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May 09, 2006
Highly Flammable - Hot Picks for May '06
1. Field Mob featuring Ciara - "So What"
Maybe the most wistful electro/bass track since "My Boo" by Ghost Town DJ's? "So What" is so my jam right now! I'm normally not a fan of Jazze Pha's production but he found his perfect beat with this one. Field Mob fast-raps in their friendly Georgia drawl and the quavering high-pitched synth line sounds alot like the one in "Ain't No Fun". This song trumps Ciara's "1,2 Step" in my book, and it's vastly superior to LL and J-Lo's embarrassing attempt at making a "Lose Control" for 2006.
2. Elephant Man - "Shake That Ass"
As I indicated last month, Papa D loves that Applause riddim...so why not give him another round of it? Especially since this particular booty-worshipping track has a bunch of fire engine sirens and Elephant Man repeatedly sounding his "that ass is on fire!" alarm. Clearly a song that should be played at Disco Inferno.
3. Lupe Fiasco - "Kick Push"
Lupe Fiasco is the third-verse dude from Kanye's "Touch the Sky", and "Kick Push" is real nice horn-fueled hip-hop that sounds like it could've been recorded in the early-to-mid 90s. This tune's been big on both Chicago radio and the Internet for many moons now, but Atlantic just recently dropped the official 12-inch in advance of the late June release of Food & Liquor. Not exactly the most club-ready dance track, but it would be awesome to hear this breezy boom-bap blasting out of car windows this summer. Especially since it's about skateboarding!
4. Spank Rock - "Bump"
Neither of the recent singles from Spank Rock can hold a candle to last year's Money Studies 12-inch, and overall I'd have to say that the new full-length is not quite what I'd hoped it would be. But right smack in the middle of the album is the pretty awesome "Bump". This speedy song has a strikingly sparse beat and some crucial cowbell accompaniment...and things really take off when the warm synths and double-time rapping kick in.
5. Gnarls Barkley - "Crazy"
OK, so I kinda hated on this song for awhile. When I first heard it, it just struck me as some sort of soul-soaked big beat jam that had all the right ingredients to make our friends across the pond go nuts. After a few more listens that spooked-out beat propelled its way into my head, and I finally just had to give in. I think this song will probably drive me insane in another month or two, but in the meantime I'm going to try and enjoy the ride for a little while. Partly because the song is pretty damn catchy and distinctive, and partly because I found the instrumental and started working out some "Crazy" (re)mix madness...
That's it for May. I'm going to save The Coup for next month since that's when the political rap veterans will be taking the stage at Local 506. But in the meantime, pick up the group's brand new Pick a Bigger Weapon if you need some serious funk in your life. It's way better than the Gnarls Barkley album that came out today, trust me...
Posted by Tim at May 9, 2006 11:33 PM
Comments
I've been listening to the new Coup album nonstop this week.
Posted by: John at May 11, 2006 10:39 AM
i normally hate pop bullshit but i gotta admit that feild mob jawn is kinda hot
Posted by: cia at May 11, 2006 09:17 PM
you always give me ideas for mix cds. that LL/J.Lo song is SO embarrassing. the almost bambaataa like zzz-es really piss me off!. what is this lupe fiasco, and what is it with songs sounding like new jack again? so perplexed. thanks for the coup reminder, too -- I've been listening over and over to party music recently, and was happy to see they had a new record.
Posted by: claire at May 16, 2006 10:20 AM
I've been hearing the Lupe Fiaso song on 102 Jams, have you seen the video? It's on his myspace page. Pretty well done.
Posted by: Paul at June 21, 2006 02:20 PM