Shabazz Palaces Live at Boiler Room

While you were passed out during 4th of July weekend, enigmatic Seattle rap outfit Shabazz Palaces (and Disclosure) met up at London's Boiler Room for a set of special performances. For fans of the former, a ten minute piece of the lucky performance is available below.

New Shabazz Palaces video - An Echo From The Hosts That Profess Infinitum

It's been nearly two years since the release of the still fantastic Black Up from Seattle's enigmatic rap outfit Shabazz Palaces, but director Joris Grelet finally debuted the official video for "An Echo From The Hosts That Profess Infinitum."

In other Shabazz news, frontman Ishmael Butler has taken over Gorilla vs. Bear today, posting whatever he so feels. Check that out in the link above, otherwise watch the new video below.

Ode To Octavia, Pt. 12: (Sparkles) ... Recollections Of The Wraith, with Shabazz Palaces

Shot by members of The Black Constellation, this marvelous, visionary short film (Sparkles) ... Recollections Of The Wraith uses two tracks from Shabazz Palaces to offset the wondrous visionary spectacle. The short film is the 12th part in the group's homage to award-winning science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler, who died in 2006.

The group used the enthralling, deeply naturalistic locations of Washington state's Methow Valley, the Cascade foothills, and the town of Carnation (which has the Tolt-MacDonald Park and Campground). Watch it below.

Animal Collective - New Town Burnout (Shabazz Palaces remix)

One of the standout tracks from Animal Collective's upcoming Monkey Been To Burn Town (can't get enough of that title) remix EP comes from West coast avant-garde rapper group Shabazz Palaces. The twisted take on Centipede Hz track "New Town Burnout" comes with distant aural spacing and free-falling verses from Ishmael Butler, turning it into a deconstructed eight-minute burner.

Monkey Been To Burn Town, which also features remixes from Gang Gang Dance member Brian DeGraw, Teengirl Fantasy, and Tha Traxman, is due out in vinyl and as a digital download May 27 from Domino Records. Those who pre-order the 12" will receive the Brian DeGraw remix of "Monkey Riches" immediately.

Our Newest Obsession: Clipping

Forgive me. My words to describe whatever the hell Clipping is comes directly from fellow 405 writer Wil Cook in his article about the other-wordly Los Angeles rap group.

"Clipping seem to be the logical progression from the Dalek, Death Grips and Shabazz Palaces' stream of consciousness. Two guys making rhythmical Tim Hecker style noise made into perfect swelling waves of cerebral hip hop."

In another word, the streamlined chaos of Clipping's midcity LP, available on the group's Bandcamp, is unheard of. The beats are disorienting, the pulse is fast, and the rhythyms are absolutely jarring. midcity is an experience that cannot be comprehended.

Aesthetically pleasing is out the window - midcity is furious art, made for the most visceral curiosities. For a taste, listen to "guns.up" below and just be ready.

Tuesday Bears: New Remix: Hale-Bopp was the Bedouins (Shabazz Palaces Remix)

Ishmael Butler, more well-known around the internet as the headman of super-indie rap act Shabazz Palaces, recently remixed Lushlife's "Hale-Bopp was the Bedouins." The new cut is pretty deconstructed, altering the original Gang Gang Dance and Heems samples in the song with Butler's usual off brand takes. Listen to the awesome remix below.

Shabazz Palaces remix Battles

I'm usually not one for off-hand remixes, but Shabazz Palaces altered rendition of Battles' "White Electric" is pretty on the spot. It's a little side-project for the group, who are releasing four separate remixed 12" parts of last year's album Gloss Drop, with plenty of good artists set to help out. I'll keep an eye on it, but for now listen to "White Electric" below.

New Shabazz Palaces video - Are You ... Can You ... Were You? (Felt)

Shabazz Palaces debuted their new video for (and this is the title) "Are You ... Can You ... Were You?(Felt)" earlier today, a spectacularly well-shot and well-paced video directed by Maikoiyo Alley-Barnes. The video features an incredibly attractive woman dealing with somewhat normal problems, placated by slip-ins of Shabazz-centric imagery. Watch below.

And it goes without saying that Black Up, Shabazz Palaces' latest album, is available now and must-listen.

Bears and Bullets Albums of the Year: Pt. V

We'll continue today with our top 25 countdown with albums #5 through #1.

#5: Fucked Up - David Comes to Life
In all honesty, the concept album isn't my thing. Too often the ideas of a concept album sweep away what could have been multiple tracks of endearing music, instead playing the hand of a story that isn't terribly interesting to begin with it. That's why 'essential' records like Tommy, Quadrophenia, The Wall, and Sgt. Peppers, for all their massive critical acclaim, don't truthfully pass through time as well as their super-fans would like to admit. Daring? Sure. But so was the first 'Tron' movie, and that looks terrible now. 

So, I had every right in my mind to be skeptical of Fucked Up's David Comes to Life project; a huge double-album about the omniscient David character and the pre-meditated sequence of events that follow upon meeting Veronica (both are identified in the album's second track "Queen of Hearts"). The problems that the band avoids is in their hardcore nature. While the song-writing is vital to the idea, Fucked Up thankfully understood that their punk sounds come first and foremost, not endlessly dragging through the four parts that make up the album. It almost feels like David Comes to Life destroys the concept of the concept album, playing with hearts instead of just minds.

#4: The Weeknd - House of Balloons
The man who should be on everyone's shortlist for Best Artist of 2011, Abel Tesfaye, better known as The Weeknd, released three free records this year as part of a trilogy. Thursday and Echoes of Silence (released two days ago) were the final pieces, but it was his February debut House of Balloons that truly came out of no where to land him where he is right now, the best new voice in pop. Luckily, Tesfaye's edge isn't simply his voice, but his drippy, enriching production setting the pace for all three albums. The sampling is noticeable, like Beach House's "Master of None" on the seven-minute-plus "The Party & The After Party," but aren't the the most attachable portions of House of Balloons. That's Tesfaye's job, which comes through effortlessly and is hard to match.

#3: Shabazz Palaces - Black Up
Hip-hop too often settles with good, or just good enough. While some parts of the product remain pre-eminently consistent, truly pushing the boundaries isn't thought of as a necessary notion of the genre, it seems. For every great record that leaks through, there's another that just seems good, or passable, but not terribly imaginative. With the combined work of Ishmael Butler (ex-Digable Planets member) and Tendai Maraire, Black Up, the first studio release from Shabazz Palaces, is some of the smartest, most intricate, and deeply profound work the genre has seen in years. The narratives are existential tomes of race, materialism, and atmospheric elements only engraved in the deepest caverns of thoughtful construct. Combined with the other-worldly sounds the duo work with, and Black Up proudly comes out as one of the most imaginative efforts in recent memory.

#2: Bon Iver - Bon Iver
If there's one phrase that works for Bon Iver's self-titled release, it's "embarrassingly good." From the album's roaring opening, "Perth," to the slightly confusing, but heartwarming "Beth/Rest" (some won't agree with that), Bon Iver is too good even for the common cynic to thoughtlessly ignore. The sounds are too rich, Justin Vernon's voice is too sentimental, the craft is too perfect, the consistency is ... too consistent.

Every album has it's impossibly high moments ("Perth," "Holocene"), but rarely do they truly separate from the rest of the record, as it does here. From "Michicant" to "Calgary" to the aforementioned "Beth/Rest," fanfare is split to where the record stands tallest. But that distinction says more for Bon Iver's overall quality than anything else. It's a question worth asking, even if there's no direct answer.

#1: M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
Expectations were pretty high for Hurry Up, We're Dreaming, M83's sixth studio release in ten years. The previous records were consistently formative, but usually ended up plateauing after a couple remarkable singles ("Run Into Flowers," "Kim & Jessie," etc.) There always seemed to be an innate ability for Anthony Gonzalez to not only replicate those stand-out moments, but captivate them with something bigger, something that required more time. And it's pretty easy to see how big Hurry Up, We're Dreaming is; nearly 80 minutes and two albums worth of material. You'd figure Gonzalez would fizzle somewhere.

The album scorches in the opening, with "Intro," "Midnight City," and "Reunion" - three tracks that have already marked their way through the past few weeks as singles, and the expectations are pretty much met. That pitch-perfect manifestation of imagination and childhood enchantment Gonzalez has a complete knack for are packaged in what could be perceived as a deluxe issue, unrelenting and unconscious. It's hard not to get completely lost on the first or second listen, but that's what a perfect record should do. It needs to be so good you don't care about anything else.



We'll continue next week with our Top 25 Songs of the Year ...

Monday Bears: New Shabazz Palaces - Black Up

Normally, I'd be posting about the Black Keys performance from last week's Saturday Night Live, but judging on how it seems like EVERY live performance on that show just sounds sub-par, I'll skip it (by the way, Robyn will be the guest next Saturday).

Instead, check out Shabazz Palaces wonderfully shot summation of his most recent album Black Up, available now via Sub Pop. If you aren't familiar with the album that already is, or soon will be, on the top of all the end of the year lists, this five minute video sells it well.

Shabazz Palaces - Black Up