Brahma Ballads
The Suburbs-Arcade Fire
A surprising number of people have never heard of this group, despite its founder coming from Texas and their amazing album The Suburbs being up for two Grammy’s. So consider this a public service announcement: go buy this album now. I sat at my computer for three hours trying to decide a single song that I could recommend, and I couldn’t in good
conscience recommend one; you need the entire album or nothing. If you’re lazy or poor, it’s all on YouTube. It’s a modern day masterpiece about growing up in the suburbs and the way we live now.
2Getha Baby-Ghostface Killa
Ghost has been up and down over the years, but delivers big with this single from his album Apollo Kids, released at the tail-end of 2010. This single off the album was classic Ghost; lots of soul and epic flows. Ghostface barely stops to take a breath, busting out fast paced rhymes. Here’s hoping 2011 is a good year for The Wu Tang Clan.
When I’m With You-Best Coast
A rather low profile (and low-fi) band from California that soared to 36 on the Billboard 200 with their first full length album Crazy for You, Best Coast is an all girl group with roots in surf rock. When I’m With You is the quintessential Best Coast experience, with fuzzy sound and drawn out notes. Perfect for chilling, and for any planned trips to the beach.
OFF!-Upside Down
Punk (and I mean real punk, punk played in total dives by angry young men in leather jackets with the singer yelling into his mike while the guitarist plays the same three chords) isn’t dead, not while Keith Morris, co-founder of Black Flag, and his buddies continue to thrash. Keith’s strong, matured vocals and raw emotion, and the bands frantic nature are a nice change of pace from today’s slower, more intricate indie rock.
hahahaha jk?-Das Racist.
Joke rap? Or just rappers that joke around? Either way, the slow beats (built off of a sample of the Days of Our Lives theme song) and clever lines popped out by this Brooklyn rap group are catchy like the flu. “We not racist, we love white people! Ford trucks, apple pies, bald eagles,” is just one of such, not to mention the chorus, which will be bouncing around your frontal lobes and cortex for days.
