Music & More

Met this friendly fellow while walking in my neighborhood the other day. Such a sweet dog. Not a bark or a whimper...but he is DYING for some lovin'. Something else that made me whip out my phone was this.


That's a big cone y'all. What else can be said....really.

And now for something completely different.

I have been on a CD buying bonanza as of late. I haven't been buying music all that much these days...compared to when I lived in NYC. In those days it was at least 1 or 2 albums a week. Since I moved to Japan, it is way less. Most of the time the time that is...


Lilly Allen first. Before her album dropped I heard a bunch of her singles here and there on the WWW. I was liking them but not really sure I would buy the album till I heard this one.

Lilly Allen - Alfie


My favorite track by far. The rest of the album is good and enjoyable. But that song is where it's at for me. In this age of single song downloads, complete albums are a rarity...but this one manages it. The same can not be said about the Rhymefest album. It is close to complete...but there are a couple songs I skip every single time. But 3 bad tracks on a 16 track album is not bad at all. I don't regret the purchase at all. The good songs on here are REALLY good. For example:

Rhymefest - Fever


I love how he seems to bounce and skim over that deep beat. It is my fav on the album right now. The video ain't worth getting excited about, but the song is!


After much hype and promotion the Timbaland album finally drop a couple weeks ago. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd say it's so so. A couple of hot bangers, a bunch of decent stuff, and a few crapsters in there. This is an album that works well with some iTunes editing. Sadly for people in the US, it seems the best track was a bonus track for Asia and Europe only. Here it is. [audio only]

Timbaland & M.I.A. - Come Around


I'm not disappointed by the album. I just feel like he is kinda all over the place...and not in a good way. But I still love those good tracks. Easily worth the junk tracks. Seriously...who likes R&B anyway??? There is no kinda "all over the place" atmosphere on the Redman album. It is focused to the extreme: all East Coast joints one after another. If it catches you in that mood, it's perfect. If not...it is a tad monotonous. And one other sad thing, the 1st single is the best track on the album, which is always a bit dissapointing.

Redman - Put It Down


But any hip-hop album that can combines good slamin' beats with insults and jokes by Redman is all good in my book.


I also picked up some mixed tapes. The Junglist Now! has some good old jungle tracks on it. But damn!!! One key point for mixed tapes is to showcase the ability of the DJ, right? Not so much here. This has to be the worst mixed tape ever in that department: beats not matching, tracks dropping in and out almost at random, abrupt change in BPM or style. Yeah...it's got them all. BUT...the tracks themselves stand up to the non-stop assult they recieve.

The I LUV Baile album is very different...the DJ can actually mix! And who doesn't love some Baile Funk! I need more. For more info on Baile...which...if no one told you, is the music of the future, click HERE, HERE, or HERE.

And on this post rolls on with yet another non sequitur.

There is a holiday in Japan coming on May 5th which is Koinobori or Children's day or Boy's day...depending who you ask. It's mostly for the boys. And the main element I can gather is that you fly carp flags everywhere. Like this thing


Why am I talking about a kid's holiday when I don't have any kids you ask. Here is why.


[source]

A sneaker is the reason, of course! Loved these when I saw the sample up in MITA a couple weeks ago. They are Nike 360's as part of the Koinobori pack. They are hands down the best in the pack. I tried them on and they looked pretty dope. But the price and the brightness of the 3M all over was more than I could handle. In addition to that, I have my eyes on some future releases that I need to remain faithful to. That being said, I did pick up something else over the weekend which will be revealed soon.

Hold Tight

(ps. That there's a hint to what I bought last weekend.)