Das Racist: 4/5 Bits

Artist: Das Racist

Album: Shut Up, Dude - Sit Down, Man

Genre: Hip-Hop, Indie

I became aware of the New York duo Das Racist yesterday when a friend linked me his song "Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell" which to be frank is just for laughs. I decided to check out his two newly released mix tapes though to see what he was all about. I was quickly turned on. The first thing I noticed was a brilliant variety of sampling done throughout from Herbie Hancock to The Doors. Their lyrics next grabbed my attention. Varying from tongue in cheek racial lines to them simply rhyming a series of words into others with no purpose other than to provide brilliant wordplay. The beats are simply fantastic; Given the list of producers including Diplo, you knew it would be. I highly recommend these as they are freely available through Das Racist's bandcamp site. I've decided to upload them myself since the tagging on the albums was terrible.

Tracks to check out: Fake Patois, You Oughta Know, All Tan Everything

Both receive 4/5 Bits.

Brian Eno - Small Craft on a Milk Sea: 3/5 Bits

Artist: Brian Eno

Album: Small Craft on a Milk Sea

Genres: Electronic, Ambient

This is actually a shocker to me. This album I mean. I expected to completely hate this based on the past stuff I've heard from him. To be honest his past stuff bored me to a level that I've never experienced before or after. I heard a lot of people hyping this up though, as expected, so I decided to give it a try. I wasn't blown away, but I wasn't turned off. The album had it's moments where I really dug it, and moments where I was almost bored. My biggest problem with this album was the lack of fluidity from song to song. It was pretty noticeable when the track had switched despite me not giving it my full attention. Overall though the album made for good background music. It suited it's purpose while I played Wordfeud on my Droid.

Tracks to check out: Bone Jump, Paleosonic, Late Anthropocene

3/5 Bits

Toro Y Moi - Causers of This: 4/5 Bits

Artist: Toro Y Moi

Album: Causers of This

Genres: Chill Wave, Indie, Electronic

A friend recently recommended this album to me as we were discussing releases that were memorable for 2010. I decided to give it a go as I need more electronic upbeat music in my life. This album wound up on repeat for the next 3 hours. Was there anything that stood out about this album? Not really. That's the beauty though, the album was able to be judged as a whole rather than a few stand out tracks. This album made for excellent background music or would certainly be suitable for a party. The smooth electronic layered synths and various sounds with simple, yet fitting beats, and a smooth voice layered with effects just works.

Tracks to check out: Minors, Thanks Vision, Low Shoulder

4/5 Bits