A Monthly Dose of Hip-Hop: Madlib Unveils The Madlib Medicine Show

By Aaron Norman on

Well, well, well. After what seemed to be a period of stagnation for the usually prolific Madlib comes news of a monthly release schedule from the renowned producer/DJ/rapper with more pseudonyms than there are slang words for cannabis. This announcement comes hot on the tail of the much-rumored new Madvillain project being substantiated; turns out Madlib has been busy.

Starting this December, Stones Throw Records will be launching The Madlib Medicine Show, a 12CD, 6LP monthly series featuring hip-hop productions to live jazz instrumentation and beyond, with unexpected surprises every release. The first volume, aptly titled Before The Verdict, features Guilty Simpson and will be available from the Stones Throw store a month earlier than the worldwide release in January 2010. Spanning 17 tracks of new material alongside remixes, it's a perfect precursor to Madlib and Guilty Simpson's forthcoming OJ Simpson album. Oh, and did I mention the vinyl edition will be hand-screened with a limited pressing, or that the second installment, Flight to Brazil is a mixture of Brazilian jazz, funk, prog-rock, folk, and psychedelia?

Stones Throw has been doing a lot of exciting things the past year, with more and more limited releases, hand-screened covers, and an ever-expanding roster of musicians with non hip-hop backgrounds. You don't need me to tell you that this is a label worth keeping a constant eye on and ear to.

Listen: Madlib & Guilty Simpson - "The Paper" from Madlib Medicine Show No. 1.

Lil Wayne Insists We All Listen to Him Play Guitar; Rebirth Gets Release Date

By Kid Midnight on 11-11-2009

I remember one time, high as a kite, randomly searching though the annals of YouTube (as I am wont to do), when suddenly I remembered that I missed Lil Wayne’s performance on Saturday Night Live. I quickly found and watched a video of the recital and was delighted to see Weezy showing off his skills on the ol’ six-string. However, I was pretty intoxicated, and Wayne’s guitar skills seemed much more competent than they actually were. I watched the video again the next day and was shocked to discover that Wayne actually, well, sucked at guitar.

Regardless of what skill was (or wasn’t) present, I was at least mildly intrigued when Lil Wayne began promising that his “rock” album Rebirth would soon be available for mass consumption (and most likely regurgitation). It seemed to me that it would resemble Dee Dee Ramone’s ill-advised foray into rap or Vanilla Ice’s attempt to cash in on rap-metal’s then popularity; both projects were quite enjoyable train-wrecks to watch/listen to. However, the album was constantly pushed back and pushed back, and I began to wonder if the whole thing was just an elaborate cough-syrup induced hallucination/practical joke, especially with Lil’ Wayne’s current legal troubles.

Turns out, it’s not a big hoax. Billboard reports that the album has been given a December 15 release date and will come packaged with We Are Young Money, an album from Wayne’s Young Money crew wherein the group lets you know that they exist. You always know that a CD will be great when it's offered with a bonus free CD, right? Besides Lil Wayne’s guitar serving as special guest on the majority of the songs, the album will also feature Lenny Kravitz, Travis Barker, Fall Out Boy, and Drake. An all-star cast for an all-star album! I’m quite sure that this album won’t suck.

Bobby Birdman Is Back: With a Quick Swoop, He Unveils He’s Got New Moods

By Jon Lorenz on 11-11-2009

Bobby Birdman... remember him? It's been three years since he's released a record, so his name has seemed to fade a bit, but back in the day he was touring with Will Oldham and fellow counterparts YACHT and Dirty Projectors and releasing records on Hush, Not Not Fun, and States Rights. Now he's back, and the artsy crooner's got a new record for ya. As of November 10 (a.k.a. YESTERDAY), you can pick up the ol' Birdman's New Moods, out on Fryk Beat, at record stores near you. So put on them dancin' shoes cause Bobby B. has got some tunes that will make you do the jitterbug in hyperspeed!

New Moods is said to be Birdman's "most focused and complete musical effort to date; upbeat pop anthems jostle up against shimmering slow a cappella numbers, while New Orleans bounce, dancehall, and hyphy funnel noisily into each self-produced pop number. Sun-drenched guitars and Bobby Birdman's characteristic, unfuckwithable new-school croon wash over drumline weirdness and tyrannical sub bass, like a rogue wave on the Malibu beaches he frequently surfs."

Sounds fun right? Wanna hear more? Well, let me tell you that Birdman's "melodies are so irresistible that they hook into a timeless, Van Dyke Parks-cum-Perry Como sound that's as at home blasting out of a tape deck on your beach towel as it is in the club." Sound enticing yet? No? Well, why don't you just take a trip over to RCRDLBL and take a listen to "Only for a While" and see how ya feel after that.

New Moods tracklisting:

1. Only for a While
2. Dust Design
3. What You Say
4. Weighty Wait
5. Victory At Sea
6. Bloody Mess
7. Silent But Violent
8. You'd Be Surprised
9. Setting Sun
10. Truth Be Told
11. Well Sprung
12. Back and Forth

Tortoise Setting Off for European Tour

By Aaron Norman on 11-10-2009

Chicago band Tortoise, after only a
short break, is once again setting off on tour. However, unlike their
Beacons of Ancestorship tour earlier this year, which featured
almost exclusively U.S. dates, this time around Tortoise is packing
for Europe. Kicking off at Barcelona's International Jazz
Festival and ending in the U.K. with some guests at the All Tomorrow’s
Parties 10-year anniversary show, Tortoise will be looping through
Europe and playing a total of 20 shows in 11 countries.

As a band, Tortoise is pushing 20 years and still going strong, with six albums under their belt spanning over a decade. Here's hoping for at least another decade of Tortoise

11.18.09 - Barcelona, Spain - ES Jazz Festival
11.19.09 - Esch sur Alzette, Luxembourg - Kulturfabrik
11.20.09 - Leuven, Belgium - Stuk
11.21.09 - Kortrijk, Belgium - NEXT Festival
11.22.09 - London, England - Royal Festival Hall
11.24.09 - Rubigen, Switzerland - Mühle Hunziken
11.25.09 - Rome, Italy - Circolo Degli Artisti
11.26.09 - Florence, Italy - Vipertheatre
11.27.09 - Bologna, Italy - Estragon
11.28.09 - Milan, Italy - Magazzini Generali
11.29.09 - Zurich, Switzerland - Stall 6
11.30.09 - Erlangen, Germany - E-Werk
12.01.09 - Leipzig, Germany - Werk II
12.02.09 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Vega Jr

12.04.09 - Olso, Norway - Rockefeller
12.07.09 - Poznan, Poland - Slodownia @ Stary Browar
12.08.09 - Bochum, Germany - Bahnhof Langendreer
12.09.09 - Paris, France - Alhambra
12.10.09 - Nantes, France - l'Olympic
12.11.09 - Minehead, UK - ATP 10 Year Anniversary Festival *

* Melvins, Shellac, and For Carnation

The Magnetic Fields to Release Realism in January 2010

By Mr P on 11-10-2009

The Magnetic Fields are back and presumably better than ever. Their eighth LP, Realism, is set for release January 26 via Nonesuch. Aside from the title, release date, label, and tracklisting, we ain't got much else to say. But I bet it'll be as compelling as 2008's Distortion (TMT Review). I mean, why not?

Realism tracklisting:

1. You Must Be Out of Your Mind
2. Interlude
3. We Are Having a Hootenanny
4. I Don’t Know What to Say
5. The Dolls’ Tea Party
6. Everything Is One Big Christmas Tree
7. Walk a Lonely Road
8. Always Already Gone
9. Seduced and Abandoned
10. Better Things
11. Painted Flower
12. The Dada Polka
13. From a Sinking Boat

Jack White Turns Down Slash; Slash Disappointed, Crying

By Kid Midnight on 11-10-2009

Slash, former lead guitarist for hair-metal maestros Guns N' Roses, was pretty upset that Axl Rose actually managed to get Chinese Democracy out; he, like everyone else on the planet who wasn’t Axl Rose, thought that the album would never actually be released. Well, as we all know, the album is totally available for purchase, but this whole situation had Slash pretty upset, so he decided that, in order to feel better, he has to release a bitchin’ solo CD.

Slash called up all of his famous friends -- people like Adam Levine, Nicole Scherzinger, Iggy Pop, Cypress Hill, Fergie, Alice Cooper, Ozzy Osbourne, Meat Loaf, Dave Grohl, Flea, Chris Cornell, and every non-lead singer member of Guns N' Roses -- wrote a bunch of songs, and set about making that bitchin’ album. But then Slash realized that one of his songs had no vocals. So, accordingly, he called up Jack White, because Jack White is already in a bunch of bands and Slash totally digs Jack White.

Then the unexpected happen: “I wanted to get Jack White to sing on something, but he didn’t want to sing. He said ‘I’ll play drums, I’ll play guitar, but I don’t wanna sing.’ He was one guy that I wanted to work with. Pretty much everyone else that I went after I managed to get.”

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