… and then it was 2011. Hopefully your New Year’s celebration involved doing something more celebratory than being berated by a solo Ariel Pink from a makeshift stage in a Bushwick warehouse, and hopefully you are back on the internet with a lot of hard drive space and some well rested ears: There was a lot of good music last year, but there’s even more to look forward to. Before we dive in full force, let’s collectively shake off the brain rust with this little roundup of the noteworthy downloads that came down the tubes during the internet’s post-holiday/pre-NYE holiday malaise, including links to so many mixtapes, a free Radiohead DVD, an album made by primatez on an iPad, and the various live sessions blog-bands like to offer up to stay in your hearts and minds over winter break (Always Be Buzzing). Pour a coffee, grab some headphones, tell your boss “you’re working on it” and let’s start the year in workplace procrastination on the good foot. Good habits for a good year ahead. Welcome to it.

Read More...

Although Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo are plenty busy as production team the Neptunes, crafting chart-topping pop tracks for the likes of Beyoncé and Justin Timberlake, and forum-busting hip hop cuts for everyone from Jay-Z to the Clipse, they’ve still found time for albums all their own with Shay Haley as N.E.R.D.

The circumstances surrounding this one are a little murky, but here’s what we gather: At some point, someone in camp Leon commissioned a remix album for Because Of The Times, and Kenna (along with Virginia Beach compatriot Chad Hugo) got the call to take on the raw-chugging rocker “My Party.” But as these things go, the album ended up a music-industry fatality, and Kenna ‘n’ the Neptune man were sitting on their beat-laced take on the KoL track. Talks abound about what’ll happen to the completed cuts, but it looks like they’re gonna be seeping their way around the web soon enough. Yesterday, the stripped, rim-clickin’ “My Party” made it into our inbox, so get yer grab on.

Read More...