« Sinister Picks for 06.06.06 | Main | Summer Madness! »
June 25, 2006
Hot Picks for June '06
|
 |
1. The Coup - Pick A Bigger Weapon
Boots and The Coup have had that serious Right-Guard-worthy funk since the early 90s, but I still didn't really expect Pick A Bigger Weapon to be quite as great as it is. "Laugh, Love, Fuck" is a squirty keyboard anthem whose fourth and fifth priorities are drinking liquor and helping make the revolution come quicker. Perfect for a left-of-center bar like Hell! "I Love Boosters!" is perhaps the greatest pro-shoplifting song since Smog's "When The Power Goes Out". And then the hottest jam on the record is "ShoYoAss", 6+ minutes of watery guitar funk on which those Dirty Mind comparisons could not be more apt. I'd link to the extensive Cocaine Blunts interview where Boots talks about the Prince influence but unfortunately it appears to be offline at the moment.
Rather than make an ill-advised attempt at analyzing the unique political bent of Boots' impressively intricate raps, I prefer to let those words speak for themselves. Oddly enough, when I lived in SF I saw The Coup at Slim's less than 48 hours before Bush was inaugurated. The recent 506 show was a lot better than I remember that one being....and nothing absolutely terrible happened in Washington D.C. last weekend either!
2. Sleepy Brown feat. Pharrell and Big Boi - "Margarita"
Towards the beginning of the Got Purp? Vol. II comp, Killer Mike pointedly asks "Is it only me, or does Pharrell sometimes remind niggaz of Sleepy Brown back in '93?". I guess it wasn't just Killer Mike, 'cause someone got the two crooners together in the present day for this potent new collab. Summer wants a feel-good Neptunes hit the way 9-to-5-ers want a post-work margarita, and this jam definitely quenches that thirst. Pharrell's bueno beat is all bossa nova bouncy and Big Boi has us believing that he actually clocks out of his job at 4:59. Who wants to hit the Armadillo patio after work sometime soon?!? First round of Fro-Margs on me!
3. Rick Ross - "Hustlin'" (Catch Mix)
I've really been wanting to rock some Rick Ross for awhile now, for completely superficial and non-musical reasons. But however huge it may be, the original "Hustlin'" is way too menacing and glacially paced for the dancefloor. Enter Nick Catchdubs, who doubles down on that 68 BPM tempo and comes up with an awesomely grimy horn-fueled rock groove that sounds like it high-stepped its way off of an 80s aerobics tape. A real burner that hustles in the Charlie sense of the word as much as it evokes those now-too-familiar Fast Eddie and Jigga Man connotations. This remix sounds especially great coming out of "Super Freak" and/or "U Can't Touch This". WHIP IT, WHIP IT REAL HARD!
4. Busta Rhymes - "New York Sh*t"
Mr. Rawls recently reminded me of an August 2003 evening during which I repeatedly yelled "Busta Sucks!!!" at the Alltel Pavilion stage. At the time, that proclamation was on-point and even well-deserved (Busta was berating the crowd and North Carolina in general for no good reason). Unfortunately, I'd have to say that the sentiment has stuck with me over the last few years, and "Touch It" did very little to change my mind. But this song's a different story. I don't know if it's the super-sweet sample/DJ Scratch beat from the Diamond D song (more detailed beat discussion/etymology here) or just the fact that I was living it up in the Big Apple a mere few weekends ago, but "New York Sh*t" has been going through my head a lot this past month. Much more than the other Big Bang singles, at least. I've also got the instrumental version of this if any local MCs out there feel like dropping their own "NC Sh*t" or "North Cack Sh*t" variation. Somebody's gotta step up, I don't really want "It's Carrboro" to be the only 2006 song that reps my area!
5. Yung Joc - "It's Goin' Down"
There might be a few other brand-new-ish jams out there that I like a little better than this certified Top 5 hit, but now that summer is officially here, I feel the need to belatedly acknowledge and even embrace the now-undisputable fact that "It's Goin' Down" is THE summer anthem for 2006**. My Apple Chill experience was an early indicator that this could happen, but then Tom Cruise sorta ruined the song for me while promoting Mission: Impossible III. Just a few days ago, another 1980s celebrity who should've stayed out of the 2006 spotlight found himself in a very similar situation. Even though I hate the Heat, there's something kinda hilarious and charming about Pat Riley gettin' down to "It's Goin' Down", maybe because he's old and just going along with his team for the sake of having fun. Or maybe because he's not a creepy Scientologist. At any rate, that Nitti beat isn't going away anytime soon, and neither is the motorcycle dance that's helped give this song such legs. For what it's worth, I can motorcycle-dance a lot better than either of those fools. Meet me in the club on July 8th...guaranteed to go down!
** NOTE OF CLARIFICATION: "Official summer anthem" is not necessarily the same thing as "jam of the summer". I'll write about my leading candidate for jam of the summer next week when I post my July picks....
Posted by Tim at June 25, 2006 04:54 PM
Comments
The Coup (Boots and his band) played Chicago last October (it was the first time I'd seen them) and put on a good show. Last month, when they played here again, it was once again him and the band, but this time you could barely hear his vocals, mostly because the band played really loud - kinda like loud rock shows where the voice is drowned out. Have you every seen the Coup with just Boots and Pam? I think I like their recorded output MUCH better than the live show. They're playing once more in Chicago (this time for free) in a few weeks for the Wicker Park festival. I read somewhere that he only performs live with Pam rarely because of her obligations in Oakland, but that she'll play a few select shows on this tour. If she plays at the Wicker Park fest, I'll be pissed since I'll be out of town.
Posted by: John at June 27, 2006 01:12 PM
pat riley is actually not a bad dancer.
Posted by: TI at June 30, 2006 11:08 AM
I vaguely remember The Coup show I saw in SF being Boots with both Pam and a band but it's a really fuzzy memory so I can't say for sure. At the recent 506 show, the vocals were easy to hear and the band was incredibly tight, so I didn't really feel like it fell too far from the record, though those sorts of setups often do...
Posted by: Tim at July 1, 2006 12:11 PM
I wish Youtube had footage of Roy Williams dancing to "Choppa Style" in 2003. That was a moment!
Posted by: Tim at July 1, 2006 12:12 PM