If It's Too Loud...

Vangarde is going to be pure bliss for many of us. It's the pairing of Mr. Lif and Stu Bangas. According to a Facebook post, the project is " In honor of the love we both have for Gang Starr, we have come together to keep the classic combo of MC & Producer alive and well in modern hip hop culture." Mr. Lif working on a project that is in honor of Gang Starr? I'm officially on board. Their first single, "The New Normal," will give you a strong Gang Starr vibe. It's a laid back hip hop song Gang Starr perfected in the 90's. It's almost like Vangarde came together as a Gang Starr tribute band, but are doing originals and not covers. That is not a bad thing. You can listen to "The New Normal" below. For more on the upcoming Vangarde project between Mr. Lif and Stu Bangas, check ou t  http://www.brutalmusic.org .

I love Halloween, but even I think I may have gone a bit too far on this year's If It's Too Loud... Halloween playlist. Starting on November 1, 2017, I started a playlist and tossed just about any song I thought would be good for a Halloween playlist on it. What we end up with is a forty five song, nearly three hour playlist. Just about every style of music we cover is included on this. You get indie rock legends (Luna, Buffalo Tom, Lee Ranaldo), heavier artists (The Jesus Lizard, Clutch, Faith No More), Americana/roots (Sarah Shook & The Disarmers, Lucero, Murder By Death), current indie rockers (Caroline Rose, Melkbelly, A Place to Bury Strangers), some hip hop (Mr. Lif, Cypress Hill), and a whole lot more. It's perfect for this weekend's Halloween parties (which is why we aren't waiting until Monday) and to listen to while you hand out candy on Wednesday. Enjoy!

We loved the return of Mr. Lif and Akrobatik to the Perceptionists project last year. Their album, Resolution , was definitely a highlight for us. While they have previously taken huge breaks between releases, they're already back with new music. The duo decided to "rough the edges up" on their previous release, and paired with producer Paten Locke to do so. The result will be the remix EP, Low Resolution: The Paten Locke Remixes. There will be one new track, which we can already listen to. "Bait" is definitely rougher than anything on Resolution. It's a stripped down song that's about as far away from today's mainstream rap as you can get and is a relic from the days where hip hop was rough and not always pleasant to listen to. I personally don't usually have any interest in repackaged remix albums, but this one I'll be waiting for. You can listen to "Bait" below. Low Resolution: The Paten Locke Remixes  will be out August 10. ...

Album of the Week : Artist : Fox Face Album : Spoil and Destroy Quick Description : Solid, energetic punk rock. Why You Should Listen : You're looking for something a little more authentic. Overall Thoughts : There has been no lack of female-fronted punk acts as of late, and Foxface definitely comes across as the rawest of the batch so far. It reminds me a lot of Be Your Own Pet, except it feels more authentic? And then I was won over for good with their take on “Toxic,” which was awesome. So this was a favorite of this week, and I can't wait to dive back in. Recommendation : Good for everyone, great for punk fans. Artist : Mark "Porkchop" Holder Album : Death and the Blues Quick Description : Garage-influenced blues rock. Why You Should Listen : Another authentic-sounding listen. Overall Thoughts : This is just a really fun, really solid blues rock record. Definitely some garage elements here, and would have really fit right in 15 years ago but work...

Way back in 2011, Mr. Lif was invited to play the Seattle Folk Festival. (It might seem like an odd venue for him, but for those of us who've been following Mr. Lif for a while, it makes perfect sense. Also, how aren't more folk festivals booking hip hop artists by now?) He didn't have a backing band, so he was paired up with Brass Menazeri, San Francisco's original Balkan Brass Band. It went so well that they've all joined up for an album coming out next month. "Crypt of Lost Styles" is virtually perfect. For decades, hip hop artists have been sampling horns, and now Mr. Lif has the energy of a live brass section behind him. It's a sound that's completely obvious in how perfect it all melds, but hasn't really been done before. It's pure old school hip hop through this glorious new prism that feels familiar even though it's completely fresh. You can listen to "Crypt of Lost Styles" below. Mr. Lif & Brass Menazeri...

I spent most of my Sunday at a wrestling show instead of working on a new music post, so this has to be abbreviated. That’s a shame, too, for some reasons to note. Anyway: Album of the Week : Arcade Fire - Everything Now : Album of the week, album of the quarter, and probably my frontrunner for album of the year if it holds up as well as the first listen did. Maybe their best effort even if it won’t be iconic the way their first album is or so universally praised like Neon Bible . If you’re avoiding this for any reason at all, don’t. Great Listens This Week : Little Silver - Somewhere You Found My Name : Features members of Hem in some form, this is a really brilliant listen and one that throws some folksy curveballs. Mr. Lif and Akrobatik- Resolution : Absolutely the rap album of the moment for me. Katie Von Schleicher - Shitty Hits : Tongue-in-cheek title, but this is much better than it lets on. Japanese Breakfast - Soft Sounds From Another Planet : Technically ...

It's been twelve years since the last album from The Perceptionists, aka Mr. Lif and Akrobatik. In recent years, Mr. Lif had a near death experience in a tour bus crash and Akrobatik had heart surgery. Both events led to the reunion of The Perceptionists. "Hose Down" is directly inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement and the near constant reports of police brutality. For a hip hop song, the music is kept to a bare minimum, really barely more than beats. It's awkward sounding and slightly out of tune, which fits the mood of the song perfectly. It's hardly a banger, but it's one of the most tense songs you'll hear all year. It feels the way Wu-Tang used to feel, but more intense. You can watch the video for "Hose Down" below. The Perceptionists' new album, Resolution , will be out July 28. You can pre-order a copy at Bandcamp . You can also get a copy of their previous single, "Grab Hold," for free on Bandcamp. For more on ...

And the rest! Artist : Moby and The Void Pacific Choir Album : These Systems Are Failing Quick Description : New album/project from Moby Why You Should Listen : Moby used to make some fairly essential stuff, and this is a return to interesting form. Overall Thoughts : I feel like Moby kind of ruined his brand in a way with Play , which was a good album, for sure, but was such a departure from his early work ( Animal Rights being the noted exception) that it seemed to set him on a weird trajectory in the longer term. These Systems Are Failing has a bit of a noise/industrial feel to it and thus doesn't feel like a recent Moby album, but still feels like an older one in terms of structure and interest. This was a favorite of mine this week, and I would highly recommend that, if you just saw the name Moby and scrolled on by, to give this a shot. Recommendation : A really great listen this week. Artist : Conor Oberst Album : Ruminations Quick Description : Lo-fi, stripp...

A busy week of new music, which seems to be typical for the moment! 1 of 2 as has been the case for a while. Album of the Week : Artist : Sturgill Simpson Album : A Sailor's Guide to Earth Quick Description : Latest album from the buzzed-about country act. Why You Should Listen : If his previous album was his roots breakthrough, this might end up being his mainstream one. Overall Thoughts : We've, to this point, not been on the Sturgill bandwagon here. It's not that he's not good at what he does, but I haven't personally felt the connection to his work the way a lot of other people have. Metamodern Sounds felt very sterile to me in particular, and I was expecting more of the same from this new album this week, and I didn't get it. His sound is still classic (the cover of "In Bloom" absolutely nails it), but there's a little bit of a layer of something here that I felt was missing before, and it makes it much more interesting. Thi...

Considering 90% of what I listened to in high school was hip hop, I'm always a little disappointed by how little I listen to now. Del the Funky Homosapien was huge for me back then (I still want to refer to him as "tha Funkee,") so I'm thrilled that he's still making quality music, which is more than I can say for most old school rappers. Also, I know I'm old because I also consider this a collaboration with one of my favorite "new" rappers, who I've been listening to for at least 14 years now.  "World Renown" is taken from Boston based Mr. Lif's upcoming LP, Don't Look Down. Both MCs' styles mesh perfectly well. I never noticed how similar their flows are, with that laid back but intense delivery. Plus, musically the track has that slightly futuristic sound that both Lif and Del have made careers on. This is a true duet, not just a quickie guest appearance. This song will have you dreaming of an entire collaborative alb...

I write about hip hop surprisingly rarely considering that I listened to way more rap than anything else in my teen years. Hip hop is the one genre I truly turn into a grumpy old man about. Most new rap I just don't get at all, and most artists from back in my youth either don't make music or it's just dull and uninteresting. This is why I'm so excited about this new track from L'Orange & Kool Keith, featuring Mr. Lif. This is my first exposure to L'Orange (who's based in Nashville, oddly enough), but I've been following both Lif and Kool Keith for years now. They're two of the increasingly rare rappers who've been around for a while but still have an interesting output. Put both on one track, and there's no way it can fail. "Twenty Fifty Three" is a great song. It has a futuristic and western vibe, which leads to immediate comparisons to Deltron 3030 and Gorillaz. But L'Orange & Kool Keith have their own feel to i...

Seeing as we love free music here at If It's Too Loud..., I was thrilled to see that one of my favorite early 2000s hip hop albums is being offered at a "Name Your Own Price" option. Released in 2002, Mr. Lif's I Phantom  blew me away. I was raised on a ton of rap in my formative high school years, but by my post college years, there was fewer and fewer hip hop albums I could stand, much less love. By then, most hip hop was "sampling" a pop song from the 80s in it's entirety, even keeping the chorus, and rapping about having money. Nothing seemed to mean anything anymore. Then came Mr. Lif's debut album. Mostly produced by El-P, it was very sparse and actually about something. You can download the entire album on his Bandcamp page , which actually includes descriptions of each song. If you loved hip hop before Puff Daddy,you'll want to check this out. You can also check out his official website for the rest of his newer material, including Ter...