Let The Music Diffuse All The Tension

What's up, peoples? Although I didn't have a whole lot of spare time this past week, I still managed to find quite a few things that I thought you might find entertaining. Peace, and enjoy...

If ya ain't heard already, the Chocolate Swim EP is available for free download on the [adult swim] website. If you're a fan of MF Doom, Vast Aire, Edan, DJ Mitsu, Diverse, Kovas, Spank Rock, DJ Collage, Kut Masta Kurt, Ghislain Poirier, and/or Lady Sovereign, you will definitely want to check this out:
http://www.adultswim.com/promos/chocolateswim/index.html.

Speaking of free (and legal) albums, I just realized that Waterworld and Masters of the Universe by Binary Star are available for download at the Subterraneous Records website. If you aren't familiar with them, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that they were one of the best things that ever happened to independent hip-hop. For the uninitiated, Waterworld was Binary Star's first LP, released in 1999 on their own label, Terrorist Records. Evidently, the effort was recorded on a meager $500 budget, and only 1000 copies of the LP were pressed. After later hooking up with a larger distributor, the same album (with a few changes made) was re-released as Masters of the Universe late in the year 2000. By that point the duo had already parted ways, leaving many to speculate on what their future might have been, had this unfortunate turn of events not transpired. As you can see, I'm still not quite over the grieving process...
Download Waterworld here: http://www.subterraneousrecords.com/ww.html,
and Masters of the Universe here:
http://www.subterraneousrecords.com/motu.html.

The Isley Brothers' cover version of "Summer Breeze" (originally by Seals & Croft) is available at Some Velvet Blog:
http://somevelvetblog.blogspot.com/2006/06/sunday-covers_18.html.

The most popular hip-hop joint to post this week appears to be "Where Y'all At?", a fresh track from Nas' upcoming LP. Numerous blogs posted the song, but I think that O-Dub's take on the track may have been the most insightful: http://soul-sides.com/2006/06/nas-where-hes-at.html.

While we're on the subject of Nasty Nas, no one holds things down for fans of Escobar quite like Fletch at Rebel to America. His most recent post includes Nas' track "The Rise and the Fall", as well as "Desperados II", a joint he did with The Firm and Canibus:
http://escobartheory.blogspot.com/2006/06/escobar-season-pt-iii.html.

Before leaving the "Land of Nas", I also wanted to mention that he and AZ were the featured artists this week for Sample Wednesday at Palms Out Sounds. Download mp3s by The Gap Band, Minnie Ripperton, Teena Marie, The Mary Jane Girls, Marley Marl, and more: http://palmsout.blogspot.com/2006/06/sample-wednesday-12-dynamic-duo-series.html.

"The Daily Show" offers further proof of what an incredibly idiotic ass George Bush truly is. If someone wanted to torture me until I reached the brink of insanity, they would only need to replay Dubya's evil, goofy laugh over, and over, and over...This clip is also great because calling George a "Flag Hag" is absolutely fuckin' hilarious on so many different levels:
http://www.devilducky.com/media/47236/.

Download "Time is Tight" by Booker T & the MG's at Ick Music:
http://ickmusic.com/index.php/2006/06/18/time-is-tight/.
Additionally, you don't want to miss this video of the group performing their classic cut "Green Onions" from the Stax Volt tour in 1967:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaG51yBK30U&search=booker%20t%20mgs.

Some great mp3s were recently posted at Moistworks. Download "Be Thankful for What You've Got" (William DeVaughn), "Every Ghetto, Every City" (Lauryn Hill), "Everybody Loves the Sunshine" (Roy Ayers), and "A Great Day (In the Neighborhood)" (Marvin Tate's D-Settlement): http://www.moistworks.com/2006/06/be-thankful-for-what-youve-got-william.html.

At Ear Fuzz, you can cop a couple of nice joints by Showbiz & AG---"40 Acres and My Props" and "More Than One Way Out of the Ghetto":
http://www.earfuzz.com/2006/06/street-rap-fables.html.
For the sake of nostalgia, here are two classic videos by the duo:
"Soul Clap": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1ONvKejsxQ&search=showbiz%20ag.
"Next Level (Nyte Time Mix)": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmdf8-TsMLU&search=showbiz%20ag.

Metro Distortion has some hot songs available for download---literally. Included in the post are mp3s by Common ("Heat"), 50 Cent ("Heat"...again), and The Roots ("Rolling With Heat"):
http://metrodistortion.blogspot.com/2006/06/heat.html.

Visit Kwaya Na Kisser to pick up some great tracks by Otis Redding ("I Love You More Than Words"), Prince ("If I Was Your Girlfriend"), Roberta Flack ("The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face"), and more:
http://knkisser.blogspot.com/2006/06/love-requited-mix.html.

1-800-Sassbucket is currently featuring "Closer" (Quasimoto/MF Doom), 2 remixes of "Hustlin'" (Rick Ross), and both the instrumental and vocal versions of "Allright" (Blockhead/Cage):
http://sassbucket.blogspot.com/2006/06/hitz-for-that-ass.html.

The Late Greats recently posted a few tracks by Erykah Badu---"On & On", "Kiss Me On My Neck", "Rimshot (intro)", "Woo", and "Rimshot (outro)": http://staergetaleht.blogspot.com/2006/06/guilty-pleasures-of-humpday-badu-bone.html.

Analog Giant is currently offering a generous number of instrumental joints by The Roots, RZA, Ghislain Poirier, Aesop Rock, etc:
http://analoggiant.blogspot.com/2006/06/no-words-just-music.html.

Chasing Red just posted some fantastic mp3s by Bohannon, O.V. Wright, James Brown, Muddy Waters, Ruby Andrews, and more: http://chasingred.livejournal.com/161586.html?mode=reply.

If you haven't come across Dabrye's song "Air" (w/MF Doom), you can cop it at KRLX Music, along with tracks by Daedelus and Nomo:
http://krlx.org/b/music/?p=145.

Freemotion is featuring three joints from the latest Madlib LP---The Beat Konducta Vol. 1-2: Movie Scenes:
http://www.freemotionhiphop.com/freemotion/?p=186.

Cop "Victory" by Mos Def and Sizzla at Mp3 4U:
http://www.mp34u.com/songCard.php?posting=3783.

Another great soul joint is up at Funky 16 Corners---"Lover and a Friend" by Eddie Bo and Inez Cheatham: http://funky16corners.wordpress.com/2006/06/21/eddie-bo-inez-cheatham-lover-and-a-friend/.

My favorite Styles of Beyond track is "Winnetka Exit", which is currently available at FPSA, along with a few other worthy hip-hop joints: http://fpsa.blogspot.com/2006/06/all-those-who-came-before-i-just.html.

I don't particularly care for Nelly Furtado or Lil' Wayne, but somehow the whole "Maneater (remix)" thing appeals to me in a warped way. Download the joint courtesy of Checkerboard Chimes: http://checkerboardchimes.blogspot.com/2006/06/i-be-diddy-you-be-mase.html.

Check out "The Format" by AZ at DJ Premier Planet:
http://djpremierplanet.blogspot.com/2006/06/track-tasteaz.html.

JT at Feed Me Good Tunes made my week by offering a ridiculous number of quality beats within a single post. If I had more time, I'd be glad to explain more, but let me just drop a few names on ya---MF Doom, Diplo, J Dilla, 9th Wonder, ATCQ, and GZA. Don't sleep:
http://feedmegoodtunes.blogspot.com/2006/06/beats-beats-beats-serious-double-post.html.

Somethin' silly to finish things off for the day---Flavor Flav reading an interactive story to some crazy-ass children on "Wonder Showzen". No matter how cynical you are, this is at least worth a chuckle:
http://www.devilducky.com/media/47202/.

A'ight then...be easy.