Hot Jam of the Day

Hot Jam of the Day: T-Pain, “Let Your Hair Down” (f/ The-Dream, Vantrease)

Posted on March 29, 2015 by TP1.COM in Hot Jam of the Day | Comments Off

T-Pain
“Let Your Hair Down” (f/ The-Dream, Vantrease)
The Iron Way (out now)

Fresh off a mammoth 42-song set at The FADER Fort, T-Pain continues his renaissance with a new mixtape, The Iron Way. A glittering return to form, The Iron Way picks up where his 2014 singles left off, most notably on this exquisite collaboration with the Patron Saint of Thunder Penguin, The-Dream. Any superlatives I lob at “Let Your Hair Down” would underplay how much I’m feeling the languid shuffle of this neon slow jam. But, I guess that’s what happens when you get two of the best songwriters of their generation in the same room…

Hot Jam of the Day: Sicko Mobb, “Kool-Aid”

Posted on March 17, 2015 by TP1.COM in Hot Jam of the Day | Comments Off

Sicko Mobb
“Kool-Aid”
Digital Single

It’s been a miserable winter for most of the country, even by the Windy City’s high (er, low) standards. However, Chicago’s Crown Princes of Bop don’t seem to be suffering any signs of seasonal affective disorder. Their anthemic new single is more fit to soundtrack weekend barbecues than a frigid trudge to the ‘L’. Unlike much of their frenetic back catalog, “Kool-Aid” is a mid-paced glider that is made for the gentle breeze of the slow lane. It boasts one of the strongest hooks of a young career packed with sturdy melodies. If the upcoming summer feels half as good as this sounds, it will have been worth the chill.

Hot Jam of the Day: Grimes, “REALiTi”

Posted on March 12, 2015 by TP1.COM in Hot Jam of the Day | Comments Off

Grimes
“REALiTi”
Digital Single

Though Claire Boucher penned this single back in 2013, “REALiTi” sounds much more congruous with last year’s ever divisive, “Go,” than her 2013 debut, Visions. As someone who is staunchly pro Pop Grimes, this track is great news, and it’s another example of her razor-sharp songwriting and vocal hooks. There’s a lovely directness to her most recent work, which is well-tempered by her naturally experimental tendencies. When that balance is right (as it is here), there are few stronger forces in modern music than the 26 year-old.

Hot Jam of the Day: Courtney Barnett, “Depreston”

Posted on March 3, 2015 by TP1.COM in Featured, Hot Jam of the Day | Comments Off

Courtney Barnett
“Depreston”
Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit (out 03.24 on Mom + Pop)

Since the dawn of modern civilization, procreation and land ownership have been the principle goals of humanity. While much has been written about the personal collateral damage brought about by the former, substantially less has been written about the latter, especially in the world of pop music. The 26 year-old Australian’s rumination on a trip to look at suburban homes with her partner is a beautiful dive into the realities of leaving the city for some land of your own. The large garden, the parking space, the peace, the comforting permanence. The isolation, the realization of the family you’re replacing, the boredom, the crushing permanence.

The story is left unresolved with the resolution to Barnett’s future replaced by a languid slide guitar, explaining that there is no answer to this question. It’s the sound of two people looking at each other uneasily on the ride home, hoping that the other knows what to do. It’s a masterful example of non-verbal storytelling that caps off an extremely well told verbal story; in other words, the perfect ending to a song that’s just about the same.

Hot Jam of the Day: Skepta, “Shutdown”

Posted on March 3, 2015 by TP1.COM in Hot Jam of the Day | Comments Off

Skepta
“Shutdown”
Konnichiwa (out soon on Boy Better Know)

Even though he’s been a force in grime for the better part of ten years, it feels like the 32 year-old Tottenham native is just getting started. Following what was probably the best year of his career — watermarked by my third favorite song of 2014, “That’s Not Me” — “Shutdown” is the first taste of Konnichiwa, the most anticipated album of his career. Based on this, the pressure hasn’t gotten to Skep, as he sounds like he’s having just as much fun as ever. While he’s a multifaceted artist and a fierce lyricist, much of his best work is his most joyful, which is the case here. Built on an earworm hook and three ravenous verses, “Shutdown” is the sound of a mature, developed artist rounding into his prime and razor focused on fulfilling his unlimited potential. I may have only heard one track, but Konnichiwa already feels like a classic.

Hot Jam of the Day: The Tallest Man on Earth, “Sagres”

Posted on February 26, 2015 by TP1.COM in Hot Jam of the Day | Comments Off

The Tallest Man on Earth
“Sagres”
Dark Bird Is Home (out 05.12 on Dead Oceans)

After a prolific start that included three LPs and one EP in four years, Swedish folk singer Kristian Matsson returns with his first project since 2012. While he’s long outgrown the Dylan worship of his early career, “Sagres” hints that Dark Bird is Home may feature the fullest, most lush arrangements of his career. That said, no matter how they’re framed, Matsson’s expressive vocals and lyrics have always been at the core of his music, because regardless of how his style changes, he’ll always be a folk singer at heart.

Hot Jam of the Day: Heems, “Home” (f/ Dev Hynes)

Posted on February 25, 2015 by TP1.COM in Featured, Hot Jam of the Day | Comments Off

Heems
“Home” (f/ Dev Hynes)
Eat Pray Thug (out 03.10 on Megaforce)

Surprise releases may be played out in 2015, but the New Yorker’s new single is a totally different kind of surprise. His heartfelt new single is a stunning stylistic U-Turn for an artist who is best known for his brainy, acerbic, and extrospective flow. While he hasn’t completely shied away from sharing in the past, Heems (né Himanshu Suri) has never written a song this direct and personal, as he picks through the bones of a failed relationship and his personal demons in striking detail.

Touched by inch-perfect production from Dev Hynes, the 29 year-old weaves couplets that land like crushing body blows (“You addicted to the H-Man. I’m addicted to the H, man”), masterfully combining brutal honesty and insight with his trademark wit. Though his voice sounds road-weary and downtrodden, Suri’s songwriting and storytelling voice has never been stronger, and I cannot wait to see where it progresses from here. Easily, one of my five favorite songs of 2015.

Hot Jam of the Day: Kendrick Lamar, “The Blacker The Berry”

Posted on February 21, 2015 by TP1.COM in Featured, Hot Jam of the Day | Comments Off

Kendrick Lamar
“The Blacker The Berry”
Digital Single

People like narratives. We like bad guys and good guys, assholes and heroes. We want to know what side we’re on and who else is with us. However, life rarely complies and often confounds us with frustrating shades of grey. While many plow ahead undeterred, determined to develop their Fox News or MSNBC-driven worldview, artists like Kendrick Lamar remind us of the futility of such myopia.

Like much of the 27 year-old’s exquisite canon, “The Blacker The Berry” is full of contradictions and dichotomies. He takes aim at both sides of the fierce racial battle being waged in America, while saving a heap of verbal artillery for the man in the middle, Lamar himself. He begins each verse with “I’m the biggest hypocrite of 2015,” and the “I’m” in question is all of us, struggling to apply our personal morality to a nuanced, amoral world. Like the most powerful statements in any disciple, the record raises more questions than answers, and with each thought-provoking release, Lamar further cements his status as one of the leading, most challenging voices in 2015… hypocrite or not.

Hot Jam of the Day: Sufjan Stevens, “No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross”

Posted on February 18, 2015 by TP1.COM in Hot Jam of the Day | Comments Off

Sufjan Stevens
“No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross”
Carrie & Lowell (out 03.31 on Asthmatic Kitty)

Considering he’s a popular artist who built his career on making intensely personal, affecting music, we really don’t know much about Sufjan Stevens. He’s written crushingly beautiful pieces about serial killers, single-parent homes, cancer patients, God, and myriad other topics with the kind of clarity that suggests a real-life connection. However, part of Stevens’ allure is the blurred line between where personal experience ends and his expansive imagination begins. While that ability to seamlessly embody those he writes about is one of his greatest strengths, it also leaves the listener asking questions about the man behind the music.

Now, on the eve of his 12th proper solo project, it looks like Stevens is ready to start answering some of those questions. In a must-read Pitchfork piece, the 39 year-old details the traumatic circumstances that inspired the creation of Carrie & Lowell — named for his late, troubled birthmother and stepfather — and offers a rare glimpse into his own personal life. The disc looks set to be a stark rumination on the one character who has been most elusive in his rich catalog: the man himself.

Hot Jam of the Day: Chromatics, “Just Like You”

Posted on February 13, 2015 by TP1.COM in Featured, Hot Jam of the Day | Comments Off

Chromatics
“Just Like You”
Dear Tommy (out soon on Italians Do it Better)

After months of waiting, we finally get a taste of Chromatics’ hugely anticipated fifth LP. And my god, it’s tasty. Gauzy, moody, and sedately delirious, “Just Like You” is both a reminiscence of a past relationship and a sobering realization that the protagonist has moved on to someone new without actually moving on. Vocalist Ruth Radelet is both removed and present — like talking to someone who is thinking about something else — as she delivers line after crushing line. Johnny Jewel’s beautiful, minor synth lines frame Radelet’s words, further cementing the overwhelming gravity of the cycle she’s found herself in. Basically, it’s “Time is a Flat Circle” set to downtempo electro, and the result is one of the best songs of this young year.

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