Category Archives: Audio

Kid Cudi drops guitar-infused single ‘Confused” off his next album ‘Speedin’ Bullet to Heaven’

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It’s been a minute since Kid Cudi shared new music with his cult following. It happened back in early March when he dropped the Ratatat-sampled “love.,” a track that was left on the cutting room floor during the making of his third studio album Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon.

Late last night, Cudder made his comeback by releasing the first official single off Speedin’ Bullet to Heaven, his next album. “Confused” is produced by Cudi and features guitar and bass instruments played by the artist. “Who am I? / Who are we? / Confused, truth is what I choose / Heal I never do,” he croons on top of a grungy beat.

What makes Cudi such a refreshingly unique player in the hip-hop community is that he’s bold enough to reinvent himself on a whim. The third and final installment in his Man on the Moon trilogy is still in the works, and in the meantime he’s been experimenting with a more rock-n-roll vibe, plucking his guitar and traversing in and out genres. It’s hard to call him a rapper these days–Cudi simply cannot be cornered into a single definition. Whether or not you enjoy the deviating paths he’s taken to get here, you’d be remiss not to applaud his resilience to be different.

In a series of tweets from early July, Cudi expressed that “This album is 100% the purest form of my artistic self” and “I’ve ripped my heart out and carved it into tiny pieces of musical madness.” He confirmed that “There are no synths or electronic sounds” on Speedin’ Bullet to Heaven and that it will “consist of all guitar and bass played by myself.” Though the album’s release date has yet to be solidified, Cudi said that it was “98% finished” on the 4th of July. Stay tuned!

“Confused” is streaming on SoundCloud. Thoughts?

Disclosure & Sam Smith drop new collab “Omen”

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Disclosure and Sam Smith are back with their second major collaboration. The followup to “Latch” is “Omen” and it features the rising crooner on top of moody Lawrence brothers beat. “Omen” is the second single off Disclosure’s imminent sophomore effort, Caracal. The steamy music video, featuring Smith in a Mexico City club, is the second of a four-part series directed by Ryan Hope. Last month, when Disclosure dropped “Holding On,” part one of the series, they laid out Caracal‘s initial rollout via Twitter:

“We wanted to create something very different with our music videos this time around…something unique that would connect all the songs from the album and the videos in a special way. This is the first of a series of four amazing videos directed by Ryan Hope that come together to create a short film… ‘CARACAL.’ As each music video comes out… The plot unfolds. Hope you enjoy!”

If you’re interested in following the trials and tribulations of Mariela, a rebel caught up in a heavily surveilled dystopian future, watch the video for “Holding On” first (featuring vocals from Gregory Porter) and then mash play on “Omen.” The synth-pop house duo will likely release the final two installments prior to Caracal‘s launch on September 25. Preorder Caracal today, and stream “Omen” on Spotify.

What do you think of the new Disclosure x Sam Smith collab? Think it’ll take over the radio waves like “Latch” did last year? When Disclosure released that Settle single in 2012, it took about two years for it to explode onto scene in the US. At the time, Smith hadn’t even released his solo debut In the Lonely Hour. Now, Disclosure is more of household name here in the States, and Smith has piled on the accolades since his first album dropped. In summation, “Omen” is destined to reach the top of the charts.

Kid Cudi spreads the “love.” with new Ratatat-sampled track

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It’s been a hot minute since Scott Mescudi released new music. Today, I’m enthused to report that the Kid Named Cudi is back with a fresh jam that sizzles with positive vibes and will have you feeling the best kind of nostalgia. In “love.,” Kid Cudi samples Ratatat’s track “Sunblocks”; the last time Cudder collaborated with the electronic rock duo’s music to this degree of perfection was back in 2009 with Man on the Moon’s “Alive.”

What is “love.”? Sadly it doesn’t seem like it’s a single off Cudi’s anticipated Man on the Moon threequel that’s currently in the works. In a SoundCloud post, he shares that it’s a track that was made during his Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon sessions. It’s produced by Cudi, and his WZRD partner Dot Da Genius provided the keys.

With lyrics like, “Don’t be so down, come on young homie / You’ll be OK, you’ll find real love / All of the stories the hero gets lonely / Now is the time to show what you’re made of,” Cudi “hope[s] it brings you some peace if you have a lonely heart out there.” Get lost in it below.

Kanye West announces new album title, artwork & single “All Day”

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This week Kanye West made a few major announcements regarding his upcoming seventh studio album: it’s got a title, new single, and fresh album artwork. Ye’s next collection of music is collectively called So Help Me God and it will ship with previously released tracks “Only One” (Featuring Paul McCartney) and “Wolves” (Featuring Sia and Vic Mensa). Sources say the Rihanna-led “Four Five Seconds” is exclusively bound for the Barbadian singer’s next record.

As for Ye’s third single off So Help Me God, it’s called “All Day” and he debuted it live at the BRIT Awards last week. Today, he released a studio version on iTunes; preview it above. If you’ve been missing Ye going hard, “All Day” is the answer to your prayers. The rapper spits lyrics on top of an infectious beat, and he’s assisted by Trinidadian-born alt-hip-hop artist Theophilus London, Canadian rising rapper Allan Kingdom, and yes, Sir Paul McCartney rounds the track out with some whistling. Rolling Stone reports McCartney’s contribution, and they astutely speculate that the whistling was actually plucked from a song the Beatle shared in 1969.

Lastly, scroll up to eyeball the stylistic album artwork for So Help Me God. Four lower-case m’s connect to form a diamond shape. Redditors say it’s representative of a 13th century monastic symbol for the Virgin Mary, but I don’t buy it until Kanye says otherwise.

When can we expect the album to drop in full? West recently sat down with Power 105.1 and he claimed that it’s 80% complete. And even when it is ready, a hard release date will not be announced. Following in the footsteps of Queen Bey and Drake, Ye plans on surprising his fans by dropping his next studio album without any notice.

If you consider yourself to be a major Kanye fan, or if you’re simply interesting in exploring the controversial rapper’s mind, I highly recommend you listen to the aforementioned interview in full, here. In it, he discusses everything from his award show interruptions to his design aspirations. When asked to describe his upcoming album, he said this: “My last album [Yeezus] was a protest of music…This album is about embracing the music and embracing joy and being of joy and being of service to the people. I just hope people like it and enjoy it.”

[Stream via 2DopeBoyz]

Death Cab for Cutie releases “Black Sun,” first song without founding member Chris Walla

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Here’s your first taste of Death Cab for Cutie minus Chris Walla. The founding band member amicably parted ways with DCFC over the summer, and so this brand new single offers up the alt-rock band in a new light. No doubt, “Black Sun” still sounds like classic DCFC; frontman and lead singer Ben Gibbard remains the soulful face of the band. Fans will have to wait for nuanced differences to surface once their eighth studio album comes out; Rick Costey (a Muse, Franz Ferdinand, and Kimbra collaborator) replaced Walla as lead producer on it. Kintsugi, the followup to 2011’s Codes and Keys, drops March 31. Bassist Nick Harmer described the inspiration behind the album’s unique title to Rolling Stone: “It’s a Japanese style of art where they take fractured, broken ceramics and put them back together with very obvious, real gold. It’s making the repair of an object a visual part of its history. That resonated with us as a philosophy, and it connected to a lot of what we were going through, both professionally and personally.”

As a longtime Death Cab fan, it’s certainly sad to see Walla go after being a part of the band for 17 years, but it gives DCFC an opportunity to move forward in new directions and I’m glad that Gibbard and co. are taking it in stride. “This is an opportunity for the band to become something it could only become by losing a founding member,” Gibbard says. “It’s our goal to make records that rank amongst the best work we’ve ever done.”

Kid Cudi drops track off upcoming EP ‘Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon’

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Before Man on the Moon III hits in 2015, Kid Cudi is dropping a prelude EP called Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon. This week Cudder surprised his Cud Fam and released a track from said EP titled “Satellite Flight” co-produced by his WZRD partner Dot Da Genius. It’s got that classic Cudi sound so fans should anticipate the EP to share a similar vibe. Listen to the track in the SoundCloud embed below.

Katy Perry & Lady Gaga face off in battle of the new singles; Eminem reenters the game, too

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This week pop divas Katy Perry and Lady Gaga and famed rapper Eminem released new music for the first time in a long time.

Perry’s “Roar,” embedded above, is the lead single off her upcoming fourth studio album Prism due out October 22. Her last album Teenage Dream, which featured numerous radio hits like “California Gurls,” “Teenage Dream,” “Firework,” “E.T.,” “Last Friday Night,” and “The One That Got Away,” released nearly three years ago.

Gaga’s followup to 2011’s Born This Way (which included popular tracks like “Born This Way,” “Judas,” “The Edge of Glory,” “You and I,” and “Marry The Night”) is ARTPOP due out November 11. “Applause” is the first single off her new record and its lyric video is posted after the break.

Both “Roar” and “Applause” are worthy lead singles that will inevitably climb the charts. Though there’s some controversy surrounding Katy’s new tune (listeners quickly picked up that the back track sounds eerily similar to the one used in Sara Bareilles’ “Brave”), it does distance itself away from that other equally catchy and uplifting song enough that both can coexist and be enjoyed. (SoundCloud user MixmstrStel remixed the two songs together to grand effect.) Gaga’s “Applause,” in my opinion, is the weaker of the two singles and yet it still manages to make me anticipate her long-awaited new material.

Lastly, rap legend Eminem is back for another encore. Details are still being kept under wraps regarding Shady’s eighth album and followup to 2010’s Recovery; but fans can get a taste of what’s to come in Em’s new track “Survival.” The song promotes the next Call of Duty game Ghosts and it appears the game’s soundtrack. “Survival” will be part of the new record, but Eminem’s camp says fans can expect the rapper to drop the album’s true lead single soon. Listen to Eminem’s latest after the break. Continue reading Katy Perry & Lady Gaga face off in battle of the new singles; Eminem reenters the game, too →

Kid Cudi drops WZRD-produced track “Going To The Ceremony”

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Out of nowhere, months after debuting his fourth studio album Indicud, Kid Cudi released a never-before-heard track titled “Going To The Ceremony.” In the SoundCloud stream, embedded below for your listening pleasure, Cudder acknowledges that it’s WZRD-produced, meaning his WZRD partner Dot Da Genius also had a hand in the production of the guitar-tinged song. Whether or not it was made during WZRD‘s production window to be left on the cutting room floor remains unknown. On the song streaming site Cudi leaves a note, “it’s all happening.” Is WZRD 2 in the works? I leave you with this.

Daft Punk remixes R.A.M.’s “Get Lucky”

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Can’t get enough of “Get Lucky,” the irresistable hit single off Daft Punk’s latest prize Random Access Memories? Well the Pharrell Williams assisted and Nile Rodgers enhanced track has been remixed by the electronic duo themselves. Clocking it at over 10 minutes in length, the remix does not deviate too far from its original incarnation, but it’s chopped and mixed up just enough to notice and appreciate the revitalized orchestration. The remix streams exclusively on Spotify; log in and listen to it after the break. Also after the jump you’ll find a video promo for the new track. Buy “Get Lucky” (Daft Punk Remix) on iTunes and preorder the vinyl here which drops July 16. Continue reading Daft Punk remixes R.A.M.’s “Get Lucky” →

Daft Punk readying new album ‘Random Access Memories’ (hear snippet here)

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Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter, better known by their stage name Daft Punk, are hard at work on their followup album to 2005’s Human After All. True, they worked on the soundtrack for 2010’s Tron: Legacy, but this new collection of tracks marks the fourth studio album release for the French electronic music duo. The name of their next album is Random Access Memories (I love it) and it will include 13 new tracks, one of which was teased in a commercial break during a recent episode of SNL. Take a listen to the 15 second snippet above.

Random Access Memories is out May 17 and it’s up for preorder at iTunes today ($11.99). Visit the Columbia-signed artists website to preorder a physical copy of the CD ($12.98) or the vinyl ($39.98) which includes a digital album download code, an LP size booklet, and a 180 gram double vinyl gatefold. Check out the official album artwork after the break.

Come on, people; it’s time make it get funky. Continue reading Daft Punk readying new album ‘Random Access Memories’ (hear snippet here) →

Kid Cudi outs new single “Immortal” as we near ‘Indicud’ release

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On Friday at midnight Kid Cudi released the third single off his coming album Indicud for the world to hear. The track is called “Immortal” and in it Cudder forgets he’s a rapper and croons his way through a self-produced track that features a rock-ish vibe similar to what can be heard on his collection of songs found on his 2011 release WZRD. In the chorus he sings, “I am living my life as if I had powers/And tonight I feel immortal.” Clearly Cudi is high offa life on this track and the positive vibe is definitely infectious. However, if you were looking forward to hearing hard raps and rhymes you won’t find that here; but then again, I think it’s time we acknowledged that Cudder has evolved into a unique artist flaunting his ability to rap, sing, and rock a mean guitar.

In a tweet Kid Cudi revealed the production behind his new track. “Ok, so heres what I did. I took one of my favorite bands MGMT’s song “Congratulations“, put it in reverse, sped it up, and produced over it.” It works. So does the opening scream from Billy Madison‘s Adam Sandler.

Listen to “Immortal” below and anticipate Indicud‘s April 23 release.

Drake drops new single “Started From The Bottom” (music video inside)

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October’s Very Own is back with a new single off his upcoming third studio album. “Started From The Bottom” stars Drake the Rapper since the majority of the track features the former Degrassi star laying down hard rhymes as opposed to his usual crooning abilities. It’s not as bouncy as his previous singles “Take Care” and “The Motto” but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Drizzy gets real in this track as he takes listeners on a journey through his rise to fame.

He took to his blog to formally introduce his latest cut to fans. “I am proud of every part of my past and I’m excited for this song to find a place in your life as well. I didn’t feel I needed any interviews or radio or press to launch this song. It felt right to come back to the site that I started on and release it to the people that started here with me. Judging by this post, the tour that we’ve been planning, the conversations about new songs and album artwork…I think it’s safe to say we’re back together again. Looking forward to seeing you all soon.”

Listen to “Started From The Bottom” here. Download it at iTunes. An accompanying music video hangs after the break.

Continue reading Drake drops new single “Started From The Bottom” (music video inside) →