Blogarhythms

I closed out yesterday’s post with a surprise video clip from one of my favorite new Hip-Hop dudes of the year, Saint Louis, Missouri’s Black Spade. When I originally bigged up homeboy’s debut album To Serve With Love I likened my reaction to it to my reaction to hearing the Below the Heavens, the Exile-produced debut from Los Angeles-based emcee Blu the year before.

Now a year later, Blu — who’s still one of my favorite new Hip-Hop dudes — just dropped his sophomore release alongside Detroit’s Ta’Raach under the shared moniker C.R.A.C., and is readying another collabo record with emcee/producer Mainframe as Johnson&Jonson for release later this year. And to top it all off, he and Ta’Raach have given me a asurprise video clip to begin today’s post with, for the stick-out track “Buy Me Lunch” — featuring songbird Noni Limar (who also co-directed the video) — from their recently-released LP The Piece Talks.

C.R.A.C. “Buy Me Lunch” feat. Noni Limar

While I’m on the subject of not-exactly-traditional Hip-Hop I have to give a nod to Seattle, Washington Rap crew The Saturday Knights right quick. Their debut album Mingle, which is due out on Light In the Attic Records June 24th, is set to feature collaborations with such atypically Hip-Hop personalities as Kim Thayil of Soundgarden, the producer of Nirvana’s debut record Bleach Jack Endino, the Muscle Shoals Horns and the Dap-Kings, among others.

If their single, “Dogpark” backed-with “45,” is any indication, the album’s gonna be all over the damn place. Which could prove interesting or tedious depending on how well the group’s shenanigans hold up over the length of an LP, and how tolerant individual listeners are of those shenanigans. But the b-side cut “45″ (which features Endino on skins) sure as hell caught my ear though! And it’s rollicking live-band groove, pulpit-rattling organ, retro Southern Soul vibe and rowdily catchy chorus are conspiring to make it one of my favorite tracks to throw into a playlist right about now.

The Saturday Knights “45″

It sounded real nice sandwiched between something from yesterday’s main featurees Soul Cannon and a track off The Roots‘ Rising Down on my Urban Alternatives radio show last night, that’s for sure. If you think it sounds nice here, and you happen to be in the Seattle area, think about checking the Knights out live at one of the upcoming local dates alongside Wu-Tang impresario RZA and fellow Staten Islanders the Budos Band respectively later this month.

Something else that sounded particularly dope during last night’s show was Bay Area beatsmith AmpLive’s rework of Brooklyn Psychetronica duo MGMT’s “Of Moons, Birds & Monsters” retitled “Communication” and featuring Oakland-based emcee Mistah Fab on vocals. It’s the second time the kid’s tackled remixing an MGMT tune (the first was a mashup of their “Future Reflections” with Of Montreal’s “Faberge Falls for Shuggie,” which I told you a bout a few weeks ago) and a warmup for gigs remixing Tokyo Police Club and Jamie Lidell later this Summer.

Amplive vs. MGMT “Of Moons, Birds & Monsters (Communication Edit)” feat. Mistah Fab
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