Mixtapes of the Week: Psychedelic Hip-Hop & Rap Auteurs

A week ago I said Mixtapes of the Month should become a regular feature here. Well just this last week, a whole slew of outstanding mixtapes have shown up for your listening pleasure. One that I was excited for, Pusha T's Wrath of Caine does not make the cut here. A sizable step backward from the work he's been doing over the past couple years, that tape sounds like the work of a man past his prime who's both bewildered and bitter over weak production. Let's hope he's got some fire left in him for the album he's set to release later this year.

Click on the link below to see the mixtapes from this week that I did like:

New Chart: WESU Goes Electric

1    RICHARD THOMPSON    Electric   
2    O PRESIDENTE    Clube de Futebol   
3    ADAM ANT    Adam Ant Is the Blueblack Hussar in Marrying the Gunner's Daughter   
4    DUM DUM GIRLS    End Of Daze    SUB POP
5    YO LA TENGO    Fade    Matador

MD Picks: Surf Rock, Blue Note & Mali

 

Fidlar- Fidlar

Much like albums released last year by Japandroids and Natural Child, this is a record of gleefully raucous rock & roll hedonism made by folks having a good time for folks having a good time. Fidlar hails from LA and they like to surf, skate, drink (cheap!) beer and rock out. The music is punk but it's not sneering. It's loud but still inviting. On "No Waves" singer Zac Carper informs us that he feels "like shooting up" but he also feels "like a grandpa." This album is a whole lotta fun.

Recommended Tracks: "Cheap Beer", "No Waves", "Max Can't Surf"

More after the jump

Vote for WESU as Best College Radio Station!

WESU and Rob DeRosa, host of our local music show, Homegrown, have been nominated in the 2013 Hartford Advocate Reader Poll!

Please support us by voting for WESU in the "College Radio" categories and for Robbie DeRosa as "Best Radio Personality". You can cast additional ballots for WESU and Robbie DeRosa's "Homegrown" in the "Media and Education" category under the "Radio station" and "Radio Show" categories.  The Needle Drop is also listed in the "Radio Show" category. “Online ballots must be submitted by 11:59pm EST on February 13^th

While you are at it, you can also vote for Wesleyan in "local 4 year University"  and for The Green Street Arts Center in the "Arts Center" category. Then, there's Middletown's Art Farm in "Local Arts Organization" and Wesleyan CFA in the "College/University Performing" and "College Performing Arts Center" categories. Oddfellows Playhouse is listed in the "Community Theater Co." category and you can write in The Buttonwood Tree in the "Concert Venue".  Don't forget Red Scroll Records in the "Indie CD/Vinyl Store"  category under "Books, Cds, DVDs". That's more than 10 suggestions for the 10 required categories one is required to vote in to submit a ballot.

Please spread the word and help WESU get the recognition we deserves as "The Best College/Community Radio Station" in the Hartford Advocate Readers Poll!

  

Chart of the Week: Kendrick Lamar! YOLO!

1    KENDRICK LAMAR    Good Kid In A M.A.A.d City    Top Dawg-Aftermath-Interscope
2    YO LA TENGO    Fade    Matador
3    PILE    Dripping    Exploding In Sound
4    EVENS    The Odds    Dischord
5    TAME IMPALA    Lonerism    Modular
6    JEREMIAH BIRNBAUM    Lucky 





Rest after tha jump

Mixtapes of the Month

Here's a new feature that should become a regular here: some of the best mixtapes that dropped in the past month.

Après le jump

Chart of the Week: WESU Loves Charles Mingus

Normally I just give you the chart, but this week we have Charles Mingus topping the charts on the strength of his new box-set that we were lucky enough to get at a discount from the record label. Mingus is one of the greatest geniuses in music history--and one of the craziest. Here's his Cat Toilet Training Program ("The main thing to remember is not to rush or confuse him"!). Here's a nice post about the time he punched trombonist Jimmy Knepper on stage. Now, on to the charts!

After the jump