Beautiful Eulogy – Satellite Kite


Albums come along from time to time that are truly unique. It’s not often, but when it happens, you know. Something about it resonates with my soul, twists my ear and gives me a new perspective on what music (in this case hip-hop) can be.

It’s the type of album that is so distinct, it causes me to weigh every album in the future against it. It becomes a cornerstone of art and an opulent gem to be treasured. Satellite Kite is this kind of album.



1. Hello From Portland


Rain. That is how Satellite Kite opens up. Rain slowly increasing in volume until the bass line comes in with a soothing soundscape to bring it together. Wait about 1:20 and soft guitar plucking comes into play as well. It’s peaceful, contemplative and soothing, while at the same time, it almost seems life challenging. It seems to ask you “Now that you know, what are you going to do about it.” It reminds me of an ending to an indie film about life and love. It’s real. What an incredible introduction to this album. Continue reading

Who is B.DURAZZO?



So, recently I was on Soundcloud checking my feed and noticed that Lee Green (Humble Beast) had favorited a couple tracks by this guy (who at the time, I was completely unfamiliar with) B.DURAZZO. Since, I really respect Lee Green as an artist, I thought I would check out what B.DURAZZO sounded like; in short, I was blown away.

“Benjamin Durazzo is a 23-year-old hip-hop producer in the Blockhead vein of hip-hop producers, who teaches middle school kids music when he’s not in front of his MPC.” – Patrick Taylor – RapReviews

After listening to his other tracks for about an hour, I decided to Google his name and see what popped up. To my pleasure, I saw that he had a Bandcamp set up AND had two free beat tapes available; Beats Vol 1 & Beats Vol 1 ½. Needless to say I downloaded those immediately, but as they were downloading I hit up YouTube as well.

“Not only was watching Ben play interesting, but the beat which he composes is pretty ill. The instrumental has a haunting quality reminiscent of RJD2′s earlier work and that classic boom-bap feel that really gets your head nodding.” – Joseph Goral – SockMonkeySound

What is this? Performing tracks from his beat tape on dual MPC’s? All DAY! Although we still have 6 months, this guy is quickly becoming one of my favorite finds this year.


Related Links:


Bandcamp
Facebook
RapReviews
SockMonkeySound
Twitter
YouTube

“Smash” Shadow of the Locust

We’re back with some more music from Shadow of the Locust as they continue to drop a single every month in their “Year of the Locust” campaign. I’ll let the homey Reveal fill you in on this month’s installment.

As we continue on, Shadow of the Locust is committed to bringing you new heat each month! The song is called Smash and is actually a sneak peak from whats to come off Dirts new album called “Rebel Lion”! Solomon Cain (Dirt and Reveal) once again team up to smash this joint! Please continue to support the #YearOfTheLocust campaign and visit www.locustfist.com and click on the ear section to download all the free music they have been releasing each month!

DOWNLOAD HERE!!!

Beat Tapes For The Week of June 3rd.

I got a couple beat tapes for you guys to check out, both from producers outside the US. Politks dropped a dope tape that he sent to us a while back. This beat tape is really simple, but it’s still got that grimy boom bap feel to it. It’s free and if you like what you hear you can hit him up for beats at politiksproductions@gmail.com

http://politiksproductions.bandcamp.com/album/symphony-vol-2

Secondly the homey Relic released a beat tape this week, to gear up for his new album “Miles To Go” that will be dropping this year. The beat tape is free too!

http://relic.bandcamp.com/album/for-the-record-beat-tape