Welcome back to a regularly scheduled Tuesdays With Lazerbeak. We are neck deep in the making of this next crew record right now, so I’m gonna take the easy way out and just post a ton of Bonus Jams this week that I’ve been feeling as of late. Before I really get into it though, I’d like to make one final mention of the internet phenomenon that is Wugazi. Many congrats to Cecil Otter and Swiss Andy on last Wednesday’s mammoth release of 13 Chambers. I have a feeling you’ve already heard it by now, but if not, you can stream or download it for free right HERE. A few more awesome Wugazi press pieces have come out since last week that you might be interested in as well.
Rolling Stone’s track-by-track breakdown of the entire album
Alright, on with the Bonus Jams. Gonna start it off with the new Kendrick Lamar album, Section.80. We picked this up on tour and it’s a real solid debut from the kid. Definitely worth supporting. That “ADHD” track is a monster.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3D2hk-BjjU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKJpeNZ1B3k
Next up is Slave. As a young beat maker, I would see these guyses records in the dollar bins all the time, but never got the chance to really dig into the music. Mike played their jam “Just a Touch of Love” in the van though and it is a certified heater. They’ve also got some serious slow jams in addition to the crazy funk bass lines.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3p5QRCks4E
While I’m on this late 70’s/early 80’s R&B kick, might as well drop in some Maze (featuring Frankie Beverly). Similar vein, but a bit more laid back. I’m just now diving into both Maze and Slave’s Best Of collections, but these are a couple initial stand out jams.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi8F8pWmmkA
Up next is this dude SBTRKT, an electro producer from London. He just dropped his self titled debut album, and on first listen it is kind of killing it (if you can get past some of the extremely British singing parts). Plus there is a feature from Little Dragon (and a remix with Drake), hard to go wrong with that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aBsqpGCnlA
And now for a few curveballs. Bonnie Raitt. I won’t lie, the Bon Iver covers put her back on the radar for me. “Nick of Time” and “I Can’t Make You Love Me” are incredibly well written songs. Dessa put me up on a couple of her favorite Bonnie albums on the last night of tour and I’ve been pretty hooked ever since. Pretty amazing career. The music videos really bring out the cheeseball factor of these tracks, but I can’t find just the songs by themselves on YouTube, so I suggest opening a new page up when you listen to these.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZMwb7fopsI
And finally, to further my decent into and embarrassingly extreme easy listening drivel, I give you Michael McDonald. Not Steely Dan back-up singing Michael McDonald either, just straight up out of his mind super white guy solo Michael McDonald. Haha, my wife has absolutely no idea what happened to my musical taste. Here are a couple of my current favorites, followed up with the Dan’s classic “Peg” for good measure.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvEpsDNQ75g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgSAOLX2640
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiXez2XNVtU
Boom! There you have it, a grip ton of Bonus Jams. Just a reminder that last week’s free outdoor concert at the Northrop with Sims and myself got postponed to this Friday (7/22) due to crazy weather. Come on down if you’re in the area, sounds like they’re giving away a ton of free stuff. Details can be found right HERE. The rest of this month is gonna be a crazy scramble to get all these crew songs together for mixing, but so far everything is coming together real nice. Excited to report more when the time is right. I hope you have a great week. See you next Tuesday!
— Beak