.)

Free Music Friday--The Monday After the Fact Edition

What with it most likely being a short week here at LET this week (gobble, gobble, kids), i decided that if i let last week's Free Music Friday slip by, it probably would be at least another week before i got one done. Since nobody wanted that to happen, here we are with The Monday After the Fact Edition.

Validating our continuing love of all things Swedish, jj dropped a couple of freebie tracks last week, now with sample-y goodness from the xx and Akon!

mp3: let them (jj from Sincerely Yours)

mp3: i'm the one/money on my mind (jj from Sincerely Yours)

With his ninth solo joint, The Apollo Kids, hitting shelves December 14, Ghostface Killah decides to show you what he's got on the first single, "Together Baby." With a soulful sample on the hook, GK continues to slaughter on this one.

mp3: Together Baby (Ghostface Killah from The Apollo Kids)

Continuing their tradition of unearthing seldom heard gems, Light in the Attic knocks another one out of the park with Jim Sullivan's U.F.O. Utilizing the legendary Wrecking Crew as his backing band, the artist is shrouded in mystery. For our purposes, though, the sumbitch could write a mean pysch-folk-rock tune, and that's really all we care about here.

mp3: Highways (Jim Sullivan from U.F.O. )

Katy Goodman must have decided two bands simply were not enough, with the Vivian Girls / All Saints Day member dropping a new one as La Sera. First single, "Never Come Around," shares the same dream-pop vision as her trio, but without the wall of fuzz. Quite frankly, a welcome change of pace to my ears.

mp3: Never Come Around (La Sera from Never Come Around/Behind Your Eyes 7")

And to send you on your merry way, the Golden Filter remix of the Morning Benders' "Excuses" (incidentally, my favorite track on their Big Echo). Now with more dance floor-y-ness!

mp3: Excuses (The Golden Filter Remix) (The Morning Benders from their website)

The Greatest Loosely Themed Quickie Africa Mixtape You Ever Will Hear

My second youngest brother has just returned from a year abroad in Africa. While i've only had sporadic email updates, sounds like it's been a miserable trip for the poor bastard. Since this Ps' are out of town, it looks like the Eldest Terrible here is going to take the sibs out for a welcome home dinner, so i clearly don't have time for anything too detailed for you lot today.

In celebration of Younger Terrible making it back alive (though a good pirate kidnapping story would have been interesting), here's the Greatest Loosely Africa Themed Quickie Mix You Ever Will Hear.

mp3: From Africa to Málaga (jj from nº 2)

mp3: African Alphabet Song (Kermit the Frog and Ladysmith Black Mambazo from Songs From the Street: 35 Years of Music)

mp3: Africa (Toto from Toto IV)

mp3: African Voodoo Queen (Drama) (Madlib from Medicine Show # 3: Beat Konducta In Africa)

mp3: Storms in Africa (Enya from Watermark)

mp3: Africa (Sun-Ra and His Myth Science Arkestra from Angels And Demons At Play / The Nubians Of Plutonia)

mp3: Thank You For Talkin' to Me Africa (Sly and the Family Stone from There's a Riot Goin' On)

mp3: Africa (The Meters from Rejuvenation)

Artist Profile: Lil' Wayne

Apropos of nothing beyond me having watched VH1's Behind the Music on Lil' Weezy last night, here's a sampler of Lil' Wayne tracks for your Saturday enjoyment. For a cat that doesn't write down any of his rhymes, he's surprisingly spry on the mic. i think my favorite part of the show, however, was his explaining about the two bullet fragments still in his chest following an accidental, self-inflicted gunshot wound at the age of 12. i'm paraphrasing here, but he used words to the effect of "I've still got two pieces of metal in my chest, too close to my heart for the doctor's to remove. It's cool, though, they ain't moving around or nothing. I mean, unless I get caught in an electro-magnetic field or something."

Indeed, sir. Indeed.

mp3: DOA (Lil' Wayne from No Ceilings)

mp3: my way (jj ft. Lil' Wayne from let go/my way)

mp3: Jump Up in the Air & Stay There (Erykah Badu ft. Lil' Wayne and Bilal from New Amerykah, Part Two (Return of the Ankh) Bonus, Web Track Only )

mp3: I Feel Like Dying (Flying Lotus Remix) (Lil' Wayne from Brainfeeder Website)

mp3: Robo Tussin (Flying Lotus Remix) (Lil' Wayne from Brainfeeder Website)

mp3: A Milli (Lil' Wayne from Tha Carter III)

Free Music Friday!

In what now looks to become a new recurring feature, kids, it's time for another Free Music Friday. For the low, low price of my email address and the implied promise of free whoring on my part, the powers that be at the labels and distributors that be have deigned to fill my in-box with all sorts of free mp3 goodies. After all, what good is being a whore if i didn't have anything to offer the fine, greedy readers of LET?

Enough with the chit chat, let's get onto business, shall we?

From Domino Records, we actually have more than one goodie today. To get this party started, here's an offering from the upcoming Pavement greatest hits project, Quarantine the Past, with their remastered version of "Gold Soundz." If you're a longtime Gen X indie freak, odds are you're familiar with this track originally found on Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain. If you're not, well, now as good a time as any to find out what the hell your older sib/parent has been going on and on about for however many years now. And as if that wasn't enough, those daffy bastards also are giving away the latest digital 7" single from Dirty Projectors, Ascending Melody. Now, i'm not entirely sure how a computer file can be measured to reach 7", but it comes with two tracks, so why are we spending our time quibbling over such details? Yeah, i'm on pain meds, but what's your excuse? Still, i know you hungry bastards, you still want more, don't you? Fortunately, Domino, perhaps inspired by their namesake pizza stepping up their game of late, are bringing us one more treat today, the latest from Quasi, Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouller, from their upcoming release, American Gong. For those of you not in the know, Quasi is made up of such stalwart rockers as Sam Coomes, Joanna Bolme and the greatest female drummer of all-time, Janet Weiss.

mp3: Gold Soundz (Pavement from Quarantine the Past)

mp3: Ascending Melody (Dirty Projectors from Ascending Melody 7")

mp3: Emblem of the World (Dirty Projectors from Ascending Melody 7" )

mp3: Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouller (Quasi from American Gong)

But wait! There's more!

Insound wants to hip you to Bad Sports. While i could wax philosophic on their grungey, rough-around-the-edges sound, i'm simply going to mention the fact that their eponymous release is on the Douchemaster Records label. That alone is worth the price of admission.

mp3: And It Goes (Bad Sports from Bad Sports)

Still not full, you avaristic bastard? Well, i suppose it's a good thing that Amie Street dropped off something in ye olde inbox today, too. Not familiar with singer-songwriter Joey Ryan? He's been called "One to watch" by BBC Radio DJ Jo Whiley, and his music has been featured on One Tree Hill, KCRW's "Weekend Becomes Eclectic" and various commercials. I'm considering holding the One Tree Hill gig against him (too good for Smallville, eh?), but i suppose we've all got to do what we've got to do to pay the bills, right?

mp3: Queen Jane (Joey Ryan from Kenter Canyon)

Still you want the wafer thin mint? Sweet Jebus, don't say i didn't warn you.

Straight from the Sincerely Yours label, two more goodies from one of my latest favorite newbies, jj. The Swedish band just signed to Secretly Canadian for North American distribution, so expect their upcoming sophomore release to hit in early March 2010. In the meantime, groove to these gems. And yes, that is Lil' Weezy on the first one.

mp3: my way (jj from let go/my way single)

mp3: let go (jj from let go/my way single)