This is how we chill...

Aceyalone - Annalillia? [zshare]

"she looked me in my windows and said Anna-lillia/ ... Annalillia?"
One of my favorite narrative tracks, Aceyalone's unrequited love for Annalillia related in a wonderful way. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll wish you'd never been born.

Souls of Mischief - 93 til Infinity [zshare]

Classic west coastin' at its finest, this song is upbeat, laid back, with that lyrical quickness and wry sense of humor that makes you wanna just go drive around with it cranked up or turn it down in the headphones and zone out for hours, at the same time.

The Roots - @15 [zshare]

Ill lyricism from a 15 year old Tariq Trotter also known as Black Thought from the Legendary Roots Crew off their new album Rising Down, in stores now.

And how you used to cheat at checkers

Gladys Knight - And This is Love [zshare]

Gladys Knight is one of my favorite singers of all time, and this is probably my favorite song of hers. In her music I hear the roots of hip-hop, the music behind her singing can almost be directly sampled into a rap song (ex: Queen of Tears sampled on Wu Banga 101 by Ghostface Killah). True black music and soul music at its best.

Erykah Badu - 4 Leaf Clover [zshare]

What can I say about this song? Not my favorite Badu track of all, but definitely up there. A classic Erykah song, the perfect combination of hip-hop and R&B sensibilities. I guess all I can say is that this is one of those tracks I have an urge to hear every day.

M83, Erykah Badu, Okkervil River, Dirty Three

when you feel like you're in over your head

mp3:

M83: Teen Angst [zshare]
Air = The Virgin Suicides ; M83 = Life
A. Gonzalez creates the score to your every step. it's unreal.

Erykah Badu: That Hump [zshare]
when you feel like you'll never stop falling
when it feels like no one else has the same problems
when you're caught in a self-destructing cycle
when you fuck up the good things in your life
when you need someone to say what you can't/won't
...Erykah is there for you

Okkervil River: So Come Back, I Am Waiting [zshare]
this goes out to the black sheep boy in all of us.
choosing a couple of lines from
Will Sheff's masterpiece won't do it justice but i can't resist:

So come back to your old black sheep man.
He says “I am waiting on hoof and on hand.
I am waiting, all hated and damned.
I am waiting - I snort and I stamp.
I am waiting, you know that I am,
calmly waiting to make you my lamb."

Dirty Three: Sea Above, Sky Below [zshare]
not many songs can make me shudder like this one.
you begin to feel
uncomfortable in your skin after every chord
but then the song picks up a little pace
and you embrace the cold... with a fit of rage
and then the song is over. but you're still cold

Tenniscoats

"wide-eyed children at play in a room full of instruments" [Raven Sings the Blues]

Tenniscoats:
http://www.tenniscoats.com/
http://www.myspace.com/tenniscoats

mp3:
Tenniscoats: Baibaba Bimba
Tenniscoats: Donna Donna





MP3s from
motel de moka, Raven Sings the Blues